Dave Rat - Roadies in the Midst

Oh the joys of the Scotish summer! It rained, it winded, it colded and it mudded us all. The crowd was great, the weather was poo. Though nowhere near the coldest gig I have ever mixed. That was the Foo Fighters playing the winter Olympics awards ceremony. I was in a tower about 16 feet up that was sealed except for the sub zero wind blasting in sound listening opening directly in front of me. I had read stripes down my fingers from blood seeping from frozen cracks in my fingers. Bad aim that kept me banging sore fingers accross the console knobs.

The wettest gig I mixed I believe was Peppers at the first Mount Fuji festival in Japan. There was word of a typhoon coming in and so I go to confirm with one of the locals, I ask about a Typhoon and he replies in a Japanese accent and a level of emotion that cracks me up "No, Super Typhoon!" I remember Dave Navarro leaning at nearly a 45 degree angle over the audience that was standing in 2 feet of water and sideways rain. People were panicing but Peppers played on. Electricity and water is bad for humans but aparently not bad for Peppers that night. The show the next day cancelled due to sunken stage.

Compared to those shows, T in the Park was warm and wonderful.

Here you can clearly see the wind, well, maybe not but Kaiser Cheifs were awesome! Not big in the US but really cool to see.

Sound wise, it was another two banana system at a windy site. Another giant Leslie. (For those not familiar witha a Leslie, it is a speaker where parts spin around and create a wobbly loud/soft sound plus doppler effect that is often used with keyboards). At least it was V-Dosc. The goal for me is not perfection, that is the job of the studio engineers. The goal for me is to play my part in creating the the most memorable experience possible with the tools at my disposal and in that, I was happy.

One of the things that makes this all worth while is the energy and excitement of the fans. I can not help but smile when so many people are unified in a comon happiness!

Drat

MDTBWYFAYPM!

After spending most of my time surrounded by high quantities of humans, a relaxing wander in a stunning city really is grounding. So I will share a few highlights:

An old and intricate church made with lots of stones. Tracy (bass tech, Leif Scott's tech), Scott (lighting human) and Nick the Fly (FOH sound tech) enjoy the task of standing and looking around:

This window, while beautiful, is not very funtional for seeing outside and a does not open::

And I realize that betwixt is a word I need to use more often:

Especially of note is the small tree adorning the helmet:

This made my heart hurt:

Definitley not Los Angeles:

How often do you get to see one of these:

And tomorrow, well, how about a rock show for a change?

Dave Rat

TMISYASIYWRTDOOC!

Today we get to play a game called "count the projectile!"

How many flying items you can see count in the photo below?

And I must admit that I did enjoy watching the shoulder riding challengers take on the bottle tossers, I also enjoyed the relative safety of the mix riser tent.

**** Roadie Research Segment ****

Roadies are known to get hungry. When hunger sets in, a Roadie must hunt. The hunt can involve several hundreds of steps in a given direction, last for 1's, 2's or even 5's of minutes and involve a plethra of dangers and obstacles including doorways and various things to step over. Never come between a Roadie and its food and more importantly, never attempt to pet a Roadie while it is tacking its prey.

Roadies often refer to their hunting grounds as "Catering." Some Roadies are better hunters than others. Here we can observe the fierce hunting Roadies preparing critical nutrition for the herd:

Without this food, this herd will surely perish. Take note that this particular hunt has been highly fruitful. They will eat well once again today. Their chance for survival is strong indeed:

**** End Roadie Research Segment ****

Wonderful show and the last of the stadium gigs this trip. Bigger venue, more open sounding and all around, it just felt good. I am so looking forward to a proper day off.

Davus Ratticus

ILTHYASYIAT!

I know you are not going to believe this but guess what happened!

Poof! And there it was, I was right in the middle of mixing the show and like a magical gift it materialized in the mixing area and simultaneously invoked FOH rule # 23 which states "if a magical wearable item materializes at FOH, it must be worn for the rest of the show." And then as an added bonus, I could hardly contain my excitement when Grier made me aware of the fact that since "it" had landed in my zone, that it was my duty to wear it.

