050 – Freelance Weekend with Macklemore and Portugal. the Man
As a freelancer, I get to work with a variety of amazing artists.
Written by Scott Adamson
What a busy summer! I’m not surprised; the live music industry tends to be seasonal and the summer months are quite often a busy time for audio engineers (and a good time to sneak off for vacation, if possible).
I got to do a bunch of shows with some regular clients, but as a freelancer I’m always getting calls to work with a lot of different artists. For this post, I want to share a weekend I had recently with two Grammy-winning artists, Macklemore and Portugal. The Man. Check out the video:
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For these two shows, I did a short, 2-song set with Portugal. The Man at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City (a traditional venue, but with formal dining set up in the room), and a 30 minute set with Macklemore in a hotel ballroom in Aspen, Colorado.
To make it a true whirlwind of a weekend, these shows were on consecutive days. I live in NYC, so it was easy to take the subway to the Portugal. The Man show. But I then had to take a 6am flight the next morning to make it to Aspen in time for load-in. Then, without any good reason to stick around, I flew back to NYC the following day.
I had a great time doing both these shows – not only were the artists all very nice and accommodating, they hire great people to work for them. Showing up for a one-off is easy when you’re working with touring professionals who all know what they’re doing and can make the show happen without any real drama.
