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Thursday, May 1. 2008Time Circles and GatheringsHow cool is it when time loops back on itself and the past becomes the present from a differing point of view. When I was 16 I was listening to music as loud as the headphone/stereo combo would get, lost in a state of timeless bliss trying to pick out all four guitars on the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young live album, 4 Way Street. I was 15 years old when I bought the just released Pink Floyd "Animals" record and are there actually a pig sounds in the recording or is it just the swine references that make it seem like they are there?
Anyway, fast forward 30 years and here I sit surrounded by hundreds of surround-sound speakers sprawled out in a giant field. The reality did not hit me until the show and I heard my memories in real time. Me and my friends that built, run and operate this evolving entity called Rat Sound are providing audio for Roger Waters! Who would have knew! Ha, that rules! And not only that, since the moment the show ended and I got done pinching myself, I have been drilling to find memories of a show that was more impressive and amazing.
If if that was not enough, check this out. You know the big pig that is all over the news that got away? The $10K award for finding it pig?
Well, check out piggy's front right paw:..... and what do you see?
Hey, does that look familiar? Ah, and the circle completes as the little rat makes it's way to befriending the message carrying pig. "Obama" "Don't be led to the Slaughter" and our ratty pal. One of our Rat crew, befriended a piggy spray paint artist, Jason you rule! Hmmmm, "Don't be led to slaughter." I must admit that I have pondered the parallels between cattle ranching skills used to corral unsuspecting ignorant critters and the methods utilized by certain politicians to wrench the soft malleable minds of our hazily informed public into thinking that voting for a corrupt and treacherous future is a good idea. But hey, why change when you are used to it, even if it is pretty darn suspicious. And on to the more important and more enjoyable perspectives.
My gig other than Rat Sound mascot at this massive Coachella event was none other than manning the Sound Ambulance. Dealing with stage to stage sonic overlap and general addresser of sonic issues and happiness. With five stages, the mind boggling band diversity and two other music blasting areas, it is an endeavor that can not be won, only moderated and contained to hopefully a manageable level. Ahh, a big huge pile of complexity splattered with heaps of unpredictability, that is right up my alley! Speaking of stages, Lets take a look. First we have the Gobi tent featuring what has become our "vintage" PA, with 8 Rat Trap 5's and 8 Rat Subs a side.
Monitors are Rat L Wedges. Next in line is the Mojave Tent loaded with a Kudo system and Rat S Wedges
The biggest tent is Sahara with 9 deep V-Dosc a side plus 20 dual 18" subs, just for the main main system. Add in side shooting clusters, rear clusters shooting from the back forward, delay clusters and rear clusters shooting out the back and you have a tent loaded to the gills with some intense sound power.
The Outdoor Theater comes back a bit with 8 V-Dosc and 12 subs a side
Oh and more to come. Main PA, meet some crew and some cool band pics too. In the mean time, Dave Rat is heading out to do some hanging with the country folks at Stagecoach festival. Hells yeah! DR Trackbacks
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Hey! Here is a sweet picture from Coachella that I got off Last Nights Party. I knew that was a Rat System as soon as I saw it!
http://www.lastnightsparty.com/coachella/slides/DB_1045.html
Sweet to hear you did Roger Waters tour, buddy of mine was doin' the lighting for it!
Hey Dave, what subs are those that the Rat Traps are sitting on? They look Rat-esque, but they're not the dual 18's...
Greg
Those are Rat Subs, sort of. Jeff Lee who built Rat subs for us asked if he could make some for his PA system a while back. They are similar but not identical. We rent them from Jeff when we run out.
Having the flat faced Rat traps in the center wasn't a combing problem, or was this one of those situations where you needed the power of 8 boxes a side and just had to live with it?
Greg
Ideally they would have a bit more angle but Hoover had the tent system sounding great so why what aint broke!
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