QOTSA
Every now and then a great band gets to come thru town. Crewed by friends from the old club / Vogue Theatre days. And I get an invite. (This time from one of the guys on the lighting crew, who I took the FE course with earlier this winter.) Only to be called to work on something else. Seniority is now starting to work in my favour, and it's becoming the band that I got and invite for. As I'm a show fly, and still a bit addicted to work. I enjoyed the double dipping.
The forum, from the outside, has a sort of crumbling "Metropolis" art deco look to it. Another aging Vancouver venue that the coming winter Olympics has help save from the dustbin of history ( I read a report that 20 percent of Canada's heritage buildings have been demolitioned in the last 12 years... That's destruction on the size that Europe experienced during world war 2 ) The exterior really says nothing about the interior. Inside it looks like a long low, military hanger / machine shop. Which makes it well suited for Punk and art metal / rock bands.
During shows in the building the audience area is almost pitch black. And I'm amazed that so far, not huge riot or audience rush in the venue has happened. For if it did, there would be many serious injuries or even deaths. When I work there, I stay as near a backstage fire exit whenever possible. And preferably I just hang out outside til the bands have stopped playing. If all I'm doing is the stage call or the strike. But, seeing that the crowd was really chill I wandered the floor a bit. Wishing I'd brought a real camera.
Once the crowd was gone I left the FOH to join the boys on stage for the strike. Which was stupidly easy. As the set was the last, same set that the Queens had brought to Vancouver last year. And I knew everyone on the basic lighting crew... It went fast. Even if it was a bit ugly and worse for wear.
And even in the end I got to share a beer for once. After the doors closed on the back of the tractor trailer, with the guys. Like we used to, on the loading dock, back in the Vogue Theatre days. When we were all more like pirates....
Every now and then a great band gets to come thru town. Crewed by friends from the old club / Vogue Theatre days. And I get an invite. (This time from one of the guys on the lighting crew, who I took the FE course with earlier this winter.) Only to be called to work on something else. Seniority is now starting to work in my favour, and it's becoming the band that I got and invite for. As I'm a show fly, and still a bit addicted to work. I enjoyed the double dipping.
The forum, from the outside, has a sort of crumbling "Metropolis" art deco look to it. Another aging Vancouver venue that the coming winter Olympics has help save from the dustbin of history ( I read a report that 20 percent of Canada's heritage buildings have been demolitioned in the last 12 years... That's destruction on the size that Europe experienced during world war 2 ) The exterior really says nothing about the interior. Inside it looks like a long low, military hanger / machine shop. Which makes it well suited for Punk and art metal / rock bands.
During shows in the building the audience area is almost pitch black. And I'm amazed that so far, not huge riot or audience rush in the venue has happened. For if it did, there would be many serious injuries or even deaths. When I work there, I stay as near a backstage fire exit whenever possible. And preferably I just hang out outside til the bands have stopped playing. If all I'm doing is the stage call or the strike. But, seeing that the crowd was really chill I wandered the floor a bit. Wishing I'd brought a real camera.
Once the crowd was gone I left the FOH to join the boys on stage for the strike. Which was stupidly easy. As the set was the last, same set that the Queens had brought to Vancouver last year. And I knew everyone on the basic lighting crew... It went fast. Even if it was a bit ugly and worse for wear.
And even in the end I got to share a beer for once. After the doors closed on the back of the tractor trailer, with the guys. Like we used to, on the loading dock, back in the Vogue Theatre days. When we were all more like pirates....