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Практика английского по видео: The Absurd Logistics of Concert Tours

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Фраза 1

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  1. It just turned 10 .50pm on a warm September night when the band returned to the Usana Amphitheater stage southwest of Salt Lake City for an encore.0:00
  2. Though they make it seem spontaneous, the move is, of course, planned, and the song had, of course, already been picked.0:08
  3. It's the perfect send -off that will leave the crowd buzzing and keep the band from violating the venue's strict 11pm curfew.0:15
  4. But as the show ends and the audience makes its way to the exits, another meticulously choreographed and time -sensitive show begins, one with far less fanfare.0:22
  5. The tour's next stop is Ball Arena in Denver, 522 miles or 840 kilometers away, and that concert starts in exactly 21 hours.0:31
  6. So now it's all hands on deck to get the band, their set, and their double -digit crew to Colorado on time.0:41
  7. Really, this show, this process of getting the band and company from Salt Lake to Denver, began a few hours ago when the tour manager headed into their backstage office0:48
  8. along with the venue's promoter carrying record of the night's box office receipts to hash out the money splits from ticket and merch sales to utilities and even clean towel0:56
  9. fees before coming to a final settlement.1:03
  10. While an unspectacular process of crossing tees and dotting eyes, it's this step that makes the tour possible and really more than anything else fuels the music economy today.1:06
  11. The Usana Amphitheater, after all, holds a maximum of 20 ,000 guests.1:16
  12. That's 20 ,000 potential ticket sales of which the band will receive an already agreed -upon split somewhere in the ballpark of 85%.1:20
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  1. Once the money settled and the band's finished, though, all attention focuses on the loadout.1:28
  2. To be playing venues like the Usana Amphitheater in Ball Arena, the band has to be big and big bands tour with big staffs.1:34
  3. This group, like most touring groups of its size, is broken into three groups.1:41
  4. There's the A Party made up of the artists and their inner circle, the B Party made up of the band, dancers, and backup vocalists, and the C Party, or1:46
  5. the crew, from guitar techs to pyrotechnics specialists.1:53
  6. To maximize overall efficiency and the comfort of some, each party is taking a slightly different path to Denver.1:56
  7. For the A Party, it's off the stage and depending on timing, grabbing something to eat or a shower then heading straight north in hired suburbans to the Atlantic Aviation2:03
  8. FBO at Salt Lake City International Airport where a chartered jet is waiting.2:10
  9. For the rest of the onstage talent, the turnaround is nearly just as quick.2:15
  10. Dancers, background vocalists, and additional band members load onto tour buses that, depending on the configuration that the tour manager settled on months prior, can carry up to 12 people2:19
  11. spread across two aisles of triple stacked bunks.2:27
  12. They're off the stage and out the door quick, but won't be seeing the other side of the Rockies until they wake up the next morning.2:31
  13. For the C Party, what they brought out and put together only hours earlier now needs to be returned into their cases and rolled back into their trailers in a2:37
  14. precisely efficient order before they too hit the road.2:44
  15. Under the oversight of production and stage managers, guitar techs carefully pack up guitars and rigors carefully dismantle the set.2:47
  16. With the turnaround being so sharp, Rodi's working on the tour are joined by a hired set of local stagehands who help pack out everything from the band's audio -visual2:54
  17. assets to the tour manager's office onto the trailers backed up against backstage.3:01
  18. Once the venue's cleared, the C Party, like the B Party a couple hours ahead, jumps under tour buses headed east, where showers and clean towels await them at the3:05
  19. arena.3:13
  20. And now the time crunch shifts from the crew to its drivers.3:14
  21. None of the truck or bus drivers saw the band's show in Utah.3:18
  22. They were sleeping.3:22
  23. In fact, not until the show's end did those who were driving the B Party even check out their hotels.3:24
  24. And only after the show's conclusion did they begin their systems check, inspecting tires and timing belts before warming up the bus.3:29
  25. They've waited until the very last minutes because their driving time is incredibly precious.3:36
  26. By law, they can only drive for 10 hours before they take a required 8 -hour rest period, and with the electronic logging devices built into their dashboards and tracking3:41
  27. the buses every move, they're simply no -cheating the 10 -hour limit.3:49
