burns both ways

This has been the story of over half of our shows so far. Notice the lack of gas tank. I'm not sure how hard it is to check and be sure that there is enough fuel in the fork lift to make it through load in, but apparently too hard for a lot of venues to do.... Enough about that.

This is all of the hot sauces that our last caterers had. It may seem trivial at first thought, but this is an indication of the attention to detail that they had. James and the rest of the guys from Ned Winters' catering took some time away from their normal gig with Gaither vocal band and spent 4 days with us. I knew that I would like them when one of our vegetarians asked about the vegetarian options and James shouted, "Hey everyone, come and look at the vegetarian!" loud enough for all of catering to hear. Especially because after he said that he pointed our guy out to another chef who had a hot vegetarian meal waiting for him. Prepared vegetarian meals are very rare for our non-meat eaters, much less good ones at every sitting. And the word from Carter and Snooch was that all their meals were amazing. And it wasn't just the vegetarian meals. I am pretty sure I gained about 10 pounds because I couldn't put my fork down. It was that good. Past that, they took the time to learn our names and what we liked, and they genuinely cared whether or not we enjoyed ourselves. Seriously, if you are in a position that allows you to hire caterers, do yourself a favor and save this info:

Ned Winters' Catering
based out of OK city
405.409.4598

And now because I laughed out loud, here's some samples of names and slogans from the hot sauces:
Hemmorrhoid Helper - burns both ways
Scorned Woman - don't get mad, get even
Liquid Stoopid
PETA - people eating tasty animals
Trailer Trash - hott sauce y'all!
Dave's Gourmet Ultimate Insanity
and (editted for family viewing) Big Daddy's Butt Burn - Heck goin' in, Heck goin' out

CCCC

Hey everybody. Sorry it's been so long since we've blogged. We've been gearing up, and starting the Casting Crowns Christmas Celebration. We're just finishing up the 5th show in a row, and have a much needed day off tomorrow. Here's a few shots of what we've been through so far.

A little peak at the set. Way to go Snooch!

Tech Crew Tip #1 - invest in Duracell. We go through 40-AA and 10-9v batteries... every day.


I'm not sure if this qualifies as OCD, but I am uncomfortable with un-organization.

nerds everywhere

Here's a few of us hanging at a cafe in Heidelberg, Germany enjoying some great German coffee and internets.

no matter where we are

So we're in Arhus, Denmark tonight, doing show 3 of our European tour. I've been working with Crowns for almost a year now, and a good portion of that time I spent the whole show staring at a screen, pressing space bar, and reading the lyrics to the entire show, so it's not like I haven't heard these words before. But tonight I am having the chance to walk around a bit. I walked back to the lighting console to ask Snooch to do me a favor while the band was playing "Praise You in This Storm." On my to the console there were several people in the audience with their lighters in the air, which I thought was cool in an 80's rock sort of way; then, on my way back, there were a lot of people with their hands in the air singing, "for You are who You are, no matter where I am." In that moment, God, being who He is, took the opportunity to smack me upside the head with some truth. This God, who I love and serve, is the same God who all these people in Denmark love and serve. This God is bigger than our towns, or our countries, or what language, or even what side of the road we drive on. God is God, no matter where we are; and that is rocking my world tonight (from another part of the world).

Belfast

After 16 or so hours and 3 flights, we made it to Belfast. The 3 flights make sense if you see the entire itinerary.

Here is our bus.













This is how we load gear into the bus.













Our hotel is fantastic. The room that Snooch and I are sharing overlooks a golf course.















Before we went to set up, we went to see Belfast Castle.













Which, of course, is haunted.

Brilliant!!

Anyone who knows darren, knows that he is often scratching his back - bear style up against the corner of something. The town of Lucedale, Mississippi had guys like darren in mind when they were putting the finishing touches on their downtown area. Thanks Lucedale! Brilliant!

Oh, and they even had a disk golf course for us. Lucedale rocks!

Starting over

Well the Summer run just ended. It was really good. We went some places that were obviously too awesome for the meager crew to describe in our blog. I think the band covered it all very well though. All of our gear is being returned to the proper vendors today. Next is Europe. So we go from having everything but PA and some lighting, to only bringing a handful of "can't do without" stuff. Guitars, pedals, etc. Then off to the Christmas tour, where we bring all of it again.

