I apologize for holding out on everyone for so long. It's been a long two weeks. We just finished doing two weeks straight without a day off. With that said, shall we catch up?
The shows have been quite amazing. The band and crew are now in a tight groove. Booders and I have set change between Annuals and The Bear down to about 10 minutes right now, so that is very much a kick ass thing within our world. I now wear multiple hats as a crew member: stage manager/drum tech/keyboard tech/monitor engineer/balloon filler-thrower/bartender/bringer of good cheer. My days are now a lot longer, being as I'm usually on stage for the opening bands through The Bear (hence no bloggy-blog in quite some time). Speaking of opening bands, Themes left us in Detroit. It was a sad good bye. Partied down at the bowling alley adjacent to the venue. We'll see those cats in Portland, Ore. We gained yet ANOTHER amazing band, and they go by the name Sylvie. These cool cats call Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada home. And these cats bring the friggin' rock. For those that are music dorks think late 90's post-hardcore, Burning Airlines/Small Brown Bike era goodness. And my goodness how much goodness they are.
We had a day off yesterday in Richmond, Virginia. Like I said earlier, we went two weeks without having a day off/travel day. Went on an adventure to Belle Isle. Belle Isle is in the middle of the James River which runs through downtown. Belle Isle has been used for many things throughout the years, but most notably it was used as a prison camp run by the Confederate army which held Union soldiers captive. Nearly 50,000 soldiers were held on this island which is only about 6 acres worth of land. Think about that. Spent about 3 hours exploring the island. Later that night a few of us headed down to the Get Out and Vote '08 concert. The Bear's management hooked it up with some tickets and All Access passes. The bill was quite amazing: The Beastie Boys, Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, and Santogold. Get Out and Vote '08 Tour is a tour dedicated to the democratic party, traveling throughout the few swing states spreading the good word. AWESOME TIME. The Beasties blew my mind. DANCE PARTY U.S.A.!!! Norah Jones was also amazing. She played two of her original songs, and a handful of covers including two Johnny Cash songs, Wilco's 'Jesus, Etc.', and a John Pride tune. Jack played my favorite tune, All At Once, and it gave me chills. He's probably in my Top 5 Guilty Pleasures. Sheryl Crow threw down on a rockin' version of Stevie Wonder's 'Higher Ground'. All in all, an amazing day off.
Today we'll be pulling into Raleigh, NC to play a show at the Lincoln Theater. I hope everyone is doing well. Just because I don't bloggy-blog as much as I'd like I hope you realize I still love you very much.
Cheers.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
.08.10.08/09.10.08
08.10.08
Watched the debate at one of Erin’s bars. Erin is the drummer I’ll be working for for the next 7 weeks. Super chill dude, good times all around. We got some ‘fufuchinos’, which is basically a frapachino (sp?) with lots of delicious alcohol goodness mixed in. The debate ended and trivia started, which made us head to the doors. We called it an early night, but had a night cap of ‘Dog Whisperer’. Anyone seen this show? The dude completely reminds me of Dr. Nick from The Simpsons (‘Hi everybody!’).
Caught a cab to the production space, and much to our luck the bus was armed and ready to go. But our luck changed quickly when Loren, our bus driver, told us the bus was a no go. It ended up being an easy fix, being the ignition harness and something to do with the computer. The bus would end up meeting us at the venue later that night. Soooo, we ended up renting a 12 passenger van and a U-Haul box truck to get us to Spo-Compton. Things could have been a total disaster, but they weren’t.
On this tour we will have several opening acts. Annuals are the supporting act, from North Carolina, and will be with us for the whole tour. Themes were the opening act of the evening and will also be with us for the next two weeks. Both bands are stellar as all heck, Annuals being a pleasant surprise.
Show wise, things went okay. It’s going to take a few shows to get things dialed in. Drums are drums, but keyboards and programs are a different story. But things will of course be a-okay. And after the hick-up this morning, I’d call this day a complete success. I mean hey, I got to throw a kid off the stage.
09.10.08
Tonight - Missoula, Montana. The drive from Spo-Compton to Missoula was absolutely gorgeous. The venue is pretty small. Probably holds 500 kids. Last nights show held about 800. Things are starting to go a little smoother with load-in. Something I've learned in this life is drama somehow never goes away, whether you're involved directly or not. This time I am not directly involved, but it still pisses me off because I have to hear both sides. Why can't people just fucking talk face to face? Yes it's confrontation, but come on. So theres that. I really don't want to go into great detail.
Show starts in right now. Themes and Annuals. Go times.
