I found some videos of us on youtube:
playing Car Crash at the Nix BBBlues Club
playing Chemicals at the Blue Highways festival
fun.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
the last stop
I'm writing on the airplane, up over greenland. The progress map is giving me regular updates as to our progress. Estimated arrival time: 5:18. distance traveled: 1811 miles. Altitude: 3600 feet. Headwind 25 mph. Current groundspeed: I don't know. It's not telling me right now. It was earlier, I think we're doing something like 530 miles an hour. Maybe more, I don't recall exactly what it was. Oop, there it is. 530 on the nose. Outside air temperature is -70 degrees F. I didn't realize it was that cold up here. I'm glad the heat is on.
I don't remember exactly where I left off on the blog, I think it was just before the Paradiso, in Amserdam. That was a good gig. The Paradiso is more of a club-concert venue than many of the gigs we did in Holland. The big room felt a lot like the Great American Music Hall in SF. We played in a smaller room behind the main room, we were the after-act (like after-party, but with a band). Ane Brun played the main room. I hadn't heard her music before and only got to catch a few of her last tunes but enjoyed very much what I did hear. I'm looking forward to listening to more when I get home.
[update: I was just looking at her website, and there's video of her show at the Paradiso, at anebrun.com.]
Paradiso was the first Rock Star gig we did with backstage passes and dressing rooms and all. A fridge stocked with soda & beer, and a quart of Jameson on the counter. Privileged access is a fun thing. Paradiso and Blue Highways were the two such gigs. I found it interesting, but logical, that they kept track of people who had access by wristbands (the kind that tear when you take them off so they can only be used once). My experience in the states is that they always give you some nifty laminated card to hang around your neck from a lanyard. You can take it home and hang it on your wall and feel proud. But, the spent, torn-off bracelets are fairly unimpressive by comparison.
The performance itself at Paradiso was a lot of fun. I felt like the group really had our stuff together at that point and we were able to crank out a solid, high-energy set for the crowd that had already heard one really good show and had their party pants on.
Adam had brought his field recorder to the show and the next day I transfered the Paradiso performance to my iPod and since it was a nice day out I went for a good long walk along the local canals and listened to the whole thing. It's always good to get a sense of what things are sounding like on the front side of the main speakers. It's doubly nice when what's heard is not only instructive (it's always instructive), but also reassuring that things really are going well out there. I was glad it was both.
After the walk I practiced or the first time in longer than I should have let go by. I've been traveling with this stick bass, it's been in some of the pictures. It's much like a regular upright bass, at least on the fingerboard & strings, but has no body. No body means very little acoustic sound. It's a lot like when you put a needle on a record but don't have the speakers on: you can hear a little just from the vibration of the needle, but it's quiet and kind of tinny sounding. And, the amplifier was in the living room and I was usually too self conscious to stand in the living room and play all my exercises. But, I finally decided to try taking the bass upstairs to our bedroom and see if I couldn't hear enough bowing it to play without an amp. It turned out that worked well enough and I happily kept at it for an hour or so and it was one of the most cathartic things I'd done the whole trip. It's funny how eating your spinach can be so good once you finally sit down and do it.
That evening we played a "house concert" in the conference room at the offices of a company that makes playground equipment. Very much the polar opposite of the Paradiso, but also a truly excellent gig. It almost goes without saying that the audience was gracious and attentive. This whole trip I never did get used to what listeners the Dutch are, I hope I never do take it for granted. It was also really nice to not play through a PA. That is, except for the instruments that need amplification (my stick bass and Adam's electric guitar when he was playing it), we went acoustic. Everything sounds like it should, it's easier to blend. It was the only one we were able to do like that the whole trip.
