Sept. 11, 2024

#262 - Craig Caserta

#262 - Craig Caserta

Craig Caserta is the VP of Production Creative Technology Group. Originally From New York, Craig is no stranger to Event Lighting with over 20 Years of experience as a Lighting Designer and Programmer. Craig has worked for a diverse range of productions, including Concerts, Corporate Events, Trade Shows, Touring, Television, Film, and DVD Shoots providing both Lighting Design and programming and is also at the forefront of the latest technologies, working with key manufacturers in developing and testing new products.Drawing on his years of experience Craig focuses on customer service and providing his clients with creative solutions.


Craig was last on the Podcast back in March 2020 so please welcome Craig to the show again.


This epsiode is brought to you by Main Light and Elation

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Hey there, just finished
recording with Craig Caserta

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episode #262 If you don't know
Craig, I don't know what's wrong

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with you because everyone knows
Craig.

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Craig Caserta is a fixture in
our industry for I think 25

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years, maybe 30 years.
I first met him, I believe at

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some point in the 90s at C
Factor.

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He was he was Bob Sees protege
young guy on his staff and just

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really liked him from that
moment on and and have known him

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throughout most of his career.
He's now at CT where he is the

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VP of production in Las Vegas
and loving life there.

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And so we had a great talk about
family and fun and work and the

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industry and touring and all
kinds of stuff.

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So I hope you enjoy it.
Episode 262 on Geese of Gear.

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Hello and thanks for joining me
today on Geysers of Gear episode

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Welcome back to episode #262 of
the Geez of Gear podcast.

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And it's great to see you.
Thanks for coming.

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Appreciate you.
And by the way, I forgot to say,

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but don't forget to like and
subscribe wherever you're

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watching or listening to this.
It really does help us when you

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like and subscribe.
So whether you're on YouTube,

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you can subscribe to us on
YouTube.

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You'll always get the latest
announcements, clips, etc and

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also you'll know when the new
podcast comes up.

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So whether it's YouTube,
Spotify, Apple, whatever it is,

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please like and subscribe and
every once in a while even post

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a funny comment.
It really does help us and we

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appreciate.
That a lot.

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So have you seen Episode 261
yet?

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Hopefully you have Lori
Rubenstein or Rubenstein is an

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amazing woman.
She's really dedicated most of

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her career to these boards and
to really moving the sticks

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forward.
You know, she's she's always

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creating policy and helping
people and it really has been a

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theme for her career and we
appreciate her very much.

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Of course, she told us a lot
about the behind the scenes

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organization and even, you know,
I didn't know that she started

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as a ballet dancer.
So it was really cool to hear.

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Please go back and listen to
episode #261 And of course, you

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know, we're still getting
victory laps from Miss Sarah

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Burnie, who is our producer
who's actually a way on tour

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this week with Blink 182.
I'm sure we're going to have

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some good stories next week to
tell.

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But she went and did a one week
tour in, I believe it's in

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Ireland, Scotland and England
and it's just maybe four shows

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or something.
I don't even know the details

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that much.
But of course we miss her this

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week.
But she's still doing victory

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laps for her first episode of
the Leading Ladies, which has

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been very well received.
And we're very grateful to

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everyone who has been so kind
and including people reaching

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out to sponsor it.
So we didn't intend to have any

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sponsors right away on it until
we could kind of get our feet

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under us.
But you know, Sarah, I guess,

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has had a really good coach and
so she she hit the ground

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running with her her podcast.
So it's it's really great.

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I'm enjoying it and she's
enjoying it and and the audience

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appear to be enjoying it too.
So thank you.

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What else?
I did want to mention and give

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gratitude to Mr. Rob Koenig, who
is out with Metallica doing

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stadium shows, of course.
So Rob invited me.

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I'm up at my house in Canada, in
Alberta, and Metallica was

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coming through Edmonton and he
invited me to come and see the

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show.
And you know, I've seen pictures

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and videos and everything else.
And of course the rig looks

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incredible on pictures and
videos, but I can tell you, you

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know, going to see it.
I'm so happy I did it.

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I was kind of like, you know, a
big stadium show like me and

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people don't always fit in the
same place, but I'm really,

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really happy I went to see it.
First of all, the band were

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incredible, like Metallica, I
believe they're all in their 60s

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and and not that that's dead
anymore.

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Thank God 'cause I am now 60.
But because, you know, just the

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nature of that music and how
hard and heavy it is, and the

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band were incredible, you know?
And I constantly pick on Lars in

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particular because he has an
interesting meter, you know, and

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I'm a bass player.
And following Lars sometimes is

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a little more complicated than
following your normal drummer,

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because Lars kind of pushes some
things every now and then and

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it's like.
Where's that actually?

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Happening that shot, you know,
because he kind of pushes it and

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he's very consistent with his
push though, like it's he's his

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mistakes are very consistent.
He does them every single time.

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So you know, it's just the way
he plays.

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But you know, I've never really
appreciated Lars and just going

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to see him and being as close as
I was to see him this time.

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The guy really is kicking ass
out there.

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Like, I mean, again, a guy in
his 60s probably and he's a

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small guy.
I didn't realize how tiny he was

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until I was standing next to him
backstage and and I was like,

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whoa, that is a little dude.
And but he is kicking ass.

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That guy puts every ounce of his
energy into the show.

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Even though they're in Edmonton,
AB, Canada, you know, like this

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wasn't Los Angeles or New York.
And really, really impressed,

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super impressed first of all
with the band, but then

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secondly, obviously the well,
the sound was incredible and so

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metallic.
I guess own all their their,

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well, at least the speaker
boxes.

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I don't know how much of the
sound system they own, but they

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own the speakers.
And which, as I recall, is all.

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Is it Meyer?
I think it's all Meyer.

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It's an American brand.
I believe it's Meyer if I

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remember correctly.
And you know, they the sound was

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incredible.
And, you know, I would had to

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move away from the Subs because
I was pretty close to the Subs

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right at the front of the stage
and, and it was like rattling me

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to my core.
But yeah, the sound was amazing.

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The lighting, of course, was
incredible.

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The stage layout, the design,
the the whole creative that they

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put into these towers and stuff.
Brilliant.

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You know, that's Dan Brown and
and team, I guess Koenig's

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lighting design and, and his
execution of the lighting,

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including how tight all the
shots were and stuff.

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Incredible.
Really, really great.

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But oh, and by the way, you
know, I may be an idiot and I'm

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sure there's a lot of people
nodding right now, but I have

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never seen a remote monitor
setup.

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And so this was a new thing for
me.

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And you know, I, I brought a
couple guests to the show and

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Rob gave them a tour.
And that's one of the things I

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want to talk about.
But we went under the seats, the

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stadium seats to where they had,
you know, video world and all

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this stuff.
But they had monitor world.

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And I was like, what do you mean
monitor world?

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And so they're watching, they've
got video of all of the people

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in the band and they're watching
to see if they get any of that

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or this or you know, you know,
my guitar is too loud, whatever.

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And they're taking those
commands and adjusting the

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monitors in ear monitors for the
band.

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And I had never seen it done
remotely like this before.

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So it was really interesting to
me.

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And again, maybe I'm old school.
I'm a dinosaur, right?

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I'm used to the monitor person
being at the side of the stage,

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so on the stage.
And so anyways, that was really,

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really interesting.
But what I wanted to talk about,

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So in our industry, it's so easy
for people to get jaded and to

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just like roll your eyes and go,
oh God, not another this or that

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or whatever.
We become very jaded.

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And myself, guilty, guilty as
charged, I accept.

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But Rob, I had no idea how
amazing Rob was as far as taking

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care of his guests.
And you know, again, this was

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Edmonton, so it's not like Rob
had hundreds of friends bugging

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him to come see the show or
anything.

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00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,880
It was, you know, it was pretty
sparse as far as guests were

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00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,880
concerned.
But you know, I had two friends

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with me.
I had a friend and his, his

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00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:16,520
girlfriend.
And Rob just grabbed them and

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00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,880
decided I'm going to give these
people the full treatment.

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And so, you know, he went and
showed them the lighting front

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of house, which was on the top
floor and he's all by himself up

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there.
And then the audio front of

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00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:35,000
house and, you know, which was a
little more crowded, lots going

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on in there.
And then took us under the, the

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seats and again showed us this
whole video world and monitors

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00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,440
and everything else like, and,
you know, introducing me to

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every single major person on the
tour, all the engineers and, and

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00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,400
lead people and stuff, which was
amazing, great, fantastic.

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I enjoyed it.
But then the coolest thing

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happens.
So we get to the remote follow

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00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:08,240
spots, the Roby follow spots.
And you know, I, I hate to say

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00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,320
this, I hate to admit it, but I
forget the girl's name, who was

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responsible for all the follow
spot operators, but introduced

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00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,000
her to my friend and his
girlfriend.

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00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,960
And she grabbed the girlfriend
and said, hey, do you want to

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00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,080
try it?
And she brought her over to one

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00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,680
of the Roby follow spots while
Pantera was on one of the

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00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:30,160
opening acts and showed her how
to operate it, showed her what

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00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,680
was going on on the screen and
explained to her, there's a

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light fixture in the rig that is
associated with this, this

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follow spot controller.
And you're seeing a camera from

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00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,800
that light fixture.
The light fixture is aimed at

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00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:46,520
one of the performers and you're
able to move that light fixture

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just like a normal follow spot
would.

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00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,840
And she was blown away.
I mean, she was just like, she's

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00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,240
still talking about it.
And it's, it's, you know, four

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00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,120
days later or whatever.
And you know, again, I we're

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00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,240
jaded because that's not
something that I would have done

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00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,640
or would have been impressed by
myself personally.

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00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,280
Like, no, no, I'm good.
I don't need to operate a follow

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00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:06,920
up spot.
I'm good.

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00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,280
Thank you.
But for my friends, it was

220
00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,000
incredible.
And Rob just every step of the

221
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,400
way was like a a kid in a candy
store.

222
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Like he was just showing
everything to all these people.

223
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And he was so proud of it for
good reason.

224
00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:28,480
And you know, all I can say is
is hats off, Attaboy, Rob, Like

225
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:30,640
I, I know.
So.

226
00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,760
Many people out on tour and have
known many of these people for

227
00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:38,400
30 plus years and not very many
go out of their way the way you

228
00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,920
did to, to take care of these
guests.

229
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And I appreciate it so much.
They appreciated it very much.

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By the way, it was my buddy's
birthday so that's why I was

231
00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,600
taking them to the show with me.
You know, the hospitality was

232
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,760
just incredible and I'm so
grateful for that.

233
00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,600
And thank goodness there are
people like Rob Koenig out on

234
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:02,680
the road who are willing to go
the extra mile and and just give

235
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people, you know, we always talk
about moments on this podcast.

236
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And for those two people, that
was a number of amazing moments.

237
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Like I could probably ask them
if they remember the first song

238
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,400
Metallica did or the last song
they did.

239
00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,120
They might not remember that,
but they'll tell you every

240
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:22,840
minute of that experience before
the show started.

241
00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,200
So thanks again, Rob.
It was incredible and we

242
00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,800
appreciate it very much.
And yeah, just thought it had to

243
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,160
be mentioned.
So Speaking of awesome people,

244
00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:38,480
Two Days guest Craig Caserta is
originally from New York and is

245
00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:42,400
no stranger to event lighting.
With more than 20 years of

246
00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:46,000
experience as a lighting
designer programmer, Craig has

247
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,040
worked for a diverse range of
productions including concerts,

248
00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,440
corporate events, trade shows,
touring, television, film and

249
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:56,360
DVD shoots.
Proving providing both lighting

250
00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,680
design and programming, Craig is
also at the forefront of the

251
00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,720
latest technologies, working
with key manufacturers in

252
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,480
developing and testing new
products.

253
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,400
Drawing on his years of
experience, Craig focuses on

254
00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,440
customer service and providing
his clients with creative

255
00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,240
solutions.
His current role is VP of

256
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,640
Production at CT and off the
script here a little bit.

257
00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,280
I will tell you I met Craig, I
believe way back when he was at

258
00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,800
C Factor near the beginning of
his career, probably at the

259
00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,320
beginning of his career.
He was a shop guy at at C Factor

260
00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,120
and I liked him then and I
really like him now.

261
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,640
So please welcome Craig Caserta
to.

262
00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:43,480
Geysers of gear, Mr. Caserta.
Hello Sir, how's?

263
00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,160
Happening, man.
Oh, you know, just another great

264
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:49,800
day, Lovely weather out here in
Vegas.

265
00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,920
I'm so happy that my producer
Sarah, who's not with us today

266
00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,760
because she's out on tour with
Blink 182 for a week.

267
00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,120
She spammed you to death until
you finally submitted and said,

268
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,880
OK, I'll talk to Marcel again.
So I appreciate that.

269
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:10,839
Want to talk to you I just say
I'm not big on the talking about

270
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,040
me in.
General Oh geez.

271
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,520
Well, I'll talk about you.
You can just nod your head and

272
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,599
or do this, you know, I'll talk
about you instead.

273
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,079
Yeah.
I mean, you know, honestly,

274
00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:23,040
you've been on once.
So we're not going to spend a

275
00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,359
huge amount of time talking
about your background or

276
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:27,200
anything like that because we
already know it.

277
00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,000
People have listened to your
first podcast and know that you

278
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,240
know, how you started and your
days at C Factor and God rest

279
00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,720
his soul and, and you know, all
that stuff.

280
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,520
So I want to talk more about
what you're up to today and some

281
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,480
other things.
And I actually wanted to get

282
00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:49,000
your opinion because in the
intro right before, right before

283
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,680
we recorded this, I was talking
about an experience I just had

284
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:57,320
last weekend.
So I'm up at my house in Canada

285
00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:01,960
right now in Alberta.
And Metallica was coming through

286
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,880
Edmonton with their big stadium
tour.

287
00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:10,760
And so Rob Koenig said, hey,
Marcel, you should come see the

288
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,600
show.
Dan Brown, Hey, you should come

289
00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,360
see the show.
And so I was like, well, you

290
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:17,400
know, and I'm sitting here
going, you know, I don't love

291
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:21,200
going to shows anymore because
I'm old and I've done it for so

292
00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,760
long and I just don't like
crowds this day off.

293
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:30,160
I don't like crowds as much as I
once did, you know, And but

294
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,520
anyways, I really wanted to see
this this rig, you know, I

295
00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,520
wanted to see like I like the
whole way that they did in the

296
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,840
round in a stadium.
And I just wanted to see it for

297
00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:41,040
myself.
And I wanted to give a big hug

298
00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,600
to to Rob as well.
And so I've made the drive up to

299
00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,240
Edmonton.
And it was my buddy in

300
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,560
Edmonton's birthday.
So I brought him and his his

301
00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:55,360
girlfriend to the show with me.
Rob took care of us, but Rob

302
00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:58,880
went above and beyond.
And so in my.

303
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:00,600
What's that?
That's Rob.

304
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:01,440
Yeah.
Yeah.

305
00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:06,320
So I've never been a guest of
Rob, but you know, Rob grabbed

306
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,760
MY2 guests like I'm jaded.
I've been to thousands of shows

307
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,240
and it doesn't matter to me and
I don't care.

308
00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:20,400
But my my two friends were just
completely like given the red

309
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:23,720
carpet treatment, right?
And one of the biggest things he

310
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:29,360
did was he took them under the
seats to like remote monitor

311
00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:34,120
world and video world and all
the, the Roby follow spots.

312
00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:39,040
We're down there.
And so I forget the girl's name,

313
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,000
who was in charge of all the
follow spot operators, but she

314
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,560
was amazing.
And she grabs my, my buddy's

315
00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:48,760
girlfriend and says, Hey, you
want to give it a try?

316
00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,520
And she's like, what?
And she goes, well, these are

317
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,240
the follow spots.
You know the guys who usually

318
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,360
hold these things and turn them?
They look like big video cameras

319
00:19:57,360 --> 00:19:58,880
almost, but they're follow
spots.

