Moderator: Bill Rahmy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys
Janine Edwards, Ziggy Marley, Jane's Addiction>br> Kevin Forster, Ed & Ted’s Excellent Lighting
Chris Kantrowitz, Frank the Plumber Productions
Jim Lenahan, Production Design
Steve Lemon, Steve Lemon & Associates
Chuck Randall, Chuck Randall Tour Management
Bobby Schneider, Accurate Staging
Kevin “Chief” Zaruk, Nickleback Tour Manager

Bobby Schneider, Jim Lenahan, Kevin "Chief" Zaruk, Kevin Forster, Janine Edwards, Bill Rahmy, Chuck Rabdall, Chris Kantrowitz and Steve Lemon

As the panel ended and attendees started to shuffle out to the hallway, moderator Bill Rahmy said, "I think we're just starting to get rolling. I wish we had another two hours."

It was true. The hour-and-fifteen-minute panel started off talking about video screens. It then veered into an in-depth discussion on video screens and ended on the same topic. Who knew video was such a bone of contention?

"It used to be set, lights," Jim Lenahan said. "Now it's set, lights, video."

Which would be fine, but Lenahan doesn't think it's that much of an improvement and it has increased the bottom line. He once saw a musician use the video wall to check his hair.

"And that's when I realized it's not for the cheap seats. It's a mirror," he said. His theory is, once Jumbotron salespeople had sold all of the big screens they could to the sports world, they started selling them for concerts, telling the customers, "You're going to let the kids down if you don't buy them."

"It wasn't true at first, but it is now. The fans expect video," he said. "They used to be fine. They'd sit on the lawn with a joint, Linda Lou, some music and the stars, and they were happy."

There was nary a dissenting voice in the room. Audience member Rick Merrill of the Gibson Amphitheatre said his 6,000-capacity venue has got the bug. It's a great room, it's easy to see the stage, but the fans need the in-house video just the same.

"Artists used to complain because the fans would look to the sides," Merrill said. But now the fans com-plain if there is no video.

Jim Lenahan

Robert Roth of lighting company PRG noted that, during one concert he attended, he realized halfway through that he was watching the big TV screen, not the concert itself.

Rahmy wondered out loud, with the recession coming, if big productions were going to become an even bigger issue.

"Bill?" promoter Bob Russo said from the audience. "Speaking from a promoter's perspective, the only time I've ever complained about sound or lights is if the show loses money. In which case, you're carrying too much fucking production."

Bobby Schneider was OK with video because, for him, it makes money. "I do a lot of radio festivals now and we do text messaging and sponsorships that pay for the video screens," Schneider said. "So they're free to us. We actually make money from it now."

"Hmmm," Chuck Randall said under his breath. He reached for a pen and pretended to mutter to himself as he scribbled on a piece of paper. "Hmmm. Make a note on that."

Chris Kantrowitz recalled watching Pink Floyd as a kid, with video. "It went to an experience beyond 'being there.' You bought into the vision and sound and essence of what Pink Floyd is," he said. "And I think Radiohead does the same thing. If done elegantly, video becomes why people identify with certain artists and invest in certain artists. It spurs their imagination aurally and visually. It is the experience of the artist inside the venue, outside the venue, in your mind, in your dreams. If it's an ego wall, you lose."

Despite the eloquent argument, Kantrowitz later mentioned a bare-bones production he was involved in, this time for Incubus. It didn't sit well with the tour manager for Nickelback, a band that has invested tons of money in pyrotechnics and production.

"The girls go to an Incubus show to stare at Brandon [Boyd]," Kentrowitz said. "They don't care about a video wall."

"I think that's a cop out," Zaruk replied. "I saw that shed tour and I was bored out of my mind."

Rahmy laughed. His panel was getting interesting.

Bill Rahmy

Kentrowitz corrected him, saying tickets were $30.

"Yeah, and I know they're making a killing on merch," Zaruk said. "I know it's not a financial thing for them but I still don't like to go see a band and pay good money and have them not put some of that money back into production or the show, and just pocket it. ... And no offense against Incubus. I'm a big fan, but they're not the most entertaining band. I prefer it when they have all the production. When they don't have that, I'm bored."

Zaruk added that, when fans see Nickelback, they return three years later be-cause they remember all of the bells and whistles that came with the production. Lenahan clarified his position that it's not about video and production per se, it's about using the equipment just because you're supposed to nowadays.