Dave Rat - Roadies in the Midst

10:30pm - mix position and mere minutes till show time and I am surrounded 18,000 Spaniards that are ready to rock. The pre show thrill is contagious. So many people so excited! But wow, this is one big echo chamber of a room and what I refer to as "not an optimum acoustic environment."

Here is a pic of FOH just after doors opened:

SoundNerdSpeak

Last night I started zeroing in on a setup that works best. I ran vocals, kick and snare to the inside clusters, bass, guitar, toms and cymbals to the outside clusters. The idea is that the bass and guitar don’t really step on each other frequency wise. The vocals pretty much have their own PA system except the short bursts of kick and snare, which are of short enough duration to where you do not hear any conflict there. It was quite interesting to clearly here the drop in clarity when I moved the vocals into the outer cluster with bass and guitar. The plan is working! Uh, the band is walking. Time to rock.

End SoundNerdSpeak

 

4am – Bus bunk. Overnight drive to Madrid. The show ran a bit smoother for me as I had a better handle on the mixing strategy and also I mixed at a bit lower level. It is hard not to get too excited and turn it up when I have that much power at my fingertips, not sure exactly how many watts but figure somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 watts.

 

**** Issue of the Day – Pro Tools Crashes ****

 

The vibration from the subwoofers is crashing the Pro Tools system. Went down 3 times last night and once the previous night. We are going to record to a different hard drive at the next show. We currently use an external 500 gig. Maybe a lower density drive will be more stable and we have a pile of 120 gig drives. Plus there is an extra internal 400 gig drive as well.

This tour we upgraded the touring recording rig from the old DA88 system to a 32 channel G5 based Pro Tools system.

The quick run down is:

• 32 Channels of analog in, AES/EBU out Focusrite mic pre’s into
• 32 channel AES/EBU input Lightviper 500 ft fiber optical snake into
• Digidesign 192’s plus a
• Sync I/O for locking to video, screen, powered monitors, Command 8 and APC.

The recording rig allows the mic pre’s to be on stage or at FOH and the recorder to be up to 500 feet away. We carry everything necessary to record and mix down a live show. The entire rig including the 500 ft snake, 10 spare drives and all the cables fits in 2 15 space racks and three Pelican cases and it takes about 15 minutes to setup. Now we just need to stop those damn hard drive errors.

**** Highlight of the Day - The Automatic Espresso Machine on the Bus ****

 

We have a one button espresso machine on our bus. That is huge! Not only that, our tour bus quite nice, especially for a Euro bus and the driver, Jans, is super cool! Tight european roads and narrow streets limit the width and wheel bases of European buses making them smaller and bouncier than the North American counterparts. This bus is pretty well modeled after the ones from home rather than the cramped dark musty double decker's I have ended up in on so many tours.

Probably not the best time for coffee now though, as my vision is blurring. Sleep time.

I remove the light focusing blow-up man-doll from my bunk as there is not enough room for both of us. Maybe some other night if I get lonely, but tonight the man-doll gets to sleep in the back lounge with no pillow. And I climb into my cubicle, alone.

Dave Rat

Roadies in the Midst: The Story of Touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006)

Directed by

Dave Rat

Genre: Drama

Tagline: In lands of beauty, wonder and danger, roadies follow a dream, fall in love and risk their lives to perpetuate the rock show.

Plot Outline: The story of how Dave Rat, a sound engineer, takes two year journey with the Red Hot Chili Peppers studying the roadies and later fights to protect them or just possibley just hang out with them.

User Comments: Not boring at all

User Rating: 8.9/10 (2 votes)

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Kiedis.... Vocals
John Fruciante .... Guitar
Flea .... Bass
Chad Smith .... Drums
Gage .... Tour Manager
Bill ... Production Manager
Lyssa .... Backstage Coordinator
Dave Rat.... FOH Sound Eng
Nick the Fly and Tenacious Lee... FOH Assists
Daniel .... Monitor Engineer
Dave Lee.... Guit Tech
Tracy .... Bass Tech
Chris .... Drum Tech
Scott .... Lampi
Leif ... Lighting Assist
Grier ... Set Design
Andrew .... Pro Tools Eng
Lee ... Sound Crew Chief
Manny ... Sound Tech
Neal ... Sound Tech
Jamie ... Sound Tech


Also Known As:
Roadies in the Mist (USA) (short title)
The Adventures of Dave Rat (USA)
Runtime: about 2 years
Country: Earth
Language: English
Color: Color (Ratnicolor)
Sound Mix: Fairly Loud
Certification: Worldwide "PG" rated for the most part

Trivia: The roadies used in movies up to this time had obvious anatomical differences from real roadies; for instance, the real roadies were rarely seen, forcing many preconceived perceptions of roadie traits. For this series, wanderer Dave Rat wanted to use real roadies where possible, regardless of the obvious dangers involved.