This morning I realized, Darren and I will have do mix from scratch every day. Carrying our consoles in made for a little less prep time and easier soundchecks for us and the band. But, going back to square one reminded me of being saved, odd maybe. But, starting today, any mistakes or blemishes I had stored in the console will be wiped away. Whether I knew they were there or not, they are gone. So my mix has been delivered! As I am daily. Praise be to God! Look out Europe. Here we come!

Good Times

I was just reading the old blog entries here, just to reminisce a little. The Altar and the Door tour was great. Thanks to Darren, Farns, Mel, and Denny for making it smooth. Thanks to my audio crew. To Kenny, for making sure everyone in the building could hear crystal clear. To Michael, seriously I had to re-learn everything on deck when the tour was over. YOU ROCK! And finally, to all of the versions of Radar. I love you all, but...like the NES, there is no Radar like David Harrison.

Thanks Guys,

Carter

P.S. I noticed all of the Prison Break blogs. DARREN, if you don't bring Season 3 this weekend...dear Lord...please don't let Darren forget season 3 of Prison Break. Amen.

Times are Tough

Everyone is feeling the pains of rising fuel costs. It is very apparent in an industry in which we use a lot of it. Buses and trucks going all over the country. It is great to try to cut costs. We try to cut down on the number of buses we take as often as we can, but I think this option modeled by Snooch is a little over the line.


I feel a little like Oliver Twist, but can I have more. Seriously, a little bunk space is all we ask.

Thanks,

The Crew

Is this thing on?

Checking 1 ... 2 ... 3 ....

Just sitting watching all the hurricane coverage and want to punch the next anchorman that asks a reporter on the ground if the oil refineries are going to be okay. Like they can tell from the safety of their cars.

Anyways, hope this first "mobile" post works.
------------------------
Darren Hughes
Casting Crowns

IT'S TIME!

HUGHES vs. SHAUB Redneck Tech Wreck!



Hughes' use of the "spinning backfist" and signature finishing move the "Headbonk" was no match for Shaub's powerful combinations. Although initially scored a draw, after further review, the bout was scored 10-9 Shaub. This fight was not sanctioned by the South Dakota Gaming Commision, but it will stand for their professional records. Although they now stand, Shaub 1-0, Hughes 0-1, they are both losers.

Hey Snooch!

I have nothing to say.

That's Country for ya!

I love being from Texas and now a resident of Tennessee. Polite people. Beautiful country. It's the tops. But I'll tell you, McGyver doesn't have a thing on southern ingenuity. Our Road manager could take him. GO MEL!!

We didn't have a door knob, so Mel used tape! nice.

what happens on 6 hour flights

because i knew it was going to be a long flight from minneapolis to anchorage, i rented a couple of movies on itunes to watch on the way. about halfway through the first movie --- my battery died. luckily i looked across the aisle and found an outlet, and luckily one of our other crew guys was sitting over there too, and perhaps the strangest luckily - i had a roll of gaff tape in my carry-on.


after i finished my movie, i packed up my laptop and power cable, but i couldn't bring myself to waste that great tape. i also realized that it'd been a while since i had put down arrows, and i sure don't want to get rusty at that. also, what if the illuminated aisle-ways weren't enough....

techies, even when not working

Yes, the entire crew is on a computer... but Michael's just happens to be the iPhone. We are nerds. All we need to keep us happy is internet. :)

For the next tour

Imagine two of these, double stacked, at FOH. Oh, yes!!




-Snooch

Always the Biggest for Darren

Darren likes to make sure that no matter what you have, his is bigger. Notice the enormous double-panelled rack. So, after the monitor for his console was left at an event...He replaced it with this. (it's a 32" or 36" widescreen display) I didn't move this for a better picture. It was placed there, because when set where it would normally be, he couldn't see the band. Nice. Mission accomplished.

BTW, this had a similar effect as the parking lot lights in a recent post. It lit the stage!

You the man, Darren!

All that hard work

I plan on writing a blog about how awesome it is to be the lighting guy during festival season, but not today. Instead I wish to share what I consider to be a big show killer for the lighting director.

I spent all day at Atlanta Fest focusing moving lights and par cans to make our show just right and when night falls this is what I have to deal with.
<<<<<<

This is a picture taken with my phone to demonstrate the amount of ambient light that was on stage. There are NO stage lights on right now. The entire place was lit up like a baseball park.

I only like light when I can control it.


Thank you to the lighting and video vendors who helped us out. You guys were great to us.

