Category Archives: Travel

Time for an update…and there are many…part 2

Posted by Screaming Monk on

2019 started off strong with more shows with Foo Fighters, some lengthy runs with Mumford & Sons in the US. Did another round with the awesome folks of TED Talks up in Vancouver before heading over to Europe for Mums shows and some supplemental gigs with Pink while I was in the UK. Later on in the year, I did the start up for another Game of Thrones tour but only had to do a couple weeks of shows as I was jumping back out with Mumfords again for another fall run. We did some great festivals that year including Bottlerock, ACL, and iHeart in Vegas. I ended the year with the Late Show gig and some much needed time with the relatives.

Time for an update…and there are many…part 1

Posted by Screaming Monk on

So yeah, it’s been a bit. Since my last real post, I’ve done a bunch of shows, had a longer than expected break, and then did a bunch more shows (thankfully). In and around that, I’ve had some ups and downs and thanks to many, I’ve managed to retain some sort of sanity in the process.

2017 finished up strong with some great runs with GoT, TED Talks, and Matchbox 20. See CV page for a little more in depth info.

2018 went just as well doing tours with Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, TED Talks again, GoT, as well as the start of a lengthy journey with Mumford & Sons. In and around those shows were a few other great events that helped fill in some gaps along with some R&R trips as well.

Matchbox 20 2017

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Crew pic
Crowds looked great every night
Bees!
Sinkhole!
Skunk!
Rain!

After a few weeks off, I was able to join some old tour friends who I admire greatly. They offered me a gig as a monitor tech for Matchbox 20 on their 20 year anniversary tour. We played most of the shows with Counting Crows with Matt Nathanson or Rivers and Rust opening. Was nice to get behind the board in monitors again doing ears for the openers and helping the great Bob Lewis as he did his thing for MB.

Crazy circumstances hit from all sides on this run though. From bees infesting our speakers one show day, to sinkholes preventing our trucks from entering the venue. A few massive downpours, to even a skunk problem one day after a storm…we encountered enough delay of games to last us a couple years at least. Plus on top of that another wonderful flood situation at home in Houston put things on high alert. In the end, I came out ok but several friends lost a lot. Tough to watch from afar when you are working on the road.

TED 2017

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TED 2017

TED 2017 in Vancouver

After the run for GoT was over, I ventured out into the corporate world for a few shows. One of them being the yearly event for TED Talks up in Vancouver, BC. An absolutely great bunch of people on the crew here and a great event overall to work on. Amazingly good talks here with live acts occasionally playing on the same stage. They actually build the entire theatre seating area in the convention center there and they do it in under a weeks time. PA done and floated in one afternoon with a few tweaks done a couple days later.

Game of Thrones US Tour 2017

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GoT 2017 1
GoT 2017 2

The start of 2017 brought me my first freelance job as System Engineer for the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience. This featured conductor Ramin Djawadi who is the main composer for the show as well as several other projects such as Westworld, Pacific Rim and Iron Man. We deployed 8 main hangs of Meyer Lyon speakers for the in-the-round setting that was needed for the show. Long days and nights as this was a pretty huge production. Tons of video, pyro, and lights here and the crowds seemed to enjoy the shows quite well.

Governor’s Ball

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Here in Austin this week for a party for the newly elected Governor Abbott (R). I think this is my third one as the other two were for Rick Perry. I’ve always found it interesting here politically. Austin is quite a liberal city through and through but the government has been extremely conservative for a very long time. Guess that falls under that popular phrase ‘Keep Austin Weird’.

Today, as well as yesterday, were amazingly nice outside.  I still miss snow this time of the year but I admit that 12°-15°C is pretty great! Great visit on Friday with a friend from Mumford & Sons crew. He’s out with Ben Howard for a bit filling in his calendar. Also got to catch up with my old roomie too. She’s still doing some amazing stuff with hair and I’m proud that it’s working out.

As always, good food, great coffee (Caffé Medici and Juan Pelota!) and always a cool vibe. Now for some sleep as tomorrow, the work begins.

@ Juan Pelotas

@ Juan Pelotas