$20K Martin, Keg Party & James Taylor concert

[ITGITC]

Hey folks, I hope you don't mind me posting in this forum instead of SSS. I don't want anyone to think this is a POLITICAL post or something about how to get pimples off my backside!

 

First off - Has anyone ever heard of a Martin guitar worth over $20,000? My neighbor plays one. He's had it since he was 16 - over 30-some years. I asked him why it was so expensive and he said that it was made during certain years (I forget exactly which). Said that the top was made of a particular wood and the braces inside were scalloped, so it's got this wonderful tone that everyone seeks. PLUS, he said that the Japanese found out about the quality of this particular model/year Martin and started to buy them all up. I don't know why Martin no longer makes them this way. I will try to get the details again from my neighbor.

 

Unfortunately, at the time he was explaining it, we were at the beach, sitting on the porch of the cottage in the early evening, drinking beer and listening to him play. The details escaped me as I didn't have a pen and notepad!

 

Last Friday night I posted about the keg party at the pool. Geez, sometimes I think all you folks are living just around the corner!

Anyway, it seems that a group of young teens got together Memorial Day weekend. They drove down to the pool about 11:30 at night to break in, do a bit of swimming by the moonlight, and tap this keg of Michelob Lite. Unfortunately for them, the neighbors heard them coming (someone had a pretty loud muffler that gave them away!)...

 

The neighbors called the Sheriff and at the same time took a video camera and recorded their license plates! The Sheriff showed up, the kids scrambled, and in their haste, left a couple of packs of red plastic drinking cups.

 

Well, one of the neighbors put 2 and 2 together and said - 'if there are cups, there must be beer'! Sure enough, it didn't take much looking to find a full, untapped keg of beer that they had hidden under the azaleas near the pool! With the kids gone, the Sheriff told us to keep the beer and have our own party. So, that's what this was all about.

 

Needless to say, Friday night a good time was had by all! My neighbor brought his $20,000 Martin and took requests. Everyone tried to sing and harmonize. Although we didn't give a stellar performance, it was a lot of fun.

 

Saturday, I awoke... feeling like someone had run over me with a Mack Truck. Ohhh, why oh why can't I remember what those keg parties used to do to me in college? It took a long time to get my composure - and go from a crawl to an upright position!

 

Then the weather warnings came... Heavy thunderstorms and strong winds were predicted for all day yesterday. This was not a good thing because I had just spent north of $100 on four tickets to see James Taylor - sitting on the lawn!

 

He was supposed to start at 7:30. We left around 5:15 so that we could tailgate & have a little dinner before going in to the Pavillion. As we were walking out the door, the Weather Channel had warnings posted up and down the East Coast - from North Carolina through DC and Baltimore!

 

We got there, parked, ate our sandwiches and went on in to claim a spot on the lawn. I rented some lawn chairs and we spread a tarp on the wet grass along with THOUSANDS of other baby boomers. The place is big and James Taylor is a big draw because he grew up about 30 miles away in Chapel Hill, NC.

 

Long story short, we got a beer and sat, waiting for the crowd to settle and James to start when it started to rain... torrential rain... and wind! Luckily I had huge umbrella and we all huddled under it. Others had large tarps and rainwear that they buried themselves in. A few unlucky people had brought NOTHING to protect themselves.

 

The rain lasted, I dunno, what seemed like at least 20 solid minutes. It rained so hard that I thought my umbrella had a leak.

 

It was a good thing I had rented chairs because those who didn't, and were sitting on the ground, were soaked through and through.

 

After the rain let up, I saw one girl stand up. Her jeans looked as though they had just come out of the wash. She reached back, grabbed her ponytail and gave it a twist to ring it out like a MOP!

 

Finally, the rain was over and the concert began. I like James Taylor, his backup singers, and his band - but the first set was awful. Something was wrong with the PA and the sound wasn't loud enough for those of us on the grass. I think that it wasn't even working.

 

James introduced some tunes from his new CD the first set. Everyone applauded politely, but it was really pretty lame.

 

So, he announced a 20 minute intermission & during that time they worked on the sound. After he came up for the 2nd set, the sound was louder, but there was a midrange peak that made everyone cover their ears! Compression drivers can sound shrill and blow your head off if the EQ isn't right. Well, unfortunately, somebody screwed up and even with a 20 minute break, they couldn't get it right.

 

However, the 2nd set was great! James and the band did an excellent job of getting the crowd on it's feet with Steamroller Blues, Carolina in my Mind, and after the encore, James came back on stage and said a few words about how much he enjoyed coming back to North Carolina. He ended with Sweet Baby James. The crowd was on their feet throughout the whole ending - it's what they came to hear and frankly, for most of them, it didn't matter that the sound wasn't perfect.

