Do you do Post-Mortems?

[clicktrack]

And I don't mean in the CSI sense of the word :).

Whether it be from corporations in many industries to theatre, many larger scale productions have "post-mortems", a meeting to discuss what went well, what didn't go so well, and what could have been handled differently on the next time around.

My question is this:
a) How many of you do post mortems, and
b) How do you do them?
c) Do you find it helps?


Also, when do you do them?

-Is it at the first rehearsal after the gig?

-Is it on the drive back?

-Is it when you wake up, extricate yourself and your band members from the groupie puppy pile and retrieve your clothing?

[Tim Halligan]

In my live TV days, we'd frequently do a post-mortem...especially if it was about to become a regular production.

A lot of the OB stuff was just a one-off, so the post-mortem consisted of packing up the rig with a beer in hand saying "well, there's another one we walked away from..."


Cheers,
Tim

[bunnerabb]

Since I am my own department, I do a post mortem after every show, in my own head.

If an issue arises that I think the band should know about, I relate it to them.

[ggunn]

And I don't mean in the CSI sense of the word :).

Whether it be from corporations in many industries to theatre, many larger scale productions have "post-mortems", a meeting to discuss what went well, what didn't go so well, and what could have been handled differently on the next time around.

My question is this:
a) How many of you do post mortems, and
b) How do you do them?
c) Do you find it helps?


Also, when do you do them?

-Is it at the first rehearsal after the gig?

-Is it on the drive back?

-Is it when you wake up, extricate yourself and your band members from the groupie puppy pile and retrieve your clothing?


We record most of our gigs, and as we are loading our gear back into the studio later that evening, I pop the MD into the player. We sit and listen to it over a couple of beers and talk about what went right and what didn't. Yes, it helps a lot.

[pounce]

i wish more evens had them. even now, i have notes that i don't think are taken into account often enough for events that come back to my venue every year, or even a few times a year. oh, what i'd give for a post-mortem meeting on those events.

[Droolbucket]

In our band, we e-mail back and forth quite a bit. Musically, we're self-policing... if someone had a rough time with a certain song, harmony or chord progression, they'll bring it up at the next practice and we'll go over it until everyone's happy. I'm the worst musician in the band, so I'll try to work on my rough spots myself so I don't embarrass myself in front of everyone else.
Equipment-wise, we'll email about what needs maintenance, if there's a better way to set up, or if we need a different piece of gear. Seems to work pretty well. I don't know how we ever got anything done in the old pre-email days.
Droolbucket

[dwoz]

One has to be careful with PMs...they can turn into accusations and recriminations VERY FAST.


dwoz

[Spock]

No we don't, but I think we really should. I tried to get that going in an old band with the same drummer I'm working with now.

Ouch.

I wrote down some comments the next day, and about half of them were things I fucked up. A lot of the comments also came from our FOH guy, but that didn't help.

Shoot the Messenger!

Shoot the Messenger!

I don't want be the leader or the guy in charge in this band, I have plenty on my plate right now, so I would have to try to make the leader think it's a good idea to do a PM, then he can sell it to the other two guys.

[mixervixen]

We record most of our gigs, and as we are loading our gear back into the studio later that evening, I pop the MD into the player. We sit and listen to it over a couple of beers and talk about what went right and what didn't. Yes, it helps a lot.

Same here ... lately I've been videotaping as well, which brings in a whole other aspect of self-criticism that must occur. Ouch! But I think it is a necessary discomfort.

[ggunn]

Same here ... lately I've been videotaping as well, which brings in a whole other aspect of self-criticism that must occur. Ouch! But I think it is a necessary discomfort.

Well, everyone in our band has a great attitude, and we laugh at our screwups and swear on a stack of empty beer cans never to commit that particular foul again. Since we are an original band, some of our "mistakes" get incorporated into the tunes as well. Also, it's good to document what we did right.

[pounce]

while i think these are important for bands, i think they are more important when multiple production elements are involved id: a video company, live sound and lights, stage crew, venue, etc. you have to know what is and isn't working to keep all those crews coordinated.