Engineer's Perspective: 50 years of Bossa Nova 8/23/08

 As I have mentioned before it is often difficult when working a concert to separate the experience of the engineer, stagehand, etc. from the experience of the audience. Some one says to you after the fact how great the show was and all you can remember is how irritated, frustrated, and exhausted you were. That concert as far as you are concerned was awful. Luckily for last night's show I wasn't mixing it. I had the opportunity to work and exhaust myself on stage while someone else dealt with the frustration.  It made being objective a little easier.  And with my objectivity I will sum up the concert in one word... considering.  It sounded good, considering there wasn't a sound check.  The orchestra did well considering they were unrehearsed.  The engineer remained remarkably civil considering the impossibility of the situation he was presented with. This concert, which had the potential to be great, was merely mediocre, and it's unfortunate.  My impression after it was over was that the orchestra was unnecessary.  Every song that was just the band or a small ensemble was magical. The band grooved and the simple arrangements were lyrical and beautiful.  My personal favorite was "Morrer de Amor" arranged for piano, voice, and cello, which was equally sweet and sorrowful. The concert's special guest, famed guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, was (as is the case with most of the seasoned professionals that the school brings in) wonderful to watch.  His anecdotes were funny, endearing and educational. He wore the teacher's cap admirably for his audience, telling them about the history of the music, the people who created it, and reminding them to always play for the joy of it.  I especially liked the story of calling up Jobim and asking him to jam. It embodies the idea of playing for joy; it's unassuming and naive in the best possible way.  So why, with all of this joy, knowledge, and beautiful music going around was there still this bad aftertaste in my mouth? For all of its good elements it couldn't escape the taint of unprepared ness.  Every time I looked at the ugly scrim hanging in the back I cringed, but we didn't have time or space to change it.  Or whenever someone tried to awkwardly maneuver the stage I was reminded of the three hours I'd just spent attempting to fit the orchestra onto our too small stage.    And I was mad that this wonderful artist was subjected to the worst Berklee style overproduction.  It seems like every other show we do has turned into Songbook.  Or is trying to be without realizing how difficult it is to pull off that show. A golden rule to go by is less is more, and when you do have more, it's important to allot more time for it.  Songbook doesn't happen in a day and the BPC is not Symphony hall; expecting either is asking for a sub par performance. Fortunately for them I enjoyed the part of the concert I watched... considering.