PA Shop is gearing up for a busy summer, and that’s good news for live music fans

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If you want to know what to expect for music festivals this summer, you can hold your finger to the wind.

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Or chat with Ron Schroeyens, founder and owner of the PA Shop in London, a business that could be seen as a weather vane for outdoor live events.

There is hardly a live music event in the London area that Schroeyens company is not involved with, providing stage, sound, lights and video, with and without expert technicians.

So he has a good idea of ​​what’s to come and it looks pretty good.

“Summer is looking really good, provided the pandemic subsides and consumer confidence returns and people want to go out and party with 10,000 others at Rock The Park and Sunfest,” Schroeyens said, which provides the equipment and technical expertise for both. events.

All of London’s major festivals are planning shows this summer, including Family Shows Canada’s Children’s Festival (June 17-19), London Food and Craft Beer festival (June 24-26) and RibFest (July 28-June 1). August). , TD Sunfest (July 7-10), Home County Music and Art Festival (July 15-17), Start.ca Rocks the Park (July 13-16) and (according to sources) a return of Park Jam.

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In fact, Schroeyens is anticipating a better-than-average year, if only because he is among those still standing after two pandemic summers that have devastated the performing arts, from festivals to theaters and all. performance halls. What many don’t know is the impact on the people producing the shows, like the sound and light technicians employed by Schroeyens.

“The government (the grant programs) saved us, they kept us going,” said Schroeyens, who was able to get most of his staff to work during the pandemic.

But other businesses in the same line of business have closed, opening up more opportunities for survivors, such as Music City in London on Charterhouse Crescent – home to the PA Shop, London Guitars, London Percussion, Charterhouse Studios and PA AV Shop – and a larger facility in Dorchester housing the PA Shop’s largest equipment – stages, speakers, scaffolding and transport trucks.

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It was in Dorchester that Schroeyens staff convinced him to set up a video production studio last February to produce music videos.

The PA Shop has produced over 50 music videos, the majority free of charge, for some of London’s most accomplished and up-and-coming artists, from Shelly Rastin to Aaron Allen and rockers Bobnoxious, Laura Gagnon and award-winning alternative rockers Lost in Japan.

Schroeyens said the idea came from his team, which had little to do with very few live performance opportunities.

“I thought it was a good idea because it gave everyone something to do, but it also gave everyone a chance to learn something new,” said Schroeyens, a bassist in bands in the 80s and 90.

“We had watched videos that artists were making after the pandemic and there were a lot of horrible videos that people were streaming. As a musician, all you have is your brand and we thought it was really important with the pandemic that people needed good quality videos to reach their audience. So we did that and made sure the quality was very good. We wanted it to be better than what people would see on Saturday Night Live.

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The videos are all posted on the PA Shop Productions YouTube Channel .

“It was amazing,” said London singer-songwriter Laura Gagnon, who recorded a video for her single, Shady Lane Road.

“With the pandemic, we don’t have a lot of money to make videos and to have such an opportunity – for free – is very generous. The videos are top quality.

Lost in Japan, whose song Lonely won Corus Entertainment Radio’s Summer Song Contest and a $20,000 cash prize, is hoping for a better year with at least one tour scheduled for the spring.

“It was the first live performance we had in almost two years and it was super cool,” said frontman Addison Johnson, the band’s lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter.

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“It was like playing on a big stage in front of a huge audience with all the lights and a full sound system.”

Mario Circelli, founder and chairman of the Forest City London Music Awards, has paid for a few videos, like Battle of the High School Bands, as has Sunfest (Lazo, Tanika Charles and others).

“What he’s done for all these musicians is a great service,” Circelli said. “It’s given a great opportunity to the local music community and it’s a very high-end, very professional production, and kudos to Ron for pivoting to keep his staff working. They are all trained professionals and good technicians are difficult to replace.

For country artist Shelly Rastin, the PA Shop was a godsend.

“Especially given the timing, during the pandemic,” Rastin said.

“Having the opportunity to play with my band again after being away from the stage for so long, even though there was no live audience, was just wonderful. To have access to such a facility state-of-the-art and professionally crewed, it was like being next level. You’d have to pay thousands of dollars for those kinds of production values.”

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