320
00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,800
So she explains the whole thing,
puts her on one of these follow

321
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,920
spots for the opening act,
Pantera, and she's standing

322
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,600
there controlling a follow spot
while the girl's telling her

323
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,520
what to do and stuff.
And you know, these two, like

324
00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:15,680
her and her boyfriend, they'll
never forget this.

325
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:19,040
Like this was, this was a moment
for them.

326
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,600
And Rob was just so cool about
it.

327
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:27,120
And I, I can't remember the last
time that I had a host take care

328
00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:32,800
of my guests like that.
It it blew my mind and so.

329
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,160
Similar experience not too long
ago.

330
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:40,600
And again, because we're jaded,
like we don't realize how cool

331
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:47,120
that is for other people.
And so Pitbull, Enrique and

332
00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:53,080
Ricky Martin yeah, doing the
Trilogy tour and I come into

333
00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:58,080
Vegas and so I've worked with
all all those artists and on the

334
00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,800
tour.
So me and the wife go with a

335
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,840
couple of friends and take them
backstage and the whole thing

336
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:09,000
and just watching them and the
way they enjoyed it.

337
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,240
And it was like you, you
remember why you got into this

338
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,240
business to create.
And then you see the, and like

339
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,640
they were so enamoured with
everything going on backstage.

340
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,720
And then we, you know, amazing
seats and they're watching the

341
00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,600
whole show and the, you know,
asking questions throughout the

342
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,560
whole show of oh, those lights
and this and that and, you know,

343
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,800
asking all the questions and,
and meanwhile, you know, if it

344
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,280
was just me sitting there, it
would be same as you just like,

345
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:36,440
OK, another show.
OK.

346
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,920
Yeah, yeah.
Not not appreciating everything

347
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,160
like we once used to because
it's been so long that you you

348
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,400
just lose.
Totally true that the magic, you

349
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:48,440
know.
Well, you know what?

350
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,440
And if you didn't accommodate
them the way you did, it

351
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:53,840
wouldn't have been as special
for them.

352
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,440
Like if you just said, here's
your tickets, go find your

353
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,520
seats, have fun, right?
You know, they would have still

354
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,760
been appreciative.
They got free tickets to a great

355
00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:04,680
show, right?
But these people thought that

356
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,480
that's all they were getting.
Like, my guests thought they

357
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,560
were just going to get in the
door and go to their seats and

358
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,280
watch the show like you do,
right?

359
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,080
And then all of a sudden,
they've got working passes

360
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,120
slapped on them and they can
walk wherever they want to walk.

361
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:20,520
So they're using the backstage
bathrooms.

362
00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,040
Like that alone blew their
minds.

363
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:25,800
You know, the fact that they
didn't have to go stand in line

364
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:30,520
in a 70,000 person stadium to go
to the bathroom.

365
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:35,120
They were just like what?
You get to do this all the time?

366
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,880
And I'm like, I wouldn't go if I
didn't, you know, I just, I

367
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,200
can't do it like a pedestrian
anymore, you know?

368
00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:46,200
My, my friend's wife had who had
come with us when she put her

369
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,520
warping pass on, she kept the
backing for it and she pulled

370
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,440
peeled it off and I was like, Oh
yeah, there's a garbage right

371
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:53,760
over here.
And I went to grab and she goes,

372
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:55,720
Oh no, no, no, because I'm going
to put the backing on

373
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:56,920
afterwards.
Yeah, so.

374
00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,560
She peeled it off, put the
backing back on it so she could

375
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,520
save the pass.
Yeah, you know, wow, that was

376
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,720
cool.
You know, I appreciate even

377
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,280
people in the industry who save
all their passes because I've

378
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,400
thrown everyone away that I
think I've ever had.

379
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,720
You know, like I just, they
didn't mean enough to me and

380
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,560
they they do now.
Like now I wish I had them all

381
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,560
back.
But you know, it's like Sarah,

382
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,640
if she was here, you you'd see
like behind her camera, she's

383
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:27,160
got every, you know, laminate
that she's ever had in her

384
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,600
entire time in the industry.
And it's a bunch of them.

385
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,920
And I know a lot of people do
that, but I didn't so.

386
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:36,360
I've kept all of them.
Oh, really?

387
00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:38,000
Good for you.
I wish I did.

388
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,360
I wish I did.
I didn't, you know, just.

389
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,720
Sitting in the box somewhere and
you know, one day when I'm, you

390
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,640
know, 80 years old, I'll look
through and reminisce and

391
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:49,840
remember everything.
Through with your son when your

392
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:54,080
son's 18 or 20 years old, you
know, like he's, he's too young

393
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,000
now to really appreciate it.
But my son's 20 and we talk

394
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,280
about some of the things I've
done or do or whatever and he

395
00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,960
appreciates it now for sure.
You know, now he gets it.

396
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,760
But yeah, I mean, again, just,
you know, shout out to Rob

397
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,080
because it was just really cool
what he did and and the level of

398
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,880
enthusiasm he had in doing it.
It wasn't just like rolling his

399
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,760
eyes and going, OK, another
fucking guest, you know, I got

400
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,800
to go show him stuff.
No, I'm sure he enjoyed it more

401
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,400
than your guest did.
He really seemed to.

402
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,200
Such a good dude.
Yeah, flew that guy.

403
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,040
Yeah, yeah, no, he, he blew my
mind.

404
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,480
He's he's on a different level
than than he was before that

405
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:39,880
show for sure, because I like I
said, I hadn't been a guest of

406
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,840
his at a show before and it was
really cool.

407
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:47,320
So anyways, with that said, so
you've got a new gig.

408
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,840
I do have a new gig, yeah.
It's the office gig is

409
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,800
definitely a lot different from
the touring gig.

410
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,160
That's yeah, yeah.
Yeah.

411
00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,680
But yeah, I mean, so what's
that?

412
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:01,880
What?
What's that like?

413
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,280
I mean like, so obviously it's
probably easier on your personal

414
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,080
life because you know, it's not
like, honey, I'll see you in

415
00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:12,920
three months or whatever.
You know, I know how madly in

416
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:17,600
love you are with your son.
And that would be really hard.

417
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,120
Like leaving my son was always
harder than leaving my now

418
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,760
ex-wife, which is probably why
she's my ex-wife.

419
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:29,680
But. 100% leaving hand was
definitely harder and is

420
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,360
definitely the reason why I
first came off the road and took

421
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:36,680
the office job.
That's a good reason.

422
00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:40,360
It was during COVID.
I wound up, I had three months

423
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,160
off and you know, I was one of
the lucky ones because we were

424
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,240
able to go back and do game
shows without audiences.

425
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:49,360
So I was able to do some
television stuff.

426
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,640
But in the three months that I
was home, me and my kid built a

427
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,800
tree house together.
And I was going to talk about

428
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,320
that because that blew my mind.
You were you were one of the

429
00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,200
coolest side project dads that I
think I saw on the entire

430
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,000
Internet.
And I was sitting there and I'm

431
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,200
like, I missed the first nine
years of your life because he

432
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,360
was nine at the time.
Like, all right, well, I'm kind

433
00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:13,800
of digging being home and and
doing stuff with him.

434
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,800
And then I went back to work in
June and from June or December,

435
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:19,720
I was home for six days.
Yeah.

436
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:21,600
I'm like, I'm not OK with this
anymore.

437
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:23,800
Like I have to spending all that
time with him.

438
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:28,760
Yeah, so then I wound up, you
know, taking the office gig and

439
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,200
was over at Vault for a while
and and that and now just

440
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,280
recently is switched over and
now I'm over at CT.

441
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:43,000
But being able to go to all of
my son's Taekwondo ornaments,

442
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,400
hanging out with him every day
and having dinner with the

443
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,000
family every night and having
weekends and being able to plan.

444
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:56,520
And you know, the, the
uncertainty of touring and and

445
00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,480
shows of I don't know if I can
make plans in two months and I

446
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,640
don't know what you're doing
that weekend or whatever.

447
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:04,560
That's a really tough thing
about our industry.

448
00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,720
Yeah, so, so that has been a
huge change.

449
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,160
And, and, you know, I mean,
after 30 years of being on the

450
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,160
road, I'm, I'm, I'm enjoying not
being on the road now, being

451
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,520
able to have that family time
and, and being able to plan and.

452
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:22,840
Well, you, you said, you said a
lot in there.

453
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:29,600
Like the first thing, you know,
I during COVID, like I saw it go

454
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:34,120
both ways.
I saw touring people who spent a

455
00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:36,520
bunch of time suddenly with
either their wife or their

456
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:40,840
family or whatever decided I
really need to get back on the

457
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,360
road.
And, and then the opposite,

458
00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:47,400
which is what, what impacted you
is, hey, I really like these

459
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,440
people.
I really want to spend more time

460
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:51,080
around them.
And I'm not saying because you

461
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,800
go on the road means you don't
like your spouse or your kids or

462
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:58,800
anything, but it's, it's a
lifestyle that you, you desire.

463
00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:00,480
You're addicted to whatever it
is.

464
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,760
Like some people just can't be
still.

465
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:04,480
They got to be out on the road,
right?

466
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,560
And, but I saw people go both,
both directions on that one.

467
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:14,480
And it's an interesting view,
but I wanted to talk about this

468
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,440
tree house for a minute because,
you know, we talked about it on

469
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:22,600
your last podcast, but I mean it
like it was a little extreme.

470
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:28,640
Was and, you know, and it was
never planned to be like there

471
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,600
was no, that was.
That's why I think that's why it

472
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,040
became what it became because
there was no plan.

473
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,520
Yeah.
And we just made it up as we

474
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:38,400
went along.
And it was like, well, hey,

475
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,040
let's do this now and let's do
this.

476
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,720
And it just became this
monstrosity of the tree.

477
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,720
Well, I mean, it was lighted and
electrified and I think it had

478
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,480
Wi-Fi and cable TV and the whole
thing, right?

479
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,800
Why it has It has air
conditioning.

480
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:59,880
It's got a 47 inch TV.
It's nicer than most people's

481
00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:01,920
apartments in New York, you
know.

482
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,440
And, you know, the kid loves it.
Him and his friends go and play

483
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:07,480
in it.
And, you know, and you know, and

484
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,240
the, the, the, the, the best
thing that I did was the air

485
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,200
conditioner is Wi-Fi.
So if his friends are coming

486
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,720
over, he can turn on the air
conditioner.

487
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,720
From Oh, that's cool, that's
smart.

488
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:22,840
Yeah, especially in Vegas, like,
you know, it's 110° out.

489
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,120
Yeah, there were a couple of
weeks this year that was 120.

490
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,520
So we'll get the AC running, get
it to cool off by the time his

491
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,720
friends get there and they go up
there.

492
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,280
It's.
Nice and cool listen.

493
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:37,440
You know so.
So like, what are they doing in

494
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:38,800
there though?
Because he's what, now?

495
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,760
12 or 13 or something?
Oh yeah, he'll be thirteen in

496
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:43,320
December.
So maybe he's not in there

497
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:45,120
watching porn with his buddies
yet.

498
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,080
Maybe they're still watching,
you know?

499
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,120
He doesn't have the ability on
that, no.

500
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:52,640
He's got Apple TV up there, but
that's.

501
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,000
Yeah, trust me, he's got the
ability.

502
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:57,400
They all have the ability, you
know.

503
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,040
Yeah, it's all new now these
days.

504
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:03,280
But no, they'll go up there,
they'll watch Netflix, and

505
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,120
they'll watch TV.
That's awesome.

506
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:07,680
That is so cool.
Nerf battles.

507
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,680
And all kinds of.
I thought you were going to tell

508
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,080
me it's Airbnb now and you're
making, you know, 1000 bucks a

509
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:18,680
week off Airbnb from it.
I've had a few people hit me up

510
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,320
that they wanted to rent it out
for LDI and they just.

511
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,720
Want to saw some stirring LDI?
That is so cool.

512
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,280
That'd be pretty fun, actually.
I'm staying in Craig's

513
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:31,160
treehouse.
Yeah, that's really funny.

514
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,720
Yeah.
I mean, again, like I I loved so

515
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,720
many people's, you know, sort of
COVID projects and yours, yours

516
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,480
is the most memorable for sure.
I mean, it was just like

517
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,400
outrageous.
But are you are you extra like

518
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,640
that in life or, or was that
just a thing that you and your

519
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:49,880
son got a bit carried away?
I'm.

520
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,480
Kind of extra like that in life.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

521
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:53,800
At least that's what my wife
tells me.

522
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,000
Like, I don't do anything small.
Yeah, I do something.

523
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,240
I I I can do it big.
Yeah.

524
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:02,600
Not to the Dearson level though,
right?

525
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:04,760
Or yes.
One can do it to the Dearson.

526
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,280
Level like he's that's he's.
Own.

527
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,440
He's extra, Yeah.
I mean, that freaking the the

528
00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:14,120
Humvee.
It's like, what are you doing?

529
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:16,920
Yeah.
I think it's, it's a gorgeous

530
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,560
truck.
And but yeah, yeah, he's, he's

531
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,360
he's in a class of on his own.
Yeah, yeah.

532
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:24,240
I love the guy for it though,
you know?

533
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,920
I mean, everybody can be normal,
you know?

534
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,040
Only one guy can be Patrick
Dearson.

535
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,560
That is true.
Yeah, it's pretty hilarious.

536
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,520
Not the.
Same as much as I would like,

537
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,040
even though we we live like 20
minutes away from each other.

538
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:42,720
Yeah, so your office is right
across from the stadium, right?

539
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,160
It's right across from the
Raiders training facility.

540
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:50,560
Oh, right, yeah.
So we're we're over in Henderson

541
00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,960
over by the M Resort, right,
which is more of a landlord that

542
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,320
people well.
I remember Chris Aysen used to

543
00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:01,560
always post pictures of, of, you
know, his view or whatever, like

544
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:04,240
of the Raiders training facility
and stuff.

545
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:07,120
So that's the only reason I
remember that.

546
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,720
It's a lovely 12 minute commute
from my house.

547
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:11,160
Nice.
Yeah.

548
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,120
So that's that works out well,
that's perfect.

549
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,240
Yeah.
And so obviously, CT is an

550
00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,040
amazing company.
It's a great opportunity for you

551
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:24,040
for not only career advancement,
but for a career, you know, just

552
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,720
to be in a company like that,
working on the stuff that you

553
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,040
work on there with the gear that
you get when you're in CT and

554
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,280
it's just a killer opportunity.
Yeah, I haven't been here for

555
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,920
long, but you know, so far,
like, you know, everyone that

556
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,560
I've talked to, I know a lot of
people that have worked here for

557
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,200
1015 years.
Yeah.

558
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,960
You know, anywhere between one
year and and 15 years.

559
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,520
And everyone who's worked loves
the company.

560
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,240
Everyone that I've met there,
everyone's been great.

561
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,840
Yeah, really in good condition
to keep it in good condition.

562
00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:59,120
So, so far it's it's it's it's
been fun.

563
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,720
It's been nice.
Yeah, no, it's, it's great.

564
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:05,000
I mean, congratulations on that.
That's obviously a really,

565
00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,320
really cool move for you and for
your family.

566
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:11,320
I mean it's a lot of security
and you know, your family can

567
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,960
kind of exhale knowing that
you're not going to grab the the

568
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:19,400
carrot dangled by, you know,
whoever, right, Ricky Martin a

569
00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:23,440
we're doing a world stadium tour
and you know, you can have your

570
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,200
own bus that's.
Fun.

571
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:29,960
That's, that's sort of, you
know, one of the pitfalls with,

572
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:34,360
with the, the, you know, the gig
life is that you, you feel

573
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:39,080
obligated to always say yes
because, yeah, as as busy as you

574
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:41,600
are, there's always in the back
of your head, you don't know if

575
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,560
the phone is going to ring after
this gig, even though you know

576
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:49,240
that it will, you still fear.
So you feel like you have to say

577
00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:51,680
yes.
And if I say no, someone else is

578
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:53,840
going to go do it and then
they're not going to call me

579
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:55,520
anymore and I'm going to lose
that client.

