Dave Rat - Roadies in the Midst

Month Two Home

Immersed in pondering I I wonder where have I felt this sensation before? The trigger this time is surfing. Or more specifically, the territorial nature of surfers guarding their surf spot. I grew up in LA and for quite a few years lived very close to the beach. Yet at best I am crappy surfer that spends most of my time and all of my energy just paddling out past the waves and then chasing them back in after avoiding the ones that look like doom cometh. I am not one much for being chilly except in the Peppers sense and until the very recent now, I never made a true effort to truly grasp the whole pattern and strategy of timing, preparedness and mental state optimization necessary to improve my surfing skills and truly embrace the art. Though now it has clicked and getting up at 6:30 am to be wet by 7 in 55 degree water for two hours of alternating exertion and waiting has become something I look forward to. So back to my pondering, it dawns on me that the pattern of possessiveness of surf spots is reminiscent of trying to change lanes on the freeway while driving. The hot surf spot is the fast lane with cars cruising past and the beginner or alien surfer is a "lane changer" that is moving slow or stuck behind a truck or just wanting in to the fast moving herd. Guardedly, no car wants to open the space to let you in, as your mere presence slows the fast lane down and ruins the spot. Yet after you do manage to merge and if you do drive at a solid speed, it wont take long before all is forgotten and you become one of the locals not wanting to let those slow lane cars come clog the cruise. Why of course!, is that not that the way humans naturally act and respond when they have access to something that is both desirable and in limited supply. And my resentment fades as it all makes sense. Do my time, learn my skills, walk softly till welcomed and enjoy the process. Otherwise I would just be one of those idiots with road rage or surf rage as the case may be.

Anyway, currently I am immune, as I have hooked up with a group of long boarding old timers that have welcomed me in. They surf there every day, "C Street" they call it and they have their spot and their time and no one hassles me as I hang tight with a cool gang of locals.

Hey, check out Gene at http://surfstills.com/ in the middle picture, who introduced me to all.

Ok, audio nerdy tidbit of the day, Jon Rat sent me this web site which is full of cool calculators for all kinds of figuring.

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/Calculations03.htm

Oh and this one is cool to and came from Greg Cameron, my long time friend and former drummer os SWA and several other bands "back in the day"

http://users.swing.be/hdepra/home/P22/E-sounds.html

You can put these on your iPod or MP3 player and test it's frequncy response with Smaart or an RTA or whatever test software you audio humans use.

Speaking of pals, check out another good friend Derek Van Ord also known as DVO who an awesome monitor engineer and does Ben Harper and many other cool bands

He got roped into doing camera blocking for a french TV show on a Ben Harper gig, you can just feel how much joy he radiates in being on stage!

Finally for this segment, though they are long since burned their course, the California fires had their impact. I live a bit away from them but not far enough away to have an erie sky and thick smoke smell wrap itself around our lives.

while piles of ash find their way to settle everywhere

Next stop, Halloween, and until then, big eyes and smiles 'cause it is way more fun than complaining.

Dave Rat

PS, I am headed out to LDI to mix on for EAW for ET Live, if you are there, come say hello!

Uh oh! No call sheet under my door! What time is lobby call? Oh, that's right, lobby call today - whenever, Ha ha! Reality shift as my life slips back to the other way. Way too much to do and every time I cross off something from my list, three more things jump on. Ahhh, but the timelessness is dreamy. Up at 7 am every morning and in bed by 9 pm or 3 am or up in the middle of the night all depending on what I am not sure.

The EAW adventure is moving along and if I can just remember to go to the grocery store I would not be hungry all the time. Oh well, eating is over rated any way. So stepping back to my notes and pics of the past.......

Day 457 - Aug 24 - Leeds Festival

Looks like Ozzy Osborne has a novel concept for solving the innate human nature to battle one another for no good reason. check out whateverittakes.org if you need one of these fashionable wristbands. Gotta love the Ozzy!

Ok, so here we are.

Leeds Festival is known for many things. One of which is being the sister festival to Reading, another is for having what is probably the worlds most notorious load in. I am standing at the truck dock. If you look closely you can see what resembles one of those contraptions you see at a museum that the ball rolls down in curious ways except here it is actually the ramp that you have to push every piece of gear up and down to perform the show. Though a mechanical masterpiece, it is also a roadie's nightmare.

The city of lights as roadie Lee grabs an overhead shot of mix position mid show. My home.

And with a flash of light the glamour erases and clear proof that lighting is inversely proportional to happiness.. ...

I wish I had more for ya but more is to come.

