Nicholas David West coast Tour ’13:Spokane been bery bery good to me.

We are nearing the end of our tour and having the end in sight has given us a strength of purpose and renewed energy.  Tonight we played at the INB Performing Arts Center.  This theater is beautiful, and is situated in front of a small stream.  As you walk out of the venue, there are steps that lead down to the river.  The sun was shining brightly, and the fall colors made this an idyllic spot to sit and reflect.  It was hard to go back inside for sound check, but duty calls.

Raaar.

Everything was easy and ran smoothly today.  From sound check to show time, everything went smoothly.  This is only notable, as there always seems to be something that isn't ideal, but today there was nothing in our way.  I felt great, and I even wore Nicholas' bear hat for a while to celebrate.  

Our set felt great and the audience blew up after every song.  Sometimes everything just goes your way.  Following our set, we received a standing ovation from the near capacity crowd.  Nothing gets the blood pumping like a huge crowd showing their appreciation so loudly.  Tonight was the best show we've done all tour.  As much as I'm looking forward to getting home and taking a break, I'll be sad to stop playing together everyday, as I don't want to loose the edge we've honed with this group.  

Nicholas signing an arm.
(c) Jackson Tyler Eddy

 Following the show, the adulation continued in the lobby as Nicholas signed autographs at the merch table.  I had multiple people tell me that they had never heard of us, but were blown away.  In addition, there were multiple fans who saw us in Seattle, and made the drive to Spokane just to see us again.  It is so nice to feel so much love.  We are truly touching people with our music, and that is incredible to me.

(c) Jackson Tyler Eddy

Unlike many of the other venues, the tour buses and our van were parked in an open area and not secreted away in a gated backstage area.  This led to a large group of fans gathering there waiting to meet the rock stars.  There was a small crowd near our van, and I felt really cool.  When we loaded in our luggage and started to get in the van, I had a conversation with a woman who started questioning me about the Avett Brothers and when they would be coming out to the van.  I explained to her that this was our van and that the Avetts travel in a giant bus, which they get on right after the show and leave in.  She didn't believe me and insisted that this van was their transport.  I happily opened the door to the van and showed her our gear and luggage filled van.  The look on her face was priceless as she realized that she had waited outside this van to only meet the opening act, which she did not care about.  It made me laugh and realize that there is a whole other level of fans out there in the music industry.  I'll never understand how you can get to that level, but it intrigues me.

We hit the road and drove a little ways to our hotel.  One more show and then we head home.  I'm excited and sad at the same time.  

  

Nicholas David West coast Tour ’13: Boom Shakalaka

Debra and I
(c) Jackson Tyler Eddy

The forested hills of the pacific north west are creepy and calming at the same time.  I feel simultaneously, peacefully at one with nature and worried that a weird mutated mountain man is going to drag me to his torture cabin in the woods.  Maybe I've seen to many scary movies set here.  Either way, we are safe in numbers and aren't stopping long enough for the weirdos to take me away, so the scenery is beautiful.

Key Arena

I've been to Seattle before, and have a great fondness for this town.  We had a few days before our show, so I was excited to have some time to explore the city.  Unfortunately for me, we were staying at a hotel in a suburb of Seattle, which equates to either a 2 hour bus ride or a $70 cab ride into Seattle proper.  As such I was essentially stuck in the boonies for a few days.  A friend who used to live in Minneapolis happened to live near our hotel.  She and her boyfriend picked me up on our first night in town and took me to a local restaurant/bar.  It was really fun to catch up with her, as I haven't had a live conversation with her in years.  After that, I met up with our sound man Jim at another local bar.  We ended up at spot that had karaoke and decided to hang out.  Jim is a mild mannered and low key guy most of the time.  But apparently if you give him a little Patron, he becomes a karaoke machine and runs around the bar singing "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by the Proclaimers in everyone's face.  It was awesome.  Later, Debra showed up and sang for real, making everyone flock to her or feel bad about their own performances. It was a fun night.

