Well, it's here, my friends. Silver Dollar City is officially 50 years old. I thought I'd start a thread for us to share our experiences of this weekend. Here's how Friday went for me...
I got there early, call time for Echo being at 8:30. We started setting up for the Ozark Mountain Daredevil concert. First, the riggers got started on the light rig and awning. The City rented lighting for the concert and only used the in-house lighting to supplement. Light trusses were bolted together and secured to genie lifts, then the top was stretched out across it. When that got off the ground, the sound guys started bringing in their gear and setting it up. Big stacks of speakers and subs. And lots of cable. The Daredevils arrived around 11 or 11:30 (didn't really keep track of time cause we were so busy) and their gear was brought in. They then kinda relaxed while the sound guys tied their gear into the system. Pizza was brought in for the crew and they grabbed bites to eat as time allowed. By around this time the lighting guys were all cabled up and the rig/top was raised to trim height. By about 12:30, the sound guys were ready for the Daredevils to come out and begin sound check. While they were sound checking, the lighting crew was focusing light. All went without a major hitch and by around 1:45 all systems were go, and ready for the house to be opened at 2:00. We all got to relax then, until showtime. Thankfully, the rain held off all through setup.
I would guess that Echo Hollow was about 75-80% full for the 3:00 show. The show was wonderful, and went off without any technical hitches. They performed most of their biggies, including "Jackie Blue" and "If You Want To Get To Heaven." But as the concert went on, the skies were getting darker and darker. Everyone was keeping track of the radar on their I-phones and such. But the rain held off all through the show. Then, as they came back out for an encore, our supervisor met them and told them they couldn't do one because rain was imminent. So they made an announcement to that effect, and as they walked off stage, the skies opened up. It was a deluge, complete with marble sized hail. The crew rushed on stage to begin covering sensitive equipment, and we lowered the top to just above head height and put a slope on it so water would run off of it. We had to watch it carefully though because water still collected on it in low areas, which we had to lift up from time to time to allow drainage. The rain continued, sometimes hard, sometimes lighter, for almost an hour and a half before letting up. It was during this time that the Daredevils went to dinner, and after the rain stopped, the crew was allowed to get some too.
The house opened at 6:00 for the 7:00 show. One little shower came while people were filing in, but was short and light. Lot's of VIP's came for this show, including Jack and Sherry, Pete and Jody, and their families, Joel Manby and his family, and others. The theater was probably 80-85% full for this show. The Daredevils did the same show, and it ended the same way as the first one. But this time, they actually got into their encore before the rain came. They finished up...everyone went home a little soggy, but happy. I got to talk to Jack a bit after the show, and he said that, not being a Ozark Mountain Daredevils fan, he hadn't really expected to enjoy the show as much as he did. But he said he really enjoyed it alot. I had kept an eye on their whole bunch during the concert and it did seem that they were really getting into it.
It took about an hour after the show to get the Daredevils loaded out and everything buttoned down for the night. All in all, a great day down at Echo Hollow. Call time in the morning...7:15. I've got some pictures but it will be a couple of days before I can get around to posting them. I'll be pretty busy all weekend. I love show business. LOL
I have no idea how things went up on park today (Friday), so someone else is going to fill us in on that.
