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My son worked the TSO concert the other night. Pat O'Brien has nothin' on these flamethrowers. Cool video from Brandon's "office".


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Picture of all the stuff he had to hang. 

IMG_0362.jpg

And of course, the song that started it all from Savatage', "Dead Winter Dead."

 

Pat O'Brien would love all this fire. Brandon said the violinist was really HOT. 

TSO playing the intro to, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond." Notice the floating platforms over the audience. Cool concept. 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, tbonesullivan said:

Holy hell! How long does it take for them to set up all of that? That's definitely a job that would kill me. I can't deal with heights.

Brandon had to be there at 5:AM. He texted around 10:AM and said he was finished and went skateboarding with one of the other riggers around Orlando. Then had to be back at 10:PM for the "Out". He got there a bit early so he could catch some of the show. He was home by 2:AM

He worked a total of about 6 hours and got paid for 10

It's a lot of people and a lot of teamwork. Someone has to inspect all this stuff as well. The performers put a lot of faith in the crew. Any failure at any point could mean injury or death. It's a crazy biz. 

Brandon took his 130' rope and said he had about 15' left so he's estimating around 115' in the beams.

TSO gave 2 performances that day so very tiring for them as well. 

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Is he working at the Convention Center?  If so, our old sound man Al Porterfield is the electronics tech there.  Been there twenty years or more.  He took me "upstairs" and my ass drew up just like it does when I'm on my roof.  I hate heights.

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15 minutes ago, The Shark said:

Is he working at the Convention Center?  If so, our old sound man Al Porterfield is the electronics tech there.  Been there twenty years or more.  He took me "upstairs" and my ass drew up just like it does when I'm on my roof.  I hate heights.

Ha! Yes, Brandon works there too. This TSO concert was at the Amway and with another rigging company. After working this venue, one in Jax, and Ray Jay in Tampa a few times, Brandon says The O. Convention Center is like being on the ground floor of a parking garage. He says you're not high until you are 120, lol. 

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Last year a friend gave me her TSO ticket at the last minute because she was snowed in 75 miles away.  The show blew me away!  This year I bought a ticket to see the show again. 

Last year I photographed the equipment trucks lining the street, but never got them all in one shot.  Here is one of the photos from 2017. 

TSO Trucks 2017

A friend in Atlanta does load ins/outs for concerts.  He told me no one has as much staging gear as TSO. 

After the second show all 18 performers will come out and sign autographs at a row of tables.  The line is long.  The wait was close to an hour after the show ended.  While waiting I looked back in the arena to watch the tear down.  The crew was broken up into teams with different color T-shirts for each team.  That giant stage was rolled out to the center of the floor to let the light rig and PA speakers come down to floor level. 

Working a TSO show as a crew member, touring or local, should be something to brag about.

 

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I used to work in theatre, so I've hung some speakers from catwalks, but the highest up I've been is between 25-40'.  After a heel injury, I'm not so comfortable dancing around heights.  Lots of respect for the pros that do that regularly and keep the performers and the audience safe.  

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