Walking into our first arena show.

Today Nicholas met up with us at the hotel.  He had been staying at a friend's house with his family who came out to visit.  We piled into the van, cranked the Kendalls and headed to our show at the Key Arena.  This is the first time I, or anyone in the band had played in an arena before, so we were all very excited.  I was also excited that this arena used to be home to the Seattle Supersonics, and namely Shawn Kemp, who was my go-to player choice in one of my all time favorite video games NBA Jams.  On the way to the arena I found out that Debra, who went out on the town with a friend the night before, got to meet Mr. Kemp at a bar.

Key Arena is an interesting building.  From the outside, you only see the top of the arena.  The main bulk of the building is sunk into the ground, so it doesn't seem that big from the outside.  Upon entering the arena, the fact that this was our first arena show was apparent.  We all started taking pictures and looking around with our mouths open.  I think this was on the entire band's bucket list so we were giddy.  During sound check the glimmer of the arena show faded. We quickly realized what we all subconsciously knew from attending shows in arenas.  Arenas are not great for sound quality.  The giant steel and concrete room made everything echo to epic, unwanted proportions.  I commend our monitor tech and Jim for getting it to sound as good as they did.  For those of you who aren't musicians, it is hard to understate how much the sound can throw off your performance.  It affects timing and sound qualities, which, in turn, affect your comfort on stage and your overall performance.

Before the show started I decided to walk around Seattle a little bit, as I had been stuck on it's periphery before today.  Luckily it was a rare sunny day, and I was reminded why I love this city.  It's the little differences in architecture and the scenery that makes visiting new places so fun and exciting.  Seeing the giant cargo ships in the distance was so cool.  An everyday occurrence for residents, but an amazing site for me.

The huge crowd in the arena helped with some of the echo issues, but they were still annoyingly noticeable.  However, all of us have dealt with bad sound in way worse venues in our careers, so we weren't phased, and put on a good show.  Not our best, but still good.  We got a great response from the audience, and that's all that matters.  The Avett Borthers did what they always do and killed it.  This was definitely not their first arena show.

(c) Jackson Tyler Eddy

Nick's kids were in our dressing room running around a playing after the show, and it was fun to see them and get a little reminder of home.  After the show we said our goodbyes and drove towards Spokane where we shall rock again tomorrow.




     

Nicholas David West coast Tour ’13: Idaho, You da' Ho.

We spent all day yesterday driving out of California and into Idaho.  It was a cool transition from the desert mountains into the wooded mountains.  I am still blown away by the scenery on this tour.

Our show today was at the Velma V. Morrison Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Boise State University. I didn't do any research on this, but my guess is that this center was built with money from or funded for years by a rich widow.  This is based on the facts that the place is named after her, and in the lobby there is a huge painting of her in classic rich widow wear (mink stole, pearl necklace, white gloves, evening gown).  The lobby of this venue also had a few other oddities about it.  First, there was really ugly cartoon-like paintings.  I'm not an art aficionado by any means, but this just looked silly.  Second, they had a booth that sold high end jewelry during intermissions, right next to the beer and band merch.  I'm sure this makes more sense during the intermission of an opera, but it seemed a little weird.

Trying to add myself to the weird Camelot artwork. 

The theater was huge, and it was a sold out show.  The crowd was subdued but appreciative.  But I didn't expect too rowdy of a crowd on a Tuesday night.  Today is the release of the Avett Brother's new CD Magpie and the Dandelion.  In talking to their cello player Joe (who happens to have an awesome tour blog), he told me that this record was recorded at the same time as their previous record.  I thought that would be weird to shelf an album for that long, but it didn't seem too odd to him.  I haven't heard the album yet, but my friends on facebook say it's awesome, and I've liked the songs from it that I've heard them play live.


