Roadies in the Midst - Touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers - Roadie Friends

Day 166 - St. Paul

nospam@example.com (Dave Rat) — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 19:11:00 -0800

The end of US tour leg # 3 has us saying goodbye's to The Mars Volta. Going to miss them as they are part of the extended Peppers family. The interaction between the bands and the people that are with them really helped set the euphoric tone of this tour. When everyone is on the same page, backstage tends to be open and free, if there is competition, friction or a band attracts crazy drunk guests, then backstage becomes more of a lock down. When I was touring with Rage Against the Machine and Wu Tang Clan was the opening band, it got way out of hand and backstage was full of fights and cops and other adventures that kept things on edge. With Mars Volta it is all good and can't wait to see them next time!

So lets meet a few more roadies to say bye bye to:

Roadie Shaun who does monitors for Mars. I hold him personally responsible for drinking me to oblivion and for saving my life by making sure I got home safe in Minneapolis. On the right is Grandpa who is a long time Rat crew and is working for Mars as monitor assist. I will dig up some funny pics on them but that will have to wait.

I met the next Mars roadie on Black Flag tour in 1985 when he was a local stage hand at the 1st ave in Minneapolis. Then he comes through LA with The Replacements a few years later and works on the Rat PA at the Variety Arts center. Since then he is now known as the guy the mixes Brittany Spears. Here seen for the first time I ever have seen him in a white shirt, please meet The Mars Volta FOH sound engineer, Monte Lee Wilkes:

I was also fortunate to, for the first time meet his daughter and wife, very cool. I am pretty sure his wife said she worked for a local radio station.

And a few farewell shots of Mars:

The show ended with a grand finally jam with Marcel and and Omar on stage with the Peppers that made for an amazing, fun and a perfect ending to a wonderful segment adventure. The rest of the Mars crew is not forgotten but their recognitions will wait.

A blog while back I mentioned the well known fact that Roadies love Swag so I hauled out the booty we both acquired and also did not lose on the way. Roadies love booty and we do our best to hold onto it but it tends to stray. Here is the booty check at tour leg end:

Notice the little orange confetti gun that I now shoot over Scott during the song Snow in memory of the blizzard. The wine gums were a huge hit and a bag went to each bus. Creativity highlight goes to the bouquet of wires, roadies love wires! We had a radio control rat which provided much amusement before it ran away, but we still have the controller. There is a pink bag of cookies, we drank the wine, wore the sunglasses, stuffed the shirts somewhere, used the flashlight fish that is still swimming in the drawer somewhere, the hookah resides at my house in it's wonderful time reversal existence and any candy has been long since eaten. Oh, and the cooler of food, I am still working on. Finally, what you do not see is the magical pile of happiness that has been bulldozer dumped on all of us out here by our new friends that have been joining me and the road crew on this twisted and unraveling adventure.

Fret you all not about this ending, we are far from done and if all goes as planned we are not even at the half way point. I love the thought that I have no idea how this winding road will turn and I do know that there is a damn good chance that a big pile of roadies traveling Earth will surely find plenty of fun and trouble.

**** Ebay update ****

I have seen the shirts, seen the ad and I know without a doubt it will be something none will expect. Updates coming soon and we have some shopping to do!

**** End Ebay Update ****

With wet eyes and fond memories please say good bye one more time today to something quite dear as Scott the Lampi's cousin Eric has adopted our pet carpet named Fred.

It is so wonderful to see them bonding. Eric, I promise to come visit. Fred likes beer so be careful, he is a messy drunk.

The heart crushed over too many goodbye's,

Dave Rat

Day 151 - Albany

nospam@example.com (Dave Rat) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 23:12:00 -0700

Roadies like to make friends. I made two friends just today, would you like to meet them? The first friend I met was not only attractive to look at but very intelligent as well, her name was Zumex. Zumex was really cool and I was very happy to meet her. As soon as we met, the first thing I did was turn her on and then I watched her hypnotic moves as my mouth watered. I left with the most delicious taste in my mouth and quite impressed. And then, not even a minute later my heart skipped a beat as I spotted her from across the room. Heavenly she sat with sleek lines and that flashy look. Without hesitation I glided towards her and instinctively knew which buttons to push to get her going and boy was she hot! Jura, her name was Jura and I think she is Italian. Deliciousness was what she had to offer and with a start like this, today is going to be a good day.

Sometimes as we travel around the world with tons (literally) of high tech and complex gear there are mishaps which cause the equipment to get an 'owie.' As you may recall, we had some amp racks get big owie's when the fell of the fork lift. Well when the sound gear gets an owie it is important to deal with it appropriately. The decision of whether to rush it to the sound hospital or wait to get it looked at by a sound physical later on depends on many factors. In the photo below you can observe a V-Dosc cabinet being operated on by the sound roadie surgeons Lee, Nick, Neal and Jamie. If you look to the right side of the photo you can see a smaller speaker with an ipod atop. This is important and is playing music while the operation takes place. This music acts as an anesthesia for the larger speaker of the operating table and helps reduce it's level of distress.

What had happened was during a load out Nick the Fly had decided to land the V-Dosc a bit differently than we normally do. This resulted in an abrupt modification to speaker cabinet, here you can see Nick the Fly holding the resulting creation. Though similar to the original, the little silver colored owie's toward the right side made it difficult to continue using, hence the operation.

In the photo below you can see roadie Jamie and myself holding a metal bar that also has an owie. Since we together made it slightly curved rather than straight, we proudly pose together with our creation.