Quotes:
Bill: Dave Rat, you are a knucklehead.
Dave Rat: Uh, oh!

Awards: None

---

User Comments:

"Not boring at all!" - Larry

"I thought it was gonna be boring but then it wasn't - Joe

"I thought it was boring, except for the parts that were not boring" - Dave Rat

"I think roadies are cute!" - Stacy

"I was captivated about the parts about Scott " - Scott the Lampi

"A definitive insight into the mysterious ways of the roadie!" - The English roadie

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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!

**** Sound Nerd Speak ****

Being the curious roadie I am, I did a bit of research on the subwoofers (subs) and their curious setup. For the super sound nerds out there you can read more here:

http://www.dbaudio.com/pub/live/TI330_E.PDF

For the rest of you that would rather have me smooth over and summarize, basically what they are doing with the backwards speakers are trying to cancel out the sound behind the subs. On paper it looks good and there are some good parts to the idea though attractiveness is surely not one of them. Loud they were but more like the boom boom of an over-stereo-ed low-rider car than the smooth soothing sound I seek. These subs really liked to reproduce some of the notes Flea played and did not like to reproduce other notes so much. For any of y'all there, you may have even heard me take a small sound slapfrom AK for over subwoofering them stage. Getting lots of nice low end to my pals in the crowd without blurring the vision of my other pals on stage is a tricky trick indeed. But hey, it was all good enough to make for great show.

OK, now back to the important stuff like being a pirate!

**** End Sound Nerd Speak ****

Arghhh, me boat awaits me:

Arghh, me first mate Nick the Fly and I feasting tasty ice treats, arghh:

I watched the Killers:

Gnarls Barkley and our friend Josh is in the band!

And the highlight was seeing The Who for the second time in my life. It made so happy thoroughly enjoyed it as did all the rest of band and crew, guitar arm windmills, little steps and microphone acrobatics mixed with hit after hit made their show pure fun!

And of course, closing the evening once again in the strangest string of coincidences was surprisingly my favorite band, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, hurray!

.

And hurray for happy surprises and super heroes!

Arghh,

Dave Rat

IMIYABSH!

I wake up on the bus and it is 10 am and still moving. This is highly unusual and I must admit it has been a few days or maybe a week since I have opened my itinerary and now is as good a time as any. Five hundred and nine miles, and we got rolling somewhere just before 3 am last night, 'bout right I guess. With rigging calls typically in around 8 am and a 10:45 am arrival time according to bus driver roadie Brian, that puts us about 3 hours later today at getting 12 trucks of gear in, up and running.

Turns out it the production humans have it planned out and expected the crunch. I asked if the sound roadies need my help but they have a mind set to power through and make it happen. It becomes clear the my assistance would just dilute the accomplishment, so I set up office and work on my ratty stuff as usual and await the amp racks to to be un layered out of the sound truck.

Status report: All amps function so the search for local spares on hold can be released. The damage report:

• 1 input panel partially ripped off the rack rails
• 8 bent front panels on Lab Gruppen amps
• 4 bent rack ears on Crown amps
• All the front rack rail is bent or stripped
• and the top shells on both racks have somewhat mashed in corners.

The good news is that though not pretty, it is patchable to finish the trip without shipping in costly replacement gear. The bad news is that at some point there is a pile of work to be done and a few thousand dollars in fix it bits to bring them back to the previous state of beauty. As with many things, humans included, it was not the actual fall that caused all the damage. It was the very abrupt landing when contacting the planet earth at a high rate of speed messed things up. I will try and shoot some pics of them at some point.

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

I got a pile of Avril Lavigne swag to bring home to my shorties. Thank you Craig and Shawn!

