The video below shows the terrible effects of a bored sound engineer:

Aladdin in Greystones Theatre

I had the amazing pleasure of doing the sound for St. Brigid’s School’s production of Mary Poppins and Aladdin! It ran for 2 nights in the Greystones Theatre. Usually these kids’ show are very samey, but this one blew me away!

The “Junior Choir” opened the night with their production of Mary Poppins, going through all the songs from Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! to A Spoonful of Sugar. They belted out the tunes and narrated the story before the interval when the “Senior Choir” got ready to perform Aladdin!

Not a normal Aladdin Script!

This was no normal Aladdin script though – this was a specially adapted version called Aladdin Jr. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life! It generally followed the same story, but the language was a lot easier and it was much funnier – although the lead characters still had a huge amount of lines to learn! Keep in mind that these kids are all under 12!

The cast of Aladdin performing in Greystones Theatre

The Genie was hilarious – and somehow was always the one who ended up having to ad-lib to cover up silences! Aladdin and Jasmine both blew the audience away with their singing on “A Whole New World”. The narrators remembered a very large chunk of the script and kept us informed of all the developments in Aladdin’s love affair!

I just have to commend all the kids and teaching staff that were involved in that production! I would have watched it a few more times if I could have!

Now the fun bit!

Mix position which got surprisingly busy at times!

The 4 main characters wore Sennheiser mics, and took care of them very well! I was slightly worried about giving packs to kids this small, but they were impeccably behaved!

The rest of the cast were picked up by4 AKG mics across the front of the stage, as well as 3 more hanging above the stage.

The narrators used one of 3 SM58′s across the front of the stage. These were also used for some solo songs by cast members who were not individually mic’d.

The band consisted of keys, 2 guitars, bass, drum machine and a flute.

I was mixing on a Yamaha M7CL digital desk, and ended up using 28 channels in total!

A document which is provided in advance of a show, defining the types of equipment to be used, the staff to be provided, and various business arrangements.

I have seen my fair share of riders over the years. They are monotonous and written in solicitor language and are ALWAYS in the most boring typewriter font possible. Except the Foo Fighters’ one for their 2008 tour of the USA and Canada.

Before we all get to giggle over it, lets take a look at some other strange requests that have been seen on riders:

• Van Halen requested in the technical rider that a bowl of M&Ms be provided in their dressing room with the brown ones removed (failure to do so would not only mean that the band would not perform, but the venue would still have to pay the full fee. The objective of this wasn’t due to any excesses on the part of the band, but was a method to determine how much attention to detail the crew at a local venue paid to the requests specified in the rider. Should the bowl be absent, or if brown M&Ms were present, it would give band members reason to suspect other, legitimate, technical and safety issues were also being performed poorly or were outright overlooked.
• Eric Clapton‘s rider required a space for his football table.
• Queen requested a mud wrestling ring and wrestlers outside the dressing room for post-performance entertainment.
• Frank Sinatra‘s rider included an ear, nose, and throat specialist with Decadron as well as an assortment of alcohol.
• Johnny Cash required an American flag on stage.
• Paul McCartney requested a sweep of the venue by bomb-sniffing dogs before the show.
• Elton John requires that his dressing room be kept at “60 °F in summer and 70 °F in winter.”
• Razorlight request a plate of corn bread and an assortment of NME magazines that include themselves
• Jimmy Buffett has the option of refusing to perform if any door is opened to the auditorium during his soundcheck.
• Iggy Pop‘s entire rider was written by Jos Grain, his roadie, in a humorous style that included foolish suggestions for reality television shows, running commentary on past events, and wordplay involving the requests made.
• Bruce Springsteen has the venue caterers prepare finger food for his children, and his saxophone player Clarence Clemons has an entire roasted chicken sent to his dressing room halfway through the performance.

Now, onto the Foo Fighters: