House Of Blues, Dallas Texas

So as promised I am back to blog about the shows, events, etc. Tonight was a good show, but as usual something always happens. Tonight I had some technical problems. Without sounding to "techy" I will try to explain. I use a little mixer on stage to input a stereo mix from the monitors. I also input the signal from my click track. Then I plug my In-Ear monitors into the headphone output of the mixer. That is how I am doing my monitors on this tour.

So tonight, when I was line checking the drums, every time I kicked the bass drum my in-ear monitors distorted. Sam, our trusty monitor engineer, figured out that the mixer I am using is F.U.B.A.R.D. If you don't know what that means...Google it! In the end this means I will be figuring out a new way to have monitors, or going to my favorite store ever....GUITAR CENTER!

All B/S aside, we had a very good show. The show was not sold out,(which is weird for this tour) but the crowd was enthusiastic. Chad sang very good, and the band played well. I am backstage right now blogging as The Academy Is are performing.

So I am getting to know the bands and crew a little bit more each day. Of course, I have spent the most time with all the drummers and drum techs, but everyone is really accommodating and pleasant to work with. I really am starting to enjoy all the music from the bands. I must admit I was not familiar with any of the material from the bands, but I assure you it is quite good.

We are heading to Austin tonight. I will update soon.

New tour, New posts

Wow!

I just realized I have not updated my blog since the start of this new tour. I'm slacking. Well I am gonna try to keep updating my blog as much as possible. Here is a short recap of what my world has been like. I started about 10 days ago in Charlotte, NC. We rehearsed for 3 days and the 1st show of the tour was in Charlotte. We then played the following cities:

Atlanta
Orlando
Miami
St. Petersburg
Houston

And tonight we are in the "Big D" a.k.a. Dallas. The shows have been great. the bands we are out with are very good and nice guys to boot. I am trying to remember some highlights.....all I can remember is I almost tore off my right thumb on the trailer door. It hurt VERY bad. the pain has subsided, but I have a terrible bruised thumbnail.

I will have more updates...I promise. Right now I have to start warming up for tonights show. More to come.

Boston, NYC, Hartford

Hello,

So I am going to try to update the blog, as much as a wifi connection allows me, with my experiences with Carolina Liar. I met the guys in Boston 3 days ago, after tracking for 17 straight hours in a Canadian Studio w/ Pat Travers, and immediately started rehearsal. Later that evening we played Boston and the show went great. It was good to be back in "B" town.

We left Boston that evening and travelled to NYC. Upon arriving at our hotel our tour manager found out that the hotel had sold our rooms, and were trying to put us in a cheaper, shittier hotel uptown. Being the pro that he is, our tour manager somehow managed to put us in a much swankier, expensive hotel....a.k.a. The Soho Grand.

The next night the band was at the Bowery Ballroom. The show went good and it was nice to see some old friends from Atlantic Records. The rest of the band burned both ends of the candle by going out that night to party. I decided to get some sleep and catch up on some programming for the set....I believe I felt much better the next morning.

Next was Hartford, Connecticut. We played the Webster Underground. I had played The Webster before with No Address, which is a big room (2000-3000), but this was NOT the Webster....it was the Webster Underground (100-200). It reminded me of a club in Tallahassee called Big Daddy's (which happened to be the smallest club ever). And the clubs actually had the same smell....Ahhh the smell of week old beer funk! The show was great and the crowd was very enthusiastic.

Today we are at the MGM Grand at the Foxwoods Casino and Resort. We are playing a great room (4000) and we are supporting DAUGHTRY. I am in my dressing room and about to sound check. I will let ya know how tonight goes soon.

6/21/2008 - AWESOME BIKER NIGHTS

6/21/2008 - Awesome Biker Nights - Sioux City, Iowa

This day was "officially" the longest day of the year, (a.k.a. Summer Solstice).

It sure did feel like it to me. Here is my recap of the day.

3:45 a.m. ET - Awake and depart for airport.

6:00 a.m. ET - Depart Jacksonville to Houston.

7:17 a.m. CT - arrive Houston
9:15 a.m. CT - depart Houston

11:19 a.m. CT - arrive Omaha

11:30 a.m. CT - Meet the band and start driving to Sioux City, Iowa

1:00 p.m. CT - arrive at hotel in Sioux City

2-5 P.m. CT - ****NAP****

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. CT - Soundcheck

8:00 - 9:30 p.m. CT - Showtime

10:30 - 12:00 CT - I watched NIGHTRANGER play.

