packing my bags
Well I will be packing my bags and hitting the road again in a couple weeks. Not only will I be out with Five For Fighting but I have to do another tour right before.
I will be out with Theory of a Deadman for a few weeks filling in for their current lighting director. I will joining up with them on Feb 7 and be out until Feb 27. The following day it's a cross country flight back east to start the Five For Fighting tour.
So I will be busy for the next 2 months and it will mean crosing the US several times.
Here are the dates for FFF if you haven't seen them, they are on the
website too.
1-Mar MON Burlington, VT Higher Ground
3-Mar WED Boston, MA House of Blues
4-Mar THU New York, NY Grand Ballroom
7-Mar SUN Westbury, NY Theatre at Westbury
8-Mar MON Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
9-Mar TUE Washington, DC Lisner Auditorium
10-Mar WED Charlotte, NC Fillmore
12-Mar FRI Atlanta, GA Center Stage
14-Mar SUN Orlando, FL The Plaza Theatre
16-Mar TUE Oklahoma City, OK The Diamond Ballroom
17-Mar WED Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium
18-Mar THU St. Louis, MO The Pageant
20-Mar SAT St. Paul, MN The Fitzgerald Theatre
21-Mar SUN Des Moines, IA People's Court
23-Mar TUE Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom
24-Mar WED Chicago, IL The Vic Theatre
25-Mar THU Kansas City, MO Beaumont
27-Mar SAT Aspen, CO The Belly-Up
28-Mar SUN Denver, CO Ogden
30-Mar TUE Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
1-Apr THU Seattle, WA Neumo's
2-Apr FRI Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
3-Apr SAT San Francisco, CA Regency Ballroom
6-Apr TUE Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
7-Apr WED San Diego, CA House of Blues
9-Apr FRI Irvins, UT Tuacahn Ampitheater
Labels: FFF, Five For Fighting, Theory Of A Deadman
Another tour I won't be working
Well John (aka
Five For Fighting) will be hitting the road this fall. It will be an acoustic tour, with John and guitarist Greg Suran. I have not spoke to him (John) directly. I did talk to the sound engineer/tour manager who will be working with him on this tour. The full band will probably not tour until 2010. I will not be out on the acoustic tour.
Anyway here are the dates if you haven't seen them.
18-Oct Toronto, ON El Mocambo
20-Oct New York, NY City Winery
22-Oct Bay Shore, NY (Long Island) YMCA Boulton Center
23-Oct Uncasville, CT The Wolf Den
24-Oct Washington, DC Jammin Java
26-Oct Boston, MA The Paradise
27-Oct Philadelphia, PA World Café Live (downstairs)
29-Oct Nashville, TN The Belcourt
30-Oct Chicago, IL Lakeshore
3-Nov Salt Lake City, UT The State Room
5-Nov Seattle, WA Crocodile
6-Nov Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
10-Nov San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall
11-Nov Los Angeles, CA Largo at the Coronet
As for me. I will be in Memphis in September with Eyrkah Badu working as her lighting director. I am covering for her regular LD on the show.
Also I was contacted about another tour in October. I was asked to send in a resume and so now it's wait and see.
Labels: FFF, Five For Fighting, Lighting, Memphis, Touring
Lots of luck and all bad
I have usually had fair luck in my life. It is kind of like that Seinfeld episode where Jerry always comes out even. That is me.
This spring I have had several tours come my way, which I have recently posted about here. For one reason or another things didn't pan out and I ended up not working these tours. If my past was a barometer I should have had something else drop in my lap by now. It hasn't and I am beginning to become concerned.
The summer touring season gets underway in a few weeks.
Some good news. Five For Fighting (aka John Ondrasik) has begun recording music for his new CD. He mentioned to me he hopes to tour sometime by late summer or early fall. The guys in Finger Eleven are currently writing for their next CD. So there is potential work going in 2010.
Until then I have tightened the money belt and continue to network. I will have to ramp it up a bit I guess.
Labels: FFF, Finger Eleven, Five For Fighting, Roadies, Touring
To the Five For Fighting fans
Over the last month or so I have noticed a lot of people coming to this blog after searching for Five For Fighting tour dates. I'm sorry to say that there are no plans for John and the band to do any touring anytime soon. John has been playing a few charity, corporate and other events solo but no band shows.
