2013 is underway
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| ASIA Lighting Rig Japan 2012 |
Is it really a month into 2013 already? Wow time seems to be flying by. 2012 was a fairly busy touring year which was good for the bank account. I spent most of the year touring with the band
YES. We did a North American tour which included the US, a couple Canadian shows and a show in Mexico City. We also did a tour of the far east which included Japan, Australia and Indonesia. Things wrapped up at the end of the summer.
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| Mount Fuji |
In September I was asked to work with the guys from
ASIA which of course includes Steve Howe and Geoff Downes from YES. It was ASIA's 30 anniversary tour. This time we started in Japan and then did a North American tour. The tour wrapped up at the end of November.
It was then announced that Steve Howe would be leaving ASIA to concentrate on solo work and of course the band YES.
Speaking of
YES. The band will be hitting the road at the end of February for another North American tour. They will be performing three of their classic albums in their entirety. Also there will be a five day
cruise during the middle of it, that will feature several progressive rock bands along with YES headlining.
After this tour we should be heading to South America in May. After that there is talk of a summer tour but where we haven't been told yet.
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| part of the kitchen remodel |
Since I have been home for the holidays I have worked a few local shows, but mainly I have spent this past month remodeling my kitchen. I hired a contractor to do 75% of the work. I designed the kitchen and did most of the demo and all of the painting. I was very fortunate that it came in at what I had budgeted. I have a home improvement line of credit which I have been using over the past year to make improvements to the house.
It's tough doing anything around your house when you spend more time away from it than you do in it.
I will be working this year just pay for most of these improvements but in the end it will be worth it.
Labels: 2012, 2013, ASIA, Canada, Lighting, Mexico, North America, Photos, Road, roadie, Roadies, South America, Toronto, Tour, Touring, Tours, YES
Toronto.....Not again
It's been a couple of days since another stage collapse. This one in Toronto, Canada happened during the afternoon just before the band Radiohead concert was to take place. Four people were hurt, one of them Scott Johnson was the bands drum tech and he lost his life. I didn't know Scott but in my business we all consider ourselves "brothers and sisters" and refer to each other that way.
Scott was a brother, one of us. We all feel a sense of loss. I can't imagine what his family is going through. My family has and still worries about me when I'm on tour. It's incidents like this that make you step back and look at your own life.
I am one of those people that is always looking around my work situation and making sure that things are safe for me and those around me. If I see something that doesn't look right I speak up. The last few years I have been even more aware.
As I have mentioned before in previous post I help build and set up these outdoor stages for a production company here at home when I'm not on tour. So I guess my senses are heightened a bit more.
I will be heading back on the road in a few weeks with the band YES for another round of shows. There are a couple of outdoor shows where we will be on stages built by someone else that I probably don't know. I will be the one guy who will be looking over everything with a keen eye.
Labels: 2012, Collapse, Crew, Lighting, Musician, Radiohead, roadie, Roadies, Stage, Stage Collapse, Stageline, Toronto
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
Oh well...next
It was confirmed yesterday that I will not be doing the tour I mentioned the other day.
Turns out they decided to not only not increase the salary. They decided to not bring anyone out to fill the position. Money must be getting tight for them. I was told they would also not be adding additional lighting like they had hoped. So the lighting director from the headliner will just run their lights.
This is not uncommon. I have been in this position in the past where one of the support acts has covered their set.
So now it will continue to look for another tour.
There is some talk of one of my previous artists touring later this summer. I'm not holding my breath.
Labels: Lighting, Roadies, Touring, Tours
I must be psychic
Last week I posted about the situation of bands and their managers paying less for crew members for their tours.
Like I mentioned, in todays economy the tough choice of either taking less than you are worth just to work or wait for that proper paying gig.
Well just a couple days later it happened. I was offered a position with a band that I know. I have never worked for them but have shared stages with them over the last 6 or 7 years while working for other artists. They will be a major support band on an upcoming arena tour. They have a separate bus for their crew. It's a pretty good gig.
So you are thinking, what is the problem?
The salary being offered. It is too low. Sure if I told you what it was you would probably say "wow" that's good cash. If I was a young guy and had been doing this for a few years it would be. But after 25+ years it was a bit of an insult.
I told them I would be glad to come on board if they match what I wanted or were close.
We will see what happens. I am not holding my breath.
Labels: Lighting, Roadies, Salary, Touring
Molson..huh..wait I don't even drink
It's back to work tomorrow night. We start back up in Boston after nearly a month off.