Oh, and all y'all that are working on roadiepedia, you rule! Some crazy funny stuff on there!

So sorry for being lax on responding to comments, my space posts and such, I just need to clear this bump of home acclimation and all will hopefully settle in. Also, I have all kinds of cool footage from Sonic Youth tour of the "Dirty" album that I will be posting soon on youtube.com, for all y'all that like that kind o stuff.

Dave Rat

 

I just finished reading "Enter Naomi," a book sent to me by the author, Joe Carducci, and long ago comrade in the legends and confusion of the Black Flag against world collection of memories. I am forgetful by nature so immersing myself in the hauntingly familiar chain of events of the decade 80's LA punk world is both depressing and yet feels empowering to have survived with manageable amounts of mind splatter. I remember meeting the razor thin girl at my High School, Mira Costa (which believe it or not, actually was the Rock and Roll high school in the Ramones movie) with a blades on chains around around her neck sealed inside tight clothes with random zippers and spikes, later to be roommate and then to become Michelle Flipside. We are 16 and she tells me about the "The Church" in Hermosa Beach, just three blocks from where I live with my dad. Half full of hippies and the rest full of punks in a virtual war like stand off The Descendants, Red Cross (Redd Kross), Black Flag and The Last rehearsed there in virtual anarchy. When I could muster up some cash, I could usually persuade Ron to make a beer run with the " I buy, you fly" negotiation tactic. Over time my after school hangout welcomed me in and I became a bit of a punk rock repair technician and began recording the bands at shows and helping out in exchange for getting me in to the gig and something to do. Especially and most of all I remember that I don't remember except for a few impactful highlights, that was until I start to dive into a refresher course.

So I dig up a few pics and the girl on the left was my short lived girlfriend at the time, I think her name was Julie but everyone called her Phoenix after she corrected them that she was not Julie anymore. Next over, Bart, then me, Bart's friend, and Mike Livingston. Maybe 1979 or so.

Rolling over in my mind a way to describe my recollections, the best I can muster is I feel like I was part of an expedition. Not one where people set out all organized for a goal but rather a haphazard conglomeration of humans who find themselves all headed a similar direction for various reasons that leads them on precarious journey that ends up being littered with self inflicted and coincidental tragedies. The goal, if there was one, was a loosely knit propagation of musical lifestyle anarchy, to actually succeed was to also fail which can be debatably envisioned in the hypocritical concept of "successful punker."

The westward movement of early America comes to mind. Each wagon train being a punker band and it's entourage. The meek, content, fearful and lazily rich stayed home with the status quo and waited for Hot Topic to sell fashionable outfits of the excursion while a kludge of the outcast, impoverished and explorers types who are never content, seek a new domain beyond the boundaries of safe and acceptable. An exodus into lawlessness.

I don't remember who sent me this pic but it is me, Dave Markey, Mitch Bury, Vic, Davo and C'el

Many have died over the years to follow and even more have disappeared into the non-musical frameworks of society. Bright lights burn out quickly, any lampi can tell you that. The Donner Party ate itself and perhaps so did Black Flag as the stress of relentless touring upstream took it's toll. Not too dissimilar from that westward movement, Punk Rock did relatively little directly, other than make a big mess and piss a bunch of people off enough to send the police out with billy clubs to attack their own children. The original bands and people that carved that path or long gone or obscure from a global perspective except as a name on a shirt to look cool for those that wish they were there. What is not gone is the stage they set for the future waves to build upon. What were the names of those that died in wagon trains long forgotten? Perhaps heroes of great accomplishment or criminals for ruthless Indian killing. Regardless, once carved the results remain forever etched as those crazy punker bands that stood up against the odds, were beat down by police riots and spiraled out of control, they drug us out of disco and 80's hair metal and have changed music forever yet as usual the glory goes to those that follow, not for a second that it is undeserved and each fulfills their purpose in the chain.

Oh, and speaking of hair metal band's of the 80's, for all you back East'ers and the curious, check out Girls Girls Girls, an all girl Motley Cru cover band, fun! Though I was not a Motley Cru fan, ever, there is something twistedly cool about the recycled version presented by hotties that rock!

Ok, that is enough for today. Oh, by the way, I am on my way to Scotland, for surprise surprise! Yep, some Peppers' shows for a change.

Dave Rat

 

Typically roadie busses involve a few hang out areas, a bunk section and toilet. Occasionally a shower shows up invariably wit a little sign that says "do not use the shower." Well, imagine our glee when the bus company brought over their newest latest and greatest! A bus with a queen bed suite in the back and a bath tub. Oh, just think of the possibilities as we all line up for the sloshy tub after a hard days work, truly a handy concept. Here we can observe roadie Bill partaking in testing the tubbing delights.

