Good day all.
Attended a concert by a famous rock band we all know and recognize. Off to one side of the stage, within sight of the performers and crew, but not in direct sight of the audience was a clock, like at a sports venue, counting the minutes and seconds upward from the moment they walked on stage.
Why would they need the clock? This was the last gig on a long tour, so they have long ago established the pace they would set.
Only thing I can think of is that this is for the roadies and techs benefit to know when and what needs to be done based on the time clock.
Any plausible theories?
PS for a bunch of old guys they put on quite a show.
Since this is about music, let’s move it to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Some venues have a fairly early curfew–Levis Stadium in Santa Clara for example. Coldplay made news when they played for an hour past the 10PM cut-off a couple of weeks ago. Some acts won’t even play there because of the time restriction.
I would agree with BlondeBear. There are many venues with hard cut-off times. Even with the best-rehearsed performances, you’ll have some variations in the length of the show due to the introductions, instrument changes, etc. It’s nice for Cheap Trick to know if they can throw in an additional encore of “I Know What I Want”…
Back in the early 2000 I worked at the Hollywood Bowl for a season. The word was that is was $10,000 per *minute * fine for playing after curfew. While I suppose the clock could be used to coordinate other things as well, the primary reason is for curfew.
You mean the time restrictions that no one pays any attention to? 
It wasn’t just Coldplay, btw.
That would make sense if the offstage clock displayed the local time. But the OP described a clock that started from when the performers appeared on stage. That suggests it has more to do with timing of the performance.
If it’s a union venue, each additional minute can cost a huge amount of overtime.
Perhaps there was a contractual obligation to play for at least xx minutes, and they wanted to know when they had fulfilled said obligation and could wrap up at their leisure?
Just out of curiosity: is there a reason why you didn’t / wouldn’t name the band? We have enough people on the board who know something about the industry that the name of the band might be an important clue.
Ok, the band is Foreigner. It was an indoor arena so noise shouldn’t be an issue. I attended a different event this summer that was outdoors in a park that ended at 9:59 pm and I suspect that was to meet a noise curfew as it was held in an “old money” neighbourhood. That night every band started and ended exactly when scheduled. Not one minute early starting nor one minute late finishing.
Just a guess, but 35 years ago when I was in theatre productions, it was common to have such a play clock to synchronize technical parts of the production (lights, sound, special effects, etc.). Might this be used for the same thing? Does Foreigner have a lot of special effects use in their act?
Having seen them several times over the past few years (though not on this current tour), they had been making extensive use of graphics on a big screen behind them, but not a lot of other effects (no lasers, no props on stage, as I remember it).
Also, I’ll note, regarding the OP’s comment that “PS for a bunch of old guys they put on quite a show” – the only original member of the band who’s still with them is guitarist Mick Jones, though the last time I saw them, his health was such that he only played on a few songs.
I’m used to seeing a standard clock on stage. I have never seen a count up clock.
Years ago I was at the No Nukes Concert, or one of them. There were clocks/timers on stage off to the side and above the stage. There were fellows operating movie (not still) cameras who would take a shot of the clocks every now and then. I figured it was to help sync the video with the audio.
I suspect they would be using a rather more sophisticated method of synching audio and video. Probably time code generators and genlock.
I’m hip to the curfew argument. When they have shows on The Maine State pier, there’s a 10:00pm noise curfew. Concerts generally start early there and they are over at 10:00, no questions asked. But I think that could probably be achieved via a regular clock, rather than a count up dealio.
Outside of the syncing issues, which make sense, my guess would just be to know how long your set has run. If you’re the opener you might have to get off at the stroke of 30 minutes or get thrown off the tour. If you’re the headliner, you may want to make sure you put in your minimum before you retire back to the Holiday Inn for some coke and blow job.
I saw Bob Dylan perform in Pittsburgh years ago. He looked at his watch in the middle of a song, stopped singing, and thanked us for coming. Boom, end of the show.
I saw Bonnie Raitt at Pittsburgh’s Stanley Theater performing on her 30th birthday. A cop opened the doors at the rear of the venue, signaling the show was over. Bonnie yelled, “It’s my birthday and I’ll play as long as I want”. The doors were closed and she played another 40 minutes.
If the band was really that old perhaps it was just to make sure they didn’t miss their next lot of medication?
I’m not in the music business, but I understand that a contract for a live appearance may state that the band/performer will play for at least xx minutes. Could this be one reason there’s a clock?
I really doubt that the clock is sufficiently precise to cue effects, sync video with sound, etc. On the other hand, lots of bands allow individual members to take breaks. Maybe the clock helps other members see that the performer who left will be back in five minutes or so?
I’m grasping at straws, folks.