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

Tonight the load out splits up the gear again. Next show is Virgin Festival in Baltimore for one truck and the global crew, all the rest of the hardware and humans have a 1400 miles bus ride to Toronto for multiple days off. Global crew has a 7:45 am plane international plane flight with a long layover and connection, that means like a 5 am lobby call, Super yuck!

The joyous

Dave Rat

YFATMOAIWPI!

**** The Old Roadie Lap Story Continues ****

It was one of the most awkward moments in memory. Amazing how the ponderment of freezing to death can turn a normally fairly cheery group into grumps. Bits of blame get tossed around ranging from questioning the wisdom of turning off the van, the chosen parking region and whether the van battery was charged or old and even mentioned was wonderment of whether it was a great idea to tour Canada in the winter. Finally, like no tough punker male in the van would do, Kira announces that she can see a dim light in the distance and is going to try and hike over there. The feeling of relief that a solution could be at hand mixed with thoughts that someone other than the tiniest human we have to offer to the elements should be making the trek. The logic that turning off the van was not the best idea seemed to solidify her task at hand and none volunteered to join or replace her on the journey.

Some watched the little Kira in the moonlit darkness getting smaller and smaller as she hiked in knee deep snow across the field until she vanished. I laid there rebundled regretting not having a proper sleeping bag. The next thing I remember is headlights coming. Two brothers hop out of pickup truck with jumper cables. And after some charging time, the van sparks back to life. Heroic Kira has saved us all. And off goes the truck into the icy night. After a short while of letting the van run for a bit, I feel the van move forward and off we go. About two feet that is before the engine dies. Clickity clickity clickity is the sound of absurdity.

**** Stay tuned for the heart warming final segment of this Old Roadie Lap Story coming soon! ****

The shows of late have been consistently smooth and in the upper range of rock shows to see and each with its own nuances that make it special. I avoid rating specific shows as to do so would impose my skewed perspective. I also avoid judging the sound of the show and try and stick to focusing on whether one one venue is more challenging than the next and leave the opinion of the success or failure of my task up to others to determine. All that said, I have been enjoying the shows and again tonight I feel pretty darn good about the rock show. Lights, video, sound, and the comfort and energy from the band have all been very cool.

I was happy that was until I heard that two amp racks fell off of a fork lift while getting loaded into the sound truck. Ouch! One had four Crown amps at 80 pounds each and the other was loaded with eight Lab Gruppen amps at 22 pounds each. Four hundred pounds dropping from a fork lift generally means a whole lot of not good. With twelve amps buried in a truck for an overnight drive existing in a questionable state of function, my concern is only match by my compassion for the poor little amp racks with big ouch's. I wish I had gotten some time to console them before they were loaded but that will have to wait till the next show.

All I have for you picture wise is a quick pic snapped of the after show walk out. The "T" you see sticking out of the mixing board is two SM98's that we use for recording audience mics to the Pro Tools rig.

And finally, if there is any curiosities or roadie stories that you would like me to share or cover, fire away with requests and I will see what I can do!

The worried about the poor amp racks,

Dave Rat

TWIFWYTIMGTMO!

During the west coast part of the tour, Roadie Shaun, the monitor engineer for The Mars Volta had come to me with an interesting request. Cedric, (Mars Volta's' singer) was wanting to sing into a Sennheiser 421 as he likes the way those mics look and feel. Roadie Shaun wants to continue to use the Audix om6's that are working perfectly for his vocals. So the question is, "How can we get the sound of an om6 and the look of a 421?" Now this is the kind of project I love!

While I was at home on break I had grabbed a pile of old 421 parts that I still have from the old days when I used to fix amps and mics to supplement the not so profitable Rat PA income.

Check out the third revision of the Audix om6 inside of a Sennheiser 421 shell. And to start with we have a nice assortment of both old and new 421 parts:

And by cutting the threaded ring off of the om6 grill and screwing it to the back of a 421 grill we get:

and the om6 can now be screwed into the 421 grill

And after boring out the 421 shell with a Dremel tool so the Audix shaft slides inside:

And we end up with what looks like a beat up old 421 but is actually a perfect condition Audix om6!

Now that was an adventure I really and truly enjoyed! Thank you roadie Shaun!