I am not sure what his plans are for 2008. Our conversations have centered around hockey lately. Plus I have been busy with the Finger Eleven camp and their tours which continue next week.
Feel free to contact John at his
website or myspace. I know he tries to answer all his email.
In the meantime if you haven't done it, go out and buy the latest concert DVD from his most recent tour. You will get to see my work right on your tv or computer.
Labels: Concert, F11, FFF, Finger Eleven, Five For Fighting, Touring
Weekend in sun...oh wait Day in the Zone
On Friday it's off to the west coast again to do what will probably be my last Five For Fighting show for awhile. The album cycle is pretty much over for the latest CD.
John has a couple of acoustic performances later in the summer but that is about it.
So this weekend we will be doing a radio festival for KZZO radio in Sacramento. It is an afternoon show and we will be the next to last act. Our set time is 2:30pm which is pretty early. Smashmouth will be the closing act on this one. We seem to do a lot of these radio shows with them.
Still waiting on word of the tour in late July that I may do. The dates were finally announced yesterday. My fingers are crossed and emails are going back and forth.
Labels: California, FFF, Five For Fighting, Sun
Wine, women......and balloons?
Three days and 4600 miles later I have gone from the east coast to the west coast and back again. The show went well considering everything.
We did it without our regular monitor engineer. The guys from the production company did their best. However a word of advice, have someone wire the stage that knows what the hell they are doing.
The venue was in a beautiful location just outside of Temecula California, This is a wine area hence the wine and balloon festival that we played. Everyone was very nice and the crowd was appreciative. The picture you see is the stage early in the day.
We didn’t see any balloons flying around during the day because it was too windy. They did blow a few of them up in the evening but they didn’t fly them. I took a couple of pictures but my camera sucks outside at night.
The weather was nice but a bit cool for this time of year. We were all wearing hoodies during the show. It is hotter here on the east coast right now.
At this point I am off the road until June 15 when I do it all over again and fly to Sacramento.
Labels: Concert, FFF, Five For Fighting, Live
Another tour complete
36 hours at home and I still have the road on my mind.
I’m sitting here waiting to go to the dentist. I woke up in a great mood this morning and the day quickly turned bad. While I was flossing a piece of a molar broke off. I can’t believe it! I have excellent teeth; go to the dentist every six months. I was just there in March. I knew something was wrong though a week ago. The tooth just didn’t feel right and planned to make the call when I got home. Just glad it didn’t happen while I was on the road.
Looking back on the last five weeks. The tour was a success as far as the shows. Most of them were sold out and the band played great. I had the pleasure of working with three great crew guys. All of them total pros. We worked our Asses off and were tired all the time. We did have some fun and had a lot of laughs.
With that said, this tour was one of the strangest I have been on in a long time. If you know the movie Spinal Tap you will understand. I have mentioned it previously, some of the problems we had.
It looked like the last week would be fairly easy. Four shows in a span of six days. We got to the end only to have the last night become the biggest headache of the tour. It wasn’t a trailer problem this time, but a problem with the bus. We left Chicago around 3:30 am for a drive to Minneapolis for the last show.
I woke up around 7am to find us stopped on the side of the interstate. I knew something was wrong. The driver mentioned the transmission was overheating and downshifting. In my head I’m thinking there won’t be a show today and go back to my bunk.
Several hours later I wake up again and we have only traveled a short distance and find us in Rockford, IL. A tow truck is called and we end up at a truck service center. It’s now late morning and we find a truck to take the gear to Minneapolis. So you guessed it we transfer it in the middle of the parking lot. There is something very familiar about this task. Oh yea we did this four other times and usually on a day off. By this time we have it down to a science.
On this day I get left behind since there are four crew and only room for three. At first I am not happy about it, but then I think I can get some more sleep. We tried to get a passenger van for the band but no luck. The bus company we are using finds another bus in Chicago and my self and the band will ride on that. This is great except they tell us it will be a 2-hour wait.
Three hours later the bus shows up and we transfer all the bags over and off we go. We are about 5 hours from the gig and the show starts at 7:30 with Chantal. Our guys are to go on around 8:45pm. Not going to make it so the show is pushed back a half hour.
We make it and arrive around 8:20pm. Randy, our drummer joins Chantal for the last couple songs of her set. He has been playing with her the whole tour.
