On Saturday, December 3rd, the members of Fun DMC, weary and almost voiceless, stood at the top of a rickety, green, 25 foot ramp leading into the basement of Decatur’s Masonic Temple, and began their final load in of 2016 for the AJ and Kara Berry wedding reception. The reception hall for the Berry wedding was held in a large, ornate room with lovely marble work and high ceilings, a photographers dream to be sure. However, I don’t think that the architect or the builders ever dreamed that something as magnificent as Fun DMC and their flying saucer drum riser would ever see the inside of such a marvelous room. Just in case you were unaware, high ceilings and hard surfaces are a sound tech’s worst nightmare. In addition, the building’s decades-old wiring and multi-generational breaker box did not afford the best electrical power. But more on this later.

After set up and sound check (which included an agonizing amount of ringing out the system and chasing frequencies), Talon, Katey, and I joined Albert at the home of his parents overlooking the nearby Lake Decatur. Carlos and May Capati have long been supporters of Fun DMC (and everything else that Albert does) and I have to say that there have never been a more necessary and a more gracious set of hosts. From the moment we walked into their lovely home, I could feel myself beginning to relax in the middle of what had already proven to be a stressful first half. Initially, we were invited to take a seat at the lovely Steinway in their living room. However, with a little coaxing form the band members, Carlos Capati sat down to 88 keys and played some of the most enchanting and relaxing textures I have ever heard in my life. I closed my eyes as I sank into their couch (imported from their homeland in the Philippines), and one by one, the stressors of the day began to melt away. In general, my mind is a revolving door of checklists and itineraries for most of the day leading up to a show. I visualize our cable management, our set list, a macro view of our show and then every tiny detail. In my state of relaxation, I might have remained on that couch listening to that music for the rest of the evening. Unfortunately, that precious hour quickly evaporated. After Albert made short work of Talon and I at the foosball table in the basement, it was time to return.

The guests of AJ and Kara Berry quickly filled the reception hall. Following introductions, dances, speeches, and dinner, it was finally time for Fun DMC to take the stage. A lot of static energy had been in a holding pattern for the last few hours and everyone, guests and band alike were more than ready to get this show off the ground.

The band kicked things off with The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” and in an instant the dance floor was packed. But something was wrong. Something didn’t sound right. Now, I should preface this next section by saying that the entire Fun DMC show can and has been run off one 15 amp, 120 volt circuit. We don’t prefer that, but in any instance, it can be done in a pinch. I happened to look over and saw that the power conditioner in the rack was starting to dim, and suddenly we suddenly lost our main speakers. The momentum of the train came to a screeching halt. As professionals in the entertainment industry, we work extremely hard to ensure the energy level stays up. Let’s just say it’s not a great look to suddenly stop playing in the middle of a song when you have a packed dance floor. Aaron and I began to scramble trying to diagnose and find the quickest solution.  The answer was simple: we needed more power. With the assistance of long time Fun DMC fan, Kent Rigdon, we began hunting down any circuit we could find. Unfortunately, only about every third outlet actually had power and they were stretched at a fairly long distance. We reset the mixer and checked over the indicator lights on every module before firing up the laptop again. The last thing you want on digital equipment is a brown out. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best as I hit the fire button on the Looptimus (essentially the ignition switch for Fun DMC LIVE). Like a tired but faithful Millennium Falcon, the old ship roared to life and slowly began it’s ascent. And just like that, as if the room had been frozen in time, the dance floor resumed its frenetic state.

As a writer, I know that we often characterize events in a grand nature and occasionally are prone to exaggeration. When it comes to the guests at the Berry reception however, and as the photography from AptFoto will attest, the hype was real. Over and over again the crowd swelled and spilled over onto the stage area and pushed Albert and Katey back to the drum riser. In fact, the line between band and dancers pretty much happily blurred and faded by the end of the first set. Set two kicked off, soared and closed out in much the same fashion. The music came down and the house lights came up. Before we knew it, most of the cases were ready to make that last trek up the rickety green ramp.

On December 3rd, 2016, the members of Fun DMC, starving and outnumbered, took to the stage one last time before their Christmas break. They fought like warrior poets – they fought like rock stars – and won their freedom.