DRUMMER CAFE

I'm sitting on a bus in Seattle at 7:30am. We are due to leave for Portland in about one hour, so I might grab a coffee and a bite shortly.
There is a typically funky (and nice) Seattle coffee shop near where we are parked, outside Neumos - the club we played last night.
The first 24 hours of the tour were gruelling, but they could have been much worse.
We left London with the usual palaver of security checks at Heathrow Airport. Our flight was quite routine and 9 hours later we arrived in seattle. The next day we were shocked to hear about the latest terror plot and the resulting chaos at airports in the UK. We were very lucky to miss out on that.
Anyway, we arrived in Seattle early evening. there was a delay of a couple of hours while we located the bus, our home for the next five weeks and loaded up our flight cases, which had arrived on an earlier cargo flight. We then set off for Canada. By the time we crossed the border (fairly routine) it was after midnight and we got to our Vancouver hotel about 1am. Most of us had a fitfull sleep, a combination of jetlag and over active minds, thinking about everything we had to do that day and the first time playing in front of an audience.
After a late breakfast, I headed out to the Pacific Drum Centre, a store that had been recommended to me.
I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a drumstore owned and run by two ladies. Quite unusual I think.
We chatted for a while and I tried an Odery snare they pointed out to me, also (under protest) an OCDP  and finally a couple of wood shell Dunnett's. The Dunnett's were both nice sounding. I wouldn't say they blew me away, but I find it very difficult to accurately evaluate equipment unless I'm using it for a job. I was very impressed with the R Class snare mechanism however. Also, the drums were undoubtedly beautifully made. I guess I would have been interested to try a Ti.
By about 2:45pm I was at the venue, Richards On Richard St, and eager to see my new gear.
Everything was carefully packaged in boxes and a veritable rainforest's worth of protective packaging. A couple of my band mates helped out by unwrapping everything while I set about building the kit from scratch.
First thing I looked at was the Craviotto snare (7x14" maple). On tapping it I realised it sounded really good, so I left it at that for the moment. To cut a long story short, it took me around 2 1/2 hours to set up the hardware for the first time and tune the kit. The single headed toms were not that easy to tune. The lack of bottom heads seems to make the precise tuning of the top one's more critical to the sound. I found any uneveness resulted in nasty harmonics, so it took longer than usual to find a pleasing sound, especially across four toms. I hardly altered the bass drum and Crav snare.
All the band was in the same boat. All suffering a degree of brain phase due to jetlag and all grappling with a new environment and unruly gear. There were lots of guitars that wouldn't tune, amps that suddenly switched themselves off and feedback that seemed to come from nowhere. It's all part and parcel of a normal soundcheck, if not moreso on the first day of a tour.
After a lengthy soundcheck (sorry supportband  ), I only had time to grab a bowl of rice and beans at a nearby Mexican cafe.
Happily, when I returned, Karl had been sensible enough to write out a setlist containing all the songs we knew best. I think that resulted in a set that was not as diverse and interesting as we could have performed, but for the most part we weren't capable of playing the diverse and interesting songs without more rehearsal. 
I don't get nervous very often these days and the Richard's show was no exception, despite it being my first public performance since two shows in Spain in 1996 and before that, the last show on the 1991 Dire Straits tour.....also in Spain. 
Well I made my first major cock-up in the second chorus of the first song, 'Message In The Box'. I stopped playing 8 bars too early for a scheduled bars rest.  . No one seemed to mind or really notice, but I was annoyed with myself, as this was probably the song I knew best. Also, it didn't bode well for the songs I was more shakey on, later on in the set. I made a mental note to up my concentration from 100% to 110% and luckily the rest of the gig passed off without any further incidents. In fact everybody played pretty well.
My drums and cymbals sounded great. I guess I've decided that double headed toms are my first love, but the N&C toms still sound good. They are punchy and even more retro sounding that I expected. I wasn't really after a super-retro sound, so I suppose on that level my plan has failed. Having said that, I haven't heard the drums from out-front yet. They've turned out to be fun to play too. Lot's of 70's Hal Blaine style pop fills seem to be flowing from my limbs. 
The real killer (as in 'killer application') is the Craviotto snare. It just sounds completely awesome. I don't know what the guy does, but everything he does just seems to work for me.
More later....

Really interesting, thanks!

Yes, pix would be fantastic, if possible.

Part two......
The show finished around 12:30am and after a very brief pause for breath I headed up to the stage to help pack down the drums.
We only have two crew, plus two helpers, for a seven piece band. My number one aim was to make sure my new drums got packed safely, especially as it took me over two hours to set them up as we have no drum tech. It became immediately obvious our four guys were struggling with the mountain of guitars, amps and the two keyboard rigs. So I guess I'm now the drum tech too.  
It took about two hours to load out onto the bus and trailer. Then a few of us decided another shower was needed, so we ran back to the hotel. After all that, we set off in the early hours back to the USA and Seattle.
So we had a second, middle of the night, border crossing in consecutive days. We got to the US building around 4am.
The night crew didn't seem to be in a very good mood. We were all immediately ordered off the bus and told to report, with all our bags, inside the priocessing area. We later realised this was only a few hours after the UK had gone on to a major alert status, and US airports seem to have followed suit.
By the time we got all our bags together and trooped into the building, the officer had changed his mind about the bags, so we turned right around and loaded them back into the bus bays. After we returned to the building, we were each questioned by a stern officer, but as we were all legal and above board, there was not much more he could do but grant us entry to the US of A once more.
For the next few hours we slept on the bus, part of it during the drive into Seattle.
I woke at 9am, after about 5 hours sleep, and headed out for a well earned coffee and squash bread.  
I had no particular agenda for day two of the tour. The weirdness of jetlag means you can't often catch up on your zzzz's when it's most convenient to do so. In the end, by the time the show came around (10:40pm), I'd been up a long time and was feeling pretty pole axed.
Earlier, at 3pm, I'd set up my own drums again (quicker this time). We were also joined by Elvis Perkins, our new support band.
Apparently, Elvis is son of Anthony Perkins, of Psycho fame. His drummer, who I must catch the name of (another product of jetlag and brain phase), set up a nice looking old Rogers kit.
By showtime, I was looking to grind my way through the gig and aim for a first flawless performance.
This time, 'Message In A Box' passed without incident. However, as the show progressed, I found myself increasingly uncertain as to how each song ended. This resulted in a few messy finale's, but by and large I was happy with my contribution. We managed to push the envelope a few notches and a few solos and outros started to have a life of their own.  
Our second night crowd enjoyed the show as much as the Canadian contingent.
The kit sounded great again. I have a few blisters coming along nicely.
And I'm reluctantly getting used to my dual role as drummer and roadie. I know I wont get any sympathy from most of you guys who deal with this regularly.
Sorry  
The driver has just fired up the bus and we're heading down to Portland, Oregon.
 

