Working with Fish

Jingru is speechlessly wonderful. Every cell in my body absorbs every note that Jingru sang at the rehearsal. It was truly a sensational musical therapy.

3 March 2005. Under Unusual Productions Ltd Pte, Guofeng, Robert and I were the stage crew for Liang Jingru's concert. For the first day, the task was to set up the stage from scratch. Our job were to assist in loading and transporting all stage equipments over to Sngapore Indoor Stadium, and fix up the thrusts, lightings, and sounds. It all sounded pro, but we, the amateurs, were the labourers being ordered around by the seasoned technicians. It's been more than a year since I have to be ordered to do shitty jobs. It's about time, and I'm happy about it. Another transition to adapt to. At the end of it all, for the three of us, our greatest achievement was the projection screens. They were fixed by us! From 9am, we worked 14 hours until 1am before we call it a day. However, in the 14 hours, 2 hours were spent napping, 4 hours were spent on meals and smoking breaks.

4 March 2005. The second day, Gan came in place of Robert. The stage were pretty much done up and prepared by late afternoon. There were around 50 speakers in all and it seemed that whoever sang into the mike would sound nice. It is a dream come true for me to be able to sing into this kind of system. At 1930hrs, Jingru arrived in a vintage orange Adidas sweater with blue jeans. Without delay, she went to the center of the stage where the bands were already playing a score of "东风破". Jingru came to the mike and blended herself to the instrumental. Her first note was enought to make my hair stand. Sitting in the first row of seats, we enjoyed a close up view of the stage. I had set my eyes on Jingru most of the time in the midst of mesmerisation. However her dancers were remarkably beautiful. At one point, one of the busty dancers had stolen all limelight from Jingru as she, in her low cut, bent over to expose her echoing cleavage...

It was a brand new experience to work as a stage crew for concerts. There are a lot more knowledges and techniques than to simply constucting the platforms of the stage. The programming of the lighting sequences to suit the music; the angles where the spot lights shoots at the star; the high risk taken to stand around 40 metres off ground on thrust poles to adjust the lightings ( without any safety harness); and the sophisticated laying of the outrageously many cables... It really takes time and effort to attain a respectable level of proficiency.

Review for a Stage Crew (Rating of 1 to 10)

• Pay: 7 The pay is ranged from $80 to $100 per day. It would seem great if not for the ultra long working hours.
• Working Hours: 2 14 hours is probably the longest period I ever worked (not considering SAF).
• Distance: 3 Situated at Kallang, it takes some 1 hour to reach.
• Freedom : 8 We were given pretty much freedom in the sense that we could move around freely in the area. However, smoking breaks and lunchtimes were to be told to us.
• Working environment: 7 The amount of space in the stadium certainly add to the points. But it could be alot better if the in charge of the stadium decided to turn on the air-con for the workers. Being allowed to work topless is another plus point.
• Boss: 9 The three bosses were merely a few years older than us. Communication is'nt a problem. They were pretty welfare, for we were even being sent home to our doorsteps.
• Interaction with new collegues: 3 Even though the other workers were about the same age as us, they seem quite hard to strike a converasation with. I feel that they carry the mentality of being a long serving worker unwilling to talk to newbies.
• Babes: 9 Although there are no female collegues, the professional dancers are enough to bleed your nose dry.
• Enjoyment: 10 For being able to see Liang Jingru have her rehearsal live just 10 metres from me, nothing could have been better.
• Physical requirement: 8 There are a lot of heavy loads that required physical labours. However with lots of trolleys and manpower going around, it posed no problem to us.
• Mental requirement: 5 There's nothing much to think about, not unless if I probe in to find out more from the technicians. We merely need to think about how to stack and transport the loads in the most efficient way.
• Safety: 3 The four of us all did get a bit of minor scratches here and there. I had a knock in my shin, Gan got a swollen finger from a smash by a metal onto the wall, Robert and Guofeng got injuries by the splinters from the wooden planks. Besides this, the heavy loads and the high voltage running in the cables were potential killers.
• Learning Value: 7 We did not participate much in the technical part of the stage setting. We cover mostly physical labours. But there were plentiful of cool stuffs to learn if I stay long enough in this line. Besides I can learn the singing and hosting techniques of the performers.
• Overall Job Satisfaction: 6 This job is cool to serve me as a part time job. Earning cash and enjoying concerts at the same time!