The Roadie Show

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.

If you’re a guitar player then you probably know who Steve Vai is. If not, maybe you heard of his role in the 1980’s guitar movie “Crossroads”? Check out this YouTube clip to get all caught up, Steve Vai is the guy in the leather pants:

Anyway, Iggs and I worked for Steve Vai’s latest tour recently and it was a gig to remember. Mr. Vai travels with two tour buses, each pulling a trailer full of gear. These trailers were packed haphazardly and the ramp/door for each were on their last legs. I can’t stand unloading a trailer or a truck with a broken ramp. It adds a lot of frustration to my day. We got through it, loaded the band in and set up the stage.

One of the first things we noticed is that Mr. Vai tours with a gorgeous young Asian violin player (never a bad idea, I highly recommend hiring one if you can afford it). She was easily the focal point of attention throughout the day. Iggs and I were drooling over her skills as much as her curves. Her husband obviously knew how attractive she was, he never let her out of his sight. Oh well…

After we set up the fans for Mr. Vai’s hair (he likes his feathered locks to fly in the wind as he wails on his axe) we ate lunch and took a break in the spotlight booth. Time for the meet and greet.

Steve Vai is worshiped as a true virtuoso. His fans demand that he make himself available for technical questions, demos of his techniques and autographs. Mr. Vai tries to accommodate his fans by offering a meet and greet session before each show (for a substantial entry fee, of course). The fans love it, and get to bring in a guitar for Mr. Vai to sign. Iggs and I couldn’t believe why someone would pay several hundred dollars to get a guitar signed by someone who never played it, but I digress…

Showtime! Iggs and I ran spotlight, a pretty serious job on this particular evening. We were told to add 6 colored gels to the spotlight and often had to change them on cue with the live music. Pretty fun, but can be nerve wracking if you aren’t confident with that particular spotlight. I had a few issues with pan and tilt adjustments, but it went pretty smooth. Mr. Vai was hit with two spotlights most of the evening, just enough to show off his feathered locks blowing in the artificial wind. He put on quite a show, jumped around, played his ass off and had several costume changes. At one point Mr. Vai stopped the show for 10 minutes while his crew adjusted his guitar rig. He informed the audience that he wouldn’t let them pay for a ticket to a show that wasn’t perfect, then came back on and started the song over again. What a pro…

About an hour and a half in I had to pee. I knew there wasn’t going to be an intermission so I figured the show would be over soon. No way Mr. Vai can play that fast for too long, right? Just then a voice came over the headset: “Ok guys, we’re just about to the halfway point of the show”. We were stunned, to say the least. Mr. Vai played for about 2 hours and 45 minutes, including his 3-song encore. What a marathon performance. I ran to the bathroom and relieved myself… FINALLY.

At the end of the day the band and crew were really nice, the fans were thrilled and everyone got paid. Steve Vai was the last one out of the building after taking an incredibly long shower. It was a great day, incredibly long but filled with entertaining people and music. I love my job!

Sadly, it’s been a slow year for us here. It’s quite depressing actually. And it doesn’t look like it’s gonna get better any time soon. Bummer. More musicians need to go on tour. PLEASE!!!

Ok, I’m done with the negativity. On to the gigs…

On 9/13 we welcomed Paula Cole and guest Mandy Moore. As I mentioned in my last post, it was an easy day because the tour showed up with NOTHING. All the gear was rented from Bauder Audio which means everything was set up and ready by the time the tour arrived. The crew was friendly and the day went by quickly. Not really much to report from this show.

MANDY MOORE & PAULA COLE

The following night we hosted Genesis tribute “Turn It On Again.” These guys had a bit of bad luck before the gig. The truck carrying all of their lighting equipment and vintage instruments was not allowed out of Canada because of a paperwork snafu. TIOA prides themselves on sounding and looking just like a Phil Collins-era Genesis show (3 Sides Live to be exact). The band, though, was already in town and decided the show must go on. Great attitude guys! We rented a bunch of gear from Bauder, our lighting director Chris Keegan worked his magic, and the band rearranged and tweaked their set a bit. The bass player actually taped a popsicle stick to his foot to work his pedals. Wacky! The fans didn’t seem to mind as TIOA put on one hell of a good show. If you happen to catch them, you will be shocked that the lead singer/drummer is NOT Phil Collins. Trust me on that. The crew and band guys were totally cool and were easy to work with, despite the equipment problem. I definitely respect guys who are willing to work around the problems that sometimes arise in this profession. We’ll have them back here soon with their complete rig, and, although I’m not really a Genesis fan, I’m looking forward to working with them again.

GENESIS TRIBUTE, “TURN IT ON AGAIN”

After that, we welcomed Judy Collins with guests Nanci Griffith and Sonya Kitchell. I was too busy working the spotlight to take photos. But I have a pic of me at the spot. Wanna see? Nah…

For the final show of the weekend, we rocked out with legends Rick Derringer and Johnny and Edgar Winter. It sure is good to see rock icons like these guys still bringing it. The stage set-up was kinda weird, though. Rick Derringer and Johnny Winter use pretty much the same setup, but Edgar Winters’ setup is different. And for some reason, he goes on second. So we had to do 2 stage change-overs instead of one. Oh well, I’m not that lazy.

