Yesterdays post was about the outdoor concert season (yippee!!!) One of the things that I appreciate about the outdoor venues is that they are seriously lacking in pre-show privacy. No disrespect to artists intended, but the outdoor venues allow the fans a more unique opportunity to see them a bit more casually. Specifically the outdoor venue sound check. I absolutely love watching the sound checks, things don't always go quite right and the artists may not be at their best, but it is a perfect chance for us to see that they in fact, are not perfect. A star at sound check is most definitely human, far more so than at any other point during the show. There is a wonderful vulnerability to watching them work as a team to get things just right before the big show. Thumbs up, down, fingers to the left and right. Everyone giving signals that would put baseball catchers and umps to shame, until the sound is just so. Sound check is also the perfect time to realize that the amps that just traveled halfway across the country to get here maybe didn't make the trip quite so safely. Sometimes stuff just plain old doesn't work after being broken down, loaded up, trucked to here from there, then hauled back off the truck. Again we get to see the vulnerability as a backup plan is quickly formulated for the end product, which as always is that "the show must go on".
So my word of advice is if you have a chance to catch Bucky or for that matter any of your favorite artists this summer in a festival setting, try and get there early and grab a seat. Watching the sound check is a rare treat that we are not often privy to. It also grants you a sampling of the upcoming show, some bonus photo ops, and the chance to share some "down" time with your favorite star and their band, seeing them just a bit more laid back, a bit more squirrelly, and often just a bit more wound up. Well worth arriving a bit early for!
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