Outside Shows

[01010111]

I had an idea for a show and wanted some input/suggestions on feasibility and logistic type issues. This show would be pretty deep in the woods, actually really close to wilderness area, but we could still drive in. I think we'd need:
A generator with at least 2500w continuous power
A PA
Lights
Snacks
Drinks
(all the normal band equipment)

Worries: could i potentially damage music equipment with the generator? This would probably just turn into an all-night party so people will probably bring booze, and possibly other more illegal drugs, if the cops do show up is there anything I'd get in trouble for? How loud do you think the PA would need to be to be useful? Anything else that would be a problem potentially?

(not really worried about rain because it would probably be in June, and it doesn't really rain here in June unless it's a really weird year)

[Schlatte]

Make sure you use a power conditioner after the generator. Otherwise Voltage peaks will blow your gear. And make sure you don't overload it.. It's better to have one with a little more power than you need.. a smaller one would shut down if it's overloaded. As far as PA goes- you're in the woods, wide areas, no walls... make sure to get HUGE woofers! Bass gets lost pretty fast in such wide open areas - depending on the size of the area/crowd. You have to look into that. Lights are key- especially in the woods. Just make sure you don't overload your generator. If you have portable toilets there, make sure you light them and ESPECIALLY the path to them.... otherwise you'll have a lot of drunk people that you have to call an ambulance for. Snacks and Drinks are key, make sure you don't run out of them! Also, a little BBQ in the woods is always a good idea! Supports the feeling, ya'know

Make sure you don't get any noise complaints and that you have all the permissions you need (usage of the area, sale of booze/food, the whole "protect nature and wildlife" shit... ).

[dubkitty]

i don't want to seem discouraging, but in Utah you're looking at a host of potential issues. the most obvious one is the environment: in June in a bone-dry environment you're going to need a shit-ton of water, especially if you're going to wind up with an all-nighter. dehydration kills people.

the big problem, though, is likely to be law enforcement. even if you're on private property, cops may use rave-related public-gathering ordinances to shut you down. IIRC Utah has been rather draconian in this regard because they're really uptight about ravers; you'd best do some research as to the laws in your state/local area. if you're going to try to do things legally, permits may be necessary with requirements attached that are prohibitive, e.g. bonds posted or insurance requirements. if you're going to try to go under the radar, try to talk to people who have done sub rosa events in your area before if at all possible. knowledge is your friend.

[01010111]

Toilets are definitely out of the question, we'd have to rent porta-potties and have them delivered several miles into the woods on bad roads, but we'll try and make a well lit bathroom area (complete with shovel and toilet paper) and a marked trail. There would likely be 30 or fewer people coming to this, depending on what bands agree to play with us, because, again, while not impossible to get to, it's still a long ways into the woods (it's over a half hour drive from the nearest population center). I'm thinking 15 gallons of water would cover that many people, and a barbecue would be a fantastic idea if I can find people who want to cook for it.

I'll definitely look into getting or renting a power conditioner. I thought I might need something like this but wasn't really sure.

For legality stuff I'll go talk to somebody at the ranger station first to see what the laws are, because we'd be playing on public land in a national forest and I'm not sure how jurisdictional issues work when it comes to national forests. I don't think we'll have to worry about sound laws because we won't be at an official campground. And for simplicity I might try and get the other bands to not drink (it's Utah so that's not usually an unreasonable request), the law here is that if you "allow" underage people to drink it's up to $250 per offence plus the cost of the police response.

We weren't going to charge people money to come (unless renting the generator and power conditioner is outrageous). After I make sure we can do this thing legally and safely I'm going to try and outsource some of this stuff to the other bands that'd play with us. Because this sounds like there's going to be a lot of prep-work, but it should be a lot of fun if it works out. Thanks for the advice.