Bend the rules

Interesting story from Dave Skaff that falls in the category of epic pop music history.  The setting:  rehearsals for U2 ZooTV tour with a VERY unique stage design as you can see.

Rehearsals were full of feedback and other audio nightmares because the band was 20-30 feet in front of the PA the whole show.  After a day or two of everybody worrying this wasn’t going to work and the gamble didn’t pay off, Bono pulls all of the engineers and band techs onto center stage in a circle and asks:  “I know you can’t change the laws of physics, but can you bend them a bit?”

I think there are two take-aways from this tidbit.  First, how often are we asked as engineers to bend the laws of physics as it relates to audio?  I’ve thought about this one quite a bit lately as I struggle with our poorly designed and implemented PA and wait with great anticipation for the new rig coming next year.  It seems part of the magic of a great mix is to bend the rules sometimes.  Nothing is off limits to make it sound great – do what needs to be done, sometimes with some divine intervention.

The second lesson is the importance of vision and instilling confidence from the leaders.  Dave said that talk from Bono made everybody go back to their posts, dig in a little deeper, and figure out ways they could contribute to making the whole thing work.  And you know what, Dave said it was still rocky for a little while but they figured it out.  They just needed that vision and blessing from the band to say “we know this sucks, we know its going to be hard, but we know you guys are the best crew in the world and if anyone can make it work, it’s you!”.  With that pressure off the table, they made it happen.