Rance Elgin Photography captured the recent trip to Africa through the eye of the camera. The images truly show the people, places, ministry and passionate connections that took place. It was a powerful time and I wanted to share with you as much as possible… just follow the link above and select ‘Special Assignment: MegaFest 08′ and enjoy.
Thank you Rance Elgin Photography for bringing this experience back to others.
Take a peak at the photos from the last month or so of travel…enjoy!
This is a long one, but I haven’t done near as well as I had hoped on keeping up….so here it is… Pictures to follow…
I arrived in Swaziland late yesterday afternoon and had a few moments to catch my breath last night. As I sat to catch up on email I glanced at my calendar to realize the last several weeks have flown by.
On Sunday October 21st I left Dallas headed for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I spent a week on the ground in Rio putting together a sound system for a missions organization. I left there on Saturday night the 27th putting me back in Dallas at noon on the 28th. I ran to my house, did laundry, showered, changed, repacked, and headed back out the door at 5am to head for South Africa. I flew to JFK in New York City for long layover and then a 17 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Upon my arrival to the hotel in Sandton City I slept for 3 hours and then got up to fly to Swaziland for a site survey. Upon arriving we had a few issues we had to sort out with the venue so I stayed behind in Swaziland for the evening to meet with venue and a small delegation from the government.
My body’s clock still had not adjusted so I only slept 2 hours that night. The next morning had our meeting and then flew back to Jo-berg.
Upon arriving in Jo-berg I was notified I had to run to the hotel to change out my clothes and catch another flight to Mthatha the next morning to meet with Chief Mandela for the day regarding an event we would be doing immediately following MegaFest.
That trip was a quick in and out trip and back to Jo-berg for the evening where we had a meeting with SABC (the largest broadcast corporation in Africa).
Saturday and Sunday were final meetings to prep for load in/event week.
Monday morning started load in at the venue. It took 3 days to get steel and structure in the air (the stage and roof). On Thursday October 9, we put in sound, lights, and video.
For the main stage audio Gearhouse supplied a Vdosc system. The delays were all Kudo systems, there were 3 delay systems through out the park. FOH consoles were PM5D with a Soundcraft MH3 as a side car to handle tracks, choir mics, etc…The stage had a pair of Midas XL3’s chained together (doing analog for a show this size was a beating). Gearhouse didn’t have a console of a large enough format to handle what we needed to do in the digital realm….so……we made do.
We had 5 large LED screens at the main stage and through out the park with a 5 camera shoot. Dale Hill from The Broadcast Group handled the directing duties alone with 5 cameras shooting “b roll” of the event.
Lighting was minimal as it was a day time event.
Friday was a rehearsal day which included sound checks for all artists. I need to go back and count exactly how many different artists and speakers we sent across the stage in 2 days.
The opening segment was very cool. We had 5 African drummers enter stage to a traditional drum cadence. Zolani, who is the Chief Protocol Officer for South Africa entered the stage to deliver a message to the crowd in their native tounge. As he left the band started a percussion track to go along with the African drummers. We then had 200 dancers fill the arena and stage as Myron Butler entered the stage with singers from the US and Africa to do a rendition of “This is the Day” with a bit of an African twist. The crowd went nuts. It was amazing to see it all come together. People from all across the globe had been working on different portions of the segment simultaneously for several weeks and the first time we saw it come together as one was the day before. It’s amazing what a great team can do together…even if they are on separate Continents….people solve problems.
MegaFest was 2 days of constant action. Worship was provided by Myron Butler, The Potters House band, and Israel Houghton (who was amazing), as well as a host of South African Artists which were too many to name, and the even concluded with Bishop TD Jakes on Sunday afternoon.