580
00:33:55,520 --> 00:34:00,200
So you're, you're definitely a
slave to the shows.

581
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:02,680
Yeah.
Well, it's funny because that's

582
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:08,159
sort of the, that's the attitude
that kind of drives most people

583
00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:10,880
in the industry.
Like if it, if I asked, you

584
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,880
know, people who love touring
and wouldn't do anything else,

585
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:18,280
like Cosmo Wilson, you know, if
you ask Cosmo, you know, what's

586
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,880
1 of the biggest things that got
you to where you're at?

587
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,080
And he'd say, I always say yes.
I say yes to everything and then

588
00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:30,040
figure it out, you know, and
that's how he's basically guided

589
00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:33,400
his entire career in, in touring
lighting, you know, and, and

590
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,159
it's served him well for other
people.

591
00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:38,920
I think it's burned them out and
and, you know, destroyed them as

592
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:43,280
humans possibly.
But yeah, I mean, you're right.

593
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,800
It's, it's it's a disease where
you say yes to a lot of things

594
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,719
and before you know it, you've
killed a marriage and your kids

595
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:51,960
don't know who you are and all
that kind of stuff.

596
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,920
And that's the that's the ugly.
That's the ugly stepchild.

597
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,960
I guess I used to always see it
was like the five year plan that

598
00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,520
I would see with a lot of my
friends that was they would get

599
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:06,880
married and about three years in
the wife would be like, I'm not

600
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:08,960
OK with you being gone all the
time.

601
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:12,200
You're missing off then saying
I'm going to friends weddings by

602
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:17,200
myself or party by myself.
And you know, so they in year 4,

603
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:20,480
they're like, OK, well, I'm
going to stay home more and, and

604
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,000
just do local work and not
travel as much.

605
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,800
And you know, by the end of the
fourth year, it's like, hey, you

606
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,800
know, we're tight on the bills.
You're not making money like you

607
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:30,720
used to, like you should make
more money.

608
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:33,920
It's like, OK, great.
And then Year 5, they'll go out

609
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:36,040
on tour and then they'll get a
divorce.

610
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,200
Yeah.
I saw that so many times with so

611
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,680
many, so many of my friends and
and it's you know, unfortunately

612
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,440
it's it's collateral damage of
the industry.

613
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:50,720
It is and you know so and then
there are a lot of people that

614
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:55,080
have not had to deal with that
and Mark on would have been that

615
00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:58,520
or 18 years now.
And for you, it's not easy to

616
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,080
do.
And to deal with that, I mean,

617
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,320
yeah, there's always ups and
downs and there's always battles

618
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:05,200
about being on the road, but
luckily it never came to

619
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:07,960
anything more than just some
conversations.

620
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,960
Yeah, I, I don't know your wife.
She's not in the industry

621
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:12,040
though, right?
She is.

622
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,480
She's, she is.
She's a television producer,

623
00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:16,480
yeah.
OK.

624
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:21,080
Yeah, but not as much travel, I
would guess and.

625
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:25,320
So most of her work, I mean, all
of her work is in Vegas so that

626
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,160
she doesn't doesn't travel for
work.

627
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,080
When we first met, she would
travel a bit and that's how we

628
00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:31,560
met.
We met working on the show

629
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,600
together.
And convenient.

630
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,440
Yeah, we were filming ADVD,
ironically, here in Vegas.

631
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,640
She lived in Lai, still lived in
New York, and we met here in

632
00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:44,280
Vegas working on the show.
And then we had done a bunch of

633
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:49,960
shows together where she was the
line producer and yeah, but then

634
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:53,440
once, once we moved to Vegas,
then her travelling stopped and

635
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,560
she just did local work.
Right.

636
00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,520
Yeah, there's.
A lot going on in Vegas and

637
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,360
especially now they're building
a couple of studios out here.

638
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:05,000
One just announced they would
dump in, I think it was like $8

639
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:09,760
billion into a studio at UNLV.
And Mark Wahlberg has his

640
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:13,480
project going on in Summerlin up
another studio and so.

641
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,280
Didn't he cancel that project?
I thought he was one of the guys

642
00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:21,200
who cancelled studio project
Maybe.

643
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:23,440
I know what's his name?
Tyler.

644
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:28,520
What's Tyler's?
He does all the comedies.

645
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:32,640
Yeah, Tyler.
Tyler Perry, he he cancelled one

646
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:36,680
because of AII guess AI just
freaked him out and he said

647
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:40,160
we're not going to need, you
know, film studios in the future

648
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:43,280
and right well.
He's got old studios in Atlanta

649
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,120
too, so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

650
00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:51,520
So on on family, you know, I, I
went sort of snooping your

651
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,320
Facebook yesterday just to, to
get an idea what you were up to.

652
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,520
And you know, you and I share
one thing in common for sure,

653
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:01,720
that we're both madly in love
with our sons.

654
00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:08,160
And to to again on in your
situation, maybe to an extreme,

655
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:12,520
you know, where you're building
the air conditioned Wi-Fi tree

656
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:16,960
houses, but an extreme in my
situation too, but you know,

657
00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:21,360
with motor racing.
But I saw how your son's doing

658
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:24,600
with martial arts, like he's
winning like state championships

659
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,440
and stuff, right?
So this season he was state

660
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,240
champion, district champion and
world champion.

661
00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:33,680
World champion.
Yeah, World champion.

662
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:38,680
So there are.
So he does Taekwondo, his second

663
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,160
degree black belt in two weeks.
He's actually testing for his

664
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:44,320
third degree black belt.
Jesus.

665
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:51,520
He's been doing it since he's 5
and and I don't think I was that

666
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,520
dedicated to anything at 12
years old.

667
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:58,320
That's insane.
But he goes to what is it, 24?

668
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:04,400
Just like six classes a week,
assistant teaches a class once a

669
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:08,800
week, does private lessons, does
you know, and then wow, all over

670
00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:12,840
the country and.
So when you say world champion,

671
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:15,880
like what?
Under 13 or Under 15 or.

672
00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:22,160
So he's his division was he won
world champion in the 11 and 12

673
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:25,000
year old second and third degree
black belt division.

674
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:28,840
Jesus, that's still got to be
thousands of kids though, right?

675
00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:37,240
So yeah, I mean that across it's
it's the US, Europe and South

676
00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:42,200
America and like, I have no idea
how many kids.

677
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:45,120
That's got to be a lot, yeah.
And that's.

678
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:50,720
Impressive.
The state champions get to

679
00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:55,960
compete for district champion.
And then so our division is

680
00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:01,800
Nevada, Arizona and California.
OK, wow.

681
00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:04,880
And then there's, you know, with
each tournament, you know,

682
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:06,960
there's point ratings and
everything.

683
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:10,400
So if you're in the top ten in
the world, you get to compete

684
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:12,520
for world champion.
And if you went district

685
00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:15,080
champion, you get to compete for
champion.

686
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:22,640
So he had 14 kids in his ring.
And, and they do forms, they do

687
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,800
weapons, they do combat and they
do sparring.

688
00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:28,760
And so one world champion in
forms.

689
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,960
Jeez, that is so impressive.
Like, you know, one of the

690
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,840
things I love about martial arts
is the is the discipline

691
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:39,560
involved.
And you know what it really

692
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:42,840
teaches you?
Not just diet and conditioning

693
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,000
and all of the things that any
sport teaches you, but the

694
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:50,520
amount of discipline in in most
of the combat sports, but

695
00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:54,000
certainly in in martial arts is
is outrageous.

696
00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:58,440
It's taught him a lot about
respect, a lot about discipline

697
00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:00,480
and a lot about work ethic.
Yeah.

698
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:04,640
Like right now he's like I said,
in in two weeks, he's testing

699
00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,920
for 3rd so third degree.
So he's got a lot of things that

700
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:12,920
he needs to memorize and know
and and and do for his testing

701
00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:18,280
and, you know, be overwhelming.
And yeah, but working with him

702
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:21,240
and letting know like, don't
think of everything because then

703
00:41:21,240 --> 00:41:22,960
you're just going to get
overwhelmed and you're going to

704
00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:25,760
start to shut down and not know
where to even begin.

705
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:30,240
So just everything, you know,
task at hand, just do 1 task at

706
00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:33,440
a time and just focus on that.
And, you know, to learn that at

707
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,080
such an early age.
Yeah, got thick.

708
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:39,280
And, you know, I tell him all
the time, I don't really care

709
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:43,200
about the metals.
Metals are nice, but that's not

710
00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:46,080
why I enjoy him being a
Taekwondo.

711
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:50,560
It's high enough when he goes
into the job market and

712
00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,880
everything like, you know, he's
not going to just be, you know,

713
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,000
and the.
He ain't going to settle for

714
00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:00,800
average. 73 sitting in a
cubicle, just typing away

715
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:04,720
numbers that yeah, do something,
you know, whatever it is that he

716
00:42:04,720 --> 00:42:09,000
decides, but he's going to, you
know, put his full effort into

717
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:12,000
it and it's going to be.
I think there's a difference

718
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,040
between job and career.
Yeah.

719
00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:16,640
And he's not going to just have
a job he's going to have.

720
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:18,320
He's going to be passionate
about you.

721
00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:20,720
Know my, my son's exactly the
same.

722
00:42:20,720 --> 00:42:23,240
I'm not worried about him.
He's going to find his way.

723
00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:25,360
And he decided college ain't for
me.

724
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:30,640
You know, I want to race until I
can't anymore and and so on.

725
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:33,600
But you know, these kids aren't
going to settle for average,

726
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:37,200
like when you're, when you're
conditioned from a young age and

727
00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:42,160
my son started at just 7.
And you know, when you're

728
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:45,280
conditioned and you're
constantly being told that's not

729
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:46,880
enough, that's not enough,
that's not enough.

730
00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:50,160
And and you know, you need an
extra, you need two more tents,

731
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:52,840
you need this, you need this.
And I'm sure it's the same with

732
00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:56,120
with your son.
You know, they're not suddenly

733
00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:58,200
just going to become average
humans.

734
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:01,360
You know, they're, they're used
to competing well above average

735
00:43:01,720 --> 00:43:04,040
and they're not going to become
average humans all of a sudden.

736
00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:06,440
So yeah, they're not going to
settle for just whatever you

737
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:08,360
throw to me a job in the
warehouse or whatever.

738
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:09,960
Not that there's anything wrong
with that.

739
00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:12,440
No, no, not at all.
They're going to shoot for for

740
00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:15,640
the stars, right?
Always in every aspect of life,

741
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,840
women, you know, they're not
going to settle for, they're not

742
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:21,360
going to have ugly wives.
These boys, you know, they're

743
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:24,240
just not, you know, I know it
already.

744
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:26,600
So were you a fan?
Were you like a martial arts

745
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:27,960
fan?
Is that what drove him?

746
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:34,320
No, it, it, it oddly enough, it
started when he was five.

747
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,120
He was doing soccer and he
wasn't really enjoying it.

748
00:43:37,120 --> 00:43:40,600
And I was on the road talking
with the wife and he was like,

749
00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:42,520
yeah, So what, what should we
try next?

750
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:45,760
So I was like, well, you know,
he he was watching at the time,

751
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,800
it was some Lego cartoon called
Ninjago.

752
00:43:49,240 --> 00:43:52,560
And they did spinjitsu.
I'm like, so maybe try jiu

753
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:54,600
jitsu.
So anyone needed a jiu jitsu

754
00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:59,840
class, wanted a free, you know,
classes and, and trial and

755
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:01,200
classes.
And he did it and he was like,

756
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:03,280
yeah, it was OK.
But it was a lot of rolling

757
00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:04,880
around.
I want to punch and kick things.

758
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,200
Like, all right, well, fun.
Me too.

759
00:44:07,600 --> 00:44:09,320
Let's yeah.
Oh, great.

760
00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:13,760
So, so then we did the trial
class at this Taekwondo studio

761
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:18,720
and he was the best salesman,
but he he was enjoying the class

762
00:44:18,720 --> 00:44:21,840
and then at the end they let him
break a board and it was, you

763
00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:26,000
know, like 8th of an inch.
Fossil wood, they're pre broken

764
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,600
to those things.
You know, and, you know, and,

765
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,760
and he got at the end of the
class, he got to punch this

766
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:33,120
wooden board and break it in
half.

767
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:36,040
And you just saw the light in
his eye.

768
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:38,600
From that moment on, he was
like, yes, this is what I want

769
00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:39,680
to do.
That was it.

770
00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:43,640
And so, you know, he started
doing it and then we found out

771
00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:46,680
about tournaments and he went
and did a tournament and he was

772
00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:50,800
like, oh, I get to compete in
this and and go out with people.

773
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:54,000
Absolutely.
So now, like it's on average

774
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:56,280
every other weekend that we're
at a tournament all over the

775
00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:58,120
country.
I know, you know, I know that

776
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:01,480
lifestyle so well.
Like, so I tried, you know, I

777
00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:06,240
was, I, I am a huge UFC fan and
I was for years and years, like

778
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:13,240
I was a UFC fan when it was
George was the LD and what's his

779
00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:16,000
name, the guy from Pennsylvania
who had the small lighting

780
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:22,720
company, Rich, Rich something, I
forget the name of his company,

781
00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:24,160
but he did all the lighting for
it.

782
00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:27,360
And they went to like Alabama
and Arkansas and stuff.

783
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:29,520
They couldn't go to any of the
real places, you know.

784
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:34,200
And so I was a big fan and, and
you know, when we were looking

785
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:38,640
at my son, when he was, I think
he was six or seven and, and you

786
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,880
know, you got to get in some
kind of sport, you know, and we

787
00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:46,320
tried, I don't remember if it
was karate or something, but we

788
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:51,080
put him in a class and my son's
64, you know, he was always like

789
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,440
above the 100th percentile,
always super tall.

790
00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:57,040
So, you know, he's seven years
old or whatever.

791
00:45:57,040 --> 00:46:01,720
And they put him in sparring
against a kid who was like 11,

792
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:07,320
and the kid kicked him once in
the head and his mouthpiece went

793
00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:11,520
flying and then kicked him again
in the head and knocked out half

794
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:14,040
of his teeth.
And that was it.

795
00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:17,000
Like I was like, OK, we're not
going to do this one, you know?

796
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:19,280
Yeah.
And because they put him in

797
00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:22,360
based on height, not on age.
And, you know, I would have

798
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:25,320
kicked the guy's ass, but he
was, you know, however many

799
00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:27,040
degree black belt and would have
killed me.

800
00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:30,680
But I was so angry at this
person for putting him in with

801
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,120
an 11 year old kid.
You know, it was like, what are

802
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:36,120
you doing?
Yeah, so that, you know, in in

803
00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:39,560
class, you know, there's, you
know, 18 year olds that he goes

804
00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:42,240
against and, you know, and.
But he knows what he's doing.

805
00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,840
It's a combat sport.
So yeah, you got to expect you.

806
00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:48,360
You might get hurt and.
Yeah, yeah.

807
00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:52,160
And you might hurt someone, you
know, you know that's.

808
00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:55,200
Just no.
I mean, you know, so we went to

809
00:46:55,200 --> 00:46:57,720
something much safer
Motorsports, you know, and put

810
00:46:57,720 --> 00:47:01,280
them in a in a racing cart.
And yeah, it's funny because

811
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:03,200
100.
Miles an hour is way.

812
00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:07,040
Yeah, yeah, me and Donnie Ladico
are the idiots here because you

813
00:47:07,040 --> 00:47:10,640
know you, I don't care if you
got 6 private lessons a week and

814
00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:13,800
you got tournaments all over the
world and all this stuff, you

815
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:17,040
could buy them new gloves and a
new whatever the GI or whatever

816
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:20,640
it's called, you could buy that
every week and you still won't

817
00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:24,320
be covering, you know, 1/4 of
the cost of Motorsports.

