April 18, 2007 - The First Week of the Tour

hey all, my name's chris and i'm the luckiest man in the world because i have the coolest job as guitar / bass tech. for iggy pop and the stooges. i've been asked to share with you some general happenings on the road as we spend the month of april traveling across the country upon our first proper u.s. tour in support of the new stooges album : the weirdness. thanks for joining us.

day one - tuesday, april 3rd : i've hopped a flight from detroit to new york city to help our road manager, eric with some gear that's been delivered to his apartment. we've rented a cube truck to get the gear to d.c. to start the tour. i love new york. it hits me when i step off the plane. i moved here for a bit very briefly a couple of years ago. and was persuaded to move back to detroit to play with this great band that eventually fell apart. but anyway, on to the tour.

day three - thursday, april 5th - washington, d.c. : unpack all the pretty boxes. nice new eden heads and cabs as well as brand new marshall "vintage modern" heads and 4x12 cabs. i've gotta say, i've always liked the eden bass stuff. i've known a few guys in detroit that played them. watt told me from the beginning that he used it. the 8x10 cabs are a little more "compact" than i'm used to. but they SOUND really good. and that's all that really matters, right ? we also received a few SKB cases for the heads that were HUGE. i mean, really HUGE. i've never seen anything like it. it's like we're shipping plutonium in them. insane. so we're not going to be able to use them at all. maybe we'll get some low-profile cases in boston. i made a cover for them with some plywood and carpet to protect them should iggy decide to mount the rig, as he sometimes does.

like i said, the stuff sounded really great at soundcheck. loud and clear. big bottom ( like spinal tap, eh ? ) but you can hear every note. not a big farty, muddy wall of sound. i'll get back to you after the show. here's the setup... bass --> tuner --> d.i. --> ybox split to both heads --> each head to a cab. pretty simple. we'll see how they sound with a completely full house. on the ipod today : army of anyone. self titled album from the brothers "stp" and singer from filter. rock.

what a great place, the 9:30 club. there was an early show tonight with mooney suzuki and albert hammon jr. from the strokes. then they booted everyone out and reopened for our show. the first band was called the high class elite. they're from new york and will be doing three shows with us. they're a fun band. young. kind of like the new york dolls meets the b52's. and i say that in a good way because they had two very lovely backup singers that reminded me of the b52's with the harmonies and such. then came the sistas in the pit. a great three piece funk / rock band from the san fran. area. jimi hendrix / meters / primus. i'd hate to try to categorize but i wanna give you some idea. anyway, fun times were had by all. and the gear sounded great. a general cloud of low end all around on stage. prolly a mix of everything : bass, kick drum, guitar. a little much, but we managed. d.c.'s a great town. my first time.

after the show we hopped on the bus and headed out to boston. my first time sleeping on a big bus like that in a little bunk. weird but i think i'll get used to it.

day five - saturday, april 7th - boston : the orpheum. another great place. weird though because it may be the first gig we've done with complete seating to the front of the stage. it's fun to do these club / theater gigs. we've been doing big festivals mostly. all over europe, australia, even japan. lots of bands, thousands of people. so it's different to do gigs like this. but i love it and i think the band does too. more intimate and effective. it's cold in boston. i left detroit without a jacket. so i've been freezing for the past couple of days. we'll be in detroit again in a few days so i'll have to pick one up at home.

again, the high class elite and the sistas in the pit ( who are doing 8 shows with us ). another great show by all. but again, we're dealing with a lot of low end all around. maybe it's the room. plus they play loud. watt's got me plugging the holes in the back of the 8x10 cabs. says they are more for small clubs and thinks that plugging them will help with the direction and definition. so a few stage towels and some gaff tape and we're off. today's ipod : rival schools - united by fate. after the show we get back on the bus and head out for new york city.

day six - sunday - i've got some family in upstate new york that i haven't seen in a while so i decided to jump a train and spend easter sunday with them. we used to spend summers up there when we were kids but stopped when i was about 15 yrs old. so it was great to see them. made gnocchi from scratch. old family tradition.

