Yo,
Roger, I worked for a contract sound reinforcement company while I was working on my Masters Degree and would work with bands quite a bit in the summertime. I think it was summer 96 when I worked for Cheap Trick for one night. I'm not going to comment on their music as there are lots of cool songs but I've never been a big fan. But here's my observations from a roadie's point of view.
Their truck arrived promptly at 10 a.m. and the first thing to greet us as the gate door swept up was the ANVIL cases that housed Ric Nielson's (sp?) cabinets. They were stacked 3 high and my first thought was, "Who here has the strength to pull that first one down?" At the time I recalled that he used Marshall 4x12s each loaded with Greenback Celestions and knew they were going to be weighty. Well, the truck driver steps around the corner, reaches up and slides the first one down as if it were empty and totes it off to stage right. I'm too short to reach so the tall guys pulled two more and when I could get to one, they were light as a feather. Upon closer inspection, he had eight EMPTY Marshall cabs on stage. His actual rig was guitar to effects to preamp to a pair of FENDER CHAMP amplifiers. Mic'd with an pair of SM 58's. I'm wondering if this is just a small Gig option that they have or if he tours with this the whole time.
The five neck? Yep, the original Hamer one was there with it's 5 neck overkill but the guitar tech noted that it had numerous neck and body cracks so Hamer was making him a new one. The other freak on board that night was the doubleneck that looked like him. (I'm pretty sure that's a Hamer custom as well, but the headstocks reminded me of Kramers) The funny thing with that is that the head DETACHES...so when I wandered back into guitar land, there it was, decapitated and sitting on a guitar stand. The head lay next to it on the floor. He changed guitars for every song. That's dedication. I hate guitar changes personally...I only have three in my current set that are planned, plus backups in case of string failure or other such gremlins.
Robin Zander had a little air conditioner in front of his mic stand blowing 65 degree air into the humid 100 degree Hays Kansas atmosphere. I predicted strong thunderstorms developing over center stage that night but luckily my prediction came to no fruition. He also had white Gaff tape down on the deck in front of him that read, "Good Evening, HAYS KANSAS."
The bassist played those 12 String monstrosities and had two with him at the time. His tech was brand new and apparently tuned it incorrectly. So, there was a five minute pause in the show in which everyone sat there and watched this kid hurridly re-stringing this thing. I never found out what the issue was, whether he wanted them in octaves or maybe to have one tuned to a fifth or something. He had a line of maybe 4 Rickenbacker bass amps which were a sight to see. I don't remember the model (speak up if you know what these things were called) but it was a metal frame which hung the cabinet (2x15?) so it could be angled on horizontal axis. The head was suspended above it. It looked like a clothes rack.
The drummer (Bunn E.) had the most minimalist set of all, a four peice with scant brass. All the rest of them had rock and roll clothing and hair but he just showed up in a t-shirt and shorts. He looks just like a local Sherriff's deputy and I walked up to him in the catering tent and said, "Hey Deputy Chuck, why aren't you in uniform?" He looked back at me and I realized it wasn't Deputy Chuck and apologized...I still didn't realize who he was until he went on stage. That night, I ran follow spot and the LD (light director) told me that my spot was on Ric but if there was any reason to spot the Deputy Chuck, he'd let me know.
My worst story of the night was crawling through trusses and focusing lights. As I mentioned the night before, it was an outdoor gig and was very hot. The trusses were 30 feet above an 8 foot deck, which means I was 38 feet closer to the sun than everyone else under a thick blue vinyl cover. It was hot, I'm tellin' you. Anyway, I'm sweating like a dancing mule and I'm moving these active par-cans around in broad daylight to focus them and Mr. Nielson wanders out on stage to inspect his area and I think drops of sweat fell on him. I guess that's just me giving back to the rock and roll community, huh? I've been sweat on, stepped on and in one case slapped while pressed against the front of a stage...now I've returned the favor. I'll never forget the look I got when he peered up at me.
Of the 20 or more artists I worked for, that is by far the most eventful. The band was aloof (no suprise) but it was by far the coolest gear story I had from my years of moonlighting as a roadie. Mr. Baerwald, if you're reading this...if you ever need a soundman who's not a Diva, let me know. I promise not to sweat on you. And, I have my own black clothes and a wrench, too! I'm sorry to hear about the lack of a headlining tour...we're doing our best to get the word out and we appreciate the creative/financial effort it has taken to produce your new album. I sincerely hope that you feel it's been worth it as much as we do!!!
*thinking, that was one LONG ASSED POST!*
Sincerely,
PRH
