The Roadie Show

Finally Rand and I are back doing a real rock show. For the past 2 weeks it’s been nothing but dance recitals and corporate gigs. But today we had a full semi and pro production with the return of Gordon Lightfoot. We have done this gig many times before and we know the road crew pretty well. They run a tight ship and that is just the way we like it. They know where everything goes and they know the right way to tell us what we need to know. We have had several hours of downtime today because everything went so smoothly.

Last night I worked at the Wachovia center for the RUSH show. I was working outside with a local band that did the pre-show festivities. But when they were done, I grabbed a sandwich and sat in the press seats to watch Rush. Their rig was amazing but not overbearing, and they sounded better than ever. I didn’t stay for the whole set, however, because the Soul (arena football) was playing in the Spectrum and Jimmy Buffett was rocking Citizens Bank Park across the street. Madness! I wanted to get out of there before the entire South Philly area was besieged by drunks.

Lots of cool shows coming up! Boy George, Kenny G, Brian Setzer, Coldplay, Radiohead, etc…
Stay tuned!!!

Man, it’s hot outside… Iggs and I have been in full summer mode! We’re doing a lot of dance recitals, graduations, festivals and ethnic events. If you’re into 7 year old’s doing ballet to the story of Alice In Wonderland then you need to come chill with us this month. Lots of kids dressed as animals…

One rock-ish show we’ve done lately was John Densmore’s Tribal Jazz. John Densmore is the drummer from The Doors - and a really nice guy. He seems to have lived a happy life on a beach in California, thriving in a world filled with meditation, drum circles and alternative medicines. He walked into the theatre in sandals and a white cotton smock-like outfit, wearing a gigantic smile. The one thing he didn’t have with him, however, was a drum kit.

No Problem!

It was actually already known that he would need a rented kit. The odd thing was he had no preference as to what kind! Most drummers that rent gear are VERY specific about the gear they play on. We often have a backup kit with a variety of different sized toms and cymbals to choose from. He loved the kit we had rented for him but still needed one thing - drumsticks! Luckily we had a pile of used sticks that were left behind. After picking his favorite pair he got the band together and started jamming. He put on a great show, I recommend checking out Tribal Jazz.

Time to get some rest, working with Gordon Lightfoot, Boz Scaggs and a slew of dancers this week! What a crazy job we have…

Rand and I worked with rock legends “Kansas” on 5/9. This is probably the 3rd or 4th show we’ve done with them. It was a pretty cool day because of the way the work ended up getting staggered throughout the day. We had trucks coming from a lighting company, a sound company, the Kansas tour, and the opening band. Instead of clogging up the whole process by trying to unload 4 trucks at a time, we did it the easy and smart way with some forethought by the promoter…and a little intervention from Mother Nature.

The lighting company showed up right on time at noon. When the sound company truck pulled up at 12:30, the lighting shit was already inside and we had hung and wired up 4 movers on our curtain truss and flown it out. Now we were ready for the sound gear to roll right onstage. Most of Kansas and their road crew were delayed at various airports due to weather in Philly. So when their truck finally arrived, we were able to devote our full attention and energy to getting them loaded in and set up quickly. Even though we were getting a late start with the band gear, we wanted to make sure sound check started on time. None of us wanted to deal with a pissy band member later.

We helped Kansas’ crew and got all their stuff set up before the band arrived. While they did sound check, we loaded in the opening act. They had more shit than Kansas! We had to try to fit them on stage with Kansas’ set. Their drummer had a bigger drum set than Kansas’ and he had his own drum riser! One of the most fun parts of this job is facing these situations and coming up with ideas, compromises, and solutions. I suppose the same is true for any job, but we’re doing it with rock stars.

Well, we had a rockin’ night. I handled spot-light duties while Kansas played their hits to a thrilled, sold-out crowd. I tried to watch the Flyers game at the same time, so my spot light work may have been poor…
Load-out could have been a bit smoother. Kansas’ crew didn’t seem to know how to load their truck. There’s a certain way everything fits and the crew is supposed to memorize it or draw up a pack; a list or actual drawing of how and where all the cases fit in the truck. That way, load-out is quick and orderly. Well, karma bit them in the ass on that one. The driver locked the keys in the truck with the ignition running, lights on, wipers going, and the evenings’ pay…in cash…on the front seat. Awesome!

We got them loaded up and said goodnight. We had cold beers to drink!

Here’s an awesome pic of Rand with a sweet Marshall stack and Hartke 4×10 bass cab we were using as part of “ROSfest.”

We worked with 10 different bands for this “prog-rock” festival. It was 49 hours at work in a 72 hour period, but hey…we were at a music festival, not an office! In between each act, Rand and I and the rest of the crew would head to the stage and get it ready for the next band. We had between 1 1/2 and 2 hours to get them set up and sound-checked so that their set could start on time. Once one band runs late, all the following bands start late. That means our 16 hour day turns into an 18 or 20 hour day. I’ve done those before and it is not fun! Needless to say, our crew rose to the occasion and all 10 acts got started on time. Of course, that doesn’t stop the evenings’ closer from running late. F*#kin’ rock stars!