Hockey season is underway and I will be in Canada for the next 5-6 weeks. Not that it has anything to do with the tour.
The first part is the Molson Canadian Cold Shots Campus Music tour. I finally have a lighting plot put together. It will be interesting trying to fit all the gear into a couple of these venues. I am not even sure what the band has in mind for a set list. Oh well, pretty much the way it has been for the last 14 months.
I'm just trying to get through this tour without getting sick again. I'm still fighting off the lung infection I have had for the last month.
Labels: F11, Finger Eleven, Lighting, molson, Tour
Hockey, Coffee and the road
We are in Norfolk for a show tomorrow.
The days are all running together right now. I haven't been home since winter and summer is just over a month away. At least it's still hockey season and my team is in the conference finals. GO PENS!! It is also the only way I actually know what day it is. I wake up each morning and go through basically the same routine. I am pretty much a robot at this point.
I decided today to shut myself down for 24 hours. No band stuff, no hanging out with anyone from the tour. Just myself going for coffee, eating lunch and walking around. I'm probably going to head to the movies alone. It's not that I don't like everyone I'm touring with, I do. It's a great bunch out here, band and crew. But some days you have to say enough.
Just twelve shows left before the break. The guys head to europe for two weeks, which I will not be doing. No need for a lighting guy. So I will have most of June off. Well not actually off since I have a bunch of projects to finish around the house.
Labels: Concert, F11, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Touring
What month is it?
The tour with Chevelle came to a close last night. That was a fast seven weeks. So now I find myself sitting in a hotel in Memphis, TN for the next four days. The guys flew back to Toronto for a couple days rest and a photo shoot.
We will pick up the tour on Friday in Baton Rouge. The next month will be some headlining dates and radio festivals. Yea I know I mentioned this before.
I didn't mention we went to Las Vegas a couple weeks ago for the Miss USA pageant. What a pain in the ass....yea right! Hanging around 51 beautiful young women and get paid to be there. I will never do that again. The sarcasm button is still on.
If they happen to be reading, hello to Miss Florida and Miss Maryland. Sure like they will be reading this.
I even ended being up around $150 gambling.
Getting back to the tour. I ended up doing lights for Chevelle for the last three shows along with the Finger Eleven guys. The LD for Chevelle ended leaving the tour early for some reason. So I was asked to cover for him. Extra money is always nice.
Labels: Chevelle, F11, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Touring
How much is too much?
Yesterday was the fourth show in Canada this week. The guys were booked into theaters with several thousand capacity. This meant we were able to bring in a larger production. I did a three truss design which was basic because of a rigging problem in one of the venues. Don't get me wrong it is a nice size show.
The band decided to play a thirty minute set acoustic before kicking into the regular set. James came up with a concept of having a video projection behind them during the first part of the show. The image is of space and a comet slowly heading toward the stage. It is morphing the entire time as it grows larger. Just before the electric part of the show the image brightens and explodes. We then release the cyc that the image was on to reveal the large backdrop with the pile of band equipment on it.
It's a nice effect and the transition works very well. We are hoping to take it on a full tour later this year.
Now yesterday was interesting. The venue was changed to a large club. This meant we had to scale back considerably. I was still able to get about 30% of the show into the place and things went well.
The band and some of the crew have flown to LA to do some sort of acoustic performance. Since I was not needed I get to stay in Toronto for a couple days. Going to LA for the weather would have been nice, but I can't say I missed the plane ride.
So on Saturday it's back to the states and a show on Sunday where we resume the tour with Chevelle. Glad we will be heading south soon.
Labels: Concert, F11, Finger Eleven, Lighting
let me correct myself
The tour dates that I posted recently are correct except that I mentioned they were all with Chevelle. Let me correct that they will not be on any of the Canadian dates except for Toronto.
I have spent several days working on a lighting and set design for the Canadian shows. The band will have some surprises in store for those shows.
We will not be carrying production for the US tour dates at this point. I am a little disappointed but it was not my call.
It looks like we will be fairly busy at least into the summer.
Labels: F11, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Touring
2008 and the Finger Eleven dates are in
Well some of the Finger Eleven tour dates have been officially announced. I actually received them plus a lot more that are not confirmed a couple weeks ago. Their management office sends everyone in the band and crew dates whenever they come from the agent.
The first six weeks of shows will be with Chevelle. It looks like large clubs and a few small theaters, mainly in the 1200-2000 range. The majority of them are in the United States but there looks like there will be some Canadian shows too.
