*New* People 3 Encore

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July 29- TOUR DIARY- PEOPLE_3 LIVE RECORDING IN SF- BY D:FUSE

6AM- God I hate mornings. Thank God for coffee makers with auto turn-on alarms or youíd see my ass staying in bed.

7AM- MC Flint, Christine, and Me head for the plane. Iíve got a full drum kit along with enough clothes to be on the road for the next week. The only problem is the 50 lb weight limit per bag. We arrive and check in at the skycap, and luckily do enough shifting to just make the weight.

9AM- We check in and get on the flight, time for a nap.

10:30- We arrive in SF, get our bags, and though weíre really groggy, Christine is her usual self and cracks us up with some shady airport humor I donít remember specifics, but -MC Flint and I are rolling with laughter- girl should be a comedian. We get the bags loaded and get to the hotel. Iím hoping for a nap at the hotel before sound check, but our room isnít ready so we canít check in. If no nap then itís time to find some stiff coffee and work through it. The bellman lets us know about a mom-and-pop Thai restaurant around the corner- mmmmmmmm. Thai coffee and pad-thai. Oh hell yeah!

11:30- We arrive at the restaurant and Mike Hiratzka and sound wiz kid Danny Cheung join us. Iím meeting Danny for the first time and glad to see heís laid back with a good sense of humor. Danny is Chinese and Mike Hiratazka is a mutt blend of Japanese and Scottish, or something along those lines, and they both crack Asian jokes about themselves of not being able to drive. Very funny. Everybodyís a little tired but strong coffee and excellent food get us going.

12:30PM- Club Mighty promoter Derek picks us up from the hotel and we pile all gear into his large SUV. After itís all said and done weíre packed in like sardines. Hiratzkaís sitting across everyoneís laps in the back like the lilí bitch he is. Iím up front in the pimp seat, just how daddy likes it.

1PM- We arrive to check out Mighty, this is my first time playing here and Iím very impressed with the layout. Itís a very clean club even in the daytime which is always a good sign. Great art line the walls. Four old-school speaker stacks surround the dance floor. They were bought from an old club (canít remember the name) so they have killer 70ís graffiti all over them. Theyíre massive; each one is about the size of a large passenger van stood on end. The stage is the perfect size and height as well. Iím already getting excited about the show.

2PM We begin set up of drums, DJ set up, and recording rig. As much as we meticulously planned, we still discover there are cords and adapters we didnít arrange for. This puts us behind by at least 3 hours while production manager and joke teller Nick McGeachin hits various rental places finding what we need.

3PM. Time for a Red Bull

4PM Time for a  Red Bull

5PM McGeachin shows up to save the day with all of the equipment we need to finish set up. We get everything routed and ready to go in just under an hour, only to discover that our sound check is not to happen at 6pm as promoter Derek has told us. Because of building regulations that we werenít made aware of, the sound system is not allowed to be turned on until 8PM on Fridays. This would not be a problem except for the fact that we have never performed this show ìliveî together, and were hoping for at least 2 run-throughs to get the kinks worked out. We tidy up cords, recheck wiring, and do some initial playing with the monitors at low volume. We work out level issues with the Pro-Tools recording rig and get everything wired up on the Allen and Heath studio board. Danny Cheung is the man and keeping it under control under pressure. Mike Hiratzka is keeping the vibe cool as well, and easing the tension by quoting from the movie ìTeam Americaî. ìAmericaÖ.f*ck yeah!î ìYou screw this up and Iíll take your balls and shove them up your ass. So the next time you sh*t, youíll sh*t all over your balls!!!î Thank God for those South Park freaks!!! Brilliant!!!

8PM We finally get to get the sound system turned on at full volume to check the levels and e.q. only to find that MC Flintís mic is feeding back horribly. The speaker system on the main floor comes at you from all directions, and is not fully suited for a live act. We move him everywhere around, behind, under, in the attic, beside the stage only to get massive feedback. We try 3 different mics. Lucky weíve got a Shure SM-58 that reduces the feedback just enough when heís on the left side of the stage behind the speaker. This feedback issue takes us over an hour to work out.

9PM We finally get everything up to play a few songs. Everything goes relatively smooth. Only one problem. I canít seem to find the zone with my mixes. Iím sounding a bit sloppy even though the monitors are cranked pretty good. After 4 shaky mixes weíve run out of time. There comes a time when youíve just got to chalk things up to fate and say ìWhatís the worst thing I could do tonight? Completely f*ck up? Yep. It ainít the end of the world. The club was supposed to open at 9PM and thereís already a line outside forming for the VIP reception. Itís now 9:30 and Mike, Danny, MC Flint, Nick and me are all dirty, sweaty, and frazzled but this VIP reception is a meet and greet to hang with some fans, so we step down to the dance floor, grab a couple of drinks, and say hello to the early comers. Lots of familiar faces are in the crowd and it livens us up. A big thanks to the early ones!!!!!!

10PM We get back to the hotel with a cozy 45 minutes to eat, shower, and change. Itís not much but it works out great for me. X-tineís drawn a killer bath in the massive tub in the penthouse suite of the Serrano Hotel. And even though I only have time for 10 minutes in there, it does wonders. I eat a quick meal of a Gen-Soy bar, down some water and a stiff Red Bull & Vodka, and race down to the SUV for a ride back to the venue.

11:15PM We arrive to the venue to a great site. The place is already pretty full and itís still a ways before midnight when the real rush arrives. Iíve never in my life seen such a great room of people in SF. Good friends have flown in from from all over- JASON COOK from Dreamcatcher Columbia MO (I forgot him on the thank yous and thatís just not acceptable!!! KURT & KATE from Phoenix arenít in attendance but I forgot them too and thatís not right either!!! PHIL @ TRAVELTOO is here but I forgot him and he does such a great job!) Andreamico, Erik, & Roxanne are in from NYC. Ray & Genevieve are in from Las Vegas. Oliver is in from Kansas City. Dave Marchette (forgot- sorry!) &. Jenn & are in from Las Vegas. