... just like in hockey... if a goalie is looking like they might end the game with a shutout... when you're on tour and things are going smoothly... don't say the words... it's bad luck. February 18, 2016 - 11:15pm I woke up at 10:30am... which is an unheard of length of time for me to sleep. Slept awesome though... and it was the first night which a) Reid didn't knee me in the back and/or b) I didn't punch Reid in the head. ... felt pretty bad about that one actually... I just extended my arm and... sorry Reid... he didn't wake up or anything though... that kid isn't a light sleeper which is great if you're in this band... considering the decibels of a Snoretallica concert and getting randomly punched in the head. ... ok... it wasn't a hard punch... but there was definitely contact. ... it definitely would've woke me up. ... actually it did wake me up. ... anyway... pretty uneventful afternoon until we arrived at the venue... Grey Eagle Casino in Calgary. The #1 question on everyones mind... will there be pyro??? I noticed on the day sheet at the venue (times everything is going on for crew and bands), that there was a "pyro demonstration". Apparently the fire marshall can observe and either say no, yes, or what needs to be done to make it safe. They scaled things back at bit (1/2 to 2/3 I'd say) but I'm sure it was still a pretty cool show they put on... ... I'm saying this because we're already back at Tim's. We decided it'd be best to leave the show after Disturbed started to get a few hours sleep then hit the road. There's apparently a storm around Edmonton, and on an 8 1/2hr (so 10hr) drive, that can cause problems... so we're giving ourselves 12hrs to make the trip. It's much better to arrive early (and check in early) than be rushing... or worse. It was a much more relaxed day though since majority of the stage/lights were all in house/venue. You could tell the crew was a little more relaxed as well. ... I'm glad we got a chance to hang out with a few of the them the other night at the bar... it's nice to see people outside their work environment. It's where people are "people". ... that's something I try to explain often... even if someone is up on stage... it's just people doing their job. Some jobs are a little more glamorous than other, but the 10+ cogs backstage make the machine work for the 4-5 on stage. ... I really need to get some sleep since I'm going to be part of the first driving shift... so I'll let some of the pics tell the story. Highlights... Spinal Tap moment 7 minutes before going on stage... Our dressing room happened to be the venue's Gibson Guitar Lounge (pretty sweet actually!)... the door was propped open when we got there... and locked when the door closed. ... we constantly had people knocking on the door to get back in. So we were all standing back stage and I remembered I'd left one of my cases in the dressing room... no big deal but I was thinking I should just go back and grab it... I had time. ... then I was thinking... I bet you nobody thought to keep the door open behind them after our pre-show ritual and heading to the stage. I looked around... if there's a guy to ask "hey, do you know if anybody made sure to keep the door open a little before we left?"... that guy is Tim... because it'll freak Tim out a little and it's funny to watch Tim freak out a little over something that's not a big deal. ... there are keys for that door... it's just a matter of tracking someone down. :-) ... I ask Tim... he immediately takes off to see if it's locked. ... 5 minutes til we're on stage. I see Tim down the hall standing outside the door... looking at the door handle... looking at me... then back at the handle... Our manager is in the office next to me... asks what's up... tell him about the door and he says he'll have it unlocked by the time we get off stage... all good. ... 3 minutes to stage time... crisis averted. Great crowd in Calgary and I could tell it was probably going to be the best sounding room on the tour so far... reason mainly being it's a room... with carpet... and not an arena with concrete everything. ... this is where the blessing and curse of working in audio comes in. ... if a large space sounds nice, it's either ugly.. or SUPER expensive. We almost got the house lights and intro music synced up tonight... almost... about 5 seconds off. I mean... they can manage to do it for Saint Asonia and Disturbed... but like.. just not us... *cough* The set was a blur again... saw a few people singing along... we changed the set up a little too... took out 'Dying On The Inside', which is new, and put 'Live Out Loud' in since it usually goes over well in Calgary. It's a tough call putting a 5 minute ballad in an already tight 30 minute (28mins timed) set when you're opening this show. We went for it though... ... second highlight... Tim coming out on stage and his wireless mic wasn't turned on. It happens but you just pray the mic is off and the batteries aren't dead. Dead batteries suck... end of story. It was fine though... just missed the very first "CALGARRYYYYYYY!!!!! LET ME HEAR YOU!!!!" bit... it was implied... it's a rock show. ... good show overall... good energy... but I didn't realize how many people were there until we got to the part where I snap a pic of the crowd. People are still coming in as we're playing obviously... and we'd heard the show was close to sold out... The house/crowd lights came on for a second and.. people... seemingly straight to the back of the room. Awesome. *tear* After the show they'd already packed up dinner which was kinda crappy... we don't typically get to eat dinner since we're setting up, but grab it right after we finish loading out. Missed it by 15 minutes apparently. ... but dessert was still out. ... I'm having chocolate cake for dinner. ... not the worst dinner... arguably better than McDonalds... which we'll probably still eat anyway. Our manager noticed us all eating cake and asked us what was up... disappeared for 2 mins then said they're bringing food back out for us. ... clutch. Not gonna lie... I was pretty hungry but not yet hangry (hungry + angry). So we piled some salmon, beef, and vegetables on top of 2 kinds of chocolate cake already in our guts. On paper all of this was awesome... but I also pretty sure if you pile protein on top of sugar... get ready for... *looks around... whispers*... farts. :-| ... or cramps if you try and deny science. We went to merch after Saint Asonia for photos/signing but it was too busy to really do much. Met a few friends and new fans... always worth the stop by the table. Packed up soon after and headed back to the house... sans McDonalds. Bed time for me... should get a couple hours sleep. ... I'll be honest though... I had a moment of really missing my studio today... and creating music. I was chatting with Sal (Saint Asonia's drum tech) this aft and we geeked out lightly over recording and drum programs / virtual instruments... discussing the future of recording drums... then I got thinking about how many people I get to work on great music with... and they're friends. Good times. ... I'll be back in Toronto soon enough but hopefully recording will have me travelling a bit this year. ... but for now, I have a chocolate milk in the fridge for the drive and my alarm set for 2:30am. Good times. - Mike :-) P.S. We all pitched in to wash and vacuum the van this morning... clutch.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Mike Langford - Official BlogBeing on both sides of the glass, I get the chance to wear many hats in the music industry. This is a place to share my thoughts, views, predictions, rants, stories and news! Categories
All
Archives
October 2017
|