[I'm back at home now, trying to finish this post up]
The next day was the Blue highways festival in Utrecht. I guess it was the most "important" gig of the whole trip. There were some terrific folks playing and it was an honor to be on the bill with them. Iris DeMent's set was awesome as was Michael Fracasso's. It's also good fun to be able to run into awesome musicians backstage and be able to have a normal conversation with them. I had a nice conversation with Chris Smither backstage about our daughters (his is 3 1/2, mine 16 months). Our set was well received and I'm hopeful they'll have AJ & us back next year.
Our last day we went into Amsterdam and saw the sights one last time. It was the only weekend day I'd spent in the city and it was a different place with so many folks around. We had beers and dinner and went on a boat ride in the canals wich is a nice way to see the city. The tour guide pointed out to us the metal pipe that runs along the top of the edge of the canal. It was put there at great expense by the government in the 70's to keep cars from falling into the canal. The statistic is that the guard rails save them the trouble of removing 1 car per week from the canals.
The flight home was a breeze and I enjoyed an emergency exit row to myself. I've never had such a short 11 hour flight. Customs was kind of odd. The officers at SFO saw us, this wore out looking group of musicians with their instruments and were chatty but in an off-putting probing kind of way. One of them asked Alisa how much her fiddle cost. Another asked how long we'd been there and how many gigs we'd done.
"2 weeks, 8 or so gigs".
"Eight gigs? That's a lot!"
We shrugged. Only answer direct questions, otherwise stonewall. Totally fishy customs agents.
And now I'm home, about a week now. It was a good trip and I'm glad I'm home. When I first got home I couldn't tell that Amelia had noticed I was gone at all. The reception she gave was the same as when I get home from work in the evening. But throughout the week she came to me more often and hugged me for longer.
So like that, home again home again jig jiggity jig. Don't know when I'll travel again with the ol' stick bass. maybe I'll put some words up here about that when I do.
I don't remember exactly where I left off on the blog, I think it was just before the Paradiso, in Amserdam. That was a good gig. The Paradiso is more of a club-concert venue than many of the gigs we did in Holland. The big room felt a lot like the Great American Music Hall in SF. We played in a smaller room behind the main room, we were the after-act (like after-party, but with a band). Ane Brun played the main room. I hadn't heard her music before and only got to catch a few of her last tunes but enjoyed very much what I did hear. I'm looking forward to listening to more when I get home.
[update: I was just looking at her website, and there's video of her show at the Paradiso, at anebrun.com.]
Paradiso was the first Rock Star gig we did with backstage passes and dressing rooms and all. A fridge stocked with soda & beer, and a quart of Jameson on the counter. Privileged access is a fun thing. Paradiso and Blue Highways were the two such gigs. I found it interesting, but logical, that they kept track of people who had access by wristbands (the kind that tear when you take them off so they can only be used once). My experience in the states is that they always give you some nifty laminated card to hang around your neck from a lanyard. You can take it home and hang it on your wall and feel proud. But, the spent, torn-off bracelets are fairly unimpressive by comparison.
The performance itself at Paradiso was a lot of fun. I felt like the group really had our stuff together at that point and we were able to crank out a solid, high-energy set for the crowd that had already heard one really good show and had their party pants on.
Adam had brought his field recorder to the show and the next day I transfered the Paradiso performance to my iPod and since it was a nice day out I went for a good long walk along the local canals and listened to the whole thing. It's always good to get a sense of what things are sounding like on the front side of the main speakers. It's doubly nice when what's heard is not only instructive (it's always instructive), but also reassuring that things really are going well out there. I was glad it was both.
After the walk I practiced or the first time in longer than I should have let go by. I've been traveling with this stick bass, it's been in some of the pictures. It's much like a regular upright bass, at least on the fingerboard & strings, but has no body. No body means very little acoustic sound. It's a lot like when you put a needle on a record but don't have the speakers on: you can hear a little just from the vibration of the needle, but it's quiet and kind of tinny sounding. And, the amplifier was in the living room and I was usually too self conscious to stand in the living room and play all my exercises. But, I finally decided to try taking the bass upstairs to our bedroom and see if I couldn't hear enough bowing it to play without an amp. It turned out that worked well enough and I happily kept at it for an hour or so and it was one of the most cathartic things I'd done the whole trip. It's funny how eating your spinach can be so good once you finally sit down and do it.
