Time to get humble, folks.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tour Blog #3
One week in; three shows down.
Three days of straight travel had us ready to kick things off with a show in the great city of Seattle, WA. After some time spent sightseeing and the discovery that even within sight of T-Mobile HQ the reception still doesn't exist, we headed over to Studio 7. A 900-degree room during load-in made setting up the drumset a little unpleasant and Tyler's favorite guitar mysteriously committed suicide during the show, but those were probably the only downsides to the tour's opening performance.
The next night found us at Portland, OR's Backspace, a downtown coffeehouse/internet cafe. The room was a bit smaller and the stage was a bit shorter, but the energy of the Portland crowd was through the roof and made for a truly memorable night. Any time you have fans driving upwards of 10 hours to see your band play, you feel inspired to play your tokus off, and when they show up with the kind of excitement and energy that they brought with them to Backspace, you play your tokus off.
After a couple more days in the van we landed in Riverside, CA, on the campus of California Baptist University. Twerp week was kicking off (don't ask) and they invited us to help them get the party started. The crowd was great, the weather was great, but the power was not, and about 30 seconds into our first song, the PA system lost the juice. The only thing the kids could hear was my drumset, and, while I would never deny anyone the sheer awesomeness of such an opportunity, that wasn't exactly what they all had come to see. During a quick impromptu acoustic performance, the hard-working sound techs got the power back on and we started up again. Mary Song was once again rockin' like it does, but this time around, about 60 seconds into the song, the PA died.... again. For Round 2, Tyler took Jess, Alex G, and Eppic out in front of the stage to give a raw, unplugged performance of the band's acoustic montage and the crowd was gracious enough to dig it and hang around.
Once again, the techs (now running around like proverbial decapitated chickens) plugged-in this and rewired that and got the whole show up & rolling again. The third time turned out to be the charm, and we were able to ride that wave all the way to the end of our set. Gina and the rest of the crew that took care of us at CBU could not have been easier to work with, and the entire tech team busted some serious hump to make sure that the show did indeed go on. 4th-and-long turned into a touchdown because of the hard work of everyone around us, to be sure.
We're one week and three shows into this tour, and so far the T-Ward Crew fans are proving that they are indeed some of the best on the planet. The support has been tremendous, and most everyone's been kind enough to bring along their cell phones and video cameras so that every tinsy, winsy little mistake we make will be entombed forever upon the hallowed digital manuscripts of YouTube. I'm sure one day a casual perusal of the internet will have us shaking our 60-year-old heads and saying to ourselves, "What in the world were we thinking....?!?" Or maybe we'll be the first band in history to compile an entire live DVD from footage obtained solely by the fans. Who knows? The sky's the limit at this point, people.
Can't wait to see everyone else in the other mainland time zones over the next few weeks... be sure to bring your cell phones!
Three days of straight travel had us ready to kick things off with a show in the great city of Seattle, WA. After some time spent sightseeing and the discovery that even within sight of T-Mobile HQ the reception still doesn't exist, we headed over to Studio 7. A 900-degree room during load-in made setting up the drumset a little unpleasant and Tyler's favorite guitar mysteriously committed suicide during the show, but those were probably the only downsides to the tour's opening performance.
The next night found us at Portland, OR's Backspace, a downtown coffeehouse/internet cafe. The room was a bit smaller and the stage was a bit shorter, but the energy of the Portland crowd was through the roof and made for a truly memorable night. Any time you have fans driving upwards of 10 hours to see your band play, you feel inspired to play your tokus off, and when they show up with the kind of excitement and energy that they brought with them to Backspace, you play your tokus off.
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| The drumstick tree @ Backspace; truly, a work of art. |
After a couple more days in the van we landed in Riverside, CA, on the campus of California Baptist University. Twerp week was kicking off (don't ask) and they invited us to help them get the party started. The crowd was great, the weather was great, but the power was not, and about 30 seconds into our first song, the PA system lost the juice. The only thing the kids could hear was my drumset, and, while I would never deny anyone the sheer awesomeness of such an opportunity, that wasn't exactly what they all had come to see. During a quick impromptu acoustic performance, the hard-working sound techs got the power back on and we started up again. Mary Song was once again rockin' like it does, but this time around, about 60 seconds into the song, the PA died.... again. For Round 2, Tyler took Jess, Alex G, and Eppic out in front of the stage to give a raw, unplugged performance of the band's acoustic montage and the crowd was gracious enough to dig it and hang around.
 | |
| Sights like this one as well as the Solyndra HQ building make the drive through California a truly sentimental experience. |
Once again, the techs (now running around like proverbial decapitated chickens) plugged-in this and rewired that and got the whole show up & rolling again. The third time turned out to be the charm, and we were able to ride that wave all the way to the end of our set. Gina and the rest of the crew that took care of us at CBU could not have been easier to work with, and the entire tech team busted some serious hump to make sure that the show did indeed go on. 4th-and-long turned into a touchdown because of the hard work of everyone around us, to be sure.
We're one week and three shows into this tour, and so far the T-Ward Crew fans are proving that they are indeed some of the best on the planet. The support has been tremendous, and most everyone's been kind enough to bring along their cell phones and video cameras so that every tinsy, winsy little mistake we make will be entombed forever upon the hallowed digital manuscripts of YouTube. I'm sure one day a casual perusal of the internet will have us shaking our 60-year-old heads and saying to ourselves, "What in the world were we thinking....?!?" Or maybe we'll be the first band in history to compile an entire live DVD from footage obtained solely by the fans. Who knows? The sky's the limit at this point, people.
