DAY 7 The King Lot Tour

LONDON BABY!

We left Cardiff late morning and arrived in London 3 or so hours later. It was a simple drive again done mostly by Marc, he is defo roadie of the year. The first thing that struck me was the traffic! totally carnage! i really don't fancy moving to London because of that and then the parking was looking as if it was going to be even crazier however we got lucky with one of the attendants who helped us out.

The load in was similar to Glasgow ABC, lift to the top floor. First impressions of the venue was brilliant it looked great. Massive, big PA good size stage. Dan Reed network are really fast at sound checking, they know what they are looking for and they get the job done fast. The time between Dan Reed and The electric  boys is when we had to set up our equipment as the electric boys were using our gear.

We had a good 30 mins to sound check but again we are pretty fast. I always just ask the engineer for my vocals in the PA and take everything else out. This way i get the same sound nearly all the time. The only challenge i have is when the music gets louder in the set and i have to compete with the cymbals. I really should make more use of my near system. It sometimes feels like a hassle for such a short period of time.

---

I have always been really intrigued by the way Dan Reed Network set up with the drums to the side and Keys on the other side. I am kicking myself for not asking him this. I found their spec sheet which was cool to see. we have a similar spec sheet which just helps the engineer know the full picture. I suppose their set up makes use of the stage but i tend to lean towards the more traditional set up.

THE KING LOT SHOW

I have to say that this was an amazing show for us. The crowd got really into it, we got on played fast and hard and got off, We did what we came to do. I was really pleased even tho i made lots of mistakes and change the words slightly but thats my right i suppose even if i don't mean it ha ha ha.

Lots of people tell me the entrance and exit is really effective. I met one guy who was as cockney as you could get, he was brilliant and he was very complimentary to my voice. Its great hearing people give you feedback like this. I did feel the whole tour my voice was only really at 70%. I just gig too much and don't rest enough and mixing that with late mights and beer isn't the best at all.

THE END

Near the end of the Dan Reed Network set both bands were invited up on stage to sing and play which was really cool. It was big mikes birthday that night so everyone sang happy birthday to the big guy which was superb. I wasn't to sure on what to do through the song apart from some Dad dancing and air guitar so i enjoyed myself on that account.

It was a total pleasure playing with Dan Reed and his band, i really cant imagine meeting an more accommodating guy and i really learned tuns about his approach to sound checking and life on the road. I found myself listening more to his music and i kinda feel i have missed out and should have got into this before now. His last solo album transmission is really cool, I'm in double figures in listening to it now. The whole experience has helped me make things very clear in my mind what i want to achieve musically short term and long term.