And a couple of show shots from, oh darn where did I take them from? Oh that's right, front of house for a change.

OK, off to the last of the outdoor stadiums this run. Fun show tonight!

Ha Ha! I bet you thought I forgot about the sound nerd stuff!  As far as *Issue of the Day*, well when they exceeded the amount of dirty socks in my bag, I just had to embrace and reformat them as pleasurable challenges.

**** SoundNerdSpeak ****

Developing a 'show volume strategy' and having the self control to stick with it is quite challenging and often ignored or over looked in importance. Depending on the set list and other factors such as sound volume limits and the PA capabilities, I will try and structure a volume strategy that optimally reproduces that impact of what the band presents within the constraints dictated by things beyond my control. Having the sound of the show come out at a strong level and gradually build in intensity is a very good thing. If you come out too strong, it leaves no where to go, if you come out too soft, you lose the the critical thrill and excitement of the start of the show.

Here is a sound level plot of the volumes from the Derby gig. The measurements are averaged here over 1 minute increments but in general you can make out the songs and breaks, lull before the encore followed by a long quiet song and finishing with the loudest song of the show. You can also see that the show started just below 105 and finished just above 110 which is pretty much what I aim for.

There are two overlaying trends I attempt to achieve. Ideally there are cyclical volumes song to song resulting in a gradually increasing average volume level. Kind of a "loud, then reduce a bit, then reduce a bit more and then bring it up a bit louder than the starting point" pattern. This is all very dependant and dictated by the set list, of course. Certain songs increase intimacy at lower volumes while other lose impact unless they are at higher levels. The key is to make the soft songs slightly extra soft and leave more room for impact on the power driven tunes. All the while heading in a gradual upward volume trend, whee!

The reckless approach of up, up ,up mixing tends to be quite incompatible with system limitations, people's hearing, noise restrictions and in my opinion diminishes the journey of the auditory aspect of the live experience.

**** End SoundNerdSpeak ****

Dave Rat

SYWTTMBBD?

**** Roadie Research Section ****

Carefully sneaking up on Roadie Scott, I was able to capture a shot during yesterday's show. Notice the colorings along his back, I assume it must be some sort of camouflage or possibly a defense mechanism to ward off potential predators or maybe even something to do with attracting a mate? This particular Roadie is charged with control over illumination of the Rock Gods.

**** End Roadie Research Section ****

Anyone got a broom?

One nice thing about the UK is that it stays kind of cool and rainy here so there is no need for those noisy air conditioners that are common elsewhere in the world. Accordingly, we have been enjoying the luxury of our non-AC hotel rooms that have nice heaters. Oh, and check out the newspaper today!

And I did some subterranean train riding:

Dave Rat

IACAIMMR!

Football stadium 3 of 5. Delay clusters are in a better spot and that makes me happy.

**** Roadie Research Section ****

With silence and stealth I creep slowly into the inner realm of the Roadie Domain known as 'Backstage.' Few humans trek these forbidden lands and as I delve deeper into the inner workings I am astonished to behold a rare sight indeed. It has been known for some time that Roadies are attracted and cluster around "TeeVee" but look! Here two Roadies have obviously discovered a a Shangri La of TeeVees and are observing intently. Notice the variant sizes of TeeVees plus there seems to be some sort of control mechanisms with which they are interacting. Of course we also see the multitude of wires with which these Roadies have clearly decorated their shrine. Roadie George and Roadie Jerry are rumored to control visual images seen.

One must always be alert! Though I try not to interfere with natural balance of the domain a catastrophe nearly occurred when Roadie Grier attempted to enter an unsafe area:

**** End Roadie Research Section ****

So here is !!! and though I was a bit apprehensive the first time I saw them, I must admit I am beginning to like their music and energy and they are doing a damn good job of holding up in a stadium as it is tough on any band to play in daylight on a huge stage. It is also cool that Peppers go out of their way to select cool upcoming bands that they like and give them the giant break of a lifetime.