The Avett Brothers put on a great show.  During part of their show, the entire band breaks down and Joe, the a fore mentioned cello player, plays an intimate, quiet and moving solo.  Tonight when his solo started, I was standing int he wings near the crew.  As it got quiet for Joe's solo, one of the crew came over and switched off the huge hazer, as it was loud enough to hear during this quiet moment.  This enhanced the silence and made everything that much more focused and intimate.  Then, when all that could be heard was Joe's solo cello, with expert timing, one of the crew members (don't worry I won't name names) leaned on one cheek and let a huge fart rip.  All of us in the wing had to hold our mouths and stifle our uncontrollable laughter.  I had to leave the side of the stage so I could laugh and also breathe fresh air.

Photo (c) Jackson Tyler Eddy/A Frame Forward Photography

After the show we packed up and ordered a pizza on the way out of town.  I didn't have any, but the rest of the crew ate the crap out of two pizzas in about 10 minutes as we sat in the van outside the pizza place.  We drove a few hours and checked into our hotel.  It's not nap time.  Tomorrow we head to Seattle.  Nicholas' family and Dylan's wife will be meeting them in Seattle, so they are in a hurry to get there.

Nicholas David West coast Tour ’13: C'mon Kendalls.

When you work and live in such close proximity with the same five people you develop a collective consciousness of sorts. Odd sayings, jokes and rituals are developed and mature over the long hours spent together.  These jokes are extremely inside and are annoying, stupid or not funny to anyone not on tour with you, and are only funny if you've experienced the entire life of the joke.  Here are ours.

The Kendalls

We have become obsessed with The Kendalls after Nicholas purchased their greatest hits album at a thrift store based on the ridiculous album cover.  The music is classic country.  No frills.  It is a rule that we must listen to the Kendalls each day when we start driving.  It is also awesome to pick someone up with the windows rolled down and the Kendalls blaring.  This is the first track on the cd.

At this point, we all sing the choruses in harmony at the top of our lungs, usually play the melodies in sound check, and sing Kendalls songs in various voices and styles.  Our initial mockery has quickly turned into love, worship and respect.  Jeannie Kendall is still recording, having recently worked with Johnny Lang.  Thank you Royce and Jeannie.   

C'mon

Nicholas always creates silly little noises or sayings that he tries to get everyone to laugh at and start saying (i.e. Hey Now).  This trip is no exception.  Our first day on the road Nicholas kept saying "c'mon" (best said quickly and almost like a cat's meow) and smiling at me egging me on to laugh at it. He'd say, "That's pretty funny, huh?"  I told him it wasn't funny.  But after about two more days of it, I couldn't help but smile. Despite my desire to resist, it overtook me and I admitted defeat.  

"C'mon" is used in any context in any way imaginable.  Creative expression in delivering "c'mon" is greatly encouraged.  It is also encouraged to sneak "c'mon" into song lyrics or a discussion with people who are not in on the joke.  Nicholas is a master of it, and causes me to giggle at least once per show.  Afterwards he checks to make sure I heard it.  We also now start each show by putting our hands together in a circle and shouting "c'mon" in the unique style of our choosing.  C'Mon.

Border Crossings

It is required at all state border crossings to honk your the horn, roll down the passenger window, and put rock fingers out of the van.  This is an old ritual Nicholas and a friend developed when he lived in Colorado. But now we all get excited when we cross a border and have adopted the ritual as our own.

Nicholas David West coast Tour ’13: Sacramento loves us.

Today we left the Avett Brother's tour and headed to Sacramento.  This show was a nice change of pace.  It felt gratifying be the headliner.  Tonight, the world revolved around us.  We were in charge of sound check, the dressing room was stocked for us, and everyone was there to see us (well, Nicholas to be more precise).  A nice little ego boost.

The wavy wall in the background.

