entertainment Archives - Dangerd

booklife.com Reviews Stagehand

danger_Admin — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 06:50:10 +0000

Aretsky reveals the often invisible people who prop up the people who prop up the famous—the technicians who skillfully bring the creative vision of artists to life. Aretsky has served as stagehand, lighting director, monitor engineer, and more for hundreds of concerts and live performances, and this lively memoir shares encounters with the likes of Prince (he let Aretsky keep a purple tambourine), Lita Ford (“nice person, tough and totally focused on her music”), Rickie Lee Jones (who declares “If I don’t get a new monitor guy, we’re canceling the show!”), and many others. Aretsky also digs into his personal journey, across past and present and states and countries, documenting many adventures—as a dedicated partner, as a single man trying modern dating in his 50s, and as an enthusiast of life. Following a brief glimpse into his professional past as a lighting technician at a porn-industry award show in 1988, the story opens in 2019, as Aretsky processes the end of a 28-year relationship through journal entries that reveal his raw emotions and disorientation.

From there, the narrative follows an erratic structure that mimics a life in which Aretsky allowed himself to be carried wherever opportunity led across 40 years in show business—living for years with friends at the “Treehouse,” a massive three-story structure resembling a cruise ship perched on a hill; shooting drone footage across Alaska; developing an intense dislike for Art Garfunkel after a particularly difficult production. Interwoven with these vivid tales are fond memories of adventures with his ex-girlfriend and accounts of more recent adventures—a Bumble match with a single mother trying IVF again, rekindling past friendships and attractions.

The anecdotal approach means there’s not much narrative momentum, but Aretsky’s crisp, self-aware writing style and unwavering dedication to his craft—both as stagehand and storyteller—compel, as does his philosophical approach to life’s uncertainties. Aretsky reminds us that often the most interesting stories belong to those standing just outside the spotlight.

Takeaway: Lively memoir of a life setting the stage for great entertainers.

Comparable Titles: Phil Kaufman’s Road Mangler Deluxe, Pat Egan’s Backstage Pass.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

https://booklife.com/projectid/9c86ee50-eda5-11ef-a5ff-547275647911

The post booklife.com Reviews Stagehand appeared first on Dangerd.

Drum Tao

danger_Admin — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 20:53:53 +0000

Today’s show is with Drum Tao. If you don’t know what Taiko drums are, they’re a type of Japanese drum which tend to range up into the size I would call enormous.

There will be other instruments on stage too such as the Koto, a large zither (think steel guitar for country music fans, or a lay down harp for classical people).

I’ve also seen a shamisen around (think Japanese three string banjo type instrument). The shamisen is made of animal skin with a wooden body and neck.

There are also various symbols and small percussion instruments laying around.

I understand that there are also flute players on this show, and I just ran into one playing one of his flutes in the hallway backstage.

There’s lots of dancers in the show, using sticks and long staffs in ways that are much in the style of martial arts. You probably wouldn’t want to get in a fight with anyone on this stage! The show also has a lot of seemingly contemporary pieces in it. It’s not just old school. The mix is refreshing. The Wardrobe is great too.

The thing about Taiko is it’s LOUD, really loud. And those big drums produce a lot of low frequency, so the sound really hits you hard. It would be difficult to not be excited sitting in the house when they start to play. It should be an exhilarating show for tonight’s audience.

Today has been an easy day for me, being on the audio crew, as there are only five mics on the floor and six hanging in the air provided by us (the house crew). The company brought their own lighting and sound boards but they are very small so all of the setup was done rather quickly. They also bought their own wireless mic kit and we don’t have to worry about operating any of that as they travel with audio and lighting techs.

This is one of the nice things about being a tech, although some days can be a lot of work, others are relatively simple. And we also get to see a lot of different kinds of shows (and other types of events), just not from the angle you’re suppose to view them from most of the time. Last night was good old time Rock and Roll and today we have traditional Japanese music. Another great thing is the people change daily too, so we meet people from all over the world. Most of the people who are on this crew tonight do not speak English, but tech’s have our own language anyway so we seem to be able to communicate and get the job done despite the language barrier. I sometimes wonder if this translates into any other business? In any case it’s great to work alongside people from another culture and observe how they do things.

