Tag Archives: Travel

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

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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.

A Change of Pace… 2017 onward

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Voodoo Fest 2016.jpg

After deciding long and hard about my current location and career, I decided at the end of 2016 to join the freelance world of live audio. Mostly decided out of the need to get closer to family. Being closer to help out when needed especially when I am home was the driving factor. Traveling back and forth from Wisconsin was getting expensive and only going to get worse over time. Losing the security of a staff position and the yearly jobs that contributed to my growing experience was going to be tough to match but something had to happen. So, with that all weighing on me I decided I wasn’t getting any younger and put in my notice. LD Systems was a great company to grow up in and I am very thankful for all the opportunities they offered me throughout the years.

With the passing of the new year, I began as a freelancer and it didn’t take long thankfully, to gain employment. First job being as the System Engineer for the Game of Thrones US tour in 2017. A big change of pace and speaker systems but I learned a lot and continue to do so. Pics to follow!

 

 

Legos

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Drinking a nice cup o’ joe, windows open, bit of cleaning done and now listening to some music while working on some pics….

Looking at these, I realize I must have looked pretty crazy when touring in Asia. Snapping pics every other minute. Constantly looking around taking in as much as possible. The enormous amount of architecture differences there compared to here in the states is pretty mind blowing. Engineers who constantly push the boundaries to create some of the craziest structures. Places like Germany and several countries in Asia throw my OCD (of order) needle into the red. I can’t help that I like angles. It’s not as bad as it used to be mind you. I’ve learned to embrace it and I still do like my rounds. Just look at my logo : ).

I blame it solely on my extensive experience as a child having a large collection of those Danish delights known as Legos.

Lego /ˈlegō/

n

a construction toy consisting of plastic bricks and other standardized components that fit together with studs

[from Danish leg godt play well]
It is an abbreviation of “leg godt”, which means “play well”

Coincidentally, “Lego” is also a Latin verb which means, “I assemble”.

I guess you could say [I] “Lego” audio systems as well, considering that’s about half of my job. The other half consists of designing them, making them sound good each show, and making sure I or other engineers have a good show with said systems. I guess that’s where the “play well” part comes in, but I digress…

Back to my other love. Photography. Here’s a few I’ve been working on:

Taipei 101

Taipei 101

Incheon Trip

Bridge nearing Incheon

Great Wall 1

The Great Wall – very photogenic…

I’ll be working on more European and stateside photos in the coming days. We’ll see what I can find in my toy box of pics. Hope you had a good weekend! Godnat alle!

Old photo time

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Today being my first day off in several (four to be exact) weeks, I decided to start going through my library of pictures to start the insane task of cleaning. Cleaning out the unusable ones, the what-the-heck-was-I-thinking ones, the ones that I kept with the thought of maybe, just maybe, there’s something in this one that I can use or would possibly see differently later on. Needless to say, I’ve got a lot of pictures. Nothing, I’m sure, compared to the true photographers out there who make their living on this sort of thing, but as for me and what I use them for…

I have a lot of pictures.

I do however know, that if I were to develop Alzheimer’s, I’m pretty sure I could tell a lot of things based on where these pictures are from and honestly could retrace a lot of my steps from the past 10 or so years. Definitely time to go get another back up drive of sorts because if I were to lose the one I’m using now, a serious break down would occur. Not pretty…. at…all…..

Save and save often is my motto. In my work with digital audio it is a must and now, I’m using it in my digital life as well.

Here’s a few that I came across today that I wanted to share….

Chichen Itza

Did a show at the base of the Mayan temple in Chichen Itza. 2009

Traveling angel

Saw this little cutie at the airport in Buenos Aires.

Usual Austin

This is just one of the many reasons I love Austin. Pulled up to a light. Looked over. Saw this. Perfect.

More to come as I sift through the bushels of pictures with my proverbial rake…. Have a great day people. Stay young!