prepare for the jam

Welcome all to Bud’s Jam, 2024, the 32nd year for this annual event!  This year, as in years past, John Keller and Mike Stark will be Stage Managers for the Jam. Many of you have seen this information before, but for newer folks we wanted to provide some info about how the evening will work, and a few new things to know.  Please distribute this info to your bandmates! 

Band Order: Guy Torio has released the complete band rosters and schedule for the Main Stage and Acoustic Rooms.   https://budsjam.org/live-event Please let him know if there are any questions.   guy_torio@bose.com 

The Main Stage (Apollo Room)

The Main Stage P.A. system will be run by a professional sound engineer at a front-of-house board.  A dedicated mixing engineer and stage assistant will be at another mixing board alongside the stage, to support monitors.  

For details on the Main Stage backline (instrument amplifiers, drums, keys) please click the link below

The Acoustic Room (Phoenix Room) is a quieter, more subtle performance space.  We will have a small Bose P.A. system, (Two Bose L1pro8s and a Tone match 8 channel mixer), two microphones  and a weighted, 88-key professional piano/keyboard.  (https://www.roland.com/us/products/fantom-08), as well as a small, non-mic’d drum set.   

For any questions about the Acoustic Room, please contact khanh_vu@bose.com, who will be managing the room for the evening. 

Having bands ready to go at their allotted time is critical to making the event run smoothly.  To that end, we ask that band leaders plan to be at the venue at least two hours before your band is scheduled to perform. Band members should be at the venue at least one hour before they are scheduled to perform.   If a band needs to cancel at the last minute, that may alter the entire schedule.   If you or your band can’t be there early, please let us know ASAP.   It’s also a wonderful courtesy to have band members stay through as much of the evening as possible, to support our colleagues.  This is especially true for the earliest and latest acts, which tend to have the thinnest attendance. Please encourage your band mates to stay!  

 As always, we have a very tight schedule for the event; please make sure you pay attention to how long your set is. Remember, you have 20 minutes on the Main Stage (the most critical to uphold) and 30 minutes in the Acoustic Room to do whatever you want on stage, including setup. If you have a large group, it may take more than a few minutes to get everyone organized; still, you have 20 or 30 minutes for everything. Please be respectful of your colleagues and plan accordingly. If there is a snafu along the way, and we try to work around those as best as possible. But if you have unexpected equipment problems that eat up a chunk of your time, we may ask you to cut a song to help keep things on-schedule…  

As in years past, the Jam volunteers and crew work hard to make sure everyone gets the full “rock star” experience, but it does require the bands to be tuned-up and ready to go on-stage at their allotted time.  John and Mike will be assisting in making sure that happens.  There will be a Green Room backstage for you to store instrument cases, warm up, run through any last-minute rehearsal discussion, etc.  A Stage Tech for each instrument will be available, to help you get on-stage and up-and-running. IMPORTANT TIP: When you get on-stage, make sure you “check” each instrument and vocal mic, even if not used for the 1st song. Otherwise, it might not get picked up right away by the sound engineer (they typically mute unused channels to minimize feedback).  

Band leaders – If you haven’t before, please send me a number at which John or I can text you.  One of the most difficult parts of the jam for us is tracking wayward band members. If we can’t find you, we’ll text you!  I strongly suggest that you have all of your band members’ texts as well, so you can contact anyone at any time (it has happened before – car trouble, traffic, needing another beer, etc!)  

Mike’s mobile number is 978-604-2321. 

John’s mobile number is 262-293-6265. 

Because of the rapid switching of groups all evening, there is a common back line of amps, keyboards, and drums. Details are available on the web site below, as well as the main contact person for each rig. See link below. Please be sure to forward this link to your band members, especially guitar and keyboard players, since they have the most flexibility in sound choices. Feel free to contact the specific Instrument Techs with any questions about specific sounds or patches required. 

 In years past, we have tried to reserve a few moments before the show to allow players to try out the various setups. Often, the stage setup finishes late, and we run out of time for this. If this is important to you or your band mates, please contact the Instrument Tech and see if you can meet up or at least discuss your requirements. If there is time before the show, folks can step on stage to get comfortable. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee this.  

Band leaders – If you have not already done so, please organize the stage requirements for your group.  We need to get down to the nitty-gritty details here.  Guitar players – we would like to know which rig you will be using!  Here’s an example:  

Band name:  The Fictitious Dreamers Instrumentation and vocals:  

Electric guitar (Stage Right rig + personal pedal board) + vocal mic  Electric guitar (Fractal rig) + vocal mic  Acoustic guitar (has no pickup - needs a mic)  

Acoustic guitar (DI) + vocal mic  

Bass (Fender amp)  3 horns (3 close mics)  

Keys + vocal mic   Drums   

This info will be consolidated into a master list for the sound company.  

“Portable” food will be sold in the Acoustic Room from 7pm to 9pm. . 

In the Acoustic Room (Phoenix): 

Verve Chef Selection

> Hot and Cold Handhelds<

>Mixed Green Salad< 

>A la Carte Side<

Prices at venue

There will be two cash bars set up outside the performance rooms for drinks

Craft Beers @ $9

Deluxe Spirits @ $14

Imported Beer @ $9

Domestic Beer @ $8

House Wine @ $13

Assorted Sodas @ $6

• We won’t supply music stands or music-reading lights on-stage.  Please tell your band members to bring them along.  
• Same goes for guitar stands.   If you plan on bringing up a spare instrument, please supply your own stand. 
• There will most likely some sort of video recording of the event, although no live stream.  Stay tuned for details… 
• Encourage any amateur photographers you may know to stop by; the unique lighting situation is a good opportunity for folks to try out camera techniques, as well as generating good quality (and unique) stills for the participants. 

Thanks!  We’re looking forward to seeing and hearing you on Friday!  Rock on! 

The Bud’s Jam Team 

 Guy_torio@bose.com 

Dave_ostrer@bose.com

 Mike_stark@bose.com