Most people assume festival prep is about rehearsing the setlist a few weeks out. In reality, serious festival preparation starts almost half a year in advance — and it has very little to do with music at first.
The first phase is entirely logistical. Which songs translate to a large outdoor stage? What's our lighting brief? How does the monitor setup differ from our regular touring rig? These questions don't sound glamorous, but getting them wrong in front of 20,000 people is a very educational experience.
A festival set is a different animal from a headline show. You have 45 minutes, maybe an hour, and half the crowd might be seeing you for the first time. Every song has to earn its place.
We approach it like a short film — there's an opening that grabs attention, a middle section that takes the audience somewhere unexpected, and a closing that sends them away with something to remember. The last three songs of a festival set are agonized over more than anything else.
This year we made the controversial decision to drop two of our most popular tracks in favor of two deeper cuts that work better in the heat of an outdoor afternoon. We'll find out in June whether that gamble paid off.
"A festival set isn't your show. It's your audition for the people who've never heard of you."
— Marcus Reed, Lead Guitarist
Festivals are physically demanding in a way that club tours aren't. You might play at 2 PM in full sun after arriving at 7 AM and waiting around for hours. The mental and physical preparation is as important as the musical preparation.
I personally start a fitness routine about 8 weeks before festival season — nothing intense, just enough to make sure I can stand in the heat for six hours and still play a tight 60-minute set without my concentration breaking.
The gear side is its own challenge. Festival rigs need to be reliable above all else. This isn't the time to debut that new vintage amp that sometimes cuts out. Everything gets serviced, every cable gets replaced, and we carry backups of the backups.
"Marcus is the architect of The Sound Waves' guitar work. He's the most meticulous member of the band when it comes to preparation, which makes him the perfect person to write about this."
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