REEVES GABRELS' TOUR BLOG, DAY 7, JULY 21

[Editor Boy]

DISPATCHES FROM THE ROAD

The New Reality of Touring

By Reeves Gabrels

 

Howdy,

 

It seemed like a long trip to New Haven, Conn. -- probably the torrential rain that we drove into around Springfield, MA, made it a little longer, and, due to the debatable skills of other drivers, a little tense. That having been said, it seems the drivers in the northeast get less flumoxed by inclement weather when it comes to being behind the wheel -- just the opinion of a biased northeasterner.

 

The wear and tear of the hours and repetition of playing every day (see day 6) are starting to show themselve a bit. My back is not helping matters, and the heavy lifting is now being done by Kevin and Jeff with no complaints. I couldn't ask for a cooler couple of guys to be doing this with.

 

At the end of the day, the gigs have been hugely rewarding. Load in and soundcheck at Club Nine were a piece of cake -- although we did wait a little to long to eat some dinner, and so the low blood-sugar weirdness set in. Quickly solved, but something to guard against. Eno always used to carry a couple of Tiger Milk nutrition bars in his briefcase in case he got stuck in the studio late w/no reasonable food options. I find that eating cuts down on the hallucinations.

 

Our set went well -- a good-sounding stage. I know i've said that before, but some stages just don't sound that great. No matter what you do, it will mess with you. On this run of dates, we've had about a 60 percent success ratio with onstage sound. We just try not to let that interfere.

 

A suprising number of old friends were at the gig, as well as a lot of folks who had been at various Bowie and Tin Machine shows over the years. I sold a record number of CDs (gas for the van!) and made the venue owner happy. We've been lucky to deal with really great people at the clubs we've played, and Paul goes to the top of that list.

 

That's it for Day 7. Off to my olde semi-home town of Boston. But first, Kevin Hornback would like a word....

 

Hi all, Kevin here...

 

First, let me say I love Dunkin' Donuts coffee. We have it in the South, somewhere, but I can never find it. So one of the perks of coming north is Dunky -- until Virginia Beach. It was as if the regular, efficient and helpful staff had been replaced by a high school field trip. At any moment, I expected a bus to pull up and for everyone behind the counter to run out at once. There were kids doing absolutely nothing, and others doing an amazing number of things...badly. Sure, my order was wrong and late, but at least it was the temperature of the sun. Add to that the apparently lesbian drama between a "manager" and another girl forced to clean a bathroom apocalypse and I just want my coffee, dammit!

 

Anyway, I'm playing a new rig this trip and it has been fantastic. It's a Traynor YBA-200 2 with an 8x8 cab. At 200 tube watts, it has had enough juice to fill 150-250 capacity rooms with no P.A. help. The cab is the perfect size for the van and the stages we've been on, and the tone is great -- fat, with as much grind as I want to dial in. On the floor, I've got an EBS Octabass, an Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff and a Zoom 506 that does a couple of good freak tones. I'm playing a Campbell-American RJ bass tuned B to D, and a Warmoth Jazz bass.

 

Thanks to Reeves for the space and thanks to any and all who've read this far.

 

KH

 

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

(Thank YOU, Mssr. Molenda, for posting these here!)

 

Load in and soundcheck at Club Nine were a piece of cake -- although we did wait a little too long to eat some dinner, and so the low blood-sugar weirdness set in. Quickly solved, but something to guard against. Eno always used to carry a couple of Tiger Milk nutrition bars in his briefcase in case he got stuck in the studio late w/no reasonable food options. I find that eating cuts down on the hallucinations.

 

"New Reality of Touring", indeed! Compare to the oft cited un-reality and various excesses of the rock 'n' roll touring-set in the '60s, '70s, and '80s!

 

A surprising number of old friends were at the gig, as well as a lot of folks who had been at various Bowie and Tin Machine shows over the years. I sold a record number of CDs (gas for the van!) and made the venue owner happy. We've been lucky to deal with really great people at the clubs we've played, and Paul goes to the top of that list.

 

"...is there gas in the caaarrr... yes, there's gas in the CAAARR..." Hehh-hehh, sorry!

 

Seriously, that's great, especially the number of old friends and veteran fans from Bowie and Tin Machine shows past. Signs indicating a healthy breeding population of live music lovers out there!

 

...I'm playing a new rig this trip and it has been fantastic. It's a Traynor YBA-200 2 with an 8x8 cab. At 200 tube watts, it has had enough juice to fill 150-250 capacity rooms with no P.A. help. The cab is the perfect size for the van and the stages we've been on, and the tone is great -- fat, with as much grind as I want to dial in. On the floor, I've got an EBS Octabass, an Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff and a Zoom 506 that does a couple of good freak tones. I'm playing a Campbell-American RJ bass tuned B to D, and a Warmoth Jazz bass.

 

Nice rig, man! 200 ALL-TUBE watts (REAL watts, man!), an 8x8, nice pedals and some sweet axes!

[The Bear Jew]

This really does remind me of my tours. Amazing. Here's a guy who has played on huge stages with people who are known worldwide, and he's playing a lot of the same small rooms I play regularly... to similar-sized audiences, from what I can gather. And dealing with a lot of the same concerns, too--long drives, food/bathroom needs, weird load-ins, back pains, etc.

 

Just goes to show you that touring is pretty much the same for everyone who rolls in a van and humps their own gear.