Time flies in the ointment

Recapping our past two gigs, one at the Performance Arcade and the other a birthday bash for the Hatman at San Fran I'm struck by how crucial technology is for our performance and by extension for life in general. We've seen sound systems break down mid-show, we've had subs go mid-show, projectors too old to work with our HDMI or drop out mid-show and pretty much anything that can happen has happened. Sometimes it's easy to cope with and others it's not. But as we're finding out we can still continue on with our show without anything amiss being noticed, most of the time.
Sometimes spending a day dealing with recalcitrant technology can drain the creativity, but then when the music starts to build in intensity, it all comes back and we start to hit a 'peak moment' which is what it's all about...the crowd dancing to the beat alongside the dancing visuals!

The pics and video here show two opposing setups, one indoors with a lovely bright screen backstage and the other with a huge not-so-bright screen on the container above us in a lovely outdoor venue on the waterfront.

As we like to say, it's all a work in progress, both creatively and in maximising the technology and equipment. For both of these we've all been connected -with Will's analog percussion and digital drum-machine feeding into Iain's synths and keyboards, while the audio passes through my software to trigger effects on the drawings - and it makes for a tighter show. Possibly higher risk? We'll find out as we go...

These were great gigs and lots of fun - now we're looking forward to the big CubaDupa festival on 30 March; the rumour is that Electric Fields will be playing too (fingers crossed that it won't be the same time-slot of 10-12 on the Saturday night!). We'll be adjacent to the Fortune Favours brewpub, a great site with buildings to project onto. Then we're thinking about cutting a single over winter..

Kuki Koori (incl Will Ricketts) at San Fran, Wellington

Kuki Koori (incl Will Ricketts) at San Fran, Wellington

Time flies

Whew, the proverbial time does fly past, not just when I'm busy getting ready for our "Time Flies" gig at the Performance Arcade next Thursday, but also when work is about to fly out the window and I need to be busy chasing either contract work or a full-time job.
At the least we're almost ready for our performance, with 4 days to go. Last rehearsal went well, positioned as accompaniment to a wonderful dinner performance by Juval Diezinger (of famed Bar 25 and Holzmarkt clubs/villages in Berlin), with Will Ricketts joining in on percussion as we projected onto Iain's living room walls. No room on the table for food with the audio and visual gear takeover.

Lots of creatures were created, including Scrab here with a few interactive effects thrown in.

With the launch of Performance Arcade 2019 today in Wellington, and a preview set from Uncle Silverback, we still have 4 days till opening night - time for two more rehearsals before Thursday. Hopefully some more characters like these can eventuate on the night. 

Then I'll really have to focus on job-hunting.