The Heartland: Outskirts Fetrock 2013 - Backstage [Signup in OOC]

[Halide]

Fetrock - the first and only big performance of it's kind for the year. The night of the performance loomed, the stage set up in full just outside of Ponyville. The audience was gathering, being kept on their hooves by a record player feeding some classic rock into the speakers. The stage itself was a pretty big one - worthy enough of the rockstars-to-be that might grace the wooden planks and sing before the soundboards overhead. The heavy red curtains remained shut for now, and back behind the stage, sheltered by a few thin wooden walls held up by scaffolding, the performers had been instructed to gather. The road crew all gathered before the peformers, save for the lead, which flew overhead. The MC had his own duties to perform, working on the stage itself. Mutters of soundcheck could be heard up the stairs to the stage itself, but they weren't terribly important. They were simply the calm before the storm to come.

[colour=#ff0000]"Alright, now I know some of you are new to fetrock, so lemme give you all a quick rundown! You listen to the MC first, me second, and eachother third. We're not trying to one-up eachother, we're not trying to outplay eachother; this is all about the fans! They're happy when they're listening to music, NOT when they're waiting around because you forgot to tune your strings before gettin on-stage!"[/colour]

The spitfire pegasus darted over the heads of the gathered performers, weaving expertly between scaffolding and rafters, keeping her eyes forward and her voice loud. She'd actually done some work dolling herself up - a little enchanted dye to give her mane a proper flaming sort of look, a bit of extra eyeliner to give her eyes a little more glaring definition, a few gold rings through her ears, and a fresh set of dyes on her coat, and a tribal studded gryphon vest to give herself a distinctive road-weathered look. She looked ready enough to hit the stage herself, which she would in due time - but she had double-duty to pull. Before she'd hit the stage, she'd make sure everyone else was ready to do the same. Honestly, it was a lot for one pony to try and pull off, but a few harsh Germane energy drinks would make pretty darn sure she'd be able to flap through it all without needing to take five.

[colour=#FF0000]"Now, that said, if you need something done quick, you don't run off and do it yourself! You stay back here, you call for a roadie, and you tell me or the crew politely; we will do it for you! We need you guys ready for the stage, not rooting through your stuff in the green room!" [/colour]

With that, the pegasus landed in front of the gathered performers, her hooves hitting the stage with a hefty 'Ca-lump!', her silver eyes looking over the crowd. Yeah, this was a decent gathering, and she even saw some faces she'd seen on other stages before. It was always good to have experienced ponies in the lineup - names that'd get flanks in the crowd were always plenty welcome on the charity event that was Fetrock. Honestly, this was looking pretty promising, and she was gonna make sure it ran smooth as possible. Ignition flipped her glowing mane back, grinning wildly as she wrapped her little pack of instructions.

[colour=#FF0000]"Now, we have ninety minutes before we start this show rolling. Until then, I want you guys to loosen up, make sure you've got your act together, and stay frosty! I'll take first act to wind the crowd up for you guys at 9 sharp! You have one hour to pull on my wing and get me to help you guys out. After that, you talk to the other roadies - Wingstrong, Blitzhoof and The Claw." [/colour]

With that, Ignition bucked her head towards a trio of vest-clad individuals with "CREW" written across their backs - a lithe brown pegasus, a lanky unicorn mare, and a black-feathered gryphon giving a nod at the call of their respective names. None of them looked like the sort to ooze enthusiasm or cheer, but they looked approachable and plenty quick on their various limbs. Apparently, their business was serious, and their expressions fit to match. Still, Ignition was getting tired of the sound of her own voice, and she was pretty sure she wasn't the only one.

[colour=#FF0000]"Until then, you guys just sort yourselves out and get ready to put on a performance that you'd be proud to let Celestia hear! Swap notes, psyche yourselves up, whatever you need to do - get to it, champs!"[/colour]

OOC - This is a post-order-free thread for anyone performing or anyone who knows one of the performers for Fetrock. Listing of performers can be found here .

[Blueblood]

They say you never forget your first big gig, and Fetrock certainly was leaving it's impression on Sky Sailing. Up until now, all he'd done was make a few EP's in his basement, and played at a few small shows for his friends. Apparently, he'd impressed them, since they all chipped in to pay his travel expenses to come here.