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| The Big Party |
Can't wait to see everyone else in the other mainland time zones over the next few weeks... be sure to bring your cell phones!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tour Survival Kit #1 - The Cooler
Never underestimate the value of a well-stocked cooler in the tour van: $8 is just too steep a price to pay for every single meal of the day while your band is still independent and you never know what one of your wife's homemade chocolate chip cookies will get you.
"Tyler, I'll let you have one of these fluffy culinary delights if you let me play a 13-minute drum solo tonight..."
Never underestimate the importance of a cooler. Never. And don't forget to pack the vitamins!
Needtobreathe - 'The Reckoning'
If there's anyone out there looking to score some new music, be sure to check out Needtobreathe's brand new album, The Reckoning. This baby is brand new as of yesterday and Needtobreathe definitely deserves the attention of every serious music lover out there. Be sure to check it out, my peoples.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tour Blog #2
There are some unexpected mysteries that pop up in each of our lives. One such unexplained enigma surfaced in my life not long ago when I realized that I had never met a single person from the state of Idaho. What's more, I didn't think I had even spoken to a person who had ever spent any amount of time in Idaho. I had absolutely no point of reference for what the Gem State was like outside of an entirely blue football field I had seen on TV.
Fortunately, two things happened: 1) a co-worker friend of my wife informed me that she had attended college at the University of Idaho and was able to inform me about a thing or two, and, 2) I went on tour with the Tyler Ward Crew.
Thus, today I am able to check not only this mysterious blank spot in my geographical reference off of my list of visited states, but it's westerly neighbors, Oregon (pronounced O-ray-gone by the manager at Outback Steakhouse tonight) and Washington, as well. It truly is an exciting moment for a travel geek like me to set foot in a new state, even if only passing through. What's really making the ramblin' glands salivate is the knowledge that, God-willing, I will end up on the entirely other side of this great country before this tour is over.
I love my job.
Fortunately, two things happened: 1) a co-worker friend of my wife informed me that she had attended college at the University of Idaho and was able to inform me about a thing or two, and, 2) I went on tour with the Tyler Ward Crew.
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| Those Idahoans love their Broncos. |
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| Anyone know who Titus Young is? I'll bet you someone in Idaho does. |
Thus, today I am able to check not only this mysterious blank spot in my geographical reference off of my list of visited states, but it's westerly neighbors, Oregon (pronounced O-ray-gone by the manager at Outback Steakhouse tonight) and Washington, as well. It truly is an exciting moment for a travel geek like me to set foot in a new state, even if only passing through. What's really making the ramblin' glands salivate is the knowledge that, God-willing, I will end up on the entirely other side of this great country before this tour is over.
I love my job.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
'Storm Before The Calm'
YouTube is working again and the first new crew video of the tour is up. Dig it.
EVH
"....it was just given to me. God just picked me to do this. And you try to keep your chops up so whatever He gives you, you can execute."
- Eddie Van Halen
- Eddie Van Halen
...and here we go.
It's September 20th; the Tyler Ward Crew is officially on tour.
Day 1 finds our merry band of heroes departing the beautiful homestead of Colorado for the greener, wetter, Pacific Northwest-ier city of Seattle, WA. Along the way they will traverse the largely-uninhabited frontier that is Wyoming and the rugged ranges of Utah.
After nine hours of drive time in our 15-passenger APC (aptly named "Colonel Mickey"), the band have found ourselves holed up in Ogden, UT for the night. Highlights from what might seem like an otherwise slow news day include a victory in my very first Madden 2012 game (the randomly-selected Chicago Bears bested the Seattle Seahawks 34-24, and, yes, Col. Mickey comes equipped with the one-two punch of XBOX 360 & HDTV) and the discovery via Michael Lewis' Moneyball that the difference between a .270 and .300 batting average (IE: the difference between a journeyman ballplayer who's name you forget and a first class Hall-of-Famer) is a single hit every two weeks. Great stuff.
Tomorrow finds us with nine more road hours on the docket; for now, Real Time with Bill Maher seems to have appeared on my hotel television set, which means, good people, that it's definitely time to unplug and shutdown.
Day 1 finds our merry band of heroes departing the beautiful homestead of Colorado for the greener, wetter, Pacific Northwest-ier city of Seattle, WA. Along the way they will traverse the largely-uninhabited frontier that is Wyoming and the rugged ranges of Utah.
After nine hours of drive time in our 15-passenger APC (aptly named "Colonel Mickey"), the band have found ourselves holed up in Ogden, UT for the night. Highlights from what might seem like an otherwise slow news day include a victory in my very first Madden 2012 game (the randomly-selected Chicago Bears bested the Seattle Seahawks 34-24, and, yes, Col. Mickey comes equipped with the one-two punch of XBOX 360 & HDTV) and the discovery via Michael Lewis' Moneyball that the difference between a .270 and .300 batting average (IE: the difference between a journeyman ballplayer who's name you forget and a first class Hall-of-Famer) is a single hit every two weeks. Great stuff.
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| Col. Mickey's junk in the trunk: 200 cubic feet of sheer awesome. |
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