..an evening featuring: VH, police harassment, Andy Wallace, Alsihad and crackheads

[Chip McDonald]

I *should* have been at home trying to get the house in order so I can finally get to recording music again. But, thanks to crap in my life beyond my control involving my business being turned upside down, that would be too simple. So, I'm over at a friend's house watching a video of the VanHalen US Festival from 1983, trying to get this guy to calm down after a rousing day of managing a music store in competition with friends we've known for most of our lives. Insert various political dramas here. Someone knocks on the door. My friend's wife opens the door, baby in hand. The police are standing there and shine their light in her face, startling her. Start trying to look inside. "There's been a complaint here of whooping and hollering outside of this address" they say. 3 cop cars outside, lights flashing. Assorted police milling about, one apparently in the backyard. A) [i]I do not holler[/i] B) [i]..and I CERTAINLY don't "whoop"[/i] C) None of us have been outside. Gee, maybe they heard David Lee Roth from the tv speaker? Surrrrrre...... They didn't like my gig bag in my car. Ok, fine, look, it's a guitar. Apparently didn't like my friend having long hair, either. Insert various insinuations. Yeah, of course, we were having a rousing heroin party! You just missed the infant shooting up. Give me a break. Whatever. So, I leave there and go to the crack Kroger to get soymilk and frozen food. On the way I see a C-17 cargo plane fly so low overhead I could make out airwing markings on the vertical stabilizer - at night. They've been orbiting around all evening. I would guess this is the start of Operation Intimidate Saddam, and they're about to airlift a bunch of poor GI's to Saudi anyday now... They're really spooky, you're driving along and suddenly the car is shaking and you look up and THERE'S A BIG FREAKING PLANE MAYBE 150 FEET OVERHEAD. Back during the Gulf War I had a place that was routinely in the flight plan of these guys, nothing like almost being asleep and suddenly the house is vibrating like it's an earthquake and you hear those engines roaring and maybe a picture falls off the wall... and it's 4:30 am. Anyhow, drive to the crack Kroger... Pull in the parking lot, and the police are there , lights flashing having pulled over a guy I know. They've got the lights in his face, 3 cop cars (again), what looks like your typical Suthurn traffic stop... weird. Go in the crack Kroger, run into a student of mine from about 5 years ago. Turns out he's a big Jeff Buckley fan now, and he's been keeping up with producers and engineers, talked about Andy Wallace a bit... Then Chris Cornell's solo cd, which he said sounded like it was done with a friend's Alsihad setup (which in a way it was), liked the music but not the sound.... talked about the mix buss thing a bit.. ... get interrupted by this guy and maybe a 8 year old kid. "Hey, you two graduate from school together?" (which is kind of funny, considering I'm about 15 years older than the former student of mine) .. My student found that an odd thing to say.. weird... See, what was going on was this guy was trying a scam, but my young student wasn't aware of this - having just moved out and into this area. This is the "crack" Kroger because of the neighborhood it's in, if that's a clue... Longer story short, my student started to talk to him, but I managed to pull us away... Weird, so we talked briefly about Weezer (ironic?) and he promised to bring me the live Jeff Buckley DVD. On the way out, the crack scammer cut in front of me in line. Apparently the checkout lady Willie (who's actually pretty cool) knew the scam the guy was pulling, made him and his kid leave. Weird.. I'd seen a lot of scams in the parking lot of this place, but not a lot *inside* - it was a fairly involved a clever one, and Willie saved me a lot of hassle... So I'm leaving and the crackhead is out their with his kid, and he's getting in my face: "why couldn't you let me get in front of you, huh???"... etc... Follows me to my car. It got *real* weird, his kid had a weird look to him... THE POINT IS THIS: [i]*WHERE WAS THE FREAKING COPS IN THE SAME FREAKING PARKING LOT WHEN THIS PSYCHO CRACKHEAD WAS STALKING ME????* [/i] Here's this weirdo crackhead exposing his kid to who knows what - maybe it's not even his kid - following me around this store, harrassing me in the parking lot... Oh well. Weirdness. I'm just tired of "weird".

[rold]

Chip, brother - you SERIOUSLY have to get out of Augusta before it kills you man.. :thu:

[not Cereal]

no one will pay attention to my post

[surfjunkie]

sorry to be off-"topic", but... i move that we don't use the word "Alsihad" here. i like prosound and all, but that's their thing. they seem like the kind of people who are into their own private jokes. not like us here. we're way cooler.

[Henchman]

I remember one time, when I was on the road doing live sound. I was walking back to our hotel, after the gig, in Vegas. I'm happily walking along, cops pull over. And start asking me for ID etc. Ran my drivers licence. What a paranoid bunch of fuckwads. It must have been my shaved head that triggered off their keen investigative skills, to automatically assume I was some kinda bad dude.