-Snooch

OUR DAY IN UNDER FOUR MINUTES

It is sometimes hard to explain to everyone what it is we do for a living. So it is finally here, the long awaited time lapse. Enjoy!

Thanks Harry

We appreciate you helping load the truck, but Michael has some suggestions for you. Thanks.

Fun with racks

Getting ready for the Summer run was a lot of fun. A couple of days in the shop with Darren, Michael, and Harry. We have a new console in monitor world, and that gave us inspiration to shrink down and make our rig as simple as we could. After consolidating racks we realized we ran into a problem. We left something very important in the double panel rack...




DARREN!!
Guess it's time to take it apart.

Cruising the Ocean

Another fun cruise is in the books. We were on the Premier Music Boat cruise. Ported in Key West and Calica, Mexico. Andy couldn't be with us, but Mike Smith, from Leeland, filled in for him, and did a fine job. There was lots of great music, but the best part, for my kids at least, was...

Bob and Larry from Vegetales! Each day would have been incomplete without hearing Ellie say, "I wanna see Bob and Larry." At least they were on TV 24/7 so they could get their fix even if the big guys were taking a nap.

Thanks to all of those who made it possible for us to be a part of the cruise. We had a blast.

I blame Darren

I blame him for the fact that I just bought season one of Prison Break and watched the entire first disk without getting up from my couch.

INTRODUCING

My New Friend Darren! !

If he looks slightly familiar to you, its because he slightly resembles our Old Friend Darren.

I am all better

I made sushi for the first time last night. Oh my it was good.

Also, today is my nephew's 6th birthday party. I have been told the place is all glow-in-the-dark, and they have putt-putt.

sweet.

Sick :(

I'm sick. Advil is working right now. woohoo. I don't even want to play Kart or watch 24. Pray for me. Something must be very, VERY, wrong.

Top 10 Things I'd Rather Do

Top 10 Things I'd Rather Do Than Be A Rigger

#10. I'd rather scrape gum off the bottom of the pews at church.

#9. I'd rather change diapers all day for quintuplets.

#8. I'd rather run up and down the steps of the Toyota Center in Houston 5 times.

#7. I'd rather push a Barco Case up the ramp of Freedom Hall in Louisville.

#6. I'd rather be a "Merch Girl".

#5. I'd rather be a goalie in an Altar and The Door Tour Soccer game.

#4. I'd rather put gaffers tape w/ directions on the ground from the buses to the nearest Interstate.

#3. I'd rather clean the tile in the shower of the locker rooms in Hershey, PA.

#2. I'd rather wash the entire tour crew and band's dirty socks and u/w.

And (drum roll)

#1. I'd rather Manage a 4 hour and 800 person Meet and Greet.

Show Notes

During the show I usually make notes on things to fix like programming or fixtures with issues.  Since it is the second to last show, I decided to just write down whatever rolled out of my mind.  Enjoy.

-Snooch

The Days Mission.

'Nuff said

St. Paul Catering Excellence

The Topic for my first blog is concerning yesterday's Catering Experience.

You would think that with the great food, flowers, tablecloths, and also candles, muted tv's, and calming music to add to the ambiance that we must surely have paid an exorbitant amount of money. However, we actually paid over $500 more for catering in Raleigh and in Bossier City than we did yesterday in St. Paul.

Now these aren't things that are included in our rider, nor do we ever walk into catering expecting it. But wasn't it a nice bonus for the day? For just a few minutes and for all 3 meals we were rewarded unexpectedly with a moment of excellent treatment. I don't know about you, but it made me feel special, . . . appreciated even. I almost felt like it really wasn't for me, and we were cheating. Maybe they thought we were someone else.

But you know, the truth is that we were just in the presence of a group of people that gave attention to the details, went above and beyond the expected, and believed in doing their job with excellence. It didn't take a whole lot of extra effort or money, and yet made a bright spot in the lives of 67 tour people.

Kinda made me think. . . Do I always do my job with excellence? Or do I do what it takes to get by? After all, I'm busy and have a lot going on. And isn't this a society where we think "You get what you pay for"? So I am asking myself, "What kind of difference could I make in someone else's life if I paid attention to details, went above and beyond the expected, and did what I do with excellence"? . . . . . . Hmmm . . . Just a thought.

To stay clean....

-Snooch

Shame on me!

