For those who think that the life of a rock and roll star is all glitz and glamour, here's a walk-through of a typical gig - in this case, the sold-out show Great Northern recently did at Pearl Street Warehouse in DC. First of all, you have to get there early. Really early. We had an opening band at Pearl Street and so we had to load in and sound check first, so they could set up in front of us. We loaded in at 4 PM for a set starting at 10 PM. At least we didn't have to provide PA for this show. In cases where we do, PA setup is an hour (and a lot of extra schlepping) in and of itself. The loading dock Second, loading in is always complicated. For a club you usually come in some back way - through the loading dock and the kitchen, or something like that. Pearl Street shares a loading dock with another music venue, Union Stage, as well as a hotel. One of the features of many such docks is that they are usually where the establishments keep their trash dumpsters, and so they sm...
One man's journey into the great outdoors of Washington, DC and its environs.