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
Stay Classy Buffalo
It’s that time of year and the summer concert season has
begun. Concert tours large
and small. This includes festival
shows of all types of music styles.
It’s the time of year when radio stations like to have their
summer “bashes” by some catchy
name. Most of these are outdoor
events.
The country stations are no exception. Last night was one of
these shows. This is known as
“Taste Of Country” and this one was in Buffalo NY. The production company that I work for when I am not touring
provides sound, lights and staging for this event and has for several years.
We actually set up the stage and everything the day before
(Thursday). We had excellent
weather though a bit cool. The
forecast for the show (Friday) was rain most of the day. The promoter (radio station) scheduled
this festival “rain or shine”.
The morning of the show the bands loaded in their equipment
this included some additional lighting, stage monitors, backline, etc. Just a typical day which began at
8am. The weather has turned gray,
cold and rainy.
We try to keep things as dry as possible. Covering up some of the gear with tarps
etc. The day progressed normally considering the conditions. The gates opened and the crowd streamed
in.
There were five acts on the bill and the first four
performed. All of them in the rain
even though the intensity of the weather varied through out. The conditions were monitored all day
and fortunately no thunderstorms or dangerous winds up to this point.
This changed during the fourth artist Joe Nichols. The wind started to pick up and rain
became quite heavy during the late part of his set. I personally became concerned. I am the lighting crew chief on this
event. However I am also
responsible for operating the motors that support the “roof” system, which the
lighting is attached to. The owner
of our company was working on site with us and he also voiced concerns with the
changing conditions.
We decided to lower the roof down in hopes to reduce the
pressure on the structure. This is
normal procedure and it’s recommend by the company that makes it. Upon doing so we received weather
reports that the conditions were going to get worse. The covering on the roof was taking quite a beating. With that said the staging was holding
up very well. We take great care
and time to make sure of this. We
even add two additional towers upstage to help carry the load of everything
hanging on it. This is an eight
tower roof.
No matter how safe you are and how good the equipment Mother
Nature can still come up and smack you in the face. The roof is only rated to handle a certain point of wind
speeds and we were approaching them.
So it was decided with all those involved that the remainder of the show
was to be cancelled.
No one likes to see this. We don’t go through the dozens of hours, effort and man
power to not give the paying public what they want. It’s about putting on the best show possible. When it’s all said and done the public
safety, the bands and crews safety are what matters.
The public was told that we could not continue at which
point the booing began. This was
understandable. What began next
was pathetic. Several people
decided to begin throwing full beer cans, chairs and other items at the
stage. We are looking out for
these people’s safety and they turn around and potentially could hurt those
helping them by throwing things.
Yes it was small amount of idiots that did this but it makes
the people of Buffalo come across as ignorant and childish.
I hope those that threw things and shouted obscenities have
“sobered up” today and realize that stopping the show was the right thing to
do. They can say what they
want. I know that all the powers
that be would handle this the same way if and when it’s happens again.
I know I woke up earlier today knowing we did the right
thing.
Labels: 2012, Buffalo, Collapse, Dunn Park, Eric Church, Festival, Indiana, Joe Nichols, Stage Collapse, Taste of Country, Touring, Tours, Weather
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
