About a month ago, I was doing sound for the Kentucky HeadHunters in a small town not far from my hometown.
They originally hired two production companies before mine, but apparently the first guy ended up in jail and the second guy couldn't find any help, so I took on the gig barely meeting the ridiculous rider — especially for a band that hadn't had a hit since the ‘80s. Nonetheless, I rented some monitor gear that I was lacking.
So the band shows up on their luxury bus around noon for load-in and it’s 110 degrees in the shade — thank God the stage is covered. Well, their "guitar tech a$$hole" and "road manager a$$hole" start their complaining the second they get off the bus about the size of our system that they were lucky to have. Their FOH guy tells me this is the least he's ever had to work with. We were pushing 12,500 watts for 300 people for God’s sake.
I mix the opening act with no problems, but when I'm not looking, he puts down to 20 Hz back in the front-of-house before his act goes on and blows my subs about two minutes into his act. He does some other stupid stuff and ends up blowing out one of my tops too… and then gets his happy a$$ back on the air-conditioned bus as if it is my fault!
I do not think national acts or any acts for that matter need a FOH technician. Sound companies like mine actually send out crews with sharp guys who can mix without screwing up all the equipment!
Brandon Blakeney
Blakeney Pro Audio
Laurel, MS