If we had been late the show could have still gone on since John has flown into Minneapolis that morning.
The unfortunate part was I didn’t have time to really go through the house lighting rig and also did not use the moving lights that we were carrying the whole tour. So the show ended up being very generic from a lighting standpoint.
It’s fine no one goes to see the lights anyway.
So it’s 10 days at home and then off to California for a one off late next week. We will be doing a couple of these during June.
Hopefully I will be doing a full tour starting in July. It will be something completely different from Five For Fighting. I am just waiting to get the confirmation.
Labels: Bus, FFF, Five For Fighting, Touring, Travel
Snow in Wyoming.......yep...that's what that is.
One week into the tour.
Where am I? I find myself in Wyoming at a hotel. There is no show here we are just passing through on our way to Kansas City. The next show isn’t until Thursday. We are coming in from Mormon country, aka Salt Lake City.
The tour is going well for the most part. The crew is exhausted however. Our days are long especially since we are all doing double duty or in my case triple. I actually sat down today to eat a real lunch.
We have done a couple of good venues and a few bad ones so far. The best venue so far is the Wiltern in Los Angeles, which of course is John’s hometown. The local crew there is also one of the best in the country.
I wish I had some pictures to post but I have only taken a few and none of the show so far. I’m not going to get into details about the last week, mainly because it is a bit of a blur.
We have three shows in a row coming up which include two in Texas. Next Monday we will be in Orlando at the House of Blues. If you are attending dress nicely since the show is being video taped. Five-camera shoot, which will be broadcast on a later date, on the Internet, I believe. Not sure when or what site.
We also found out the show in Louisville will be opening for Collective Soul. I have done shows with them in the past and they are a good band. The problem is a very small stage. SO I have decided not to use the lighting we are carrying and will just use what is provided.
There is also going to be a TV appearance on FOX in NYC, the morning of the Philadelphia show. Really looking forward to that, NOT! Up way too early and on a show day. Loading in at like 5am for a 9 or 9:30 performance. I believe this is the same show we did back in the fall. We have to then load out at 10am and drive to Phily.
So if the crew seems tired and punching that day you will know why.
I will try to post more, hopefully our internet connection on the bus will be repaired soon.
Labels: FFF, Five For Fighting, Touring, Travel
3 Days on the road...Part 1
The corporate date we did on Tuesday is over. Things started out with a couple of flights to California on Monday. Of course my connecting flight out of Chicago was delayed, thanks American Airlines. I finally got into LAX around 10pm.
The crew did get to stay at a
Ritz Carlton hotel right on the ocean. Now this is a place to spend a few days. Too bad we didn't spend much time there.
The venue was very nice. It's basically an opera house that was just built in 2006. There is a picture of it that you see at the top of this post. This is from their website.
The band and our guitar tech drove down from LA where they are rehearsing.
Just before sound check I was out working with the house lighting crew trying to get some programming done on their new console. They have an ETC EOS, which just recently came on the market. Not a bad console, but there are still bugs in the software.
While I was at the board I heard a crash on stage. When I looked up I see Randy the drummer getting up off the floor. It seems the local crew left some sort of rolling stage platform out and Randy didn't see it and tripped. He ended up injuring his right hand. It is mainly his thumb and the hospital didn't find a fracture. He was able to play some of the songs even though he was bandaged up.
The show went fairly well otherwise.
Want to mention there are a couple new guys in the band for the upcoming tour. Greg Suran will be playing guitar. You may have seen Greg play with Jewel recently. He also toured with the Goo Goo Dolls for a couple years. I have actually known Greg for about 12 years. He was the touring guitarist for the band Machines Of Loving Grace who I road managed for several years.
Playing bass on this tour is Eric Holden who plays with the Bo Deans. Of course Randy Cooke is still behind the kit.
We have a couple new crew guys this time out.
Labels: California, Concert, Crew, FFF, Five For Fighting
An old Five For Fighting photo
I was looking for an computer program that I had. Spent a half hour looking through CD's and no luck. So, I decided to check one of my other computers that I don't use and I found this photo.
Actually found a bunch of old tour photos. This particular one is of Five For Fighting from 2002. I'm not sure what venue, but I think it was one of the many college shows we did that year.
This was back when John would invite fans on stage. Glad he doesn't do that anymore.