  28. Facing down 500 -plus miles on the Rocky Mountain Range, Denver stretches the limits of what's possible when adding in stops, morning rush hour traffic, and the potential of anything3:53
  29. unpredictable.4:01
  30. Move the bus too early, and the next night's concert might get stuck on the side of the road short of the destination in Denver.4:03
  31. Now, to an outsider, the loadout process might look chaotic and the pace of the tour may seem unsustainable or unmanageable.4:09
  32. But though grueling and exhaustingly complicated, these massive nationwide tours function remarkably smoothly considering the variety of variables.4:16
  33. And they have to.4:25
  34. There's too much on the line for them not to.4:26
  35. This is where bands make their money, and this is where deadlines are their absolute toughest—a band can't simply reschedule in the middle of a tour during the middle of4:28
  36. the busy summer season.4:36
  37. To make these tours run smoothly, then, their managers leave no stone unturned.4:37
  38. To minimize the chaos and limit potential mistakes, the band's tour began perhaps a month or two prior on the West Coast, and had been in the works for upwards4:43
  39. of a year.4:50
  40. Knowing that dates fell quickly during the summer, their agent began negotiating fees and revenue splits with interested venues in the fall or winter prior, passing back and forth drafts4:51
  41. of deal memos like these before ultimately coming to an agreement.4:59
  42. With the concert dates penciled in, and a spot to rehearse for a few days prior identified somewhere in Southern California, the tour manager then sent their dates along to5:03
  43. truck and bus -leasing companies to go back and forth on price and configuration that best matched the band's needs.5:10
  44. And with the venues locked, stage managers and production managers began assembling advance sheets that outline every last technical detail about the venue, from bus and trailer parking to office5:15
  45. space and AV capabilities and hookups that the tour could possibly need to know beforehand.5:25
  46. Months ago, the tour manager also sent along a rider to each of the touring party's hotels.5:30
  47. Essentially, a sheet of requirements that spans from ensuring late checkout or day rooms to asking about whether or not there's any construction happening nearby.5:34
  48. If meals are to be eaten at the hotel, dietary restrictions are communicated through this document as are allergies or ETAs or even how room keys should be packaged and5:42
  49. distributed.5:50
  50. If the crew has an off day, it's important to find out what the bus parking nearby looks like and what's nearby for the crew to do.5:51
  51. And if the band's famous enough, a likely scenario given the size of this tour, a rider will inform the hotel that access to back doors and service elevators will5:57
  52. be required.6:05
  53. These documents often run pages long and aren't exclusive to hotels, either, as tour managers will send ahead riders for the venue's backstage setup, from food to layout, as well6:06
  54. as a technical rider spelling out the AV and rigging needs the show requires.6:14
  55. Though sent to each hotel and venue long in advance, these riders are dynamic documents that change and evolve along with the tour, so managers will update and resend riders6:18
  56. weeks and even days before their arrival.6:26
  57. While the artists would have arrived at Centennial Airport in the early hours of the morning and quickly transferred to their hotel, the rest of the tour's day begins around6:28
  58. 9am, laying in their bunks as their bus comes to a rest beside the loading dock of Denver's Ball Arena.6:36
  59. Upon completing the 8 -hour drive through Wyoming, the driver hooks the bus up to a provided 240 -volt connection to deliver power without idling the engine, and joins the6:42
  60. tour's other bus and truck drivers for the short walk across the street to the Spring Hill Suites Hotel, where dayrooms are booked, to get their legally required rest before6:50
  61. driving onward after the concert that night.6:58
  62. The above average 8 -hour drive makes this day a particular challenge—everything must run perfectly to get the show built on time.7:00
  63. The first people into the building are the tour's leadership—the production manager, production coordinator, head of security, lead rigger, and potentially others.7:08
  64. Their first stop is the catering room, where a local company set up breakfast over the hours prior.7:16
  65. Next, the team meets with the venue's management to conduct a walkthrough and plan out the day's activities.7:21
  66. They then work their way through the backstage, posting the day sheet throughout to give a rundown of key moments through the day, and also labeling different rooms for different7:26
  67. purposes.7:33
  68. They'd need a production office, where the management would set up their desks, dressing rooms for both elite artists and their supporting acts, a storage room for empty roadcases and7:34