**** Gratuitous Monitor Gear Photo ****

While we were in monitor world I grabbed a photo of Peppers monitor setup:

**** Gratuitous Guitar Pedal Photo ****

For those guitar gear fans out there here is a picture of John Fruciante's guitar pedal world.

Roadie Dave Lee has his job cut out for him keeping all those running flawless everyday.

The loving to fix and create things that make sound,

Dave Rat

MHPWIIYSAS!

Not only is this the first of two shows at the Los Angeles Forum and no question about it, we are surrounded by friends and the feeling of festivities abound but it is also the centennial day since tour started! One hundred days of pure road joy and even roadie Bill Rahmy has joined the occasion and helped spread much cheeriness.:

Though no one but me actually realizes that we have hit the 100 mark and the balloons are totally unrelated, it still makes for a party like feel and speaking of feel, how about that mixing the show with an outdoorsy feel:

And an awesome ending to a great show:

**** Begin Sound Nerd Speak ****

Back in 1974 the Grateful Dead put together what was easily the most unique, experimental and possibly most complex sound system ever configured for live sound reinforcement in that era. This system was named the "Wall of Sound" and was a complete divergence from conventional sound reinforcement thinking. There were two key concepts combined together resulting in a very interesting outcome:

1) Because PA systems of the day were stacked on either side of the stage and often blocked audience sight lines, they designed a sound system that was placed behind the band and acted as both the PA system, their instrument amps and as their monitor system (way for the band to hear themselves).

2) They found that when all the various instruments and vocals were mixed together into the PA speakers the sound was less clear than when each instrument was amplified separately. To deal with this, they actually designed and used a separate sound system for each instrument and another sound system for the vocals totaling six PA systems!

While a giant step in forward thinking was made, it was not without issues. Having the sound system directly behind that band meant the speakers are pointed straight into the mics. Also, the sheer complexity and magnitude of the setup greatly limited the venues that it could be implemented and the fact that the sound system became the entire stage backdrop relegated it to become a niche concept that possibly could only be used by its creators and equally unique Grateful Dead.

And as you can see, it did not make for the cleanest stage set:

Just to provide some contrast, here is a cool old picture of The Rolling Stone stage setup with the PA located behind the lips scrim:

Even with it's awkwardness, the concept of the Wall of Sound was so intriguing that I had to try it and understand it. I finally got that opportunity in 1986 while touring with Black Flag when, after some persuading, Davo and I talked the band into letting us set up the Rat PA in a mini Wall of Sound configuration:

Since I had designed and Rat Sound had built Black Flag's guitar and bass cabinets exactly the same dimensions as the Rat PA, the system fit together really well. On the upside, the system was incredibly clear sounding while on the downside, it sounded a bit distant and the sound bleeding into the mics was cumbersome enough not to continue with that setup. The most important thing is that I learned enough to set my sights on someday resolving the issues.

Twenty years later, through a round about way I have come full circle. My testing in designing the MicroWedge series has clarified my understanding and goals. The evolution of sound systems from giant globs of speakers to finesse full narrow line-arrays created the opportunity to cover large venues with multiple systems utilizing minimal space. The entire Wall of Sound was 26,000 watts, current systems run at ten times that power and are a fraction of the size. Plus we now have the capability of effectively predicting the sonic coverage in a venue based on room dimensions. What this means is that with today's sound system technology, multiple sound systems can be hung conventionally to either side of the band rather than stacked behind them without blocking sight lines creating an inconspicuous yet effective implementation of the concept:

Initially I considered proposing a triple system rather than the dual system Peppers are currently touring with. The triple would have been three separate stereo sound systems, one for guitar, one for bass and one for vocals with drums interspersed into the three. To test the concept, I purchased three small home Hi-Fi systems and roadie Ethan and I built a small simulator in my living room. With a pro tools system and live Peppers multi track recordings from last tour, I was able to try out different combinations and test the effectiveness of the setup. I found that the most noticeable improvement occurred when going from one system to two and adding the third was more subtle.

So here we are today, at a home town gig and amidst all the excitement, my heart secretly pounds and I smile as long ago dreams become real. Here in the place where I saw my first rock concert ever, hanging from the ceiling in front of my eyes is the first touring and practical application of multiple systems on a arena scale. A refined and usable version of what the Grateful Dead had started, a grand scale application of what I learned from so many years and this is the PA that Rat built.