Labels: Concert, FFF, Five For Fighting, Lighting
PENS NEW HOME
No... not Kansas City. They are going to remain in Pittsburgh for the next 30 years. An agreement was announced today on the new arena which should open in time for the 2009-10 NHL season.
This is a rendering of the new arena.
Just a couple weeks left of the regular season and playoff fever is in effect.
The NHL playoffs will be in full swing once the tour starts. So if you come to a show and see someone working around the stage in a Penguins shirt that will be me.
I wonder if I can get John to wear a Crosby or Staal jersey on stage. Doubtful since he's a Kings fan.
Labels: Concert, Crew, FFF, Five For Fighting, Hockey, Penguins
Five For Fighting Tour Dates Updates and changes
Ok...so as I previously mentioned the dates I had up may change and there will also be more shows added.
Here you go.
New dates added.
April 17 Bakersfield, CA- The Fox Theater
May 4 Washington, DC- 9:30 Club
May 19 Minneapolis, MN- Guthrie Theater (note venue different than I originally posted)
As I mentioned in the last post Chantal Kreviazuk will be the opening act.
Make sure to check
the bands site for links to tickets and venue websites.
Labels: Concert, FFF, Five For Fighting, Touring
Update ....Five For Fighting
We are still a month and a half from the start of the tour. Some of the dates went on sale this morning.
It appears that
Chantal Kreviazuk will be the support act for the tour. I'm not sure if she is on all the dates. I have an email into our road manager trying to confirm.
If you don't know Chantal you may know her husband Raine Maida, leader singer of Our Lady Peace. Chantal and Raine have written songs for Avril Lavinge, The Veronicas and Kelly Clarkson.
Chantal's latest CD will be released in the U.S. in May. I believe it is already released in her native Canada.
If the fall tour is any indication, tickets should sell quickly for these dates. Especially since many of the venues are theaters this time out.
Now I need to continue to find some work to fill in the month of March.
Labels: Concert, FFF, Five For Fighting, Touring
Five for Fighting 2007 Tour Dates
Ok...so being that some of the venue's will be putting tickets on sale this weekend, I can go ahead and post the dates.
There are going to be a few more cities added. Also you will see a couple of these with TBA's. I will add the venue's as soon as I get them.
The tour is currently set to start April 18th in Las Vegas. There may be a date the day before, which is still pending.
I posted the dates on
my website.
Labels: Dates, FFF, Five For Fighting, Touring
Five For Fighting Tour Dates
I received dates for the upcoming tour for
Five For Fighting. They are not all confirmed and some of the venues may change. There are also a couple of dates which list multiple cities, of these will eventually be one or the other.
I mentioned I would post the dates as soon as I got them. Here they are, well sort of. I will list the cities but will wait to list the actual dates. The tour will start April 17 or 18th.
Here you go:
Las Vegas, NV
San Diego, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
Kansas City, MO
Dallas, TX
Austin, TX
Orlando, FL
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Norfolk, VA
Baltimore, MD
Albany, NY
Verona, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Mashanutucket, CT
New York, NY
Cleveland, OH
Milwaukee, WI
Chicago, IL
Minneapolis, MN
Vancouver, BC
Reno, NVThere will be an additional 6 or 7 other cities. I know what a couple of these are and what they may be, but like I said they aren't confirmed.
I will say many of the venues will be theaters.
As soon as the dates are confirmed I will post them along with actual dates and venues. If not here at
my website..
I will be out running lights and helping with the stage as always.
Fire up the video game console it's time to hit the road again.
Labels: FFF, Five For Fighting, Live, Touring, Tours
Tour dates....when...??..
Those of you that are regular readers know that I have been touring with Five For Fighting off and on since 2002. We were recently out on the road as of last November.
Currently the second single "World" is getting spun on radio stations and the video is on a cable channel near you.
I received a email from management the other day checking on my availability for an upcoming run of tour dates. It's about time, oh wait, when are the dates? April?! Yes, not until mid April. Well at least there is a tour, but I wasn't planning it to be this far into the year.
I have been sending my resume around looking for work since we wrapped up in November.
Hopefully something will come up to fill in the next two months.
I will post tour dates on my
website as soon as I get them.
Labels: FFF, Five For Fighting, Touring