And Ben Harper, one of my favorite artists/bands, amazing slide guitar, awesome band and everyone in the Ben Harper camp is super cool! If you are unfamiliar with BH, got get "Fight for Your Mind" CD and listen with headphones. I love just about everything he does but FFYM is a good starting place.

And if ya turn around and look the other way before all the people finish coming in, you will see:

 

Dave Rat

**** Begin undecipherable secret code ****

TWYRHAOFMLR!

Tis is the second of five football stadiums, most of them have never had a rock show. Coming into places like that, there is no history or patterns how to do things. While I normally change things and readily disregard 'the way we do it here' in order to improve if I can, when there is no past pattern, it creates some challenges. I was not happy with side or rear coverage yesterday and requested a change in the the placement of the delay clusters. Unfortunately, the three days it takes to setup the stage means I won't see that the new configuration till Derby.

Here you can see the cantilevered delay clusters. On the front side are two huge follow spots pointed at the band, on the back side are speakers pointed at the stands.

One thing that is especially interesting is the over whelming desire that the fans have to hurl the plastic beer bottles and cups at each other. I can think of little that is more refreshing than watching a band while being beaned in the head by bottles and covered in a sticky mix of soda and beer for hours on end. Plus, the fans being as friendly as they are, decided to include !!! (Pronounced Chick Chick Chick, the first opening band) in the receiving end of the refreshing beer and soda bath adventure. Today John Fruciante came out and made a heart warming pre show announcement about loving all and how much he likes !!!. It was nice to see more fans actually watching than be concerned about both ends of the projectiles.

Here we can see them cleaning up the spent ammo

Each festival, artist and venue caries with it a personality, it is the harmony or clash of these personalities that add a level of uniqueness beyond the performance itself, to each event. New venues (to rock) are a bit more hit or miss, famous european festivals, some being decades old, carry a level of depth that can be truly astounding. Werchter Festival has a deal where fans can return 10 empty beer (plastic) bottles and get a free beer, there was not a single bottle tossed and instead there were roaming collectors saving up for another round. Roskilde pays cash for empties, Glastonbury festival takes every 5th year off to let the earth heal properly. There are hundreds of nuances that define these festivals, ways they treat artists, the fans and the earth we share that each year refine and adapt to their particular challenges. Something we unfortunately don't see much of in the US with Coachella being an exception to the rule.

Oh, and those innovative Belgians at Werchter have developed "central beer plumbing!" High pressure lines run throughout the event feeding draft beer from a massive beer truck, reducing the supply line infrastructure needed to keep the thirsty satisfied.

As the sound engineer, it is my responsibility to present the audio that you all here at the shows. All audio coming out (or not) from all those speakers passes through my finger tips. It is my job to capture sounds the band create and present them to huge spaces, intact, balanced and sonically connect the band to the audience in real time. I have no rewind button, second take or hold on for minute while I get that ready. So for each show it is extremely important for me to get in the proper state of mind, to merge with my surroundings and prepare for the task at hand, here you can see me in my pre-show-meditational-state:

And the Peppers as seen from where I stand:

Good night.

Dave Rat

Mm!

I say "day off" as it pertains to me. Being that Roadies are a highly developed and specialized species, each performs a unique task with unique challenges. Many will be at the venue site today with a long day and lots to be done hanging things, moving things around with wheels, and wiring wires, lots and lots of wires! Roadies love wires. They carry wires everywhere. You would be surprised how many pretty wires Roadies have. Huge collections of of them in different sizes, lengths, colors. I would say that if there is one unifying factor amongst Roadies, it would be their love of having lots of wires. The love of wires goes so deep that Roadies have been known to go into a rage if certain wires get an "owie" and have to go to a the wire doctor. Without wires, Roadies would not come and we all know that without Roadies, no rock show.

**** Begin Blast Into The Past ****

Here are few pics from Peppers playing in Moscow Aug 14th 1999. I think there was 200,000 or so people there for the free show, you can see the stage off to the left.

And the stage during show time:

See ya tomorrow!

DR

NNMLIWCYL!