"He Wears Black and Has a Beard"

Arthur C. Clarke third law famously states " Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". During my research into the history of the entertainment industry I found just how true this was:
And so the new college of magic was formed, from the three founding members.
Andy, the sound engineer, worked his magic with little black boxes, able to make people sound louder. He had not a staff but a "mixing desk", a metal box with hundreds of seemingly incomprehensible knobs and sliders.
James, the lighting designer, worked his magic with what looked like knight's helmets, that he could summon light from. He also had no staff, instead using a large box he called his "dimmers" to conjour the light.
They were followed by a small entourage of apprentices, called roadies, who carried, lifted and moved. They used their magic to carry several times their own weight and, unlike many of the mages from the more traditional schools, they could do this any time of the day or night, tirelessly.
The final member of the assembly was John, the technician. He used his magic to conjure the devices used by the others. He had devoted himself to the improvement of these devices, transmuting metals to do his will. But his greatest skill was his knowledge of cable-lore. This was the magic the bound all the others together and was shrouded in secrecy, having been passed down father to son for generations.
The college itself was built from onyx, eschewing the traditional tower for a wide building, not unlike a storehouse. It was set atop a maze of caverns, in which John worked, amid piles of what he refused to, somewhat anachronisticly, call junk.
The people of the town did not take kindly to the newcomers at first. They were highly untrusting, in part because the building appeared in a day, due to the roadies' ability moving everything so quickly, but mostly because very soon after loud noises started coming from it, at all times of day and night.
And this was before news got out that the scout died...
Next time I give an account of the college's very first gig.