Camping Trip

Bogota Columbia and a nice day off crew wander and meal followed by a 5pm lobby call. 'Day before presetup' and though I don't like to gig hug, we really do need it. It's another ice cold audio start. This will now be the 5th time monitor eng Tim-Sam and I have dialed up fresh consoles, repatched and started from scratch. At least it is only for 30,000 people with "TBA" on the sound check in the itinerary. But hey, no use stressing on aspects beyond my control. It's just all about getting my head around the solutions.
If you have been doing sound for top level headline acts on any sort of larger scale, you may comprehend the challenges at hand with every single knob and control is at zero. Though I do find it a bit peaceful and enjoyable spending a chunk o time massaging a console into performing how I desire, having a well tuned board is a much sweeter pleasure.
Its a Milo rig today and for the course of the South America dates, I will be rolling into a wide variety of sound systems. Some more Meyer Milo, some JBL Vertec, some Adamson, D&B and way too few L-Acoustics rigs. So until we start the Euro run in Oct, its going to be a party wave of sound systems.
Another dynamic that is throwing a bit of a wrench into today's adventure is the altitude. Bogota sits at a lofty 8600 feet up and you feel the thin air the moment you gasp your first few breaths off the plane. Even though there are less air molecules running around up here with the research I have done, I have yet to find any convincing fata showing the sound changes. Conversely, ask anyone who has mixes high altitude shows and and without missing a beat, they will tell you that things sound screwy up high.
Regardless of whether the 20% thinner air here alters sound propagated our perception of the sound, either way, it's a bit of an octopus wrestling match to try and solve.
Next on my mind is the 5:30 am aftershow flight tomorrow to Costa Rica for another large one. Hmmm, show ends at 10pm, 2 hours to load out, 1/2 hour to hotel, figure if everything runs absolutely perfect we'll hit beds by 1am for a 3am lobby call. Airport straight to gig, dump trucks and there we will be, bright and chipper fresh to tackle the new day. But hey, at leaest my consoles will still be dialed in from the Bogota show.
Oh, well I guess this is payback for bum rushing Biarritz last week and one of those times that helps me appreciate when things roll easy.
In the mean time, Columbia, let's get down to business and do ourselves a rock show!
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