818
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:27,640
It's like I have friends who
whose kids are in travel hockey

819
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:29,560
and they're like, you wouldn't
believe what it costs.

820
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:31,200
And I'm like, oh, yeah, I would.
You want to.

821
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:33,280
You want to compare notes?
Yeah, you know.

822
00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:34,720
Yeah.
So.

823
00:47:34,920 --> 00:47:38,120
I think all the travel, it's no
matter what it is, or it'd be

824
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:43,040
racing or football, basketball
or Taekwondo, martial arts, You

825
00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:46,360
know, I, I, I've said that I
think the Korean to English

826
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:48,880
translation for Taekwondo is
take my dough.

827
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:52,280
That's that's hilarious.
That's funny.

828
00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:55,640
It, it does it, you know, it
racks up between the hotels, the

829
00:47:55,760 --> 00:48:00,480
airfare, the boarding, the dogs
every time we go out, the, you

830
00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:04,160
know, eating out, you know, and
of course all the, all the

831
00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:07,600
tournaments are in linked areas.
So it's not like the prices that

832
00:48:07,600 --> 00:48:10,200
restaurants are cheap.
And yeah, it adds up.

833
00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:13,280
But at the end of the day, you
know, it's, it's, it's worth it

834
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:17,840
as as you know, you know to to
watch your kid doing it and to

835
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:19,400
enjoy it.
It's.

836
00:48:19,640 --> 00:48:22,640
Yeah, well where, where you say
like we're doing tournaments

837
00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:25,760
twice a month.
You know, I, I go back and I

838
00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:31,280
look at these, you know, when my
son was Kart racing from 7 years

839
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:36,920
old up till he was, I think he
quit at 13 or 14 is when he went

840
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:41,600
to cars and in karts though we
were racing like they all the

841
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:44,320
tracks are outside the city.
It like in the middle of

842
00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:46,360
nowhere.
And so you're staying at a

843
00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:49,440
Hampton Inn or a Holiday Inn
Express if you're lucky, you

844
00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:52,720
know, the God awful express if,
if you're not so lucky.

845
00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:57,480
And but I look back at that with
such joy, you know, because it's

846
00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:01,360
my son and I were together
sharing a hotel room every

847
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:04,960
couple of weeks, getting up at
5:30 or 6:00 in the morning to

848
00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:09,040
rush over to a racetrack and
spending the entire day there,

849
00:49:09,040 --> 00:49:12,080
then going out to dinner with
our team at night or whatever.

850
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:18,000
And you know, it's just, it was
such a great way to really bond

851
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:20,440
with my kid, you know, which I'm
sure you're going through all

852
00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:23,600
the same stuff.
Yeah, cuz we do the same thing.

853
00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:25,400
We're up at, you know, like
5:30.

854
00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:30,000
We're the tournament at 7 and
cuz, you know, we're there at,

855
00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:33,720
you know, opening ceremonies at
Bowen and then we're there until

856
00:49:33,720 --> 00:49:36,600
about 5:00 or 6:00 at night,
even though he might have

857
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:38,680
competed at 9:00.
Yeah.

858
00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:40,600
And he's done by 10.
Yeah.

859
00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:43,160
But then he'll go and he'll,
he'll, he'll score keep and

860
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:45,560
he'll judge and he'll do stuff
like that during appointment and

861
00:49:45,560 --> 00:49:47,760
weather until the very end.
Yeah.

862
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:51,040
And then we go out to dinner
with all of his team mates and

863
00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:55,360
yeah, one and do that.
And so you know, the the

864
00:49:55,360 --> 00:49:59,760
friendships that he's building
with, you know, his other

865
00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:03,200
Taekwondo, you know, classmates
and everything like.

866
00:50:03,840 --> 00:50:07,080
They don't go away, you know.
Core of his friends like.

867
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:10,040
Same and my sons.
Are are from Taekwondo and then

868
00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:13,520
he's got a few from school and
you know, but but 90% of his

869
00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:16,000
friends are from Taekwondo.
Well, my son was homeschooled

870
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:20,360
because of racing and so he
doesn't have any friends from

871
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:24,520
school, hardly any.
Anyways, he stopped going to

872
00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:30,400
regular school, I think in fifth
grade, maybe 6th grade and you

873
00:50:30,400 --> 00:50:32,120
know, because he was just
traveling too much and I was

874
00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:34,320
getting in too much trouble from
the schools and stuff.

875
00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:41,200
So, so we just put him in, in
homeschool and but the friends

876
00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:43,840
at the track, like he's got
friends in South America, all

877
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:47,600
over Europe, Asia, you know,
really good friends, you know,

878
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:49,960
that he talks to all the time
and stuff.

879
00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:55,120
It's a very international sport
and and, you know, I just think

880
00:50:55,160 --> 00:51:00,160
that I've given him an unfair
advantage with the 12 or 13

881
00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:03,800
years that we've been in
motorsport because he's just an

882
00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:08,720
edge above all of his friends
and stuff as far as his, his,

883
00:51:08,720 --> 00:51:12,920
some of his abilities, but his
just strength as a human, his,

884
00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:16,640
his courage, you know, cuz if
you're willing to go this far

885
00:51:16,640 --> 00:51:21,240
away from a wall at 150 miles an
hour over and over again for a

886
00:51:21,240 --> 00:51:25,200
couple of hours, like that's a
special sort of skill that not a

887
00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:29,320
lot of people have, you know?
So, yeah.

888
00:51:29,360 --> 00:51:31,720
But anyways, you know, people
are probably getting bored

889
00:51:31,720 --> 00:51:33,080
listening to us talk about our
kids.

890
00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:36,800
But it's so similar, you know,
regardless of what sport they're

891
00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:40,240
in, it's just so similar to see
these kids so committed and

892
00:51:40,240 --> 00:51:45,440
passionate about something and
what that really builds in them

893
00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:47,920
as humans, you know, and the
foundation it gives them as

894
00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:50,080
humans.
Like, I'll tell you what I'd

895
00:51:50,080 --> 00:51:53,960
hire.
I'd hire a Taekwondo champion or

896
00:51:54,360 --> 00:51:59,520
a racing champion any day above
a kid who excelled in school.

897
00:52:00,040 --> 00:52:03,760
Yeah, yeah.
I didn't find a passion until I

898
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:05,760
was 18 when I got into this
industry.

899
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:10,240
I'm going to find something that
is dispassionate about 5 years

900
00:52:10,240 --> 00:52:14,600
old, you know, like, yeah, like
he's, he's definitely has the

901
00:52:14,600 --> 00:52:16,920
advantage on me when it comes
well.

902
00:52:16,920 --> 00:52:21,000
For me, I, I did, you know,
girls music, you know, I was a

903
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:24,200
musician.
Neither of them, you know, seem

904
00:52:24,200 --> 00:52:28,680
to help my life very much, but
you know, at least these guys

905
00:52:28,680 --> 00:52:31,480
are doing something productive.
But no, it's very cool.

906
00:52:31,480 --> 00:52:34,960
Like I said, I, I was so happy
when I, I found all those posts

907
00:52:34,960 --> 00:52:38,800
on your Facebook because you
know, I was like, wow, he's

908
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:42,440
killing it.
You know, it's just like Donnie

909
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:45,600
Ladico, you know, I, I feel half
responsible for getting him into

910
00:52:45,600 --> 00:52:49,400
racing because I think maybe he
saw some posts or something and

911
00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:52,080
said, Hey, kid, you should try
this, even though he's never

912
00:52:52,080 --> 00:52:56,880
said that to me.
But you know, watching Luca, his

913
00:52:56,880 --> 00:53:02,200
kid, you know, excelling at that
sport, like, you know, and, and

914
00:53:02,480 --> 00:53:05,440
we're talking about maybe my son
Jeremy's going to start doing

915
00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:07,320
some SIM coaching for him and
stuff.

916
00:53:09,080 --> 00:53:11,880
You know, it's cool.
It's just really cool.

917
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:14,960
It's fun, it's cool.
I'm wondering if just, you know,

918
00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:19,320
this industry and the way we're
so passionate about this

919
00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:21,840
industry, if that runs off on
our kids, 'cause you look at

920
00:53:21,840 --> 00:53:24,120
like Greg Jones and his daughter
with tennis.

921
00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:28,720
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So many people in this industry

922
00:53:28,720 --> 00:53:31,680
that, you know, you look at
their kids and, and, you know,

923
00:53:31,680 --> 00:53:35,600
at an early age, they're so
passionate and so dedicated to

924
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:40,280
whatever it is, whether it be a
sport or, you know, some sort

925
00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:42,840
of, you know, event or thing
that they're doing.

926
00:53:42,840 --> 00:53:46,600
And they're so dedicated to it.
And, you know, and I think it

927
00:53:46,600 --> 00:53:51,960
it, it must come from the
parents and this industry.

928
00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:54,040
Featherstone's two daughters.
Yeah.

929
00:53:54,400 --> 00:53:56,000
John Featherstone's two
daughters.

930
00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:58,440
You know, they're both very
talented, lighting people in

931
00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:02,280
their own rights, you know, and,
and I mean, you see a lot of

932
00:54:02,280 --> 00:54:06,000
that too.
And, and you know, I've, I have

933
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:10,120
not pushed my son at all to get
into our industry, not because I

934
00:54:10,120 --> 00:54:13,560
hate our industry or anything,
but if he wants to do it, he'll

935
00:54:13,560 --> 00:54:16,320
come to me.
You know, like I could make a

936
00:54:16,320 --> 00:54:20,640
couple calls and get him out on
a tour as a 4th or 5th or 6th or

937
00:54:20,640 --> 00:54:24,080
whatever, you know, and go to
her for a couple years and just

938
00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:27,840
be a grunt and see the world
and, and get that out of your

939
00:54:27,840 --> 00:54:28,920
system.
Have some fun.

940
00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:31,800
But he just hasn't shown any
desire to do it.

941
00:54:31,800 --> 00:54:33,360
So, you know, I ain't pushing
him.

942
00:54:33,360 --> 00:54:35,880
I don't care.
No, no.

943
00:54:36,400 --> 00:54:38,760
You know, I think this is an
amazing industry.

944
00:54:39,240 --> 00:54:42,200
Do I want my son in it?
Not particularly.

945
00:54:42,200 --> 00:54:44,280
Not because I don't join the
industry.

946
00:54:44,720 --> 00:54:46,880
We we all want better for our
kids, right?

947
00:54:46,880 --> 00:54:51,640
And I think, you know, you know,
if you know, if they're, you

948
00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:57,600
know, just like a general, you
know, practitioner or whatever,

949
00:54:57,600 --> 00:55:02,560
you know, they want their kid to
be a heart surgeon or a brain.

950
00:55:03,040 --> 00:55:05,120
Yeah.
So you always want better for

951
00:55:05,120 --> 00:55:10,800
your kid and you know, and so I
want him to be, you know, not

952
00:55:12,080 --> 00:55:15,720
having the to wonder where where
the next gig is coming from.

953
00:55:15,720 --> 00:55:19,520
And you know, that kind of all
all the negative things of this

954
00:55:19,520 --> 00:55:21,560
and there are connects in the
industry.

955
00:55:21,560 --> 00:55:26,560
So you don't want your kids
struggle and and and do any of

956
00:55:26,560 --> 00:55:28,920
the the you know, when we all
started.

957
00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:31,960
The dumbest stuff.
Struggling when we all started

958
00:55:31,960 --> 00:55:34,160
and you know, so you don't want
to see that for your kids so.

959
00:55:34,160 --> 00:55:37,800
But at the same time, if you if
you can somehow get rid of those

960
00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:41,400
negatives, you know, it's, it is
an incredible industry.

961
00:55:41,400 --> 00:55:44,840
It isn't like think of the
countries and places you

962
00:55:44,840 --> 00:55:47,520
wouldn't have seen.
Have you never?

963
00:55:47,720 --> 00:55:50,720
And you know, it's like when I
look at go Kart racing, for

964
00:55:50,720 --> 00:55:55,360
example, like I saw parts of the
country that I never would have

965
00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:57,800
seen if it wasn't for that or
our industry.

966
00:55:57,800 --> 00:56:02,280
You know, I've been to multiple
countries in Asia, most of the

967
00:56:02,280 --> 00:56:05,640
countries in Europe, you know,
and I never toured.

968
00:56:05,640 --> 00:56:08,560
I've always just been on the
business side or the sales side

969
00:56:08,560 --> 00:56:11,840
of our industry.
And you know, I've been to a lot

970
00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:15,280
of places because of our
industry, because of the job.

971
00:56:15,640 --> 00:56:19,560
And so I guess when you talk
about our industry like straight

972
00:56:19,560 --> 00:56:22,480
hardcore touring, you got to be
a special person.

973
00:56:22,720 --> 00:56:26,560
But when you get into jobs like
yours and, and mine and and so

974
00:56:26,560 --> 00:56:29,560
many other people who are
supporting the industry, you

975
00:56:29,560 --> 00:56:31,960
know, it's a great industry
because you don't have to go

976
00:56:31,960 --> 00:56:33,880
riding tour buses.
But you still get some of the

977
00:56:33,880 --> 00:56:36,920
benefits of the industry.
You know, you still get to see,

978
00:56:37,400 --> 00:56:39,760
like, even if you're once
removed, you get to see the show

979
00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:43,800
happen and feel a a bit of pride
because of it, you know, because

980
00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:45,960
you were involved somehow.
Yeah.

981
00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:51,680
Well, I think, I think the, the,
the, the thing for me with now

982
00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:54,160
being on this side of the
industry was that I was on the

983
00:56:54,160 --> 00:56:58,160
other side for so long.
So being able to tap into

984
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:05,840
previous experiences in, you
know, make, you know, the

985
00:57:06,160 --> 00:57:11,160
transition to this office role
and, you know, an easier

986
00:57:11,160 --> 00:57:15,560
transition because I have, you
know, 30 years of pouring under

987
00:57:15,560 --> 00:57:20,000
the belt and dealing with
different personalities, you

988
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:22,960
know, you know, putting out
different fires and, you know,

989
00:57:22,960 --> 00:57:25,720
and.
Well, there's there's another

990
00:57:25,720 --> 00:57:29,400
thing like you understand the
urgency because you've been on

991
00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:33,080
the receiving end of a lighting
package that's missing 1

992
00:57:33,080 --> 00:57:38,320
component or that you know, the
console didn't show up or, or

993
00:57:38,320 --> 00:57:41,040
you know, something something
happened or the lights weren't

994
00:57:41,280 --> 00:57:45,240
properly cleaned and prepped or
you know, the gobo's were in the

995
00:57:45,240 --> 00:57:47,600
wrong positions or whatever it
was right.

996
00:57:48,080 --> 00:57:53,160
You've been in those situations,
so you know now that what that

997
00:57:53,160 --> 00:57:55,920
feels like to be on the
receiving end, right?

998
00:57:56,360 --> 00:58:00,200
So I think that's a huge plus.
Like I don't think anyone should

999
00:58:00,200 --> 00:58:04,440
be sitting in in my seat, you
know, without that in your seat,

1000
00:58:04,440 --> 00:58:07,640
without that experienced.
I didn't have that experience,

1001
00:58:07,640 --> 00:58:10,760
but I had such a compassion for
the people who did.

1002
00:58:11,280 --> 00:58:15,120
And so I, I was always, I did
whatever they told me to do,

1003
00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:17,080
even if they were lying.
I didn't know when they were

1004
00:58:17,080 --> 00:58:18,280
lying.
That was the problem.

1005
00:58:18,280 --> 00:58:20,640
So sometimes I jump through
hoops I probably shouldn't have

1006
00:58:20,640 --> 00:58:23,880
jumped through or gave discounts
that I shouldn't have given or

1007
00:58:23,880 --> 00:58:25,320
whatever.
I don't care.

1008
00:58:25,320 --> 00:58:30,160
You know, that for me that was
just the lack of of the touring

1009
00:58:30,160 --> 00:58:32,480
experience or whatever that I
didn't have.