Yeah no problem. Perhaps once we hit our stride. At the moment, any time we are allowed in the venues is precious.
General jetlag logistical issues....
Last night I ran onstage and immediately realised I'd forgotten to put my -20db earplugs in. I'd left them in a suitcase on the bus too, so sending one of our crew to find them was not an option. All I could do was hope I didn't end the night with a loud ringing in my ears.
I ride (as in thrash) a 20" K crash/ride on several songs. Sometimes Karl decides to extend a solo unexpectedly, once I'm already playing full bore, so it calls for an extra heavy hand. Luckily, I don't seem to have suffered too badly. At least I got to hear my drums in the nude, so to speak, as they sound slightly 'produced' after processing by the Etymotic filters. That's not a bad thing by the way. Although I'm not finding it easy to judge my dynamics with the earplugs in, at least the onstage sound is clear and bright, albeit 20db down.
Finally, keeping track of all my belongings whilst constantly on the move is proving challenging. Without a drum tech, I'm ultimately responsible for all the drums. I also have three bags; my suitcase containing all my needs for a two month trip, plus a small wheelie bag containing my day to day needs and a third shoulder bag, usually containing backstage pass, money, iPod, camera and (hopefully) musicians earplugs. Last time I toured, I probably had an army of people looking after me, rather than me looking after an army of bags. 

Two things about mistakes....
1) 25 years has taught me most audience members don't notice them. *
Your bandmates might make a comment after the show, but all will be forgotten in the morning.
2) I grew up (professionally) in fusion bands. Most 'mistakes' I make are born out of pushing myself to the limit of my capabilities.
Obviously when recording, you aim for a safe and confident performance. In concert, I think the best moments are those when you push yourself and the performance pushes on a notch or two. If something doesn't quite work out, no one will blame you for going for it.
I mean, I'm not talking about playing a two bar fill and rejoining the band half a bar too late. 

* Last night, Karl couldn't remember the first line of a song. We played through the intro and the scheduled first verse became an instrumental. As we swung around, as if to start the first verse again, no singing was yet forthcoming. This went on for about 4 cycles, a veritable extended intro.
Rather than feeling uncomfortable, our audience started to scream approval. Some hardcore fans who really knew the songs were laughing, others were doing the 'we're not worthy' routine (surprisingly).
I think people must see these moments as something special to them, an out of the ordinary moment, only they will witness.
I don't confess to understand it, but it's lucky for us most audiences look on with approval if a train wreck looks imminent. 

A GREAT piece of info for beginners, intermedes and pros. It's a skill just like  grooves, fills or solid time keeping.

Our (read: my) gut reaction after a mistake is to grimace and shake the head. I've managed to purge most of these moments from my system and, for lack of a better term, *get my head back into the game.

*No comments from parents with kids who are addicted to 'High School Musical' 

Aside from getting the 'visuals' under control is the skill of trying to make the most musical of choices while in the 'mistake' - either your own or other bandmates (Which, BTW: happened last night at a recital I was supporting on drumset. The high school senior recitalist recovered nicely after he almost switched to the wrong section in a song). These skills although not always obvious, are prized professionally.

Our modest and forthcoming DC brother Chris W. gives an example of musical grace under fire.

IMHO, FWIW, etc.

Jim

Yeah, living vicariously through Chris's tour has made my playing life much more exciting!

VERY interesting first hand stuff. 

Just excellent!

Chris, how much of America have you seen before this tour? Northwestern U.S. is some of the most scenic real estate inside the contiguous 48, and western Canada is downright breathtaking. It will be difficult to top the view as the tour moves on.

Hmm... is it like:

Scraggly long hair, bearded dude, late 40's, works at an auto parts store, wearing t-shirt w/ rebel flag on it, holding a Bud (his 5th of the night plus some shots of 'Jack'), red-eyed, not standing particularly upright...sorta like the Empire State building on a windy day..., muttering..."Ya'll gonna play sum 'Skinnerd ?"

Never seen it. 

However, I vote for the World Party bus option*.

*Those words just look cool being written even though it's probably not an accurate mental image (thankfully). 


Jim "Dandy" Martin

Chris, Thanks again for sharing all of this.  It really is priceless stuff to pass on. 

If you can get into Phoenix, Gaddabout and I will volunteer to tech for you!  Plus, we'll make sure we get your belly filled with some awesome mexican food!