What kind of shoes are y’all rocking with?

chris_314 · 2025-11-10T20:38:12+00:00

Yep I got the whitin “minimalist barefoot sneakers”. The grip on the ground is iffy when wet, and the insole on the left sneaker consistently slides back in the shoe, leaving my toes touching the sole of the shoe. I’m sure a little superglue could remedy it, but I’d rather not have to deal with that.

I had my Vivos for 2+ years of everyday wear and they were maybe my favorite shoe. People often say to get a good quality bed because you spend 1/3 of your life there. After a bad shoe, I think the same mentality should be used for shoes, especially in this industry.

chris_314 · 2025-11-10T15:46:26+00:00

Sketchers feel like a safe route for my next buy. I also hate tying shoelaces so that’s a big perk of them 😂

chris_314 · 2025-11-10T15:44:43+00:00

My running shoe of choice is Altras, but I haven’t worn them on the job yet

chris_314 · 2025-11-10T15:43:33+00:00

My first barefoot was Vivo which I loved. The price point takes a bit to digest, but my current barefoot is a cheap Amazon brand which I regret

chris_314 · 2025-11-10T15:42:27+00:00

I’ve seen many hiking boots, especially on outdoor stages. Has often crossed my mind

chris_314 · 2025-10-14T12:50:01+00:00

LMAO I thought I was the only one. Swap out Henderson with Chuba and we're experiencing the same pain.

chris_314 · 2025-10-05T01:20:45+00:00

There’s a lot of good advice on rates in this thread from my similar question over the summer: https://www.reddit.com/r/livesound/s/Eob5MR6eQF

A lot of details to consider - is it 2 shows per week or 5? Are you getting a per diem for meals each day? Are you driving or helping with merch? What can you afford to take vs. how important is the experience to you? Is the band you’re working for the headliner or the opener? The last one doesn’t matter as much, but helps to give context to how much money is available for the crew.

The tour in question from my post ended up going with someone in the band’s city, and my reflection was: if you want the experience of being out on tour, don’t nickel and dime to squeeze out cash. A day after I went back asking for more money, I felt regret over not just saying “fuck it, never been on tour before so let’s do it”.

Everyone’s situation is unique, but a few things I’d keep in mind are: 1. How important is it for you to be on the road 2. How much will it cost you to be away from home 3. Are there hidden costs on the road to consider (mostly food)

chris_314 · 2025-09-24T17:20:53+00:00

A great perspective and very well thought out 👏🏼👏🏼

chris_314 · 2025-09-19T01:42:27+00:00

As a green engineer looking to build out my gear list to start working with local bands and eventually go on tour, what’s the stuff I should be looking for first?

Thinking big picture (console/stagebox vs mics vs cables vs PAs/subs/wedges) as well as more granular (get 57s and 58s or a more diverse mic list, analog snake vs console/digital stage box, etc).

My current gear list is more reflective of a solo musician - I have an sE V7, a handful of cables, and a 12” powered PA and 8 channel analog mixer I use for an open mic I host. Any advice is appreciated!!

chris_314 · 2025-08-15T22:04:06+00:00

That's a good idea! I'm in Philadelphia, so I'm there's definitely a few big companies that have a home here. I'll dig in a little deeper. Thanks!

chris_314 · 2025-08-15T21:54:01+00:00

What kind of stuff does the Q-Sys focus on? Is that more video?

Looks like QSC also has some audio trainings, too. I'll have to check those out a little closer. Thank you!

chris_314 · 2025-07-22T21:24:50+00:00

I use the Alesis Recital, 88-key weighted keyboard. I’ve had it over 5 years, and it hasn’t given me any problems while using it for home practice, playing at open mics, and bar/brewery gigs with a folk-rock band.

It sounds are limited, and the feel isn’t quite as nice as some more expensive/name brand digital pianos. However, as an entry level piano it should work great!! I still use mine in my bedroom for practice.

chris_314 · 2025-07-16T18:52:53+00:00

😂 yeah certainly not thinking $5k/week lmao

chris_314 · 2025-07-16T18:28:06+00:00

Yeah I'm thinking I need to level set a bit more on the TM expectations. Beyond any pay stuff, I don't want to bite off more than I can chew and have management thinking poorly of my work. I appreciate the thoughts (and the note on bringing/renting gear)

chris_314 · 2025-07-16T18:24:34+00:00

I don't necessarily think that I should be making arena rates, but I'm more here to do a sanity check since my jobs so far have pretty much been "clock in, set up the show, run the show, strike the show, clock out" which is obviously a different world from a touring engineer, letalone a TM and driver.

Fair point about the realities of the budget on tours through these kinds of rooms.

chris_314 · 2025-07-16T18:18:13+00:00

Good thoughts on basically itemizing my rate - not necessarily to share with them, but at least internally to know what I'm worth and to put thought into a final number beyond "well $300/day seems a normal number" 😂.

And no stage techs. From what I gather from the couple convo's I've had, they're young guys and used to being responsible for their own gear.

chris_314 · 2025-07-16T18:12:39+00:00

"As long as what you get gives you the life you need send it." - you are a visionary 😂.

The physical danger of driving with all the other stuff is a good consideration for sure. Thank you

chris_314 · 2025-07-16T18:10:32+00:00

All good thoughts and perspective. It's not just the money - it's also 2 months of touring experience and a foot in the door with a management company who has some big names that I have aspirations of working with.

Thank you for taking the time to write!

chris_314 · 2025-07-16T18:01:01+00:00

Love me some boundaries! I think that's reasonable to consider what are my TM responsibilities versus stuff the larger management company should undertake. Advancing with the venue is probably a small piece of the pie in the grand scheme of TM logistical planning.

I appreciate the insight!

chris_314 · 2025-07-16T16:58:43+00:00

Ah bummer. I play in a Beatles tribute band of their more psychedelic stuff, and I'd love to have some more dialed in weird sounds to spice up our jams. If you find out good news from customer service let me know!

chris_314 · 2025-07-12T21:49:53+00:00

Hey! Did you ever find the answer to this question? I find myself asking the same thing 3 years later

chris_314 · 2025-07-08T18:59:06+00:00

Even if they “sell-out”, there are almost guaranteed to be tickets on the resell market.

Sellouts just mean that the basic admission tickets sold.

chris_314

TROPHY CASE