Hey...Production Assistant here...I just feel the need to write a short note of apology to my fellow crew members. Yesterday we were in St. Paul, MN at the Xcel Energy Center. Basically the importance of that is that it's huge! Catering is on one side of the arena and the dressing rooms on the other. Well, not only did our hard working crew have to walk all around the arena all day, but they were forced to wander in confusion at 7:30 in the morning looking for a door inside. Now, because I am part "band wife" part "crew member" I ride the band bus, which was parked literally backstage. Therefore, I had no problem finding my way inside when I stepped off the bus. I feel like an apology is necessary because I am responsible for putting tape arrows down each morning to prevent everyone from getting lost. Three of our buses were parked not only further up the ramp, but, up the ramp, through a HUGE dock door, around the corner, through another HUGE dock door, and further up the ramp. I did not realize the magnitude of this mistake until I went out to stock the buses with groceries and ice. Although I made it out, I was not paying attention to where I was going and could not find my way back in for about 15 minutes. Frustrating! So...to the crew I want to say...I AM SORRY! I'm sorry for assuming that the buses were "just up the ramp" and not finding them to point you in the right direction.

Ok...so for real...you guys rock and I'm really sorry!

Who Is This Guy?

Meet Carl. Carl works as a guitar tech, with us on tour, but he is really much more. He can setup and string a guitar quicker than anyone I know, he can fix just about anything on a guitar, and he works out a lot! I mean can't you tell? Hector is a better guitar player because Carl is out here. Thank you Carl!

Perspective

Life is all about perspective. And from the crew perspective that matters, mine, (Ha!) life pretty much looks like this all night long. I sit on Stage Left and see the same angle all the time. So any pictures from me will sort of be from this angle.

New Blogger!

So, I noticed the Mel is now a contributor to our wonderful blog here. This is awesome. But seriously...

Less talky talky with the blog/web guy and more blogging.

Glad to have you aboard Cap'n.

Chris Farnsworth

So far the crew member of the day has been added by our production manager, Chris Farnsworth. Well Mr Farnsworth... today is your day.

I stole this picture from here.

This guy starts every day before a lot of us are even awake. He checks every detail of the venue from where power is coming from to whether the stage is in the right place. He even walks up and down every panel on the stage just to be sure none are broken or wobbly.

He answers phone and radio calls all day from promoters and crew guys and solves issues created by those same people. All of this work comes after he spends hours on the phone ahead of each show trying to avoid the issues.

He's also one of the few production managers that I've worked with that actually spends the whole show watching the show and making sure everything continues to run smoothly. I did learn a little secret the other day when one of our camera guys zoomed in on Chris sitting at front of house.

a well deserved nap.

Carter Hassebroek

Every tour has to have a rock star. As you can see in the following photo on our tour it is our front of house engineer. Clue number two he's a rock star is found in his blogspot address LordFOH

Talk about a thankless job, a mix engineer has to deal with horrible room acoustics and riggers who never seem to want the audio system to hang where the points were marked. He has to deal with the newest Fullsail graduate (that knows everything there is to know about audio and a better way to do it) aiming and tuning the system; as well as a production manager who is a front of house engineer that listens over his shoulder all the time. Typically the only time a front of house engineer hears from anyone when they think things are TOO LOUD. No one really notices when things are great.

Thus is the life of a rock star front of house engineer. I must say if you are going to be a rock star you better be able to back it up and I will tell you that Carter does just that on a daily basis. Starting first thing in the morning he has an incredibly high work ethic. No white gloving for this boy. Carter knows what he wants and works until it is achieved. Many times there are no soundchecks and every night I am impressed at how great the mix is from the downbeat. Carter is an amazing engineer I would highly recommend to anyone. As a fellow Belmont attender I say hats off to Carter...here's to being a Rock star.

Marcus Gibson

As a crew member many times it feels like the only time you are noticed is when something goes wrong. It is the best crews that make it look easy so the bands, managers, and fans never know the sweat it took to really pull off the event. That being said I am going to start to randomly take a moment to give some props to those hard working men and woman out here on the tour. How do you find a place to start with so many great people working hard to make this tour happen everyday? What better place to start than with the openers?

Marcus Gibson is a sturdy young shaggy haired lad anxious to make a name for himself in this universe we shall call the Christian music industry. He has made us laugh, he has mad us cry (loud mixes), he has helped us (load out), he has annoyed us all, and somehow we have come to love him...kind of like the shaggy mutt you fed once and cannot get to leave.

