There are a few things that make me question my self assuredness about how lucky I am to do what I do. Among them are 6am flights to the East coast requiring me to leave the warm, cozy embrace of my girlfriend's bed at 3:30am. Also included on that list would be my least favorite part of traveling for a living: Christmas. It's not so much the holiday I'm not a fan of, it's the saccharine music that becomes America's sonic wallpaper. At the moment, I'm sitting in OAK at gate 7, listening to a psudo-Steely Dan version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," complete with synthesized nylong string guitar straight out of a bad hip-hop track and the slap bass part that Kenny G's bass player thought was too sappy for his last chart topping adult contempojazz smash. I'm not sure which is worse, having to hear this drivel or getting into its groove, only to be startled out of it by the harsh female voice telling me to report anything suspicious to the Transportation Security Administration.
At times like these, I also think about my going away ritual. Why do I take special care to tell Rae Rae and the dogs that I love them? I'm extra careful to tell them I love them for the same reason my dad balanced the books and paid the bills before he left for a business trip: 'cause you never know. Trips away from home make you realize how much you count on those around you and how much happier they make your life. I suppose it's important to tell them you love them because, however unlikely, it is possible that you may not see them again.
I'm coming off a nine-day vacation after two months of solid touring during which time we did a run of 42 shows in 50 days. For those of you who don't know, I've taken a touring monitor gig with Carolina Liar, an alternative rock band. Bill, our tour manager, and I--and to a lesser extent Johan the keyboard player and Randy the fill-in drummer--put roughly 25,000 miles on the van in 9 weeks. That works out to almost 3000 miles a week!
My second Carolina Liar tour will be a lightning two week run of radio dates, culminating in a sold out show at the Crystal Ballroom,my old stomping grounds. I'm excited to come back thru the Crystal with a band. The crew is aces, and filled with my close friends, and the venue itself, while presenting a distinct set of production challenges, possesses great atmosphere, founded on its the bouncy floor. Get 1500 pogoing punk rockers up therelike at an MXPX or Flogging Molly show and you'll see the Crystal's floor travel up to a foot!
For our last meal together for a few weeks, Rachel took me out to La Méditeranée, a mediterranean restaurant in Berkeley. We had a couple of combo plates, which included the obligatory baba ganoujh, tabouleh, stuffed grape leaves, and hummus, as well as these interesting fillo dough wrap things filled with chicken, lamb, cheese and spinach. The food was pretty good, although the service was god-awful. Nevertheless, the unbeatable company more than made up for the inadequacies of the wait staff. Also, it was nice to find somewhere with heated outdoor dining like Portland's Pambiche , our favorite Cuban restaurant.
For dessert, we went to an incredible gourmet ice cream parlor down the street called Içi . Rachel ordered three scoops of ice cream, the divine coffee-hazelnut, the delicate but intense earl grey, and the tangy lime mint sorbet. The combination was oddly delicious, especially because the flavors were so pure. Each item really tasted like its name, not a close, artificial approximation of it, filtered thru sugar. I had an eggnog ice-cream sandwich, with ginger snap cookies. It was deliciously decadent.
Overall, a delicious end to a fantastic week. I'll post more about our adventures as today progresses, but right now I have to board a plane for Denver.
A plus tard.
12.03.2008
10.08.2008
7.05.2008
Life at home
Trampled Under Foot, winners of the International Blues Competition
I have lots of questions about the nature of a blues "competition." Do the people who win have the worst things happen to them? Or is it just that they get the most blues over the littlest stuff?
People came out on Friday even though it was rainy and gross for part of the day.
Jacques, the monitor tech on my stage
It's not just that those are kids, he really is very tall.
My World
Fancyness: It's like my boss said in an interview in one of the trade rags, "It's all about the gear!"
Trombone Shorty
Don't remember who this was, but Thursday was a gorgeous day
Fartsy picture of faders
5.16.2008
Soulsville USA! or I guess things are tough all over.
To begin with, let me apologize for the photo-less nature of the blog. My trusty digital camera, which lasted thru 5 years of rough life, from France to drunken college parties, to ride-alongs with 1-800-GOT JUNK, long summer rock festivals and my first two tours, is no longer functional. It was on its last legs last tour and officially died while I was at home. Although I’m almost broke, I’d love some recommendations on compact, affordable, reliable digital cameras. I’ve enabled anonymous comments, ‘cause people were having trouble commenting, so comment away.
The first two shows are out of the way now. On Saturday, we played in Memphis, TN. My dad recommended a couple of barbecue joints and, in the true spirit of my touring experience, I missed out. For those meat-eaters among you headed for Memphis in the near future, I’ll pass along his recommendations:
"Corky,s and The Rendezvous are the two good places to get ribs. The Rendezvous is located downtown in a basement. It has checkered tablecloths and good beer and is reasonably priced. Corky's has 2 kinds of ribs, dry and wet. It is higher priced. Enjoy!"
The morning after our long drive from Michigan to the southwestern corner of Tennessee, I woke up early, determined to get my prescription filled. I’ll never cease to be amazed by people’s underestimation of what’s “walkable.” When I asked the front desk clerk at our hotel for the location of a pharmacy, he explained that there was a Walgreens a mile or two down the road. As I headed off, backpack on my back, he asked whether I was planning on walking and informed me “there’s no way you can walk there,” adding “why don’t I call you a cab?” I insisted I’d be alright, knowing that I had plenty of time before Mike and the band were up. I ended up having a pleasant enough walk to the Walgreens. I think the trip there ended up taking about 30 minutes.
There’s something inherently dirty about the East Coast. I wonder what makes people feel that it’s acceptable to throw their trash out the window onto the roadside? This is a trend I’ve noticed now that I’ve been away from the East for a while. I’m not trying to hold Oregon up as any kind of magical place where people don’t litter, but there certainly isn’t that much trash on the roadsides I’ve seen back home.
One of my favorite walking activities is talking on the phone with my parents. I don’t get much time alone these days, so calling my folks on a walk is the easiest way to ensure that we get uninterrupted time for talking.
I returned from my trip to Walgreens to find that Rob, Ross and Mike were all awake and raring to go. We’ve needed to replace our guitar stand tub since I started working with Tally Hall, but over the course of the last tour it definitely started falling apart. With this goal in mind, the four of us headed for the Home Depot I’d spotted on my reconnaissance march to Walgreens. Unable to find an upgrade, we got a direct replacement and, ceremoniously depositing the old tub in the dumpster behind the Home Depot, we drove off into the hazy Memphis mid-morning.
We headed back to the hotel, where we waited for the rest of the band to get up and about. Around noon, we headed for downtown with the twin destinations of Graceland and Sun Studios in mind. We wandered around a little and stopped at the only restaurant in downtown Memphis that seemed open, a café called “Sauce.” My burger was ok, nothing special, but definitely better than the fast food options. Ross and Andrew opted for some sort of “flatbread,” which, while advertised as a sandwich, turned out to be more of a plate of haphazardly prepared finger food. I know I’m spoiled by the delicious food in Portland, but for a place called “Sauce” to be serving Hunt’s fancy ketchup seemed kind of like a copout. Nevertheless, lunch was fun and we were served promptly enough and the waitrons were kind enough to split the check (always a pain).
After lunch, Mike and the band decided that they wanted to see Graceland. I’ll be the first to admit, I just don’t get the Elvis thing. I just don’t think the guy’s that interesting musically or culturally. I can understand why people might be interested, but it’s just not my thing. Instead of Graceland, I went music geeking. I drove around the Beale Street area, but it was really touristy. It felt like the lamer parts of Austin combined with Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco; lots of cookie-cutter tourist traps and souvenir shops. Outside of the Beale Street Area, downtown Memphis had a lot in common with a ghost town: burned out boarded up hulks of awesome early/mid 20th century architecture, waist-high crabgrass and cracked pavement. As Rob pointed out, “When the largest building in the area is boarded up and abandoned, there’s some kind of problem.” The areas surrounding downtown were hardly different. The boarded up buildings were just smaller, and there were people. Poverty is really a terrible thing, that’s all I want to say about that.
The Sun “Museum” seemed really small, the staff was cranky and I was in no mood to wait 45 minutes for a tour, so I gave up and headed off in the direction of my main interest in Memphis (besides putting on a rock show), the Stax Records Studio. I almost got the Shaft, showing up just in time to Knock on Wood and get the old “Come on In” from the kindly staff. Time Was Tight, so I felt a little hurried getting through this soul pilgrimage, but I had a good time checking out the movie about the history of Stax and the exhibits. Next time we’re in Memphis, Let’s Stay Together and I’ll Take You There.
Apologies for the poorly executed Stax jokes above, I just had to get those out. The Stax Museum is located on McLemore Avenue in the original location of the Stax Studio. It houses a healthy collection of Stax memorabilia along with some poorly planned exhibits and musical displays. The organizers seem to have designed each exhibit in a vacuum and just thrown the whole thing together. Maybe having all of the exhibits’ music blend together into a cacophony was part of a plan to point out exactly how much music was going on at Stax back in the day, but it made for a pretty annoying experience. Apart from the informative exhibits about the people who founded Stax, there were the all important bits of memorabilia: instruments (authentic and otherwise), stage clothes, photos, concert posters and, the crown jewel, Isaac Hayes’ Superfly-style Cadillac. What an amazing monument to movin’ on up. 4” white shag carpeting, purple upholstery, shiny purple paint, peace signs around the headlights, and a TV—unheard of at that time. Blingtastical blingtron!
The highlight of the Stax tour for me was getting to check out the original Stax Studio and control room. It’s amazing to me that these great records were recorded in such primitive conditions. I guess it shows how little equipment matters in the scheme of things. These musicians played well together and the singers sung their hearts out. I’d like to work in a studio like that sometime.
After a nice day of site-seeing in Memphis, we converged on Newby’s, the venue for our first rock show of the new tour. Tally Hall is opening the first few dates of this tour, and then switching with De Novo Dahl, our touring partners, after Dallas. Newby’s is an alright joint; with a dive bar-type room centered between a game room on one side and a big for shows on the other. For those of you from Portland, the venue side is roughly the size of Conan’s/the Hawthorne Theatre, where I mixed my very first club show. Jason, the house guy at Newby’s, was quite accommodating and, since De Novo Dahl were running late, he let us set up and soundcheck, a rarity for an opener like us. The PA at Newby’s was a lot like the ones I used with Aloha Sound, a big JBL trapezoid rig with lots of loud and boom but not much definition or subtlety.
Between loadin and soundcheck, the weather got really gross, and a glance at the TVs in the bar showed us that it was not likely to get any better: there were tornado warnings all around us, and two counties over they were reporting quarter and dime sized hail. Rain was coming down in sheets. It was raining so hard, I was soaked from running across the sidewalk from the venue to our van.
After marveling at the weather for a while, I got dinner from the venue. I generally try to ask the local crew what to eat, since they know what’s most likely to give you food poisoning and what’s actually good. Tonight, both Jason the sound guy and John the bartender recommended the marinated chicken. I opted for the marinated chicken salad, which ended up being quite tasty. On my recommendation, most of the bandmembers ordered the same thing. Unfortunately, during their meal, Zubin saw a cockroach skitter across the bar. Across the bar! So, a note to those going to Memphis: don’t eat at Newby’s.
(I’m writing this from the road between Dallas and Tucson, and we just passed a truck with what looked like two gigantic cheese wheels on a flatbed. I’m talking ginormous cheese wheels, like 15’ across and 20’ high. Amazing.)
Perhaps in spite of the rain, the show only received lackluster attendance. It’s hard mixing in empty rooms, let me tell you. I had a tough time getting the vocals to cut and be clear enough. On the plus side, though, Ross had taken his drums into the studio to cut some Disney tracks and the engineer had helped him retune his kick drum, which sounded fabulous. Nice and thumpy, with a healthy slap from the beater. Yay, kick drum.
Our adventures that evening did not end at the club, however. On the way back to our hotel from Newby’s, our van was struck by a truck wheel while I was driving. I saw the wheel jump over the median and then felt a nice thump with an unhealthy metal “spang.” Fortunately, it didn’t hit anything of vital importance, and didn’t injure anyone in the vehicle. We pulled over and inspected the damage, which is pretty ghastly looking, but fortunately not structural. TM Mike has pictures of the damage, which I’ll hopefully sweet talk him into letting me post in the internets.
So there it is, the first set of adventures this time.
The first two shows are out of the way now. On Saturday, we played in Memphis, TN. My dad recommended a couple of barbecue joints and, in the true spirit of my touring experience, I missed out. For those meat-eaters among you headed for Memphis in the near future, I’ll pass along his recommendations:
"Corky,s and The Rendezvous are the two good places to get ribs. The Rendezvous is located downtown in a basement. It has checkered tablecloths and good beer and is reasonably priced. Corky's has 2 kinds of ribs, dry and wet. It is higher priced. Enjoy!"