  69. extra equipment, a wardrobe room for the costume department to get their work done, and more depending on the size and scope of the tour.7:41
  70. In addition, they put up maps and directions to these different temporary rooms and key permanent spots like the venue's shower rooms, given that nearly everyone lives out of the7:48
  71. tour bus.7:56
  72. Nobody should need to know where they are—in fact, through the fatigue, many of the tour's members might genuinely forget.7:57
  73. Also early in the order of operations is making the final decision on the placement of the stage.8:04
  74. In North America, most large concerts occur in indoor arenas otherwise occupied by NHL and NBA hockey and basketball teams, as is the case with Denver's ball arena.8:09
  75. Given that traditional stages have, at best, 270 degrees of line of sight, these tours only sell a portion of the 360 degrees of seats surrounding the stage, but the8:18
  76. exact number can be altered.8:28
  77. Therefore, if the concert hasn't sold out, management might decide to bring the stage forward to kill some seats and make the venue appear more full, while if the concert8:30
  78. has sold out, they do their best to push the stage back to give more seats to sightline and fit more on the floor, allowing them to sell additional tickets.8:38
  79. But they'd have to make this decision quickly because they're on the clock and the setup has to start quick.8:45
  80. The arena has no stage, no lights, no audio system, essentially nothing but an empty floor and some seats, while thousands upon thousands of people are expecting a concert in8:51
  81. less than 10 hours.9:00
  82. First in the order of operations is rigging.9:02
  83. This is essentially the process of getting anything that hangs, be it lights, speakers, screens, prop pieces, or even the stage itself, up into the air.9:05
  84. Typically a tour will include a lead rigger, or perhaps a few touring riggers, who work with a far larger team of 20 to 40 local riggers to complete the9:13
  85. incredibly time -sensitive setup process for a given concert.9:21
  86. It starts with chalking out the floor, essentially, marking the exact spot on the ground where a motor should hang above.9:25
  87. The core of the rigging task involves using a combination of math and cables to hang chain motors in exact points from a grid of beams in the roof.9:31
  88. More often than not, there is not a beam directly above the exact point where a motor is needed, so riggers hang two cables to bridge the gap between two9:39
  89. beams.9:46
  90. Knowing both the horizontal and vertical distance from a beam to their desired point, the Bythagorean theorem is used to quickly calculate the required length of rope along the third9:48
  91. axis, and these lengths are marked on the floor with a standardized chalk diagram, like this.9:55
  92. They also mark at the length of rope needed to wrap around each beam, give an inconsistency in width, and, if applicable, the length of a rope to hang beneath10:00
  93. the connection of the two others.10:08
  94. Finally, the exact point is marked with this symbol if it's up to a quarter -ton weight, and this for a half -ton, full -ton, and two -tons, respectively.10:10
  95. On a typical arena tour, there can be anywhere between a few dozen to over a hundred rigging points that need to be assembled, so quickly, the team's upriggers harness10:18
  96. up and head out onto the beams above, while the downriggers start laying out motors and other equipment next to the relevant points.10:25
  97. Once in place, each uprigger lets down a rope to which their downrigger ties equipment to be pulled up.10:32
  98. First, a burlap sack is wrapped around the beam to soften the edges, then ropes are fastened around the beam, connected, and finally the chain motors are attached in the10:37
  99. exact desired point regardless of the variance in overhead grid from arena to arena.10:45
  100. Precision and safety are absolutely crucial given that within a matter of hours, both the general public and some of the world's most recognizable artists will be standing below.10:49
  101. The margin for error is essentially zero.10:58
  102. But to provide a standardized experience in a non -standard set of venues, rigging is crucial.11:01
  103. With anchor points set, the work of assembling lighting and audio trusses can go on, along with setting up the stage itself.11:07
  104. Once each element is constructed on the ground, the motors above slowly pull them up into place, also allowing the tour to hoist them to a common height regardless of11:13
  105. the venue's ceiling height.11:21
  106. Typically, and especially with the late -start in Denver, this entire process needs to be completed within four or five hours, by early afternoon.11:22
  107. Each department then takes a brief break for the lunch provided by the local caterers.11:30
