Myself, Floris & Paul (local touring crew) & Dan doing a 'Mini Wave' - to be explained....
Dutch Oven : Aus colloquialism To knowingly break wind underneath a doonah and hold another persons head beneath said doonah, causing stress & watering eyes.
Franco (new singer), myself, Christian, Marizio, Nelson & Lynda out & about in Holland.
From Spain we next headed to Holland where we were due to tour for three weeks, with a different venue each day! Due to the size of Holland it was decided that we’d be based in Amsterdam and travel back & forth each day. I was looking forward to getting back to Holland for a decent amount of time as I got a really good feel from Amsterdam when I visited for only 5 days back in late 2004. Not enough time to properly explore a town, let alone a country but I’d always wanted to return and take another crack at it.
Some local graffiti
The way we toured through Holland was once again, a very different style of touring & a huge eye opener. This time we toured everything…! All the lights, pretty much all the sound, dimmers, desks, tables & chairs, wardrobe racks, double bass – everything! It was unlike any of the other legs of the tour since I joined them. Instead of there being a coach loaded with suitcases or a small van loaded with suitcases and basic necessities, there was a truck & a van (approx 5 tonne & 2 tonne a piece) – still small by most show standards but extremely large for ‘Tango Fire’! As another new twist, we also had two crew who toured with us! Floris was the driver & crew member for lighting & Paul was our sound tech & driver.
The way in which tours work in Holland & the schedule set out by our presenter was tight in our eyes. We usually get to a venue between 1030-1100, lunch at 1300, focus from 1400, soundcheck at 1600, plot lights from 1700, dinner by 1830 & then a show. In Holland we weren’t due to arrive til 1230 & we had to bump in from scratch as the venues basically only came with legs & broders...! Also upon arrival, you sat down with the crew for a coffee & introductions with the idea to start unloading at 1300..! What...?!?! That’s never going to work! Also, how ever many crew you walked into the venue with was how many the venue supplied... Meaning if you wanted six crew, you needed to bring a minimum of 3!
Dan & Christian guest star in my Shadow Shot.
Dan cooking up a BBQ dinner whilst Floris & Paul enjoy the spoils.
Slowly Dan & I allowed the ‘Dutch Oven Principle’ (as we nicknamed it) to envelop us. We were definitely worried about the timeframe but by Day 3, we were at one with the Dutch. The first few venues we arrived at 1100 as it was the first time the show had been set up in Holland & it gave us time to plot the lights & set the sound levels. It also gave Floris & Paul a decent chance to learn the set-up of the stage. Also, pretty much every venue is the fitted out the same. The aesthetics are different but the overall stage & equipment design is very similar in each venue. The fact that we were touring our own desk, lights & dimmers meant that the brightness & levels plotted in the ques were exactly the same each night. Normally, if there are different lights used & newer/older dimmers, you have to adapt the brightness & speed at which the lights fade up & down to keep the same overall smoothness of the show. It was the same for Dan from a sound point of view. Each light had a piece of white tape on it that had written on it what LX bar it was from & how far from centre to the left or right it needed to go. Due to the symmetry of the venues, this was quick and painless everytime.
Danger - Electrical Hazard By Death!
Giz was caught in a compromising position with a banana - not of my doing!
By Day 3 Dan & m
yself were confident enough to know how we needed to work & Day 5 we were loving the way it worked. The Dutch style of touring is SO different to Aus, the States & the UK & from the quickness & effortless way in which it was all able to happen, hence the “Dutch Oven Principle” was born! Upon arrival, sorry, after coffee & hello’s, I’d help Floris & Paul unload all the gear with the locals whilst Dan discussed which fly bars to use for our show and by the time the trucks were unloaded, I called in LX 4 and worked DS rigging whilst Floris & a local would run out all the looms & patch them into dimmers. Once that was done I’d discuss Cyc colour and whilst someone did that, I’d ask for a licht plenn – bad spelling but means lighting plan – and then point at what lights I wanted to use from Front Of House as my 3 colour front wash, discuss the focus with the locals & they pretty much just went away & did it each time or I had to speak very little!! Gold! Whilst doing the FOH stuff, Floris would plug up the booms, flash through ‘our’ lights and then he’d go up and focus & I’d stand DS and bring up each light as required. By the end of the tour, the whole overhead focus took approx 20-25mins as Floris knew the shots backwards & as he’d take his hands off a light, I’d bring up the next. Dan & Paul worked in tandem as well. Paul quickly learnt how, where & why Dan wanted his desk set up and did so accordingly. From starting at 1300, we were generally set-up, ready for a show & on lunch by 1500, 1530 at the latest...!! Gold!
By Day 3 Dan & m
yself were confident enough to know how we needed to work & Day 5 we were loving the way it worked. The Dutch style of touring is SO different to Aus, the States & the UK & from the quickness & effortless way in which it was all able to happen, hence the “Dutch Oven Principle” was born! Upon arrival, sorry, after coffee & hello’s, I’d help Floris & Paul unload all the gear with the locals whilst Dan discussed which fly bars to use for our show and by the time the trucks were unloaded, I called in LX 4 and worked DS rigging whilst Floris & a local would run out all the looms & patch them into dimmers. Once that was done I’d discuss Cyc colour and whilst someone did that, I’d ask for a licht plenn – bad spelling but means lighting plan – and then point at what lights I wanted to use from Front Of House as my 3 colour front wash, discuss the focus with the locals & they pretty much just went away & did it each time or I had to speak very little!! Gold! Whilst doing the FOH stuff, Floris would plug up the booms, flash through ‘our’ lights and then he’d go up and focus & I’d stand DS and bring up each light as required. By the end of the tour, the whole overhead focus took approx 20-25mins as Floris knew the shots backwards & as he’d take his hands off a light, I’d bring up the next. Dan & Paul worked in tandem as well. Paul quickly learnt how, where & why Dan wanted his desk set up and did so accordingly. From starting at 1300, we were generally set-up, ready for a show & on lunch by 1500, 1530 at the latest...!! Gold! My LX Desk - all marked out in a language that prob only I could understand!
Calling spots was funny! They called it Stage Left & Stage Right as the yanks & poms do (us Aussies call it Prompt & Opposite Prompt & can adapt!) but the Dutch Stage Left was our Stage Right and vice versa! So I didn’t get confused whilst calling I asked them how to pronounce it in Dutch! Granted I couldn’t get the right amount of ‘cough/flem’ on the right accent but Stage Right became Stage Rec-sht & Stage Left was Stage Linx! Very funny and confusing!
Some of the local architecture of the streets.
Another fine tradition that Dutch Theatre has is to buy the touring crew beer at the end of a night! I have never been one to mess with tradition...! It’s a great idea & most night we only had the one drink & then bailed back to Amsterdam but it was a really nice way to wrap up a day with the crew who had backed you up. Especially at the beginning of the day, it’s a great way to actually meet & have a chat with the crew rather than a brief introduction & a hand shake as you start telling the
m what to do.
m what to do.
Floris, myself, Paul & Dan - The Pirates Of The Canals & an action shot! More to be explained....
No comments:
Post a Comment