**** End Sound Nerd Speak ****

The still pinching myself,

Dave Rat

SFAYDINLTTIDMR!

The US is a great country built by many amazing and brilliant people. Unfortunately the most adamant flag waivers are more likely to fall into the categories of unhealthy, lethargic, self righteous followers whose bragging rights are based on the plot of dirt they were born. Hmmmm, the beauty of clinging on the accomplishments of others, versus creating them of their own. And when ever I remember to I ask myself "What can I do that is unique, different, amazing and special, today or any day? And how well am I treating my my mind, my body, the critters around me (humans included) and the planet I reside?" I find I am most deeply happy, as that is when my world is balanced and I am pursuing new adventures. That is of course not the same as when I have the most fun, which lays more in the realms of playfully devious or the seeking of thrill.

And thrill seeking we did. Here you can see roadies Chris Warren and Scott the Lampi very seriously rocking out on Guitar Hero:

For those of you confused enough to think that Guitar Hero is just a silly Playstation game where you rock out on a toy guitar to hit songs, well you're right, but it is embarrassingly fun. Personally, I am not much for video games, as they time sponge away my world. Furthermore I am odd in that I don't watch any TV either. So when Nick the Fly's brother, Sailing Joe, dropped me off a Guitar Hero game last year (Joe works for the G. H. company), I must admit, I made an exception and spent some time rocking the toy guitar. Thank you E, D and G for hanging out and a great time!

**** Begin SoundNerdSpeak ****

Subwoofers on an Auxiliary Send

Most sound systems are made up of speakers that vary in size depending on the frequencies they reproduce. Smaller speakers for the higher notes and bigger speakers for the lower notes. At home for your computer you most likely have a pair of roundish speakers mounted in plastic boxes. For your living room there may be a big speaker a mid sized and a smaller one mounted in some wooden boxes. Also home systems typically have one stereo amplifier and there are some electronic parts inside the speaker box that divide the music to send low notes to the big speakers and highs to the little ones.

On large scale sound systems there is pretty much the same thing except the sound is divided the sound up before the amplifiers. That means there is a separate amplifier for the lows, another amplifier for the midrange and yet another amplifier for the highs. On the Peppers we are carrying with us, there are fourteen 2000 watt stereo amps just for the sub woofers alone and many more amps for lows, mids and highs.

I do everything in my power to assure that the sound systems I use are configured such that there is a separate control over the signal sent to the sub-low speakers (sub woofers). For me that is extremely important. The technical term is 'subwoofers on an auxiliary send' or 'subs on an aux.' Subs on an Aux is what gives me the delicious control over that syrupy low frequency ooze that wraps around you and connects your body to the lowest of bass notes and thump of the kick drum. Unfortunately, I am often denied this control when using alien (not Peppers touring) sound systems. Today, once again I am appreciating how awesome it is to have subs on an aux and 'our' PA!

**** End SoundNerdSpeak ****

And then there were these guys, of course:

And finally just to make you smile, check out the picture at the bottom of this web page:

http://flipsidefanzine.com/Gallery2.html

Clearly I was planning on being very thirsty and not very hungry. Oh, and if you are curious about the punk rock scene in the early 80's, you should take a look around Michelle Flipside's site. You know the Ramones movie "Rock and Roll High School?" That was Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, CA where I met Michelle in my tenth grade english class.

The not quite so thirsty,

Dave Rat

SDWSAFG!

Special "what people do on tour" special!

**** The Amazing Durable Roadie ****

Touring gigs vary drastically in workload, responsibility and exposure to stress. Equally diverse is the schedule that each roadie in the herd maintains.

Riggers - are the sharp edged early risers. First in and last out, they calculate and hang the heavy loads safely over our heads. These clean, mean and meticulous machines effortlessly climb to frightful heights. The upside is that they typically can get a nice long mid day sissy nap.

Bus and truck drivers have even earlier call times as they drive all night and sleep all day, these nocturnal roadies like riggers, hold our roadie lives and the safely of our beloved wires in the grip of a steering wheel. An interesting side note is that bus drivers typically get carted off to a hotel during the day, while truck drivers sleep in the micro hotel room located in the cab of their truck. Bus drivers drive straight through to deliver their roadie cargo while truck drivers do showers at truck stops that are setup for exactly that, along the way.

