from
magazine, Dec2000/Jan2001
St. Norbert’s
Country Fair
By Rick Steele
Three days of fun, sun, and--- oh, yeah, a world-class fair!!!
When St. Norbert’s Church in Orange, CA decided to
have a harvest festival, they did not fool around. For one thing, they are a
large church: they have a church with approximately 3800 families, a private
school (K-8) with nearly 400 students, and a prime piece of real estate located
near Taft and Glassell with nearly FIVE ACRES of parking lots and playing
fields! Owned by the Catholic Diocese, as are all Catholic churches, they are
the anchor of a group of six churches in the area and the most desirable
location for the festival. Their first move turned out to be their best move:
they selected St. Norbert’s own Paul Doheny as their Event Coordinator. He
immediately tapped his friend and long-time entertainment-industry guru, Robert
E. (Smitty) Smith, to become Entertainment Chairman, and Smitty in turn made
what was perhaps the sagest decision of all, to appoint Paul Holland as
Assistant Chairman. Paul Holland is one of the finest engineers in the
industry, and his company, CTS (Concert and Theatrical Services) handled
everything from the construction of the stage and audience areas, to lighting
and sound during the entire affair.
The next decision made was to spread the festival
out over three days, instead of the normal two. This would allow for more
diversity in the entertainment, and WAS THERE EVER !!! The talents booked for
this festival were a brilliant mix of local groups, (one group, No Values,
was actually comprised of very talented students from the school) as well as
acts of national and international renown! The success Smitty had collecting
these groups for one weekend makes one wonder whether he may HAVE had some
divine help!!! (More on the specific acts later…)
Smitty selected Ric Erwin and his wife, Victoria, of Ric~N~Vic Productions in Ontario, to be the emcees for the three-day event--- which immediately paid off when Ric suggested that they should use a karaoke system to back up live vocals during the unavoidable breakdown/setup gaps between acts. Smitty, who had been experiencing concern over natural fluctuations in his line-up of acts, asked if they would be prepared to “cover” for any acts which for whatever reason were unable to fill their time slot. Ric~N~Vic had been founding members of Night of the Stars, which was a weekly show that ran for more than 2 years in the Inland Empire. Their format then was to use a rotating group of ten singers (each of which qualified by winning 1st or 2nd place in their categories for Karaoke Fest ’98), each doing a 15-minute set as a famous singer. Ric showed Smitty how this system would dove-tail perfectly into the itinerary of acts, which were also blocked into 15-minute segments. It would require the addition of a karaoke system to the DJ mixer-system they were already using, but they were sure it would work…
Ric kicked off the 1st day as a typical MC/DJ. He introduced the
first couple of acts, and during the breakdown/setup period, simply spun CDs to
keep music on the air. And he watched, along with event coordinators, as
approximately 35-40% of the audience melted away between acts, only to have to
be re-attracted by the start of the next act. Then, after the end of the
second set, Ric~N~Vic began their act! The results were instantly noticeable:
not only did the crowd NOT drift away during the sound checks, but as Paul
Holland, the engineer put it, “You guys actually BUILT the audience up for the
next act !!”
“It was extremely gratifying to see the crowd sit back down as Vic started to
sing,” said Ric later, “She can belt tunes that sound just like Barbra, or
Madonna, or Bette, and people just can’t resist coming closer when she sings.
We followed up with a duet which got the crowd dancing, and by the time I
started my solo, I’d forgotten all about my sore throat and let fly!!!”
Paul Holland said, “We were a little concerned about down time. I mean, those
are two phrases which don’t go together: ‘sound check’ and ‘festival’. But
Ric~N~Vic gave us just what we needed- a cover for the scurrying around between
bands. In fact, no less than FOUR of the groups joined in while they were
singing, and one [Nightfire] kept Ric’s version of Harry
Belafonte’s Banana Boat Song (Day-O) going for about ten minutes, and
then launched smoothly into their own version, Jesus Comes, and I Wanna Go
Home. It was great, and the crowd LOVED it!!!”
When asked about the pioneering use of karaoke to augment live acts, event
coordinator Paul Doheny said in an interview later that,
“When Ric brought it up, I’d never heard of it before, and even he admitted that he’d never tried it. But, in spite of natural skepticism, it was easy for me to see the potential benefits, especially if one of our acts had to cancel at the last minute! I’m glad we approved the extra few dollars for equipment, too, because the total entertainment level was increased so dramatically--- the flexibility Ric~N~Vic gave us between acts was more valuable than we ever anticipated! The sound guys acted like I’d done it as a personal favor to them--- it so reduced their stress during changeovers! There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that this is the way to go for future events of this type, and we’ve already taken steps to get Ric~N~Vic back next time!!!”
Smitty echoed Paul’s
sentiments, when asked: “The fact that they are personal friends of mine
doesn’t enter into it. I book talent all the time, and on merits alone, these
guys [Ric~N~Vic] make the A-list. I had heard them sing before, and knew they
could please the crowd. The only question was, how would they fit in with the
live acts, and how well they could cover between. We couldn’t be happier with
the results!” And, when asked directly, “ Oh, yes… We’ll have them back!!!”
This reporter also overheard several of the performers heaping their praise on Ric~N~Vic after their own sets were done, and it is my understanding that two groups are already looking into ways to incorporate them into their own acts, for future performances. Good luck to all involved!!!
So, there you have it, Karaoke Fans!!! Another milestone has been passed in the mainstream-ization of Karaoke! No longer just an alternative to live music, but a very successful adjunct to live acts themselves! Karaoke has grown beyond the wildest expectations of anyone ten years ago, and with innovators like Ric~N~Vic at the wheel, who knows where we’re gonna go next!!!
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