Unfortunately, I’ve fallen off of the blog train. Sorry for my lack of updates guys, but my newly acquired propane grill has taken over my life. Now we’re back on tour and halfway through our west coast jaunt. I’ll do a quick recap of the end of the EU tour before writing about the current tour.

PRAGUE
I believe I last wrote about our show in Leipzig. After Leipzig we were off to Prague. I FINALLY got a new suitcase here, unfortunately I wan’t really able to see as much of the city as I would have liked to. The show was part of a multi-day festival.

**Start Sound Nerd Section
So I got to use a Soundcraft Vi4 Digital Mixing Console for this show. It was my first time interacting with this console. I was a little worried about my first time mixing on it being at a huge show in Prague, but it turned out to be a breeze. I instantly fell in love with the console and I feel like my mix on it was one of the best of the tour (aside from Tel Aviv, but we’re not there yet). The multiple touch screens and the ease of the user interface were fantastic. The venue had a bunch of great EAW micro wedges and ALOT of subs. You can never have too many subs, right? Right.

//End Sound Speak

After the show, we had to get all packed up and ready to drive straight to the airport through the night to catch our flight to Istanbul.

ISTANBUL
Istanbul was so FANTASTIC. It was probably my favorite city of the whole tour. We did so many touristy things while we were there. We went to the spice market, the Hagia Sophia, the underground waterways, and ate some amazing food! We all got tons of gifts here for our friends and families. The show that night was a little small, but still fun. We had quite a few issues with the backline and all throughout soundcheck, but the performance and crowd response that night seemed pretty good. The absolute best part of the night was that the show was sponsored by Converse, and we all got new shoes. Black monochrome converse are my absolute favorite type of shoes, and I’ve worn nothing but them since I was about 12 years old. My old pair had gotten a hole in the bottom and every time it rained, my sock would end up soaking wet by the end of the day. Needless to say, I was extremely excited to get a new pair in Istanbul! Doug got some gray hi-tops, Yoni got the same as me, Mark got white low-tops, Josiah got green low-tops, and we had an extra pair of purple low-tops that were eventually given to Becky (Yoni and Josiah’s sister). Andrew said he didn’t want any (Too bad for him).

TEL AVIV
We awake super super early to catch our flight to Tel Aviv. Once we get there we’re greeted by our friends Eran (promoter) and Adam (old friend) at the airport and head off to the hotel. We drop our stuff at the hotel and grab a bite to eat. We get these AMAZING Iraqi sandwiches called Sabeech (Sabiq?). SOOOOO GOOOOOD. They were pitas filled with eggplant, hard boiled egg, potato, tahini, green veggies, sauerkraut, tabour, spicy garlic mango sauce, and probably some more goodness. It was fantastic! After we ate, it was time for a radio show. The radio performance was met with many technical difficulties (as always), so it ended up taking a lot longer than expected, but we got through it, and performed 4 songs live on the air. The next day, we got up, relaxed a little bit, went and got some really really great falafel and headed out to the show. The show was really really fantastic and a little bit surreal. It was Yoni’s birthday, and the biggest headlining show that WHY? has ever done. The crowd was singing along every single word almost as loud as the band was playing. The crowd was really into the show and very enthusiastic, but still listening and very respectful. I don’t think I could have wished for a better show.

**Start sound speak
I tried a new mixing technique at this show and it worked amazingly! I learned this from watching a video on Dave Rat’s blog, Roadies in the Mist (http://www.ratsound.com/cblog/). I really recommend checking out the blog. I’ll try and explain the technique, but I might not do it justice like he does. Anyway, here it goes. I routed all of my inputs to groups with compressors on each (Kick/Snare, Toms, Cymbals/Vibes, Bass, Guitars, Keys, and Vocals). After that, I routed all of the groups to one VCA and all of the inputs to another. I didn’t do any in-line compression on any of my inputs. I set all of the compressors to a 3:1 ratio with the threshold at 0dB (the threshold for the vocal compressors were at +4 dB). This allows me to make my mixes more squashed for faster songs, and more dynamic and open for slower ones. It also keeps me from having to ride a bunch of faders all night. When you raise the VCA with the individual inputs on it, it sends more signal to the compressors to squash your mix. At the same time, you would lower the VCA with the groups to control your overall volume level. Alternatively, when you turn down the VCA with the individual inputs, it compresses your mix less and can really open everything up. This is when you would boost the VCA with the groups to adjust the volume. I was a little unsure on doing this at a really big show for the first time, but I’m really glad I did. It made mixing very easy, and sounded fantastic. It added a whole new dimension to my mixing. Unfortunately, I can only do this on consoles that are accommodating.

//End Sound Speak

After the show we went to the “official” after party. More or less, this was a huge birthday party for Yoni. We had a few drinks, Yoni free styled, Andy DJed for a little bit. I also met the first real life fan of Snake’s Takes. Sadly, I can’t remember the girl’s name, but I remember being really awkward, and not really knowing what to say about it. Anyway, it was really nice.

