James was setting up his gear in one of the back corners of the stage, sitting on a bench in front of the small folding table where he had set down his laptop and his synthesizer. It took several checks, but he finally was sure that his audio set up was correct, he was feeding the synth's audio into his computer, which let him control the volume or add software effects more easily. After that, he tried out the knobs and buttons to make sure he had assigned them all to the right controls in Ableton, also making sure to test his footpedal and the Akai he used for versatility. When he was satisfied that his controllers all functioned properly, he looked over the set list and his notes on which patches and effects chains he needed for each song. It saddened him a little to see that none of their most experimental songs had made the cut, but James understood that it probably wasn't the best idea to launch an assault of avant-garde noise in this venue.

The others seemed excited, especially KJ, but it didn't matter that much to James. Making music was what he enjoyed, and he didn't care who bothered to listen. Before putting on his headphones to do a final audio check, he asked the others a question. "Are we just playing all of these straight, or can we embellish a little? Heck, we could even add some time for some full fledged improvising."