Production roadies include the production manager, stage manager and production assists. With their early load ins and late outs they have possibly the most stressful gig of the bunch. Their chosen tasks of keeping the whole show running smoothly, sooner or later brings every unresolved issue into their lap. Plus they are responsible for organizing all the humans and gear to show up in the right place, right time, within budget and as many people as happy as possible. The positive side? Well hey, they run the show so if they need something they just ask themselves if they can have it and that has its advantages.

Lighting Techs. One thing about lights is that they take a lot of power. Big power means big heavy wires and a heck of a lot of them. These roadies are coming in soon after riggers and are at the gig till the hairy end. If you look to the upper sides of stage during the show, you will see there are four follow spot roadies. Those the specialized lighting people you see climbing ladders right before the Peppers play. We carry two of them, the other six are locally hired each night. Lighting techs to this day tend to be some of the more rugged roadies, maybe it is the wires or genetics but the work hard/play hard ethic runs strong in lampi world.

Carpenter. A highly specialized roadie whose purpose is to be able to fix, repair or build anything the tour may need and then do what ever else need to be done afterwards. Carps are cool!

Catering - In Europe we, as most large tours, carry full catering. In the US, the opposite is true. Why that is, heck I don't know. On this tour we carry a band chef and he also looks after the crew a bit as well. They shop, they cook and they feed and though it is a good solid day of work over hot stoves, the appreciation they get from grateful eaters is not in short supply.

Video Techs - Video is a bit of a newer gig compared to old school lighting and sound worlds and as such tends to vary quite a bit from tour to tour. With huge video sets like we have out here, the vid crew is running about the same workload/schedule as lighting. With the current video setup including two active cameramen and two roadies in real time control over video shots, they keep pretty busy during show time.

Sound Techs - A bit later call times than the lighting, the sound techs get to do a lot of waiting and then have a bit of a crunch to get set. The sequence of events during load in is usually rigging, lights, video, sound and then backline, with overlaps of course. The state of the art sound systems that we use today are a far cry from the old "hang a pile o boxes here" mentality of 5 or 10 years ago. Currently, every room is measured with laser range finders to determine the dimensions. The data is input into 3D sonic prediction software that calculates optimum coverage, potential volume levels and determines the precise angle of every speaker box. To learn this, the techs go through a training course and are certified as such.

Dressing room coordination - As you get closer and more directly involved with the artists, things take on more of an air of finesse. A far cry from thousand pound set carts bouncing on a forklift, building the happiness escape that keeps the musical humans smiling and harmonious is the job of dressing room humans. A world of comfort within a world of frenzy. Their day starts later but the end is dictated randomly by who stays how long. So, flexibility and adaptation are the name of the game while being the delicate buffer to protect one of our most valuable assets and the reason we are all here, the band.

Backline Techs and Monitor Engineer- These techs have an even later of a call time and finish relatively early in the big picture. The workloads are fairly light comparatively but the responsibility huge. Each backline roadie deals directly with their band human, one each for bass, guitar and drums while the monitor engineer with all four in he band. Every nuance from which guitar tuned how and when, to making absolutely double extra sure that the guitar, bass, drum and monitor rigs operate as close to perfection as possible, every single show. There is no error unseen by either the band member or possibly the entire audience. They have both awesome gigs and mind bending stress as each of them is pretty much responsible for the band hearing themselves and each other so they can perform the show.

FOH World - Lighting designer and FOH Sound Engineer live in a bit of a different realm. On one hand they are far from the fray of stage where the action is, on the other hand, everything the audience sees and hears is at their finger tips. The mass of ears is a unique critique that responds to feeling and emotion. Meanwhile, there are enough people in the know at each show that errors do not go unnoticed. It's an ethereal slow distance once removed stress that can pop into immediate trauma if something important goes pear-shaped. A gig I love and would not trade for the world.

Band Entourage includes the tour manager, TM assist, the band members and a few key people that keep 'em in tip top shape. The band entourage travel separately from the rest of the tour crew and many mysteries surround them. Actually, I am just side stepping the description as the documentary Spinal Tap has already adequately covered the facts from the band angle.

**** End The Amazing Durable Roadie ****

And time for this roadie to sleep,

Dave Roadie Rat

IHAWTJACBUYA!