[Wewus432]

posted by Wager47: [quote]i move that we don't use the word "Alsihad" here. [/quote]Why not? Are you afraid of offending Pro Tools users? We have to get our licks in when we can. I think Alsihad is a cute alternative name for a great product. Maybe I'll call DidiDesign and ask them if I can get a price on that Alsihad/HD2 System. Chip: Sounds like an interesting night. You're becoming this mythical urban character to me. Somehow you make the most mundane things appear relevant. Sure must suck to be you. (thought I'd go ahead and insert that before somebody else did)

[Tedly Nightshade]

Police have a dangerous job. Chip and Henchman are less dangerous than a lot of people the cops could get tangled up with. No mystery really. One bar-owning friend in San Francisco had his place barred and bolted with the customers inside because of a PCP crazed character with a full chest tattoo of the Virgin Mary and a machete, being most antic outside. The cops arrived, and the owner pointed the guy out (not that he was ignorable). The officers looked around, "don't see a problem here", and went on to saner things. I would have been long gone too...

[Tedster]

Sure, police have a dangerous job. And some of them make it even more dangerous by being extreme dickheads. I'm quite frankly surprised more of them aren't blown away.

[LeiDeLi]

[quote]*WHERE WAS THE FREAKING COPS IN THE SAME FREAKING PARKING LOT WHEN THIS PSYCHO CRACKHEAD WAS STALKING ME????* [/quote]Did you [b]report[/b] it ? Police investigate [b]reports[/b]. They don't follow [b]you[/b] around, to protect [b]you[/b]. They came to your friend's house because someone [b]reported[/b] the disturbance. Of course, if they did follow [b]you[/b] around, to protect [b]you[/b] then you would have even more paranoid complaints. It is not all about [b]you[/b]. Try cutting down on the caffeine.

[surfjunkie]

Originally posted by TheWewus: [b]Are you afraid of offending Pro Tools users? We have to get our licks in when we can. I think Alsihad is a cute alternative name for a great product.[/b] offending? no, i know plenty of people who use PT and make decent music with it. it's just that the p.s. guys have been using the A word over there for awhile, we just discovered it, now we're using it. go ahead and use it if you want. forget i said anything.

[Wewus432]

What is up with you Wager? :D I'm just goofing on you a little bit. You sound so downtrodden over the word Alsihad. :D I don't ever use it anyway.

[fantasticsound]

[quote]Originally posted by ....wager47: [b]Originally posted by TheWewus: [b]Are you afraid of offending Pro Tools users? We have to get our licks in when we can. I think Alsihad is a cute alternative name for a great product.[/b] offending? no, i know plenty of people who use PT and make decent music with it. it's just that the p.s. guys have been using the A word over there for awhile, we just discovered it, now we're using it. go ahead and use it if you want. forget i said anything.[/b][/quote]Untrue. Mixerman and Fletcher brought it over here a LONG time ago and encourage its use everywhere. If you don't like Alsihad than don't use it. That's your right. The rest of us who have issues with Digidesign will happily continue to refer to their product as Alsihad when we want to be [i]kind[/i]. (Believe me, the alternatives are much more offensive AND personal.)

[fantasticsound]

[quote]Originally posted by Chip McDonald: [b]On the way I see a C-17 cargo plane fly so low overhead I could make out airwing markings on the vertical stabilizer - at night... ...Back during the Gulf War I had a place that was routinely in the flight plan of these guys, nothing like almost being asleep and suddenly the house is vibrating like it's an earthquake and you hear those engines roaring and maybe a picture falls off the wall...[/b][/quote]Heh, heh... Yep! Those pesky C-17's are monsters. We played Camp Snoopy in Doha, Qatar on the tour in March. They warned us that in the middle of the show the C-17's on the tarmac (Ok, it's cement... but I digress. :D ) would be firing up the engines, during preflight, for about 5 minutes. Then they'd taxi away. Where were the engines directly pointing? If you guessed, "In the clamshell you were performing in, Neil." then give yourself a gold star! :rolleyes: :freak: Try playing over [i]that[/i] racket with a an EV SX-500 (15" woofer and a 2" HF horn) and a single 18" subwoofer per side! The band finished the song they were playing, then waited it out. Thank goodness for ear plugs! ;)

[aeon]

[quote][i]Originally said by LeiDeLi:[/i] [b]It is not all about you.[/b][/quote]You know LeiDeLi, given the frequency with which you present as a pedant (e.g., facetious), you might do yourself a favor by contemplating that very nugget of wisdom the next time you have dialogue with your Self. ;)

[Franknputer]

[quote]Originally posted by fantasticsound: [b]Heh, heh... Yep! Those pesky C-17's are monsters. We played Camp Snoopy in Doha, Qatar on the tour in March. They warned us that in the middle of the show the C-17's on the tarmac (Ok, it's cement... but I digress. :D ) would be firing up the engines, during preflight, for about 5 minutes. Then they'd taxi away. Where were the engines directly pointing? If you guessed, "In the clamshell you were performing in, Neil." then give yourself a gold star! :rolleyes: :freak: Try playing over [i]that[/i] racket with a an EV SX-500 (15" woofer and a 2" HF horn) and a single 18" subwoofer per side! The band finished the song they were playing, then waited it out. Thank goodness for ear plugs! ;) [/b][/quote]Neil - maybe next tour you should spec a couple dozen TMS3's? :D

[fantasticsound]