The morning after our long drive from Michigan to the southwestern corner of Tennessee, I woke up early, determined to get my prescription filled. I’ll never cease to be amazed by people’s underestimation of what’s “walkable.” When I asked the front desk clerk at our hotel for the location of a pharmacy, he explained that there was a Walgreens a mile or two down the road. As I headed off, backpack on my back, he asked whether I was planning on walking and informed me “there’s no way you can walk there,” adding “why don’t I call you a cab?” I insisted I’d be alright, knowing that I had plenty of time before Mike and the band were up. I ended up having a pleasant enough walk to the Walgreens. I think the trip there ended up taking about 30 minutes.
There’s something inherently dirty about the East Coast. I wonder what makes people feel that it’s acceptable to throw their trash out the window onto the roadside? This is a trend I’ve noticed now that I’ve been away from the East for a while. I’m not trying to hold Oregon up as any kind of magical place where people don’t litter, but there certainly isn’t that much trash on the roadsides I’ve seen back home.
One of my favorite walking activities is talking on the phone with my parents. I don’t get much time alone these days, so calling my folks on a walk is the easiest way to ensure that we get uninterrupted time for talking.
I returned from my trip to Walgreens to find that Rob, Ross and Mike were all awake and raring to go. We’ve needed to replace our guitar stand tub since I started working with Tally Hall, but over the course of the last tour it definitely started falling apart. With this goal in mind, the four of us headed for the Home Depot I’d spotted on my reconnaissance march to Walgreens. Unable to find an upgrade, we got a direct replacement and, ceremoniously depositing the old tub in the dumpster behind the Home Depot, we drove off into the hazy Memphis mid-morning.
We headed back to the hotel, where we waited for the rest of the band to get up and about. Around noon, we headed for downtown with the twin destinations of Graceland and Sun Studios in mind. We wandered around a little and stopped at the only restaurant in downtown Memphis that seemed open, a café called “Sauce.” My burger was ok, nothing special, but definitely better than the fast food options. Ross and Andrew opted for some sort of “flatbread,” which, while advertised as a sandwich, turned out to be more of a plate of haphazardly prepared finger food. I know I’m spoiled by the delicious food in Portland, but for a place called “Sauce” to be serving Hunt’s fancy ketchup seemed kind of like a copout. Nevertheless, lunch was fun and we were served promptly enough and the waitrons were kind enough to split the check (always a pain).
After lunch, Mike and the band decided that they wanted to see Graceland. I’ll be the first to admit, I just don’t get the Elvis thing. I just don’t think the guy’s that interesting musically or culturally. I can understand why people might be interested, but it’s just not my thing. Instead of Graceland, I went music geeking. I drove around the Beale Street area, but it was really touristy. It felt like the lamer parts of Austin combined with Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco; lots of cookie-cutter tourist traps and souvenir shops. Outside of the Beale Street Area, downtown Memphis had a lot in common with a ghost town: burned out boarded up hulks of awesome early/mid 20th century architecture, waist-high crabgrass and cracked pavement. As Rob pointed out, “When the largest building in the area is boarded up and abandoned, there’s some kind of problem.” The areas surrounding downtown were hardly different. The boarded up buildings were just smaller, and there were people. Poverty is really a terrible thing, that’s all I want to say about that.
The Sun “Museum” seemed really small, the staff was cranky and I was in no mood to wait 45 minutes for a tour, so I gave up and headed off in the direction of my main interest in Memphis (besides putting on a rock show), the Stax Records Studio. I almost got the Shaft, showing up just in time to Knock on Wood and get the old “Come on In” from the kindly staff. Time Was Tight, so I felt a little hurried getting through this soul pilgrimage, but I had a good time checking out the movie about the history of Stax and the exhibits. Next time we’re in Memphis, Let’s Stay Together and I’ll Take You There.
Apologies for the poorly executed Stax jokes above, I just had to get those out. The Stax Museum is located on McLemore Avenue in the original location of the Stax Studio. It houses a healthy collection of Stax memorabilia along with some poorly planned exhibits and musical displays. The organizers seem to have designed each exhibit in a vacuum and just thrown the whole thing together. Maybe having all of the exhibits’ music blend together into a cacophony was part of a plan to point out exactly how much music was going on at Stax back in the day, but it made for a pretty annoying experience. Apart from the informative exhibits about the people who founded Stax, there were the all important bits of memorabilia: instruments (authentic and otherwise), stage clothes, photos, concert posters and, the crown jewel, Isaac Hayes’ Superfly-style Cadillac. What an amazing monument to movin’ on up. 4” white shag carpeting, purple upholstery, shiny purple paint, peace signs around the headlights, and a TV—unheard of at that time. Blingtastical blingtron!
The highlight of the Stax tour for me was getting to check out the original Stax Studio and control room. It’s amazing to me that these great records were recorded in such primitive conditions. I guess it shows how little equipment matters in the scheme of things. These musicians played well together and the singers sung their hearts out. I’d like to work in a studio like that sometime.
After a nice day of site-seeing in Memphis, we converged on Newby’s, the venue for our first rock show of the new tour. Tally Hall is opening the first few dates of this tour, and then switching with De Novo Dahl, our touring partners, after Dallas. Newby’s is an alright joint; with a dive bar-type room centered between a game room on one side and a big for shows on the other. For those of you from Portland, the venue side is roughly the size of Conan’s/the Hawthorne Theatre, where I mixed my very first club show. Jason, the house guy at Newby’s, was quite accommodating and, since De Novo Dahl were running late, he let us set up and soundcheck, a rarity for an opener like us. The PA at Newby’s was a lot like the ones I used with Aloha Sound, a big JBL trapezoid rig with lots of loud and boom but not much definition or subtlety.
Between loadin and soundcheck, the weather got really gross, and a glance at the TVs in the bar showed us that it was not likely to get any better: there were tornado warnings all around us, and two counties over they were reporting quarter and dime sized hail. Rain was coming down in sheets. It was raining so hard, I was soaked from running across the sidewalk from the venue to our van.
After marveling at the weather for a while, I got dinner from the venue. I generally try to ask the local crew what to eat, since they know what’s most likely to give you food poisoning and what’s actually good. Tonight, both Jason the sound guy and John the bartender recommended the marinated chicken. I opted for the marinated chicken salad, which ended up being quite tasty. On my recommendation, most of the bandmembers ordered the same thing. Unfortunately, during their meal, Zubin saw a cockroach skitter across the bar. Across the bar! So, a note to those going to Memphis: don’t eat at Newby’s.
(I’m writing this from the road between Dallas and Tucson, and we just passed a truck with what looked like two gigantic cheese wheels on a flatbed. I’m talking ginormous cheese wheels, like 15’ across and 20’ high. Amazing.)
Perhaps in spite of the rain, the show only received lackluster attendance. It’s hard mixing in empty rooms, let me tell you. I had a tough time getting the vocals to cut and be clear enough. On the plus side, though, Ross had taken his drums into the studio to cut some Disney tracks and the engineer had helped him retune his kick drum, which sounded fabulous. Nice and thumpy, with a healthy slap from the beater. Yay, kick drum.
Our adventures that evening did not end at the club, however. On the way back to our hotel from Newby’s, our van was struck by a truck wheel while I was driving. I saw the wheel jump over the median and then felt a nice thump with an unhealthy metal “spang.” Fortunately, it didn’t hit anything of vital importance, and didn’t injure anyone in the vehicle. We pulled over and inspected the damage, which is pretty ghastly looking, but fortunately not structural. TM Mike has pictures of the damage, which I’ll hopefully sweet talk him into letting me post in the internets.
So there it is, the first set of adventures this time.
5.11.2008
Life in the Fast Food Lane
Over the course of these last few months, I’ve had the—uh—pleasure of sampling a wide variety of fast food. Here’s the quick list. Honestly, I’d rather forget 100% of these joints.
• Arby's
• Fazzolis
• Moe’s
• QDoba
• Subway
• Taco Bell
• Wendy’s
• Sonic
• McDonalds
• Schlotzky’s
• Panera
• Pita Pit
• Quizno’s
• In ‘n Out Burger
• Applebee’s
• Filiberto’s
• Carl's Jr.
• Arby's
• Fazzolis
• Moe’s
• QDoba
• Subway
• Taco Bell
• Wendy’s
• Sonic
• McDonalds
• Schlotzky’s
• Panera
• Pita Pit
• Quizno’s
• In ‘n Out Burger
• Applebee’s
• Filiberto’s
• Carl's Jr.
5.10.2008
The Home to Road
“And now we’re on state number three for the day,” says Mike the TM as we cross from Ohio to Kentucky. The Tally Hall machine is grinding its way from Michigan to Tennessee in this, the beginning, of our new tour. Today’s drive will be between 10 and 14 hours, depending on traffic and bathroom breaks. I’m betting closer to the 14-hour mark. I feel a little bad, having detained the machine in Ann Arbor while I went to a walk-in clinic. The “throat thing” I’ve had for about two months turned out to be a bacterial infection, so I needed to get a prescription for antibiotics. Given the necessities of touring, I’ll probably not get it filled for a state or two, but what’s another couple days?
In Tennessee we’re going to pick up our tour-mates, De Novo Dahl and Low vs. Diamond. I know absolutely nothing about them, except that we’re going to become well acquainted with each other over the next few weeks. I’m going to try to be more welcoming than I was with the Republic Tigers, who turned out to be totally awesome.
Many apologies for my lack of posting between the beginning of April and now; the East Coast tour turned out to be really intense, not to mention seriously lacking in long drives, which are so perfect for blogmaking. Nevertheless, I do have memories and, since beginnings are a good time to think about the past, I’ll share what I’ve got. The last tour was really schizophrenic; we played everywhere from tiny student coffeehouses to 800 person rock clubs.
Particular treats during the last tour included seeing my parents in Northampton and then having them come to the show in New Haven. My folks hadn’t heard me mix since my very first club gig in Portland on the day before I graduated from college in 2005. I’d like to think that a lot has changed since then, but I know I’ve got a long way to go before I’m as good as I want to be. My dad said “that was cool, did I hear some feedback?” My mom said, “couldn’t you have turned it down for your mother.” I had, of course, mixed quieter than I normally do, but of course it’s never quiet enough for Mom.
Another exciting part of New Haven was getting to see Brett and Julia. Brett is a good friend from high school, and the drummer from my first rock band ever. He and his girlfriend Julia stayed with us in Portland while they were on a road trip of epic proportions. Brett is also a fantastic photographer, and was able to get some pretty great shots of the band. Check out their blog at blog.brettmickelson.com. Brett and Julia took me out to the best pizza I would end up having this tour (sorry, NYC). The spot, Modern Apizza, was on par with Ken’s Artisan or Apizza Scholls in Portland.
I had a homecoming of sorts in Northampton. The Iron Horse Music Hall is the first place I remember going to a popular music concert. When I was 9 or 10, my parents took me to see Mose Allison, a piano playing jazz singer songwriter. The highlight of that Mose show for me was not the actual performance but rather running into Mr. Allison outside of the bathroom just before the performance. Now, I’m not sure what he had ingested, but he left the most odorous stench my young nostrils had experienced. Not only was I a starstruck little piano player, I was an awestruck little farter. Mixing at the Iron Horse was a bit of a challenge, but the room sounded great and the PA, while looking a little funny, filled the space quite well. Adding to my enjoyment of the Iron Horse was the fact that the bartender knew how to pour a G clef into the head on a Guinness. Matt (I hope I’m remembering his name correctly) was a really helpful house guy and just a generally nice dude.
Note: We just passed a sign in Kentucky for “Big Bone Lick State Park.” I love touring.
In New Haven, we played at Toad’s Place, a fairly oversized room for us at 800 capacity. Toad’s crew were really nice—one of two groups of loaders we had this tour—and quite helpful. Their LD, whose name I’m embarrassed to have forgotten, built us a projector platform from scratch. Eric, the production manager/sound guy, was both nice and helpful, in spite of a late arrival.
In Boston (Allston, actually, but who’s counting?), we played at the Great Scott, where the house guy, Ben, was a friend of both Mike, our TM, and Will, my housemate. Ben was the best part of the Great Scott. Ross, Tally Hall’s drummer, sprained his ankle on a hole in the floor at the Great Scott, so that venue gets a big ole frowny-face in my book.
In Brooklyn, we played at the Southpaw, a dingy, typical rock club with a nice staff,. Stage mgr. Ken and sound guy Kevin were both quite helpful and accommodating. The PA sounded pretty good and they had enough toys to keep me busy and out of their hair. Unfortunately, the mix position was about as far away from the stage as it could be while remaining in the same building.
In New York City, we played at the fabled Bowery Ballroom. House guy Kenny, whom I’d been warned about by Si, was definitely the awesomest house guy I’ve ever met; he’s been around forever and knows that room like the back of his grizzled hand. “Yeah, those EQs are on the house, this one’s on the center, that one’s on the bottom clusters, but I usually just keep ‘em flat.” Wow. Not only is Kenny a great dude, the Bowery sounds great. Once a couple people get inside of it, the room cleans up a whole lot and the PA covers so well it’s not even funny. Joe’s guitar buzzed a whole lot, but the guys soldiered on.