Overall the tour was a lot of fun, despite our few mishaps with thieves and equipment failures. I really loved seeing all of Europe, meeting tons of new people, and seeing old friends as well. It was definitely one of the most memorable tours I’ve ever done.

My off time was very relaxing. I bought a big propane grill, and grilled every single day that I was home. I love it. It’s got 4 burners for the grill, and one gas stove side burner. We’ve been grilling everything from Asparagus to Artichokes to Mushrooms to Peppers to Onions. Everything! It’s been soooooo  tasty. I’ll let you guys in on one of my favorite recipes real quick for very very tasty grilled mushrooms.

**Start Food Nerd Section

Preheat the grill to 350-400 degrees.Take however many White Button Mushrooms you want (also works with Portobellos), remove the stems, and put them in a plastic bag. Pour in equal parts olive oil, soy sauce, and worcestershire sauce (Kroger brand is vegan, most others have anchovies) to cover the mushrooms. Then, add a few splashes of Balsamic vinegar. This can be done to taste. I usually use about 1/4 as much Balsamic, as I do soy sauce. After this, add garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Close and shake the bag making sure to coat all of the mushrooms fully. Let sit for 5-10 minutes for them to absorb all of the flavors. After they have marinated put them on the grill cap side up/stem side down. Let grill for 10-14 minutes flipping half way through. One of my favorite ways to prepare mushrooms. Enjoy!

//End Food Section

Anyway, jump forward 3 weeks to our west coast US tour. I guess I’ll start from the top.

VANCOUVER
We all fly into Seattle the night before our first show in Vancouver. Weirdly enough, I was the only person to not have any flight difficulties. However, I had to wait at the SEA airport for 2+ hours waiting on Yoni’s delayed flight. It was kind of a bummer to miss out on seeing AU and Josiah at the Vera Project that night, but what can you do? Anyway, we take a cab to our hotel room, and proceeded to get some shut eye. The next morning we take off toward Canada. The border crossing was surprisingly easy and didn’t take long at all. We get to The Biltmore Cabaret and set up our gear. This tour we’re sharing a lot of amps and other things with our touring partners, The Donkeys (who are totally awesome by the way; ex: the horn on their van plays the song “La Cucaracha). The Biltmore is a pretty nice venue. 400ish capacity, pretty nice PA, and good beers in the green room. The show was a little bit rough, due to everyone being unable to practice for the past month. The crowd was good, and the energy was high, so overall, I would rate this one as a success. After the show we drove all the way back to Seattle only to awake 5 hours later to leave for PDX.

PORTLAND
The Portland show was a complete cluster fuck. Normally, it only takes 2.5/3 hours to get from Seattle to Portland. Not this time. We left Seattle at 1pm and arrived in Portland at 6pm, with Josiah and The Donkeys (carrying all of the equipment) arriving about 7pm. The doors for the show this night were at 8pm and caused us to do an extremely rushed and hectic soundcheck. Also, due to Sasquatch Festival, there were a lot of really good bands playing in Portland that night. That caused our attendance to be a little bit smaller than last time. Not a big deal though, there were still a good amount of people there. Despite all of the difficulties, we still had a great time, saw some old friends, and played a good show.

**Start sound nerd section

So, The Wonder Ballroom is one of my favorite venues in the US to mix. They’ve got a great 48ch APB Dynasonics Spectra console (one of my favorites, except for the fact that there are only VCAs and not both, VCAs and groups), plenty of great outboard gear, and EAW micro wedges for the stage. The times we’ve played there and had ample time for soundcheck, tend to be the best sounding shows of our US tours. Also, the crew there is one of my favorites in the US. They’re unbelievably professional, nice, and very helpful.

//End sound speak

THE GORGE IN GEORGE, WASHINGTON
Sasquatch was fun. We left Portland pretty early in the morning to give us plenty of time to get to the festival. We arrive, get our credentials, and park the van. At first there was a little confusion as to where we were supposed to go, when we were supposed to load in, but we found our way eventually. The show was a little bit rough at first, and the crowd seemed a little unenthusiastic, but things picked up toward the middle of the set. It took me a little while to get things mixed how I like it, and getting used to mixing outside again always takes a little bit. After the first 3 or 4 songs everything seemed pretty good though. Unfortunately, there were a few technical difficulties and some pretty obnoxious noises happening from one of the amplifiers. Also, I always forget that the wind can sweep away all sorts of sounds and make it difficult to mix. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun! After the show we headed to Yakima, WA and crashed out at our hotel.

Today we’re heading to Eugene, OR to play a show at the WOW Hall. I’ve never been to Eugene. I’m looking forward to checking out the town and the venue!