Baconaughticals

Minnesota.
Mini Soda.

brought to you from a parking lot in Lincoln, NE....

it's definitely cold in MN - first stop yesterday was at a radio station in Mankato. Then on to Minneapolis for the show at Cabooze. Early show, again, so soundcheck was around 4, doors at 5, band on at 5:30. My friend, Sara, lives in Minnapolis, so we made plans to meet up for dinner & beer at Triple Rock Social Club after the show. Apparently, weds is "Bacon Night" at the Triple Rock; all you can eat bacon from 9p-11p and $3 PBR tallboys... of course, Molson cans were on special for $2.50 so I had a couple of those. I was generously rewarded for my thriftiness by the Molson reps: first a grey Molson beanie and 2nd a red and white Molson hockey jersey...which i'll never wear.



the board I used was an old Soundcraft board-pretty easy to use once the house monitor guy told me the correct sends. Show was really good, lots of energy. At soundcheck, Tim thought Bruno's g-string (haha) was a little wonky, but didn't want to change it before the show. On the 2nd to last song, both Taylor and Jason broke strings on their bass & guitar (respectively). I got a really decent shot of Bruno standing on the crowd.



back to my day off....
-uncle j

Takehomeasack

Thank you, Steak n Shake for the delicious meal last night.

Sauget, IL (a.k.a. St.Louis) at Pop's. GREAT show and a great board I got to work on. It brings me back to my Aesthetics of Live Sound Reinforcement class taught by "Feedback" Jack Alexander at Columbia College Chicago: Allen & Heath GL2800M. Such a great board and really easy. Monitors sounded great last night, and was a really fun show.




The day was really low-key. We parked in the am behind the venue and were there all day. There was nothing around but stripclubs and a truckstop with an OTB facility attached. Everyone stayed in and was on their laptops, ipods, etc. since it was cold and nasty. Load in went well and load out went well.

After the show, I got some bills paid, cable/internet setup appointment for the new town home and changed my address (as well as Prudence's). Some fans/friends of the band took Bruno & Jason to Steak n Shake 15min away from the venue to get food. Bruno texted, thankfully, and picked me up a steakburger, fries and a chocolate/banana shake--f'ng delicious. I got to talk to my lovely bride yesterday for a while, it was nice and I am grateful that I got to hear her voice. I spoke with Roman lastnight, too, and that was awesome. He's SO stoked about his new bedroom and sheets on his bed: Star Wars. Prudence is working really hard to make our home beautiful and comfortable and I appreciate it wholeheartedly; I try to tell her as often as I can remember to.

On the bus right now, post rice & veggie sausage lunch; Jason & Bruno did a live interview/acoustic performance at WIIL Rock in Kenosha, WI this am. We're en route to Wisconsin Dells for our day off. Tomorrow there's a live interview/acoustic performance in Minnesota and show in Minneapolis; hopefully I will get to see my friend Sara, she rules.

Here are some crappy photos of the St. Louis Arch I took lastnight in the dark when I remembered I wanted to....






that's it for now -i'm gonna go read in my bunk.
-uncle j

She smells really nice...

....sounds kinda perverted, even if it's a genuine sentiment.

Rainy day in Chicago, parked across from the Vic Theatre on Sheffield at Belmont. Vinnie was dj'ing in the front lounge whilst the boys were at JBTV & Fearless for interviews. Michael & Krystle came by and picked us up for lunch. We went to Penny's Noodles on Sheffield & Clark. SO good - I had won ton soup and have leftovers which i'll stuff down my throat later today/tonight.