In Philly, we played at the North Star Bar, and a special treat was awaiting me at the end of the night. Don, “director of operations” at the sound company, was on his way from Portland to NYC and stopped off for a few beers in Philly with me after our show. It was great to see someone from home. You should check out the band he’s working for right now, they’re called Smoosh. I’ve done monitors for them and they’re not only the politest little girls I’ve ever met, they’re also really good songwriters and very professional performers. Reed, the house guy for the Philly show, was really nice, in a stand-offish kind of way. He seemed to know more about his PA than anyone else we ran across.
Our time in DC included some pretty cool press stops. The first stop was at XM radio, where we were given a really complete tour of the facility. We learned from our tour guide that “you can put a sattelite in space for under $500 million!” We also got to see where the buck stops at XM. In a room reminiscent of Dr. Evil’s control room, sits one person in a futuristic chair, surrounded by video screens displaying all data about every XM station and rebroadcaster. On this person’s right is a trackball, and on his left is a phone. Anytime that phone rings the buck stopper has to be able to fix the problem. Amazing. What’s more amazing is the fact that everyone who goes into the XM offices walks by this person in his glass bubble. Must be a weird job to have, everyone always looking in on you. On the one hand, you have all the power, and on the other you’re like a caged monkey. Dance, monkey, dance.
Our other press stop was at NBC in DC. Our progress between XM and NBC was blocked by the confluence of two of the most powerful people in the world: the president and the pope. What should have been a 20 minute drive took over 2 hours. At NBC, the dudes jumped out, got their “acoustic set” gear and headed for the studio. We were so late at NBC that we ended up also being late for the show at DC9. Our show in DC was forgettable, the house guy was cranky and not the most flexible; the PA sounded fine, if a little beamy. The rest of the night, on the other hand, was amazing. We hung around the venue, DC9, until last call and then went off in search of food. Many places were closed, but when we finally found an open one, it was perfect; they served the largest slices of pizza I have ever seen. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the slices were 10” wide at the crust by 18” from crust to tip. Huge pizza. The pizza joint was run by a bunch of African dudes who were listening to Fela Kuti on a ghetto blaster.
The final show of the tour was in Canton, MI at a high school. The sound company, Signature Audio, did an admirable job of covering the room given the budgetary constraints, but the PA just didn’t quite have the oomph we needed. Of course, I’m not sure they could have put more power in that room, every time Ross hit the kick drum, the console lights dimmed. Eep. I did notice one thing, however: high school students LOVE Tally Hall. They cheered and cheered and cheered and stood and stomped and screamed. It was great to see an audience really get into the show like that. It was also a really fun end of tour show; the Republic Tigers, our support this tour, had gone to a dollar store and bought a whole bunch of hilarious blow up toys and hats and balls and stuff. They filled the stage with funny stuff and threw some at the audience. Dave, the Tigers’ sound guy, and I wore a pink flamingo hat while mixing. I still miss those guys; they were great.
And so, having looked back at the past tour, I think I’m ready for new things. The venues on this tour are larger and better equipped, in general, than the ones we saw last tour. It feels like we’re already in the swing of things. Here’s to traffic jams, fast food, truck stops, fun shows and happy humans.
In Tennessee we’re going to pick up our tour-mates, De Novo Dahl and Low vs. Diamond. I know absolutely nothing about them, except that we’re going to become well acquainted with each other over the next few weeks. I’m going to try to be more welcoming than I was with the Republic Tigers, who turned out to be totally awesome.
Many apologies for my lack of posting between the beginning of April and now; the East Coast tour turned out to be really intense, not to mention seriously lacking in long drives, which are so perfect for blogmaking. Nevertheless, I do have memories and, since beginnings are a good time to think about the past, I’ll share what I’ve got. The last tour was really schizophrenic; we played everywhere from tiny student coffeehouses to 800 person rock clubs.
Particular treats during the last tour included seeing my parents in Northampton and then having them come to the show in New Haven. My folks hadn’t heard me mix since my very first club gig in Portland on the day before I graduated from college in 2005. I’d like to think that a lot has changed since then, but I know I’ve got a long way to go before I’m as good as I want to be. My dad said “that was cool, did I hear some feedback?” My mom said, “couldn’t you have turned it down for your mother.” I had, of course, mixed quieter than I normally do, but of course it’s never quiet enough for Mom.
Another exciting part of New Haven was getting to see Brett and Julia. Brett is a good friend from high school, and the drummer from my first rock band ever. He and his girlfriend Julia stayed with us in Portland while they were on a road trip of epic proportions. Brett is also a fantastic photographer, and was able to get some pretty great shots of the band. Check out their blog at blog.brettmickelson.com. Brett and Julia took me out to the best pizza I would end up having this tour (sorry, NYC). The spot, Modern Apizza, was on par with Ken’s Artisan or Apizza Scholls in Portland.
I had a homecoming of sorts in Northampton. The Iron Horse Music Hall is the first place I remember going to a popular music concert. When I was 9 or 10, my parents took me to see Mose Allison, a piano playing jazz singer songwriter. The highlight of that Mose show for me was not the actual performance but rather running into Mr. Allison outside of the bathroom just before the performance. Now, I’m not sure what he had ingested, but he left the most odorous stench my young nostrils had experienced. Not only was I a starstruck little piano player, I was an awestruck little farter. Mixing at the Iron Horse was a bit of a challenge, but the room sounded great and the PA, while looking a little funny, filled the space quite well. Adding to my enjoyment of the Iron Horse was the fact that the bartender knew how to pour a G clef into the head on a Guinness. Matt (I hope I’m remembering his name correctly) was a really helpful house guy and just a generally nice dude.
Note: We just passed a sign in Kentucky for “Big Bone Lick State Park.” I love touring.
In New Haven, we played at Toad’s Place, a fairly oversized room for us at 800 capacity. Toad’s crew were really nice—one of two groups of loaders we had this tour—and quite helpful. Their LD, whose name I’m embarrassed to have forgotten, built us a projector platform from scratch. Eric, the production manager/sound guy, was both nice and helpful, in spite of a late arrival.
In Boston (Allston, actually, but who’s counting?), we played at the Great Scott, where the house guy, Ben, was a friend of both Mike, our TM, and Will, my housemate. Ben was the best part of the Great Scott. Ross, Tally Hall’s drummer, sprained his ankle on a hole in the floor at the Great Scott, so that venue gets a big ole frowny-face in my book.
In Brooklyn, we played at the Southpaw, a dingy, typical rock club with a nice staff,. Stage mgr. Ken and sound guy Kevin were both quite helpful and accommodating. The PA sounded pretty good and they had enough toys to keep me busy and out of their hair. Unfortunately, the mix position was about as far away from the stage as it could be while remaining in the same building.
In New York City, we played at the fabled Bowery Ballroom. House guy Kenny, whom I’d been warned about by Si, was definitely the awesomest house guy I’ve ever met; he’s been around forever and knows that room like the back of his grizzled hand. “Yeah, those EQs are on the house, this one’s on the center, that one’s on the bottom clusters, but I usually just keep ‘em flat.” Wow. Not only is Kenny a great dude, the Bowery sounds great. Once a couple people get inside of it, the room cleans up a whole lot and the PA covers so well it’s not even funny. Joe’s guitar buzzed a whole lot, but the guys soldiered on.
In Philly, we played at the North Star Bar, and a special treat was awaiting me at the end of the night. Don, “director of operations” at the sound company, was on his way from Portland to NYC and stopped off for a few beers in Philly with me after our show. It was great to see someone from home. You should check out the band he’s working for right now, they’re called Smoosh. I’ve done monitors for them and they’re not only the politest little girls I’ve ever met, they’re also really good songwriters and very professional performers. Reed, the house guy for the Philly show, was really nice, in a stand-offish kind of way. He seemed to know more about his PA than anyone else we ran across.
Our time in DC included some pretty cool press stops. The first stop was at XM radio, where we were given a really complete tour of the facility. We learned from our tour guide that “you can put a sattelite in space for under $500 million!” We also got to see where the buck stops at XM. In a room reminiscent of Dr. Evil’s control room, sits one person in a futuristic chair, surrounded by video screens displaying all data about every XM station and rebroadcaster. On this person’s right is a trackball, and on his left is a phone. Anytime that phone rings the buck stopper has to be able to fix the problem. Amazing. What’s more amazing is the fact that everyone who goes into the XM offices walks by this person in his glass bubble. Must be a weird job to have, everyone always looking in on you. On the one hand, you have all the power, and on the other you’re like a caged monkey. Dance, monkey, dance.
Our other press stop was at NBC in DC. Our progress between XM and NBC was blocked by the confluence of two of the most powerful people in the world: the president and the pope. What should have been a 20 minute drive took over 2 hours. At NBC, the dudes jumped out, got their “acoustic set” gear and headed for the studio. We were so late at NBC that we ended up also being late for the show at DC9. Our show in DC was forgettable, the house guy was cranky and not the most flexible; the PA sounded fine, if a little beamy. The rest of the night, on the other hand, was amazing. We hung around the venue, DC9, until last call and then went off in search of food. Many places were closed, but when we finally found an open one, it was perfect; they served the largest slices of pizza I have ever seen. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the slices were 10” wide at the crust by 18” from crust to tip. Huge pizza. The pizza joint was run by a bunch of African dudes who were listening to Fela Kuti on a ghetto blaster.
The final show of the tour was in Canton, MI at a high school. The sound company, Signature Audio, did an admirable job of covering the room given the budgetary constraints, but the PA just didn’t quite have the oomph we needed. Of course, I’m not sure they could have put more power in that room, every time Ross hit the kick drum, the console lights dimmed. Eep. I did notice one thing, however: high school students LOVE Tally Hall. They cheered and cheered and cheered and stood and stomped and screamed. It was great to see an audience really get into the show like that. It was also a really fun end of tour show; the Republic Tigers, our support this tour, had gone to a dollar store and bought a whole bunch of hilarious blow up toys and hats and balls and stuff. They filled the stage with funny stuff and threw some at the audience. Dave, the Tigers’ sound guy, and I wore a pink flamingo hat while mixing. I still miss those guys; they were great.
And so, having looked back at the past tour, I think I’m ready for new things. The venues on this tour are larger and better equipped, in general, than the ones we saw last tour. It feels like we’re already in the swing of things. Here’s to traffic jams, fast food, truck stops, fun shows and happy humans.
4.07.2008
Rubble rubble rubble rubble rubble rubble
The second show of our warm-up run was at Rubble’s Bar in Mt. Pleasant, MI. We loaded in fairly early and were pleased to see that the promoter from the last night’s show, Corey, was also promoting and doing sound for us at Rubble’s. Corey is a really nice guy with a super great attitude. Rubble’s has a PA system older than anyone in the building. The horn-loaded design, complete with bass scoops, was eerily similar to the PA system I used to build at glamorous Starshine Sound.
"That's not a snowplow, it's my subwoofer!"
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the age of the PA that presented the challenges. Rather, it was the assumptions that the PA’s installer had made about what bands would need and where people would be standing. The PA, which was 3-4’ deep, sits a foot in front of the stage on either side, pointed out. This means that the first 4-5’ worth of audience don’t hear ANYTHING from the main speakers. More disturbing, however, was the fact that, while we had 4 monitors and 4 mixes, only six things could go to the monitors. In a band with four vocals, I had only two channels to play with really. Once again, the guys reminded me of why I love working with them and were totally cool, going with the flow in masterful fashion.
"Monitor World:" Note the lack of graphic equalizers.
After soundcheck, Joe, Zubin, Ross, Andrew and I went to a brew-pub called “Mountain Station.” I’ll be charitable and say that the food was mediocre. I had a pint of their IPA, which was mediocre at best. The hops felt thin and without a decent base of flavor to build on, sort of like a rock band that’s all vocals and no bass. I don’t usually drink before gigs, since my judgment is why the band hired me, but since we had 3 hours between the dinner and work, I decided to have a tasty adult beverage. My wrap was overpriced, under heated and unsatisfying.
After dinner, we wandered back to the club, where I spent a little while talking to my housemate, Will, while wandering the streets of Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant is a nice enough town, though, as far as I could tell, its downtown was empty on a Sunday evening except for the hundred or so people who came to the Tally Hall show. I did notice one idiosyncrasy: liquor stores in Mt. Pleasant are called “Party Stores.” Before looking in the windows of one of the three “Party Stores” within a 2 block radius of the club, I had thought that people in Mt. Pleasant just liked to throw parties. I guess I was more right than I could’ve imagined.
Talking to Will was great, especially since I could describe to him what I was seeing in Mt. Pleasant, so I could feel like I had someone with me. The whole experience left me with a funny mixture of feelings, at once at home and adventuring, kind of like this whole touring thing. Seems like I spend all of my time doing what I’d wanted to do for so long, while being in strange places with relative strangers.
"That's not a snowplow, it's my subwoofer!"Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the age of the PA that presented the challenges. Rather, it was the assumptions that the PA’s installer had made about what bands would need and where people would be standing. The PA, which was 3-4’ deep, sits a foot in front of the stage on either side, pointed out. This means that the first 4-5’ worth of audience don’t hear ANYTHING from the main speakers. More disturbing, however, was the fact that, while we had 4 monitors and 4 mixes, only six things could go to the monitors. In a band with four vocals, I had only two channels to play with really. Once again, the guys reminded me of why I love working with them and were totally cool, going with the flow in masterful fashion.
