The Roadie Show

Here’s a few pics taken by Iggs and Rand over the course of our 2008 season.   Let us know what you think!

Deborah Harry, of Blondie fame.  She’s really cool and does a lot of benefit shows.  She’s been hanging around with the band Spiraling a lot lately…  Let’s hope they do something together!

Ladies and Gentleman, REO SPEEDWAGON!!!!  A true rock show, complete with giant drum riser, spotlights, projection screens and two kick drums.  ROCK!

Arlo Guthrie - A Legend.  In Iggs’ words: “A true entertainer and totally cool guy and crew. We look forward to this show every year.”

Henry Fucking Rollins.  You read that right.  He’s the man, just take a look at his promotional poster:

He’s a cool guy, legendary for his appreciation of Roadies.

Sinead O’Conner.  According to Iggs: “One of the best sounding shows all year.”  Check out the size of the hole cut in the kick drum!

Thanks Craigslist!  I answered yet another post and landed a cool gig with a staffing company based out of Washington, D.C.  They sent me to handle Video Assist duties at a 4-day corporate gig in a hotel ballroom.  Early AM start times but easy work and decent pay. Here’s a look at the finished stage:

Here’s a pic of ‘Video World’, where I spent most of my time.  Luckily, it was located backstage:

Trust me, it looks more complicated than it is.  We had two projectors shooting video on two rear-projection screens, two cameras, a small audio system and lots of convention-goers.   There really wasn’t a lot going on, just some basic camera switching and powerpoint presentations.  I met some good contacts, had a few laughs and (most importantly) got the job done.

Check out some pics I’ve taken with my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4.  I’ve had my eye on it for awhile…  Iggs picked up an earlier version last year and he loves it.  Amazon.com offer it for only $200 so I had to grab it!  The last few posts have featured pictures taken with the TZ4, all of which are viewable on my Flickr page.

www.flickr.com

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…

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!

I’d let her backstage…

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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. 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 “Wy” (pronounced “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……………………

Not much to say about the 2nd day… I know that sounds horrible but we were all exhausted. The thing about PodCampNYC is the bar hopping. The bars are open till 4am or later, allowing for a lot of drinking. I was drunk and awake all night (although resting comfortably in a small bed with Nicole and Edyn) and was first in line for registration at 7:30am. DRUNK. Everyone else was dead asleep. As soon as I received my goodie bag my eyelids dropped and my speech became sluggish (matching my movements).

I woke everyone’s ass up and herded them downstairs. We caught the tail end of the opening ceremonies and went right to breakfast. Edyn’s eyes are bigger than her stomach! She ordered eggs, bacon, french toast, home fries, coffee, orange juice… After taking a few bites she was obviously full and sleepy again. So was I.

We sat through a few sessions, learned a little, networked a lot and tried to get a decent buzz going for the live Best Damn Tech Show, Period taping later that day. It worked well! We had a decent crowd that was full of energy, legendary blogger CC Chapman co-hosted and Drew bought the beer! All in all it was a kick ass PodCamp (except for the traffic we fought through getting out of New York City…)

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