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

Yes, it is back, the long lost but not forgotten section! Look what we found! You just have to watch the You Tube video before scrolling down any further, I promise, it is worth it.

 

 

 

No!!!

 

 

Not yet!!

 

 

Watch the You Tube Video first!!

 

 

Then scroll!!

 

 

OK, now look. Hellooooooooo!

Meet roadie Manny the Rigger. Legendary would be fitting. Notice the half eaten habanero pepper in his hand combined with the calm cool collected "about to explode" look on his face. Roadies like hot peppers, even habanero's I ate one, Scotty ate one, Chris Warren ate one, Daniel? Well, not so much, he ate a few tiny bits of one. Some roadies like hot peppers more than others. Habanero peppers are hot, but not when compared to molten lava.

Oh look! A cute little baby PA system, how adorable!

End of Munich part #1,

Dave Rat

Hey look! It is a big stagey thing, life is so full of coincedences! I keep finding these things all over the world.

**** Roadie Research Segment ****

Though roadies can be observed and studied like wild animals, actualy many of today's roadies are highly trained technical professionals weighted with the task of maintaining, seting up and operating complex and often fragile equipment. Often this equipment ceases to operate as it should and is in need of some sort of repair. Below we can see roadies Dark Overlord Scott's and Weak Underling Chad's troubleshooting and repair techniques, upon discovering the lighting console was malfunctioning:

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

So enter the Wu Tang Clan! Who opened the show and arrived 10 minutes or so before they were to go on stage, which really throws some people for a loop. Perhaps because if they don't show up, there is a bit of a problem as to filling the time slot. I have toured with Wu before, when they opened for Rage Against the Machine in 1997. That tour was "eventful" to say the least and some new crazy story showed up daily. And I do like the Wu and it was cool to see them back together.

And a few pics from another day at the office.

Oh look at what time it is! It is my relative 5pm of my 9 to 5, so time to punch my time card and head on out, see ya tomorrow.

Dave Rat

Day 399 - June 26th - Serbia Show Day

So off to the gig we drove, out of the city and into the fields, miles and miles of corn fields down the road and far away

till a town we reached, near sprawling metropolis minus the sprawls and minus the metropolis

And ladies in shadows

To reach a desolate landscape in 100 degree weather.

**** Roadie Research Segment ****

And after a long bus ride

of well over an hour, roadies get hungry. Upon arrival at the musical water hole the competition is fierce between roadies foraging for food. Unfortunately the fruits of the land were neither plentiful and nor diverse as 60 roadies will need to consume massive amounts of food. While Roadie Daniel is challenged by attempting to decide between soup scrapings and bread enhanced by flying insects.

I set off searching for food in other places. Knowing where to look is an asset inherent to the wise roadie indeed as nutrition is key to the survival of the roadie herd. Often many animals forage to find tasty delights under stones and rocks, the roadie is no exception.

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

So here we sit in a 100 degree hot far away field in the middle of what appears to be nowhere after driving miles and miles through interesting places and we have it good. Out "there" are 100 thousand or so hot, thirsty fans that have traveled miles or hundreds in over-crowded, under-conditioned busses just to wait in infinite waterless lines. The words inhospitable gruel comes to mind, I feel bad for the fans as the gig feels more like prison than paradise.

A bit reminiscent of Woodstock 99' s trapped far away misery factor it was the polar opposite of the feel of Coachella.

It was not people, it was the event. Perhaps learning curve, in-experience, greed, or just plain lack of the infrastructure to support an event of this scale, the brunt of it all was laid upon the fans.

I have seen it before. You could feel the tension of expectations pushed higher and higher with each hoop jumped through. And when the band left the stage, the audience was motionless. For all they had been through, they were far from ready for the show to be over and that's when some of the audience decided it was "clean up time."

"Hey, wow, it is messy around here, perhaps we should clean up?"

"Good idea, maybe there are waste bins on stage, I don't see any over here."

"I bet there is, well, it is far but I think I can make it!"