"Monitor World:" Note the lack of graphic equalizers.After soundcheck, Joe, Zubin, Ross, Andrew and I went to a brew-pub called “Mountain Station.” I’ll be charitable and say that the food was mediocre. I had a pint of their IPA, which was mediocre at best. The hops felt thin and without a decent base of flavor to build on, sort of like a rock band that’s all vocals and no bass. I don’t usually drink before gigs, since my judgment is why the band hired me, but since we had 3 hours between the dinner and work, I decided to have a tasty adult beverage. My wrap was overpriced, under heated and unsatisfying.
After dinner, we wandered back to the club, where I spent a little while talking to my housemate, Will, while wandering the streets of Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant is a nice enough town, though, as far as I could tell, its downtown was empty on a Sunday evening except for the hundred or so people who came to the Tally Hall show. I did notice one idiosyncrasy: liquor stores in Mt. Pleasant are called “Party Stores.” Before looking in the windows of one of the three “Party Stores” within a 2 block radius of the club, I had thought that people in Mt. Pleasant just liked to throw parties. I guess I was more right than I could’ve imagined.
Talking to Will was great, especially since I could describe to him what I was seeing in Mt. Pleasant, so I could feel like I had someone with me. The whole experience left me with a funny mixture of feelings, at once at home and adventuring, kind of like this whole touring thing. Seems like I spend all of my time doing what I’d wanted to do for so long, while being in strange places with relative strangers.
Red Lights
After two warm-up shows in Michigan, we’re heading to Albany, NY today. We left Ann Arbor at around 11 this morning. It’s 11 at night now and we’re still about an hour away from Albany. I’m thankful this will be the longest drive of this tour. East coast touring seems to be total cake, driving-wise.
The first warm-up show was at Mac’s Bar in Lansing, MI. I knew our night would be interesting as soon as I walked into the club and smelled that all-too-familiar mix of stale sweat, spilled beer and cigarette ash, all covered with a healthy dose of the citrus tang of Lysol.
As with so many of these small shows, we were faced with the unpleasant reality that people often exaggerate. The club had told Mike, our new tour manager, that there would be four separate monitor mixes.
Mike.
Seeing a monitor-shaped object, I thought I had succeeded in solving my problem. Alas, it was missing an important part. Can you tell which one?
As it turned out, we had to make do with only the pair of monitors on a single mix. I am thankful that this band is so easygoing, monitor-wise. There’s a certain freedom that comes with working for a band: after a little while, you come to learn which shit will float and which will not. This shit floated famously.
Later, I managed to find the venue's backup PA system, and was glad we ended up going with the A-rig.
Between loadin and soundcheck, I managed to crack my head pretty badly on the main speakers, which were hung at a perfect height for aiming at my cranium. After I’d rubbed the goose-egg on my scalp, we soundchecked and, in spite of some other important pieces that were missing from this PA, I got things sounding about as well as they were going to. I am really spoiled in Portland. After soundcheck, we struck our drums and pedals and guitars. I hung around a little bit and enjoyed our luxurious green room.
"Not so bad," you might say.
Oh really?I know, of course, that no matter how healthfully I eat, if I don’t get exercise (which I most certainly do not do on the road), I won’t be in shape, but I can at least try to minimize the damage. I can’t say that I have any more appreciation for my Portland routines of walking everywhere and working at a physically demanding job, because I already did appreciate them quite a bit. My mood and physique both benefited immensely from the strenuous physical demands I placed on my body. I look forward to reestablishing these routines when I get back in April.
Joe and I made it back from our healthy dinner in time to see both openers. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the first openers, Island View Drive, but they were an instrumentally tight pseudo-Indie rock band. The second openers, Empty Orchestra, were really up my alley: blues-based hard rock. They looked really rockin', too:
Tally Hall's performance went pretty well, though somehow the microphone on Rob’s guitar managed to have its cable severed in half. Seth, our intrepid house sound guy, jumped right in and got things going again, thank goodness. Losing Rob’s guitar for a song or two, however, was the least of my worries. I found rather quickly that the sound board at this club had some serious problems. Frustratingly, the problems were serious as far as operation was concerned, but to repair them would have taken nothing more than a can or two of electrical contact cleaner and an afternoon. Allow me to describe the symptoms of a dirty fader*. When you move the fader along its track, bringing up, say, the lead vocal, you will reach a point where the lead vocal, instead of increasing in volume the way you would expect, drops out completely. As you might imagine, this is immensely frustrating.
Sometimes it is possible to get the fader to fix itself by moving it around, but this action almost always causes audible crackling, not the most desirable sound. At one point, try as I might, I could not get the lead vocal to come back, so I resorted to a delicate technique once explained to me by a dear, dear friend. I’ll call it the “eine cable expert**” technique. Having attempted to use more subtle methods to fix your non-functional sound board channel, you apply rapid, violent down-force to the recalcitrant bits. In short, you pound on the sucker until the channel works again. It is really delightful how reliable this method of sound board persuasion can be. Seth came up to find me pounding away on his mixing board and was a little perturbed, but once I demonstrated how effective it was at making broken things function, he backed off.
The band finished the show in extra-special fashion that day; having been inspired by the kind early-Spring weather, they took their acoustic encore (and the audience) out into the world, sitting in a circle in the parking lot across the street and playing “Here Comes the Sun” as the sun came down. I didn’t stay to see it, preferring instead to begin taking down the stage so we could make it back to Ann Arbor that much earlier.
We loaded out pretty quickly and got all the gear crammed into the Sprinter’s cargo space with a minimum of injury or grunting.
We’re almost at the hotel. We’ve got to make a quick pit stop to get Joe, who flew into Albany an hour or so ago. If I’ve posted this on 4/8, it means that there’s wireless internet at the hotel. If it’s later, it means that there’s wireless internet at some other hotel. If I’ve posted this earlier, it means that the space-time continuum has a rupture in it and the universe is over. Long live the universe.
*For those of you asking, “What’s a fader” (hi, Mom), allow me to explain. In general, the fader on a sound board controls the level of its given instrument in the main mix. Unlike the rotary volume controls on your stereo, a fader is linear in appearance. A less common synonym you may be familiar with is “slider.”
**To be said in a German accent.
4.02.2008
Back to the Highway
Michigan TV show in our home away from hotel this tour, a dark blue Dodge Sprinter. The guys are on a conference call about something or other. I’ve become used to these moments of absurdity, sitting in the van, listening to half of a discussion. It’s fun to make up the dialogue in between what the people I’m sitting next to are saying.
(in the van) “Isn’t that how all bands do it?”
(in my head) “No, Bill, not all bands make a record out of cole slaw. You just can’t do that. I’d suggest making one out of cranberry orange relish. I think the sonic properties of hardened relish will really bring out the background harmonies, and the orange flavor will add a delightful ‘tang’ to the mix.”
(in the van) “Well, I guess if you can make a case for it, but I’m still not convinced.”
And it goes like that. Sometimes for 25 minutes at a time. Still other times, I just stare out the window and watch the USA pass by. It’s funny how similar this Michigan highway looks to the Mass Pike. It’s just long stretches of not very much but scrubby, scruffy, trees.
Last night, we did a show at the Michigan Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, MI. The Union Ballroom is a pretty large space about twice the size of the Reed College Student Union. It’s got a very classy feel, with white walls and light wood accents, a big fireplace, and nice-looking bay windows. Hopefully I’ll be able to snag some pictures from the band and audience to either post here or link to, but I was preoccupied with making things sound good.
A big change for us was having an outside production company come in with a sound and lighting package. As a production person, I’ve got to say that this was the best rig we’ve seen by far, purely from a gear standpoint. Furthermore, the whole crew from Allen Audio was super fun to work with. Bill helped Toby take care of the stage duties and mixed monitors for the openers, Toby mixed Tally Hall’s monitors, having a pretty good first gig doing monitors on a digital mixing board. Jeff made the lights look really pretty. I’m seriously bummed I didn’t get any pictures of the looks he had for the songs, because by-and-large they were totally spot on. Last, but certainly not least, Mark Allen (he puts the “Allen” in “Allen Audio”) made it his business to keep me happy at Front of House. He walked me through making the unfamiliar digital sound board my friend, and catered to my every whim, including messing with his system presets to give the subwoofers a little more gut thump, a key quality when trying to get people to shake their booties.
I woke up super early yesterday, especially considering how exhausted I’d been and the fact that I’m still on West coast time. Rob dropped me off at the Union Ballroom around 11 and I went in to help Mark &co. finish setting up. I built some truss, something I haven’t done since my days with the Oregon Convention Center, did some little rigging, hung some motors, and then tried to stay out of the way as the well oiled machine that is Allen Audio got its rock on. Around 12:30, the band showed up with the backline and we loaded it in up the stairs into the ballroom.
We futzed around with stuff for a while, got set on stage, and I dialed up some monitors with Toby. Then we got the band up and we had a soundcheck. For those of you wondering how that goes, let me give you an idea:
Each instrument has a microphone on it, or else it plugs directly into the PA system. We get the band onstage and, speaking to them through their monitors, I ask them to play each instrument, starting with the kick drum and going on up in order through the vocals. The order is decided both by convention. Basically, you build up from the rhythm section to the lead parts, so the drums and bass go first, followed by all of the other instruments. After the instruments come the vocals. Soundcheck is pretty much my only opportunity to hear each instrument individually, so I take a little time with each channel to ensure that each one is receiving a clean signal (i.e. without hums, buzzes, hisses or pops) and each one will tonally fit in the mix.
As I go through the instruments, the band members ask for more or less of each instrument to be added to their individual mix. In order to test the sound, the band plays a few bars of a few different songs to be sure there is enough of each instrument. I also play around a little with the tones, trying to give each instrument its own spot in the mix. This is especially hard with the guitars and keyboards in this band because they change tone so much throughout the show. For example, on one song Joe’s guitar may be quiet, reserved and swooshy, Rob’s guitar chunky and Andrew’s keyboards sparkly. Then one song later, Joe’s guitar is distorted and dark, Rob’s guitar is zippy and honky and Andrew’s keyboards are thumpy and bassy. This is one of many aspects of Tally Hall that makes it a fun challenge for me at the mixing console. This tonal variability means that I can’t be too extreme with my tonal adjustment, or people will miss the subtleties of the show.
After soundcheck, the band and I, along with a bunch of their friends, spent about an hour blowing up a bazillion balloons to decorate the room. The overall effect of our decoration and the extensive production was one of smile-inducing juxtaposition: bundles of balloons standing next to high-tech looking truss, futuristic lights, and scary black speaker boxes. After decoration hour, we hung out in our green room for a little while. I took the opportunity to call my special lady and my parents and to pace out my nerves. I really like talking to home people just before a show; it re-adjusts my focus by getting my brain to work on something that’s not noisemaking.
I met lots of awesome people last night. Among them were Moe and Keith from the band “Bellicose.” Bellicose is a funky rockin’ hip hop band. I haven’t heard them yet, but I’ll be sure to make sure to post links when I find ‘em. Keith is the bass player and reminded me, on first meeting, of Scott Pemberton, my guitar teacher. Scott is a singular talent; a guitar player with a voice all his own, and a teacher with a great feel for making his students comfortable. His best known project was Triclops, an organ trio with an undeniably funky vibe. My favorite Pemberton band, however, will always be Conanza. Conaza is an art rock band for funkheaded geeks. It started as an art project, essentially, with Scott, drummer Micah Kassel and bass player Norm “Large Curd” Buccola. The three dudes would get together in Scott’s studio on Wednesday nights to write, arrange and record at least 2 songs. I engineered a few weeks worth of sessions and they were some of the most rewarding learning experiences I’ve had. To be in a room with creative dudes like that while they made music was truly electric.
I just looked out the window at a water tower that reads “Portland.” Who knew I was so close to home.
Scott is the reason I’m a professional sound guy today, having given me my first “professional” sound gig at the Goodfoot. Together with Ji Tanzer, we ran an open mic at the Goodfoot for about 2 years (Summer ’05 thru Spring ’07). As a formative experience in a sound guy’s career, the Goodfoot was great. They had just enough gear that I couldn’t get in trouble, but not enough that I could be complacent. Also, they had really interesting acts, so I was able to learn to mic a whole lot of cool instruments, from the in-house Hammond B3 to Nigerian talking drums, accordions and violins to sitars and pan pipes. A very cool place for a budding sound guy to get some basics. Our post-Goodfoot sessions on my front porch definitely formed the basis of a mixing and being philosophy that I think I practice to this day.
Thinking about Scott Pemberton brought the Meters back to my playlist, so as we cruise down the Motor City highways, I’m bopping my head to some heavy Louisiana swamp funk. These guys must be as close to the Platonic form of “funky” as anyone can be.
Production Geek Time!
