The road and another year gone...
It's a very cold and snowy day today. I decided to log onto my blog, which I realized today I never seem to post to anymore. I guess it happens. I find myself on Twitter and unfortunately Facebook. Also there are a few industry blogs and forums that I like to frequent.
Time seems to go by quicker each year. 2013 found me still touring, though not as much as the previous few. The guys in YES have been keeping me busy and 2014 is gearing up to be more so than 2013.
The music business is shifting on so many levels. Bands are making very little money selling their music. So touring is a means to make some real money and if they are lucky a living. The bean counters have really stuck there noses into the industry. Managers, accountants and even the bands themselves are cutting back on salaries offers. They are also pushing to cut back on the amount of people they hire and ask the ones they do to wear more than one hat.
This multi hat issue is not new. It has been going on with the younger and up incoming artists for some time. The problem is established and more well known bands are doing it more and more. For example they want the same person to do sound and road manage. Or they want someone to set up the band gear and handle the merchandise. Yet they only want to pay them the equivalent of one job or even less.
What this is leading to is the quality of work is suffering. Also I believe it will lead to safety issues as well.
As a fan it will effect you to a point. The quality of the product will go down. Say if you have an young inexperienced sound person mixing your favorite band and it sounds bad, you a not getting what you paid for. This will come back on the artist because "you" the fan may not be willing to pay your hard earned money to see them the next time around.
Labels: 2014, Band, Canada, North America, Progressive, Road, roadie, Roadies, Salary, Snow, Tour, Tours, Travel, YES
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
I'm off to see the wizard
It's been a busy 6 weeks here at home, working with the guys at
Audio Images Sound & Lighting. We have been doing quite a few festivals providing staging, sound, lights, backline, etc. Long hours but also some good times and laughs.
Well now it's back on the road on Sunday with the band
YES. The tour is kicking off in Toronto and will run till August 22 when it finishes in Mexico City. A North American tour in the summer and fortunately most of the shows are indoors. I hate the heat.
After the YES tour I will be heading out with the band
ASIA. Steve and Geoff from YES will obviously playing with them too. The tour will kick off in Japan in the middle of September with a North American tour after that and the UK in December.
So it looks like the rest of my year will be fairly busy. I have begun looking for a different house and have been going back and forth with the credit union on a mortgage. It looks like I have finally been approved. So hopefully during the weeks between legs of the tour I can find the new digs.
Labels: Concert, Home, Road, roadie, Roadies, Stage, Toronto, Tour, Touring, YES
It's been awhile
I have not posted here in months. Not that there hasn't been much going on. Far from it. I've been pretty busy with work and life in general. I just haven't found the energy to post here I guess.
So where do I begin. Well I have been working with the band YES since last fall. We do a tour of Europe which included stops from Portugal to Finland. I had a chance to do some sightseeing going to places I have not been to and some I had been to before. The biggest disappointment was the fact that we didn't make it to the show in Moscow. The singer lost is voice and we cancelled the last three shows of the tour. I have never been to Russia and don't know if I will get the chance again, at least on tour. These things happen.
The holidays came and went. I did a couple local shows for the production company that I work with when I'm home.
In late March I boarded a plane and headed to New Zealand. This is where we began the tour which consisted of shows in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Indonesia and Hawaii. Let me just say we logged a lot of frequent flyer miles.
The band will be hitting the road again in July with a six week
US tour.
Labels: 2012, Progressive, Tour, Touring, YES
25 years of the Tap
It's the 25th anniversary of the film This Is Spinal Tap. If you don't know about this movie, well you must not get out much.
This one of the funniest and most quoted movies of all time. Well the Tap are hitting the road again. The fictious heavy metal band has actually toured in the past. This time out they are going unplugged. No there are no wigs or big stage show from what I have read.
The guys
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Schearer will be performing Spinal Tap songs along with songs from the film A Mighty Wind, in which they played an acoustic folk group the Folksman.
I looked at the schedule and they will be performing in some very nice theaters. It should be a fun time if you plan to go.
Labels: Music, Spinal Tap, Tour
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
Hurry Up and Wait
Things have been a little surreal the last few days. We are still on the road but this part of the tour is basically over. We will still being doing the show in Winnipeg tomorrow. Unfortunately we have to use local production and this makes my day a lot longer. I have to program the show from scratch and I have mostly par cans and only 10 moving lights. But I am professional and I will rise above it.
Wednesday is still a scheduled fly day to Toronto. The band will be appearing at MTV in the afternoon and then at the Casby awards that night playing three songs.
It also appears that I will remain in Toronto until Saturday when we fly to Houston to do Buzzfest.
So all in all I will only lose about 10 days of work from this tour. There are three shows in late November in Florida and then several more weeks in the states in December. Most of these are radio station festivals.
There is talk of starting a long tour in mid January either in Canada or the US. Nothing is set in stone yet. I have been assured that we will be touring in 2008.
So one more week and then home to my simple boring life.
Labels: Canada, Concert, Finger Eleven, Tour, 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
