One of the things that fascinates me about the human mind is its readiness to seek and try out new things.
Many a times, I look around and just marvel at the thought investment that has gone into every day activities, objects and facilities that we use and I'm like damn!!! How did this person think to come up with such a thing.....
Carrying this thought forward to music and aviation, these two fields have had a good working relationship that goes waaaaay back, more so in the production of music videos and photography. For instance, an artiste's creative team could decide to include cut-away shots in some luxurious private jet or use the aircraft as a prop in the video in order to convey that message of opulence and all, but in most cases, it does not go beyond that.
There are, however other guys who have taken it to a whole new level. I mean, who would have thought that you could hold a gig in front of some 145 passengers cruising at 35,000ft en-route to Greece for example.
As a musician myself, the thought of this is more than exciting and this is the crux of what I was alluding to in the beginning; where the human mind is pushed to even greater limits of creativity.
Looking back in time, there are quite a number of individuals who have dared to push these boundaries, and some have even received recognition in the Guiness Book of World records.
Examples of these include:
Jamiroquai
In 2007, this English funk and acid jazz band from London had a gig at 35,000ft on board a Boeing 757 to promote one of their albums. This was the highest altitude gig until 2010, when James Blunt performed at 41,000ft.
Here's how their concert went down.
2. Rudimental and Gorgon City
This gig took place while en-route to London from Atlanta at 35,000ft aboard a Dreamliner 787.
3. James Blunt
James performed in front of an audience of 150 passengers on a Boeing 767 cruising at 41,000ft breaking the previous record made by Jamiroquai.
4. South West Airlines
South West have occasionally been hosting concerts during flights since 2011, much to the satisfaction of passengers
5. The White stripes
This gig almost took off in 2003 on board a Virgin Atlantic flight at an altitude of 35,000ft but it was marred by technical difficulties, cost implications, and corporate issues which caused the band to cancel the gig all together.
.......and many more examples can be given...
As you can see, it is not entirely impossible to do what these bands did, however, I do believe that many factors came into play before these gigs took off. Things like flight safety and performance considerations, cost implications and purpose for having the gig in the air are just some of the things that could have been behind the success of these events.
"So, how do I go about doing this?, it's just a simple gig!"
This is probably the next question one might be asking themselves as a musician interested in trying out what their predecessors did. It might look simple on paper, but just the fact that this doesn't happen too often speaks volumes. A lot of delicate planning has to be done for the gig to be a success and depending on the situation at the airline, this may or may not be a viable move.
I suppose also that it does run the risk of loosing its lustre and appeal should gigs in the air become too common; it takes us back to that saying that familiarity breeds contempt....
Anyways, let's imagine for this instance that some of the factors I mentioned above were all taken care of... what would it take to have that gig at 35,000ft?
Hypothetically speaking, I think the first step on the part of the musician would be to have the proposal for the gig ready. The gig could be aimed at creating awareness on some social issue, fundraising, advertising and product endorsement, among other causes.
The next step would be to approach an airline or charter company with this idea to see whether it would be commercially viable such that both parties benefit at the end. Here, all necessary financial transactions, legal agreements and other paperwork would have to be sorted out before proceeding.
The airline/charter company should provide the necessary guidelines with regards to weight restrictions, carriage of dangerous goods and fulfill any requirements as stipulated by the civil aviation authority. Other things like modifying the aircraft interior in order to fit the equipment might be considered as well, but that would entirely be up to the airline itself.
Another thing to consider in conjunction with the point above, is what kind of gig the artiste intends it to be. If it is an acoustic gig, which is by far the least complicated and probably the safest, I don't think there would be as many hoops to jump over especially since such a set up would only require some acoustic guitars, cajon and other smaller percussion instruments and voila! You have a gig right there.
As a matter of fact, some airlines such as SouthWest as mentioned in the examples above, have previously employed this as a form of inflight entertainment, and this practice has been gaining traction over time
For the more challenging kind of set up involving a typical four piece band ie:Keys, bass, drums, acoustic/lead guitar, sound amplification devices, lighting equipment etc, a lot more planning has to be done.
Here, I am alluding to weight limitations especially since some musical instruments can be heavy and this, coupled together with the total weight of all passengers and crew onboard, cargo and fuel, it could lead to an overweight aircraft. This means that the dispatcher or loadmaster will have to remove some cargo, passengers and other items so as to operate within safety limits.
The down side of this is that the gig may not take place all together or it could take place but with less passengers and cargo.
I suppose that if the proceeds from the gig are sufficient to compensate for the loss of a few passengers and cargo, the airline could just opt for the gig. What do you guys think??
To add in the more technical implications of this, as most of us in the aviation space already know, heavier aircraft require a longer take off roll, experience a slower climb-out and most importantly more fuel is used up. This also means that you cover less distance and that you will have to do a stop for fuel at an alternate airport translating to an inconvenience to everyone, passengers, crew and the airline itself.
A tail heavy aircraft. ie: More weight has been put rearward and hence the plane tips back.
(Courtesy: 3DR)
The image above shows the devastating effects of overloading an aircraft. Now, this might not necessarily be the case with having the concert in the aircraft but I just wanted to illustrate the effects of overloading.
The next thing one would want to consider when having a gig in the sky is interior decor. A decade ago (give or take), most aircraft had bland interiors but this gradually changed with time as airlines began putting more effort in improving the passenger experience and comfort and soon, things like mood lighting became a hit with newer aircraft integrating this in their design.
So, for your lighting needs, you could opt to bring in an extra set of lights to complement the cabin lighting or you could decide to use cabin lighting which also does look spectacular, like the one seen below.
So far so good.. It seems that our gig can now happen as we've addressed the planning stage and all BUUUT we haven't considered what could go wrong during the flight.
A ton of things could go wrong, but we'll focus on a few scenarios here.
1. Turbulence
This is a familiar experience to some of us, but turbulence can reeaaally be devastating especially since the aircraft is now loaded with musical equipment and extra lights in the cabin. The ones most at risk of injury are the musicians and those sitting nearer the band.
Severe turbulence could cause objects like speakers and lights to topple over and fall on the passengers, the instruments could get damaged as people who are standing close by could fall over them. Damage to the cabin interior could also happen.
You'd better have a good insurance cover for your equipment :P!!!..
2. Weight shifting
So far, the gig is going on well and everyone in the plane is excited and moving up and down in the cabin or crowding at a particular location inside the aircraft, but this again affects the CG (Center of gravity) of the aircraft, resulting in the pilots having to make adjustments to pitch and power.
If everyone's weight is concentrated towards the fore part of the aircraft, the aircraft becomes nose heavy requiring the pilots to use more power and trim to keep the nose from dropping. This affects the aircraft's maneuverability and also means more fuel is used up, reducing aircraft range. Similarly, if everyone were to run to the back, the aircraft becomes tail heavy, the nose will pitch up and this will bleed the speeds requiring the pilots to make the necessary pitch and power adjustments. In both scenarios, the aircraft becomes very unstable and harder to control, and thus movements within the cabin would have to be restricted.
3. Evacuation
In case an emergency occurs for whatever reason, what would happen?
You have cables strewn all over and some exits are blocked. Assuming the only available exit is the one which is blocked by the artistes and their equipment, how can a successful evacuation be carried out in the least amount of time?........
These are just some of the things one has to consider if they would want to have a concert in the air. However, I am pretty sure the ground and flight crew will have foreseen these kinds of things way before the flight begins and would have taken the necessary precautions to have the flight under control as far as they are able to.
What do you guys think? Ready to have your next gig at FL350?
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