Production for the show was provided by Allen Audio, a local sound and lighting company. The main speakers were EV XLCs, a really nice sounding, affordable line array cabinet. For those who don’t speak sound guy, line arrays are a type of loudspeaker cabinet characterized by even coverage across all frequencies at all areas of coverage. Basically, where it makes stuff loud, it makes bass, mid and treble loud evenly and predictably. These qualities are desirable because they make it much easier to shoot sound directly at the audience, instead of at walls, floors, ceiling or sky. Line array speakers also tend to have a very narrow band of vertical coverage so that when you stack a bunch of them together, if you hook them up correctly, you can ensure even coverage from the front of the room to the back. Sound guys call this “shading.”
The FOH console (main sound board) for this show was a 48 channel Yamaha M7CL. The M7CL provides a whole lot of processing power in a very small package. In footprint that would normally only accommodate a 24 channel mixer with effects or signal processing, the M7CL accommodates 48 channels and a seemingly unlimited number of effects, signal processing, and output routing options. Of course, being a Yamaha, the M7CL is a very utilitarian product. If it were a car, it would be a Honda Accord; it’s got lots of nice features, but none of them are spectacular, it’s fairly easy to get the hang of and it can go somewhat fast, but won’t break any land speed records. Don’t get the wrong impression, I liked the M7CL, but I still prefer the Digidesign Venue we have at the sound company.
For microphones, we used Allen Audio’s Shure beta98s on Ross’ toms and bongos. Beta98s are miniature condensor microphones, which clamp onto the rims of drums. Unlike the Audix clamps we’d been using the last tour (and will use again this tour), the mostly 98s stay where you put them once you place them. I say “mostly,” because the bongo microphone fell off halfway through Praise You. We also tried something new on Ross’ kick drum: instead of just putting the D6 inside of the kick, I laid a Shure Beta91 inside of Ross’ kick and stuck the D6 in the hole. This allowed me to better capture both the oomph of the shell of the drum and the crack of the beater hitting the head. I really liked this combination. We also tried using a microphone on Zubin’s bass in addition to the normal DI, and to great effect. I found that I got a little more roundness out of the bass.
I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this job with these people. Returning to Ann Arbor, while I’d only been there the one time, felt very comfortable. The week I’d been away suddenly felt like a very long time, and the band members each greeted me as though we’d been away from each other for longer than we had. I think my return signaled the beginning of a new tour for them, and so things were happy. Touring seems to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it’s great to trade the concerns of home for a singular purpose and a regimented schedule, on the other, it is difficult to be away from the ones you care about and the places that feel comfortable.
The TV show is all done now. Remember the TV show we were going to do? Yeah, all done. We drove 2 hours there and are in the process of driving the 2 back, all so people could point cameras at the band and have them play an acoustic version of the single for five minutes. The things we do for rock and roll.
(in the van) “Isn’t that how all bands do it?”
(in my head) “No, Bill, not all bands make a record out of cole slaw. You just can’t do that. I’d suggest making one out of cranberry orange relish. I think the sonic properties of hardened relish will really bring out the background harmonies, and the orange flavor will add a delightful ‘tang’ to the mix.”
(in the van) “Well, I guess if you can make a case for it, but I’m still not convinced.”
And it goes like that. Sometimes for 25 minutes at a time. Still other times, I just stare out the window and watch the USA pass by. It’s funny how similar this Michigan highway looks to the Mass Pike. It’s just long stretches of not very much but scrubby, scruffy, trees.
Last night, we did a show at the Michigan Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, MI. The Union Ballroom is a pretty large space about twice the size of the Reed College Student Union. It’s got a very classy feel, with white walls and light wood accents, a big fireplace, and nice-looking bay windows. Hopefully I’ll be able to snag some pictures from the band and audience to either post here or link to, but I was preoccupied with making things sound good.
A big change for us was having an outside production company come in with a sound and lighting package. As a production person, I’ve got to say that this was the best rig we’ve seen by far, purely from a gear standpoint. Furthermore, the whole crew from Allen Audio was super fun to work with. Bill helped Toby take care of the stage duties and mixed monitors for the openers, Toby mixed Tally Hall’s monitors, having a pretty good first gig doing monitors on a digital mixing board. Jeff made the lights look really pretty. I’m seriously bummed I didn’t get any pictures of the looks he had for the songs, because by-and-large they were totally spot on. Last, but certainly not least, Mark Allen (he puts the “Allen” in “Allen Audio”) made it his business to keep me happy at Front of House. He walked me through making the unfamiliar digital sound board my friend, and catered to my every whim, including messing with his system presets to give the subwoofers a little more gut thump, a key quality when trying to get people to shake their booties.
I woke up super early yesterday, especially considering how exhausted I’d been and the fact that I’m still on West coast time. Rob dropped me off at the Union Ballroom around 11 and I went in to help Mark &co. finish setting up. I built some truss, something I haven’t done since my days with the Oregon Convention Center, did some little rigging, hung some motors, and then tried to stay out of the way as the well oiled machine that is Allen Audio got its rock on. Around 12:30, the band showed up with the backline and we loaded it in up the stairs into the ballroom.
We futzed around with stuff for a while, got set on stage, and I dialed up some monitors with Toby. Then we got the band up and we had a soundcheck. For those of you wondering how that goes, let me give you an idea:
Each instrument has a microphone on it, or else it plugs directly into the PA system. We get the band onstage and, speaking to them through their monitors, I ask them to play each instrument, starting with the kick drum and going on up in order through the vocals. The order is decided both by convention. Basically, you build up from the rhythm section to the lead parts, so the drums and bass go first, followed by all of the other instruments. After the instruments come the vocals. Soundcheck is pretty much my only opportunity to hear each instrument individually, so I take a little time with each channel to ensure that each one is receiving a clean signal (i.e. without hums, buzzes, hisses or pops) and each one will tonally fit in the mix.
As I go through the instruments, the band members ask for more or less of each instrument to be added to their individual mix. In order to test the sound, the band plays a few bars of a few different songs to be sure there is enough of each instrument. I also play around a little with the tones, trying to give each instrument its own spot in the mix. This is especially hard with the guitars and keyboards in this band because they change tone so much throughout the show. For example, on one song Joe’s guitar may be quiet, reserved and swooshy, Rob’s guitar chunky and Andrew’s keyboards sparkly. Then one song later, Joe’s guitar is distorted and dark, Rob’s guitar is zippy and honky and Andrew’s keyboards are thumpy and bassy. This is one of many aspects of Tally Hall that makes it a fun challenge for me at the mixing console. This tonal variability means that I can’t be too extreme with my tonal adjustment, or people will miss the subtleties of the show.
After soundcheck, the band and I, along with a bunch of their friends, spent about an hour blowing up a bazillion balloons to decorate the room. The overall effect of our decoration and the extensive production was one of smile-inducing juxtaposition: bundles of balloons standing next to high-tech looking truss, futuristic lights, and scary black speaker boxes. After decoration hour, we hung out in our green room for a little while. I took the opportunity to call my special lady and my parents and to pace out my nerves. I really like talking to home people just before a show; it re-adjusts my focus by getting my brain to work on something that’s not noisemaking.
I met lots of awesome people last night. Among them were Moe and Keith from the band “Bellicose.” Bellicose is a funky rockin’ hip hop band. I haven’t heard them yet, but I’ll be sure to make sure to post links when I find ‘em. Keith is the bass player and reminded me, on first meeting, of Scott Pemberton, my guitar teacher. Scott is a singular talent; a guitar player with a voice all his own, and a teacher with a great feel for making his students comfortable. His best known project was Triclops, an organ trio with an undeniably funky vibe. My favorite Pemberton band, however, will always be Conanza. Conaza is an art rock band for funkheaded geeks. It started as an art project, essentially, with Scott, drummer Micah Kassel and bass player Norm “Large Curd” Buccola. The three dudes would get together in Scott’s studio on Wednesday nights to write, arrange and record at least 2 songs. I engineered a few weeks worth of sessions and they were some of the most rewarding learning experiences I’ve had. To be in a room with creative dudes like that while they made music was truly electric.
I just looked out the window at a water tower that reads “Portland.” Who knew I was so close to home.
Scott is the reason I’m a professional sound guy today, having given me my first “professional” sound gig at the Goodfoot. Together with Ji Tanzer, we ran an open mic at the Goodfoot for about 2 years (Summer ’05 thru Spring ’07). As a formative experience in a sound guy’s career, the Goodfoot was great. They had just enough gear that I couldn’t get in trouble, but not enough that I could be complacent. Also, they had really interesting acts, so I was able to learn to mic a whole lot of cool instruments, from the in-house Hammond B3 to Nigerian talking drums, accordions and violins to sitars and pan pipes. A very cool place for a budding sound guy to get some basics. Our post-Goodfoot sessions on my front porch definitely formed the basis of a mixing and being philosophy that I think I practice to this day.
Thinking about Scott Pemberton brought the Meters back to my playlist, so as we cruise down the Motor City highways, I’m bopping my head to some heavy Louisiana swamp funk. These guys must be as close to the Platonic form of “funky” as anyone can be.
Production Geek Time!
Production for the show was provided by Allen Audio, a local sound and lighting company. The main speakers were EV XLCs, a really nice sounding, affordable line array cabinet. For those who don’t speak sound guy, line arrays are a type of loudspeaker cabinet characterized by even coverage across all frequencies at all areas of coverage. Basically, where it makes stuff loud, it makes bass, mid and treble loud evenly and predictably. These qualities are desirable because they make it much easier to shoot sound directly at the audience, instead of at walls, floors, ceiling or sky. Line array speakers also tend to have a very narrow band of vertical coverage so that when you stack a bunch of them together, if you hook them up correctly, you can ensure even coverage from the front of the room to the back. Sound guys call this “shading.”
The FOH console (main sound board) for this show was a 48 channel Yamaha M7CL. The M7CL provides a whole lot of processing power in a very small package. In footprint that would normally only accommodate a 24 channel mixer with effects or signal processing, the M7CL accommodates 48 channels and a seemingly unlimited number of effects, signal processing, and output routing options. Of course, being a Yamaha, the M7CL is a very utilitarian product. If it were a car, it would be a Honda Accord; it’s got lots of nice features, but none of them are spectacular, it’s fairly easy to get the hang of and it can go somewhat fast, but won’t break any land speed records. Don’t get the wrong impression, I liked the M7CL, but I still prefer the Digidesign Venue we have at the sound company.
For microphones, we used Allen Audio’s Shure beta98s on Ross’ toms and bongos. Beta98s are miniature condensor microphones, which clamp onto the rims of drums. Unlike the Audix clamps we’d been using the last tour (and will use again this tour), the mostly 98s stay where you put them once you place them. I say “mostly,” because the bongo microphone fell off halfway through Praise You. We also tried something new on Ross’ kick drum: instead of just putting the D6 inside of the kick, I laid a Shure Beta91 inside of Ross’ kick and stuck the D6 in the hole. This allowed me to better capture both the oomph of the shell of the drum and the crack of the beater hitting the head. I really liked this combination. We also tried using a microphone on Zubin’s bass in addition to the normal DI, and to great effect. I found that I got a little more roundness out of the bass.
I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this job with these people. Returning to Ann Arbor, while I’d only been there the one time, felt very comfortable. The week I’d been away suddenly felt like a very long time, and the band members each greeted me as though we’d been away from each other for longer than we had. I think my return signaled the beginning of a new tour for them, and so things were happy. Touring seems to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it’s great to trade the concerns of home for a singular purpose and a regimented schedule, on the other, it is difficult to be away from the ones you care about and the places that feel comfortable.
The TV show is all done now. Remember the TV show we were going to do? Yeah, all done. We drove 2 hours there and are in the process of driving the 2 back, all so people could point cameras at the band and have them play an acoustic version of the single for five minutes. The things we do for rock and roll.
Still alive
Sincerest apologies for not updating the blog in forever. SXSW really killed my bloggery spirit with late nights and lots of work. Also, we had a really busy last week of tour. Add to that the timely arrival of my special lady during my week off, and you have a recipe for no blogging. I promise I'll start up again now that I'm back out. I've also got some last-tour stuff saved up for you.
3.14.2008
Thread the Needle
We got to Seattle nice and early, so we decided to go do touristy stuff. Joe, Lotje, Rob, Andrew, Ross and I decided to go to the Space Needle, where we paid the $16 to go up and look around. I had been up once before on a trip to Seattle with my mom, but it was nice to see it again. The day was fairly cool and crisp and the view of the Olympics to the West, the Cascades to the East, Mt. Baker to the North and some other mountain to the South was unobstructed and really quite breathtaking. By the time we’d all gotten down and we met up with Bora and Zubin again, it was time to go to the venue. However, being hungry, we thought we’d get some food first. Lotje, Joe, Rob, Andrew and I went to a Greek place at the foot of the Needle that was quite tasty. I had the falafel and it was fair. Not as good as the pita place we went to in Phoenix, and a far cry from the deliciousness that was a La Villa pita, but it was passable.
