So on to the penultimate night of the festival. The Party night with The Silencerz and The Booze Brothers. This night is usually the most complex to stage, as we have it outside and we need to build stages, gazebos, a marquee for the band etc, put up fencing and then rig sound and lights. However, due to the weather, we went inside to the Molly suite. This meant that we only had to put up a stage and set up the PA sysem and lights. This meant a later start. We'd normally start at 11am. As it was, we loadedin at 3pm and set up the stage. Vince the soundman arived at 3.30pm and the bands around 5.30pm. The soundcheck was relatively smooth and we opened the doors bang on schedule at 7.30pm. The Booze brothers kicked off with an excllent set. The band features former festival organiser and great mate of us all, Paul Amsterdam. Paul is the guy who got me involved with the festival. It was Paul who first got Jazz and pop music into the festival. He needed a hand with the PA systems, and I came on board in 1999, not thinking we'd still be doing it 26 years later! Itw as great to see him and catch up.
The Silencerz did what the Silencerz always do, getting people on their feet dancing! It was a wonderful night.
As a festival organiser, the even better news is we've now broken even! All identified costs have been covered. A few will sneak out of the woodwork, but to break even is a real achievement. We get no funding from the council or the arts counci The festival is self sufficient in funding. We have to putt on popular events. All events covered their costs and some made a surplus that goes to cover the promotion costs. We do some Facebook advertising, and dropped over 12,000 leaflets to Mill Hill houses, as well as dishing them out at key locations. This year, we also invested in some new banners. over the years, we've reinvested in things like a stage, lighting and other equipment such as trolleys. We have reached the point where we have more or less everything we need. We also have enough in the kitty to be able to hire in top quality sound engineers such as Vince Cooper last night and Stuart Waterman on Friday. I used to do the sound for all of the gigs, but getting Vince or Stuart in means I am better able to oversee the logistics on the night and deal with issues and liaise with bands and venues etc. If you are running the desk, sorting out drinks and a meal for bands, dealing with non PA tech issues etc is easier. It means we can all focus on what we are supposed to be doing.
After the band finished, we had to break down the stage etc. The bar shut at midnight and I was home by 1.30am. A great night, but I have to admit I am tired, especially as we had to collect the van and unload it first thing. One more even to go, then that's a wrap for another two years. If you are coming to the BBC Elstree Concert band later, please say hello.