We played at Harlow's, a cool little venue.  For those of you familiar with Twin Cities' music venues, Harlow's is what would happen if the Fine Line and the Dakota had a baby.  One of the walls was carved out of wood to make a wavy, rippled water effect.  I couldn't stop staring at it all night.  I didn't know it was carved out of wood until after the show.  I'm sure the staff thought I was a weirdo while I was rubbing the wall after everyone left.

Local performer Quinn Hedges opened the night.  He performed with just his accoustic guitar.  He was extremely gracious and excited to share the stage with us.  I liked his music, but wanted to see him with a full band.

As the headliners, we got to play a ninety minute set. It was refreshing to be able to stretch out on songs and play some of our tunes that haven't made the cut for the short opening sets we've been doing.  The crowd was great.  They were loud and boisterous when it was called for, and silent and engaged during slower songs.  Even though Harlow's serves alcohol, it didn't feel like a bar gig.  People were there to listen and enjoy the music.

In a nod to our home town, Nicholas and I did a duet on a Tom Waitts' "Christmas Card From A Hooker In MInneapolis."  As Nicholas says, "the title is a little racy, but the content is PG."

Nicholas during his standing ovation.

At the end of the night we had people up and dancing, and received a standing ovation.  The band was all smiles.  After meeting with the fans and tearing down our gear, we noticed that there was a basketball hoop behind the club.  As we lamented over how much fun it would have been to shoot some hoops, the manager grabbed a basketball and told us to play away.  Apparently the club is in a non-residential zone, and we wouldn't bother anyone.  A fierce game of "pigs" ensued.  It was broken up when two drunk guys started watching us play and then became super annoying once they found out who Nicholas was.

Tomorrow we start the drive to Boise.

Nicholas David West Coast Tour ’13: Where'd I leave my heart again?

Dylan, Nicholas and Me by the sea.

We had yesterday off, so we decided to take drive up Highway 1 towards our hotel in San Jose.  This is the most western highway in the United States.  It is one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on.  It was slightly harrowing making the tight corners in a 15 passenger van, but I wasn't driving, so it didn't bother me that much.  My fear of heights kicked in at certain points, and I had to not look down in a few spots.  Along the way we stopped a few times to soak in the view.

Zebra Centaur thingy.

We stopped for lunch at a sea side Mexican restaurant that had huge paper mache statues of odd figures.  I couldn't help but take a stupid picture with a creepy Zebra Centaur.

We spent the night in San Jose and hit the road early in the morning so we could spend the day in San Francisco.  Our show was at the America's Cup Pavilion, which is situated right on one of the many piers near the Embarcadero.  I learned that our show would be the last performance ever hosted at this venue.  That is a shame, as this venue is really cool.  It is right on the water, and at night the San Francisco skyline glows in the background.

America's Cup Pavilion at night.

Before sound check, Nicholas, Dylan and I headed down to a local farmer's market.  There were some amazing vendors selling phenomenal locally sourced products.  The smells and tastes were amazing.  In true rock-star fashion, we each did a shot of sauerkraut juice from a local producer.  I had jalapeno, Nicholas had beet ginger, and Dylan had dill pickle.  Mine was great.  Nicholas and Dylan had lesser opinions of their shots.  I also haggled over some jewelry with a cute little Asian woman in an angry birds stocking hat. 

Our set.

Once again, we had a great show.  The audience and promoters loved us and we have plans on coming back to San Francisco again in the future.  The Avett Brothers also put on a fantastic show and gave the venue a fitting send off.  

The real show. 

After the show, Nicholas, Jim (our front of house guy) and I sat and watched the crew tear down while we waited for the merchandise accounting to be settled.  I'll say it again, but it is an incredible undertaking to watch.  We sat in the stands and cheered them on.  Some of the crew who knew us thought it was fun, some of the local guys thought we were annoying.  Either way, I have much respect for what they do.

Tomorrow we leave the Avett Brothers and headline our own show in Sacramento.  

   

Nicholas David West Coast Tour ’13: Santa Barbara Bowl

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.  

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.