The post Drum Tao appeared first on Dangerd.

Chubby Checker

danger_Admin — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 21:08:47 +0000

I’m working with Chubby Checker tonight and to be honest I forgot just how good his band sounds. Jim (keys), Avery (guitar), Harry (drums), Joseph (bass), and Branden (sax).

The sound of that Hammond organ is classic. They are unbelievably exciting! That old rock and roll sound. Then there’s Chubby delivering the lead vocals with an unmistakable voice. (But he’s also unmistakably not here for sound check.)

This marks the fourth time I’ve worked with them, first in 1998, New Years Eve 2000, 2018 and now.

I’m on stage as an A2 for sound check and they are playing The Fats Domino song Blueberry Hill. It sounds great up here. That’s in good part due to Kerry’s awesome monitor mix.

Last time Chubby Checker was here in 2018 with Frankie Avalon. I wrote about that in the manuscript for my (hopefully) soon to be published book Stagehand: A Backstage Pass to my Life Stories. (I gave a copy of the chapter to his manager Shelly for him today.)

Today has been a more smooth running day than that last one, when we had a few technical problems.

Opening the show tonight is Gary Lewis and the Playboys, we’re moving along to sound check them right now. Ideally the bands will soundcheck in reverse order, which they’re doing today but didn’t happen last time. Really Chubby doesn’t need an opening band to make him sound better, but he definitely has one. I’d give a more thorough review but Mom always said if I can’t say something good just say nothing at all. Well I guess I can say that the band members are all friendly and play well, I suppose I’m just not a fan of the singer Gary’s style of vocals.

It’s also another night filled with rolling risers for the drums and keyboards and also re-patching inputs between bands like a lighter version of last night with Jim Messina, no big deal though.

It’s easier working tonight because Jack and Kerry (our house crew) are mixing the show on our own desks, so no guest audio engineers or audio gear belonging to anyone else.

At showtime Chubby takes the stage singing Good Lovin, written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick. It was a #1 hit single for the Young Rascals in 1966. Chubby doesn’t look or sound a day older than the last time he was here, this guy just knows how to rock! He’s dancing all over the place, out in the audience, all over the stage, singing up a storm and the band is killing it! They are as tight as a band could be. The audience is going crazy. If you have never seen Chubby Checker in concert I suggest you try to catch him if you can. There is a reason why Chubby Checker is a legend.Definitely the kind of show that makes me glad to be working on this stage.

The post Chubby Checker appeared first on Dangerd.

What the Hell Do Stagehands Do Anyhow?

danger_Admin — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 21:38:48 +0000

It turns out that a lot of people ask this question when I tell them what I do for work. Actually, we call ourselves technical services, or tech services – or just techs.

Turns out we do a lot. I like to say, “We do disaster mitigation,” or “chaos wrangling”. To be serious we do many jobs and depending on which part of the industry – stage, TV, film, studio etc. will determine our job descriptions.

Let’s concentrate on live performance, stage work, since that is where I primarily work these days.

In the theater we break down into three basic departments:

Audio, Electric (that’s lighting to you), and Carpentry (or carps).

Within the departments are many job descriptions. So let’s take a look at what they are.

The Audio Department (The Noise Boys)

The first position in the audio department would be the sound guy most audience members are familiar with, the Front of House Engineer, or FOH.

He or she would be the person standing behind the sound board located in the house (the place where the audience sits.) The FOH engineer is the person responsible for making sure the sound the audience hears sounds great, and a lot of the time he is the lead for the audio crew, in charge of putting together the PA (public address system) and amplifiers (amps).

Next up would be the Monitor Engineer.

This position is responsible for the sound that the performers hear. In my opinion this is the most technical job in the theater (or venue). Why? Because, while the FOH guy’s mix is generally a stereo mix (maybe with some fill), the Monitor mix may be 4, 5, 6 or more than a dozen separate mixes all tailored to each performer, some of them in stereo and mixed straight to their ears.

To assist the two board operators is our next crew member called the A2.