The mood of mob began to set in. Doing sound all these years, I have been amidst many riots and riot like situations and the I can equate it is to parallel with the feeling of an incoming tornado or being near where lighting is about to strike, and I have experienced both several times. There is a tension, an goose bump energy building and perhaps it snaps or maybe dissipates. On a certain level, I agreed. Crap food, long day, hot, poor facilities and gig in the middle of nowhere. Why? Shit happens I guess, I don't think anyone on the Peppers' end truly knew what we were getting into, misrepresented perhaps, I just don't know but I do know that I was surrounded by a 100,000 humans and radio calls of bottles turning to rocks so I did what any soundman would do, I cranked up the music. Louder and louder, and the outro music went on and on with happy songs as slowly the big beast calms while still focused on the stage where the music originates. Never take music away from an angry audience as the System of the Down riot that claimed the lives of some of our gear and many were hurt. All the while, mentally I was preparing for plan "B" in the event that FOH became the target, which is to dash out of the mix area and start shouting gibberish while throwing bottles at the sound board.

We travel around the world and many people work together to make these shows happen and no matter what, some people are always going to be unhappy and no matter what some people will look at the bright side and still be happy. And between those two extremes lays the mass of general opinion. If this exact performance had occurred by a lake, 10 minutes from town, with facilities and a general environment of life compatibility, the show would have awesome, smooth and all good. And if it had occurred another 60 miles out of town and 10 degrees hotter, we may have had a big mess of broken sound gear and humans to clean up afterwards. It is not the people, it is how we were treated that created the reaction.

Dave Rat

P. S. I have been getting some requests for a higher resolution jpeg of the amsterdam flower so...

http://www.ratsound.com/cblog/uploads/www.ams_flower_hires.jpg

And coming soon will be some JF guitar head pics.

 

Yumm, the self indulgence of wanting something and having it come to you is a wonderful sensation. Such is the case with many things and one of those things is room service. Oh the anticipation, what delicious delectable's will appear on the push cart covered in metal caps.

With expectations nearly as high as the prices, surely a feast fit for a king will soon arrive as of course I am the king of this rent-a-room for at least another 4 hours. The unveiling occurs, stunned my heart skips a beat, behold upon thine eyes the magnificence.

Where to start and how to proceed races through my mind as I find myself devouring the radish chip. How could they have known that I love fancy cut radishes on slightly soggy chips and poached egg balls on micro toasts?

Today we play Amsterdam, or more accurately Nijmegen (pronounced nigh-megen) and I was slated for an hour plus van ride into the gig but there has been a change of plans and the vans won't be coming. With the 'main show' crew already onsite and myself doing a bit of straying from the roadie herd into the band camp, it looks like we will be taking an alternate form of transport over the traffic jam.

I love adventures and have been in these things several times but they never cease to feel like they are about to fall out of the air. Noisy and a bit of motion sickness but view was wonderful. Next stop, rock.

And there she blows, full double hung V-Dosc rig plus side hangs totaling 90 of the big boxes pushing sound from the main stage. Plus loads of subs!

And a few our friends that came to listen

Some people get a better view of the show than others and if you look in the lower left of the picture above the picture above, it looks like our pal in the hat is going to get the short end of the stick. But not for long as mini super hero Scott the Lampi points out the predicament and rally's the FOH'ers to grab a few road cases and some plywood for a fix.

Then, a few days after the gig, our friend in the hat sends Scotty an email, I guess he does some video work and is known as the Rolling Dutchman.

If you have looked at a lot of show photos, you may notice something a bit different in the shot below.

For some of the shows on this tour we have added full motion video screen in front of the sound system. These "soft," flexible and fairly transparent video screens do effect the sound a bit but the cool look factor is huge.

Night night, good morning! Wake up time and fly to Belgrade, Serbia. I admit I expected some surprises entering a land I have never been to

But it did catch me a bit off guard to find out that they do not allow dogs to smoke cigarettes when cats are nearby.

Next episode, lets take a look around.

Dave Rat

So we say bye bye to Japan and hey look! Japan is saying bye bye to us with this specially constructed waving robot!

I can't remember the whole ordeal anymore but it went something to the effect of, 9:30 am lobby call, 12:30 flight from Osaka to Tokyo, hour long shuttle bus ride from one Tokyo airport to the other one, 2 hours of hanging out and then a 9 hour flight to LAX, 40 minute town car ride to North Hollywood, an hour drive to Oxnard, unload my bags and some stuff I grabbed from my unfinished moving and off to pick up my daughters, the little energy balls they are. While immersed in this meandering trek, I thought to myself "boy, it sure would be nice to have a cold beer." And look, a beer machine!

Having one of those at home would be dangerous.

Oh, and back to the pattern of tear apart the house, make a mess, clean it up and tear apart something else. Oh the joy!

Also, I will be diving in to trying to catch up on answering comments, I may be a bit slow but at least I am forgetful.

Dave Rat