Decapolis Stage – Band Awards

 

I have a stage at Cornerstone which is a label showcase stage where labels contact me to try to get their bands to play Cornerstone.  I book the stage beforehand and when the fest rolls around I stage manage it as well – so I'm involved from start to finish.  This makes my perspective of the concerts very different than everyone elses.

 

I'm not there to have fun and watch the concert.  As the stage manager here are my priorities in order

 

1. Make sure kids don't get hurt
2. Providing bands with stuff they need
3. Keep the bands on time
4. Keep the sound guys happy

 

If after I get though all that, then I can have fun and watch the show.

 

If it's not a screaming band, then "#1.  Make sure kids don't get hurt" is pretty much safe.  If it a yelling band, then the first rule comes back into play and that's all I have to watch out for.  So even if a yelling band is good, my attention is now on kids and the band's friends on stage.  If kids are good and their friends on stage play nice, then I can relax and watch the show.  If however every single friend of the band feels like they need to be on stage for no reason at all, I send them off the side of the stage.  Then they get mad at me because they think they're in the band for some reason.

 

I was very very pleased with most bands.  For some reason the bands were way more professional than previous years.  Most bands did not have friends on stage, and when they had a photographer, they let me know beforehand.  They also let me know if there was a guest vocalist that would run up on stage for a chorus or two.  AND!!! The bands had their sets timed, so almost all of them ended within the time allotted to them.

 

Out of about 25 bands or so I only had 1 that was completely unprofessional and discourteous. I'll discuss it so you younger bands can learn from it.

 

There's something you need to realize about the space time continuum – we humans cannot manipulate time.  If you take 15 minutes extra getting your stuff together on stage, that same 15 minutes comes from somewhere else.  I cannot magically create and extend the day by fifteen minutes. 

 

Something that bands and kids don't see are the people working the stage.  Sound guys primarily.  These guys work the fest the entire day from like noon to 2AM and get this, they actually need to eat lunch and dinner.  So there was this band that was right before dinner, and they start 15 minutes late and near the end of their set when I told them they basically had no time left (2 minutes – most bands had ended by the 25-29 minute mark), they play another long song anyway – intentionally going over the time limit. 

 

So in total they removed twenty minutes from the sound guys' already short 45 minute dinner.  Basically leaving them time to run, get food and bring it back.  Not only did they affect the soundguys, but we were waiting to take the drums to another stage, the next band was waiting to set up and the previous band was waiting for the bass they had to lend to this band. 

 

This band also was preaching Christ during the set.  If you are going to preach Christ from stage, you better be Christ-like to others.  The sound guys weren't Christians – so what message did this band send them?  So you younger Christian bands, remember this. 

 

Fortunately this was the exception.  It is my hope that bands at a Christian festival would stand out and be different.  Since this was the most professional and courteous bands on my stage have ever been, I have hope.  Bands, remember, be a good witness to the soundguys too.  Be on time, end on time, be couteous to those working and then have fun with your crowd.  You can glorify God and put on a great show at the same time.

 

If you are an audience member, you can glorify God by obeying the rules, picking up your trash, picking up other people's trash and being courteous to the people around you.

 

Whew, now that you can see where I'm coming from I can go over my awards because that's how I saw the bands. 

 

Let's start off with something normal. 

 

Best Harmonies; Best In Between Song Banter - Last Tuesday. 

There were only a few bands that had much in the way of harmonies, much less three part harmonies.  And Last Tuesday absolutely owned in the ways of harmonies.  It was like listening to a CD they were so on.  Full on rock harmonies. Too bad punk rock isn't popular anymore cause in the mid nineties they would have done decently.  They were also funny in between songs - a rarity in the days of screaming and coolness.

 

Great All Around Show: House of Heroes.

This band is good.  In a couple years, you'll see their videos on MTV2 or something.  Really catchy, good rock, good harmonies.  While it's not my Best of Decapolis Stage, it is the most enjoyable cause I didn't have to worry about the crowd so I got to sit and watch.  So they were good and I got to relax – that makes an enjoyable show for me.

 

Best Show of a Band I never Heard Before: Subseven.

These guys really rocked, and in a good way.  Intense, melodic, professional and polite.  Good show.

 

Most Christ-like Band: Homeless J.

