Band Scene XII: Hawk's Nest March 31st

Saturday night I helped out the staff engineer for another show at the Nest. Pete, the engineer, told me the bands might be a pain because they were the "artsy" type. You really have to learn to expect just about anything from live shows. The bands could be just regurgitating what they did in the studio or they could be a whole different animal. To tell you the truth, I hadn't heard any music by The Moog or The Crash Moderns, so all of this was a surprise. On top of that the ear infection I had was particularly clogged, and I had only about 30% hearing in my right ear, just not-so-ideal for mixing, or hearing in general. Anyway the show was scheduled to start at 8 so the bands said they would load in at 7. Well The Moog and half of The Crash Moderns showed up around 7:20, and they immediately started setting up, which was nice because they were late. Before they arrived, I helped Pete set up the four monitors, the two sub-speaker stands on each side of the stage with the amp rack and the microphone cables. The monitors were an assortment of Fender and Yamaha, and the speakers were powered Mackies and one sub was a powered Mackie and the other was a passive Yamaha. I suppose the Hawk's Nest already owned one sub and wanted to get a powered one with powered mains as well. So since the Hawk's Nest is the most minimal definition of a music club- 10' by 15' 6" high stage with 3 par cans for lights and broken chairs and tables strewn around the area, as well as the other half of the eating area where anyone who is there to eat but not for the show, can eat and watch the enormous prehistoric projection TV at unreasonable volumes. I have still not been able to understand why big name bands like The Format or Senses Fail would want to play there. As for the setup of mics and DIs, The Crash Moderns had 3 vocals (SM 58), 2 Vox guitar amps (SM 57), 3 keyboards- more like the dream combination of keys: a Moog Voyager, a Fender Rhodes, and a Roland Juno synth. So the keyboard outs went into their own rackmount DI and then into the snake. The kick (Beta 52A) and toms (clip on SM 57) are the only drums that need amplification again because of the tiny sized venue. So after helping Danny of The Crash Moderns bring in some merchandise from their minivan, it was time to just wait for the rest of the opening act to arrive. Fast forward to 8:45, and the three other Crash Moderns show up and the set begins. The sound booth, with is a 6' x 6' plywood box about 30' away from the front of the stage houses the essential gear: Allen & Heath 16 channel mixer (with effects), three various graphic EQs, 2 dbx 166XL compressors, and a 25-CD magazine player for those moments when the band just isin't there. So with a talkback mic and a stereo out from the CD player, there's only 13 usable channels of the board, not quite a "safe" amount for any live show. As the Moderns were getting their monitor mixes straightened out with Pete, I was wondering what their sound was like, with tight black apparel and an assortment of tattoos. For the real answer just check out their myspace website. I think they're nothing what the looked like...if stereotypes are what they seem. Lead singer Danny brings clear vocals to the overall Green Day American rock and Panic! synth-pop sounds. I enjoyed hearing a band that plays what they want, and not just what the crowd wants. I wish them success in the future, they certainly have the talent to attain their highest goals. After a few tweaking of mics and monitor mixes The Moog was all ready to go. Now, I had no idea what I was in for with a Hungarian band. I'm not sure they were in for either, as this was their first college show in the United States. Like The Crash Moderns, The Moog had two guitars, the same drumkit but only 2 vocals and one small Moog. Not surprisingly their songs are mostly in English as far as I could tell from their thick accents and from their myspace page, but they had an unusual vibe about them that perhaps us Americans could not appreciate or understand. Maybe it was the poofy hairstyles or the broken English they used. Talented musicians, yes; very different than anything in this country, also yes. Imagine taking a fast paced 4/4 group like The Strokes and adding incredible dynamics and chords not often heard in rock and roll, and you then have The Moog. Most of the audience was intrigued just by their foreign accents and appearances, but some were turned off by their performance, others were very pleased. Let's say I wouldn't spend money to go see them again, but I'd be more than entertained if they came back to the Nest. Overall it was an excellent first show for me helping engineer, albeit the lack of stereo hearing was a big damper on my sonic abilities. This Thursday Sound The Alarm from Bethel, Pennsylvania will be at the Nest. Review soon to follow.