Chris Brogan is the man. He’s also the Mayor of Podcasting (as coined by the guys at the Best Damn Tech Show during the 1st PodCamp @ Boston). When Mayor Brogan sends out a call to arms, we listen… These calls are usually blog posts, which is nice considering I hate phonecalls. Check out Mayor Brogan’s inspirational blog at www.ChrisBrogan.com to see who I’m talking about!

The Mayor with our own Edyn!

OK, so what was this call to arms? Mayor Brogan wants to read a few new blogs! He’ll even give away free invites to the beta release of GrooveShark if you help him find a cool blog to read! Awesome. I know the perfect blog…

www.RoadieShow.com is the cooolest blog! Iggs and Rand are sooo funny and informative! They bring the average cubicle-worker backstage, behind-the-scenes and even on the tour bus! Filled with pictures, news, reviews, resources and video episodes, www.RoadieShow.com is THE blog to read for anyone who thinks that live music is groovy…

There you go, Mayor Brogan! Hopefully we qualify for a GrooveShark.com invite and a little comment-love form the Mayor himself.

Cheers!

-Rand the Roadie

That’s right kiddies, I shelled out the bucks and snagged a Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000… I’ll post a video sample as soon as I have a chance to play with it. Now that Iggs and I both have fancy webcams we should be posting a LOT more video content… stay tuned!

Sorry for being gone for a few days…. I broke the page! It’s my own fault, I shouldn’t be playing around with the guts of the website. Thanks to Mr. Adam Plante for fixing our beloved RoadieShow.com! -Rand

When you have to rock the hardest, try it.

Hey folks! It’s that holiday season again and Rand and I had a pretty hectic late November/early December. Late December was a bit slower, but I have a new gig which I hope to tell you about soon.

So, our holiday season was a bit different this year. We finished November with our Thanksgiving tradition, “The Machine.” This Pink Floyd tribute is one of the best out there and the band members and crew are the coolest. They travel light, with a sound guy, Randy, and a lighting guy, Jim. They show up, we all catch up for a few minutes, then we get to work. Within an hour, the stage is ready for the band and the rest of us are just hanging in catering. What a gig!

On 11/29 we rocked with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. It was an early day with alot of work (check the pics). But it was fun and, being a Setzer fan, I had a fun day.

THE STAGE before the Brian Setzer show

BRIAN SETZER and his Orchestra

BRIAN SETZER’S guitars for the Christmas ‘07 tour

SETZER rockin’ out. His guitar amp is inside the jukebox!

We started December with a doo-wop show featuring Bobby Rydell, Shirley Alston Reeves (original lead singer of the Shirelles), and others. What happens on those days is we set up one band, then the singers take the stage, do a few hits, and leave while the next group walks on. It’s fun and easy.

Then we had our traditional Peter White Christmas featuring Rick Braun and that hot Mindi Abair. I hit on her all night and you know what? She is quite friendly! Again, this is a show we do every year. The road crew and band know us and the whole day goes smoothly.
Hoping for a new Christmas tradition, we welcomed Kenny “Babyface” Edmunds to our stage on 12/7. He wrote alot of hits in his career and he is quite a showman. He plays guitar very well and is a pretty good singer, too.

Continuing with the holiday traditions, we welcomed back “Hot Tuna.” It’s just one of those gigs we look forward to because we know it’s gonna be a painless, easy day with a good show and an energetic, happy crowd.

HOT TUNA

The following night we saw the return of Wynonna. Or as the crew refer to her, “Y”. They brought alot of stuff with them, but it made the stage look pretty cool during the show.

WYNONNA in the red Moomoo

WYNONNA with the LED backdrop lit up

Next we had 2 nights with Genesis tribute “The Musical Box.” They brought alot of set dressing with them to re-create a Genesis tour during which the scenery was changed. Apparently during the original Genesis tour this show re-creates, the original set became too much of a pain in the ass, so it was scaled down. These guys did both shows. Cool, right? They are from Montreal and the road crew was made up of some very smart and friendly guys. We talked gear, beer, hockey, travel, you name it. Pasqual, Jean-Marc and the rest are a great road crew to work with and if you’re a Peter Gabriel-era Genesis fan, check out “The Musical Box.”

Genesis tribute “The Musical Box”

All we have left this year is our 12/29 show with Jo Dee Messina and our rockin’ New Year’s Eve with Grateful Dead tribute “Dark Star Orchestra.” See ya in ‘08!

Iggs……………………

I have quite a few gigs to tell you guys about, but I wanted to share a quick story about today’s gig first. We are rocking the Jaegermeister Music Tour featuring 80’s rockers The Cult. Maybe you remember them. Maybe not. Check this out: they actually called ahead to find out if our PA was stacked onstage or if it was flown. When they were informed that the speakers are onstage, they requested we put a carpet or riser underneath all the speakers so that guitarist Billy Duffy doesn’t feel the vibrations of the sound on the stage. I guess he has very sensitive feet. They also requested that we don’t hang the Jaegermeister backdrop until after soundcheck. Apparently the backdrop somehow affects their sound. Then, for the final (so far) kick in the nuts, their LD (lighting designer) had us change gel colors in the truss after we focused.

In the words of Andrew “Dice” Clay in his role as “Ford Fairlaine,” “…Rock stars. I’m sick of dealing with rock stars!”

I have a bunch of photos to show you guys from all the gigs we’ve been doing the past couple of weeks. I’ll get ‘em up here soon.