Get calmer when it breaks
Hey, Nikki here.
Every show day has a moment where something breaks. The only questions are what time, and how do we fix it.
At FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, TN, it happened before line check. A few drops of water landed on the most-used section of the front of house console, and we were there to watch how the crew responded.
We spent the day following Jacob “Trunz” Trunzo, Production Manager and Front of House Engineer for NEEDTOBREATHE on The Long Surrender Tour, from load-in to doors.
Why this one matters:
Trunz described sound check like this: when the band walks up, the only thing they should be thinking about is playing their instrument.
Every person we met had that same job underneath their title. That’s a lot to protect on a day when the stage is small, the heat is brutal, and the console won’t behave.
#1 Own it, then ask the expert
Impressed by his understanding of all the measurements, I asked Trunz if production managers are basically engineers. He said he needs to understand how all of it works, because the responsibility lands on him, and a lot of it he learned by doing it and asking every question he could on site.
Then I asked him to explain the bridle markings, and he handed it straight to Dalton, the head rigger.
Takeaway: Owning the outcome includes knowing whose expertise to trust.
Try this: Pick one part of your show you sign off on but couldn’t explain out loud. Ask the person who runs it to walk you through it this week.
#2 Get calmer when it breaks
Trunz wiped the console, reset it, called the sound vendor for a new surface by 4:00pm, ran sound check anyway, and swapped the desk before doors. His instinct when things go haywire: “Get calmer and just kind of smile and be like, all right, let’s do it, whatever it is.”
Takeaway: Calm buys you the time to fix it.
Try this: Next time something fails on show day, say the next step out loud before you say anything about the problem.
#3 Tune for the seat you’ll never sit in
Zach, the systems engineer, measures every venue himself, first in Google Maps, then on site with a laser, and tunes with three measurement mics so he can hear what’s happening across the whole amphitheater. His reason: “People who paid to come see the show… it matters how they hear it, not how I hear it.”
Takeaway: The person in the last row sets the standard.
Try this: During your next soundcheck or walkthrough, go stand in the worst seat in the house. Fix one thing you notice from there.
If you want the full day, watch Ep #73 of The Giggs Podcast: Show Day with NEEDTOBREATHE’s Production Manager & FOH Engineer.
— Nikki
P.S. One line I can’t stop thinking about: on his first tour as a lighting designer & director, Johnathan said the skill that’s helped him most is going a little slower than you think you need to, “because you’re going to have a little bit more time than you think.” Easy to say on a quiet day, and worth remembering on the loud ones.