1010
00:58:32,480 --> 00:58:35,640
So yeah.
What do you think about the

1011
00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:37,240
industry today?
Where do you think we're at?

1012
00:58:37,240 --> 00:58:38,960
Are we in a good place, bad
place?

1013
00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:43,560
Somewhere in between.
So I think we're it depends

1014
00:58:43,560 --> 00:58:48,920
like, yeah, I think the the the
state of the industry now is, is

1015
00:58:48,920 --> 00:58:55,160
I think very much in limbo.
I think there's we're getting

1016
00:58:55,160 --> 00:58:59,200
back to, you know, like they
used to be a time when like even

1017
00:58:59,200 --> 00:59:02,520
before I got into industry, but
I sort of came in on the tail

1018
00:59:02,520 --> 00:59:07,120
end of it where there wasn't a
lot of off the shelf problem.

1019
00:59:07,600 --> 00:59:10,360
So there's a lot of everything
was pretty much custom like, you

1020
00:59:10,360 --> 00:59:14,240
know, custom trussing and this.
And so designs were very

1021
00:59:14,240 --> 00:59:19,200
elaborate and very unique and,
and then, you know, standardized

1022
00:59:19,200 --> 00:59:22,400
trussing started coming to play
and shows started to get a

1023
00:59:22,400 --> 00:59:25,960
little on the boring side, so to
speak, because, you know,

1024
00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:27,960
everyone was working within the
same framework.

1025
00:59:27,960 --> 00:59:31,480
And I think now we're getting to
a point where people are

1026
00:59:31,480 --> 00:59:34,600
starting to use these standard
things in new and different

1027
00:59:34,600 --> 00:59:37,240
ways.
And like, you look at shows like

1028
00:59:37,240 --> 00:59:41,240
the, the Timberlake with the
giant monolith and, you know,

1029
00:59:41,240 --> 00:59:44,320
and, and stuff like that and,
and, and the technology that we

1030
00:59:44,320 --> 00:59:47,400
have now combined with the off
the shelf, you know, so you're

1031
00:59:47,400 --> 00:59:53,400
getting these more custom sort
of shows with custom pieces, you

1032
00:59:53,400 --> 00:59:58,080
know, and, and so shows now are
not just OK, here's, you know, a

1033
00:59:58,080 --> 01:00:00,160
couple of trusses above the
stage and here's some lighting.

1034
01:00:00,160 --> 01:00:04,400
Like now it's getting back to
full production designs and,

1035
01:00:04,400 --> 01:00:09,480
and, and these really amazing
looking shows and these stages.

1036
01:00:10,680 --> 01:00:14,040
So that part, I really love
seeing the industry moving and

1037
01:00:14,040 --> 01:00:18,120
into that direction.
But with the.

1038
01:00:19,080 --> 01:00:22,800
Economy and everything else now
it's, you know, there's, there's

1039
01:00:22,800 --> 01:00:26,840
so much up in the air that it's
like, well, do we want to spend

1040
01:00:26,840 --> 01:00:28,760
the money to do this?
Do we not want to spend the

1041
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:31,320
money?
And, you know, I'm like, are you

1042
01:00:31,320 --> 01:00:34,120
saying now Sarah's going to
blink 182 And, you know, like

1043
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:37,360
looking at the plot on that
again, they're doing some, you

1044
01:00:37,360 --> 01:00:40,480
know, some cool stuff with a lot
of automation and, and some

1045
01:00:40,480 --> 01:00:45,400
really interesting fun stuff on
on, you know, on the automation

1046
01:00:46,120 --> 01:00:50,360
aspect that has been being used
a lot now because prices have

1047
01:00:50,360 --> 01:00:55,160
come down a lot of right.
And out it was, you know, you

1048
01:00:55,160 --> 01:00:57,600
only had what one or two
companies doing it and it was

1049
01:00:57,600 --> 01:01:00,440
really expensive.
And, you know, now the prices

1050
01:01:00,440 --> 01:01:02,040
have come down.
So you're starting to see a lot

1051
01:01:02,040 --> 01:01:05,080
more automation on shows and.
Well, you know, the other thing

1052
01:01:05,760 --> 01:01:09,040
to add to that is it's amazing
to me now how many lighting

1053
01:01:09,040 --> 01:01:12,720
companies have their own
fabrication shops within the

1054
01:01:12,720 --> 01:01:15,000
lighting companies.
So you don't have to go to take

1055
01:01:15,000 --> 01:01:18,400
for everything.
You know, like take, not only

1056
01:01:18,400 --> 01:01:21,080
are they expensive, but they're
they're very busy.

1057
01:01:21,440 --> 01:01:26,040
And so, you know, if I've got an
arena act that wants some custom

1058
01:01:26,040 --> 01:01:29,960
stuff, we can do it right here
in our own fabrication shop,

1059
01:01:29,960 --> 01:01:31,320
right.
So it.

1060
01:01:31,760 --> 01:01:36,840
Was in like the late 70s,
eighties, early 90s, every

1061
01:01:36,840 --> 01:01:39,720
lighting shop had their wood
shop and that metal shop and

1062
01:01:39,720 --> 01:01:42,720
they would build stuff
constantly for their shows.

1063
01:01:42,720 --> 01:01:45,200
And, and then that sort of went
away.

1064
01:01:45,680 --> 01:01:48,960
Now we have, you know, the, the
Thomas Truss and we have the

1065
01:01:48,960 --> 01:01:52,440
Tomcat and we have all this, we
don't need the metal shop this

1066
01:01:52,440 --> 01:01:54,560
much anymore.
So we're not.

1067
01:01:54,840 --> 01:02:00,320
So that sort of went away in
like the late night 90s and

1068
01:02:00,320 --> 01:02:03,600
2000s and the 20 tens.
And, you know, now here we are

1069
01:02:03,600 --> 01:02:06,800
in 24 and that's starting to
come back where, you know,

1070
01:02:06,800 --> 01:02:10,200
lighting shops have, you know,
fab shops and metal shops and,

1071
01:02:10,200 --> 01:02:14,760
and wood shops and yeah, and
starting to, you know, produce

1072
01:02:14,760 --> 01:02:17,120
these these things.
And it started to happen a few

1073
01:02:17,120 --> 01:02:19,720
years ago.
And I think the, the smaller

1074
01:02:19,720 --> 01:02:23,960
shows, the smaller tours really
pushed that because instead of

1075
01:02:23,960 --> 01:02:26,640
just coming in and putting like,
you know, 20 lights on the floor

1076
01:02:26,640 --> 01:02:31,320
or whatever they were, you know,
building these carts and, you

1077
01:02:31,320 --> 01:02:34,440
know, and, and, and it's sort of
started from there and sort of.

1078
01:02:35,320 --> 01:02:37,800
Yeah, that was an, that was an
example I was going to use here

1079
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:42,000
your old employer Volt, you
know, building all those, those

1080
01:02:42,000 --> 01:02:45,320
carts and racks and stuff where,
you know, why should we go spend

1081
01:02:45,320 --> 01:02:50,040
$2000.00 for a case for the
light to live in when it's going

1082
01:02:50,040 --> 01:02:52,920
to end up on a rack, you know,
or on, on something.

1083
01:02:53,240 --> 01:02:55,640
Yeah, you look at Squeak lights
out out in New York, you know,

1084
01:02:55,760 --> 01:02:58,600
they're doing the same thing and
like building these, you know,

1085
01:02:58,880 --> 01:03:03,320
these really cool cart set piece
lighting, you know, things that

1086
01:03:03,320 --> 01:03:07,560
can easily roll in and roll out
for some smaller theater and and

1087
01:03:07,560 --> 01:03:09,600
club tours and everything.
And then, you know, and then

1088
01:03:09,600 --> 01:03:14,120
that that sort of creativity has
just grown into now the larger

1089
01:03:14,120 --> 01:03:17,520
scale shows of like, oh wait,
how can we use this differently?

1090
01:03:17,520 --> 01:03:20,120
How can we use this, you know,
more creatively and?

1091
01:03:20,200 --> 01:03:24,120
It makes so much sense.
Trust, you know, when lights

1092
01:03:24,120 --> 01:03:28,320
now, you know, not only are they
tougher and built so that they

1093
01:03:28,320 --> 01:03:33,680
can live in trusts or live in
carts or racks or whatever, but

1094
01:03:34,280 --> 01:03:37,040
there are also so many of them
are IP rated now.

1095
01:03:37,360 --> 01:03:41,160
And so even the the, you know,
dust in the shops and all of

1096
01:03:41,160 --> 01:03:43,760
that stuff doesn't isn't a
problem for it.

1097
01:03:43,760 --> 01:03:46,880
So they don't need to be babied
in flight cases anymore.

1098
01:03:47,160 --> 01:03:52,440
And so I think that's a really
cool trend because cases seem so

1099
01:03:52,440 --> 01:03:55,480
wasteful to me when it comes to
certain products.

1100
01:03:55,680 --> 01:03:59,000
Yeah, and.
And with the LED technology, you

1101
01:03:59,000 --> 01:04:02,200
know, you don't have to figure
out the the the lamp bouncing

1102
01:04:02,200 --> 01:04:03,240
around and.
Correct.

1103
01:04:03,240 --> 01:04:05,040
Yeah, and.
Stuff like that, you know, as

1104
01:04:05,040 --> 01:04:07,640
well.
And so yeah, definitely the

1105
01:04:07,640 --> 01:04:11,080
technology of the fixtures says,
you know, everything is all hand

1106
01:04:11,080 --> 01:04:13,880
in hand, right?
It all works to get us to where

1107
01:04:13,880 --> 01:04:17,920
we are and and just love
watching the industry grow

1108
01:04:17,920 --> 01:04:19,640
again.
Hell yes, yeah.

1109
01:04:20,040 --> 01:04:22,400
So Speaking of growth, like
state of the industry.

1110
01:04:22,400 --> 01:04:26,000
So, you know, if I was to sit
down and ask someone at Live

1111
01:04:26,000 --> 01:04:29,640
Nation, you know, they'd say
that there's no end insight.

1112
01:04:29,640 --> 01:04:31,400
The, you know, the Sky's the
limit.

1113
01:04:31,400 --> 01:04:34,120
These shows are going to keep
getting bigger and bigger and

1114
01:04:34,120 --> 01:04:36,800
selling more and more tickets
and there's going to be more

1115
01:04:36,800 --> 01:04:39,640
dates announced and more this
and more that, more everything.

1116
01:04:40,920 --> 01:04:44,280
Do you think that that level of
growth that we've seen over the

1117
01:04:44,280 --> 01:04:47,400
past couple of years is
sustainable, like where arena

1118
01:04:47,400 --> 01:04:51,560
bands are playing in in stadiums
and and theater bands are

1119
01:04:51,560 --> 01:04:56,320
playing in arenas and.
You know, I think it all depends

1120
01:04:56,320 --> 01:05:00,840
on the state of, of the, the
world as well, you know, because

1121
01:05:00,840 --> 01:05:03,880
like, I think, I think coming
out of COVID, I hate to keep

1122
01:05:03,880 --> 01:05:05,920
going back because that was
about four years ago.

1123
01:05:06,360 --> 01:05:10,840
But I think coming out of that,
like people were so desperate

1124
01:05:10,840 --> 01:05:14,120
for entertainment, you know,
from, you know, not having

1125
01:05:14,120 --> 01:05:16,040
anything.
You know, there was no new TV

1126
01:05:16,040 --> 01:05:17,920
shows, there was no new movies.
There was no nothing.

1127
01:05:17,920 --> 01:05:22,440
And they came out of it with
this just desire for, I think

1128
01:05:22,440 --> 01:05:28,880
it, it, it reignited for a lot
of people, you know, stuff that

1129
01:05:28,880 --> 01:05:30,920
they hadn't done in, in, in a
long time.

1130
01:05:30,920 --> 01:05:33,760
Like you have guys that, you
know, I haven't been to a

1131
01:05:33,760 --> 01:05:36,320
concert in 15 years.
And now all of a sudden coming

1132
01:05:36,320 --> 01:05:38,640
out of code, they're like, all I
want to do is go see a concert.

1133
01:05:38,680 --> 01:05:41,320
Yeah, yeah, concerts all the
time, so.

1134
01:05:41,800 --> 01:05:44,320
When you take something away
from people, they want it 10

1135
01:05:44,320 --> 01:05:46,680
times as.
Bad and they realize what they

1136
01:05:46,680 --> 01:05:50,400
what they were missing.
And so I think that I don't know

1137
01:05:50,400 --> 01:05:53,240
if it's sustainable to continue
to grow.

1138
01:05:53,240 --> 01:05:55,200
I think it will plateau at a
certain point.

1139
01:05:55,320 --> 01:05:58,640
But I think I don't think it's
going to go back down unless

1140
01:05:58,640 --> 01:06:01,920
there's a huge economic crisis
or something like that.

1141
01:06:01,920 --> 01:06:05,560
And then I think even if there
is, I think coming out of that

1142
01:06:05,560 --> 01:06:08,160
economic crisis, it's going to
get right back to where it was

1143
01:06:08,160 --> 01:06:10,280
this.
Yeah, well, I've gone to this

1144
01:06:10,280 --> 01:06:16,000
point a bunch of times, but
Rapino the, the, the CEO at, at

1145
01:06:16,000 --> 01:06:21,720
Live Nation in a report last
year sometime, he, he made a a

1146
01:06:21,720 --> 01:06:25,720
really interesting point, which
is that most of these artists

1147
01:06:25,800 --> 01:06:30,120
during COVID leaned into all the
online stuff really, really

1148
01:06:30,120 --> 01:06:32,760
hard, especially on social
media.

1149
01:06:33,280 --> 01:06:37,600
And so you've got the the Jelly
rolls of the world who built

1150
01:06:37,600 --> 01:06:41,840
multi million followers on
different platforms.

1151
01:06:42,440 --> 01:06:46,200
And Rapino's point was my job's
easy.

1152
01:06:46,200 --> 01:06:50,200
All I have to do is sell tickets
to 5% of their followers.

1153
01:06:50,920 --> 01:06:54,160
And when you look at it like
that, you go, wow, there's a lot

1154
01:06:54,680 --> 01:06:57,920
of open capacity there.
Like there's a lot of stuff if,

1155
01:06:57,960 --> 01:07:02,320
if I increase that number to 15%
from 5%, you know, you're

1156
01:07:02,320 --> 01:07:04,920
talking about, you know, a
million concert tickets

1157
01:07:05,000 --> 01:07:08,400
globally, right?
And if, if I can sell a million

1158
01:07:08,400 --> 01:07:12,800
tickets for, for Jelly Roll now
I'm looking to get more stadium

1159
01:07:12,800 --> 01:07:16,160
shows in there and more like it.
It blows me away the number of

1160
01:07:16,160 --> 01:07:18,160
country artists doing stadium
tours right now.

1161
01:07:18,160 --> 01:07:21,240
It's a good point, though, how
social media definitely impacts

1162
01:07:21,240 --> 01:07:23,080
because you look at, you know,
like, that's boom.

1163
01:07:24,440 --> 01:07:26,920
Yeah.
I was doing an arena tour coming

1164
01:07:26,920 --> 01:07:31,840
up here soon and you know, but
was just a guy that was, you

1165
01:07:31,840 --> 01:07:35,720
know, making some music and
started to get following on

1166
01:07:35,720 --> 01:07:38,120
social media.
And then before you know it,

1167
01:07:38,120 --> 01:07:41,680
like he had one song that
everyone was using in their

1168
01:07:41,680 --> 01:07:44,400
TikTok videos is their
background music or whatever.

1169
01:07:44,400 --> 01:07:46,000
And all since like, who is this
guy?

1170
01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:48,800
Oh, it's Benson Boone and
everyone saw him downloading his

1171
01:07:48,800 --> 01:07:50,560
music off the SoundCloud or
whatever.