He re-adjusted the black cap and goggles that were part of his stage gear, rubbing the road dust off them. As a starting act, he'd had to carry all his own stuff up until now, and he gazed with no small amount of awe at the roadies as Ignition made her introduction. Other acts were around him, some he recognized, which the whole experience that much more surreal. [colour=#40e0d0]*Well, my songs fit the occasion, at least.*[/colour]

He was one of the first that had a question, and he put it after taking a few deep breaths. "[colour=#40e0d0]Um, what order are we going in? My setup's kind of elaborate, and it's hard to move when it's fully put together. Is there a place where it can be set up out of sight so that you don't have to haul it all the way from backstage?[/colour]" He wasn't sure how naive the question sounded; the pegasus was obviously quite new to the concert scene, at least from this side of the stage.

[RarityDash]

Gilda's decision to scope out the big Fetrock rock show out in the Equestrian Heartland had already proven a fortuitous one. She had, through dumb error, arrived on the scene a couple days ahead of time and for it ended up in a somewhat strange spot. While flying up over the concert stage, she had very nearly had all of her feathers singed to a fiery crisp by a rogue firework cannon suddenly going off for no adequately explained reason. Obviously this had resulted in her getting very rightly steamed and she had flown in in to confront the birdbrain down below who was responsible. That "birdbrain", a pegasus by the name of Ignition, as it were, was not actually all too lame, and was in fact stage crew for the show who had set off the firework entirely for the kicks. The two of them went and rather quickly found some common ground which ultimately lead to them dashing off together to party the night away at a rockin' club in Germaney. It had been a blast, and for it Gilda had ended up with something one might call a friend.

Of course, the surly griffon was still rather interested in the whole Fetrock deal, but now she happened to have connections! Yeah, meeting a pony who was kinda pretty cool was not the only good thing she had wound up from the whole ordeal. Because of Ignition, she wasn't going to have to slum it out in the cheap section straining her eyes, ears and everything else just to experience the rock. No, instead, Ignition had been given her a backstage pass to see all of it all nicely up close and personal.

It was pretty cool and it had the griffoness quite excited for when the show actually started up in full. Seeing all the musicians getting primed and the roadies and everyone hard at work to set it all up was kind of interesting. Gilda had to wonder if she would be able to do this kind of work. Heh, Ignition could and they were on a relatively similar wavelength, so maybe. But nah, it didn't quite look like her bag. Learning an instrument seemed cooler and less like work. It was probably more secure than solo flight shows and random jobs that promised to but never succeeded at getting her very rich. You probably had to be pretty good at it though. Still, it was something worth considering she supposed. For now, the name of the game was just taking it all in and doing her best to stay out of the way of anyone who had anything important to do.

Except Ignition of course. Giving her pony pal a little of the business really did feel necessary. [colour=#996699]"Hehe. Well, don't you sound cool and in charge. I wonder if anyone here would be able to guess how seriously you take this stuff when you're alone with it at night..."[/colour] she said as she approached Ignition at the close of her speech to the performers. She looked around the backstage area and gave a laugh before glancing back at the mare this time taking in her full rocker getup.

[colour=#996699]"Speaking of flames, nice mane, by the way,"[/colour] she said, snickering.

​

[Halide]

[colour=#40e0d0]"Um, what order are we going in? My setup's kind of elaborate, and it's hard to move when it's fully put together. Is there a place where it can be set up out of sight so that you don't have to haul it all the way from backstage?"[/colour]

And there was one of the greenhorns. Well, that was to be expected, really; there had been a larger set order, but as had happened every year, a couple of bigger names backed out quietly due to higher-profile gigs becoming available, and there were plenty of backyard bands that either fell apart or failed to manage moving all of themselves and their stuff in a timely or organized manner. Which, she'd be quick to admit, was something you really wanted to hire somepony else to do, because moving a whole band can be hard. Still, she sort of recognized the cyan pegasus.

