Cost for live shows

[Sump]

I know nothing about this but I really want to get some idea out of sheer curiosity as this type of stuff interests me. How much it actually costs to put on a live show like this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8p9kGU1TEU

I'm really interested how much things like the lighting costs and other things like thoese big fk off speakers they have. How much does this stuff cost to buy?!

[droopsnoot]

I can't help directly as I haven't watched the video (I haven't the bandwidth to do much yt stuff) but this article on the costs of a small-scale live show was quite interesting:

http://fishheadsclub.com/2013/01/29/touring/

[chilistrucker]

Sadly I don't know the costs involved but would also be interested, I can only tell you the few bits I do know. Most of the sound and lighting will be rented in from various companies, there are some big players out there that seem to do most of the tours, clair brothers, prg, xlvideo etc. A lot of the shows will use similar standard kit, and then there will be specialist bits of kit used or created depending on the artists and the actual show itself. To give you an idea on The Wall tour I did we had 26 artics carrying the gear around from gig to gig, I was doing sound on that and that took up 3 artics on its own
The tours obviously vary in size, anything from a 1 truck tour, to something like 1 I was on where there were 42 production trucks, 11 tour buses, and 35 staging trucks, and there were 3 stages on that job so 105 staging trucks in total.
Then you've got to factor in all the tour crew thats needed to make the show happen that travel with the tour on every gig, so hotel costs, flights, security, catering, etc, etc it does all get a bit bonkers, the bigger the tour, the more crazy it can get I think on the big tour I mentioned, there was somewhere in the region of 180 of us on the road for 3 months just travelling from 1 gig to the next. I know it cost a huge amount to put that tour on, but they never lost money on it, I think they did reasonably well out of ticket and merchandise sales

[audidoody]

Amazing to think the Beatles toured with AC30's, house PA, no stage monitors, no mixing desk, no lights, no mikes on the drum kit and two roadies.

[audidoody]

Amazing to think the Beatles toured with AC30's, house PA, no stage monitors, no mixing desk, no lights, no mikes on the drum kit and two roadies.

[Tom_C76]

But equally, at many of the live recordings of the Beatles you can't hear the band at all, only the screaming of the crowd.

I'd be the first to admit that my lot turning up at a pub gig with a row of 50W Marshall half stacks is slightly over the top, but we're playing a beer festival this summer where they will still be mic'ed up for outdoor use.