The A2 is responsible for setting up microphones and DI (Direct Input) boxes, running cable, passing out RF (wireless mics) and making sure they are properly placed and attached to the talent. The A2 is also the liaison between the talent and the monitor engineer (and FOH), helping to let the engineer(s) know what the performers need to hear. And of course the A2 is responsible for fixing whatever disasters happen on stage during the show. Sometimes there will be more than a single A2. This by the way is my preferred position, or video projectionist – which brings us to the next job on the audio crew.

The Video projectionist is responsible for anything having to do with getting an image from a computer to the screen. There’s a lot between the two, maybe I’ll talk about that later. There are also sometimes camera operators to do IMAG (image magnification) so the audience can see the performers close up on screen (or for recording purposes).

The Lighting and Electric Department

(Blinkies / Sparkies)

First up is the LD or Lighting Director or ME (Master Electrician) (if you don’t count the lighting designer who is often the same person).

The LD will most often be found in the same location of the house during the show as the FOH Audio Engineer. During the show the LD will run the light board controlling all the lighting and effects such as atmosphere (hazeer) strobes, mirror balls,etc. Most of the hard work is in the design and hang of the instrument plot beforehand, which the LD will be a part of. The ME is also responsible for tie-in and distribution of power for the venue, and shore power for touring vehicles.

Next on lighting would be the assistant to the LD/ME who essentially does the same work as the LD and works a lot with the electric crew, supervising during the hang of the lighting plot while the LD/ME is busy with paperwork etc.

Then there are the Spotlight Operators who I’m going to assume if you have ever been to a live show, you have seen their work. They take commands from the LD over com (our technical communications system via headsets) and follow performers around the stage to highlight their performances.

Everyone on the lighting/electric crew including the ME, AME and crew will all work together to take the lighting plot (the drawing showing where the lighting instruments will hang on pipes or trusses, or sit on the floor) from drawing to reality. This includes a lot of hard work running massive amounts of heavy cables and hanging heavy lighting fixtures. Nowadays there is also a lot of networking and programming involved for moving lights.

Let’s move along to the Carpentry Crew.

The Carpentry Crew (carps / fish / splinters)

It may sound like the electrics do a lot of work but the real muscle of a theater is probably most often the Carp crew. You may think they build stuff out of wood (which they do) but wait! There’s more. Aside from sometimes assembling massive sets made of wood and steel / aluminum, the carps have a lot more to do.

The Master Carpenter/ Rigger (MC) is the person responsible for planning and implementing such things as: staging and rigging. Including SAFELY hanging chain motors which hold up lighting truss, set pieces, projection screens and any other objects that need to be in the air, including people. The Master Carp, his assistant (AMC) and crew also run and maintain the fly system and the Rail. The fly system is a massive machine which encompasses the whole of the flyhouse (everything above the stage floor). All the running rigging- wires,ropes (lines to us), pipes (battens), pulleys, blocks and arbors, where counterweights are loaded from the loading bridge, and other various parts (too much to mention right now).

Suffice it to say if it hangs in the air the carps are responsible for making sure it hangs safely! (In particular the riggers.)

The carps are also responsible for setting up things like “backline,” that’s all the band gear. They hang soft goods (all the black material that frames the stage) and drops (the big fancy paintings behind the performers). Then the flyperson at the Rail (the place you may see us pull on all those ropes) moves things up and down (out and in to stagehands) in order to change scenes or looks of a show.

Carps also do a lot of sweeping and mopping on the stage.

This is only the beginning of the description of the job.

In addition to all this, the carp crew sometimes lays out audience seating.

There’s also people working props and sets (scenery), wardrobe, and hair/makeup during Broadway-type shows.

In addition to all this work every crew loads in every show from truck to stage and back out the door at load out for each show.

And at the Cerritos Center all crew members work to set up our meeting rooms, including technical gear, and tables and seating for events.

Hours are long, sometimes starting early in the morning and ending in the middle of the night, then starting early the next day. Schedules are always subject to last minute changes and everyone is always expected to work at their maximum capacity. So tech services is not a job for the faint of heart.

Then there is a unique aspect to our building – configuration. All the walls, floors, seating and much of the ceilings are movable.

But we can talk about that later.

The post What the Hell Do Stagehands Do Anyhow? appeared first on Dangerd.