I've finally been able to recover from the Coverville 500 show Friday, and the several months before that I spent putting together all the pieces to make the show happen. For those of you who weren't able to make it, I would qualify it as a success. I'd estimate that we had an attendance of 550 to 600 guests, and the sole technical issue that came up was the fact that I couldn't record the audio of the show in stereo.
Here are some other notes from the show:
1. It would take too long for me to mention all the people to whom I got to talk, but if I seemed hurried or frantic and didn't get as much time to talk to you as I would have liked, I'm sorry! Please know that I appreciate you coming to the show, and hope you had a great time.
2. It blows my mind that a guy with a mixing board about 50 times the size of mine can spend half an hour trying to find a way to send out a stereo signal to my laptop, even with weeks of advance notice. And this is in a room full of audio engineers, both professional and hobbyist...
3. The concert had stars that shone more brightly than the ones you see on Jumbotron billboards on the strip.
4. Things I've Learned From Doing This, Pt. 1: Nail down whether your show is going to be all-ages or 21-and-over very early, and once you've done that, CONFIRM it again with the venue.
5. Everything is more expensive in Las Vegas.
6. The most amazing side effect of the domination of social media is being able to read the review Tweets of attendees of your show as the show is actually going on. And for the record, all the reviews I saw during the first four acts were very positive.
7. Jonathan Coulton, Chance and Natalie Gelman are three of the most down-to-earth musicians I've ever had the pleasure to meet.
8. I'm going to again publicly thank the people who helped me put this show together. The "Colorado Contingent": Scott and Kathy Goeringer, Dave and Carrie Sowiak, Mike and Pam Potter and Chris Browne. They sold tickets at the booth and at the show, sold merchandise (some of which wasn't even Coverville stuff), made sure people knew where to go once they got to the door, and kept me from going insane. I need to thank my Mom, Suzan, and my Grandmother Carol for coming to Las Vegas specifically to see the show. Sebastiaan, who came all the way from the Netherlands, in part to support the show. Tracy Cheetham at Bally's for coming through with a venue when the Empire Ballroom crumbled. Of course, all the performers: The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, Natalie Gelman, Jonathan Coulton, Chance and The Choir, and Richard Cheese and two thirds of Lounge Against the Machine, as well as the amazing Dan Klass for his incredible hosting duties. Also need to thank Lance Anderson and Bill Palmer for recommending Dan Klass and Natalie Gelman for this show. I thank Shelby Miller, who designed the graphics that were used for all the posters, postcards, brochures, t-shirts and poker chips. And of course, my wife Tina, who has seriously suffered through the last 10 months of hearing about nothing else, yet still kept a smile on her face, and helped out with the show in every way possible.
9. I ordered maybe a dozen Scorpions from the various cocktail staff at Las Vegas hotels over the week that I was there, and no two tasted alike. Some substituted amaretto for the orgeat syrup, some eliminated the brandy. The most delicious one came from Mandalay Bay, and practically had a fruit salad on top. One bartender at the Hilton confessed: "I usually just make a Mai Tai. Most folks don't know the difference."
10. I've agreed to this, but it should be noted here for anyone else who may have recorded any of Richard Cheese's performance. From his contract:
"In accordance with our agreement, none of the audio or video from our Las Vegas performance may be used for any purpose without our express written advance permission. So, don't use anything from our show in your podcast, website, or in any other context."
11. I missed seeing a few people at the show, not the least of which was Scott Johnson (who was ill, and had to leave Las Vegas early).
12: Things I've Learned From Doing This, Pt. 2: You need to have a solid way to manage your attendee guest lists. I put the whole thing into a spreadsheet, but it became tricky to manage when I got names from a performer at the show to add an hour before doors open. Actually, you need to have your performers nail down their guest list a day before the show. No exceptions.
13. Dan Klass is the real deal.
14. The concert had a definite "look", and that was due to the fantastic work of Shelby Miller, who designed everything you saw at the show. T-shirts, posters, postcards, tickets, brochures and poker chips. He's an amazing artistic talent, and he produces a terrific independent music podcast called Shifted Sound.
I'm sure I'll add to this list as time goes on, so check back.
And while you're at it, look at photos from the show!
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