day seven - monday, april 9th - new york : the united palace way up on broadway and 176th. harlem. beautiful old theater / church. very ornate decorations all over. another gig with complete seating. doesn't go well with a huge pit of people up front. and i noticed that some of the seats were add-ons and not bolted down or strapped to anything. i thought of going around with some zip ties and getting them together because i just had a feeling. and sure enough during the show a few made their way up onto the stage. luckily no one got hurt, except for the guy that was throwing them. he was "escorted" out of the building.

today's set-up music on the ipod : the dirty americans. great band from detroit that were on roadrunner records for a bit. album is called strange generation. they have a new album that i've got to get my hands on. tonight we had a very intense stage invasion. there's a point in the show where iggy likes to invite the entire audience to join the stooges on stage for a couple of songs. sometimes we get about 20 people or so. and sometimes, like tonight, we get about 200 people. madness. it was the first time that people were crowd surfing on stage. insane. we had the sistas in the pit tonight, but no high class elite. we'll see them in philly though. after the show we packed up and headed to the motor city bar. what a great place. dedicated to my hometown of detroit. it's decorated with street signs and old photos of detroit. very cool place. great music all night and cheap drinks. highly recommended. spent the night in the city and headed out for philly in the a.m.

tuesday - just arrived in philadelphia today. we were here not too long ago to play bam margera's wedding for an mtv special : bam's unholy union. planning on hitting a shop today for some supplies.

day nine - wednesday, april 11th - philadelphia : well today has started off with a bang. literally. we were unloading the trailer at the gig and while getting an 8x10 cab out, i grabbed the bottom to get it over the ledge. and jos had the top by the handles. when jos let go of the top, the cab lunged forward... smashing into the side of my head. ouch !!! inside, the electric factory is a great space. unfortunately, we couldn't make any noise until after 5pm because there we some offices above the venue. so we got to wait around a bit. on the ipod : i actually made my first playlist. a random mixture of rock highlighting some of my favorite hometown bands like colic, grayling, and alex winston.

the band arrived and we did a couple songs for soundcheck. tv eye and i wanna be your dog. and since iggy never really comes down for soundcheck, i'm the lucky man that gets to take his place. he trusts us to make it sound right for the show. it's fun doing soundcheck with the stooges. now if i could somehow play a live show with them....well, that's another dream. anyway, we had the high class elite with us tonight as well as the sistas in the pit. we also had a visit from mr. bam margera and his lovely wife along with some of their friends. it was a packed house and a great show although iggy said it may have been the worst sound we've had in a while. not sure why. monitors, the actual room ???? i think we've dialed in the eden stuff now to a really nice tone. we've also let the first two acts get in on the eden gear and they're loving it as well. all in all, a fun night. and after the show we hopped on the bus toward my hometown, detroit.

day ten - thursday, april 12th - detroit rock city : there's this really amazing place in detroit called the cadieux cafe. and if you're ever in the detroit area you have to check it out. it's the only place in north america with an authentic belgian feather bowling alley. i've been playing for years since i started going there when i was younger. when i hooked up with the stooges almost four years ago i told them all about it. they never believed me. they thought i'd made it all up. and worse...when we actually got to belgium nobody there knew what i was talking about either. come to find out they call it something else : trabouling. so now that we're in detroit, i've decided to take the crew over to the cadieux cafe to prove that it does exist. we had a great time and some great food. and everyone loved the feather bowling !!!

day eleven- friday the 13th - detroit : the fox theater : it's truly amazing to be back in detroit to put on a show with the stooges. this is where it all started. and to come from the area, playing the fox theater is the tops. we started loading in and i immediately recognized some of the local crew guys. i used to work around the corner from the fox at a great bar called the town pump. and they were my regulars. so it was nice to have a little extra support backstage.

