Casting Crowns performing at Lincoln Berean Church in Lincoln, Neb., August 2015.
For many years, the livelihood of musical artists was dominated by album sales. Sure, there were tours and performances, but the big money came from physical sales and royalties. When the digital age of streaming came along, it single-handedly diverted that entire landscape. Now, more than ever, artists depend on touring as their main source of income.
With this influx of bands on the road, more and more churches are hosting tours of all shapes and sizes. What was once reserved for a select group of venues is now becoming more prevalent. And with the advancement of in-house technology and modern worship spaces, churches are now a mainstay for many touring groups. While the upside to this ministry opportunity is plentiful, it also presents specific challenges as well, especially as a host.
For all the good intentions of putting on a show, most churches do not host mid- to large-level tours often. Unlike concert venues that do this on a regular basis, the logistics of having the day run smoothly, with all of the necessary infrastructure and details in place, can quickly fall by the wayside, only complicating matters and leading to frustrations among church and tour staff. While there will always be challenges to overcome, understanding the components of hosting a successful tour can ensure a fantastic experience for everyone involved.
In application
Corey Simmons is the production director at Lincoln Berean Church based in Lincoln, Neb. As the church moved into a new 2,500-seat auditorium several years ago, they realized the space was more than adequate for hosting tours. Since then, they have seen groups such as the Newsboys, Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, Tenth Avenue North, and many others grace their stage. CPM spoke to Simmons regarding the technical challenges they have encountered, how they have successfully integrated production needs and demands into their venue, and what they've learned about preparation to ensure these events are a success.
CPM: Since hosting your first major tour, what changes have you made in terms of preparation to better accommodate the visiting artists from a production standpoint?
Simmons: We feel that the visiting artists are guests in our venue and we want to make them feel at home. We take the rider very seriously and try to stick to it as much as possible. With that said, we learned that the rider isn't a set of hard rules. It's the best scenario they would hope to get, but in the end they want to put on the show too and will flex whenever possible. We always try to accommodate as much of the rider as we can but when we can't, we let the tour manager know up front and make sure everything will be OK.
One thing we did is put together a tech package. It's a PDF file with info we think would be helpful to visiting crews. There is an aerial photo of the church and a floor plan with arrows pointing to the dock and various parts of the building. It lists the gear in our inventory and contact information for the house crew. There is also a link to a 360-degree photo of our room that gives people a chance to virtually look around before getting here.
CPM: Has your church added any infrastructure or made modifications (power, rigging, etc.) to help meet the needs of artist production?
Simmons: When we built the room we had a 200A disconnect installed. Some groups request more power, but most can make that work for a venue our size. We've only had to rent a generator a few times. If you plan on hosting tours on a regular basis, installing a dedicated guest disconnect service is well worth the investment.
Recently, we added two points out in the house ceiling to fly gear. Other than rigging over the stage area, the venue was never designed for additional equipment beyond what we planned to install, but the structural engineer was able to find two points that work to fly mains or a downstage truss. Again, for the size of our venue, most acts will not be flying considerable amounts of gear, but it has been beneficial to have the option.
CPM: What's been one of the more tricky situations you've encountered with a particular tour and how did you make it work in the end?
Simmons: Most acts show up with a mostly self-contained system or they are carrying a console and mic package and tie into our mains. They may use a little house lighting and front light but not much else. Those shows are fairly simple if you have everything requested in the rider ready when they arrive. It's the shows that integrate more of our gear that are challenging.
The hardest one was when a well-known act came in without its own consoles. They had mixed on the same brand of console before and were able to convert their show files to our model but it was the most hands on I've had to be with any show. We had used the consoles a lot at that point and I was very familiar with them, but because they're installed there are a lot of ‘set and forget' settings in the console. When they brought in their files, the IO rack was laid out differently than ours. It took me a while to find the problem and once I did I just hit the ‘conform rack' button and the output problem was fixed. Unfortunately, it reset all of their input gains to settings to our last settings. Because I initially configured the consoles myself, I knew how to make the necessary changes for them, but didn't know that it would reset all of their gains. It was a stretch to get that last little bug figured out while the band waited to line check. Thankfully, both the band and the crew were top notch and very gracious. They quickly regained their console and were up and running again.”
CPM: Can you talk about negotiating with tour and production managers in terms of what is or is not possible, paring down lighting, audio, and other logistics?
Simmons: There are negotiations with every show, but usually not much. Often we try to avoid renting follow spots. Most acts request them because they don't know if the venue has adequate front lighting. We do, and the bands we've had usually find using the in-house lekos are adequate. Of course, for the acts that actually need a spot to follow them, we provide one. We bought one recently, but it doesn't get used often, so our spot ops aren't always experienced. That's the biggest hang-up for us with spots.
We do a lot of shows here and typically have the same crew load in each show. They're mostly volunteers but they're experienced and work very hard. We've become known for the quality of our load-in crew, and consequently, we try to negotiate a smaller crew. The crews that have been here before are usually fine with that. The ones that are new to us are understandably concerned before they arrive, but we try to give references. In the end, we do attempt to provide the number of people they request.
There are inevitably other things we may not be able to provide, but we bring that up with the tour manager before signing the contract. Sometimes it's hard, when we're signing before the production manager is signed on with the tour, but we do the best we can. Whenever we know the people coming in, things go a lot faster. The work we do to accommodate everything they request and make them feel at home really pays off when they come back later.
CPM: For churches that have never hosted a tour before, what would be some of the more important ‘secrets to success' to ensure that the venue is ready and able to make the day run as smoothly as possible?
Simmons: Know that while their production rider isn't carved in stone, it is important for them to be able to perform the show you're asking them to perform. However, be up front about any concerns and get them ironed out before signing a contract so there are no surprises later.
There are a lot of people involved with most tours. Whenever possible, negotiate production details with the tour's current production manager. If they're not on board yet, go to the tour manager. It is important to get things agreed on with people who are actually on the tour because they're the ones who have to make it work when they show up. Booking agents rarely travel on the road, nor do they understand the real-world logistics of production.
Be prepared and have everything ready to go before the visiting crew arrives. Know that they're likely in the middle of a long tour and they just want the show to be a success. This is where following the rider is important. You may have a great idea that would be a tremendous improvement to their show, but they have to do the same show every night in a different venue and they want things to be as close to the same as possible. Trying to change things for them will just make their job harder. Offering the use of your forklift to stand up their heavy truss is great, but if they would rather do it by hand, get as many guys around that thing as possible and follow their instructions to the letter. They really do know what they're doing—and the more you can give them what they expect, the happier they'll be.”
Putting it into practice
For many churches, hosting concerts can be an incredible community outreach and experience. While the work and preparation can be daunting to consider, the best way to prepare is to simply reach out to others who have hosted in the past. Sometimes, “trial by fire” can be beneficial, but you will save yourself hours of undue stress and ill-advised decisions by talking with those who have been through the process multiple times.
Through proper planning, asking the right questions, and treating people well, you can be sure the experience for the artist, venue and audience will be memorable and pave the way for continued events in the future.