That evening we played a "house concert" in the conference room at the offices of a company that makes playground equipment. Very much the polar opposite of the Paradiso, but also a truly excellent gig. It almost goes without saying that the audience was gracious and attentive. This whole trip I never did get used to what listeners the Dutch are, I hope I never do take it for granted. It was also really nice to not play through a PA. That is, except for the instruments that need amplification (my stick bass and Adam's electric guitar when he was playing it), we went acoustic. Everything sounds like it should, it's easier to blend. It was the only one we were able to do like that the whole trip.
[I'm back at home now, trying to finish this post up]
The next day was the Blue highways festival in Utrecht. I guess it was the most "important" gig of the whole trip. There were some terrific folks playing and it was an honor to be on the bill with them. Iris DeMent's set was awesome as was Michael Fracasso's. It's also good fun to be able to run into awesome musicians backstage and be able to have a normal conversation with them. I had a nice conversation with Chris Smither backstage about our daughters (his is 3 1/2, mine 16 months). Our set was well received and I'm hopeful they'll have AJ & us back next year.
Our last day we went into Amsterdam and saw the sights one last time. It was the only weekend day I'd spent in the city and it was a different place with so many folks around. We had beers and dinner and went on a boat ride in the canals wich is a nice way to see the city. The tour guide pointed out to us the metal pipe that runs along the top of the edge of the canal. It was put there at great expense by the government in the 70's to keep cars from falling into the canal. The statistic is that the guard rails save them the trouble of removing 1 car per week from the canals.
The flight home was a breeze and I enjoyed an emergency exit row to myself. I've never had such a short 11 hour flight. Customs was kind of odd. The officers at SFO saw us, this wore out looking group of musicians with their instruments and were chatty but in an off-putting probing kind of way. One of them asked Alisa how much her fiddle cost. Another asked how long we'd been there and how many gigs we'd done.
"2 weeks, 8 or so gigs".
"Eight gigs? That's a lot!"
We shrugged. Only answer direct questions, otherwise stonewall. Totally fishy customs agents.
And now I'm home, about a week now. It was a good trip and I'm glad I'm home. When I first got home I couldn't tell that Amelia had noticed I was gone at all. The reception she gave was the same as when I get home from work in the evening. But throughout the week she came to me more often and hugged me for longer.
So like that, home again home again jig jiggity jig. Don't know when I'll travel again with the ol' stick bass. maybe I'll put some words up here about that when I do.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
running around & climbing
Today is Thursday. I feel like since Monday we've been just all over the place. We had the day off Monday & Tuesday so we took the subway into Amsterdam and walked our feet off. Central Amsterdam is pretty small compared to how I thought it would be from looking at maps. You can get totally get around on foot (or bike, if you've got one). And there's tons to see just walking down the street. The buildings are fascinating; they're narrow, tall, interesting to look at and leaning on each other.
We really did manage to kill a day just hoofing it around the city.
The next day we also got up & went into Amsterdam. Our host, Sandra, knows a musician , Boudewijn Zwart, who plays the bells at the Westerkirk Cathedral. He invited us up for his daily noon performance. After the first long
spiral stair case there was a series of rooms, one above the other, most containing a piece of machinery for the timekeeping bells. And as we went up, each staircase got more narrow, more twisty, or more precarious in general. At the top was the Carillon, they keyboard instrument that he used to play the bells in the belfry just above. Hey played a few pieces for us.
He then invited us to climb the last stairs up into the belfry and look around while he finished his performance. As I'm heading up he says "mind your head, and your ears". Up there it was low, loud, and amazing. Like standing on a rooftop at the top of Amsterdam, except there's someone hammering an half-ton bell just above your head and you have to keep out of the wires that actuate the hammer.
