Concert Preparation

I've recently been spending a lot of time preparing for upcoming concerts, including the two on Thursday, Jan 6th at the Grace Brethren Church of Columbus' Administration Center (across from Worthington Christian High School). Click here for details: http://www.marcandremusic.com/news.html

Trying to get a five piece band together to practice has been quite a challenge. This is a busy time of the year, and everyone has different schedules and commitments. We're trying to have at least three practices before Jan 6th. Some of the players involved are Brian Houts (drums), Shawn Wright (bass), Todd Alex (guitar), and Rich Barrett (piano/organ). All of these guys are great friends of mine, and I'm looking forward to getting out and doing some shows with them. We're actually having a three hour practice this evening.

With every concert comes the need for an experienced sound guy...and generally, most "good" audio people are going to want to be paid...and you really do often get what you pay for. I've tried having shows without a dedicated sound guy, and generally these shows are a nightmare, especially if you have a substantial band. I'm also looking for someone who would be willing to run/program lights. We hope to have some intelligent lights (moving) at the concert, so that should be fun. =)

Promotion is always an exciting part of any concert. Actually, I'm terrible at it...so I prefer to leave a lot of that up others who don't get so stressed out about it. When I promote concerts by myself, no one shows up and I end up spending all my money paying the players/engineers involved...not to mention all the players leave bummed because the crowd never came. There are some other people involved in the promotional side of the January 6th concerts...so hopefuly, Lord willing, there'll be a good show of folks. The best situations are when you and the band just show up and the people are already there...ie. youth groups, outreach/community events, camps, etc. I remember hearing Moby (the singer) say once that things really started to pick up for him once he started focusing on the things he was good at, and left other stuff to people who were gifted in those areas (publicity, booking, etc.).