Quick tip 233 Who’s responsible

If you are faced with problems to do with sound or equipment while playing a show, who is responsible? Well it depends. There are situations where things are out of your hands, like festivals, where there is a sound crew and a tight schedule between bands, or a high-end venue, where the sound man is a house engineer and takes a good care of the equipment.

But apart from that, unless you have hired a sound company that you know and trust, you are responsible. If you arrive into a new venue, it is your responsibility to find out what equipment they have, arrive early enough to do a soundcheck and solve any possible problems in advance. The other day we had a problem with a lead provided by the venue. I was happy to find the problem during the soundcheck, one less thing to go wrong during the show.

Also if the venue has a sound crew, did you provide them all the required information in advance? Stage plan, and any other requirements? What always gets me is band nights where the venue has informed the bands that there is a drum kit, but the bands need their own snare, cymbals and kick pedal, and there is always one drummer looking to borrow all of the above from someone else… At the end of the day, who is responsible? You are!

J.P.