March 19, 2002

This is scary. Friday: Masque

This is scary.


Friday: Masque Inductions -

Went very well. I was pissed at the beginning of the night because we didn't do them the way they went last year (meeting at a townhouse, etc.) but, suprisingly, they held true to the form that was last year.


My kid, Jen (now Stevie Lightboard-san,) had a great costume, collected a whole bunch of signatures on the back of her card, and had a great time. *sniff* I get all teary-eyed now thinking about it all. The only "disappointment" was her "disappointment" at not "winning" musical chairs...especially when she informed us that she had "dressed up" especially for the event.


I'm now trying to get a full Masque family tree together; if anyone in the masque has a complete tree, let me know (or even big pieces!)...I found out that the current Dean of Students was inducted when he was here, and I want to find out how far this goes back.


So, Congrats to the newest members of the Masque family, the "class of 2002."

Saturday: Sugar Ray Concert

I arrived at 6:00AM, not knowing what to expect. I left, 22 hours later, at 4AM Sunday Morning, having had the time of my life: I was a roadie, a runner, and a Production Assistant for 22hours.


IT WAS ALL HEAVY LIFTING in the beginning. We had to erect the stage first, and then erect the lighting trusses. Then Sugar Ray's stuff would have to be loaded in. I lifted things I never knew I could lift. I built platforms that Mark McGrath would later dance and sing on. It was a lot of fun. The stage was HUGE, and each section was made up of a 4x8 platform held up on scaffolding. Each piece had to be placed on individually to make up a stage that was like 120ft by 40ft (I think...)


Then, around 2pm, I was roped into what I had originally volunteered to do - runner for the band. I was led to the production office (the football office in the Hayman Center) and told to stay there. This part sucked; all the cool stuff was happening upstairs: lights being unloaded, stage being preset, etc. But I sat. I met Terry, who I later found out to be the production manager, and Dave, who was the tour manager. Dave was cool; quiet, but funny. He mainly did paperwork and acted concerned for the band. My first impression of Terry was different: he seemed to be a pompous ass - it was later confirmed. He had to be, however, as he was the one who had to get the stuff done: if he had to act condescending to get people in the right places, he would do it: it was his job, and I fault him not for it...even if he tended to be kind of an ass.


My job as runner was explained to me: I was supposed to sit there in the office until I was told to run for something: it didn't matter what. The crew could ask me for burgers, and I had to go. The crew could ask me to go to the mall and buy a shirt, and if it was approved, I'd have to. I WAS VOLUNTEERING. I didn't want to get into this kind of commitment (although, it was kind of cool, in retrospect)...when I signed up for the job, I figured one run, and I could go back to load in...but I would up making 4 runs.


My first run wound up being for Luke, the lighting guy. He needed
computer disks. I told him I had a bunch in my room, and I ran and got 5. Easy run; and he promised to show me the lighting board (a WholeHog II, if that means anything to anyone - its pretty damn big, complicated, expensive, and SHINY)


Second run was more complicated: I needed to look for a dry cleaners that would take laundry, and also find a laundromat to do one of the crewmember's laundry. Boring, but I got to go with a pretty cool administrator from the Multicultral Center...I can't remember her name now :(


Third run was a big run, for the band "A Simple Plan". They needed:


  • Wood Screws

  • 24 Duracell Ultra 9V Batteries

  • toothpicks

  • wood glue

  • 6 Mini DV Tapes

It took me quite a while to find everything - but met an AWESOME freshman named Aileen, who lives in Katherines. Among other things, she taught me the easy way to get on the Boulevard. We eventually found it all, brought it back, and got to relax and eat dinner.


Final run for the night was for "Needle Nose Vice Grips" for one of the bus drivers to fix the engine. Back to the Home Depot from earlier, and back just in time for the concert to start. Nice.


The concert was awesome! A Simple Plan, who opened for Sugar Ray, were great! They may have actually been better than Sugar Ray. They're from Montreal, Canada, and play pop-punk-emo music (think Blink/Dashboard/Alkaline)... You can get their first album, "No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls," HERE.


Sugar Ray played well...all of their hits. Mark McGrath was exceptionally off-key in their first song, but it got better as they went on, and had the entire room shaking by the end. Very cool, and free.


We then struck the stage until 4am, and if I ever lay a hand on another platform, it will be too damn soon. Those things are heavy. Congrats to the other members of the 22 hour club: Josh, Matt, and others who I forget.


For my troubles, I got 2 t-shirts (a La Salle "STAFF" Shirt for the event, and a Sugar Ray "I was the Crew" shirt), 2 backstage passes (La Salle's for the venue, and a satin sticker "WORKING" one for Sugar Ray.) and 2 guitar picks from Sugar Ray (one says Stan and one says Morgan) that I found on stage. Pretty cool...


Let me repeat about how cool A Simple Plan is! They really rocked: I got to meet them, and they seemed to really enjoy Philly for the first time.

So thats my weekend. Pretty standard really. I passed my Film as Art midterm with an 83. First words out of the professor's mouth were "How the hell did you do so well on my midterm?" (I made it to about 4 of the 20 classes in the past 6 weeks.) My fear of failing it dropped; the 84 gives me a B for the course so far!


From the same professor, I had an A- on my treatment for my film. I'll post the treatment here someday, but it basically is about an escaped mental patient and a man who looks like Steve McQueen trying to get to Canada. "Wildy Inventive" say Ebert and Roper at the movies...

More tomorrow.


This amuses me to no end. Yay.

Posted by Matthew at March 19, 2002 10:25 PM
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