The Final View

When the GATH reopened on August 1st, 2011, we were ready. 98% of the project was complete, with only a few minor punch list items to deal with. The biggest item we faced was the grand opening schedule. It was so important to get the building operational and generating income, that we had 31 show dates in a row! We would be hosting national acts and special events for the full month of August without a break. It was a daunting schedule, to say the least. Every show was sold out, there were a thousand cases of beer in the basement, and the stage and crew were ready to rock!

The schedule was so intense that looking back through my notes and photos, after the first week or so, I took fewer and fewer photos and stopped taking notes. We had been on a non-stop schedule to get the doors open. So the first month is a partial blur for me. We had nothing but perfect shows during that run and the abilities of the new stage, the sound & lighting, and the performance space, in general, was getting raves.

The finished product as a whole was and is amazing. I hope the people of Athens will celebrate the date and appreciate what it took to rebuild the GATH. I played a small role in what was an army of local artists and business people helping to bring the project to fruition. It was a real high point in my career and I am proud of what we achieved! I hope you are as well Athens!

I hope you enjoyed my biography of this place. You can reach me at wrickettes@gmail.com.

I plan on developing a full size coffee table book of these photos. Please consider helping me via my Patreon so I can finish the project! Patreons will get first crack at the book!

A lot of the photos in the presentation are B quality or de-rezed on purpose because you savages will steal them otherwise!! Contact me, wrickettes@gmail.com for re-use of better quality.

This presentation is part of a collection of teaching tools. Please visit The Production Institute for more information about my classes.

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