[quote]Originally posted by Christopher Kemp: [b]Neil - maybe next tour you should spec a couple dozen TMS3's? :D [/b][/quote]Yeah, right Chris!! :D For some reason our military orders included an overview of the cost to transport us to all destinations. The destinations; [list] [*]Nashville to Charlotte, SC to Dulles Airport, Washington, DC to London - Heathrow, UK to Kuwait [*]Kuwait to Qatar. [*]Qatar to UAE to Oman [*]Oman to UAE to Bahrain [*]Bahrain to Frankfurt, Germany to Cinncinnati, Ohio to Nashville [/list] This doesn't include the cost of C-130's from Oman to Pakistan to Afghanistan back to Oman or the COD from Bahrain to the USS JFK and back or the Chinook and Seahawk helio's that ferry'd us to and from the USS Vicksburg from the JFK. The total? $42K for plane tickets and baggage overcharges. (We had approx. 2,000 lbs of excess baggage.) That's about all they would pay for or I'd have brought a real system. It's about the guys, not the band. They appreciate anybody willing to trek far from home and play a kick ass show in hostile countries. I really wish we had even a couple of Clair S4's. But they weigh in at close to 400lbs a piece plus heavier power amps, and their size is far above the maximum linear measurement for any commercial carrier. Ah, well... such is the music biz... Same bull, different day, different venue. ;)

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by LeiDeLi: [b]It is not all about [b]you[/b]. Try cutting down on the caffeine.[/b][/quote]Oh, so what you're really saying it's all about YOU. ..come to think of it, I *have* seen people with tinfoil helmets on at the crack Kroger. Of course, I've also seen a guy decide to take all of his clothes off in there in front of about 100 shoppers, and then there was the time I was standing in line and the guy in front of me freaked out and started throwing his groceries around.... I knew I should have picked up some tinfoil. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get some, do you LDL? What's the best design, should I copy an Arai or Bell? I always though the first generation Simpson full-face helmets were the coolest looking, but does style count? Of course, I've got a Giro full face in the closet here, maybe if I just wrap it up in foil? See, it's not about ME....

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by fantasticsound: [b]If you don't like Alsihad than don't use it. That's your right. T)[/b][/quote]I only chose to use it because of the novelty of finding myself discussing mix buss issues in DAWs at this ghetto grocery store at 1 am with a student that I haven't seen in years....

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by aeon: [b] [quote][i]Originally said by LeiDeLi:[/i] [b]It is not all about you.[/b][/quote]You know LeiDeLi, given the frequency with which you present as a pedant (e.g., facetious), you might do yourself a favor by contemplating that very nugget of wisdom the next time you have dialogue with your Self. ;) [/b][/quote]Hopefully people realize I'm posting what appears to be *from my own self-reverential perspective* to be ironically amusing situations in the hope of it being amusing to others.... It's not like I'm posting "Who Likes Donuts? I sure do!" or some such...

[surfjunkie]

mmm... donuts...

[timrocker]

Wow, Chip-I just saw that very same video about a month ago. Did it seem like they rushed a few songs? I know, it's the US Festival and there must have been a lot of adrenaline and backstage chaos. But I was a little disappointed the way the band kind of dove into each song willy nilly and seemed to crash into the first chorus without a lot of precision. All the hallmarks of amateurism. -We're not actually in control, we're just up here-. Little bit of a comedown for me, as a VH long time fan. Anyway, sorry to hear about your difficulties. Hope it gets better.

[Kris]

So how did this scam work???

[Gabriel E.]

Chip: I like the term "Crack Kroger". We have some Crack supermarkets here in N.O. My favorite incident was at a Canal Villerie supermarket (the "c" in the sign was burned out too). A checkout girl started arguing with a customer over the price something was rung up at. She called her boyfriend on her cell and he came right over (the ghetto was the next block over)and chased the customer down and shot him to death in one of the aisles. It's a drag trying to find arugula in a store that only sells "Family Of Eight On Welfare" brand food.

[Dan South]

Chip, isn't there a better place to shop like a half-mile from the Kroger? An ounce of prevention... My thoughts on ProTools nicknames are well documented. Sometimes I call it ScroTools, just for fun. ;) Speaking of nicknames, LDL is a good one! Makes the guy sound like cholesterol. :D

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by timrocker: [b]Wow, Chip-I just saw that very same video about a month ago. Did it seem like they rushed a few songs? [/b][/quote]Sort of, but to me it came off like "exciting". It was sloppy, but for them about average. They were probably all coked up. Every boot I've heard of them is pushed tempo-wise, but in a "wild party" kind of way. If anything, it's "how fast can we play and hold it together" feeling... Which may have been the plan, since they had a limited amount of time to play and were being paid A LOT for it. That's the best I've heard Ed play. He was on all of his tricks, raw Marshall sound. I think it's very telling that he mimicked the solos on just about every song note-per-note; he's *not* exactly the improv-off the cuff lead player he's made out to be IMO. Which is weird, because that means he worked out solos that are sort of non-sensical (but cool...). It was wild and careening, but that's how I like to hear old VH... makes "Live without A Net"/VanHagar soooooo boring in comparison. Makes one remember how annoying Roth could be, though....