Here's me on a walkway lower on the tower.
The rest of the day we walked around and did a little shopping.
Wednesday we got up and rehearsed a bit, and then drove 2 hours up to Amen and played a show to a bar packed to the gills with 90 or 100 people. Here's the room just after sound check:
And an audience member took some nice pictures, they're posted here.
We really did manage to kill a day just hoofing it around the city.The next day we also got up & went into Amsterdam. Our host, Sandra, knows a musician , Boudewijn Zwart, who plays the bells at the Westerkirk Cathedral. He invited us up for his daily noon performance. After the first long
spiral stair case there was a series of rooms, one above the other, most containing a piece of machinery for the timekeeping bells. And as we went up, each staircase got more narrow, more twisty, or more precarious in general. At the top was the Carillon, they keyboard instrument that he used to play the bells in the belfry just above. Hey played a few pieces for us.
He then invited us to climb the last stairs up into the belfry and look around while he finished his performance. As I'm heading up he says "mind your head, and your ears". Up there it was low, loud, and amazing. Like standing on a rooftop at the top of Amsterdam, except there's someone hammering an half-ton bell just above your head and you have to keep out of the wires that actuate the hammer.
Here's me on a walkway lower on the tower.
The rest of the day we walked around and did a little shopping.
Wednesday we got up and rehearsed a bit, and then drove 2 hours up to Amen and played a show to a bar packed to the gills with 90 or 100 people. Here's the room just after sound check:
And an audience member took some nice pictures, they're posted here.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Gigs
Yesterday we did a gig in Ottersum and the day before in Enschede. Both were great. The Enschede gig was in a bar that does Blues, Jazz, Americana, etc. I've heard that the Dutch are reserved except for when you get a few Grolsh in them and then they show you the uninhibited side. So they weren't exactly off the hook but they did let their hair down a bit. They bought us drinks & got us trashed. The 2 hour drive got us back around 4 am and we left for Ottersum at 11. That's like 5 hours of sleep. The Ottersum gig was great though. It was in a huge building that had been a school-convent and then a boarding hospital for autistic children. It was left empty when the hospital moved, and squatters moved in. The current owner bought it, repaired it, and has been turning it into a cultural center. They have classical concerts in the chapel and folks like our Rock & Roll String Band in the "Nightclub Room". Afterward they fed us a terrific dinner complete with raw Herring which was terrific (seriously, it was really good). We got back early last night and went to bed early.
We have 2 days off now. We're going to rehearse and then go into Amsterdam today. I'm not sure yet we'll do tomorrow. I heard the tulip fields are in full bloom, and we may go seem them. Then it's 4 days of gigs including the Blue Highways festival, and then we fly home Monday. I can't wait to get home and see my girls.
These are of the gig in Enschede, at the NiX BBBlues club.
They've got a ton of amps & guitars in the club and are happy to have you play any of them. I chose an old Fender Bassman. It had a great growl from overdriving the tubes when I pulled hard on the low strings.
See how smoky the bar is? In July they won't be able to smoke indoors here, but they're still going strong with it right now.
This is the Nightclub Room at the gig we did in Ottersum. I was sad to realize I didn't get any pictures of the outside of the building. It was impressive. But here's the room, anyway.
We have 2 days off now. We're going to rehearse and then go into Amsterdam today. I'm not sure yet we'll do tomorrow. I heard the tulip fields are in full bloom, and we may go seem them. Then it's 4 days of gigs including the Blue Highways festival, and then we fly home Monday. I can't wait to get home and see my girls.
These are of the gig in Enschede, at the NiX BBBlues club.
They've got a ton of amps & guitars in the club and are happy to have you play any of them. I chose an old Fender Bassman. It had a great growl from overdriving the tubes when I pulled hard on the low strings.
