I Remember When - A Rock Tale Way way (way) back in the early 1980's, I worked in a Road House. It's not a club like you see in the Patrick Swayze movie, it's a theater designed for road shows. Shows that tour can be anything from David Cooperfield to a Broadway Musical to a Chamber Orchestra. It was a fun time in my life since I got to see a lot of different shows and I was exposed to every level of art making you can imagine. This Road House had 2000 seats, a proscenium stage and a loading dock that three semi's could back up to. At the time my job title was Stage Crew Chief. Mostly that meant I was a boss, but a minor boss. The show for the day was George Thorogood. I was amused that our Executive Director would not allow them to be billed as The Delaware Destroyers. Rock shows happened in our hall (theater, road house) rarely and when they did, we all looked forward to a fun night. This band had played in our space before and I think this tour was George Thorogood's 50-50 Tour, he was playing in fifty states in fifty days. This meant that they had send us a "tech rider" along with the contract of all the things they'd need. Tech Riders can be anything from specs for the sound system to what kind of food is available for the band and crew. To learn more about tech riders and to see a listing of your favorite artist click here. I think you'll be amused and enlightened. Look for the red arrows for the odd bits. For this tour, we provided the lighting and sound equipment. The band just brought their instruments. It took a small truck for all the gear, two of the roadies pulled up at 10am to load in. Later the bus with the band and the crew would show up. The poor roadies had been listening to Bob and Doug McKenzie CD's, so we were subjected to "take off, you hoser" all day long. It was pretty funny. During the set up, the road guys kept referring to "the opening act". Huh? We knew the contract, we'd read it in preparation for the show. There was no opening act! So, I ask one of the guys and he says, "it's a band we saw last night in a bar in Austin, Tx." Okay, sure, whatever. Finally it's show time. Several of us are in the lighting control room in the back of the audience getting ready for the show. Normally for a rock show, we don't have to do anything unless it's to fly in the main curtain or sometimes fly in a bit of scenery or a drop. Minimal stuff. The Thorogood band has a lighting guy but the "opening act" had none. So, the curtain goes up. The stage is dark, so ... I push up some sliders. We're don't know this band, so basically we feel he can just play in the light. Just let it go. No cues, blackouts or design. Suddenly the lead guitarist (wearing a flat crowned leather hat) starts wailing out some Hendrix songs! Whoa! This guy is amazing and he's doing the full act even humping his guitar up against the amp racks. I look over at James in the booth and our eyes widen. James picks up the headsets and calls to the follow spots, "Follow One, pick up the guitarist in a full body shot, Follow Two tighten in on the guitar." I lean over the board and rack the blue backs up to full and add some center ambers. We don't know the set, but we know rock. After each song, we slam the lights out on the big rock ending. It's so much fun just free styling on the light board lighting this amazing band. He rocked the house, everyone was cooking with the music and in my opinion, George Thorogood had a tough act to follow. I'd shift the lights for each chorus and bang the sliders in time to the music. I had a blast! Soon enough it was intermission. I stayed in the booth for the second act and watched the George Light Guy work the board, he was very good. Obviously he knew the songs and the sets, but I watched him work and learned a lot. Eventually the show was over, we got our tee shirt swag and loaded them out and on the way. And, we didn't think much more about it. About two months later, James and I are watching television and we see that this "new guy" was tearing up the US Blues Festival (if I recall correctly). We sat up and pointed, "hey, that's the guy!" As it turns out, it was ... Stevie Ray Vaughn. Eventually, I became a big fan and bought his cd's and loved his music. He was amazing. But, I'll never forget and ... I Remember When; for one night only, I was the Lighting Designer for Stevie Ray Vaughn.