Back at the Bus by 3p for load in, everything was pushed up 1 hr due to Chicago's curfew. So now doors were at 5p & show at 5:15p. There was no room backstage for our deads (cases) so we kept them all outside under a tarp in the alley. I can't recall what the board was that I worked on, but soundcheck went really well and everything sounded great. Tim said that he hates when things sound perfect at soundcheck and then go to shit during the show....jinx. Come showtime, there were technical issues, thankfully, NONE of which were in my control. Taylor's vox were too loud in monitors which i handled immediately. His bass went out and his wedges were crackling and putting out static. As it turns out, there were issues with not only his cables but the house cabling for the monitor system. I troubleshot that by cutting his wedge out completely and putting his bass and more of Bruno's vox through the stage right sidefill. The show was great, but the crowd was iffy-they didn't seem very into the show though Bruno did an awesome job, as usual, getting them to move and react to the music. That's the sign of a good frontman--quite honestly, I don't know how any band could or would want to follow Drive A.

We had our FASTEST load out ever. Tim was impressed. It was cold and rainy, but we persevered and got the job done. As soon as the guitars and heads were packed up we stacked them and rolled em to trailer while Tim & Cody finished the drums. We were done by 6pm and on the bus to thaw out. Vinnie and I went in for a few minutes to hang out with Alex & Chris who I'd not seen since October at the wedding. Was good to see friends.

We met Dad at Leona's for pizza and salad and beer. It was great to see him and Sandy and get some PIZZA. (The band also filmed a segment at Giordanno's and there's some leftovers in the fridge- yum) Vince and I walked down to Clark and I got my Dunkin Donuts, but no Boston Creme (EPIC FAIL!!) Sprinkles on chocolate frosting will have to suffice. About 10p, Michael & Krystle picked us up and we went to Delilah's, my 2nd home in Chicago. This time I managed to keep my food and liquor off of the curb in front of the establishment.

Pat, Dan D., Joe & Jenny, Nancy, Andronike and Mo showed up - was SO much fun to see everyone but hard to bounce around a lot. Thank you all for coming out and for the drinks, my liver thanks you. And per usual, I had a shot for Evie, amongst the other shots I did that night. Cody, Austin and Brandon came out to Delilah's and had a blast. We all went to Clarke's for breakfast at 2am which was yummy - french toast, well done bacon and chocolate milk.

Back on the bus, I miraculously flossed, brushed and changed for bed. I was nodding off up front while we all hung out and chatted. I excused myself and went comatose in my bunk-it felt great.

Up around 10a and texted with my beautiful wife, whom I miss immensely, for a bit. We're in Sauget, IL (over the bridge from St. Louis), it's rainy, cold and there's nothing but strip clubs, a gas station w/ OTB and the venue in sight. Thank goodness for Monster energy drink and morning star buffalo nuggets. and Rock n Roll.

-uncle j.

Heavy Metal Banana Bread

"So, do you come to Milwaukee often?"
"Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century."
"Hey, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name?"
"Yes, Pete, it is. In fact , it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land.""
"I was not aware of that."

Milwaukee was great. Got picked up at 10:30a by mum, bill, vince and mom-mom; we proceeded to the casa de miller. I was greeted with hugs and "uncle j"'s from pint-size munchkins. I got a hot shower, good burrito and some star wars/my little pony action. I'm pretty sure there are some photos & video of this tattooed rocker combing the mane of a my little pony with a certain little blonde niece... she rules. David is SO into Star Wars and it's rad.. we played with light sabres and ran around like wookies...hoth was just outside our window.

Was great to see family and i hijacked vinnie for the night. Dude was already hungover from friday night (ha!), but he marched on. We got back to the Rave about 2:30p which was the goal - load in was at 3p (or so)...soundchecked at about 5:15 and we're ready to rock. The venue started letting people in early which was good so more kids would see Drive A.

I don't recall the board I worked on, but after working on about 3-4 different ones, they're all pretty much laid out the same with minor differences here and there. The board wasn't too tall for me, but a stool or something to stand on would have been helpful. It was off the side of stage right. The show went great, monitors sounded great and I think it was the band's best show of the tour.

Cody and I went to the liquor store to get some beer for the bus as chaos was to ensue that evening....and it did. I think we went through 2 30-packs of Miller High Life..amazing.

got to sleep around 6:15a. up around 10ish - and in Chicago!

no pictures to speak of, sorry kids.
-uncle j.