Someone has to be last in the fest - during the time that everyone is packing up.  Unfortunately for Homeless J, it was them.  So even though they had a very small crowd, they still put on a great show.  That's really hard.  But what really set them apart was not only that but they thanked the soundguys from stage - and after the show the lead singer took time out to thank the monitor guy personally before talking to people at their table.  Good stuff.  They thanked me too for doing whatever and all I really did was find them a cabinet.  I really got the sense that this band was in it for the right reasons. 

 

Best Band of a Decapolis Kid: Meryll

The lead singer of Meryll goes by the screen name "theposterkid" on the Decapolis message boards.  He has a really nice voice.  Very pleasing to listen to.  They play a laid back type of melodic rock.  As a stage manager, this is a great thing to have since you don't have to worry about kids going crazy.  I actually got to listen to some good music while I got to relax. 

 

Coolest Band that Didn't Play My Stage: bastian

After one of our devotionals at the stage a kid from a band I met last year was talking about how their band sold some merch this year and the band wanted to tithe.  Did you hear that?  The band… wanted to… tithe.  That's absolutely amazing.  They gave $50 to the ministry we're supporting in the Philippines.  They have a new recording out and it's pretty good.  They're off in the All American Rejects genre somewhere and it's good stuff.  You should check them out.

 

Best Band that I don't Know what award to give to: Ethan Durelle

These guys are super nice and play interesting music.  Their show was very enjoyable.

 

Best Artistic Band: Suffering and the Hideous Thieves.

They played twice and the second time they played I was impressed.  While I might not agree with how they might do some of their art (on their record), they do try to be different in a creative way and not "we're gonna do this cause it's weird" way.  It did help this time through because before they played a song, they'd explain it a bit, so we're not all left wondering what the heck they're talking about. 

 

Now we just have one major award to give out, Best of Decapolis Stage. 

 

But before we do that…

 

Awards I would Give Divebomber if I weren't in the band:

 

Most Fun Show – Divebomber.  Yes, we had a skank pit going, that's how much fun it was.  Everyone just dropped any coolness we had to ourselves and just let loose.  I mean, come on, skanking?  Remember what all them crazy ska kids did like five years ago?  Well I thought it'd be funny to resurrect it for a song.  We also did Stryper's "To Hell with the Devil".  How fun is that song?  And Julia got knocked in the head by not one member of our band, but two.  For our show, we just wanted people to smile and have fun. 

 

Only Band with a Girl as the lead singer: Divebomber

Okay, that's not really an award, but more of an observation.  Julia did great.  Okay, enough talk about her.  Lets focus the attention where it belongs, me.  I sang a song too.  I did "My Bike" from the Ghoti Hook days.  Okay, seriously, Julia was really good. 

 

Best Non-Band Moment: A dust-devil picking up a tent

So I'm like working during one of the bands' sets and I look out in the distance and I see a 3 person tent about 50-75 feet off the ground, floating.  For like 20 seconds.  It was as if someone made a kite out of a tent.  It also picked up plastic bags so you could see how high this dust devil was.  Some of those bags were circling hundreds of feet in the air.  So it really was like a tornado, but a really weak one.  Like if a real tornado were Revenge of the Sith, this tornado would be The Phantom Menace.

 

Bravest Moment: Conrad Catches a Snake in the Decapolis Tent.

Someone alerted me to the fact that there was a snake slithering around the tent.  So I went out, hunted it and caught it.  The snake must have been at least, at least, seven inches long.  Maybe even eight.  In its anger it then pooped on me. 

 

So now were finally to the Best of Decapolis Stage.  Could someone give me a Chugga-Chugga breakdown please…

 

Best of Decapolis Stage: The Huntingtons

It was their farewell show and man was it good.  It was tight, sounded great and energetic.  To bad I had to deal a couple disrespectful people in the audience, or else I would have had fun too.  Despite actually having to work hard during their show, I was able to watch a bit.  They brought back Cliffy for the final show – which was a nice touch and really the way to end the band.  Instead of the audience chanting "one more song," they were chanting "ten more years."  It was a great way to close the curtain on the band. 

 

So them thars my awards. 

 

I would like to thank the bands for being so professional and courteous.  You have given me hope that the next generation of 'Christian' bands could possibly make a positive difference in our world. 

 

I'd like to thank all the people who worked the stage.  The sound engineers for all their hard work, Corey and Don.  Ed from Cornerstone stopping by and checking to see if I needed anything.  The hospitality girls who gave the stage drinks.  All the volunteers for working the stage, Micah, Melenie, Jimmy & Jason, but most of all Kate.  Without you all, the stage and I would have been a wreck.