February 2008
19 - Flint, MI - The Machine Shop
20 - Traverse City, MI - Streeters
22 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
23 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
24 - Akron, OH - University of Akron/ E.J. Thomas Hall
26 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
27 - Saint Louis, MO - The Pageant
28 - East Peoria, IL - East Peoria Event Center
March 2008
1 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room @ Murat Centre
2 - Sault St. Marie, MI - Kewadin Casino Dreammakers
4 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
8- Toronto - Massey Hall
10- Hamilton, ONT- Hamilton Place Theatre
12- London, ONT- Centennial Hall
14 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance
16 - Springfield, MA - The Hippodrome
18 - Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
19 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live!
20 - Richmond, VA - Toad's Place
22 - Huntsville, AL - Sammy T's
24 - Ft. Walton Beach, FL - The Swamp
25 - Shreveport, LA - The Strand Theatre
26 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
29 - Corpus Christi, TX - The Pavilion @ Concrete Street
30 - Waco, TX - Graham Central Station
It looks like we will be touring for most of 2008.Labels: Concert, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Touring, Tours
My work in print...wait video..no photo...
It has been an interesting year in 07. I have been fairly busy having done three different tours with various musical styles. One of those tours was with Five For Fighting who I began touring with in 2002 and have worked with John (the only actual member) off and on over that period. We did some touring last year at this time and then again this past spring.
During that time we filmed a concert in Orlando which will be released to the public next week. I have mixed feelings about it. I am glad it will be coming out especially for John's fans who have been asking for this for some time.
However I wish we could have filmed it with a lighting system that would have translated better to video. We were carrying a small moving light package but not a complete system. So for that show we used the in house system at House of Blues along with the lights we carried.
I should wait till I have seen the whole thing before I pass judgement.
If you have been reading this blog lately you know that I am currently working for Finger Eleven as their lighting director. Plans were to film the show in Toronto this week during the Canadian tour. Of course we never got that far into before the tour was cancelled.
I am disappointed to say the least. Today, we were sent over 900 megs of photos shot during the tour. Most of them early on before I had the cues finalized. The show was looking good and I planned to add a few things for the shoot. The pictures came out great. There are some shots which I believe will be in a DVD they will be releasing in December. This is not concert footage from the new tour but previous stuff along with old video's and photos.
Hopefully we will have the opportunity in 2008 to shoot a new live concert video.
Labels: Concert, Finger Eleven, Five For Fighting, Lighting, Touring
Toronto and sleep
Well the tour wrapped up in Winnipeg on Monday and we flew back to Toronto yesterday morning at 7 am. We spent the day doing several performance's including MTV and a 4 song set for the Casby awards. The guys won best new record of the year.
Things went very well but we were all exhausted at the end of the day.
I have several days off here in Toronto. I will be acting tour manager this weekend at the show in Houston. It will be the last show until November 16th.
Labels: Finger Eleven, Lighting, Touring
Strength In Numbers Tour Cancelled
Where do I begin. Well as the title of this post says the tour has been cancelled. The singer from Sum 41 hurt his back on stage the other night and is laid up for 4-6 weeks. This happened during the show in Calgary. No one knew the severity of his injury until the next morning when the rest of us arrived in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
That night the guys (Finger Eleven) ended up headlining by themselves and played a longer set. This meant I spent the afternoon programming for four songs that I didn't have on this particular desk. The show went off well and the crowd had a great time.
We proceeded to Red Deer, Alberta after the show where we did the same thing the following day. However, we were informed that the promoter for the tour decided to cancel the remainder of the shows except Winnipeg. Needless to say we are all disappointed but things happen. At least we have that show and still have to do MTV and another TV event on Wednesday. Then next weekend we fly down to Houston for Buzzfest.
However, it also means 2 weeks less work for everyone. This I am not happy about since that is a lot of money that I will not see.
Today we spent the day off in Calgary. Tomorrow the plan is to go to Regina for another day off and then on to Winnipeg.
But wait!! We find out that the show in Winnipeg may be cancelled since there is no sound and lighting system available for the show. We have to use a regional company since the touring production was sent home. So everyone plans to fly home. Let's just say everyone is not in a good mood. What else can happen we thought.
We all head to the mall and then go eat dinner. While there the phone's begin to ring and we are informed that the show is back on. Production for the show is available because the band Heart is playing the next night and we can use the system that is being provided for them.
So now I wait to find out what lighting gear will be available. Hopefully the same console I had out here and similar lighting fixtures, but I am not holding my breath.