[colour=#ff0000]"Keyboards, right? We'll put you on a platform behind the curtains two acts before you're up! Don't worry, they're low, lockable and stable, so it won't really feel any different playin' on it than on solid stage. Just watch your hooves getting on and off-stage. If you fall, you'll lose serious showpony cred, and we don't want any of that!"[/colour]

The spitfire pegasus saw a familiar feathered head in amidst the crowd - two, really, but one of them was performing, and the other was more a personal friend. She'd say hi in a minute, of course, but there'd been two questions, and she was very much obliged to answer them both as well as she was able to. A nod from the spitfire mare to Gilda, and she kept on talking to the gathered performers.

[colour=#ff0000]"As for play order, you'll stay in the order you're on in the signup sheet you ticked off on your way in. As I said, I'll open for you - Octavia will carry in with the first real act, Wise Owls on second, Miasma's third, you - Sky, yeah? - yeah, you're on after them. Intermission, then we put anyone with additional songs in 'em back up in the same order. We get any latecomers onstage after that, and we close with L-D to try and finish on a major act. If you can't remember that, just check the sheet. Any more questions, ask The Claw. He'll help you out."[/colour]

With that, a hoof pointed to one pillar of the stage, where there was indeed a full listing of everyone who said they'd been present, with green checkmarks for those who'd showed up, and red lines through those who'd cancelled, and a few more still unaccounted for. But, that seemed to be all Ignition wanted to play headpony for the time being, so she took a dive over the crowd and further to the back, skidding just a bit on the unfinished wood in front of her pal.

[colour=#996699]"Hehe. Well, don't you sound cool and in charge. I wonder if anyone here would be able to guess how seriously you take this stuff when you're alone with it at night...[/colour][colour=#996699]Speaking of flames, nice mane, by the way,"[/colour] Sarcastic and a bit of a snicker, sure. But hey, that was how they rolled.

[colour=#ff0000]"I was wondering when I'd hear someone heckling me. You probably thought it'd be half cinders and ash by this point, hunh? Toldjya I'd get it set up in time."[/colour] Ignition replied with more than a hint of sass in her voice, brushing off the mildly accusatory refference. Seriously - a firework, armed, left unattended around a pony named Ignition. That was more somepony else's fault for taunting destiny, frankly. But, the mane had been complemented, and she was sincerely proud of the look. She gave it a bit of a shake, her mane sparking and glowing a little brighter from the action, her tail remaining a dull series of embers.

[colour=#ff0000]"And hey, somepony's gotta rile the crowd up. I might not be opening for Maretallica or Iron Manedon, but I can at least look like a tough plucker and scream some life into 'em!"[/colour]

A bit of a spark lit up in Ignition's silver eyes, and she curled a hoof - yeah, she was riled up, no question. Her professional drill-strict attitude towards handling the gathered performers, while efficient, seemed to melt in the brilliant blaze that was her enthusiasm to perform at fetrock. It wasn't as though she hadn't before, but she loved doing so all the same; a fact which could be seen by probably the most casual of observers. Under other circumstances, she might've thrown a few barbs back Gilda's way, but now wasn't quite private enough for a decent uninterrupted series of verbal ripostes. She had a show to help attend to, after all.

[Blueblood]

Ignition was quick to answer his questions, and though her spitfire nature had a way of taking him aback, he had to admit it did put him at his ease to know he was in the hooves of a professional. Seemed that he was late in the set, which was alright with him. It was even something of a relief to know he wasn't the only non-rock act; his more dreamy electronica might have not been received well if the audience was expecting something high-energy all night.

"[colour=#40E0D0]All right. It's not just keyboards though.[/colour]" He gestured one of the roadies over to his case where his stuff was packed, where he drew out a flight breathing mask and a microphone. "[colour=#40E0D0]It took me a while to figure out how to connect them so they got the right sound. Not too muffled or distorted, but more out of the mind than the mouth, you know?[/colour]" Truth be told, the sound wasn't that different from a more-or-less simple production effect, but done on the performance rather than the recording end, which gave it a subtle air of authenticity that it might not have otherwise had. He'd heard the sound before on the radio, but had to re-create it in his workshop without knowing how it was really done.

He put it together, and showed it to the room as he spoke through it. [colour=#40E0D0]"My dad had a lot of things laying around in his workshop; I built most of my gear out of his leftovers.[/colour]"