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| Santa Barbara Bowl from the audience. |
The van picked me up at my friends house in Burbank, and we
headed to Santa Barbara. It was a short and beautiful drive up the coast. The Santa Barbara
bowl is situated atop a hill overlooking the city and the ocean. It is a truly beautiful venue. This is the last venue that Bob Marley ever
played before his death. During sound
check the sun was out and there was a cool ocean breeze blowing into the
bowl. I can think of worse ways to start your day.
Tonight’s show felt magical.
There is something about performing music outside at night in sweater
weather that makes the audience feel united and closer to the performance. In addition, we got to utilize the entire sound system tonight, so everything felt more powerful and alive.
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| Santa Barbara Bowl from the stage. |
The Avett Brothers travel with a huge line array sound
system that is scaleable, so it can be shrunk or grown to fit each particular
venue. The sound system takes up it's own semi trailer. Tonight we got to use the full
system. The system is rented from a
third-party company, who sends a tech along with to set-up and
optimize the system at each venue. Then,
the Avett’s font of house mixer, Justin, steps in and mixes the show. For our sets, we use the same system with
our own separate monitor and front of house boards. Our front of house mixer, Jim Trouten, oversees the set up
of our equipment, and makes us sound good to the people in the audience. He is a musician, so his mixes are musical and not over done. He is fantastic and I’m so glad he’s with
us. He also does one of the best Kermit
the Frog impressions I've ever heard.
One of the best parts of this tour is meeting all of the fans that come talk to us after the shows. It's fun to see how much the music means to them. As many of the fans only know Nicholas from the Voice, they often come to our shows with a preconceived notion of what to expect. Night after night I get told how phenomenal the music was, and how fans are either excited to see the extra depth to Nicholas, or are now new devotees after initially dismissing him as a reality show flash in the pan. They are delighted that we are real, talented musicians performing great material with a unique lineup. It is very gratifying being the underdog, and breaking down peoples preconceptions.
We have a day off tomorrow and then play in San
Francisco. I love that town.
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