This particular metal bar assists in preventing the tilt stand under my mixing board from falling over. Nick the Fly has devised an alternate plan to replace the metal bar rather than attempt to straighten it, I will photo that when done as well as the cool tilt stands.

The missing my friends,

Dave Rat

Day 133 - 145 Oct 3 - Oct 15, Fly home and Break Time

nospam@example.com (Dave Rat) — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:14:12 -0700

Once upon a time there were two old friends, both the same age as I. One desired to live and for reasons beyond his control, his body blew out and his life jumped away. The other friend has choosen spend his life dimantling his own body with drugs and collapsing the trust and friendships of those that surround him. I saw them both today. One in spirit and the other showed up a harrowing shell of the shining eyes I once knew.

And here is a picture from Hatter's memorial:

The immersed in a hopefully open eyed balance,

Dave Rat

Day 132 - Oct 2 - Boston Show Day

nospam@example.com (Dave Rat) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 09:05:00 -0700

Quebec in all it's less than optimum-ness loaded out in an hour and 50 minutes. I hear that is one of the fastest load outs yet. Very cool and in the face of challenge, inspiration and motivation so often prevail.

**** Highlight of the Day ****

Today there were two highlights and they both came from JF.

First we have the ear to ear smiles of John playing the song "Your Pussy is Glued to a Building on Fire" from the roadies that have been around since Californication. Things have changed a lot since then and YPGTABOF brings back wonderful memories and realizations of the long road traveled.

Secondly, a huge and heartfelt "thank you" from JF to the road crew was really cool. On a tour of this size, even for the lengths of time we travel, meeting everyone is tough and with the work schedules and mixed with times that the band is at the gig, there are quite a few people with us that have little or no exposure to the band. The public appreciation is cool.

**** End Highlight of the Day ****

**** Issue of the Day ****

Man Down. Or more like "Soundman Down"

About a week ago soundman roadie Ronnie, phoned me and informed me that another friend roadie Hatter, is in the hospital. He had gone to he doctor for back pains and after a week or so of no improvement from pain killers, was scanned to find inflamed lymph nodes. Blood test showed cancer and he was admitted. Two weeks later he was dead. Surreal shock and perplexing confusion of exactly to react to something so unexpected. Distant and removed as it has been a while since I have seen him yet so close to home as it seems so natural that we would be crossing paths at another rock show that will never happen.

The observing,

Dave Rat

Day 128 - Montreal

nospam@example.com (Dave Rat) — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 17:56:00 -0700

Today is a Mars Volta special feature day!

**** Dave Rat Meets Mars Special ****

Several years ago I was at the Troubadour in Hollywood mixing a John Fruciante solo show. Opening for a band called "At the Drive In." All I remember beyond John's performance was these two skinny little guys with crazy huge hair.

A chunk of time passes....

And answering a ringing phone brings a query as to whether I would be willing to mix a band next week, a showcase. I don't do it often and when I do, it is only for certain people or favors or friends. It is not a money thing, it is an enjoyment and happiness thing. Mixing a new band I have never seen in a small club is a treacherous endeavor with much opportunity to have less people like me after the show than before. Lots of things can go wrong and without high end audio gear to depend on, it really can easily go pear shaped if I am not extremely careful. Two days later The Tremulant EP arrives Fedex to the Rat Shop.

The Tremulant EP then entered my car cd player where it resided on continuous repeat as clutched the steering wheel driving too fast and full blast for the next three days. I agree to mix the band The Mars Volta. Whomever they are, they rock.

"Hello hello, my name is Dave Rat and I am looking for some Mars Volta's" In a happy and somewhat sarcastic announcement as I enter the Troubadour, day of show. Holly shit, it's those crazy looking guys with big hair! "Hey, I know you, I saw you here last time I was here for John's solo gig" and I feel a better that I actually have a thread of familiarity with the band I am about to mix. Omar then asked me if I know anything about guitar cabinets as his was sounding funny. With a big smile I like him already, and let us take a look and see what the issue is. A screw gun from my car and a bit of wiring later we are all good and ready to rock.

"My name is Jeremy, do you want me on stage or up here in the sound booth?" That's right, I remember now, at some point I was told the band has a dedicated human that does nothing but vocal effects. "Jeremy, where would you rather be?" I ask as I ponder the advantages of both scenarios. "Up here with you" he says and so it's decided, Jeremy and I will hang together and we unravel the best way to make that happen.

Mixing The Mars Volta in that little club was euphoric, Jeremy next to me buried in headphones with a mind boggling array of effects dedicated and locked into creating insane vocal effects that showed up as another instrument for me to blend into the sound. Absolutely magic!

I have mixed them a few times since, including a Coachella show and a short trip to South America a few years back. Part of my heart still hurts that I could not continue on as their sound engineer as they grew and toured but that does not change the fact that the bond and friendship built, carries on as strong as ever.

Jeremy died. Mind crushing sad. A magical part of their musical equation passed with him. Not to be replaced as reliving the past is a waste of time. A memory both sweet and tragic from which to launch forward. The Mars Volta is magic music of sensation and emotion.

Today I sat in the front row and bring you glimpses of TMV:

Omar

Marcel

Cedric

Ike

Juan

Do you recognize this now white mic?

Shaun, Mars' monitor engineer, has taken the microphone mod to a whole new level, now white with custom white mic cord and some internal retrofits to improve upon the initial creation, it is now one of four that have become the standard for Cedric.

**** End Mars Special ****

And for a final smile, here are JF and AK pics. Sorry about Flea and Chad, will grab them soon enough.

The sentimental

Dave Rat

ILBSAGGYB!