Hello,

Brad from the Key Club here.  We are really excited about the hosting new bands at the Key Club and would like to offer a few bits of information to make this a great night for all.

Please send me a basic rundown of your bands instrumentation.  (drums, bass on left or right, guitar on left or right, tuba, etc.) also how many band members sing?  We love stage plots if you have them.

LOAD IN
Unless specified, please arrive no later than one hour prior to your set time and check in with the stage manager.
The production parking lot is on the east side of the venue and is for loading and unloading only. Please pull into an available spot (no double parking) unload your gear and move your vehicle immediately.  We apologize for the inconvenience but we have very little space.  Ample parking is available on Sunset or via several pay lots across the street.

SET CHANGE
The changeover flow is very simple.  When you arrive please pre set as much gear as possible within the loading dock (by stage left door).  Once the previous bands set is over, they should immediately begin moving gear from the stage while the next band is moving gear inside. 
There will be a monitor engineer and stage manager present to assist with any technical needs. 

LINE CHECKS
Oftentimes we have to conduct line checks, this is common and genrerally more productive than a “sound check” in that there ar less settings to recall/forget etc.
The big task is to get you and your mates to hear what is important in your monitors and for the front of house engineer to get an idea of whats happening on stage.
After your gear is in place, stay nearby and noodle as little as possible. 
To your left is the monitor engineer.  He/she is in charge of the volume you hear on stage.  Our fist goal is to get a good balance across the stage with a huge emphasis on vocals.  In this case we will start with almost all vocals and a little kick/snare in each mix.  If you need more of something, simply wave at the engineer (one at a time please) and ask for more or less of whatever you need.  The less is more rule truly applies here.  If you can already hear the amp on the other side of the stage fairly well, don’t ask for it in your wedge.  It will only add more mud to your mix and reduce clarity of the vocal.  We avoid adding reverb to vocals on stage in that it reduces clarity to the house mix; however we love reverb out front. 

Please pay attention to you stage volume!  If an amp is already blowing out the first ten rows, our front of house engineer will be hesitant to add more to the mix.  Its better to get your tone and let the house PA do the work.

STAGE 101 TO MAKE EVERYONS EXPERIENCE A TAD EASIER

SINGERS AND FEEDBACK
The wedges and fills on stage are all about you, but here are a few tricks to help avoid feedback.

-To be clear, feedback is that horrendous squealing sound that makes everyone forget about everything but that horrendous squealing sound.
-Remember that this is a live show and we need to get your voice above everything else on stage so please sing hard, loud, and clear into the microphone.
The best distance is, your lips approximately 1 inch from the mic, any further and we will begin to hear surrounding instrumentation.  
-Please do no “cup” the mic, this means to grab or hold the mic at the top or “ball”.  Although this looks cool, it creates a “boxy” vocal sound and promotes feedback.
 
-If you move around with the mic, be aware of your surroundings.  Pointing a mic at a speaker or simply getting the mic to close to a speaker will cause vicous feedback which can lead to damaged mics, speakers and eardrums. 
This is important to note when leaning into the crowd mic in hand.

Please remember that the engineers have a responsibility to the house to protect the gear.  Blown speakers equal less work, hence we will go to 11, but that’s it.
If the vocals aren’t clear, start by reducing extraneous instrumentation.

BACK UP VOCALS
OK,  time for some truth in the industry.  Any open mics on stage pick up everything that makes live audio sound bad, such as distant cymbals, amps etc.  This tends to make the mix sound “washy” and “unclear”.  The trick to a clean mix is to keep as few vocal mics open as possible.
So, if you don’t really sing, then don’t ask for a mic!  (for the sake of the mix).  If you sing infrequently then when you do sing, do it loud and belt it out because an engineer is going to inherently drop the volume of your mic if you don’t sing much.
 
If you think you are off key, you are.

A good cheater trick is to put one foam plug in one ear.  This is somewhat like sticking a finger in there but less silly.

IN EAR MONITERS
Let us know if you’re bringing them so we can plan for the output.  In ears rock, they are key for vocalists who need a boost and they reduce stage volume. However they are temperamental little things.  Rule 1; if they don’t work at rehearsal they won’t work much better here.

GUITARS
Your tone is everything, we get it.  The trick is to understand the physics of tone versus the room.  If your amp rocks at 11 that’s cool but if it’s killing the first 50 feet of the room we cant put it in the mains.  Many great tones are produced by directing the amps away from the audience and letting the PA do its work to distribute the final product.  Get the tone you need and let us mic it right and get it in the mix.  Don’t be afraid to say “am I too loud?” we love that.
 

BASS
See GUITARS above.  You have an even weirder situation in that bass tone has crazy fun envelopes of fruition.  If you can’t hear yourself start with directing your amp towards your position. 

We like to run a DI if possible because it’s a clean signal with less ambient noise.   

KEYS
If you have an amp that you like to run through, that’s great.  From an audio perspective we can simply place a mic in front of your amp and were golden.  If you have no amp, we need to start running DI’s to your gear.  A DI is simply a ¼ inch to XLR converter.  If you have more than two keyboards we recommend using a sub mix such as a little 4 to 12 channel mixer that captures all keys at your discretion and produces a simple stereo out. 

Please make sure your track levels are even.

DRUMS
Ok, we can make the kick and snare sound pretty fat but please don’t ask for too much high end stuff such as hat or cymbals.  The mics we use are very prone to feedback and are best left to house mix only.  Try not to overwhelm your mix and stick with what you need. 

DJ’S
Rule #1; never expect the house to have what you want.  Bring your gear.  We might have 2 Techniques 1200s but we are subject to what happened to them yesterday and the day before that etc…..  Things always work better when the DJ, just like the drummer/guitarist/bassist brings their own gear.  Always bring your own needles and headphones.  If you’re into Serrato this rule applies to a greater degree.  Club tables take a fair amount of abuse and don’t always sync up, it happens and it’s a simple reality of the club industry.  When in doubt bring your gear.  

PERCUSSION
If you have a bunch of random percussion/trinket stuff that’s great but please know that reproducing these instruments in your monitor mix is very difficult.  Congas and timbales are easy, shakers and bongos are tough.

CLASSIC  STRINGS
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PICKUP!  Unless this is a solo, please don’t expect a live audio crew to place a mic near your violin/viola/chello etc.  and reproduce your tone, moreover place some of that tone in a monitor wedge.  Bands with a violin are cool but the artist needs to be aware of the complexities involved in getting a violin to match a Fender Strat.
Get a pickup, get some in ears, and you are now pro level.

What to do if you’re in the middle of a song and need more ------ in your mix?
Don’t panic.  Simply look over to your left; our engineers are there to hunt for eye contact. When your eyes meet, simply point to the instrument/mic/drum that needs attention, and point up for more or down for less. 
Please be specific, statements such as “up in the monitors” can lead to all sorts of confusion.

LIQUIDS
We will happily supply bottles of water for all bands but please be responsible for your drinks on stage.  We have lots of expensive gear, high voltage outlets, and slippery surfaces on stage.

AFTER YOUR SET
Obviously we want to get you and your band out there to do some post show schmooze as soon as possible however we need the stage cleared first.  Please move all gear and such outside and into your vehicles as soon as possible.  If you need help with anything heavy please don’t hesitate to ask.

The bottom line is that we want you to have a great show and come back as soon as possible.

Relax/breath/and have a good gig.

Sincerely, your pals at the Key Club.