Well it's off to my bunk since we are departing at 4 am.
Labels: Concert, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Strength In Numbers, Sum 41, Tour
Finally a day of rest
Finally a day off, well a partial day off. We departed Kelowna late last night and arrived in Edmonton around 3:30 this afternoon. I think I slept most of the way. However on our bus sleep is not very restful. We are on a Prevost H3 and they are so tall and just sway back and forth. I am stuck in a top bunk so I get tossed around like a rag doll.
Anyway after four shows and a couple days of rehearsal let me reflect a little. Things are coming together on all levels. I am still going through the lighting cues and cleaning things up. The guys have also been changing the set list around a bit. I am also taking on a couple extra jobs on this tour. Besides running lights for the Finger Eleven guys, I am running lights for the opener and also helping out the lighting crew and set carpenter.
Hey any extra cash is a good thing. Even though it makes my day a little longer.
I took a few pictures of the lighting just after sound check yesterday. Kind of hard to see with the venues house lights on but it gives me an idea of how things are progressing.
The show in Toronto next month will be filmed for release as a concert DVD. So I have begun to get ideas for the show since we need to add a bit more lighting for the shoot. I expect to hear from the video crew this week.
Labels: Canada, Concert, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Strength In Numbers
Quick update
I have been so busy and the posts have been few.
We are underway and tonight is show number four. The crowds have been enthuseastic but a bit smaller than I thought they would be.
The picture here is of the Sum 41 set as it was being put up. I will post our set in the next few days.
Labels: Canada, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Touring
One day at home
Yesterday was spent in Dayton Ohio doing a radio festival with nine other bands. These are always interesting. They can also be fun. Ran into some old friends who are working with other bands. There were many ladies show off their assets.
Today is a day off and it was decided that we would spend it in Rochester, which is where we are playing tomorrow. The good thing for me is that I live about 45 minutes from there, so I decided to come home for the day. Upon my early morning arrival I find that the lawn needs mowing, so I ended up doing some yard work today. So much for rest and relaxing.
We have just ten shows before the Canadian tour. I have been trying to get info from the Sum 41 camp regarding the lighting plot that they would like to use. It appears that I will be using their design which I can work with. I just need to see a copy of it soon.
Labels: Finger Eleven, Lighting, Roadies, Touring, Travel
What's that smell
Five days in and things are off and running. I haven't been on a tour like this in years. We are all on one bus and so far have played some very small places.
The band is as good as I remember them. I finally got my lighting package up and somewhat programmed. They showed up late in Reno after the freight company dropped the ball. The show was then nearly cancelled do to inspections from the fire marshall. The venue owners had failed to take care of some previous violations. In the end we did the show but with no real lighting except for what we are carrying.
Tomorrow we head to Tempe Arizona to play another dive. Then it's on to LA on Tuesday and an appearance on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Then it's off to Minneapolis, yes you read that right LA to Minnesota and another one of those long submarine rides. We will probably stop somewhere along the way and spend a day doing nothing while the driver sleeps.
Labels: Concert, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Touring, Tours
It's good to be busy?
I realized this morning that I only had five days off since last weeks tour ended. Tomorrow it's back to the airport and off to California. This next run is for the month of September so I will be back by October 1st.
It's back to the clubs and I mean clubs. I think the biggest venue on this run is like 1200 capacity. The band and crew are traveling on one bus with a trailer for the gear. Space is limited so I had to cut back on the moving light package that I wanted to bring out. It is going to be just a few moving heads, some strobes and a console. It should be fine though, it's always a fun challenge to create a show in these places.
Wish me luck.
Labels: Concert, Crew, Finger Eleven, Lighting, Touring
It's all fun until someone gets hurt.
The title of this post is a quote that I have been saying all summer while on tour. Why? I have no idea, I just tend to say shit like that.
The tour ended last night without much fan fare. There were a few crew group photos taken and some champagne drunk. We loaded out and headed to a hotel by the Detroit airport at 2:30am. This morning people went their separate ways. I finally had a short flight home in a long time, just over an hour.
The unfortunate thing is I have been fighting a little cold since Minneapolis. I ended sleeping most of this afternoon after picking up a few groceries.
My body is home but my head is still on tour. I have just about a week at home before I head back out on the 5th of September.
I have come up with a small moving light package for the tour but am still waiting on word from management if they want to spend the money. Hopefully a decision will be made tomorrow. I have to have the lighting vendor get our gear to us for the first show and time is pressing.
Labels: Concert, Lighting, Touring
