This leg (segment) of the tour is complete as we played
the Tabernacle in Atlanta last night. It is one of those places that
someone though would be really cool as a concert venue despite its
challenges. This particular building was built in the early 1900's
(1908 or 1912 I think) as a church. Leading up to the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics it was transformed into a House Of Blues club. I remember
being in Atlanta and playing Centennial Park with Little Feat after the
bombing and being asked if I wanted to go there afterwards. The line
was around the block and that wasn't what I wanted to do after a days
work. Besides, I believe we had a show in Atlantic City the next day.
After the Olympics HOB pulled out and it was reborn
as the Tabernacle, a club/concert venue. The HOB paint job remains; the
laout of the place is on many levels and can be confusing at first...
kind of the Rock Club of Dr. Calgari. Dogleg ramps up into the building
and onto the stage, an upstairs
dressing room area that you have to take a staircase down into and a
storage zone that you need to move the ramps into a different
configuration in order to get anything in or out of. The sound on stage
is initally perplexing; the small intimate look of the hall sounds like
"an airplane hanger" (band comment) but changes when the kids come in a
little bit.
The first jump into the south for us
also brought the added sonic change of humidity. Though some of the
northern places got humid for the show, the south is weird in that the
sound of drums and some stringed things seems muffled and lifeless.
Last night the drums sounded like the heads were coated in a thick
paste of egg yolk and hair gel. I may be just talking through my hat,
but in certain places that are always humid (Atlanta, New Orleans,
Miami) this can be a concideration. Though my knowledge of acoustic
theory is limited, I'm pretty sure that with added moisture in the air,
sound travels differently. Maybe this bout of bus lung crawled into my
ears...
All in all for the first leg of a tour, it went very
smooth. We had a few places that were tough to shift in and out of but that
really didn't make a difference. The band got their act together in
record time, backslid a little and then refocused, getting even better.
Perhaps they will expand the setlist a bit for further variety (which I
know the fans are begging for) but they were very clear that they
wanted to go out and play the songs they wanted to play from the get
go.
The main point of this post is the fact that we
really look like we have a great team of people again touring with this
band. With the returning crew and some great replacements, this is a
very low stress and big laugh bunch. As I was challenged by my personal
issues on this trip, my co-workers were very understanding and
forgiving of my lack of focus. I hope to get back on the beam for June.
I don't think I did all that bad, but can do so much better for the
band and the guys on the crew. This is an unconditional thank you to
the Big W crew for being so cool all the time, my bro Bobby for being
the other half (as if 150% could be half of anything), Arthur for
waiting for the paperwork and me to get my ass downstairs, Kevin for
taking certain vocals down in my mix, Craig for making turning down a
bass amp so much fun, Hal for being the opening act bass player who
never played (but still turned a profit) and Monkey for getting down on
his knees on the carpet time and again( hey, hey, we didn't have a
carpenter on this one, ok?) Lastly, we're gonna miss you Dan, on the
bus and off; we hope that you're summer is fun, profitable and safe. It
won't be the same without you.
We all go home now; we crank it back up around the
first of the month. We'll all hop on a plane and meet in Germany. I
hope that you all have a great stay at home. I also want to thank the
fans and my friends for visiting me and helping me get through this
difficult time. Most of all I want to thank Angela for being there for
me, for Sterling and for holding it all together. I'm a really lucky
guy. More as it happens...
12:42:36 PM 
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