Xylophone(s)

Well,
We're here in Milwaukee, WI parked next to the Rave/Eagles Ballroom. I've seen many shows here when I lived in IL. I'm looking forward to seeing another one.

Yesterday we were in Grand Rapids, MI; a pretty low-key day. Bruno & Jason did an acoustic performance for a Lansing radio station which went pretty well which will air on Monday. We pulled into the parking lot of the Orbit Room in Grand Rapids about 30min later. Walked across a busy street in wind to get to a mall for some lunch--I finally got into a Bank of America....

Lunch yesterday was annoying: The night before (or 4:30am) we went to Meijer (a superstore similar to walmart) for groceries. It's nice to be able to save some PD by eating on the bus. Fast forward to about 11am and Cody was trying to make some hot n'spicy veggie sausage patties. After about 15min they were still frozen so they went back into the freezer. Our microwave died. This sucks because everything I bought at Meijer (aside from the Slim Fast and hand of bananas) needs to be nuked. So now i'm back to either starving or buying crappy food. In the mall, I grabbed a buffalo chicken sandwich from The Great Steak And Potato. Half of which I ate, half of which was going to be for dinner. Moments after getting back on the bus (which also followed a stop to the Shell station where a skinnier, balder Jim Gaffigan was working behind the counter) John, our beloved bus driver, came back with a new microwave. Yay. I also was upset because I bought a crappy sandwich.

Load-in went well, I was doing more today as Tim was on a conference call. I was able to plug Bruno's Les Paul in and hit a few chords on the Marshall.... sweeet. The monitor console was not only in a really weird place, but I needed a step stool to use it. The location of said monstrosity was off to the side and BEHIND the stage (on the floor, not on the actual stage). This made it difficult to see the band and their cues for "more vocal", "more guitar", etc. Tim was relaying messages to me, but my back was to the stage and his flashlight was just being seen by the local guy who was "helping" me. By about the last song (25min into a 29min set) I got the board and it's layout. I also realized that my monitor level kept getting turned down by Opie, my "helper". I couldn't hear what the band was hearing so I couldn't tell who needed what.

...it's now 2 days later and i can't remember what i was talking about - here's a picture of the board I worked on:



on to Milwaukee & Chicago....
-Uncle J.

Michael Jackson Is Still Alive

...that's the topic of conversation right now.

First show came and went. First night of monitors went great. Truth be told, I had a little help - the local sound company had dudes there and Bill, one of the guys, showed me around the board, a Yamaha M7(photo below) and got me started.



Last night's sleep was great (aside from missing my lovely wife): ground level coffin/bunk. Pitch black. Perfect.

Showed up to Royal Oak, MI around 12:30p (25min drive from the hotel) - walked to the CVS and got batteries for the flashlight. Party Time: I grabbed a sammich from Jimmy Johns. 1st JJ sammich in over a year.

Loaded in. Learned things, met people, did stuff. Loaded out.

here's some pictures - you can see my new home.

i'm hungry.

(and, Rick Lane, if you're reading this, I punched detroit in the balls for you. It didn't flinch--I guess it should have been the throat?)






&hearts,
Uncle J.

Detroit Rock City

Tour starting (again) -

flew out with the band from LAX to Detroit. My seat was in desolation row...i could have laid down across the seats. I guess nobody wants to go to Detroit, i can't imagine why....
...the lady in front of me farting didn't really help my flight, but hey, gotta take the bad with the good.

We got off the shuttle from the airport to Spring Hill Marriott and we felt immediately at home....the bus was in sight.

I've got a bottom bunk, so I'll get more road noise than the rest of them, but that's fine, i'm on tour! We're just chilling out in the front lounge listening to music. I'm hungry and can use a beer....welcome to tour.

That's it for now; tomorrow we head to Royal Oak, MI for the show.
-uncle j.