it was an amazing show. incredible energy and excellent sound. it got a little crazy when iggy invited the crowd to join him on stage again. why do people wanna steal the set list in the middle of the set. it's like running into a garage and stealing the mechanic's tools. and when i try to stop them, i'm the bad guy. needless to say, i've warded off several physical interludes regarding this.

anyway, we finally cleared the stage ( which was impossible ). but during the next couple of songs there were a few that wanted to rejoin the band onstage. in the process of "removing" one of these said offenders i was tossed out into the crowd along with him. well that was fun. the guard amongst the inmates. i lost my glasses. so for the rest of the show i was rather blind. i'm hoping to hit up an eye doctor in chicago tomorrow on our day off and get some contacts.

another great part of the night was that i got my parents tickets and passes so that they could finally see exactly what i do. they were right there up on stage with us. and they were completely blown away. they got to meet the band and iggy and see the tour bus. after the show, all of my friends wanted to meet up for a drink but it was too crazy downtown for me. i wanted to hit the bus and crash. i was totally drained. sleepy time and on to the windy city.

day thirteen - april 15th, 2007 - chicago : congress theater. what a cool, old theater. the opening act tonight was a great band from chicago called "shellac". the guitar player is steve albini who recorded the new stooges album last october. it was great to finally see them play. i'd never heard them before. very unique sound and style. i think they make their own amplifiers. anyway, i got to meet lane today from eden. we did a little photo / video thing. got to talk about the rig on the road and playing with the stooges. very cool people, the eden folks. i have to say, tonight was one of the best shows all around. great sound, great energy, great local crew. and i had some friends in the crowd that i haven't seen in a while. so that was nice. after the show...on the bus to denver. very very far away.

day fifteen - april 17th, 2007 - denver : the fillmore auditorium. let me start by saying denver is very very far away. but the drive was beautiful. and i've always wanted to go there. did a little shopping. bought myself some much needed headphones and a case for my ipod. the show was great. got to see the sistas in the pit again. unfortunately, the bass player's grandmother just passed away. so our thoughts and sympathies are with her and the group. i discovered today that eric, our road manager, has a pretty similar prescription. so i got to wear his glasses for a bit of the day. it was not perfect, but it was better than nothing. my mother has been looking around in my old bedroom back home and came up with an old pair. so she sent them out to denver for me. they arrived after we had headed out to the gig but henry, our tour manager, was able to grab them from the hotel and bring them along. i truly love and appreciate the effort my mother went through to get me these glasses, although i have no idea who they belonged to. they were definitely never mine. but it was worth a shot. blind again. after the show we packed up and headed out to san francisco. again, very very far away.

thursday - we spent the entire day driving from denver to san fran. but had to stop near reno in a place called "boomtown". it was basically a hotel / casino where our driver to catch a much needed shower and sleep. jos, bob, and i caught a cab into the city of reno to kill some time. it was my first time and i guess i didn't really know what to expect. basically a much smaller version of vegas. casinos and pawn shops. but we managed to find an amazing little chinese restaurant there. we killed a few hours there and headed back to the bus at boomtown. only about 3.5 or 4 hours left to san fran.

day seventeen - april 19th, 2007 - san francisco : the warfield. i made myself an appointment for an eye exam today at 9:40am. got myself a pair of trial contacts to get me through the rest of the shows until i get back to detroit. then i can follow up at my local lenscrafters to get the actual glasses and full prescription for contacts if i do choose. finally, i can see again. what a relief. got to the warfield. a bit smaller of a stage and room altogether. but everybody's been really nice. great food today at catering. what a fringe benefit. sometimes it's really nice grub. we've got the sistas tonight. but they have to pass on saturday's show for the funeral. i have to say it was a good night all together. we had some on stage sound issues. tip to the monitor man : it's probably not a good idea to sit with your feet up on the monitor desk during the show. or to spark a one-hitter during the show. some people may consider this a bit unprofessional. after the show, we got everyone together on stage for a group photo. we told iggy that it was for some magazine that wanted a shot of the band with their crew. you'll see what it was really for later...

