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Day 282 - March 1 - Des Moines - Off

Posted by Dave Rat on

Bus ride to Des Moines, ice storm outside and doing a bit of bus bunk computing.

Back and running and all just seems to pick up where it left off. Currently the biggest challenge with these tour stops and starts, lays in the band's laps. Production wise, the trucks are loaded and still how we left them on the last gig, business as usual for us. Whereas the band guys take playing every show the best they can to heart and are caught balancing well needed breaks with hitting the ground full speed. It kind of reminds me of athletes in a way but rather than training for an event, they need to stay constantly in shape. To much push and they burn out, not enough and they become unsatisfied with the shows. The constant self pressure to strive, is an impressive trait and those that have it, often end up in amazing places and lives, like our our musical Peppers friends have.

And here is something I have been meaning to do for a while, have a look around Milwaukee gig from FOH perspective

http://www.ratsound.com/360_pics/mil_foh.html

Speaking of perspectives, have a look at an empty arena from Anthony's point of view

**** Nerd Speak ****

Stuff breaks. I guess "breaks" is a bit of a catch all for the various forms of malfunction that the various items decide to embrace. Today our broken thing adventure involved what we call the Eventide H3500. The reason we call it that is that those are the words written on the front. What this thing does is something we soundies call "effects." Now, I am not one that is big on effects and with my setup only having a grand total of two, I pretty much use about 1/3 of the norm for shows half the size. The good part is that I don't really need a lot of effects with this band, the bad news is that with only two units, I really really do need and use them and losing one is a big deal. Furthermore, the units I like are neither new nor easy to find nor particularly special for that matter. Just simple older dependable easy to use and solid sounding effects boxes. I leave all the "buy the latest and greatest gizmo to the engineers that feel thave it still run, electronics often are similar and depending on what it is, there are usually a bunch o bits that ya don't really need. In this case, it was a small capacitor that most likely helped with keeping RF noise down. What really matters is that not only does the unit work but also it is a tiny bit lighter as well!!

**** New! Scott the Lampi Cartoon Series ****

How about a little cartoon series made by Scott to join our bloggery space?

**** End! Scott the Lampi Cartoon Series ****

Finally, ooooh, look out the bus door over here, yikes, looks like the damn storms are fitting to chase us again, oh well.

with my setup only having a grand total of two, I pretty much use about 1/3 of the norm for shows half the size. The good part is that I don't really need a lot of effects with this band, the bad news is that with only two units, I really really do need and use them and losing one is a big deal. Furthermore, the units I like are neither new nor easy to find nor pe offender.

Now for some finger crossing that it was just a spare and we did not really need him in there anyway as we plug the unit back in and .... Hurray! It works!!!

Some may ponder why they would put spare blobby blobs in there and logic would dictate that it must of had a purpose but that is not always the case. Just like you can take a bolts out of a car motor and have it still run, electronics often are similar and depending on what it is, there are usually a bunch o bits that ya don't really need. In this case, it was a small capacitor that most likely helped with keeping RF noise down. What really matters is that not only does the unit work but also it is a tiny bit lighter as well!!

**** New! Scott the Lampi Cartoon Series ****

How about a little cartoon series made by Scott to join our bloggery space?

**** End! Scott the Lampi Cartoon Series ****

Finally, ooooh, look out the bus door over here, yikes, looks like the damn storms are fitting to chase us again, oh well.

The watching out for and making huge water messes, but worth every second,

Dave Rat

PS, Foa anyone interested, I did an interview for Guitar Center a few months back that just came out.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/interview/daverat/index.cfm

I was hesitant at first but when I saw that several of my musician friends had done them too, well, I gave in. The crazy thing though is that it's all well known musicians and then me, Dave Rat the roadie!!

http://www.guitarcenter.com/interview/

How funny is that! This is not going to help me out with trying to shake the "5th Beatle" heat I keep getting. Eeeek!

 

 

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Richie P on :

Dave, The picutres in this blog post aren't showing up, just boxes with red x's in the corner. Scrolling down the page to other posts, the pictures show up fine, so I am assuming that my internet browser of choice is not the cause of the problem. Can you fix this? Because I would very much like to see the Scott the Lampi Cartoon series! -Rich

Richie P on :

Well, that's weird. The Scott the Lampi Cartoon is now appearing, but not the other picture.

Kenney on :

Good luck in Des Moines, I'm just north of you in Minneapolis and these snow storms are really beginning to suck. Hopefully it doesn't screw with your traveling too much. -- K

rex on :

i really need to learn that grandma board.. seems their being used everywhere now

Roo on :

Another tip for lightening your Eventide: Learn what its called and what all the buttons do, then take a stanley (or 'exacto' to you) knife and carefully scrape away the paint and print from the front. Dust off with an old toothbrush, and you're light, bright and ready to rock.

Dave Rat on :

Excellent idea!!

Jenny on :

I'm going to come see you next Wednesday in Houston! And.. I love the cartoon.

Mike on :

After the shows, do you guys all sleep on the tour buses? It sounds like you're up early, I can't imagine you guys being able to manage staying awake after an intense concert. How come you don't have any pictures with the peppers? They don't like the sound enginerds?

Dave Rat on :

Yep, we sleep on the busses as they take us to the next city. Unless we have two shows in a row, where go to a hotel. I try and avoid blogging any off stage Peppers band humans. There is plenty of focus on rock stars in the world that surrounds us and I see my adventure of blog as one to illuminate the less seen sides. Plus, they are afforded so little privacy by the peeping and hungry masses, the last thing I desire to do is take away what small sanctity of privacy they enjoy. In these parts it is all about the roadies!! Though I do make some exceptions to highlight support acts and an occasional adventure of interest.

Dominic on :

I can;t see the FOH view?? does it work for everyone else??

Richie P on :

The FOH view wasn't working for me yesterday, but it is showing up now. (I'm using IE7)

Ear Abuser on :

Mr. Rat Thanks so much for the blog- It is a daily must read for me. Yesterday as I was heading down I-80 from des Moines I observed 4 tour buses and knowing you had been in Milwaukee the night before, though "There goes Dave Rat!" Sorry I didn't wave.

MIke on :

What time are you guys getting into Champaign?

Izabela on :

Hello, Mr.Rat. Greetings from Brazil! I am Izabela, I am 22 and I am from Brazil. I was searching for some RHCP news and I found out your blog. It really impressed me, because I have always been thinking how a roadie´s life is. By what I have read, it is hard work, but it is also fun. I really liked to see the whole process of a concert. It is really interesting. Thanks for sharing this experience with us. Hope to see the Peppers concert in Brazil soon!!! Best Wishes, Izabela.

Dave Rat on :

Thank You Izabela! And I love Brazil and Caiparihna de Abacaxi! I hope we make it there soon as well.

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