 

Sorry for the long post, but since it wasn't about weapons of mass destruction or how to remove a golf ball dent from my hood, I didn't know where to post!

 

Y'all have a good weekend!

 

Gas... In The Car!

[fantasticsound]

The first two times I went to see James, it was in lawn seats at Poplar Creek (now gone) outside Chicago. Lawn seats. Both times it rained, and we had ourselves a blast in the mud. (He tended to hit Chicago around August or September, after the summer crowds had trashed the lawn. Always a party.

 

I'm saddened to hear of the audio problems. Skin, who mixed, if not mixes, for James, is one of the best in the business. When I worked the concert here in Nashville, in 1997, the sound was p-e-r-f-e-c-t !!! It was a combination of listening to an audiophile home stereo and the grandeur of a live concert. I'll never forget that concert. I had all access, but no ticket, of course. (Worked setup/tearout on that concert.) So I sat in a seat near FOH, fully expecting to be asked to move when the ticket holder arrived. The show was sold out.

 

So every other seat I could see filled in, but no one ever asked me to move! I had one of the best seats in the house for the entire concert, and spent a few minutes talking to bass player, Jimmy Johnson, on their break. At the time I had no idea he was "Flim" of Flim and The BB's, a great smooth jazz group.

 

Hope you enjoyed your concert at least half as much as I enjoyed that one. I'm still kicking myself for not working the Nashville show.

[ITGITC]

Hey Neil,

 

Yes, Flim from Flim & The BBs... Excellent jazz group. I've got a couple of their CDs. Jimmy Johnson has been with James a long time. So have his backup singers.

 

I don't know what went wrong with the PA. I think the speakers on stage were working, but the ones that played to the crowd on the lawn were not. There was a huge delay.

 

After the break, when the other speakers did start working, they had such a horrible peak in the midrange, I thought about leaving. Maybe there's a review in the newspaper this morning that explains it. I'll look.

 

Take care,

 

Tom

[Wewus432]

Maaaaaaaaaaaan, you saw firewater and Rain, you saw sunny days that you thought would never end. You saw lonely times when you could not find a friend, but I always knew that I'd see you again.

 

there's just a few more things coming my way this time around now.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by TheWewus:

Maaaaaaaaaaaan, you saw firewater and Rain, you saw sunny days that you thought would never end. You saw lonely times when you could not find a friend, but I always knew that I'd see you again.

 

there's just a few more things coming my way this time around now.

I'm not sure WHAT you see, but I think you took the wrong pills this morning.

 

ITGITC? - in most outdoor pavillions, the lawn seats are covered by a delay line hooked up to installed speakes. Otherwise, the mixer and sound company with James has little control over how the system functions. They simply send a mono or stereo feed to the house system. That sucks it wasn't working right.

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Originally posted by TheWewus:

Maaaaaaaaaaaan, you saw firewater and Rain, you saw sunny days that you thought would never end. You saw lonely times when you could not find a friend, but I always knew that I'd see you again.

 

there's just a few more things coming my way this time around now.

I'm not sure WHAT you see, but I think you took the wrong pills this morning.

 

ITGITC? - in most outdoor pavillions, the lawn seats are covered by a delay line hooked up to installed speakes. Otherwise, the mixer and sound company with James has little control over how the system functions. They simply send a mono or stereo feed to the house system. That sucks it wasn't working right.

Neil,

 

I don't blame Jame's sound crew for the Kraaapy sound... In fact, it was probably just fine if I had been sitting closer to the stage.

 

I'd have to know someone on the inside in order to get the real scoop, I believe. All I know is what I heard. What I heard sounded like the system that projected to the folks in the lawn wasn't even on. After the intermission, it was on - and LOUD - but not equalized correctly. It seems that a system like that would be EQ'd initially when they installed it so they wouldn't have to do much to it afterwards. However, the midrange peak was killing me. I wish I could find out what really happened. Do you have any communication with your friend who mixes for JT?

 

Take care,

 

Tom

[fantasticsound]

Man... I only wish Skin was a friend, and not a one time acquaintance. I'm sure there's volumes of information and experience I could glean from him!

 

But you may have answered your own question.

 

Yes, the house system for the lawn would normally be setup well enough for a direct feed with little EQ from the touring rig. The fact that it was off, then on, but poor sounding leads me to believe one of two possibilities.