day nineteen - april 21st, 2007 - san francisco : the warfield. today was a very special day for us as it was iggy's 60th birthday today. unfortunately, the sistas in tha pit couldn't be with us tonight due to a funeral. we were all definitely thinking of them tonight. but they're replacement was a good one. now for the best part of the show... they played the first part of the set like normal. but when they came back for their encore, the band started playing "happy birthday". iggy was a bit surprised. the whole audience sang as loud as they could. and iggy had a huge smile on his face. i'm sure to say that he was legitimately surprised. and as if that wasn't enough, during the first few notes of the next song we dropped about 200 balloons on to the stage from above him. it was amazing. then jos ( the drum tech. ) and i got on our knees and tried to clear the stage of the balloons. which ended up in a crazy melee between the crowd and stage. balloons everywhere. somehow during the song, ron's guitars went completely out. panic !!! i ended up plugging him directly into the heads bypassing the pedal board. it sounded different but at least it sounded. luckily, steve mckay jumped onto stage and blew some great sax to fill the void while we sorted out the problem. best of all, the whole ordeal was caught on tape by both our merch. guy, bob, and our front of house guy, rik. after the show was over, we had a little backstage party for iggy. we got him a big cake with a picture of him and his dog that looked more like bo bice than him. but it was the thought i guess. and for a gift we gave him that photo that we took the other night. our photography friend, peter, blew it up and mounted and framed it for us to all sign. it was a great gift. and he was surprised. "wait a second...this wasn't really for a magazine ?!?" we packed up and headed out to los angeles.

day twentyone - april 23rd, 2007 - los angeles : the wiltern. i decided to go a little early today so i could check out the problem we had with the guitar rig the other night. after setting everything up just as it was saturday i fired it up and.........perfect !!! nothing was wrong at all. what the....???? i went through everything : pedals, cables, amps, etc.... and nothing was wrong. it fired right up and played well. how frustrating. i talked to iggy later about it and he said it was the birthday curse. apparently, on his 21st birthday they had a show and the same thing happened. ron's guitar rig just went out for no reason. can you believe that ?!?! so i didn't feel too bad anymore because it was obviously a cosmic and supernatural phenomenon that was out of the realm of my understanding.

day twentytwo - april 24th, 2007 - los angeles : the jimmy kimmel show. the tour bus left us yesterday after we loaded in for the show at the wiltern. it was a sad day for all. lauren, our driver, was amazing the whole time and will be missed. so eric, jos, and i went and picked up a pensky cube truck to finish off the tour. we got to the studio and started to set everything up for the show. we did a great sound check ( i get to sing for iggy because he usually doesn't come for sound check; not sure if i mentioned that earlier. i'll have to go back and read my other bits. again, another reason i'm the luckiest man ever ! ) anyway, they did all that t.v. camera set up stuff and we were good for the day. jos and i wandered around hollywood blvd. and did a little shopping. a new hat and belt buckle and back to the set. the band came back, including iggy, for a audio / video check and some filler bits for coming back from commercial. we hung out in the green room until show time. the jimmy kimmel show has one of the greatest green rooms. i was told that some celebrities come to hang out even if they're not on the show that day. there's a pool table, arcade games, a full bar and food. very well done. i was able to get my older brother to the show today. he and his friend sarah ( WOW !!! by the way ) came up on stage for the show and got to meet the band and crew. after the show we packed up and jos and i started our journey from los angeles to seattle. the rest of the band and crew flew.

over the next two days, jos and i drove up to seattle stopping in portland for a little shopping. no sales tax in oregon. and even though i didn't need it, i decided to treat myself to a new digital camera. it was on sale and again, no sales tax. so what the hell ! jos bought a tomtom navigation unit. it was going to help us on our next leg of the trip. we had to drive from seattle to memphis for the next show. we finished up our trip to seattle and met up with everyone else. eric, peter ( the photog. ) rik, and i walked to a great bar called the five points for a burger and a few nice glasses of scotch and some great beer called "moose drool". very much needed after the 15 or 16 hour drive from l.a. sleepy time...

