The PowerCord Concert was a smashing success! You should have been there….

Formal education is important to audio professionals, but nothing can replace the practical know-how that experience in sound mixing and mastering in a real concert setting can provide.

There were more than 49 volunteers who joined together in a career advancing opportunity for those that love Independent Music. The focus is not on the audience or the actual concert talent, but in the production of a live concert. Although the crowd was a bit thin, the concert itself was quite wonderful. We had live Jazz, two vocalists and a fine rock band, not to mention a rapper, Dexter Solomon, who pretty much electrified the place!

As Master of Ceremonies, David-Lee Pulga did a remarkable job working with, Dr. Kathleen Brooks, the artistic director and talent coordinator, organizing and keeping the concert moving.

The concert went off without a hitch, which is to say, of course there were hitches! Stanly Markus, of Neiman Marcus, says, “So you made a mistake. You need to understand something important. And listen to me carefully: The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled.” But under the leadership of Nik Hotchkiss and Michael Peacock, faculty volunteers from Media Arts, everything was smoothed out with professionalism that replicated a real, well organized live experience. At one point, singer Taylor Stewart’s mike went dead. Not only did she continue on with confidence, the sound guys quickly fixed the issue and handed her a new mike without skipping a beat – just exactly as it should have been done. Everyone gave them a round of applause.

David Andrews brought not only his camera, but also some student volunteers to record a behind the scenes video that he promises will be available and posted to the PowerCord Jam website, soon.

The vibe was enhanced with a buffet that got raves. Sprouts Natural Food Market supplied a spread that could have easily supplied another twenty-five or thirty people. We would have needed a bit more ice water as the Vegas evening was warm, but breezy. The soda, ice tea and natural coconut water were a welcome accompaniment to the sandwiches, fruit, cake and cookies – all natural – laid out for the volunteers. We invited the audience to held finish up the leftovers. We got about fifteen unsolicited complements from the volunteers about the how great the food and the total experience was.

The vibe was so warm and friendly that when two (muscles and brains) audio volunteers were asked to help clean up after the dinner break, many others joined in, and quickly the place was back to looking like before we started!

Again, the focus was on an opportunity for the audio program students to gain experience in presenting a live concert, but what really happened was a great party with friends making music with friends.

For more pictures, look at the SlideShow gadgets to the side of the post on the PowerCordJam.com Blog to see the work of the photography students.