Getting ready to start rehearsals with Interpol.
I am going to use a Digidesign Profile desk this year. I think. I spent my last Interpol year with a PM5D and a rack of outboard. With The Strokes I had a PM5D and two Avalon 737s. And finally with The Killers all I had was a PM5D and no outboard at all. I have never mixed a show on the Digidesign desk and have not even laid eyes on the new smaller Profile model, but I didn't let that stop me a few years ago when I decided on a PM5D. I was the first person I knew of that had one out. Every place we went it was the first one anybody had seen. Including me. Having spent the summer on a PM1D made the transition fairly easy. I did keep adding more and more outboard to my FOH rack as the tour went on. And now I will carry 1 piece of outboard, an XTA SIDD. Should be a fun and interesting year or two coming up. Lots of changes all over. Manager, label, agent, PM, LD and a few others. Like I said, fun and interesting.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Monday, September 26, 2005
Las Vegas, Nevada
The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel
I won $1100.
I can't remember the rest.
It was a Martin F1 rig. It was not very thrilling.
It was the first Martin rig that I had used that didn't start with W8......
Not much else to tell there.
Horn loaded 12s don't sound like 15s. No matter what you do with the processors.
I won $1100.
I can't remember the rest.
It was a Martin F1 rig. It was not very thrilling.
It was the first Martin rig that I had used that didn't start with W8......
Not much else to tell there.
Horn loaded 12s don't sound like 15s. No matter what you do with the processors.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
San Diego, California
San Diego State University Open Air Arena
Another radio station show. Another college campus. Another less than stellar PA system.
9:00am load in. No noise allowed till 4:00pm. A lot of sitting around.
I really liked the arena. 4 thousand capacity amphitheater. A fairly steep rise past FOH.
I don't even know where to start here so I won't.
Another radio station show. Another college campus. Another less than stellar PA system.
9:00am load in. No noise allowed till 4:00pm. A lot of sitting around.
I really liked the arena. 4 thousand capacity amphitheater. A fairly steep rise past FOH.
I don't even know where to start here so I won't.
Peoria, AZ
Peoria Sports Complex
I cant remember of this is a spring training facility for 2 baseball teams or if it is a minor league park. It does have something to do with baseball. There are 3 ball fields at this complex. The show was a radio station festival. The stage was set up in the deep outfield. I walked the warning track to get back stage. FOH was on or near the pitchers mound. 2 stages side by side with a common FOH area. The rig was 4 stacks of Martin W8L line array with 5 boxes per stack. Ground stacked, not flown. Instead of a common middle stack the PA company chose to put in 2 seperate systems. Our PM managed to allow the local production to bring in our FOH and monitor desks. Having your regular desk at a festival is a life saver. This past summer we did only 1 festival without using our FOH and monitor desks. No soundcheck, no problem. The only thing I have to worry about is the PA. There was so much to worry about in Peoria. I inquired as to why the rig was not flown and was told that there were some hotels behind the home plate area bleachers and that had complained about noise in the past. So instead of really solving the problem they simply provided a crippled sound system. There was nothing that could be done about it so I simply made the most if it. It was in the limiters the whole time. Not how I like to work. Considering how weak the mains were, some delays behind FOH would have been great for those that wanted to hear but not stand in front of the band. Hindsight is allays 20/20.
I cant remember of this is a spring training facility for 2 baseball teams or if it is a minor league park. It does have something to do with baseball. There are 3 ball fields at this complex. The show was a radio station festival. The stage was set up in the deep outfield. I walked the warning track to get back stage. FOH was on or near the pitchers mound. 2 stages side by side with a common FOH area. The rig was 4 stacks of Martin W8L line array with 5 boxes per stack. Ground stacked, not flown. Instead of a common middle stack the PA company chose to put in 2 seperate systems. Our PM managed to allow the local production to bring in our FOH and monitor desks. Having your regular desk at a festival is a life saver. This past summer we did only 1 festival without using our FOH and monitor desks. No soundcheck, no problem. The only thing I have to worry about is the PA. There was so much to worry about in Peoria. I inquired as to why the rig was not flown and was told that there were some hotels behind the home plate area bleachers and that had complained about noise in the past. So instead of really solving the problem they simply provided a crippled sound system. There was nothing that could be done about it so I simply made the most if it. It was in the limiters the whole time. Not how I like to work. Considering how weak the mains were, some delays behind FOH would have been great for those that wanted to hear but not stand in front of the band. Hindsight is allays 20/20.
San Jose, California
San Jose Civic Auditorium
I seem to remember this being on a college campus, but I could be wrong about that.
Quite a few of the venues on this leg have been on campus.
The PM told me that George from Sound On Stage was taking care of PA. Hearing that was good news as I have used SOS's VDosc on many occasions. I knew there would be enough boxes to make it do what I wanted to do. PM also told me that Nico was going to be the tech from SOS. A great guy. A real pleasure to work with and hang around with for a day. Tim took it from there and spent some time blowing noise and playing Gwen Stefani and Pink Floyd songs before letting me have at it. I honestly don't remember the show very well at this point. This point being 5 or so days later. I remember the room cleaning up nicely with bodies in it. When empty it was full of hard, parallel reflective surfaces. And hundreds of orange plastic seats. People took care of most of my issues with the room. But as usual I still had issues. I just cant remember them at the moment.
I seem to remember this being on a college campus, but I could be wrong about that.
Quite a few of the venues on this leg have been on campus.