 

1. The system was off because it was not working properly. It's possible the tour management and venue chose to leave it off because it was not working, then decided to turn it on at the break because the need for lawn seat coverage.
   
2. For some reason they didn't have time to attach and soundcheck the delay speakers, but realized they had to try and use them as soon as possible without drawing a huge amount of attention to the change. (Hence, turning them on after the break.)
   

That's all supposition, though. Could be something else. We'll probably never know.

[ITGITC]

Neil,

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

 

James was supposed to start at 7:30, but started closer to 8:00. I didn't hear any testing of the PA at that time, though.

 

The speakers that play to the crowd on the lawn are in a permanent position. You can imagine, it's a big place, so these speakers are there as well as some permanently mounted video screens.

 

I've been to other concerts there where the sound was 100% satisfactory. So, I don't know what happened, but I'll check around to some of my friends here at work who may have some contacts there. If I come up with a 'no-BS' type of answer, I'll get back to you. It would be interesting to know what really happened because it nearly ruined the concert (it was THAT bad!)

 

Take care,

 

Tom

[Wewus432]

I don't know if you noticed it or not, but Neil is real smart but he's kind of a beoooooootch. , plus he's on another fantasy team so quit talking to him.

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by TheWewus:

I don't know if you noticed it or not, but Neil is real smart but he's kind of a beoooooootch. , plus he's on another fantasy team so quit talking to him.

Sorry...

 

Ummm, and Wewus, where do I send my urine sample? I've got it all bottled up (in a Mountain Dew bottle) and ready to go. Just need to put a stamp on it and drop it in the mailbox.

 

Neil- I don't know what's up with the Wewus, but I'll just change your name from Neil/FantasticSound to something else so he won't know... How 'bout ... ummm, I dunno... maybe -

 

Dah PINK SLIPPERS!!??!!

 

http://home.nc.rr.com/tlh/red.jpg

 

 

Neil... Luv ya, Mean it!!

 

Gas... In The Car!

[fantasticsound]

Great! We haven't really started and I'm already being picked on.. Well thhppphhhtttt on both of you!!!!!

 

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Great! We haven't really started and I'm already being picked on.. Well thhppphhhtttt on both of you!!!!!

 

Who IS this handsome Dude?

 

http://home.nc.rr.com/tlh/neil.jpg

 

Hey Neil, check yer email!

 

I couldn't get your music to play & it wanted me to sign onto AOL to view your pics. Whassup wit dat?

 

[EDIT] - Neil, I tried again by trying another URL and got it to work! Good job Sunshowers / Sparkle Shoes - you've got acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and something that sounds like a DX7 in there!

 

I also listened to Junior's Farm. Is that you singing? What about the drums? Dude - this is good stuff!

 

Thanks!

 

Gas... In The Car!

[Wewus432]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Great! We haven't really started and I'm already being picked on.. Well thhppphhhtttt on both of you!!!!!

 

sorry Neil, I guess I was the one being a beotch today. I hate it when that happens.

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by TheWewus:

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Great! We haven't really started and I'm already being picked on.. Well thhppphhhtttt on both of you!!!!!

 

sorry Neil, I guess I was the one being a beotch today. I hate it when that happens.

Ummmmm, maybe so...

 

(In a previous post on another thread, The Wewus said...)

 

"I'll cut your balls off!!!!!!!!

 

Don't mess with me!!"

 

OUCH!! Ummmm, perhaps some Yoo Hoo and Prozac would help? I'll look in the medicine cabinet, ol' buddy!

 

Gas

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by Is There Gas in the Car?:

Who IS this handsome Dude?

 

http://home.nc.rr.com/tlh/neil.jpg

 

...Neil, I tried again by trying another URL and got it to work! Good job Sunshowers / Sparkle Shoes - you've got acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and something that sounds like a DX7 in there!

 

I also listened to Junior's Farm. Is that you singing? What about the drums? Dude - this is good stuff!

 

Thanks!

 

Gas... In The Car! [/b]

To quote Squeeze, "If I didn't love you I'd hate you."

 

Yep, that's me. I was going to use it as my avatar, but thought better of it because I expected something like this post.

 

Glad you liked S/SS. The xylophone and bass are off my Proteus MPS keyboard.

 

Junior's Farm was a joke. I used to play it on my acoustic, in college, between classes. My wife's best friend identifies this song with me and not Paul Macca. (She and my wife are Beatle-maniacs!) So I was back in Chicago at my buddy's studio, and we took 45 min. to record V-drums, acoustic gtr, electric gtr, lead and harmony vox. I didn't even have time to add bass. It's rough, but that's ok. Everything is me except drums. My buddy taught himself to play, and he does a respectable job, but he couldn't remember how the song went and we had no reference CD to listen to. The vocals... well let's remember it was under extreme time constraints.