  108. While the tour always strives to carry everything they need for a given show with them, reality often gets in the way.11:35
  109. That's why the ensemble of hired local labor always includes runners whose job it is to head out into the city to grab last -minute necessities, be it something as11:41
  110. simple as backstage snacks from Walmart or as crucial as fresh guitar picks from Guitar Center.11:48
  111. But all the big tasks should be completed by around now, mid -afternoon, because that's when the artist arrives from their hotel and attention focuses on fine -tuning.11:54
  112. The soundcheck is a crucial milestone as it's the first test by the artists themselves of the day setup.12:03
  113. They play a few songs, both for calibrating the on -stage audio system, which is crucial for making sure they can hear themselves properly, and testing the audience's audio system,12:08
  114. which needs to be fine -tuned both to the venue and the style of music.12:16
  115. As the afternoon transitions into evening, the countdown to doors looms large.12:20
  116. The tour's head of security meets with the venue security to talk through some key elements.12:25
  117. They're in charge of passes, so they'll communicate which get access where—who can go on the floor, backstage, the VIP room, or even to the artist's room.12:29
  118. For the security work in the stage, they'll also talk through likely moments of artist -audience interaction and what security support is needed.12:37
  119. If the artist is going to pull audience members up on stage, for example, security likes to know in advance.12:44
  120. And perhaps most importantly, the tour security communicates likely audience demographics and behavior.12:49
  121. They know much better than local security the proclivities of their fans and the likelihood of routiness, barrier crushing, mosh pits, and other potential security risks.12:54
  122. But finally, it's time.13:03
  123. The lighting department switches on a pre -programmed pre -show lighting configuration, audio starts miking up the artists, security gets in a place, and everyone else finally gets their first13:05
  124. moments of calm since Salt Lake City as the doors open, the concert begins, and the tour starts its unbelievable 24 -hour cycle once again.13:14
  125. Clearly, given that you're still here, you enjoy learning about logistics.13:24
  126. So do I, of course, which is why I was recently fascinated to learn about what went into the design and construction of the Twin Towers in New York through13:28
  127. Nioh's video on the subject.13:35
  128. It's a great watch, and right after that you can watch the latest episode from our series, Extremities, about how Tristan D 'Kuna manages to survive as the world's most13:37
  129. remote inhabited island.13:45
  130. The story of how people manage to live all the way out there is pretty fascinating.13:46
  131. Then you could give Real Engineering's fantastic series The Logistics of D -Day a Watch, where he shines a light on the perhaps less cinematic but certainly more fascinating efforts13:50
  132. that went into the Allies' landing on Normandy.13:58
  133. All of this top tier logistics content is available exclusively on Nebula, the streaming site co -founded by us creators and designed from the ground up to be the best14:01
  134. home to the stuff we make.14:09
  135. The economic model behind it means we can manage to fund things that wouldn't survive on YouTube, like videos about the logistics of the world's most remote places, and the14:10
  136. fact that it's not ad -supported means we don't have to shy away from more sensitive topics like the logistics of some of the bloodiest days of World War II.14:17
  137. Thanks to this, myself and my team have made all of these original documentary shows and videos, and we keep releasing more each month.14:24
  138. Plus, there's plenty more from plenty of other creators that you will almost certainly already watch, but what makes this almost certainly the best deal in streaming is the best14:32
  139. way to sign up for Nebula, the Curiosity Stream Bundle Deal.14:39
  140. When you sign up for any subscription at curiositystream .com slash Wendover, they throw in a Nebula subscription for free for as long as you stay subscribed.14:42
  141. That means you also get access to Curiosity Stream's massive library of top -quality non -fiction shows and documentaries like the fascinating series Inside the Mind of a Con Artist.14:50
  142. And while that's already an unbeatable deal on its own, signing up not only helps support Wendover productions, but almost the entire educational creator ecosystem.14:59
  143. So, head over to curiositystream .com slash Wendover or click the button on screen to sign up, and thanks in advance for your support.15:07

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inconsistency, subscribed, pyrotechnics, unsustainable, demographics, strives
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