1172
01:07:50,560 --> 01:07:53,920
And now he's got this huge
following and he's doing arena

1173
01:07:53,920 --> 01:07:57,200
tours and, you know, and it's
all because of social media.

1174
01:07:57,720 --> 01:08:00,560
Yeah, and this is this is the
new world that we're in right

1175
01:08:00,560 --> 01:08:02,320
now.
Like a, you know, social media

1176
01:08:02,320 --> 01:08:06,560
and live events feed each other
as opposed to live events and

1177
01:08:06,560 --> 01:08:09,400
and album sales used to right
now.

1178
01:08:09,400 --> 01:08:10,640
It's a.
It's a whole different.

1179
01:08:10,640 --> 01:08:14,000
Thing the only way we found out
about a new artist was either

1180
01:08:14,000 --> 01:08:16,960
hearing them on the radio or
what do you boss told us about

1181
01:08:16,960 --> 01:08:22,560
it Yeah yeah, now you can
artists out there that have this

1182
01:08:22,560 --> 01:08:27,279
new outlet to reach millions of
people worldwide not even just

1183
01:08:27,279 --> 01:08:30,000
locally you know.
Yeah, no, you create these

1184
01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:35,359
online phenomenons and, and and
it's, you know, people are just

1185
01:08:35,560 --> 01:08:38,720
dying to go out and see what
they look like live or how they

1186
01:08:38,720 --> 01:08:42,200
sound live or whatever.
I mean, the what's that music

1187
01:08:42,200 --> 01:08:46,600
called?
The Japanese music that that all

1188
01:08:46,600 --> 01:08:49,240
the young people go nuts over K
pop.

1189
01:08:49,359 --> 01:08:50,800
Is that what it's called?
Yeah.

1190
01:08:51,640 --> 01:08:54,800
I mean, I don't get it like at
all.

1191
01:08:54,800 --> 01:08:57,800
And it's not targeting me, so I
guess I shouldn't get it, but

1192
01:08:58,240 --> 01:09:00,640
I'm just going like.
What?

1193
01:09:01,080 --> 01:09:04,359
You know, they're making how
much they're selling how many

1194
01:09:04,359 --> 01:09:08,359
tickets and I, I know so many
dads of daughters who are flying

1195
01:09:08,359 --> 01:09:11,439
their kids around the country to
go see these K pop artists.

1196
01:09:11,840 --> 01:09:19,600
And I'm like about BTS K pop and
like their revenue is like a

1197
01:09:19,600 --> 01:09:24,600
huge portion of South Korea's
wow national income.

1198
01:09:24,960 --> 01:09:27,319
That is incredible, yeah.
This.

1199
01:09:27,720 --> 01:09:31,479
Band, that is incredible.
That's wild.

1200
01:09:32,000 --> 01:09:35,359
Yeah.
You know, so I mean, the good

1201
01:09:35,359 --> 01:09:39,200
news for our industry is that
there does appear to be a lot of

1202
01:09:39,200 --> 01:09:43,120
truth to what Rapino was saying
about, you know, social media

1203
01:09:43,279 --> 01:09:45,760
continuing to drive our our
industry.

1204
01:09:45,760 --> 01:09:48,040
And when you look at some of
these artists that I had never

1205
01:09:48,040 --> 01:09:52,160
heard of, and then I realized
later that they built their

1206
01:09:52,160 --> 01:09:55,600
entire following on social media
and then boom, they came out and

1207
01:09:55,600 --> 01:09:57,560
did an arena tour was their
first tour.

1208
01:09:57,560 --> 01:10:00,880
You know, they didn't go through
clubs to like the old method was

1209
01:10:00,880 --> 01:10:03,760
let's start in clubs, We'll gain
some popularity, we'll sell a

1210
01:10:03,760 --> 01:10:07,120
few albums, then we'll be able
to have a big enough audience to

1211
01:10:07,120 --> 01:10:09,400
go to theaters.
And now it's.

1212
01:10:09,400 --> 01:10:11,240
Just if you got out of the bar
scene.

1213
01:10:11,600 --> 01:10:13,760
If you got out of the bar scene,
I never did.

1214
01:10:14,240 --> 01:10:16,360
You know, when I was a musician,
I never did.

1215
01:10:17,120 --> 01:10:20,280
And I think the other thing with
the, the the reason why shows

1216
01:10:20,280 --> 01:10:23,280
have been grown is, is because
of the social media is because

1217
01:10:23,480 --> 01:10:26,400
there's this mentality of
keeping up with the Joneses.

1218
01:10:27,120 --> 01:10:29,360
Right now.
I'm going to go do my first

1219
01:10:29,360 --> 01:10:32,960
arena tour while I I, I have to,
I can't just be on stage with.

1220
01:10:33,000 --> 01:10:35,240
Well, I can't pull the edge
Shearer with just me, a

1221
01:10:35,240 --> 01:10:37,080
microphone and one backlight.
Yeah.

1222
01:10:37,080 --> 01:10:40,240
Like I need to put on this
elaborate show and I need to

1223
01:10:40,240 --> 01:10:42,560
have all the theatrics and I had
need to have all the bells and

1224
01:10:42,560 --> 01:10:45,320
whistles because this guy just
did that.

1225
01:10:45,320 --> 01:10:48,200
So I have to do that and I got a
one up because it's going to be

1226
01:10:48,200 --> 01:10:51,440
all of the social media and
everyone's going to see it.

1227
01:10:51,440 --> 01:10:56,240
So the social media is driving
some of that as well of how big

1228
01:10:56,240 --> 01:10:59,960
your show is going to be and how
much, you know, creativity is

1229
01:10:59,960 --> 01:11:01,000
going to be in it.
And.

1230
01:11:01,320 --> 01:11:03,680
We'll just look at Taylor Swift
and Beyoncé.

1231
01:11:03,680 --> 01:11:07,040
You know, I mean, like one goes
out on tour and I've got to have

1232
01:11:07,040 --> 01:11:09,000
this big of a rig and this many
lights.

1233
01:11:09,000 --> 01:11:12,120
And then you got to, you got to
know they're paying attention,

1234
01:11:12,320 --> 01:11:15,080
you know, and Taylor's going to
her team and going.

1235
01:11:15,640 --> 01:11:18,240
How many moving lights did
Beyoncé have on her rig?

1236
01:11:18,520 --> 01:11:20,320
Right.
And they'll say 1000 and she'll

1237
01:11:20,320 --> 01:11:23,120
say I want 1500.
Yeah, you know, I mean.

1238
01:11:23,600 --> 01:11:25,520
I'm sure.
You got to know that stuff's

1239
01:11:25,520 --> 01:11:28,440
happening.
But I've also heard sort of in

1240
01:11:28,440 --> 01:11:31,880
the background, I've heard that
there's a shift happening where

1241
01:11:32,480 --> 01:11:35,400
a lot of artists and I, I could
mention some names, but I won't

1242
01:11:35,400 --> 01:11:37,320
because then I could get in
trouble.

1243
01:11:37,320 --> 01:11:42,400
But there are some major stadium
touring artists right now who

1244
01:11:42,400 --> 01:11:46,080
are replacing management teams
and replacing people.

1245
01:11:46,480 --> 01:11:49,920
And the big thing is they're
trying to cut expenses.

1246
01:11:49,920 --> 01:11:52,560
You know, they're looking at the
end of the day, they're going,

1247
01:11:52,800 --> 01:11:56,280
you know, we're pulling in,
let's just make up numbers, $10

1248
01:11:56,280 --> 01:12:00,880
million a week and we're paying
out nine and a half million or

1249
01:12:00,880 --> 01:12:03,720
$9 million a week.
This isn't sustainable.

1250
01:12:03,880 --> 01:12:07,120
You know, if we have a problem
or anything breaks or something

1251
01:12:07,120 --> 01:12:10,960
goes wrong or we have to cancel
a tour, we go from making a

1252
01:12:10,960 --> 01:12:13,440
little bit of money to losing
money very quickly.

1253
01:12:13,880 --> 01:12:20,680
And so, you know, I've
definitely heard that you're,

1254
01:12:20,680 --> 01:12:23,360
you're seeing a lot more and you
might know this first hand, but

1255
01:12:23,360 --> 01:12:26,640
there's a lot more negotiations
going on between production

1256
01:12:26,640 --> 01:12:33,280
management and lighting vendor,
video vendor, audio vendor on,

1257
01:12:33,280 --> 01:12:37,240
hey, we need to cut, you know,
200,000 a week out of this, this

1258
01:12:37,240 --> 01:12:38,600
budget.
How can we do it?

1259
01:12:38,800 --> 01:12:43,040
Yeah, yeah, it's definitely very
budget conscious.

1260
01:12:43,120 --> 01:12:48,040
And I think again, it's because,
you know, it's like you said

1261
01:12:48,040 --> 01:12:52,440
that they're making X amount per
week or per month and, you know,

1262
01:12:52,440 --> 01:12:54,560
and.
They're just seeing it all go.

1263
01:12:54,560 --> 01:12:57,800
Out they're just seeing it all
go away and figure out, OK,

1264
01:12:57,800 --> 01:13:00,960
well, what are our costs?
Where can we cut money?

1265
01:13:00,960 --> 01:13:03,360
And, you know, and they're, like
you said, cutting down on some

1266
01:13:03,360 --> 01:13:05,200
management.
And it's like, well, we really

1267
01:13:05,200 --> 01:13:08,480
need 4 managers.
Do we really need all of this?

1268
01:13:08,480 --> 01:13:13,160
Like, you know, and I think the,
the this new, this younger

1269
01:13:13,160 --> 01:13:17,720
generation because they're
building themselves on social

1270
01:13:17,720 --> 01:13:22,160
media and they're sort of self
promoted and self grown.

1271
01:13:22,400 --> 01:13:25,880
And, you know, whereas before it
was you had to get signed by a

1272
01:13:25,880 --> 01:13:29,680
record label, you had to get
noticed by a scout or whatever.

1273
01:13:29,880 --> 01:13:31,880
They're doing it on their own.
They're like, well, why do I

1274
01:13:31,880 --> 01:13:34,360
need these people?
I got here by myself, right?

1275
01:13:34,520 --> 01:13:39,400
And for some of them, you know,
that sustainable for an amount

1276
01:13:39,400 --> 01:13:41,840
of time.
But when you want to get into

1277
01:13:41,840 --> 01:13:44,520
the larger shows and the bigger
record contracts and the bigger

1278
01:13:44,520 --> 01:13:46,600
this, you are going to need some
sort of management.

1279
01:13:46,600 --> 01:13:50,000
And, you know, so there's,
there's a fine line between how

1280
01:13:50,000 --> 01:13:54,200
many people are on staff and how
many people are just there

1281
01:13:55,240 --> 01:13:57,320
taking money from you that you
don't need.

1282
01:13:57,440 --> 01:14:00,040
Yeah, you know, so it's.
A fine line.

1283
01:14:00,240 --> 01:14:03,400
It's, it's very true, you know,
so I don't know.

1284
01:14:03,800 --> 01:14:06,800
Thing I think that line is
definitely it is there are more

1285
01:14:06,800 --> 01:14:11,240
people that are unnecessary, you
know, because of the social

1286
01:14:11,240 --> 01:14:14,840
media and own promotion and
they're getting, you know,

1287
01:14:15,000 --> 01:14:19,960
replaced that could replace, you
know, three guys with one person

1288
01:14:19,960 --> 01:14:22,720
that's sitting there just
posting on social media all day

1289
01:14:22,720 --> 01:14:23,760
long.
Yeah.

1290
01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:26,400
Well.
The other thing is like you're

1291
01:14:26,400 --> 01:14:31,560
seeing just more artists who are
becoming much more, I think,

1292
01:14:31,560 --> 01:14:33,960
involved in the business, end of
the business.

1293
01:14:33,960 --> 01:14:37,160
They're getting smarter.
Artists are are not just pop

1294
01:14:37,160 --> 01:14:39,160
stars anymore.
And you know, Taylor is a good

1295
01:14:39,160 --> 01:14:42,360
example of somebody who really
started looking at the business

1296
01:14:42,360 --> 01:14:46,800
end of the business.
And so, you know, Metallica is a

1297
01:14:46,800 --> 01:14:48,480
good example.
We were just talking about them.

1298
01:14:48,480 --> 01:14:52,760
Like in the 70s and 80s, you saw
bands like Journey being the one

1299
01:14:52,760 --> 01:14:56,320
that comes to mind right away
who were buying gear and they

1300
01:14:56,320 --> 01:14:58,680
owned their own gear because
they were like, hey, if we're

1301
01:14:58,680 --> 01:15:01,800
going to tour all year every
year, why should we be paying

1302
01:15:01,800 --> 01:15:04,520
this money out?
And plus we can't get big enough

1303
01:15:04,520 --> 01:15:07,880
lighting packages or we can't
get availability on the right

1304
01:15:07,880 --> 01:15:11,440
sound system or whatever.
So we want to take more control

1305
01:15:11,440 --> 01:15:13,480
in house.
So they started their own

1306
01:15:14,160 --> 01:15:16,680
lighting company or sound
company or production company.

1307
01:15:17,080 --> 01:15:21,000
And so in the 70s and 80s that
was very common because you

1308
01:15:21,000 --> 01:15:23,280
know, if you needed a big sound
system, you had to bring it with

1309
01:15:23,280 --> 01:15:25,480
you and, and you owned it most
of the time.

1310
01:15:25,480 --> 01:15:28,040
Supertramp is another one.
Like there was a lot of bands

1311
01:15:28,040 --> 01:15:31,320
who owned their own gear.
Pink Floyd owned a sound company

1312
01:15:32,040 --> 01:15:35,240
and I'm starting to see that
coming back around.

1313
01:15:35,240 --> 01:15:39,720
Like metallic own all their
video screens and their their

1314
01:15:39,720 --> 01:15:42,520
speaker cabinets, all the boxes,
the line array stuff.

1315
01:15:43,040 --> 01:15:47,120
And you know, there's a reason
behind that.

1316
01:15:47,120 --> 01:15:50,160
You know, yes, we're going to
change which lights we use and

1317
01:15:50,160 --> 01:15:52,880
how many of them in the shape of
the Truss and the shape of this

1318
01:15:52,880 --> 01:15:55,520
and the stage and whatever.
We're going to change that every

1319
01:15:55,520 --> 01:15:56,920
year.
But we're not going to change

1320
01:15:56,920 --> 01:15:58,880
the fact that we're going to
have a video screen.

1321
01:15:59,160 --> 01:16:01,560
We're not going to change the
fact that we have speakers.

1322
01:16:01,840 --> 01:16:04,880
You know, we don't need new ones
every single year.

1323
01:16:04,880 --> 01:16:07,960
So.
Well, and that's the difference

1324
01:16:07,960 --> 01:16:12,280
with lighting and video.
You know, you got to any arena

1325
01:16:12,280 --> 01:16:16,200
show and it's pretty much the
same audio rig.

1326
01:16:16,280 --> 01:16:18,720
You know, I mean, this might be
true, this and this is a

1327
01:16:18,720 --> 01:16:22,400
different cabinet, but it's the
same align arrays, Subs on the

1328
01:16:22,400 --> 01:16:25,280
floor, blah, blah, blah, you
know?

1329
01:16:25,960 --> 01:16:29,440
And video screens other than the
pixel, you know, pitch of the

1330
01:16:29,440 --> 01:16:33,520
screen, you know, they're all
the same, right?

1331
01:16:33,520 --> 01:16:36,880
Like you're talking about
roughly this dimensions times

1332
01:16:36,880 --> 01:16:40,280
however many to make it whatever
eventual size we want, but that

1333
01:16:40,280 --> 01:16:43,320
size isn't going to change.
Like if it's the entire back of

1334
01:16:43,320 --> 01:16:46,960
the stage, you know, then that's
going to be the same basic

1335
01:16:46,960 --> 01:16:48,760
dimensions.
And if we need to shrink it by a

1336
01:16:48,760 --> 01:16:51,600
few panels in a smaller venue or
whatever.

