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c. Pam Booher

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

No, I won’t be presenting any clever parodies of Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas.” But I don’t have to tell you that we will soon be celebrating Jesus’ birthday. Whether you live, work and play in the worship world or the secular world, Dec. 25 is the biggest day of the year for most of us and a busy time for sound crews. This season always causes me to reflect a little more on my life and the world than at any other time of year. Do you ever wonder what was going on at Joseph and Mary’s house during those first birthdays? Historically we know that they traveled to Egypt, but did they have a birthday party at year one, two, three and on? Was everyone invited? I am sure if there was cake there was certainly enough to go around. I am just throwing out a few different things to think about in between working events during this holiday season.

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Illustration By Andy Au

The Company We Keep

Starting at an early age, we all recognize the importance of the company we keep. Maybe these alliances we make stem from a primal xenophobic survival tactic or quite possibly it’s just human nature to affiliate ourselves with like-minded individuals. However, by junior high school, it seems we have already chosen sides and — though it often seems our choices are hormonally and psychologically predisposed — perhaps it’s merely circumstance that creates these bonds. Athletes hang with other athletes, the smart kids finding comfort with their own get labeled “geeks,” and the “in” crowd looks down on the social misfit crew.

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Benny Collins accepts the 2014 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award, Nov. 22, 2014 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Photo by Adam Kaplan

2014 Parnelli Awards Gala Filled with Emotion, Surprises

LAS VEGAS – It was Vegas, after all, so the bet was on. “We were all voting when Benny [Collins] would start crying, and I said he wouldn’t make it through the introduction, and I won,” laughs production professional and friend Steve Thomas. Thomas, with Michael Ahern, presented the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award to Collins, the live event industry’s highest honor. Collins took the stage choked up and shed some tears in giving his appreciation to all he’s worked with and made friends with over the years. It was a fitting end to an evening filled with emotions, laughs and tears.

To download a PDF of the FOH Dec. 2014 Parnelli Awards report, CLICK HERE.

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Catch George’s editorial commentary at fohonline.com/tv.

Living It Up – Live!

Having just come back from the Los Angeles AES and PLASA London expos (and getting ready to head off to the LDI show and the Parnelli Awards), I can surely empathize with all the “living out of a suitcase” road warriors out there. And a few days back home gives me a little time to catch up on actually putting out the magazine and reflect on where the industry’s headed.

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The setup for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in SAP Center, San Jose, CA. FOH engineer Robert Scovill put EAW’s Anya to the test for the band's 2014 tour. Photos by Steve Jennings

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ Hypnotic Eye Tour

On Aug. 3, 2014, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers kicked off its Hypnotic Eye tour in support of the group’s new studio album of the same title. The tour was a mix of mostly arena dates, with a few festival appearances, along with a number of outdoor performances, including legendary venues such as the scenic Red Rocks and The Gorge amphitheaters and Boston’s Fenway Park. The two-and-a-half-month tour concluded with two dates at the revamped (and reborn) L.A. Forum in mid-October.

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Vocalist Eddie Vedder getting in close and personal. Pearl Jam photo by Karen Loria

Pearl Jam: Keeping it Real

Pearl Jam rolled into town one October night in St. Louis and filled a hockey arena with remarkable clear sound for a sold-out crowd wanting it old school, and getting it. Like all Pearl Jam tours, while the visual elements are pitch-perfect, lighting and sets aren’t overpowering to the point of distraction. This was all about the music, kicked through an L-Acoustics K1 speaker system supplied by Rat Sound who has been working with PJ for 20 years.

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The founder of Maryland Sound International (MSI) was named the recipient of the 2014 Parnelli Award for Audio Innovation. Goldstein was presented with the award Nov. 22, 2014 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Bob Goldstein Honored for Audio Innovation

On a cold Dec. 31st at 5 p.m. in 1997, Bob Goldstein stepped off the streets of Times Square, went to his hotel room and told his wife Vivian he was finished as a sound man. He had taken on an impossible assignment, one that others had turned down. And one who did told the Times Square Business Improvement District fella that “there’s a crazy guy in Baltimore that might be able to do it.” Goldstein had agreed to put sound in the square for New Year’s Eve — something that had never been done. There could be no support structures, no wires, no generators, no testing and adjusting and… well, another 146 restrictions.

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