As far as the concert goes, I would like to know how they spent your hard-earned 50kwh, and maybe design a future show like this with a Supply/Demand challenge.. so that somehow, those who are flipping the flipping switches are tasked (Maybe from set to set, or between competing stages) with consuming as little power as possible and still 'do the job' .. maybe using better acoustics, and acoustic bands, maybe changing some of the assumptions about what kind of volume and stacks of speakers are actually 'Required'.. Lighting, of course.. The music biz is definitely spoiled with energy.. and a good place to make a show of the work we need to do.

I second that. Here in Jamaica, it's a sound system crazy country. Lots of systems that require an 18 foot truck or larger with 15kW or more of amplification. Over the last couple of decades fancy lighting has also become compulsory for premium events, even those with djs only. Bigger promoters have got into the habit of renting a trailer mounted generator (50kVA or more) to provide power for events since a problem with the public power supply or inadequate infrastructure at the location could result in significant losses on an expensive venture. Back when I was a teenager good music, lots of liquid refreshment and good company was all that was required for a great party.

I am involved in the business as a sound system provider and I have developed a reputation for covering events with less, a lot less. People are often amazed at how little equipment I can use to do an event and still cover it adequately. A lot of operators are now copying this and providing downsized systems as many clients now require this. There are still significant numbers of people who truck in loads of huge wooden spaekers and crank them up so they can be heard miles away only to have the police shut them down for being a noise nuisance, go figure! The paradigm of the Mega concert with huge stacks of speakers sized so they can thump the chests of people at the opposite end of the show-ground does not seem to me to be one that will be sustainable post peak. A lot of energy is wasted making it way too loud at the front so that people at the back have a "good listening experience".

Of course there are new technologies that are reducing power requirements for concerts. Massively efficient amplifiers are now available as are high intensity LED lights that can replace incandescents in certain cases. I think the recent Presidential Inauguration is good example of how to provide sound for huge crowds, with lots of speakers distributed throughout the area. Still, how many events are planned with reducing power consumption in mind? My guess is that it's going to be a whole lot more as we hit the downslope.

Alan from the islands

It's also the place where artists can work the message so it works with and gets through to its audience. It doesn't have to be moribund and 'weak', it doesn't have to lie and be hypocritical with a 'do as I say, not as I do' undercurrent. It better have a good beat.

In 1991, I went to a Midnight Oil concert in Melbournes Rod Laver Arena and walked out highly disillusioned with the hypocrisy of it all. The energy used to blast the noise, run all the lights and sell all the merchandise and cheap greasy food was a huge indulgence by a crowd of middle class, high end consumers who saw no contradiction in the message that the band was pushing and the method of delivery. Fast Forward 20 years and the same crowd are using more energy than ever before, living in bigger houses with more gadgets and driving bigger cars to more places than ever before. But they'll tell you they care about the environment, after all they do have all of Midnight Oils old records!