Monday following MegaFest I was supposed to travel to Mthatha to catch a good nights sleep before going back to the village of Mvezo (birthplace of Nelson Mandela), however we missed our flight and ended up having to fly to East London. After getting stuck at the Jo’berg airport for 6 hours we made the 1:40 flight to East London, checked in to the hotel, slept for 3 hours and made the 4 hour drive to Mvezo. Upon arriving at Mvezo we set up sound and stage for Bishop and Chief Mandela to address the crowd. On a side note, up until 10 minutes prior to the start I only had 1 side of the PA working, but we got it working and no one ever knew J
We finished the event at Mvezo and made the 4 hour drive back to East London for an appearance by Bishop Jakes on TBN South Africa. We actually got a decent nights rest and left the hotel at 6 the next morning to go back to Jo’berg.
After all the running we had been doing I realized I hadn’t taken advantage of being in South Africa, so I decided to do a little shopping and have some chill time.
After a good nights sleep a small team of us (David Todd – the conference coordinator, Rico Gonzales – Audio Engineer, Curtis Hairston – Security, and myself) made our way from Jo’berg to Swaziland via van (4 hour trip).
We checked in at the venue to see how things were going with the stage install. Stage was up and ready to go so we went to the hotel to rest a little.
Today (Friday) I am sitting at the venue watching audio and lighting go in. The PA is getting tuned as I type. Tomorrow we have rehearsal and sound checks during the day with a dinner as a guest of The King tomorrow night.
Sunday we will be on site by 6 am, doors at 10 am, pre music at noon, worship at 1pm, and Bishop Jakes should hit the stage around 2 pm. Following the event it will be off to the hotel for a quick shower then hit the road back to Jo’berg so we can sleep in our normal hotel beds.
The next week will be spent closing out the events and then home by the end of the month.
What I failed to mention was that during the weekend of MegaFest I had another event loading in, in Dallas, TX for World Ventures Travel. I hired Ken Gilstrap of 808 media to production manage the event from start to finish. The event included audio, lighting, flying effects, as well as snow effects. Special thanks to Ken Gilstrap, TMS Lighting out of Omaha, NE, Oliver Brothers Sound, SnowMasters, Gemini Stage Lighting for labor, ZFX Flying, and Mauri Decker for lighting design for all their work as the event went off flawless. It was nice to know that even though I was on another continent, things were handled in a professional and excellent manner….my blackberry and skype also came in handy. J
I know that was a lot of information, but I know I haven’t been the best at keeping things up to date. So that’s all the latest….
MegaFest is all wrapped up and now onto Swaziland. This trip has been a whirlwind and I’ll update more later, but I wanted to pass along a a place to see some great pictures from MegaFest International.
Check out a few pictures on how things are coming along out here in Africa.
I have been in Johannesburg South Africa for just over a week for 3 events. All events are with TD Jakes.
We are doing MegaFest which will be a huge outdoor stadium event going on this Saturday and Sunday October 11-12. The event will include TD Jakes, Noel Jones, Paula White, Mary Mary, Yolanda Adams, and worship by Israel Houghton plus many more. It should be a huge event.
The second event will be a special event at Nelson Mandela’s birthplace.
The third event will be a crusade in the country of Swaziland where they are expecting crowds of over 80,000.
Outdoor events are always fun doing load in. The first few days end up being a lot of “hurry up and wait”. When loading in a stage it takes several days to get the structure in the air and we are in the slow process of making this happen. The nice thing is that the production office is fairly quiet as most of the rest of the event staff won’t arrive at the venue until tomorrow.
I will keep updating pictures as we go along.
With my crazy schedule I have had very little time to update anything.
I left Brazil on Sunday at midnite and finally arrive back in Dallas at 11 am on Sunday. I was able to go home, shower, do laundry, repack and headed out the house at 4 am the next morning for South Africa.
I landed here in South Africa at 5 pm on Tuesday (long travel days). I got to the hotel and couldnt sleep but had to be out the door the next morning by 5 am for a flight to Swaziland.
I am currently in Swaziland about to head back to South Africa for the evening then off to meet with chief Mandella for an event at Nelson Mandella’s birthplace. It’s an honor to be part of such events and I am looking forward to being a part.
I am hoping to have an update this evening or next.