AltFreq Weekend Planner (2/19/15-2/21/15)
–Written by Kevin Madert
It’s nearly impossible to keep track of all the events going on in the area, so we’re here to let you know what’s happening in live music over the next few days. Watch out on Sundays for our “Weekly Planner,” where we’ll cover the remaining four days of the week.
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AltFreq Weekend Planner (1/15-1/17)
–Written by Kevin Madert
It’s nearly impossible to keep track of all the events going on in the area, so we’re here to let you know what’s happening in live music over the next few days. Watch out on Sundays for our “Weekly Planner,” where we’ll cover the remaining four days of the week.
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The AltFreq Guide To New Year’s Eve
–Written by Kevin Madert
The biggest – and last – night of the year is fast approaching, and in our (admittedly biased) opinion there’s nothing better to do on the 365th day of the year than take in a show. Whether you’ve already got plans, are still weighing your options, or haven’t given it a single thought, AltFreq is here to help.
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Next Time I’ll Bring More Rope: Behind the Scenes (and Before the Crowds) at Big Dub Festival
–Written by Michael Hogan
On Wednesday, July 30, people were beginning to show up to Big Dub in droves, sitting outside the front gate at some ungodly hour of the morning. I was most certainly still asleep, though I couldn’t stay asleep for long, I had work to finish, and unfortunately I had to finish it before gates opened at two to let all those people in. That was the 5th day of my Big Dub adventure.
Of course, people started pouring in much earlier than two, and I was greeted by every single one of them as my team and I worked tirelessly to finish up our last major deco installation, which was blocking the main road down to the bottom camp (much to the disdain of Four Quarters management). Nearly every person that waited patiently as we cleared the road in periodic increments to let campers by made sure to shout from their car windows at us to let us know how good everything looked, and what a good job we were doing. This was quite brave of them; I was hot, sweaty, and had gone far too many days without a shower. I couldn’t have looked like anybody worth a kind word.
But everyone appreciated all our work regardless, and that felt really good. That made all the setbacks and frustration worth it. Not only seeing our finished product in the air and working, but having everyone else see it, and actively appreciate it; that made it worth the trouble.
I couldn’t help but recognize that all of those people were only seeing the closing stages of the process; they were only witnessing the proverbial tip of the inflatable iceberg. They knew it looked cool, and I’m sure they knew it must have been some work to get it all up there, but that effort was not a tangible, identifiable action. It was a concept, a theoretical portion of time that had passed, and remained in their mind for only a fleeting moment as they first passed underneath the almost complete structure.
They had no idea we had a potentially disastrous light bulb oversight, or a massive calamity with the rope, or how we had to improvise with just about every makeshift ‘tool’ that we used. And that’s okay. They didn’t need to know about all of that. They were there to enjoy the show, and only processed the decorations as an object requiring effort when they could see the effort being put in.
And it’s that forgotten side of things that I’m here to talk about, because most of us rarely take the time to note all the hard work that actually goes into making these festivals look presentable. So here’s a timeline of my set up experience from start to finish.
It’s important to note that this is only a small piece of the pie; countless staff members put in countless hours of hard work to make this happen. But it should provide some relative perspective, and hopefully an interesting look at a side of the festival experience that you have never seen before.
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