Tomorrow - Casper, Wyoming.
I love you all.
Cheers.
Watched the debate at one of Erin’s bars. Erin is the drummer I’ll be working for for the next 7 weeks. Super chill dude, good times all around. We got some ‘fufuchinos’, which is basically a frapachino (sp?) with lots of delicious alcohol goodness mixed in. The debate ended and trivia started, which made us head to the doors. We called it an early night, but had a night cap of ‘Dog Whisperer’. Anyone seen this show? The dude completely reminds me of Dr. Nick from The Simpsons (‘Hi everybody!’).
Caught a cab to the production space, and much to our luck the bus was armed and ready to go. But our luck changed quickly when Loren, our bus driver, told us the bus was a no go. It ended up being an easy fix, being the ignition harness and something to do with the computer. The bus would end up meeting us at the venue later that night. Soooo, we ended up renting a 12 passenger van and a U-Haul box truck to get us to Spo-Compton. Things could have been a total disaster, but they weren’t.
On this tour we will have several opening acts. Annuals are the supporting act, from North Carolina, and will be with us for the whole tour. Themes were the opening act of the evening and will also be with us for the next two weeks. Both bands are stellar as all heck, Annuals being a pleasant surprise.
Show wise, things went okay. It’s going to take a few shows to get things dialed in. Drums are drums, but keyboards and programs are a different story. But things will of course be a-okay. And after the hick-up this morning, I’d call this day a complete success. I mean hey, I got to throw a kid off the stage.
09.10.08
Tonight - Missoula, Montana. The drive from Spo-Compton to Missoula was absolutely gorgeous. The venue is pretty small. Probably holds 500 kids. Last nights show held about 800. Things are starting to go a little smoother with load-in. Something I've learned in this life is drama somehow never goes away, whether you're involved directly or not. This time I am not directly involved, but it still pisses me off because I have to hear both sides. Why can't people just fucking talk face to face? Yes it's confrontation, but come on. So theres that. I really don't want to go into great detail.
Show starts in right now. Themes and Annuals. Go times.
Tomorrow - Casper, Wyoming.
I love you all.
Cheers.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
07.10.08
Arrived in Seattle yesterday. Met up with the rest of the crew. Mr. Fuzzy will be holding down the FOH, while Ryan Buddha will be slanging guitars to the band. Me, I'll be constructing a drum set and keyboard station every night, as well as sitting behind the monitor rack. Fun times shall be had.
After catching a cab to the practice space, we packed up the van and headed to the production space. Set up the whole sha-bang, tweaked things here and there, and called it a night. David-David dropped us off from the hotel, which is two blocks from the City Center and the Space Needle. After dropping off the bags in the room, we hit up The Hurricane. The Hurricane was playing Radiohead remixes, and had pictures of hurricane destruction. Delicious greasy spoon splendidness. All in all, yesterday was a long-ass but excellent day.
Woke up fairly early for having quite a long day yesterday, though. I love traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast. Today is a fucking beautiful day. I'm mean, come on, 57 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze. And this is what we call fall, kids. I'm loving it. We hit the streets bound for the Public Market. Had some delicious assorted mini-donuts and coffee. They know how to brew a pretty good cup, ya know. Seattle is a pretty cool looking city. High five.
Tonight, watching the debate and eating Ezell's Chicken. The space is already packed, and ready to go. 9a.m. tomorrow morning we load the trailer, and hit the road for Spokane and the kick off show of the tour.
Be safe everyone.
After catching a cab to the practice space, we packed up the van and headed to the production space. Set up the whole sha-bang, tweaked things here and there, and called it a night. David-David dropped us off from the hotel, which is two blocks from the City Center and the Space Needle. After dropping off the bags in the room, we hit up The Hurricane. The Hurricane was playing Radiohead remixes, and had pictures of hurricane destruction. Delicious greasy spoon splendidness. All in all, yesterday was a long-ass but excellent day.
Woke up fairly early for having quite a long day yesterday, though. I love traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast. Today is a fucking beautiful day. I'm mean, come on, 57 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze. And this is what we call fall, kids. I'm loving it. We hit the streets bound for the Public Market. Had some delicious assorted mini-donuts and coffee. They know how to brew a pretty good cup, ya know. Seattle is a pretty cool looking city. High five.
Tonight, watching the debate and eating Ezell's Chicken. The space is already packed, and ready to go. 9a.m. tomorrow morning we load the trailer, and hit the road for Spokane and the kick off show of the tour.
Be safe everyone.
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