Friday, January 29, 2010

One of the Good Guys


Working sports or entertainment by necessity means we spend a lot of time at the job when the fans are available. Usually that means evenings and weekends and unfortunately, the Houston Rockets have a standing New Year's Eve game every year.
For the last five or six years, I've had the distinct pleasure of getting to work that night and bring in the New Year with others that would probably rather be somewhere else having fun instead of working.
This past year was no exception and when I got to the production truck I saw that Andy Benz was mixing audio. I've known Andy for quite a few years and he is truly one of the good guys that works hard and enjoys himself along the way.
We got the show ready to go and were waiting to start so we could finish and get home by midnight to celebrate - the mood was kind of ho-hum.
So, as we were waiting to get started, Andy started playing Lyle Lovett's "Church" which is a rousing, gospel-styled, ditty that instantly put a smile on my face and made everyone in the truck feel a little better at least until the Rockets stopped playing well. As it all worked out, the Rockets did beat the Mavericks that night and we had a good day thanks to Andy.
If you are at a Baylor Bears, Rockets, Spurs, or Mavericks game, there's a good chance that Andy may be working behind the scenes. He has the I-35 corridor down. You'll never see him, but the producer and director are happy because of it.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Is The Fog Machine On?


It seems so simple. Four cameras, four stages. Bus 11,000 kids in and let them hear from a real American hero, the first black astronaut in space...simple.
It's never that simple but, a timely rehearsal, better luck, and a not out of control fog machine can make for a great show, especially on a very early morning.
Strike one is that the crew call is 5:30 AM. I really don't know too many people that are at their best that early in the morning. Not a problem though because there are donuts and coffee.
This particular morning, when 11,000 kids are being brought into the arena, there is a very heavy fog that is causing traffic delays all over the metropolitan area...the buses are now running late. Nothing you can do about that but push the start time later and later. Of course the kiddos that got there at 8:30 AM when the doors opened have now been sitting in their seats for well over an hour. Hey so a few hundred kids are inconvenienced, big deal.
Okay, if the fog machine works, everything is okay. The air handlers within the arena are causing the "misters" not to work so well so the lasers aren't as cool as they could be, but if we pump enough fog from behind the curtain backstage, the kids will be impressed.
Oooops! So much fog, the cameras can't see the volunteers or the astronaut on stage.
Once the lights came on, we all saw the fog! Rock 'n' Roll!