1337
01:16:52,000 --> 01:16:56,320
But you know, they're they're
commodity types of components, I

1338
01:16:56,320 --> 01:17:00,880
guess at this point, right.
So you know there there is

1339
01:17:00,880 --> 01:17:03,480
something to be said.
Open invoice changing and you

1340
01:17:03,520 --> 01:17:06,240
know, yeah, yeah.
I mean, I guess it's a.

1341
01:17:06,640 --> 01:17:09,720
Little bit different.
Yeah, the challenge with that is

1342
01:17:09,720 --> 01:17:14,120
it takes away some revenue for
the rental company, of course,

1343
01:17:14,120 --> 01:17:18,800
like I think for Wall is doing
the video for for Metallica, I

1344
01:17:18,800 --> 01:17:21,640
think that's what he told me.
And you know, they're not

1345
01:17:22,320 --> 01:17:25,400
renting the the panels to
Metallica.

1346
01:17:25,400 --> 01:17:28,360
But funny thing is, and
Metallica may or may not know

1347
01:17:28,360 --> 01:17:34,400
this, but you know, panels have
gone from like 5 or $600.00 per

1348
01:17:34,400 --> 01:17:39,040
per tile not that long ago to
like 40 bucks now.

1349
01:17:39,040 --> 01:17:44,240
You know, they've gone down a
lot in in rental prices and it

1350
01:17:44,240 --> 01:17:47,760
really is a commodity now.
And so I don't know that it's

1351
01:17:47,760 --> 01:17:51,200
worth owning it for these bands.
You know that item anyways.

1352
01:17:51,640 --> 01:17:52,440
Right.
Yeah.

1353
01:17:52,440 --> 01:17:57,880
I mean, and at some point you
know it, like you said, if the

1354
01:17:57,880 --> 01:18:01,920
prices are coming down that low,
it's it's probably not worth it

1355
01:18:01,920 --> 01:18:04,200
to to but.
Well, because you got to

1356
01:18:04,200 --> 01:18:06,320
maintain it and you got to.
Maintain it.

1357
01:18:06,320 --> 01:18:08,440
You got to, you got to repair
it.

1358
01:18:08,440 --> 01:18:11,040
You got, you know, there's,
there's definitely cost here.

1359
01:18:11,040 --> 01:18:14,320
You got to insure it.
Yeah, which is the cost, yeah,

1360
01:18:14,320 --> 01:18:16,480
as well.
So if you rent it, you know,

1361
01:18:16,920 --> 01:18:20,120
especially when the, you know,
the prices start going as low as

1362
01:18:20,120 --> 01:18:23,560
they're going on some stuff like
I'm paying more than insurance

1363
01:18:23,560 --> 01:18:25,760
to own it than I am to rent it.
Yeah.

1364
01:18:25,760 --> 01:18:29,040
So that's true.
Yeah, Motors.

1365
01:18:29,600 --> 01:18:32,640
Motors fall into that category.
You have to have that, you know,

1366
01:18:33,080 --> 01:18:36,080
multi $1,000,000 policy.
Yeah, yeah.

1367
01:18:36,360 --> 01:18:37,800
Like, yeah, that, that's not
cheap.

1368
01:18:38,200 --> 01:18:41,240
Yeah, yeah, no, like I know a
lot of rental companies that

1369
01:18:41,240 --> 01:18:44,240
don't, that don't own motors
anymore because they're like,

1370
01:18:44,240 --> 01:18:47,200
you know, I can go rent them
from, from Christie or these

1371
01:18:47,200 --> 01:18:50,040
guys or these guys for, you
know, 40 bucks or whatever.

1372
01:18:50,040 --> 01:18:54,440
It's not worth doing all the all
the stuff that you have to do to

1373
01:18:54,440 --> 01:18:58,480
keep them, you know, certified.
Certified.

1374
01:18:58,560 --> 01:18:59,560
Yeah, yeah.
So.

1375
01:18:59,560 --> 01:19:02,800
And and the just the liability
alone.

1376
01:19:03,200 --> 01:19:05,840
Yeah, yeah.
Hey, I wanted to ask you because

1377
01:19:05,840 --> 01:19:08,360
I keep seeing this pop up and
your names attached to it, this

1378
01:19:08,360 --> 01:19:12,240
Goo Goo Dolls ring thing,
because it just came up.

1379
01:19:12,240 --> 01:19:14,480
I think it's an anniversary or
something of the.

1380
01:19:14,680 --> 01:19:16,880
Yeah, it's, it is the
anniversary.

1381
01:19:16,880 --> 01:19:20,440
And that was that was a bunch of
with Donnie Ladico, right?

1382
01:19:20,560 --> 01:19:23,760
Yeah, I think he might be the
one who just posted it recently

1383
01:19:24,280 --> 01:19:27,880
and said it's the whatever
anniversary of the 4th of July

1384
01:19:28,080 --> 01:19:30,360
Goo Goo Dolls.
When was that those?

1385
01:19:30,640 --> 01:19:34,840
I think we're that might be the,
IT might be the 20 year

1386
01:19:34,840 --> 01:19:37,280
anniversary.
Yeah, it could be.

1387
01:19:37,280 --> 01:19:43,560
Yeah, it could be. 20 year
anniversary but Goo Goo Dolls

1388
01:19:43,560 --> 01:19:47,840
were doing a 4th of July show in
Buffalo, their hometown, in

1389
01:19:47,840 --> 01:19:54,640
front of Town Hall.
And so me and Donnie Ludico

1390
01:19:54,880 --> 01:19:59,200
going to do it and we had Chris
Trosper and Mike Finn.

1391
01:20:00,080 --> 01:20:01,360
Or our tax.
Fine group.

1392
01:20:01,960 --> 01:20:06,320
Love those guys dearly.
And so we're lighting the entire

1393
01:20:06,320 --> 01:20:12,960
building of City Hall and put a
stage right on the staircase and

1394
01:20:12,960 --> 01:20:16,200
we have trust how is in between
the big marble columns of town

1395
01:20:16,200 --> 01:20:20,960
hall and everything.
And Ani DiFranco is the opening

1396
01:20:20,960 --> 01:20:26,400
act so she goes on and gorgeous
weather gorgeous day.

1397
01:20:26,440 --> 01:20:29,920
Everything's fine starts to rain
towards the end.

1398
01:20:30,440 --> 01:20:35,960
Goo Dolls come out and show
start and it just starts pouring

1399
01:20:36,520 --> 01:20:40,560
just pouring sideways rain.
I think it was 8 inches in an

1400
01:20:40,560 --> 01:20:42,960
hour.
The most brains most lowest seen

1401
01:20:42,960 --> 01:20:45,920
since 1921 or something like
that.

1402
01:20:46,560 --> 01:20:50,120
And you can watch the DVD and
it's just watching the

1403
01:20:50,120 --> 01:20:54,400
degradation of the lighting rig
because really this tower isn't

1404
01:20:54,400 --> 01:20:56,160
working anymore.
These lights aren't working

1405
01:20:56,160 --> 01:20:58,720
anymore.
And it's just slowly but shortly

1406
01:20:58,720 --> 01:21:00,560
the lighting rig is into.
Pieces.

1407
01:21:00,720 --> 01:21:03,800
All into pieces.
Nothing was IP rated back then,

1408
01:21:03,800 --> 01:21:09,120
you know, and it was like a
bunch of techno beams and MAC2KS

1409
01:21:09,120 --> 01:21:12,800
and and some of the brand new
Robbie.

1410
01:21:12,840 --> 01:21:15,120
It was like the Robbie 1200
spot.

1411
01:21:15,120 --> 01:21:17,640
It was like one of their first
fixtures and.

1412
01:21:18,200 --> 01:21:20,800
Yeah, I saw Tony Perez
commenting about that.

1413
01:21:20,800 --> 01:21:24,120
Wasn't those Robbie the Robbie
color spot 80?

1414
01:21:24,600 --> 01:21:26,880
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, and.

1415
01:21:27,360 --> 01:21:30,240
And yeah, it was, it was such a
memorable show.

1416
01:21:30,240 --> 01:21:33,360
And especially because there's
the DVD of it to watch these

1417
01:21:33,360 --> 01:21:38,360
this this rig just dying.
And me and Donnie spent so much

1418
01:21:38,360 --> 01:21:41,360
time pre visiting.
And pre visiting wasn't really a

1419
01:21:41,360 --> 01:21:44,640
big thing back then.
And, you know, me and Donnie sat

1420
01:21:44,640 --> 01:21:49,080
in the hotel room and, you know,
just pre vis a bunch of it.

1421
01:21:49,080 --> 01:21:52,240
And it was an early ESP vision
project.

1422
01:21:54,640 --> 01:21:56,400
Who was the supplier?
Was it C factor?

1423
01:21:58,200 --> 01:22:02,120
No, it was.
It was PRG, OK, Yeah, PRG.

1424
01:22:02,160 --> 01:22:06,320
PRG was the supplier, I believe.
I want to say Bob Looney.

1425
01:22:06,320 --> 01:22:14,600
Was our Rep Oh fun.
And so the show's going and,

1426
01:22:14,600 --> 01:22:17,520
like, the lighting rig is dumb.
Nothing is working.

1427
01:22:17,520 --> 01:22:19,560
And I'm still sitting there
hitting queues.

1428
01:22:19,560 --> 01:22:22,880
And one point, Ladika looks over
and he goes, what are you doing?

1429
01:22:22,880 --> 01:22:25,080
Like, nothing's working.
Like we wrote these kids.

1430
01:22:25,080 --> 01:22:27,840
I'm running these.
That's hilarious.

1431
01:22:27,880 --> 01:22:29,960
Mike Finn and Chris Trosper out
there.

1432
01:22:29,960 --> 01:22:32,360
And if anyone's gonna get this
rig working, it's them.

1433
01:22:32,360 --> 01:22:33,520
Yeah.
Yeah.

1434
01:22:33,520 --> 01:22:35,880
It was like we started losing
spotlights.

1435
01:22:35,880 --> 01:22:39,120
And you know, Mike Finn was like
opening a break a box and

1436
01:22:39,120 --> 01:22:42,600
swapping out Breakers Live 0.
My God, dude.

1437
01:22:42,680 --> 01:22:44,160
What are you doing?
He was like, you want the

1438
01:22:44,160 --> 01:22:46,840
spotlight to work right?
I'm like dude, you're crazy, but

1439
01:22:46,840 --> 01:22:48,240
thank you.
Yeah, because it.

1440
01:22:48,400 --> 01:22:51,400
Was the only light and it's
being filmed right?

1441
01:22:51,400 --> 01:22:56,080
And, you know, and then at the
end of the night, it's like we

1442
01:22:56,080 --> 01:22:58,960
have this big confetti queue,
and there's like, the big

1443
01:22:58,960 --> 01:23:05,080
blowers, the big confetti
blowers with the, you know, the

1444
01:23:05,160 --> 01:23:06,680
giant fans.
Yeah.

1445
01:23:06,680 --> 01:23:12,600
And we have the red, white and
blue Mylar, not Mylar tissue

1446
01:23:12,600 --> 01:23:16,480
paper.
And Chris Trost was like, oh,

1447
01:23:16,480 --> 01:23:18,800
oh, what are we doing?
Are we doing the confetti?

1448
01:23:18,800 --> 01:23:21,520
And me and Ladiko looking at
each other like, oh, God,

1449
01:23:22,000 --> 01:23:23,880
confetti.
What?

1450
01:23:24,160 --> 01:23:27,400
And he's like, go confetti.
So the confetti starts going and

1451
01:23:27,400 --> 01:23:29,400
we just see it just sticking to
people.

1452
01:23:29,400 --> 01:23:33,160
And Oh my God, what a mess.
Paper mache people.

1453
01:23:33,600 --> 01:23:36,520
And.
Me and Donnie are laughing

1454
01:23:36,520 --> 01:23:40,400
hysterically from Oh my God we
hear transferon headset cracking

1455
01:23:40,400 --> 01:23:45,680
up but we'll just like dump it
all just just keep dumping it it

1456
01:23:45,680 --> 01:23:46,440
just seems.
People.

1457
01:23:46,440 --> 01:23:50,040
Memorable, you know, paper
mache, crappy people, so funny.

1458
01:23:50,720 --> 01:23:53,280
Cracking up hysterically.
And that's funny.

1459
01:23:53,480 --> 01:23:56,000
The show finishes and it's
supposed to be at this big

1460
01:23:56,000 --> 01:23:59,840
firework show afterwards.
And when Johnny Resnick says

1461
01:23:59,840 --> 01:24:03,360
thank you, goodnight, it's like
someone realized they left the

1462
01:24:03,360 --> 01:24:06,440
faucet on, because as soon as he
says goodnight and turns and

1463
01:24:06,440 --> 01:24:08,840
walks off the stage, it stops
raining.

1464
01:24:09,760 --> 01:24:13,000
Jesus.
Lately stops and so it was like

1465
01:24:13,000 --> 01:24:15,920
oh it's stop raining all right
we'll go fireworks send that to

1466
01:24:15,920 --> 01:24:19,080
big fireworks show but to be
able to watch that and have that

1467
01:24:19,080 --> 01:24:23,080
all caught on camera and be able
to watch that DVD that's.

1468
01:24:23,080 --> 01:24:27,560
Hilarious.
Relive those moments of just Oh

1469
01:24:27,560 --> 01:24:31,760
my God, like we put so much work
into the show and no one's ever

1470
01:24:31,760 --> 01:24:34,880
going to get to see it and just
yeah, watching the lighting rig

1471
01:24:34,880 --> 01:24:38,920
and and when you first start
losing light to like, you know,

1472
01:24:40,160 --> 01:24:42,920
oh, transfer, we lost fixture
two O 7.

1473
01:24:42,920 --> 01:24:47,160
Oh yeah, we lost fixture, you
know, 513 and then violent.

1474
01:24:47,360 --> 01:24:49,320
Yeah, we just lost the whole
Trump's.

1475
01:24:49,320 --> 01:24:51,520
Yeah, do you remember?
Do you remember what the last

1476
01:24:51,520 --> 01:24:55,760
song was when all the when all
the paper mache was happening?

1477
01:24:55,760 --> 01:24:58,800
The confetti.
I want to say I want.

1478
01:24:58,800 --> 01:25:02,000
To go look it up on YouTube.
I think it was Gib a little bit

1479
01:25:02,000 --> 01:25:06,120
because they had just done the
cover remake of Gib a little

1480
01:25:06,120 --> 01:25:06,880
bit.
OK.

1481
01:25:06,880 --> 01:25:08,640
So I think that was the the
last.

1482
01:25:08,640 --> 01:25:11,440
Song I'm gonna go I'm gonna go
see if I can find it on YouTube

1483
01:25:11,440 --> 01:25:14,600
because I I want to see that now
and I don't have a DVD player

1484
01:25:15,320 --> 01:25:17,480
yeah.
So yeah.

1485
01:25:17,480 --> 01:25:21,200
But but that was that was an
amazing show and and to be and

1486
01:25:21,200 --> 01:25:24,440
to do it with Donnie, like, you
know, me and Donnie and work

1487
01:25:24,440 --> 01:25:28,640
together and Finn and just and
and we had Co designed a bunch

1488
01:25:28,640 --> 01:25:31,880
of shows together and to you
know, and prosper is amazing.

1489
01:25:31,880 --> 01:25:35,240
Mike Finn is amazing to so you
know, again, like we were

1490
01:25:35,240 --> 01:25:37,520
talking about, you know, these
experiences that we've had that

1491
01:25:37,520 --> 01:25:41,160
you know, not in this like never
have those kinds of experiences.

1492
01:25:41,240 --> 01:25:44,920
Yeah, that's so cool.
That have those experiences with

1493
01:25:45,080 --> 01:25:48,720
people that you enjoy and.
Hell yeah, that's what it's all

1494
01:25:48,720 --> 01:25:50,800
about.
And now to be able to relive it

1495
01:25:50,880 --> 01:25:53,920
all just by, you know, just
watching the DVD and showing my

1496
01:25:53,920 --> 01:25:59,000
kid, you know, then it did.
When he's probably going Dad.

