Pittsburgh PA, The Rex Theatre

Okay, the best thing about the Rex Theatre in Pittsburgh is the pinball machine in the lobby.  It was right next to the merchandise sales table, and since I sold merch that night, I got to play a few good games.  Captain Fantastic, featuring Elton John (before he was knighted).  My high score was 94600.  Beat that!

In the theater, there was something seriously wrong with the PA, and the room wasn't helping at all.  I don't think I've ever had to fight as hard to keep things balanced.  I literally could not take out enough 630 Hz.  It was dumped completely on the house graphic, and also on every input channel, in both parametric mid sweeps.  And that wasn't the only problematic frequency.  All over the map, crazy drastic cuts were needed to smooth things out.  Thank goodness there was a separate monitor board, so I only had to get one mix right (one was a challenge).

What a way to end a tour, feeling like I was driving on ice the whole night, barely keeping it on the road.  Well, we still had fun, and I'd like to thank Lisa, the theater manager, Tim "Spankyman", the house manager, Chris on monitors and Rocky at FOH, shown below in action.  Kinda dark in there...

After the show, my boss bought pizza for all, and we hung out and partied like rock stars.  What a cool tour.  

Kent OH, The Kent Stage

Where do you play in Kent OH?  The Kent Stage.  The house sound guy was late, but other than that, things went smoothly and we had another fine show.  Bitter cold backstage, huddling around a few space heaters and keeping moving for warmth.  It was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

The Soundcraft Venue mostly worked.  The PA was okay.  I don't really remember too much else.

Ann Arbor MI, The Ark

The Ark is yet another favorite stop among the acoustic musicians.  A JBL MR series rig hangs from the ceiling, and at FOH sits a Soundcraft K2, and all the usual outboard gear.  This was a solo gig, not a co-bill, and it was nearly sold out.  Gotta love that.  Nice room, nice gear, great staff...  Props to Dan on sound who was more than helpful, he was a great guy to hang with.  They even let us stay quite late after, and still cheerfully helped us load out.

Madison WI, The Majestic Theatre

The Majestic Theatre in Madison has one very notable feature:  The balcony and back of the house take a turn, sharply angled like a broken nose.  Take a look at their online seating chart:

The main PA is hung straight on, and the only way the balcony gets coverage is by "bouncing" the sound up there off the walls.  It's actually not too bad up there, but it gets a bit swimmy there and in the back of the main level.  To get a real sense of what the people up front are hearing, you must leave the FOH booth.  The system was great, with a Digidesign D-show Profile out front, and PA with hung Martin traps and Turbosound subs.  Scott, the overall technical professor, was super solid and helpful, especially with showing me around the D-show Profile.  Many thanks!