See how smoky the bar is? In July they won't be able to smoke indoors here, but they're still going strong with it right now.
This is the Nightclub Room at the gig we did in Ottersum. I was sad to realize I didn't get any pictures of the outside of the building. It was impressive. But here's the room, anyway.
Friday, April 11, 2008
slow day
Well it's been a slow day here at the Rock & Roll Stringband (our official genre) headquarters. The house concert we were scheduled to play this evening canceled (or rescheduled, I'm not sure). So it was a slow sittin' around day. We went and got some groceries, I worked a couple of hours, we rehearsed this evening. We realized 5 minutes too late that the grocery was closing and we weren't going to be able to get food to make dinner. And, we're too cheap (read: broke) to pay for restaurant food - it's super painful to buy a 15 euro meal and pay in dollars knowing that it's costing you 25.50 for that meal. So we had toasty kassa (think grilled cheese sandwich), salad, hard boiled egg, more cheese, and chocolate covered cookies for dinner. And then some cheese for dessert. Not bad, but kind of a mish mosh.
Tomorrow we play a show in
Enschede, about and hour from here:
Yesterday we played a gig in Amsterdam at an internet talk show called Desmet Live. It gets shot in a bar, it seems like they're going for the vibe you'd get having a casual conversation with someone in a bar, where you'd stop and pay attention to the live band every now and then.
This is the stage:
The rest of the bar:
And how we killed time waiting to play:
And a shot from out front after the gig, waiting for the van so we could load up & head out. An interesting point of note is the bicycle path. See how the street has 3 levels, or sometimes sections. Our place is on the sidewalk. See the bike path part that that looks a lot like a sidewalk is not a sidewalk? It's a place to piss off the locals & get hit by bicycles. Look both ways. Don't meander in accidentally. Then there's the street. I'm pretty good at streets; no problems there.
I've been fascinated by the urinals. Until yesterday, every one I've seen has looked like this:
(for all you who don't visit american men's rooms so very often, I've never, ever seen a urinal in the states that looks like this)
but yesterday low and behold I happened upon this:
I was so startled I had to document it. And now I feel compeled to share.
And here's me, day 5. I hope to have this corrected by day 7 or 8. Maybe more cheese will help.
Tomorrow we play a show in
Enschede, about and hour from here:
Yesterday we played a gig in Amsterdam at an internet talk show called Desmet Live. It gets shot in a bar, it seems like they're going for the vibe you'd get having a casual conversation with someone in a bar, where you'd stop and pay attention to the live band every now and then.
This is the stage:
The rest of the bar:
And how we killed time waiting to play:
And a shot from out front after the gig, waiting for the van so we could load up & head out. An interesting point of note is the bicycle path. See how the street has 3 levels, or sometimes sections. Our place is on the sidewalk. See the bike path part that that looks a lot like a sidewalk is not a sidewalk? It's a place to piss off the locals & get hit by bicycles. Look both ways. Don't meander in accidentally. Then there's the street. I'm pretty good at streets; no problems there.
I've been fascinated by the urinals. Until yesterday, every one I've seen has looked like this:
(for all you who don't visit american men's rooms so very often, I've never, ever seen a urinal in the states that looks like this)but yesterday low and behold I happened upon this:
I was so startled I had to document it. And now I feel compeled to share.And here's me, day 5. I hope to have this corrected by day 7 or 8. Maybe more cheese will help.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
live on the internet
tomorrow evening from 6 to 8 is an internet show (audio and video) called Desmet Live. That's 9am to 11am for you West-Coasters in the US. We'll be doing 3 tunes. I don't know when exactly. But, you can tune in & see us if you don't mind listening to a lot of Dutch. http://www.desmetlive.nl/
Today we rehearsed in the morning. Afterward I tried to make a grocery run but evidently Dutch groceries don't take credit cards. And their bank cards are not the same as our bank cards. And the local ATM is out of service. So, no groceries.
