Prom Pics for Chuck (more behind the scenes)

[Valerie Hicks]

Small school on an indian reservation. Always have a good dance here.

A day in the life....

Day started with leaving at 9:30am from our shop. Some bad roads slowed us a bit but we still arrived 1/2 hour early. Arrived at 1:30, 270 miles later (time change set the clock back 1 hr). Cop arrived with key to let us in about 2:10 and we got to work. Were loaded in and set up by 6....with plenty of time to hunt down a problem in an amplifier. 7pm out to the truck for a sandwich. 7:20 back inside to get cued up for dance start at 8. 7:50 they let the kids in and we basically get going. Dance ends at midnight, and we pack up in good time, pulling out of their lot at 3am and heading to the local finest motel, super 8. Another bite to eat before going to sleep about 4am. Up at 9am and take our turns in the shower. Leave for home at 10am (time change means its 11am at home). Stop at DQ partway home for a Blizzard, and pull into our shop at 4:30.

Some photos to share.....

This is our newly built amp rack. Soon the amp rack to the left and distro far left will be rebuilt in the same manner.

 

[Jon Tuck]

awesome Val how did the kids like it. Thanks for sharing the details. Im in awe here.

 

[Valerie Hicks]

Some more gear pics...

Our new "closet", a box we built to be lockable, and substantial enough to not be able to break in easily. This houses our music, laptops, camera/tripod and other valuables. It also contains little sundries like toolbox, spare lamps, and handy necessities.

The Red Fuzzy Box is our cord box. Affectionately donned because our original cord box, the top portion, was for many years covered with red astro turf. It was put on a steel frame with a drawer below. Both portions are comfortably full of cables when loaded. Here they are shown with the ones we don't need for an Ultimate VideoDance.

A photo of our mirror stand and the box that stores/transports the mirrors, screens and projectors. The mirror box holds 2-3'x4' mirrors & stands, 2-9x12' screens and 2 projectors.

The lighting control. This is where I work.

A par can shot.

And especially for Chuck, the back of one outer stack of speakers.

 

[Valerie Hicks]

And lastly, a few actual dance pics.

 

[Valerie Hicks]

awesome Val how did the kids like it. Thanks for sharing the details. Im in awe here.

Went well. 4 hours is a long dance for a small number of kids, but they had a good time. Played everything from country to techno to No Diggity. THey like older stuff like that, so it's pretty easy to find music. Loved the Macarena [shudder]. Loved the Cha Cha Slide. Loved Jitterbugs. Loved Get Low. Liked about everything.

Gave out 2 biz cards to adults for other events (not bad considering attendance is like 100 kids). The staff were thrilled to see us back. We didn't make it last year (scheduling issue I think). Our price went up for over $1000 since the last time we were there. No issue what-so-ever. One gentleman asked about price as he is responsible for an event in a few years. He expected to pay much more than the contract for this event!! Good news in the way of future raises.

 

[Precisionpower]

Val,
Give Steve some kudo's on the fine fabracation of the amp rack.

He really does some great work, Building and wiring that stuff up.

Looks great!!!

 

[DJ SVO]

DDDDDDDDDDdddddddddddddrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Damn need to mop all this junk up.

 

[jkcomputers]

Man I get soo jealous every time I see pictures...

 

[Precisionpower]

Man I get soo jealous every time I see pictures...

You should See,Hear, And Feel that rig in action.......

 

[djMarco]

I simply dont know what to say-Perfect.
Are there some Carver amps?

 

[Valerie Hicks]

Yeah, Carver and Crest. The old stuff. We'd like to add another PT2400 or two, but unfortunately (?) we have enough amps we don't really *need* to! Some day we'll pull the Crest 5000 off subs and move up in the rack, and add a PT2400 so we can pull 2 small amps that are currently on subs (would save me a couple 60' speaker cord runs).

 

[1cdj]

Val
did you say that you increased the rate by more than $1000 or up over $1000 I would guesstimate that it costs $1000s just for you guys to show up.

very very impressive.

another question, in your area are most of the Proms in gymnasiums like the last couple of sets of pics? Round here all the dances are in Gyms except prom, maybe homecoming too, so even though Prom is a "bigger" dance for the students its 90% of the time, less equipment for us.

kyle

 

[djMarco]

Yeah, Carver and Crest. The old stuff. We'd like to add another PT2400 or two, but unfortunately (?) we have enough amps we don't really *need* to! Some day we'll pull the Crest 5000 off subs and move up in the rack, and add a PT2400 so we can pull 2 small amps that are currently on subs (would save me a couple 60' speaker cord runs).

Yap Val, But this old stuff works.Am i right?

 

[MBM]

That huge setup for 100 kids, OMG

Price up $1000, around here they wouldn't want to pay more that $700-$800 for a 100 kid dance.

That is one very impressive setup and your performance and sales skills must be equally as great.

 

[Precisionpower]

Yap Val, But this old stuff works.Am i right?

Bass hits hard enough to startle the kid..........I'd say it works very well!!

 

[DJ Cam]

Everytime I get a call for a school dance I quote $1000 to $1500 Then then tell me they paid $500 last year and are looking fo a better price.


I have given up on the thought of school dances I'll stick to Sweet 16's

 

[Chuck The DJ]

Love dem "behind the sceans" shots!!!

Lots of work, some may say to much, but you know the feeling that you get after the gig?

I remember driving home after busting my butt setting up my show, kicking butt during the dance, tearing it all down and on the way home the high I would have from doing it!!

Not as big as yours, but back in da day,,, it was pretty cool...

I'm sorry but you can not put a price on that!

Mahalo nui loa Val!!!!

 

[Valerie Hicks]

Val
did you say that you increased the rate by more than $1000 or up over $1000 I would guesstimate that it costs $1000s just for you guys to show up.

very very impressive.

another question, in your area are most of the Proms in gymnasiums like the last couple of sets of pics? Round here all the dances are in Gyms except prom, maybe homecoming too, so even though Prom is a "bigger" dance for the students its 90% of the time, less equipment for us.

kyle

Kyle,
The price increased by over $1000 since the last time we were there. This contract didn't quite make $3000 though.

Yes, most of our proms are in the gym/community center. Most places around here don't have a facility available for a formal event anyway. Look up Eagle Butte SD on the internet. Not much out there. Homecomings are pretty much always in a gym or a room larger than a gymnasium. Some of our customers book us for homecoming, some for prom, some for their winter formal. Different schools have a different 'important' event. Our prom this weekend is in the commons, a fairly small area for us to set up in. Next weekend is in a big community building on the fairgrounds.

In a standard size gym, we will span the end of the court with the bleachers pushed back. In a small gym, we can span the length of the court.