2:00 a.m. CT - bedtime

The show was awesome just like the title of the concert. I had the opportunity to finally play a set of Ludwig Vistalites. This was a original set from the seventies. I had my tech slap a new set of heads on them and they sounded HUGE!!!!! I will definitely be playing these on tour soon!!!!

NIGHTRANGER was great. Pat is friends with the guys and he went out of his way to introduce myself and Rodney to the band. They were pleasant to hang with and they brought the house down!

Sioux City fans are fantastic! I look forward to coming back to rock again! Maybe next time I can get more sleep....yeah right!!!!

Ponce Inlet 5/22/08

Hello.

I forgot to blog about the last show I played w/ Pat Travers. Sorry. We played a package show with Rick Derringer at the Inlet Harbor in Ponce Inlet, Florida. Rick, Tommy and Charlie are pals of the band and they always put on a great show. The weather was a little damp, but the crowd did not seem to mind. During our set Pat's monitor blew up. But like PT always says "the Beatles didn't have monitors". I think that is a great way to put a positive spin on a negative situation. I'll stick to my in-ear monitors. All in all it was a good show.

If anyone has some pics from the show, please let me know.

I would like to thank the band, Joe Elgin (and his friend who's name I can't remember), Rick Derringer, Tommy Curiale and Charlie Frog.

Houston, TX. 3/14/2008

Hello friends,

I played with Pat Travers this past Friday night in Houston, Texas. The following is a recap of the events.

• Wake up @ 6 am


• Arrive at airport

I had a direct flight from Jacksonville to Houston. I flew on a small jet and my cymbal bag would not fir in the overhead compartment...DAMN. So we took off and I quickly went into sleep mode. About an hour into my flight I noticed that I was FREEZING! I was sitting in seat 2A, which happened to be a window and an aisle seat combo, and apparently this seat was catching the draft from the front door.

So I landed safe in Houston about 10:30 am. I checked my voicemail to find a message from PT saying that his flight had been cancelled due to the storms that ravished Atlanta. No biggie. After all I was in Houston with my baggage and everything was o.k. So PT sent me the hotel info and contact info for the promoter. Don't ya just love Blackberry's and iPhone's.

I arrived at the Holiday Inn and proceeded to have a Chicken Ceasar Salad from the hotel restaurant. Then I went to my room for a little R&R. Later that afternoon I met up with my friend Jerry "Rock" Stark and his lovely wife Barbara, which was a good thing because they actually drove me to and from the gig. At this point the rest of the band had not arrived yet. Damn storms in Atlanta.

So we go to the gig. PT, Kirk and Rodney FINALLY arrived and looked like hell worn over! They had been up since 3 am, because they had to fly out of Orlando, and had been stuck in the Atlanta airport all day. To make matters worse, when their original flight was cancelled, the wonderful T.S.A. workers left Kirk's effects pedals in the rain. Kirk found that out as he was attempting to sound check...note the word attempting.

So now the concert is delayed. Do we see a pattern developing here? Luckily Kirk is from Houston so he called in a few favors and managed to borrow some effects pedals from his buddies. So alas, the show goes on.

We had a good show. Rodney was playing his NEW bass, and his amp sounded like a lawnmower with a fouled-out spark plug. I played a set of Yamaha's. I think they make better jet-ski's than drums! But everyone loved it, so all is well.

The concert ended and after packing up and driving back to hotel, I believe it was near 3am. It was then PT says to us, "Wake-up call at 5am". I thought to myself "you have to actually sleep to receive a wake-up call".

• Back to airport at 5:30 am


• Board plane


• fall asleep around 7am

ANOTHER 24 HOUR DAY OF ROCK!!!

I LOVE MY JOB!

March 7-8th Concerts

Hello,

I played 2 shows this past weekend with the Pat Travers Band. The first show was on 3/7/09 in Poughkeepsie, NY at The Chance Theater. This was a theater show (duh) which I have grown fond of playing. In particular I like the layout of the theater, a big stage, and an upper floor. From where I sit behind the drums it looks pretty cool. Also, most theaters that I have played are between 75 and 100 years old. The Chance Theater was built in 1912. Pretty amazing! I can only imagine the acts that have played there. We had a good crowd, and the show rocked!

The following night I played in Newport, RI at The Newport Blues Cafe. This was my anniversary gig w/ Pat Travers because the first show I ever played with PT was there over a year ago. The crowds in Newport are fantastic! We played to a sold-out crowd and the show rocked!

I would like to thank the fellows @ Babickz Guitars for all their hospitality and support.

I would also like to thank Rob @ The Chance Theater for making us sound great!

And a special thanks goes out to the PTB fans.....your the best!

Randy Lane