The PM told me that George from Sound On Stage was taking care of PA. Hearing that was good news as I have used SOS's VDosc on many occasions. I knew there would be enough boxes to make it do what I wanted to do. PM also told me that Nico was going to be the tech from SOS. A great guy. A real pleasure to work with and hang around with for a day. Tim took it from there and spent some time blowing noise and playing Gwen Stefani and Pink Floyd songs before letting me have at it. I honestly don't remember the show very well at this point. This point being 5 or so days later. I remember the room cleaning up nicely with bodies in it. When empty it was full of hard, parallel reflective surfaces. And hundreds of orange plastic seats. People took care of most of my issues with the room. But as usual I still had issues. I just cant remember them at the moment.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Davis, California Freeborne Hall
Davis.
College rec room.
You know it. That general purpose room. Polished wood floors. A stage set into a wall. No points.
It was a strange looking room with baffles covering windows that were covered in heavy drapes.
1800 capacity. It was almost full.
6 JBL Vertec 4889 and 6 4880 subs per side. XXXX Audio.
They even went back to the shop and got another Lake Contour when Tim asked them to set up subs on an aux. I think subs should always be on an aux. That's all. Its almost like an effect that you want as much control over as possible. It was nice to have a box with a 15" in it. Vertec thump in a pleasant way. It made no difference that night. A bad room and a not so great show. Not even close.
Puked after eating Thai food for dinner. That was the other hi lite of my day in Davis.
College rec room.
You know it. That general purpose room. Polished wood floors. A stage set into a wall. No points.
It was a strange looking room with baffles covering windows that were covered in heavy drapes.
1800 capacity. It was almost full.
6 JBL Vertec 4889 and 6 4880 subs per side. XXXX Audio.
They even went back to the shop and got another Lake Contour when Tim asked them to set up subs on an aux. I think subs should always be on an aux. That's all. Its almost like an effect that you want as much control over as possible. It was nice to have a box with a 15" in it. Vertec thump in a pleasant way. It made no difference that night. A bad room and a not so great show. Not even close.
Puked after eating Thai food for dinner. That was the other hi lite of my day in Davis.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Salt Lake City, Utah
9/12/05
The venue is an 1800 capacity theater. 1 thousand on the floor and 800 in the balcony.
FOH is at the back of the room, under the balcony, against a wall, on a riser. The cards were stacked against us. The rig was 4 EAW 760 per side sitting on top of the bumper which since it isn't meant to be ground stacked was sitting on its cart. They lied and said that the 4 a side would cover the room but we knew better. Tim had them flatten the 760 rig and then bring in a pair of KF 850 per side for the balcony. 8 BH760 subs were at FOH with 1 more per side underneath the upstairs 850. Thrilling.
The theater itself was recently refurbished and had a great stage and dressing room facilities. Everything else was eating my arse.
The venue is an 1800 capacity theater. 1 thousand on the floor and 800 in the balcony.
FOH is at the back of the room, under the balcony, against a wall, on a riser. The cards were stacked against us. The rig was 4 EAW 760 per side sitting on top of the bumper which since it isn't meant to be ground stacked was sitting on its cart. They lied and said that the 4 a side would cover the room but we knew better. Tim had them flatten the 760 rig and then bring in a pair of KF 850 per side for the balcony. 8 BH760 subs were at FOH with 1 more per side underneath the upstairs 850. Thrilling.
The theater itself was recently refurbished and had a great stage and dressing room facilities. Everything else was eating my arse.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Denver, Colorado The Fillmore Auditorium
The second or third time I have been here.
Nothing terribly exciting the first, second or third time.
A good crew that knows what they have to do without anyone standing over them.
The rig tonight was 8 McCauley MLA5 per side and 6 double 18" something or others for subs.
Honestly I was not so caught up in the details tonight. I was more caught up in trying to make it sound good. Or at least sound how I thought it should sound. Tim and I spent the afternoon pulling the hi end back from everywhere we could. It wound up working out in the end, but as usual given the choice I would have opted for something else besides McCauley. But we make do with what we have.
I am tired for a change. Back to the bus. Missing wheel and all. More on that later.
Nothing terribly exciting the first, second or third time.
A good crew that knows what they have to do without anyone standing over them.
The rig tonight was 8 McCauley MLA5 per side and 6 double 18" something or others for subs.
Honestly I was not so caught up in the details tonight. I was more caught up in trying to make it sound good. Or at least sound how I thought it should sound. Tim and I spent the afternoon pulling the hi end back from everywhere we could. It wound up working out in the end, but as usual given the choice I would have opted for something else besides McCauley. But we make do with what we have.
I am tired for a change. Back to the bus. Missing wheel and all. More on that later.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Kansas City, Kansas Uptown Theater
Woke up at 8:30am this morning on the bus to the sound of an exploding rear tire and the smell of burning rubber. At least I managed to get 5 hours of sleep. Load in was scheduled for 11:00am. Lucky for us we were only 10 minutes away. Even luckier for us was the guy who stopped and offered us all a ride to the venue in his van. Normally I would not take a ride from a stranger on the side of the highway, but there were 9 of us, and this guy was just genuine and nice looking to help us out. I am glad that there are still people in the world like that. We wound up getting to the venue at around 10:00am. One hour ahead of schedule. Stacks and racks were being unloaded and set up by local crew. When we walked inside we realized that the 6 Nexo Geo T per side was not going to be enough to hit the balcony and the floor. Sometimes I don't understand the point of advancing when quite often we get to the venue only to not have what we need, or what we discussed. I will work on most any box as long as there are enough of them. Yes, I do have my preferences and given a choice I would have a truck full of JBL Vertec. But it was decided that we were not carrying full PA, so stacks and racks would have to be rented locally for each show. Most of the venues on this run do not have any in house PA. The economics of this decision are not something I am involved in. But I do know we are paying to bring in systems every day. How much cheaper this is versus carrying full PA I do not know exactly. We would need a second semi to haul everything. That combined with the ridiculous price of gas at the moment would not have come cheap I am sure. So here I am. With not enough of a box that I don't really enjoy working on. Making do with what I have.
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