1497
01:25:59,000 --> 01:26:00,200
Why?
Yeah.

1498
01:26:00,480 --> 01:26:01,560
Why?
Yeah.

1499
01:26:01,560 --> 01:26:05,320
Like that looks so miserable.
My, my, my, my kid likes to give

1500
01:26:05,320 --> 01:26:07,160
me a hard time.
Tommy, you were born in, like,

1501
01:26:07,160 --> 01:26:10,400
the mid 1900s.
I'm like, oh, so much, son.

1502
01:26:10,840 --> 01:26:11,960
Yeah.
Yeah.

1503
01:26:12,160 --> 01:26:14,760
Well, you make me feel it sounds
so old when you put it that way.

1504
01:26:14,760 --> 01:26:18,200
But yeah, you're not wrong.
Yeah, it's totally true.

1505
01:26:18,280 --> 01:26:20,440
Yeah.
I mean, when I, when I start

1506
01:26:20,440 --> 01:26:24,040
thinking like when you think
that Goo Goo Dolls show was 20

1507
01:26:24,040 --> 01:26:26,200
years ago, it's got to freak you
out a little bit, you know,

1508
01:26:26,200 --> 01:26:29,640
because it's like, like I
remember my first LDI show and

1509
01:26:29,640 --> 01:26:33,320
when I start thinking about it,
I go, that was like, you know,

1510
01:26:33,320 --> 01:26:37,960
35 years ago or something.
And I'm thinking what you know.

1511
01:26:38,400 --> 01:26:42,120
So someone the other day and I
was like, I was like, Oh yeah,

1512
01:26:42,120 --> 01:26:44,440
no, what?
We've known each other for what?

1513
01:26:44,520 --> 01:26:46,920
And it's got to be like 10-12
years and he's looking and he

1514
01:26:46,920 --> 01:26:51,040
goes to, we met in like 98.
Yeah, that's funny.

1515
01:26:51,880 --> 01:26:54,480
Well. 98 feels like 10-12 years
ago, doesn't it?

1516
01:26:55,160 --> 01:26:56,920
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, that OK.

1517
01:26:56,960 --> 01:26:59,920
Yeah.
SO11 more question I want to ask

1518
01:26:59,920 --> 01:27:03,480
you, what do you have any
current favorite gear at all?

1519
01:27:03,560 --> 01:27:06,880
Like stuff that that you're just
going, wow, I really love this

1520
01:27:06,880 --> 01:27:10,640
thing.
Well, in, in, in in the new

1521
01:27:10,640 --> 01:27:13,360
role.
My answer is my favorite piece

1522
01:27:13,360 --> 01:27:15,240
of gear is the one that doesn't
sit on the shelf.

1523
01:27:15,320 --> 01:27:18,080
Right.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

1524
01:27:18,840 --> 01:27:23,840
But as far as artistically, you
know, like there, there's so

1525
01:27:23,840 --> 01:27:27,240
many cool fixtures out there now
is like, you know, the the Acme

1526
01:27:27,240 --> 01:27:30,840
Pulsar 2 with the double sided
with the strobe and the grid and

1527
01:27:30,840 --> 01:27:32,160
the stuff like that or.
This.

1528
01:27:32,160 --> 01:27:34,440
That's cool.
And then, you know, like the the

1529
01:27:34,520 --> 01:27:39,240
the fixtures that are coming out
now or, you know, some of them

1530
01:27:39,240 --> 01:27:42,320
want trick ponies, but some of
them I think are, you know, have

1531
01:27:42,320 --> 01:27:46,880
legs like, you know, that, that
are implementing the Mac 1, you

1532
01:27:46,880 --> 01:27:47,960
know, yeah.
That thing's cool.

1533
01:27:48,200 --> 01:27:51,560
Such an awesome fixture because
like it it, it almost is a

1534
01:27:51,560 --> 01:27:56,960
throwback to the old VO5 look.
Yeah, you know, And so there's

1535
01:27:56,960 --> 01:28:00,000
so much versatility.
Just the size like makes it so.

1536
01:28:00,000 --> 01:28:01,200
Versatile.
Yeah.

1537
01:28:01,320 --> 01:28:05,360
You can set pieces and just, you
know, scatter hundreds of them

1538
01:28:05,360 --> 01:28:07,800
around the station.
And those, those four bar things

1539
01:28:07,800 --> 01:28:11,120
that you can get with it, you
know, like just send a couple of

1540
01:28:11,120 --> 01:28:14,240
those out for a trade show booth
or whatever and you're good,

1541
01:28:14,240 --> 01:28:17,200
right?
Yeah, you know, now the the the

1542
01:28:17,200 --> 01:28:21,400
ability to push video through
some of these fixtures, like the

1543
01:28:21,880 --> 01:28:27,800
the the Mac one or the the the
OR a pixel or some of these

1544
01:28:28,320 --> 01:28:30,400
other the Ruby spider or
something like that.

1545
01:28:30,640 --> 01:28:38,560
Yeah, the I remember trying to
emulate that with pixel mapping

1546
01:28:38,560 --> 01:28:43,440
in the MA one with some of these
fixtures and trying to do this.

1547
01:28:43,440 --> 01:28:47,160
And now you took a video through
it and it's like, yeah, more

1548
01:28:47,160 --> 01:28:50,760
versatility and, and and so much
creativity that could be done

1549
01:28:50,760 --> 01:28:51,880
with them.
So those are great.

1550
01:28:52,280 --> 01:28:55,400
I like being that that aren't
standard, just, OK, here's a

1551
01:28:55,400 --> 01:28:59,120
spot, here's a lot, you know,
like, you know, something that

1552
01:28:59,120 --> 01:29:02,160
has, for lack of a better term
of gag.

1553
01:29:02,440 --> 01:29:06,000
Yeah, they're really gag lines.
Well, because other than that,

1554
01:29:06,640 --> 01:29:09,680
all the companies are the same
now everything is good.

1555
01:29:09,680 --> 01:29:13,240
Like who?
10 years ago you couldn't have

1556
01:29:13,240 --> 01:29:17,640
told me that you'd use a bunch
of American DJ stuff on a on a

1557
01:29:18,440 --> 01:29:21,920
professional show, you know, or
on a job, right?

1558
01:29:22,280 --> 01:29:26,040
But today it's good like that.
A DJ stuff is really good now

1559
01:29:26,040 --> 01:29:28,920
you know.
Water and John Donne and and

1560
01:29:29,240 --> 01:29:33,640
you're saying like they've done
a great job on taking likes that

1561
01:29:33,640 --> 01:29:37,560
used to buy it you know Guitar
Center yeah to professional

1562
01:29:37,560 --> 01:29:41,160
market you know same Michelle
Day you know exactly he's got

1563
01:29:41,160 --> 01:29:44,760
fixtures but you know.
But the stuff's all good now.

1564
01:29:45,040 --> 01:29:48,280
It really is like it's, you
know, there is definitely some

1565
01:29:48,280 --> 01:29:50,920
stuff that's better, like some
stuff that I would trust a lot

1566
01:29:50,920 --> 01:29:54,680
more if I'm going to put it out
on a, you know, 6 month cruise

1567
01:29:54,680 --> 01:29:58,120
ship thing that they're not
coming back for service or

1568
01:29:58,120 --> 01:30:00,640
whatever.
You know, I might pick this line

1569
01:30:00,640 --> 01:30:03,600
over this line or whatever.
Like Robe and Air 10 are

1570
01:30:03,600 --> 01:30:06,600
probably, you know, a little bit
above some of the other ones

1571
01:30:06,600 --> 01:30:09,840
when it comes to quality and
price.

1572
01:30:09,840 --> 01:30:11,920
They're more expensive and all
that kind of stuff.

1573
01:30:11,920 --> 01:30:15,320
But but now elation is
excellent.

1574
01:30:16,040 --> 01:30:18,120
You know, like you said, Chauvet
is very good.

1575
01:30:19,240 --> 01:30:21,640
It's all good.
It's all just so good.

1576
01:30:21,640 --> 01:30:24,680
And I guess kids now nowadays
are spoiled.

1577
01:30:24,680 --> 01:30:27,640
But then.
Says like, you know, yeah,

1578
01:30:28,040 --> 01:30:33,000
studio color and studio spot or
or MAC500 or MAC600 like yeah,

1579
01:30:33,120 --> 01:30:35,040
exactly.
That was it and 1:00.

1580
01:30:35,040 --> 01:30:37,520
Back in my day, it was even
before you had moving heads.

1581
01:30:37,520 --> 01:30:41,200
It's like that, you know, so.
Yeah, moving lights came out,

1582
01:30:41,200 --> 01:30:43,520
you know, like that, that those
were your options really, you

1583
01:30:43,520 --> 01:30:45,040
know.
Yeah, but you're right though,

1584
01:30:45,040 --> 01:30:48,760
the the the brands are all a
little bit like ubiquitous where

1585
01:30:48,760 --> 01:30:51,520
it's like I could use Clay
Pacquiao, I could use Martin, I

1586
01:30:51,520 --> 01:30:53,080
could use this, I could use
this.

1587
01:30:53,320 --> 01:30:56,280
You could pick a pick a line and
you can get a wash a spot a

1588
01:30:56,280 --> 01:31:00,680
profile of this so that a beam.
But then you look for the eye

1589
01:31:00,680 --> 01:31:04,640
candy fixtures that where one
jumps out above the rest and

1590
01:31:04,640 --> 01:31:08,160
does a, whether it's a gag or
multiple gags, but it's

1591
01:31:08,160 --> 01:31:10,240
different for whatever reason,
you know?

1592
01:31:10,240 --> 01:31:12,480
And yeah, the Mac one falls into
that.

1593
01:31:13,960 --> 01:31:17,040
You know, I think if the US
weren't so goofy with how we

1594
01:31:17,040 --> 01:31:21,400
managed laser through the Food
and Drug Administration, which

1595
01:31:21,400 --> 01:31:24,880
makes no sense whatsoever.
But that little new fixture

1596
01:31:24,880 --> 01:31:27,400
from, from Airton really blows
me away.

1597
01:31:27,400 --> 01:31:32,040
The little 100 Watt laser
phosphor Kalami, I think it's

1598
01:31:32,040 --> 01:31:35,880
called, that thing is, is
incredible just because of the

1599
01:31:35,880 --> 01:31:38,080
form factor.
You know, it's this tiny little

1600
01:31:38,080 --> 01:31:41,760
thing and, and all the beam just
blows my mind.

1601
01:31:42,240 --> 01:31:49,200
So yeah, the this, this laser
excited phosphor fixtures are

1602
01:31:49,200 --> 01:31:52,600
really impressive because you
don't need the variance for them

1603
01:31:52,600 --> 01:31:56,560
because the laser is not coming
out of the fixture, whereas at

1604
01:31:56,560 --> 01:31:59,360
least so now.
You're wrong.

1605
01:31:59,480 --> 01:32:03,240
Yeah, you're wrong.
There's very few of them that

1606
01:32:03,240 --> 01:32:07,760
have managed to get around the
variance, but most of them, even

1607
01:32:07,760 --> 01:32:11,720
this 100 Watt Kailami is
supposed to be less powerful

1608
01:32:11,720 --> 01:32:13,640
than needs any kind of a
variance.

1609
01:32:13,640 --> 01:32:17,160
And it goes through all those
things and stuff, but it's it's

1610
01:32:17,160 --> 01:32:20,720
still has to have a variance,
you know, and the Cobras and the

1611
01:32:20,920 --> 01:32:24,240
the Stilos has to have a
variance.

1612
01:32:24,880 --> 01:32:27,040
Yeah.
So it's stupid, It's pointless,

1613
01:32:27,040 --> 01:32:31,240
because point a Sharpie at your
head and that's going to do more

1614
01:32:31,240 --> 01:32:35,680
eye damage than a Kai Lami or a
Steelos is, you know?

1615
01:32:35,920 --> 01:32:38,080
Not that a lot of stages with
sharpies.

1616
01:32:38,160 --> 01:32:39,920
Exactly.
I mean, they're, they're

1617
01:32:39,920 --> 01:32:43,720
dangerous little fixtures.
And then have 200 of them on one

1618
01:32:43,720 --> 01:32:46,800
time spot and suddenly you get
the carpenters yelling at you

1619
01:32:46,800 --> 01:32:49,280
that you're burning the stage.
Yeah, or people lighting

1620
01:32:49,280 --> 01:32:52,240
cigarettes from, from the
Sharpies or whatever, you know,

1621
01:32:52,240 --> 01:32:56,000
I mean it, it's, it's crazy.
But yeah, there's a lot of

1622
01:32:56,000 --> 01:32:57,480
really good stuff out there
right now.

1623
01:32:57,480 --> 01:33:01,120
It's an exciting time from a,
from a standpoint of how good

1624
01:33:01,120 --> 01:33:04,080
everything is, you know, and
it's all really well built and

1625
01:33:04,080 --> 01:33:06,920
really reliable and all that
kind of stuff.

1626
01:33:07,120 --> 01:33:10,720
Like I'll get plots now from,
you know, people that it's just

1627
01:33:11,320 --> 01:33:14,600
hard edge wash.
Like like they don't even

1628
01:33:14,600 --> 01:33:16,640
specify.
It's like good good.

1629
01:33:17,000 --> 01:33:21,120
Just need 20 hard edge and 20
water flights on this Truss and

1630
01:33:21,120 --> 01:33:25,600
X amount on this truck.
But then I need the Mac one or I

1631
01:33:25,600 --> 01:33:29,240
need the, you know, centrons or
I need the pixel line or I need,

1632
01:33:29,280 --> 01:33:30,840
you know, like those kind of
things.

1633
01:33:30,840 --> 01:33:33,000
The those they're specific
about.

1634
01:33:33,000 --> 01:33:37,240
But as far as the art and
washes, I mean, everything has

1635
01:33:37,240 --> 01:33:41,840
gotten so good to this point now
where it's like it doesn't

1636
01:33:41,840 --> 01:33:44,600
matter which manufacturer it is.
That's how it should be, though.

1637
01:33:45,040 --> 01:33:48,640
That's really how it should be.
Let the rental company manage

1638
01:33:48,640 --> 01:33:52,240
their own inventory, like don't
force them to go out and buy or

1639
01:33:52,240 --> 01:33:56,560
sub rent 200 of some obscure
fixture or something, you know,

1640
01:33:56,920 --> 01:33:59,320
just because you've cut a deal
with the manufacturer or

1641
01:33:59,320 --> 01:34:01,520
whatever.
Like unless it really is

1642
01:34:01,520 --> 01:34:06,200
specific, you know, like you
said so, but who are we to tell

1643
01:34:06,200 --> 01:34:08,160
them what to do?
Exactly.

1644
01:34:08,840 --> 01:34:11,040
Craig, I appreciate you taking
the time today to.

1645
01:34:11,440 --> 01:34:13,440
Show.
Yeah, exactly.

1646
01:34:13,760 --> 01:34:15,000
I appreciate you doing this,
buddy.

1647
01:34:15,000 --> 01:34:17,160
It's really good to see you
again and to talk to you.

1648
01:34:17,160 --> 01:34:20,440
And I know you're in a new gig,
so you're stealing time from the

1649
01:34:20,440 --> 01:34:22,440
company so I can't keep you all
day, so.

1650
01:34:23,640 --> 01:34:25,640
Well, it's great catching up
with you, good talking and good

1651
01:34:25,640 --> 01:34:27,240
seeing you.
And thanks for having me back

1652
01:34:27,240 --> 01:34:29,320
on.
And you and don't, don't hang up

1653
01:34:29,320 --> 01:34:31,640
right away because I got to, I
got to tell you something real

1654
01:34:31,640 --> 01:34:33,280
quick.
Sounds good.