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[_______]

A few years ago I worked at Six Flags, and it was an excellent gig.  It consisted of three 30 minute shows with a 90 minute break between sets.  The hourly compensation was good.  I logged six hours a day even though most of the time was spent riding roller coasters or sitting in the trailer watching movies.

I didn't run sound, however.  I played guitar.  When I asked the entertainment company about potential sound engineering jobs, the reply was, "you don't want to do that, it pays half of what you're making now".

As I scan the classifieds I see that nothing has changed.  I eagerly clicked on the "Six Flags seeks entertainment technicians" ad only to find that compensation equals $7.50 to $8.25 an hour.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cwg/840754639.html

What gives?  The show that I played involved mixing a live band in addition to tracks.  It was no different than running sound in any other environment.  Why the substandard pay rate?

-Matt

(grammar edit)

[John Halliburton]

Matthew Whitman wrote on Mon, 15 September 2008 10:06

A few years ago I worked at Six Flags, and it was an excellent gig.  It consisted of three 30 minute shows with a 90 minute break between sets.  The hourly compensation was good.  I logged six hours a day even though most of the time was spent riding roller coasters or sitting in the trailer watching movies. I didn't run sound, however.  I played guitar.  When I asked the entertainment company about potential sound engineering jobs, the reply was, "you don't want to do that, it pays half of what you're making now". As I scan the classifieds I see that nothing has changed.  I eagerly clicked on the "Six Flags seeks entertainment technicians" ad only to find that compensation equals $7.50 to $8.25 an hour. http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cwg/840754639.html What gives?  The show that I played involved mixing a live band in addition to tracks.  It was no different than running sound in any other environment.  Why the substandard pay rate? -Matt (grammar edit)

I suspect some of the allure is a steady job with benefits.  

Best regards,

John

[Matt Vivlamore]

well that explains why Evan's gig at Six Flags was pretty bad.



sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Ivan Beaver]

Matt Vivlamore wrote on Mon, 15 September 2008 11:35

well that explains why Evan's gig at Six Flags was pretty bad. sorry, I couldn't resist.

Would that be because the sound guy was riding the rides or that he was just a kid getting paid a low wage to babysit the rig? and just didn't care?

[Tim McCulloch]

Matt Vivlamore wrote on Mon, 15 September 2008 10:35

well that explains why Evan's gig at Six Flags was pretty bad. sorry, I couldn't resist.

I think you're closer than SFOT would admit... they'll pay some car stereo boy $8/hr to operate or babysit a high $, high profile rig/venue and not care about the result unless that result is bleed into other areas of the park.

Theme parks attempt to automate or lock out everything they can in entertainment; partly for consistency and partly so they can hire "kids" at low wages as operators.

Just like ride operators...

Have fun, good luck.

Tim Mc

[Scott Smith]

Matthew Whitman wrote on Mon, 15 September 2008 11:06

...I eagerly clicked on the "Six Flags seeks entertainment technicians" ad only to find that compensation equals $7.50 to $8.25 an hour....What gives?...

"Running" the mixer is not much different than "running" the rides?  

[Robert "Void" Caprio]

Just did a residency of 5 days, 4 shows a day at the new Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. They had a top notch crew of guys who I'm sure were making more than $8 or so per hour. But then again, it's a different mentality since Hard Rock is music oriented. They didn't seem to skimp on anything, though I opted for the EAW 850 rig over the Peavey Versarray.  

[Dave Bigelow]

Explains why we take in a rig for any larger shows at the local Six Flags here.

I'd take the 850s over the Peaveys any day too.

[A Man]

Matthew Whitman wrote on Mon, 15 September 2008 11:06

A few years ago I worked at Six Flags, and it was an excellent gig.  It consisted of three 30 minute shows with a 90 minute break between sets.

Was it the Coobrila show?
We did a fly date there.



The PM5Ds were brought in by a outside vendor and there was a installed Xynon (sp?) line array with Xynon subs that looked just like SB1000s. Took a bit of EQing but the end result was good.

[Evan Kirkendall]

Just did that same gig 2 weeks ago Jon. The end results were not as favorable:

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/37385/6178/




Evan