After dinner and some wandering, we headed off to Nectar, the venue for our Seattle show. Nectar is a pretty cool place with a capacity of 450. There’s a modest floor section, which, for our show, was alcohol free, and an ample balcony that wraps around two sides of the upstairs. The stage is located across from the balcony and is raised about 36” off the main floor, and there’s a monitor world/DJ position SR, between the stairs to get up on to the stage and the stage. I wish now that I’d taken more pictures, because it’s rather difficult to describe. The main sound booth was located across the main floor (roughly 25’ away from the downstage edge) and was also raised 3-4 feet. You access the booth via a precarious and narrow set of 3 stairs. It’s a miracle I didn’t smash my face, considering how many times I jumped up and down those steps.
The Greenroom at Nectar’s was a real trip. I guess this is a case of space maximization, but I never thought I’d see a green room in a trailer outside of a big rock festival.
(looks creepier than it is). I didn’t get a shot of the inside, but it was quite nicely appointed once you got used to the idea that you were in a trailer.
Nectar’s sound guy, Brian, is a fellow masshole and a pleasure to work with, he did a yeoman’s work on the monitors while I mixed it up at FOH. People seemed to think we were twins or something. I guess the fact that Nectar had really low lighting was part of it. What do you think?
Brian and I looked similar enough, at least, that my Aunt Peg, who came to the show with my Uncle Chris, tried to get his attention with my name. Obviously, that didn’t really turn out so well.
Speaking of my Aunt and Uncle, it was great to see them. They live a little ways outside of Seattle, so it was really nice of them to show up. Unfortunately, we didn’t connect until the Tally guys were about to go on, and I had a bunch of work to do after the show, so we didn’t really get to hang out at all. It’s hard having friends/family at shows. You never get to hang out with anyone and you’re left feeling like you’ve been a jerk. Of course, it’s hard for most people to be a host to friends at work, I imagine.
Our opening band tonight was a Seattle “supergroup” according to Seattlest. They were called “Awesome.” Awesome was, well, quite awesome. They had great stage presence, getting some for serious gut laughs out of the audience, and playing a really cool brand of multicultural power pop. Someone from the Tally Hall crew got a hold of their cd, and it’s been in consistent rotation on the van stereo. I think I liked the live show more than I like the cd, but they’re both worth checking out.
Tally put on a pretty good show this night, including house bringer downers Freebird and Praise You. Here are some pictures:
The acoustic set was extremely well received tonight, as well. My FOH position was pretty well positioned for some good overhead shots. Here are a few:
Joe, Lotje and I took the van back across town to our hotel and decided to turn in, since our drive to Provo was going to be a long one. Sleep came easily and wakefulness came too soon.
After dinner and some wandering, we headed off to Nectar, the venue for our Seattle show. Nectar is a pretty cool place with a capacity of 450. There’s a modest floor section, which, for our show, was alcohol free, and an ample balcony that wraps around two sides of the upstairs. The stage is located across from the balcony and is raised about 36” off the main floor, and there’s a monitor world/DJ position SR, between the stairs to get up on to the stage and the stage. I wish now that I’d taken more pictures, because it’s rather difficult to describe. The main sound booth was located across the main floor (roughly 25’ away from the downstage edge) and was also raised 3-4 feet. You access the booth via a precarious and narrow set of 3 stairs. It’s a miracle I didn’t smash my face, considering how many times I jumped up and down those steps.
The Greenroom at Nectar’s was a real trip. I guess this is a case of space maximization, but I never thought I’d see a green room in a trailer outside of a big rock festival.
(looks creepier than it is). I didn’t get a shot of the inside, but it was quite nicely appointed once you got used to the idea that you were in a trailer.
Nectar’s sound guy, Brian, is a fellow masshole and a pleasure to work with, he did a yeoman’s work on the monitors while I mixed it up at FOH. People seemed to think we were twins or something. I guess the fact that Nectar had really low lighting was part of it. What do you think?
Brian and I looked similar enough, at least, that my Aunt Peg, who came to the show with my Uncle Chris, tried to get his attention with my name. Obviously, that didn’t really turn out so well.
Speaking of my Aunt and Uncle, it was great to see them. They live a little ways outside of Seattle, so it was really nice of them to show up. Unfortunately, we didn’t connect until the Tally guys were about to go on, and I had a bunch of work to do after the show, so we didn’t really get to hang out at all. It’s hard having friends/family at shows. You never get to hang out with anyone and you’re left feeling like you’ve been a jerk. Of course, it’s hard for most people to be a host to friends at work, I imagine.
Our opening band tonight was a Seattle “supergroup” according to Seattlest. They were called “Awesome.” Awesome was, well, quite awesome. They had great stage presence, getting some for serious gut laughs out of the audience, and playing a really cool brand of multicultural power pop. Someone from the Tally Hall crew got a hold of their cd, and it’s been in consistent rotation on the van stereo. I think I liked the live show more than I like the cd, but they’re both worth checking out.
Tally put on a pretty good show this night, including house bringer downers Freebird and Praise You. Here are some pictures:
The acoustic set was extremely well received tonight, as well. My FOH position was pretty well positioned for some good overhead shots. Here are a few:
Joe, Lotje and I took the van back across town to our hotel and decided to turn in, since our drive to Provo was going to be a long one. Sleep came easily and wakefulness came too soon.
3.10.2008
Home Again
We left San Francisco fairly early on the third and drove all day. Between Weed, CA and Salem, OR were some of the most beautiful vistas I had ever seen. We climbed high, high in the mountains and the dropped out of them into a gorgeous valley. I didn’t take any pictures because I drove pretty much from just North of Weed to Portland. We left San Fran around 10am and they dropped me at my house in Portland at around midnight.
Home
In March ’06 4-5 weeks after I’d adopted Billy, I went to Austin to visit my buddies Evan and Brandon. I’d planned the trip before I got the dog and I was excited to see a new city. Leaving Billy with my friend—and one half of Porchlandia—Tom Wunderlich. Tom took excellent care of the dog, taking him up to Mt. Hood to frolic with other dogs and swim in a lake. It was Tom, as a matter of fact, who first brought Billy’s love affair with water and swimming to my attention. The night of my return from Austin, I went and picked up Billy from Tom’s. Black dog gave me the saltiest, most heartbreaking look I’ve ever seen, as if to say “Oh, it’s you again. D’you really think you can just waltz in and out of my life like this?”
Maybe I was projecting my guilt over leaving, but Billy certainly seemed to avoid close contact with me until he decided I wasn’t going anywhere. I don’t leave town very often, so the Billy’s not really used to me disappearing for long periods of time. Thankfully, he was ecstatic to see me. When I walked in the door, Billy came wagging out of my bedroom, where he’d been sleeping, and wagged so hard that he threw himself onto my feet in the living room. We wrassled and rolled around on the living room carpet for 15-20 minutes before I took him outside for a little walk and play.
After some Billy time, I got a call from my housemate Vance and we went next door for a drink. Eventually, we were joined by my housemate, Will. Will is a production assistant and sound guy at the Crystal Ballroom.
The Basement
After a few drinks, Vance left us for bed, so we all bid goodbye to Andrew, my personal favorite Basement Pub bartender, and Will and I left for the front porch, where we shared a few beers until around 2:30am, when it was time for bed. I woke up the next morning in my own bed and played with the dog. It felt great to be home.
Around 10am, Fidel Gastro and I went to breakfast at Genie’s to celebrate his birthday. I can’t for the life of me remember what we ate or drank, but we had a nice time sitting in the sun shooting the shit and arguing about pretty girls. I resolved to continue my F of R celebration, but never got to the store to make it happen.
I made a quick trip to the sound company to say hello to some people. Talked for a bit with Pete and Dave and snagged a roll of spike tape so we could be sure of where Ross’ drums would end up. It was surprisingly uncomfortable to be back in the place where I’ve spent so many hours laboring and being frustrated. I can safely say that I do not miss 85% of it. The other 15%, though, is precious. We do really fun work some of the time.
Later in the day, I met up with Rosen for coffee and we had a pretty nice time rapping. Rosen is one of the most skilled conversationalists I know. This quality made him infuriating to have in a conference class, but also makes him one of my favorite people to hang out with. I always seem to learn something interesting from Mike. This time, I learned that karma is a bitch. Mike dumped off his bike the day after having a tiff with some drunk asshole. Unfortunately, he effed up his ankle, so he was hobbling a little bit. Nevertheless, Rosen was in good spirits and hooked me up with a book of Hemingway short stories, which I’ve already begun, in defiance of my attempts to stay faithful to one book at a time.
Around the end of my trip to Tiny’s w/Rosen, Fidel Gastro arrived and was kind enough to ferry me to the Roseland for our show tonight. I’m on tour, still, remember? I had almost forgotten, myself. I showed up a little early and, as I was walking up to the venue I received a call from Lotje saying that she and the band were en route from the Nike company store, but that they would be 15-20 minutes late. Fortunately, I had brought my iPod, so I EQ’d the PA to some Robert Randolph (Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That is my favorite track, but the whole Colorblind record is a well produced sonic soul assault) and made nice with Mike, the house guy. It’s really odd that we’d never met before that day, especially in a city with such a small crew community. It was certainly a pleasure to have such an attentive tech available to satisfy my every whim and desire. The gear at the Roseland Grill, though old, was well suited to the room and functioned to my satisfaction with a little bit of tweaking.
The band showed up after a while and after we dumped the trailer and set up the backline, Mike and I went through the wedges and made ‘em sound good. Although the drumfill was a bit of a challenge, I managed to get a nice push of air with each kick of the bass drum. After my “number-calling routine,”* the band took the stage and did a couple of songs. I futzed a little bit and we got done in time to get some food and go to Powell’s for books. I guided a few people up to Powell’s books on Burnside. Powell’s City of Books is one of the largest independent bookstores in the country, occupying almost an entire city block 4-5 stories high with nothing but books.
I decided I’d better avoid Powell’s to keep my suitcase light, so I went on to the Crystal to catch up with my buddies. As I turned the corner at 14th and Burnside, my heart started fluttering the way it does as I walk into my parents’ living room. The Crystal is really my home away from home. I would consider everyone on the production crew at the Crystal a close personal friend. Those of us lucky enough to work there are truly blessed by the humor, caring and loyalty of the people we work with. Few other places make me feel so comfortable.
I said hello to Spencer, the assistant production manager; Jay Podie, the hosp guy; Ben, the stage manager; and my housemate Will. I also got to spend a little time rapping with Dug Carnie, March Fourth’s sound guy. Dug and I met when I was doing sound for Heroes and Villains at the M4 birthday party 2 (has it only been that long?) years ago. Dug is an old school hippy with a couple of monster dreads and is really easy to talk to and geek out with. He used to do sound for a jam band called Leftover Salmon. Dug is the perfect guy to do sound for March Fourth because he is, for all intents and purposes, unflappable. He’s used to not soundchecking and is better able to go with the flow than just about any other sound guy I know. Also, he makes M4 sound huge.
After a little while hanging out at the Crystal, I went back to my tour world and the Roseland. It was truly odd to be so clearly in between two worlds, my home bubble and the circus of the road. When I got back to the Roseland, it was as though I had never been home. I hung out and messed around on the internet in the greenroom and kicked around until the openers were done. I came up and helped the opening band get off stage, something I’ve taken to doing on this tour to expedite our set change. Plus, it feels like good karma to help other people get their job done more quickly. As Mike rewired the stage, I went back to the FOH console and, for the first time in quite a while, I didn’t have to redo my channels from charts.
My best friend, Dan, and his girlfriend, Erin came to the show and stood in the back. It was really nice to see them, even though it was only for a few moments. It’s hard to be both a good host and a good soundguy. I really wanted to have a real conversation with Dan and Erin, but I also have to be attentive to do my job. I think they understood; Dan’s a sound guy who wised up and got a job in the financial sector. Good on him. At least I have someone who can give me advice on how to invest my meager soundguy money. My buddy Morgan also showed up. Morgan is one of a kind, a hilarious dude with what can only be described as a “can-do” attitude. He hung out for the whole show and even bought me a beer after we’d gotten mostly packed.
After packing the van and enjoying some dash amazing desserts provided by a very dedicated pair of Tally Hall fans, we headed for the Crystal Ballroom and arrived just in time to see the second set of March Fourth’s birthday show. It sounded great and I think the band really enjoyed themselves. For those of you who don’t know, March Fourth is a punk rock marching band. In the four last years, they’ve become a Portland institution. There are roughly 30 people in the band itself, but they also travel with stiltwalkers, acrobats, dancers and all other manner of circus crazies. The first big show I mixed was at the Wonder Ballroom on March Fourth’s birthday in 2006. Check them out.
Around 12:30 or 1, we gathered up the band and Lotje and returned to the East side. I decided to go home, while the band went to Voodoo Donuts. I met up with Fidel Gastro and his ladyfriend at the Basement for a few beers and snarky conversation. A fitting end to my happytimes in Portland.
*Thanks to Rob, Tally Hall’s singer/guitarist, for this delightful turn of phrase.
HomeI walked into the house and made a little noise, not sure how the B-DOSC would great me. Mind you, I wasn’t afraid he’d growl or snarl, that’s not his style. Rather, I was nervous I’d get the same treatment I did the first time I left him at home.
