When one thinks about the massive undertaking it takes to set up a concert tour and the amount of gear that a band takes on the road, it boggles the mind. Besides the band of musicians and a drummer, it takes lots of hands to pull off a concert every night. There are tour and production managers, roadies, sound and video engineers, production crews, technicians, tour drivers, merchandisers and tag alongs. Tractor trailers are filled with concert sound and light equipment, merchandise, and much more.
For some bands, it can mean endless days on the highway, playing seedy bars from coast to coast, with each night wishing and hoping for a lucky break to hit the big time.
When a band goes on tour, it may or may not have the financial backing of its label. An artist receives a fixed fee or a percentage of the tickets sold by the venue owner or promoter. Touring is an expensive process. A moderate estimate of touring costs with a bus and small crew can easily reach $15,000 a week. If an artist tours with the support of their label, the expenses are all recoupable, thus potentially increasing a band’s debt. Many successful bands tour without the support of their label so that they can keep all of their touring revenue. An independent band would have more difficulty than a highly successful one in being self-sufficient on tour.
Source: Wikipedia
This Christmas, the Best Lil’ Lego Band from Nashville caught a big break with some new sound equipment and a new stage!
In case you missed it, here are some 2006 archive photos from the Best Lil’ Lego Band from Nashville practicing on their old stage set at Kerry Woo’s Kitchen Table Sound Studios in West Nashville (Tennessee).
The fans of the Best Lil’ Lego Band from Nashville always have a great time… but there are always some who get a little rowdy…
The band enjoyed the rousing applause from the fans as they did masterful renditions of Suzanne Vega’s “Gypsy” and a mix of Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wide Side” and Vega’s “Tom’s Diner”. Other favorites included versions of “Little Wing” and “Our Love Is Loud”.
After playing to standing room only LEGO crowds of 5 deep for two years, it was time to have a new set with some real speakers.
Many of the parts were purchased in bulk from the LEGO Imagination Center at the Mall of America such as the white speaker boxes, yellow torpedo lights, red blocks and pillar posts. The other staging apparatus and rigging were shipped in from the garage from an inventory of four 20 gallon Rubbermaid bins of blocks accumulated in part from eBay and Toys ‘r’ Us.
The new stage design uses an 32 x 32 interchangeable platform.
The green platform simply lifts out with the aid of two big steady hands. A new stage can be dropped in to accommodate a custom stage configuration with various risers for the horn section and keyboard effects or a grand piano.
The most impressive change has been the new set design incorporating surround sound desk speakers with a massive subwoofer guaranteed to fill a room.
The structure rises a massive 15 inches high over the crowd (each LEGO minifig is 1 1/2″ tall).
With a simple 3.5 mm plug, the sound system is powered remotely via a laptop (Windows or MacOS) via iTunes with crystal surround sound clarity.
The next planned upgrade is to incorporate mini lighting without creating a fire hazard.
The new set stage was designed by WoosterDawg Stage and Lighting after a window of two hours became available on Christmas Day; this particular configuration is primarily for work table use. A stadium version is currently in the works. With time permitting, plans are currently being drawn to build a plywood box to transport the staging from location to location. As mentioned earlier in the article, the costs of transporting all of the gear has been prohibitive. Pending the financial backing of LIVE LEGO NATION, the Best Lil’ Lego Band from Nashville may launch a limited tour playing select rooms by summer of 2008.
Currently the Best Lil’ Lego Band from Nashville managed by Kerry Woo on WonderDawg Records, has chosen the independent route. The music is primarily obtained via eCommerce sales outlets such as iTunes or Amazon and music ripped from CDs.
6 Responses to “The Best Lil’ Lego Band from Nashville rocks on”
Judie Lipsett
Dec 25th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Loves it!! More LEGO please!
Kerry Woo
Dec 25th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Rock on sister! Rock on!
Allen Hong
Dec 26th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Thats AWESOME Kerry!!! Any plans for a music video?
Chris Chamberlain
Dec 26th, 2007 at 8:10 am
I always say that living in Nashville, we never hear about the coolest bands right in our back yards.
Mark me down for two tickets to the first stadium show!
Best Lil’ Lego Band 1/3 Jan 5, 2008 on Flickr – Photo Sharing!
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WonderDawg: Day 5 of 366 for 2008
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