With all that being said I say hats off (or in this case shirts off) to Marcus Gibson feature tour crew of the day.

Software update day

Today I updated our consoles software.  Now it is current with the rest of the world.

For those of you who don't know.  This is a gutsy move to do in the middle of a tour.  I trust High End that much though.

We shall see!

Snooch

What Happened?

Darren,
You look so much different without the beard.

I miss first radar.

RIP Radar

Recently, we lost a brother out here on the road. He was tiny, but a ferocious competitor... and this ended up being his downfall. During an afternoon game of soccer, Radar (David Harrison) tore some cartilage in his knee. This injury has sidelined him for the remainder of the tour. Here's the new Radar trying to get into a space that the old Radar would have had no trouble with.

We miss you original Radar.

Prison Break

Yeah, so I now have my life back. I just concluded watching 22 episodes of the show Prison Break in a three day period and I can say my doctor will be happy too. My heart has never beat out of control for a TV show. I'm a big fan of 24 and I can now say there is an equal.

If I had a camera, I would show you what I have looked like .. ipod on my chest and my Bose headphones on my head. Still don't have that D80 yet, but here is a graphic logo to suffice for a short while

Now, I am on to season 2 ... so maybe my life is not back to normal

?

For the rigger:  I have put this lovely target on the stage for you.  Why do you assume that the point is good when the chain is two feet away from the mark?

For the stage hand:  I know that you have done this since live music was invented, but is it O.K. if I let you know how I'd like to see things done?

For the truck loader:  Your job is very simple.  Your job title perfectly describes what you do.  Do they not tell you that you will be lifting things?

For the house light operator: You have three cues in the whole show, yet you are 3 times more likely to not pay attention and miss a cue.

To all paid hands:  You are getting paid for your work today.  We are letting you go an hour early which means you will get paid for an hour you won't actually work.  Please don't be upset that we don't give you a FREE t-shirt.  Life is tough.

These are just excerpts from my new book "Why?....My quest to understand stage hands".  It's in book stores now.

-Snooch

tour de baltimore

many of you may wonder what a bunch of crew guys may do with their down time. a few of us blog, lots of days include naps, but then there are a couple of guys who just really need to keep up their athletic physiques. they often get creative. tim just rides a bike.... kinda.

I need a Camera

You know this blog would be so much better with pictures ... wouldn't it? I don't even have a phone with a camera. It is that whole Blackberry (everything but the camera issue) thing.

Well we are done with Baltimore and they rocked it on the out. We got out in an hour and forty minutes. On a ramp day that is awesome because that is the time we are normally out on all docks. On our way to Hershey and the Nashville One crew bus is probably sitting in the parking lot right now of Hershey and we haven't left Baltimore. Sleep well Nashville One!!

My Blog stinks

Well if you like our crew blog here, you're going to hate mine. I say this because mine is not listed as being better than this one. Let me recant. I guess Darren (originator of this blog) wants us to be equals. I love you Darren Hughes.

P.S. I posted the picture of your healthy breakfast.

So here it is

Let me first by stating that when I was a junior in high school, I took an AP English class with Peggy Lewis as the teacher. Now this is one of those college prep courses where you get an extra grade point for the class ... keep that little tidbit in mind. I was in this class because I figure I can a little less work and still get a weighted "A" for doing a "B grades work".

Now go back in time to the first day of class and she announces that every week all students would have to keep a journal and have three entries in it. They could be on the sky is blue, or I love pop tarts in the morning or anything like that. I didn't like that and I didn't care to write anything like that. Who wants to write senseless and useless words on a paper and get a grade for it? So I did what every person wanted to but didn't ... I walked up after class and asked her the question she never dreamed would be asked. "So what would happen if I never turned in a journal?" After her jaw hit the floor and I heard a very stern "Darren Hughes" come out of her mouth, she pointedly informed me that I would be losing ten percent of my grade and the best I could hope for was a 90 in her class. Sweet, I told myself. Remember that extra grade point pad ... I could still get an A's worth of a grade point average in her class.

And now I introduce to you 14 years later, my virtual online journal. If Mrs. Lewis only knew what I was doing she would be smiling. Maybe through this venture I can earn back my ten percent.

I would like to thank Jeff Culmer, Chris Farnsworth, and my wife, Sarah Hughes (the English teacher, and God's ironical version of his sense of humor)