It is that easy. But I'm not exactly hip anymore.
I have not worried about anybody touching my stand in at least 5 years. The only people who even approach it, do so very respectfully, going so far as to approach with their hands behind their backs, and asking very honestly curious questions. I've even gone so far as to walk away from my rig during the intermissions, and, load-in / load-out of the audiences, and had no issues. The only time in the last several years that my mic stand has been tipped over was at my own hands, from trying to reach too far with the boom arms, horizontally.
This includes typically setting up in the center of the center aisle, which is the only way in and out of the venue.
But, if you like the popular musics, I guess that you have to deal with the attendees of that music.
I'm fifty. I've been recording and trading music for over thirty years. I've never been accused of being hip in anyone's circles. Bluegrass and old country are hip, now, I guess. Who knew? It wasn't when I was growing up. I'm not talking about the flavor-of-the-day indie pop bands - if I go to those, I pretty much know what to expect. Sure, I was into GBV for a long stretch there, but their core fans hold tapers in high esteem - the rowdiest folks at one of those shows were up on stage. Only at the one GBV show did I have any problems, and that was an anomaly: a free show put on by the city, where underage kids were somehow allowed in the 21+ drinking area, which happened to be where the soundboard and the tapers were. A bad combination to be sure, but also an unusual set of circumstances, and the security seemed to be virtually non-existent. It wasn't a regular GBV show, and many of the people there were not their fans, or the situation would have actually been much better. The majority of that crowd attended an event where it was very easy to get access to alcohol, and that was the real problem.
We certainly weren't expecting any trouble at the YMSB show - a bluegrass band, pricey tickets, assigned seating, and a ton of security (who, to our amazement, did nothing all night). Someone apparently has decided that they were "hip", though, so that's where all the kids have to be, I guess. Although, it's been suggested to me that the kids will flock to see just about anything at that venue, which was a place my wife and I were unfamiliar with. Funny - my wife and I have worked at festivals where the same band played, with a few more thousand people in the crowd, and I had no worries about leaving my rig, if I needed to. Again, I referred to an isolated situation that was way out of hand - more likely the venue than the music.
One of the festivals we worked featured Willie Nelson as a headliner. You should have seen the kids turn out for that one. Better scratch Willie off my list, I guess. MMW, I started recording at a shack in Tampa, when no one knew who they were. Now that they've built themselves up a sizeable following, I guess I should stop going to their shows as well. I grew up with Jethro Tull - I never even imagined they'd still be around these days, much less appeal to a younger crowd, as well as the really rowdy long-time fans who are older than me. Same with Spider John Koerner and Tony Glover - how the kids found out about those guys and decided they were cool is beyond me, but now I should probably stop recording their shows too. Hmmm, let's see.... I saw some teens at a David Bromberg show, so that rules him out, same with Alison Krauss... hell, I guess I'll have to just stop going to see live music altogether, and settle for listening to other people's recordings in the safe confines of my La-Z-Boy, I reckon!
It sounds like someone might be making some presumptions about my musical tastes, or they're reading too much in between the lines, perhaps. In over three decades, I've encountered a few incidents, but most of it has been pretty smooth sailing. My observations about people's behavior at shows were just that - observations. Most of the time, it doesn't have anything to do with me, or pose any threat to my rig, it's just curious behavior to see. Just because I mentioned a few occurrences, doesn't mean it's hopeless. If in five years' time, you've somehow managed to only attend un-"popular" shows with nice polite audiences, you are very fortunate, though - I don't believe we've all had that same experience every single time.
Topic: Mics, mic stands and Wookies - what is the solution?? (Read 10464 times)