We all have done strange and unusual gigs in our lives. (We would love to hear your stories). Mine was recently on the USS Enterprise. In case you aren't familiar with this monstrosity, it's a 1000' long aircraft carrier. This thing was built in the early 60's, which you can definitely tell by it's appearance. It has seen a few makeovers since then. The width of the flight deck has been expanded to accommodate things like additional artillery and satellite dishes. The dish that one sailor pointed out wasn't at all top secret. Nope, it was for their TV. After all being stuck on the high seas with 25' waves and higher that crack over the side of the flight deck, you want to be able to watch every football game there is.

The show was Garth Brooks - Coast to Coast, Live on CBS. A one hour special on live TV the day before Thanksgiving. The concept itself is a brilliant and exciting idea. A 1000' runway with a stage right in the middle of it. The stage itself was placed in front of the island ( the only structure that stands on the flight, basically where you sail the ship from ). The reality of it was another story entirely. Ships like this aren't made for concerts, so getting roadcases onto the flight deck can be pretty trying. The load-in procedure was unloading the gear from trucks onto a sea container, then lifting the container onto the flight deck by crane. I'm sure many of you readers who have a little knowledge of aircraft carries will say,' what about the lift that carries the planes to the flight deck?' Good idea, except the dang thing doesn't go all the way to the pier. I must admit that this confuses me. Material has to get loaded onto the ship like supplies and food.

	Rigging went in on Saturday, the lighting load-in started on the Sunday. The show was completely exposed to the weather since Garth wanted the fullest effect of being on a ship. There was no roof to protect backline etc. Needless to say being on a ship in Norfolk Virginia in November isn't exactly a holiday. Day of the show, the temperature was 29 degrees Fahrenheit. A great experience when you are stuck on a lighting console with winds rocking your front of house position. The set came in on the Monday, backline followed on a Tuesday, with a rehearsal in the evening. Well, about a one song rehearsal, when Garth and the band realized how cold it was on that flight deck.

The crew was a combination of IATSE and Navy. All I can say is that I really respect the young men and women of the armed forces and what they are doing for us. Which is exactly why they aren't stage hands. The Navy thought it would be a great way to get a little extra cash in their pockets by volunteering their general crew from the USS Truman. The enthusiasm was about as exciting as a waitress at 3am in a Waffle House. They worked hard once you got them something to do, which wasn't necessarily easy as the whole rig consisted of nothing but moving lights. Explaining the data path to an 18 year old sailor who has been put on the ship because the judge told him he had choice between jail or the Navy is no easy contest. Thank god for the IA guys who were able to climb and take a few blue souls with them on various projects on the ship.

On show day they brought up four planes from below which was an amazing spectacle to watch. What was very interesting was the way the high speed lift brought these million dollar planes up from below. Even more amazing was that the lift was only working at half speed for us.

Not only that, one sailor told me that when this beast was in the gulf, temperatures would get up to 150F on the flight deck. With a combination of hot weather and afterburners spouting out fire, it must have been one heck of a sweatshop. The most intriguing episode was walking to the ship in the morning. You see some youngsters painting the ship with 12" rollers. A 1000' ship being painted with 12" rollers. I later found out that when you aren't at sea, you have to keep these people busy. With around 5000 people to keep busy, a 12" roller really makes sense.

The show was exclusively for Navy personnel. This lift I mentioned earlier for planes became the entranceway for the public. Hearing wooooos everytime it moved was excellent. I kinda wish I got to go on it. The show went off without a hitch, and the aerial shots from the helicopter were spectacular. Everyone seemed pleased with the show in 29 degree weather.

We went off air at 11pm, and Garth played for another hour. Load-out went extremely well, a mixture of Navy and IA guys made the this thing come down at a great speed. On a lighting standpoint we had a number of towers all over the deck, and miles of cable runs, soaking in a lovely mixture of old oil and diesel fuel. The whole thing came down in 41/2 hours. Now we return to the concept of getting the gear off the ship. In my mind there is fantasy and there is reality. Fantasy we were told, we'll have 2 cranes to lift the gear off the lift. These lifts can do a load a minute. Reality: We have one crane that can lift about 8-12 roadcases per lift. And it will only take 3-5 minutes per lift. Needless to say, Thanksgiving at 10:30am is when the last truck door was closed.

The only thing left to do is laugh at this dismal situation. Oh yeah, the IA stopped at 6am since they weren't fed after 8 hours. Well there are 2 sides to every story. Some people consider hot dogs and nacho cheese placed out at 2 am a hot meal. The Navy guys stopped at 6:30 because a new shift was coming in a 7 am. Navy time that means 9:30.

Ah well, I suppose when one thinks of all the smooth gigs, this is the one that balances the equation. ANCHORS AWAY.......................