Unfiltered Story #362320
I’m interning as a light tech, and our venue is having a mini rock festival, which will also be broadcasted on local tv. I’m not very good yet with programming the lighting console but do praise myself for my creative abilities, so the programming is mostly done by the other two interns that we have, who agree they lack more in the creative department, but are good at the technical stuff. Show starts and everything goes well. After the first two bands i’m up for my dinner break, so i let the other two interns run the lighting console so i can go backstage and eat.
We have a journalist on site as well who is – or so i’m told – a real pain in the ass, always complains and nags about everything. Halfway my break, this journalist comes running backstage.
journalist: “You HAVE to come back to the lighting station. These two other boys are making a mess out of it! Never have I seen a worse lightshow! You HAVE to come back!
me: “Can i at least finish my meal?”
journalist: “Fine, only if you hurry. We have (well known local artist) on stage and this is no way to perform a show!”
After my break i return to the venue, and indeed, a fast song is playing and these guys decided to make the moving lights go around in sloooow cirkles and change the colors only every 30 seconds.
me: “Guys, uhm, don’t you think this song deserves a bit more punch?”
other intern: *snottily* if you know it so well, go and do it yourself why don’t you.”
Both guys leave the lighting booth as if they don’t wanted to be there in the first place. I scoot behind the console, wait for the next song, and start hitting the buttons to the beat.
Enter journalist.
journalist: “See, see!? THIS is a show! At least YOU know what you are doing! You go girl!”
I ended up doing the whole evening – 9 bands non stop – by myself. I got praised by half the guests, the artists and the camera crew that evening, while my supervisor only called it ”half decent” and also claimed i let the other guys do all the work. Eventually i was kicked out of that internship because i always had to catch the last bus home – that or bike for 10 km through a rural, pitch black nowhere at 2 AM. Still proud of this one evening though!
