Excuse me sir your wires are showing

I've always noticed (and continue to notice) the same thing about bands. They almost never take the time to dress wires, and that includes me as well. I'm a lot more careful about it when I'm DJing.

That's just poor practice or laziness, nothing more.

Certainly, DJs are neurotic about wires - but, hospitality events are different and many people go to great lengths to decorate and create a unique and elaborate impression.

Stages can be different, but I just did the strike for an arts fest with a large stage complete with extensive lighting rigs and sound - and while backstage might have some of this spaghetti, it is still far better than the mess shown in this photo, and the stage itself does not have any of that clutter.

It's entirely possible (and expected) to do AV or stage events with a clean and neat finish. Here's a link to a meeting I did on Monday that includes 22 microphones, 4 audio destinations, 3 video destinations, and 11 video screens. Save for the television crew who has to run cable to the camera positions - there is no such spaghetti here.

Jeff Romard said:

DJ's panic about a corner of a wire popping from under a table...Sound guys are allowed to run wild

This is a local guy a very good and in demand sound guy

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This proves that in countries outside of the USA the people's options for services are more limited...

One good thing about the USA is there are more options available to consumers than anywhere else. Competition sparks more desire to be organized, higher end, try to provide more value etc.

DJ Ricky B said:

This proves that in countries outside of the USA the people's options for services are more limited...

One good thing about the USA is there are more options available to consumers than anywhere else. Competition sparks more desire to be organized, higher end, try to provide more value etc.

Click to expand...

I don't see where you arrive at such a conclusion.

He's local and in demand, and based on his setup he's making a concerted effort to make due with what he has, presumably to give the customer a larger outcome than their budget would typically allow. He has a digital mixer and associated RIO for up to 32 channels, his PA is fine. It's the expensive high quality inter-connects that have been left out.

The issue cited is the mess of cables. Cleaning this up however, gets very expensive very quickly. An NL8 Speaker cable is 10 times more expensive than the same length of XLR. Multi-channel amps are expensive and so too, are quality stage snakes. If a pristine stage is not the priority a vendor who already owns plenty of XLR and some active speakers can achieve the expanded capability desired without acquiring a higher level of PA management.

You have to go all in or not at all, and for the type of event depicted - he is simply working with what he has to stay within their limited budget. There are plenty of events that fall into this slot, so he's probably quite active.

There are those who don't care about a good clean setup. All they know is they got the event to do and are getting paid. For others it's about having a good clean setup and wouldn't have it any other way.

I had to learn to do my best to make my setup a good clean look. I used to didn't care what my setup looked like. I got a job to do and that's it.

As a live sound guy for the last 20 years....
I have to admit that we are guilty of this, and it drives me nuts.
The company I work for does mostly community festivals.
Which means, you're setting up and breaking down several bands on the same stage in one day.
(sometimes multiple stages)
We usually have 30-minutes or less to make the switch.

As a DJ for the last 40 years....
I always do as much as I can to "neaten" things up on the stage I am at.
If we have ONE act, we all do our best to make it look nice.
(well, SOME of us try harder than others)

Honestly I used to not think of things needing to be neat and looking good as a big deal. My thing was I'm getting paid, so as long as I do a great job it didn't matter what the setup look like. I took enough of a beating that I got to understand the importance of a good looking setup. It's not just about the client you're working for but also you never know what guest is there that either may need a DJ or know someone in the future that may be looking to book a DJ. Depending on the type of event how you dress is very important as well.

I don't think the issue is as simple as "always has to be neat."

Ultimately, it always has to be safe.
The purpose of the event matters a great deal. If 'hosting and entertaining' is the goal (such as weddings) then a great deal of effort goes into decorating and dressing for the occasion which can be applied in equal measure to how both the people and the space are dressed.

In other events the goal may be different, and while being "neat" goes hand in hand with safety - it may not require that all items be masked or "dressed" for the purpose of decor or elegance.

I often use a table skirt not simply to hide wires, but to give myself some privacy and storage space while also making a clear barrier between my wires and other people's foot traffic.

Properly dressing wires is a hallmark of professionalism, so even in a frame tent with no other decor - fixtures flown above have wires that are neatly dressed to avoid distraction. The gear should all look like it's permanently installed if we want people to feel safe and and be impressed by our work.

To truly convey safety we have to address BOTH the mechanical installation and it's appearance because seeing is believing. (For example, consider how many people refuse to cross perfectly engineered cable or rope bridges based solely on the way they look.) We can equally undermine our own professionalism by failing to address the appearance of our own presence.