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Originally posted by Is There Gas in the Car?:

Who IS this handsome Dude?

 

To quote Squeeze, "If I didn't love you I'd hate you."

 

Yep, that's me. I was going to use it as my avatar, but thought better of it because I expected something like this post.

 

Hey Neil, don't hate me... it was all in fun!

 

Now Wewus is another matter - I can't control him. He wants to control US because of his new title, but don't let that throw ya.

 

Yeah - I liked both tunes. My favorite is the tune with the acoustic and electric guitars though. Maybe you can get the link to work so that other folks can hear it.

 

Take it easy!

 

Gas... In The Car!

[Tedster]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Originally posted by Is There Gas in the Car?:

http://home.nc.rr.com/tlh/neil.jpg

 

:

NEIL'S ALL NIGHT (tons of reverb) MOONLIGHT MADNESS SALE!

 

THAT'S RIGHT, EVERYTHING MUST GO! NEIL'S GONE KEE-RAAAAYZYYY LIQUIDATING THOUSANDS OF

 

SOFAS

SLEEPERS

HIDE A BEDS

FUTONS

[Tedster]

Actually, a couple of things. First, Tom Gas, just me, personally, I'd like to see more of this kind of topic and less ass pimples on George Bush and Saddam Hussein. But, it's a fine topic!

 

And second...saw JT at Sandstone here a couple few years ago. One of the best concerts I've ever seen...and I still want to know exactly how he gets that acoustic of his to ring like that.

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by Tedster:

Actually, a couple of things. First, Tom Gas, just me, personally, I'd like to see more of this kind of topic and less ass pimples on George Bush and Saddam Hussein. But, it's a fine topic!

 

And second...saw JT at Sandstone here a couple few years ago. One of the best concerts I've ever seen...and I still want to know exactly how he gets that acoustic of his to ring like that.

Thanks, Tedster!

 

I only wish I had shown some restraint over at SSS. I recently started a topic about the Dixie Chicks putting their foot in their mouth (again) - it turned into a political thread. Believe it or not, I thought it was about MUSIC more than politics this time... I guess I was mistaken.

 

About JT's guitar - I don't know how he gets the tone. I would say that Neil could give us a clue, but after posting his picture, I think he's a little angry with me... (Hi Neil! )

 

The bad sound in Raleigh was due to the local guys at Alltel Pavillion - NOT JT's crew. I've read reviews on JT's web site from those folks who weren't sitting on the lawn. They say the sound was fine. Unfortunately, there wasn't a review in the local newspaper (what's up with that?)

 

Take care,

 

Tom (Is There Gas In The Car?)

[fantasticsound]

I'm not mad, Tom... so please, don't sweat it when I throw out silly comments like the Squeeze quote.

 

As for Ted and his advertisement parody... Grrrrr!!!

 

 

James plays fantastic instruments, through great PA, and more importantly, that PA is run by one of the best in the business, period.

 

Oh, and BTW, it might have something to do witht the fact he's James-freakin'-Taylor!! (That helps a bit. )

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

I'm not mad, Tom... so please, don't sweat it when I throw out silly comments like the Squeeze quote.

 

As for Ted and his advertisement parody... Grrrrr!!!

 

 

James plays fantastic instruments, through great PA, and more importantly, that PA is run by one of the best in the business, period.

 

Oh, and BTW, it might have something to do witht the fact he's James-freakin'-Taylor!! (That helps a bit. )

It's cool, Neil. I've just been messin' wit ya & wanted to be sure you weren't getting TOO pissed!

 

Hey, I'm thinking that the problem with Windows Media Player not playing your tune when I click on the link is simply that the name is too long. Try renaming it to something shorter. Or maybe because it has the '/' character in the title (I think)... Anyway, like I said, I got it to play, but I had to go to the root directory and click on it from there.

 

Here is where I went to click on the song title for it to play successfully.

 

http://members.aol.com/neilbergmn/myhomepage/

 

The file title doesn't have a '/' in it, but it is rather long. So, if it's not too long, perhaps it's just a broken link. I dunno.

 

I'm not a hot-shot programmer (but I play one on TV)... sorry ... I'll be glad to help you if I can.

 

Oh, and the reason I put my tune in MP3 format, although I prefer WMA format for its smaller file size, is that I don't think folks using a Mac can play files in the WMA format. I could be wrong.

 

Take care,

 

Gas!