In March ’06 4-5 weeks after I’d adopted Billy, I went to Austin to visit my buddies Evan and Brandon. I’d planned the trip before I got the dog and I was excited to see a new city. Leaving Billy with my friend—and one half of Porchlandia—Tom Wunderlich. Tom took excellent care of the dog, taking him up to Mt. Hood to frolic with other dogs and swim in a lake. It was Tom, as a matter of fact, who first brought Billy’s love affair with water and swimming to my attention. The night of my return from Austin, I went and picked up Billy from Tom’s. Black dog gave me the saltiest, most heartbreaking look I’ve ever seen, as if to say “Oh, it’s you again. D’you really think you can just waltz in and out of my life like this?”
Maybe I was projecting my guilt over leaving, but Billy certainly seemed to avoid close contact with me until he decided I wasn’t going anywhere. I don’t leave town very often, so the Billy’s not really used to me disappearing for long periods of time. Thankfully, he was ecstatic to see me. When I walked in the door, Billy came wagging out of my bedroom, where he’d been sleeping, and wagged so hard that he threw himself onto my feet in the living room. We wrassled and rolled around on the living room carpet for 15-20 minutes before I took him outside for a little walk and play.
After some Billy time, I got a call from my housemate Vance and we went next door for a drink. Eventually, we were joined by my housemate, Will. Will is a production assistant and sound guy at the Crystal Ballroom.
The BasementAfter a few drinks, Vance left us for bed, so we all bid goodbye to Andrew, my personal favorite Basement Pub bartender, and Will and I left for the front porch, where we shared a few beers until around 2:30am, when it was time for bed. I woke up the next morning in my own bed and played with the dog. It felt great to be home.
Around 10am, Fidel Gastro and I went to breakfast at Genie’s to celebrate his birthday. I can’t for the life of me remember what we ate or drank, but we had a nice time sitting in the sun shooting the shit and arguing about pretty girls. I resolved to continue my F of R celebration, but never got to the store to make it happen.
I made a quick trip to the sound company to say hello to some people. Talked for a bit with Pete and Dave and snagged a roll of spike tape so we could be sure of where Ross’ drums would end up. It was surprisingly uncomfortable to be back in the place where I’ve spent so many hours laboring and being frustrated. I can safely say that I do not miss 85% of it. The other 15%, though, is precious. We do really fun work some of the time.
Later in the day, I met up with Rosen for coffee and we had a pretty nice time rapping. Rosen is one of the most skilled conversationalists I know. This quality made him infuriating to have in a conference class, but also makes him one of my favorite people to hang out with. I always seem to learn something interesting from Mike. This time, I learned that karma is a bitch. Mike dumped off his bike the day after having a tiff with some drunk asshole. Unfortunately, he effed up his ankle, so he was hobbling a little bit. Nevertheless, Rosen was in good spirits and hooked me up with a book of Hemingway short stories, which I’ve already begun, in defiance of my attempts to stay faithful to one book at a time.
Around the end of my trip to Tiny’s w/Rosen, Fidel Gastro arrived and was kind enough to ferry me to the Roseland for our show tonight. I’m on tour, still, remember? I had almost forgotten, myself. I showed up a little early and, as I was walking up to the venue I received a call from Lotje saying that she and the band were en route from the Nike company store, but that they would be 15-20 minutes late. Fortunately, I had brought my iPod, so I EQ’d the PA to some Robert Randolph (Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That is my favorite track, but the whole Colorblind record is a well produced sonic soul assault) and made nice with Mike, the house guy. It’s really odd that we’d never met before that day, especially in a city with such a small crew community. It was certainly a pleasure to have such an attentive tech available to satisfy my every whim and desire. The gear at the Roseland Grill, though old, was well suited to the room and functioned to my satisfaction with a little bit of tweaking.
The band showed up after a while and after we dumped the trailer and set up the backline, Mike and I went through the wedges and made ‘em sound good. Although the drumfill was a bit of a challenge, I managed to get a nice push of air with each kick of the bass drum. After my “number-calling routine,”* the band took the stage and did a couple of songs. I futzed a little bit and we got done in time to get some food and go to Powell’s for books. I guided a few people up to Powell’s books on Burnside. Powell’s City of Books is one of the largest independent bookstores in the country, occupying almost an entire city block 4-5 stories high with nothing but books.
I decided I’d better avoid Powell’s to keep my suitcase light, so I went on to the Crystal to catch up with my buddies. As I turned the corner at 14th and Burnside, my heart started fluttering the way it does as I walk into my parents’ living room. The Crystal is really my home away from home. I would consider everyone on the production crew at the Crystal a close personal friend. Those of us lucky enough to work there are truly blessed by the humor, caring and loyalty of the people we work with. Few other places make me feel so comfortable.
I said hello to Spencer, the assistant production manager; Jay Podie, the hosp guy; Ben, the stage manager; and my housemate Will. I also got to spend a little time rapping with Dug Carnie, March Fourth’s sound guy. Dug and I met when I was doing sound for Heroes and Villains at the M4 birthday party 2 (has it only been that long?) years ago. Dug is an old school hippy with a couple of monster dreads and is really easy to talk to and geek out with. He used to do sound for a jam band called Leftover Salmon. Dug is the perfect guy to do sound for March Fourth because he is, for all intents and purposes, unflappable. He’s used to not soundchecking and is better able to go with the flow than just about any other sound guy I know. Also, he makes M4 sound huge.
After a little while hanging out at the Crystal, I went back to my tour world and the Roseland. It was truly odd to be so clearly in between two worlds, my home bubble and the circus of the road. When I got back to the Roseland, it was as though I had never been home. I hung out and messed around on the internet in the greenroom and kicked around until the openers were done. I came up and helped the opening band get off stage, something I’ve taken to doing on this tour to expedite our set change. Plus, it feels like good karma to help other people get their job done more quickly. As Mike rewired the stage, I went back to the FOH console and, for the first time in quite a while, I didn’t have to redo my channels from charts.
My best friend, Dan, and his girlfriend, Erin came to the show and stood in the back. It was really nice to see them, even though it was only for a few moments. It’s hard to be both a good host and a good soundguy. I really wanted to have a real conversation with Dan and Erin, but I also have to be attentive to do my job. I think they understood; Dan’s a sound guy who wised up and got a job in the financial sector. Good on him. At least I have someone who can give me advice on how to invest my meager soundguy money. My buddy Morgan also showed up. Morgan is one of a kind, a hilarious dude with what can only be described as a “can-do” attitude. He hung out for the whole show and even bought me a beer after we’d gotten mostly packed.
After packing the van and enjoying some dash amazing desserts provided by a very dedicated pair of Tally Hall fans, we headed for the Crystal Ballroom and arrived just in time to see the second set of March Fourth’s birthday show. It sounded great and I think the band really enjoyed themselves. For those of you who don’t know, March Fourth is a punk rock marching band. In the four last years, they’ve become a Portland institution. There are roughly 30 people in the band itself, but they also travel with stiltwalkers, acrobats, dancers and all other manner of circus crazies. The first big show I mixed was at the Wonder Ballroom on March Fourth’s birthday in 2006. Check them out.
Around 12:30 or 1, we gathered up the band and Lotje and returned to the East side. I decided to go home, while the band went to Voodoo Donuts. I met up with Fidel Gastro and his ladyfriend at the Basement for a few beers and snarky conversation. A fitting end to my happytimes in Portland.
*Thanks to Rob, Tally Hall’s singer/guitarist, for this delightful turn of phrase.
3.07.2008
Sound Monkey Section #1: Input Devices
Taking a page out of the book of Rat, I’m going to geek out a little bit. If you’re not interested, there should be normal people posts up in a few days.
When I picked out the gear I’d travel with for this tour, I geared it toward the types of venues we’d be playing, small places where each band member would probably have one wedge monitor and phantom power could not be counted on. Ordinarily, I’m not that much of a gear snob, I'm not unwilling to try gear that has a bad reputation (e.g. Mackie, Beringer). Rather, since we were going to be in lots of different kinds of venues, I wanted to be able to hold as many of the variables constant as I could. Therefore, I’m carrying a full compliment of DI’s, a drum mic pack and, thanks to a recent shipment from Sennheiser, all of our vocal mics.
For drum mics, I’ve got an Audix d6 for the kick, Audix d2, d3 and d4 for the toms, a Shure beta57 for the snare, and a matched pair of Røde NT-5s for overheads or hi hat.
I really like the sound of the D6, it’s got plenty of thump while also retaining a nice high end definition that's more of a snap than a click. I learned a new trick at the Troubadour; Frank, one of the house sound guys, showed me that you can get a surprisingly good kick sound by just laying the D6 inside of the kick drum.
The tom mics, however, are sometimes a bit of a challenge. The d2, d3 and d4 sound good enough, but the clamp mounts that Audix provides with them aren’t really up to snuff as far as I’m concerned. Where my snare mic clamps down with a big hunk of latex-sheathed rolled steel, the toms are held to the rim of the drums by a spring and a couple of pieces of hard plastic. Also, the goosenecks seem to drift a lot.
The beta57 is a great mic for snare, it gets a nice snap and is pretty much indestructible. I like the sound of the sm57 a tad more, but for Ross’ kit I think the beta was the best choice, since it grabs a little more “spang” from the snare drum and, on gigs where we don’t have a hi hat mic, its supercardioid pattern picks up just enough of the hi hat to make me happy. I use an LP claw to clamp the microphone directly to the drum, rather than relying on mic stands.
The Rode NT-5s haven’t gotten very much use so far. I used one as a hi hat mic in San Diego, but there weren’t enough working mic cables in the club to accommodate our channels so I ditched it in favor of Rob’s vocal.
While I hadn’t used the Sennheiser e935s we’re rocking before this tour (and had actually had a negative experience with the e835s), I was eager to try them since I’d heard them used to great effect with Robert Randolph and the Family Band. The 935 has a nice clean vocal sound and cuts quite well in a loud room, as today’s was. It’s also pretty snazzy looking.
I've also got a bunch of Whirlwind IMP passive DIs. I don't particularly like the IMPs but, because a lot of songs depend on samples, it was important that I be sure to have working DIs.
I’m also carrying a workbox, which contains:
iPod charger and signal cables
XLR and ¼” adapters
Solder and soldering iron
Vice grips, pliers, jeweler’s screwdrivers, Allen set
Edison outlet tester (mouse)
Multitester
Edison ground lifts
Purple custom folder with cutsheets and setlists
Headphones
Aleve
When I picked out the gear I’d travel with for this tour, I geared it toward the types of venues we’d be playing, small places where each band member would probably have one wedge monitor and phantom power could not be counted on. Ordinarily, I’m not that much of a gear snob, I'm not unwilling to try gear that has a bad reputation (e.g. Mackie, Beringer). Rather, since we were going to be in lots of different kinds of venues, I wanted to be able to hold as many of the variables constant as I could. Therefore, I’m carrying a full compliment of DI’s, a drum mic pack and, thanks to a recent shipment from Sennheiser, all of our vocal mics.
For drum mics, I’ve got an Audix d6 for the kick, Audix d2, d3 and d4 for the toms, a Shure beta57 for the snare, and a matched pair of Røde NT-5s for overheads or hi hat.
I really like the sound of the D6, it’s got plenty of thump while also retaining a nice high end definition that's more of a snap than a click. I learned a new trick at the Troubadour; Frank, one of the house sound guys, showed me that you can get a surprisingly good kick sound by just laying the D6 inside of the kick drum.
The tom mics, however, are sometimes a bit of a challenge. The d2, d3 and d4 sound good enough, but the clamp mounts that Audix provides with them aren’t really up to snuff as far as I’m concerned. Where my snare mic clamps down with a big hunk of latex-sheathed rolled steel, the toms are held to the rim of the drums by a spring and a couple of pieces of hard plastic. Also, the goosenecks seem to drift a lot.
The beta57 is a great mic for snare, it gets a nice snap and is pretty much indestructible. I like the sound of the sm57 a tad more, but for Ross’ kit I think the beta was the best choice, since it grabs a little more “spang” from the snare drum and, on gigs where we don’t have a hi hat mic, its supercardioid pattern picks up just enough of the hi hat to make me happy. I use an LP claw to clamp the microphone directly to the drum, rather than relying on mic stands.The Rode NT-5s haven’t gotten very much use so far. I used one as a hi hat mic in San Diego, but there weren’t enough working mic cables in the club to accommodate our channels so I ditched it in favor of Rob’s vocal.
While I hadn’t used the Sennheiser e935s we’re rocking before this tour (and had actually had a negative experience with the e835s), I was eager to try them since I’d heard them used to great effect with Robert Randolph and the Family Band. The 935 has a nice clean vocal sound and cuts quite well in a loud room, as today’s was. It’s also pretty snazzy looking.
I've also got a bunch of Whirlwind IMP passive DIs. I don't particularly like the IMPs but, because a lot of songs depend on samples, it was important that I be sure to have working DIs.
