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BLOG: 19/05/08 As I write this first blog, it's 1am on Monday morning. I'm in the van travelling back home after 4 nights supporting Robben Ford with The Oli Brown Band. Had a great few gigs, and these were the first gigs with the new album for sale. Hi to all the people we met on the road this week. Robben Ford was really nice to us and his band (Toss Panos and Travis Carlton) and crew were a pleasure to work with. Toss did some spectacular drumming and showed just why artists such as Steve Vai, Soloman Burke and Faith Hill have picked him as their drummer. Although in the last 4 days we have travelled across the country, and I haven't seen anything of the places we have visited, except through the van windows. It's a shame as what I HAVE seen has been gorgeous, especially idyllic Falmouth. A typical day on the road normally consists of getting up between 8 and 10 (depending how late we were on the previous night, and the distance we're due to travel that day). Then it's a (hopefully healthy) breakfast and we set off. Arrival time at the venue varies from 3pm to 5pm, then we're in and then it's load-in and sound check (which can sometimes be as late as 7pm if we are supporting another artist). Lots of waiting around and not really enough time to pop out and see the sights. After soundcheck, there's hopefully time to grab dinner, then it's stage time. Once we're off stage, it's time to sell any merchandise we have, sign autographs and chat to the audience. Normally we leave the venue by midnight, and drive to our hotel (which can sometimes be 1 - 2 hours away). This evening's gig in Manchester with Robben Ford was made even more interesting as The Ting Tings were playing in the venue above us, and in fact they walked past us as we were waiting to sound check. The downside was that after Robben Ford had finished, there were 5 bands trying to unload gear into a single loading bay, so the crews for each band had great difficulty getting equipment out quickly. Piles of amps, drums and road cases littered the loading bay - a logistical nightmare. Evertything was slowed down as the Young Knives decided to park their van across the entrance to the loading area, but this problem was solved as Robben Ford's crew got into the Young Knives vehicle, released the handbrake, and pushed the van out of the way. I've been gigging a new cymbal this week - a Stagg DH 18" medium crash. I did a side by side test of the Stagg against a Zildjian K crash, and in fact I liked the Stagg much more, and at around a quarter of the pirice, it was a no-brainer! I'm really looking forward to getting home again and sleeping in my own bed again! This week looks to be busy again though as I'm back teaching Tuesday to Thursday (with a school concert on the Tuesday evening), then we're gigging with Robben again on Thursday night in Sheffield, and then playing our own gig in Worthing on Friday night. More soon, and thanks for reading :) Simon |
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