We left at 2:30 for our first radio show, did it, went to this old town and had pancakes (mine was a lot more like an omelet than a pancake, with cheese and bacon and tomatoes, but with pancake instead of egg). Then coffee, then a walk, then more coffee and then we went back to almost the same place and did the second radio show. They tell me that nearly all of the brodcast media in Holland is produced in this one (huge) business park. It was odd to be on the radio and not understand a word of what was being said until "(blah blah) AJ Roach!" ...and then play. From zero to 60 in about that much time. We got back to the house, and I'm on my way to bed shortly. Here's a few pics from the day.
rehearsing this morning
the house amp & my stick bass
the town we visited between radio shows
on the walk we took between shows. Taking pictures of taking pictures of taking pictures of cows.
all our gear on the floor of the studio at the second radio show
Today we rehearsed in the morning. Afterward I tried to make a grocery run but evidently Dutch groceries don't take credit cards. And their bank cards are not the same as our bank cards. And the local ATM is out of service. So, no groceries.
We left at 2:30 for our first radio show, did it, went to this old town and had pancakes (mine was a lot more like an omelet than a pancake, with cheese and bacon and tomatoes, but with pancake instead of egg). Then coffee, then a walk, then more coffee and then we went back to almost the same place and did the second radio show. They tell me that nearly all of the brodcast media in Holland is produced in this one (huge) business park. It was odd to be on the radio and not understand a word of what was being said until "(blah blah) AJ Roach!" ...and then play. From zero to 60 in about that much time. We got back to the house, and I'm on my way to bed shortly. Here's a few pics from the day.
rehearsing this morning
the house amp & my stick bass
the town we visited between radio shows
on the walk we took between shows. Taking pictures of taking pictures of taking pictures of cows.
all our gear on the floor of the studio at the second radio show
rested
Hi again.
Woke up this morning at 6am, stayed in bed until 7. Life is much, much better. It's early afternoon now and a beautiful day here. It's chilly but the sun feels good and the sky is a pale blue.
We rehearsed from 10 to 12 or something like that in preparation for performances tonight. We cleaned up the place a little and Alisa & I went to the nearby supermarket for some food & supplies. We picked out our groceries and went to check out and nope, no visa in the supermarkets folks. Cash machine? Broken. Nearest ATM? "In town" (a place not near to here by all accounts). So, no food and supplies of our own choosing. Fortunately there's leftover soup from last night & our hosts are generous, but I *was* looking forward to my bananas. Oh well, I'll get some euros soon.
Today is radio day: In about a half our we leave to go do a radio show. I'm not sure where but they tell me it's a 45 minute drive. We'll do that & have dinner there and kill some time and then we do another radio show (in the same town) at 11. Then we come home and sleep hopefully I'll make it past 6 am.
AJ is blogging too. Interested parties can stories from Ol' Frontie's perspective here.
Woke up this morning at 6am, stayed in bed until 7. Life is much, much better. It's early afternoon now and a beautiful day here. It's chilly but the sun feels good and the sky is a pale blue.
We rehearsed from 10 to 12 or something like that in preparation for performances tonight. We cleaned up the place a little and Alisa & I went to the nearby supermarket for some food & supplies. We picked out our groceries and went to check out and nope, no visa in the supermarkets folks. Cash machine? Broken. Nearest ATM? "In town" (a place not near to here by all accounts). So, no food and supplies of our own choosing. Fortunately there's leftover soup from last night & our hosts are generous, but I *was* looking forward to my bananas. Oh well, I'll get some euros soon.
Today is radio day: In about a half our we leave to go do a radio show. I'm not sure where but they tell me it's a 45 minute drive. We'll do that & have dinner there and kill some time and then we do another radio show (in the same town) at 11. Then we come home and sleep hopefully I'll make it past 6 am.
AJ is blogging too. Interested parties can stories from Ol' Frontie's perspective here.
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