I’m also carrying a workbox, which contains:
iPod charger and signal cables
XLR and ¼” adapters
Solder and soldering iron
Vice grips, pliers, jeweler’s screwdrivers, Allen set
Edison outlet tester (mouse)
Multitester
Edison ground lifts
Purple custom folder with cutsheets and setlists
Headphones
Aleve
3.04.2008
Booty and the Beast
We had a fairly long drive on short sleep to make it to the show today at The Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. After finishing load-out from the Troubadour around 2am, I drove the van back to the hotel, where we had a little adventure finding parking. Turns out the LA marathon is today and the street we were going to park on had become a dead end due to marathon preparations. Cool, huh? (Warning: Not cool)
Turning the van and trailer around on the narrow street with cars parked on both sides was not an easy proposition. Luckily, with an assist from a really nice security guard for the hotel and Lotje, our superstar TM, and a creative interpretation of the traffic laws, I got us parked in a nice spot right in front of the hotel, pointed out of the one-way.
By the time we all piled out of the van and made it up to our rooms it was close to 2am. Lotje and I, still pretty excited about the Troubadour gig, hung out in our room for a bit and had a drink. It was nice to unwind a little bit after a hectic but stressful day.
Our alarm went off at 6:30 this morning and we were all out of our rooms and on the road by 7:15am. Go us. Blech. Not much to say about the drive from LA to SF, except that it was pretty long and boring. I didn’t get any pictures of the trip because my camera rode in my gig bag from last night. There are some really spectacular wind farms as you get close to SF. The view from the Bay Bridge was lovely, it was a bright, warm, clear day, so we could see Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t recognize.
We arrived in town about an hour before load-in and checked into the hotel. San Francisco was the show I’d been anticipating the most because Rachel, my special lady, lives in Berkeley. It’d been almost 6 weeks since she visited me in Portland and I was starting to go through some serious Rachel withdrawal. She met us at the hotel before load-in and accompanied us for the rest of the day until she and I were able to steal away and have some romance time. It’s always weird to include an outsider in a well-oiled machine like ours (warning: irony), but my lady is an expert at being quietly supportive on gigs and staying out of the way.
Load-in went quickly and we got pretty much set while Tilly and the Wall soundchecked. The house sound guys were incredibly nice. Waldo and Freeway were really accommodating about our extra inputs and vocals and even moved Tilly and the Wall’s backdrop to allow facilitate the projection portion of the show. Tilly and the Wall’s show involves a lot of tapdance, including a multi-mic’d tap platform placed where a drum riser would normally go.
While I think the tap platform is a really cool idea, their inability to remove it from the stage, or even to move it to one side, made our setup a little complicated. Ross set his drumkit stage right and everyone shifted around. Tally Hall definitely is an exception to the bands who seem to need to have everything the consistent night in and night out in order to have a good show; they adapted beautifully to the changed lineup and played an awesome show. Although they went without playing the acoustic portion, normally my favorite time since it presents the band without the security blanket/intermediary of a sound system or real lighting, I enjoyed the show and was mostly satisfied with the job I did. The new vocal mics are awesome. They cut through the mix as well as advertised and have a slightly reduced proximity effect, so that, unlike an SM58, for example, changing your distance from the microphone doesn’t result in sweeping low-end shift.
Our soundcheck went well enough and fairly quickly, and Bora got our deads stashed in the back room so by the time doors were open we were all ready to go. I charted my channels—or at least I thought I did (more on that later)—and we got our wristbands and bailed. Rachel and I went on a nice walk through the neighborhood surrounding Rickshaw Stop and had a little snack before the show. It feels odd to have to catch up with someone with whom I’ve been so close. Seems like we should just each know what the other is up to. Catching up was good, though, and I’m thankful for every moment we had together over the last two days.
When we got back to the venue, I ran into the guys from Capgun Coup, whom we’d shard a date with in Phoenix. Turns out my old friend Becca is their contact with their label, Team Love. They say she said to say hi. So I say a virtual “hi” back. What’s more, they said she’d be in Austin with them for SXSW in a few days. It’ll be nice to see her again, since it’s been almost 3 years, I think.
The show sounded great out front, I’m starting to get into a rhythm with the show and I’ve have quite a solid feel for how I want the band to sound. The stage sound was apparently a little problematic, since it sounds like I may have mis-charted a couple of important channels Ross needed. Luckily, we got things pretty much worked out by the third song, thanks to some ace running by Bora.
After the show, Waldo, who owns the Rickshaw, helped us get our load-out on through a back-alley door. Everyone pitched in and the van was loaded about 15 minutes after the band got offstage. Most of us piled in and went off in search of parking. Unfortunately, we were turned away several times before we ended up throwing in the towel and driving back to the hotel only to walk back to the venue. Thankfully, there was plenty of parking and a quick hand flapping maneuver by Zubin saved the last double-spot in the hotel lot.
Rachel gets the patience award for waiting out our 45 minute long journey from the alley behind the club back inside. Yeah, my baby’s saintly. After we finished up a couple of last bits of business at the club, Rachel and I headed for dinner. We went to a pizza place called Patxi’s, where Rachel and I had an excellent meal. The pizza was thick-crust Chicago style worthy of Florian in Hyde Park. We both drank Lagunitas Pale Ale. Lagunitas beer is one of a few truly consistent microbrews. I think every one of their beers I’ve had has been excellent. We started with a greek salad, which must have had eight dollars worth of red bell peppers in it. For our pizza, we chose a “special,” which comes topped sausage, mushrooms, peppers and onions. It took a while for our pizza to come, but it was nice to spend a little while gazing into each other’s eyes longingly. The staff was quite nice, smiling and joking both among themselves and with us. It’s nice to have moments of feeling at home even when you’re on the road. Being with my special lady and being treated like old friends by our servers really made my evening. Unfortunately, since I’d slept about 3 hours the night before, by 10 I was pretty much exhausted and started falling asleep at the table. Rachel took the lead and whisked us out and that’s where the story part ends until this morning.
We woke up this morning at around 8 and went to coffee around the corner from our hotel. Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the name of the place, but it was quite nice. The coffee was passable, and worlds better than the Folger’s we’ve seen elsewhere. The croissant and muffin I had were delicious. It’s hard to put into words how nice it was to spend time with my special lady. Breakfast reminded me of a lot of happy Portland mornings last spring. At around 9:45, we headed back to the hotel to check out and say goodbye. That part sucked. And continues to suck. I miss my special lady a whole lot.
I’m listening to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit as I type this on the way to Portland. I did sound for these guys a few weeks before I left home and I really like the music. Jason Isbell was, until just recently, a member of Drive By Truckers. He’s a ripping guitar player and a talented songwriter. Thanks be to Travis for the cd.
Not too many pics today, unfortunately. I need to get better at documenting stuff, but it all seems to pass so quickly that I end up being involved in the action rather than photographing it. Here’s a photo of Rachel’s and my ghetto hotel room, complete with biohazard needle container. Yeah. It was that kind of hotel.
Don't mess with the needle and the spoon, take your trips to the moon, they'll take you away.
-Ronnie Van Zant
Turning the van and trailer around on the narrow street with cars parked on both sides was not an easy proposition. Luckily, with an assist from a really nice security guard for the hotel and Lotje, our superstar TM, and a creative interpretation of the traffic laws, I got us parked in a nice spot right in front of the hotel, pointed out of the one-way.
By the time we all piled out of the van and made it up to our rooms it was close to 2am. Lotje and I, still pretty excited about the Troubadour gig, hung out in our room for a bit and had a drink. It was nice to unwind a little bit after a hectic but stressful day.
Our alarm went off at 6:30 this morning and we were all out of our rooms and on the road by 7:15am. Go us. Blech. Not much to say about the drive from LA to SF, except that it was pretty long and boring. I didn’t get any pictures of the trip because my camera rode in my gig bag from last night. There are some really spectacular wind farms as you get close to SF. The view from the Bay Bridge was lovely, it was a bright, warm, clear day, so we could see Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t recognize.
We arrived in town about an hour before load-in and checked into the hotel. San Francisco was the show I’d been anticipating the most because Rachel, my special lady, lives in Berkeley. It’d been almost 6 weeks since she visited me in Portland and I was starting to go through some serious Rachel withdrawal. She met us at the hotel before load-in and accompanied us for the rest of the day until she and I were able to steal away and have some romance time. It’s always weird to include an outsider in a well-oiled machine like ours (warning: irony), but my lady is an expert at being quietly supportive on gigs and staying out of the way.
Load-in went quickly and we got pretty much set while Tilly and the Wall soundchecked. The house sound guys were incredibly nice. Waldo and Freeway were really accommodating about our extra inputs and vocals and even moved Tilly and the Wall’s backdrop to allow facilitate the projection portion of the show. Tilly and the Wall’s show involves a lot of tapdance, including a multi-mic’d tap platform placed where a drum riser would normally go.
While I think the tap platform is a really cool idea, their inability to remove it from the stage, or even to move it to one side, made our setup a little complicated. Ross set his drumkit stage right and everyone shifted around. Tally Hall definitely is an exception to the bands who seem to need to have everything the consistent night in and night out in order to have a good show; they adapted beautifully to the changed lineup and played an awesome show. Although they went without playing the acoustic portion, normally my favorite time since it presents the band without the security blanket/intermediary of a sound system or real lighting, I enjoyed the show and was mostly satisfied with the job I did. The new vocal mics are awesome. They cut through the mix as well as advertised and have a slightly reduced proximity effect, so that, unlike an SM58, for example, changing your distance from the microphone doesn’t result in sweeping low-end shift.
Our soundcheck went well enough and fairly quickly, and Bora got our deads stashed in the back room so by the time doors were open we were all ready to go. I charted my channels—or at least I thought I did (more on that later)—and we got our wristbands and bailed. Rachel and I went on a nice walk through the neighborhood surrounding Rickshaw Stop and had a little snack before the show. It feels odd to have to catch up with someone with whom I’ve been so close. Seems like we should just each know what the other is up to. Catching up was good, though, and I’m thankful for every moment we had together over the last two days.
When we got back to the venue, I ran into the guys from Capgun Coup, whom we’d shard a date with in Phoenix. Turns out my old friend Becca is their contact with their label, Team Love. They say she said to say hi. So I say a virtual “hi” back. What’s more, they said she’d be in Austin with them for SXSW in a few days. It’ll be nice to see her again, since it’s been almost 3 years, I think.
The show sounded great out front, I’m starting to get into a rhythm with the show and I’ve have quite a solid feel for how I want the band to sound. The stage sound was apparently a little problematic, since it sounds like I may have mis-charted a couple of important channels Ross needed. Luckily, we got things pretty much worked out by the third song, thanks to some ace running by Bora.
After the show, Waldo, who owns the Rickshaw, helped us get our load-out on through a back-alley door. Everyone pitched in and the van was loaded about 15 minutes after the band got offstage. Most of us piled in and went off in search of parking. Unfortunately, we were turned away several times before we ended up throwing in the towel and driving back to the hotel only to walk back to the venue. Thankfully, there was plenty of parking and a quick hand flapping maneuver by Zubin saved the last double-spot in the hotel lot.
Rachel gets the patience award for waiting out our 45 minute long journey from the alley behind the club back inside. Yeah, my baby’s saintly. After we finished up a couple of last bits of business at the club, Rachel and I headed for dinner. We went to a pizza place called Patxi’s, where Rachel and I had an excellent meal. The pizza was thick-crust Chicago style worthy of Florian in Hyde Park. We both drank Lagunitas Pale Ale. Lagunitas beer is one of a few truly consistent microbrews. I think every one of their beers I’ve had has been excellent. We started with a greek salad, which must have had eight dollars worth of red bell peppers in it. For our pizza, we chose a “special,” which comes topped sausage, mushrooms, peppers and onions. It took a while for our pizza to come, but it was nice to spend a little while gazing into each other’s eyes longingly. The staff was quite nice, smiling and joking both among themselves and with us. It’s nice to have moments of feeling at home even when you’re on the road. Being with my special lady and being treated like old friends by our servers really made my evening. Unfortunately, since I’d slept about 3 hours the night before, by 10 I was pretty much exhausted and started falling asleep at the table. Rachel took the lead and whisked us out and that’s where the story part ends until this morning.
We woke up this morning at around 8 and went to coffee around the corner from our hotel. Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the name of the place, but it was quite nice. The coffee was passable, and worlds better than the Folger’s we’ve seen elsewhere. The croissant and muffin I had were delicious. It’s hard to put into words how nice it was to spend time with my special lady. Breakfast reminded me of a lot of happy Portland mornings last spring. At around 9:45, we headed back to the hotel to check out and say goodbye. That part sucked. And continues to suck. I miss my special lady a whole lot.
I’m listening to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit as I type this on the way to Portland. I did sound for these guys a few weeks before I left home and I really like the music. Jason Isbell was, until just recently, a member of Drive By Truckers. He’s a ripping guitar player and a talented songwriter. Thanks be to Travis for the cd.
Not too many pics today, unfortunately. I need to get better at documenting stuff, but it all seems to pass so quickly that I end up being involved in the action rather than photographing it. Here’s a photo of Rachel’s and my ghetto hotel room, complete with biohazard needle container. Yeah. It was that kind of hotel.
Don't mess with the needle and the spoon, take your trips to the moon, they'll take you away.-Ronnie Van Zant
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