Folk It Up (title courtesy of BPC Facebook page)

      Preparedness is the key to a hassle free night in the BPC. I know I'm like a broken record about this but it's the only way I could think of to put the concert into perspective. Twelve bands, with twelve entirely different set ups, instrumentations, and needs. Ordinarily I relish the chance to not mix a show like that, but this time being on stage was soooo much worse. Although kudos to Alejo for making something beautiful out of a difficult situation. My job for the two nights was to wrangle 48 channels and attempt to bring some order to the chaos. This night more than any other really exposes the stage hands. There is nothing worse than the awkwardness of knowing everyone in the audience is watching you scramble to set up a band. I especially love the MC turning to us realizing we're not done and then searching for something to say to fill the time. Favorite quote of the evening... "I got nothin!" 
    
        My dream is to one time do this concert seamlessly. No misplaced microphones, ( 90% of the time when the mix sounded funny it was my fault not the sound guy's. My bad Alejo.) no scurrying off stage when the band starts before I'm finished setting up, and we would end on time!Of course I would also like to have a million dollars; win an Oscar... see a pig fly, but dreaming and achieving are to different things. Making my dream a reality would require more time and coordination from the beginning which given everyone's time constraints is a lot to ask. So the real question becomes is it worth it? The show was successful. There were very few problems on our end, it sounded great. So aside from running me ragged and going over time is there really a need to change the way we prepare for this show. Ordinarily I'd say no, it's fine how it is, but I love this show.  It inspires me every year to learn more about how music influences our culture. I get excited about discovering new styles and stories. I watch from back stage and envision a spectacular show where each act culminates in a single message: that even though we're different, there are universal things that bind us. When I first started working here I introduced the slide show of pictures from each country, with the goal of showing how despite their differences there are many things that are similar in each country.  Kind of like "It's a small world" in picture form. What I would love is for the concert to take the audience on a journey, one of education, transportation and ultimately entertainment. A perfect example of this was Italy's performance. From the moment the announcer stepped on the stage you were in a different place. His introduction capturing the theme perfectly, he included everyone, we were all Italian at that moment. Each country should be presented like this. It's about more than the music. The students should be challenged to really represent their country and tell the story of a time, a place and it's people. There should be less bands and longer sets. Each group should have a thorough well-written introduction, and frankly the awards and speeches at the beginning needed to be shortened, or done away with completely. Yes it was a good show, as it always is, but why settle for goodness when it could be great.