RICK DERRINGER, JOHNNY WINTER, EDGAR WINTER

It’s 6pm on 9/13 and as I type, Mandy Moore is onstage doing soundcheck. I’m not really sure why she’s famous, but my friends and the neighborhood kids are very excited. If you need more info about her, ask Rand. He seems to know everything there is to know. FYI, she is here on a co-bill with Paula Cole. I’m hoping the audience will be mostly young broads. Their crew seems nice, but we did all the work! Everything was rented, even the guitars. That sounds like a nice tour to be on. More later!!!

Hey folks!

I know you’ve been dying to hear about mine and Rand’s wacky adventures in the music world this summer. So, here goes…

It has been one hell of an eclectic summer. In just over one week, we worked with John Hiatt, Pat Benetar, Weird Al Yankovic, and Peter Frampton. Kooky, huh?

The John Hiatt/Shawn Colvin show was one of those gigs we really look forward to. In a word…EASY! Both artists performed solo acoustic, which means a reasonable call time, easy set up, and quick load out. Not to mention a very enjoyable show.

Weird Al returned for his second gig this summer on August 15th. Damn, that guy puts on one hell of a show. He is a true entertainer. One cool part of his show is the video segments that play while he is doing a wardrobe change backstage. He takes existing interviews with celebrities like Jessica Simpson, Madonna, Eminem, Kevin Federline, and others, and edits himself in as the interviewer. FUCKING HILARIOUS! If you hate these talentless (not you, Madonna) and brainless airheads as much as I do, you’ll really enjoy Al’s treatment of them.

Pat Benetar can still sing her ass off. Damn…her voice is AWESOME!!! Her husband/guitarist Neil Geraldo is trying hard to become a household name like her, but he doesn’t stand a chance. He plays guitar and piano and percussion and he sings and he demands double billing, but he needs to realize that everyone who was at the show told their friends the next day, “I saw Pat Benetar last night.” Sorry Neil.

On a personal note, you guys won’t believe how quickly and easily I pissed off her monitor engineer/stage manager. I think he was in a bad mood to begin with, but as soon as I talked to him…KABOOM!!!
I have a real talent, you know.

One of the cooler aspects of this job is checking out vintage gear the bands bring with them. We rocked a Doors tribute called Soft Parade on 8/17. The keyboardist brought a Fender Rhodes bass module made in 1963 that is one of only five of its kind in existence. Pretty friggin’ cool.

1963 FENDER RHODES BASS MODULE

On 8/23 we rocked out with Peter Frampton once again. I truly believe that man LOVES playing live. Whether you dig his music or not, you gotta admire a guy who works so hard to please his fans.

FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE!

Stay tuned folks. Lots of cool gigs coming up including Edgar AND Johnny Winter (with Rick Derringer), Steve Vai, Henry Rollins, REO Speedwagon, Sinead O’Connor and the one I’m REALLY looking forward to… 12 Girls Band. If you’re in the Philly area, stop by and see us!

Rand and I had an interesting gig the other night. We were working with Manhattan Transfer. If you don’t know or remember them, don’t worry. I doubt most of their fans own a computer, let alone read blogs like this. They are four vocalists who sing lyrics they’ve written for jazz instrumental standards. In a word, YUCK! It is the WHITEST music you’ve ever heard. They actually required four spotlights for the show; one for each of them. I could understand if they were playing an arena, but they stand right next to each other onstage. It was pretty silly. Halfway through their set, and just when I couldn’t stay awake any longer, the rock gods intervened. The entire block lost power. The theatre went dark and silent. AWESOME! Our emergency lighting kicked on, and then a very cool thing happened. After calming the crowd, the singers and pianist continued, truly “unplugged,” for another 4 or 5 songs.

I can’t stand their music, but I have a new respect for them because they continued performing and didn’t bitch at us. They showed a level of professionalism that some of today’s younger “artists” could learn from.

Check back soon. We have lots of cool gigs coming up.

Rand and I worked with Zeppelin tribute “Get The Led Out” again recently. If you are a Zep fan like me, you might want to check these guys out. Now, I know that the true purist fans would never go see a Zeppelin tribute for fear of angering the rock gods. But there is something to be said for the work these guys put into their show. With 6 guys in the band, they are able to perform the “studio sound” of Zeppelin, rather than the “live sound.” So when you’re in the audience, you’ve got a rockin’ band onstage and they sound just like the Zeppelin albums. Plus, they don’t try to look or act like Led Zeppelin. They just play the music…really well. It’s a fun show. The band members and crew are good guys and they play in the PA, NJ, NY area often.

Is kicking major ass! I hosted a session on the basics of audio recording (mics, mixers, sample rate and bit depth, etc.). Unfortunately I was only able to cover about 1/3rd of the info I wanted to teach… Oh well, it was packed (with overflow into the hall!) and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Next year I’ll budget my time better and get it all in. A few hours later I won a Pandora Squeezebox!!! I wish Iggs was here…he’s stuck at work all weekend. I drank a Molson Golden and talked about the Flyers with some random bar people in his honor. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for tomorrow.