day twentyfive - april 27th, 2007 - seattle : the WaMu theater. we got to the venue, which was actually the event center between the football and baseball stadiums. we pulled the truck right up to the stage inside the building and set up. tonight's opening act was a great band from seattle that we had played with before at the little steven's underground garage festival in new york. they're called "the boss martians" and they were great. they're working on their new cd and i can't wait to hear it. jos and i nipped out to run a couple of errands before the show and forgot to move the truck from the side of the stage. and we both had the keys. oops ! we got a call from eric who said that they couldn't open the doors until the truck was moved. so we had to haul ass back to the venue. we got close but there was so much traffic due to a ball game. i jumped out of the car and ran the rest of the way. it ended up ok. they opened the doors only about 10 minutes late. oops ! the show was. great. iggy ended up breaking down some of the curtain setup that was on the side of the stage. he tore off one of the poles that held the curtain up and stomped around the stage like a hunter with a huge spear. i thought he was gonna throw it at the amps or into the crowd. after the show, eddie vedder and mark arm were there to hang out with the band. very cool to meet them.

over the next four days jos and i drove from seattle to memphis. we stopped in butte, montana the first night. from butte, montana to cheyenne, wyoming. from there we drove to wichita, kansas. we could've driven straight into memphis the next day but we decided to stop for the night in little rock, arkansas which was very close. the next morning we drove into memphis and had some amazing barbeque for lunch. the place was called "blues city cafe" and i recommend it. the drive from seattle to memphis was truly amazing and i hope that some of you get to take a major road trip across the country. after being to so many different countries around the world, it was great to see america. there are plenty of places that i still haven't seen here. anyway, we met up with everyone else the next day. everybody went home for a few days. a couple of them even went back to europe for a couple of days. ouch !!! that's a lot of flying.

day thirtythree - may 4th, 2007 - memphis : the beale street festival. we arrived at the scene and set up for the show. it was weird to be back in a festival setting after doing so many shows indoors. but it was great. the stage was right next to the mississippi river. and we had a beautiful day for an outdoor show. last night there was quite a bit of rain. so when we arrived and started making noise, rik noticed that some of the sound system wasn't working properly. so we had to hold off on sound check until it was all sorted out. we shared the stage tonight with "plain white tees", "sum 41", and "red jumpsuit apparatus". i even got to meet hubert sumlin who was playing on another stage that night. he was the original guitar player for howling wolf. amazing ! after the show we packed up the truck and said our goodbyes. everyone was leaving in the morning to go back home for about three weeks when we start another big leg of shows in europe. basically, june, july, august, and september are packed with shows all over europe. we're even heading back to japan for the fuji rock festival in july.

after breakfast, i headed out on a solo mission back to detroit. i was gonna take two days to drive the big truck full of gear, but once i got going i just kept on going. i've done the drive from nashville to detroit a few times in my life with my old band years ago. altogether, it took about 11.5 hours. i stopped a couple of times to gas up and once to grab some food. the next afternoon i headed out to ann arbor to unpack all the gear and then drop the truck off. home at last !

it's been a really amazing trip. we had some really amazing shows, some crazy happenings, met some really great people along the way. thanks to eden for hooking us up with some really great gear. it sounded awesome at every show. the amps are really versatile and we were able to adapt to each different venue and setting. and of course with a cat like watt thumping on the bass you can't possibly go wrong, now can you ???

thanks for checking out the blog. it was an honor to be asked to do it. i hope you enjoyed the trip with us. check out some pics of the trip. check out www.hootpage.com for watt's own tour diary which includes everything we've done over the past 3 + years. and everything he's done with his own projects. you can also check out www.iggypop.org for more info on what's happening with the stooges.
best wishes to all of you out there. yours in rock, "wooj"

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