Brown: Stage Manager Keeps Festival Entertainment Moving Smoothly
Last updated Sunday, August 19, 2007 4:16 PM CDT in News
By Brandon Marcello
THE MORNING NEWS
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ROGERS -- Come Friday night, Craig Brown will have the best seat in the house.
He's not royalty, nor is he one to steal the spotlight. Brown is the stage manager for the Frisco Festival.
Brown is the guy behind the scenes no one really sees, but he's the most familiar face in downtown Rogers for the band members of acts like Ultra Suede and Joe Giles and the Homewreckers.
He's constantly on his feet, setting up microphones and speakers, coordinating trucks to maneuver and unload equipment in tight spaces in small windows of time for upcoming bands and acts. Brown estimates that he'll work from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. each day during the two-day festival, just to make sure everything is set and ready to go when bands arrive in Rogers.
"We pretty much walk on the stage at 6:30 p.m. to kick off, and he has everything set up and ready," said Marge Wolf, Main Street Rogers resident. "Help us if we ever have to replace him because it's a tough job."
But when the band hits the stage and the first musical note is played, the coordinating halts for a bit, Brown said. For a few minutes, he gets to sit, relax and watch the show from the best seat in the house.
Brown said he can't wait to watch Joe Giles and the Homewreckers close the first night of the festival.
"They've got the best lead guitar player you will ever hear," Brown said. " Man, can he play the guitar."
It also helps, Brown said, that the bands he admires are nice and calm before, during and after their sets.
"They're professionals," he said. "You meet them and it's like you've known them your whole life. They love these kind of festivals."
Enjoying the festival hasn't always come easy for Brown. Last year was the first time the festival had a permanent stage. In previous years, Brown would help build a temporary stage using two flatbed trucks, steel towers and a canopy.
"Usually, it was about 100 degrees. It was miserable," said Brown, who will be stage manager for a sixth year. "When the wind blows, we'd have to stand on the stage stands to secure them. The band is playing on the stage and we're on these stands, just riding them until the wind stops blowing."
While securing the stage during high wind, Brown still had to keep an eye open.
"Surprisingly enough, we get roadies -- for a lack of a better word," Wolf said. "He has to keep them off the stage. It's funny. There are times he looks at me, and I look at him, and we just go, 'This person is not supposed to be here.' But he handles it so well. He's pretty diplomatic."
Maybe it comes from being a justice of the peace for the Benton County Quorum Court. Brown is in his first term as a justice of the peace, serving alongside his Frisco friend, Wolf, who is in her fourth term.
"I don't sit at the meeting like a lot of people and beat a dead horse," Brown said. "I learn more just by listening and watching people. You can pretty much tell the truth just by listening and watching. If your mouth is running, you're obviously clouding the issue."
Wolf and Brown met more than 10 years ago through Brown's wife, Jan. Ever since, when called upon by Wolf for volunteer work or just a helping hand, he has always been cordial, Wolf said.
"I wanted someone to be able to handle the stage and the people without having to worry about it," Wolf said. "I asked him and he said, 'All right. I'll try it.' That was six years ago."
Jan Brown, his wife of 13 years, volunteers as well for the Frisco Festival. She calls her husband a "workaholic."
Between running his own business, Quality Glass, attending meetings as a justice of the peace and other civic, Craig Brown rarely has time to catch his breath.
But at Frisco Festival, he catches his breath and finds a release from his everyday life.
"Lots of times I'll just sit backstage and watch the crowd," he said. "What I used to love about this area is that small town feeling. Festivals like this allow you to enjoy the quality life we have. You can actually watch people sit back and chill instead of running around at 200 mph."
But when the show is over, Brown is back on his feet keeping everything and everyone in line.
"It's all about organization," he said. "The crowd gets rowdy. They don't like to wait for the next show, especially when it's hot."
Every year, Brown tells Wolf that he won't be returning as point man for Frisco Festival's main stage.
"Oh yeah," he said. "I'll probably swear up and down that it's my last year after this weekend.
"But how can you say no?"
Webwatch
For Frisco Festival information:
www.friscofestival.com
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