One of the many benefits of working in this business is that you get to work with some amazing people.  Florists, venue decorators and of course bands are all people we work closely with on an almost daily basis.

A client of ours contacted us recently to tell us that he has hired in a big surprise for his Bride and could we help him out.  Well of course!

He has hired in a group of professional opera singers who basically “pretend” they are members of staff and they just appear from nowhere and start singing.  I have worked with this group before and they are absolutely fantastic, a real eye opener.  When you hear their voices up close it really does make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

The company has sent him a “rider” which is basically a sheet of paper containing their requirements.  The bulk of it is mainly technical requirements like a specific brand of microphone is required for their voices, speakers in the corners of the room and a competent technician to run it all for them – they just basically turn up with their voices and you have to pay for everything else.  From memory, this particular group cost a few thousand £££’s, a staggering 10x my usual fee!

The rest of this “rider” is quite funny to read.  You would think you were hiring in some A-list celebrity.  I will show you some examples of their special requirements on the day that if you fail to provide could potentially lead to them cancelling the performance.

  • Hot meals and refreshments must be made available for the performers and two sound engineers after sound check.
  • For overnight stays, single rooms in a minimum 3-star hotel with breakfast near the venue and must be provided and paid for in advance.
  • For transfers from the hotel to the venue a dedicated air conditioned car, taxi or minibus must be provided.
  • It is the clients responsibility to ensure that any specific clothing is made available e.g. waiters uniforms.

Now, it’s the last one that confuses me.  This group of singers are well known for their “act” when pretending to be members of staff.   You would think that with the thousands of pounds they earn they could afford a few sets of waiters uniforms?  Also, would they cancel the performance if you sent them a non-air conditioned taxi to get from the hotel to the venue?

So, if I was “so diva” to put together a rider it would contain only one thing…

  • DISCOfever will only perform in ground-floor venues where our vehicle can pull right up to the stage area for ease of unloading OR the client must provide strong venue staff to carry out equipment both in and out of the venue.

But of course, such venue’s are very hard to come by (and so are helpful venue staff!) so for now i’m quite happy carrying equipment up and down endless flights of stairs, long corridors and around tight bends.

I must go, the sun has moved and my garden chair is now in the shade and it’s a little bit nippy.  Have a great weekend everyone, looks like the sun will be shining for most of it!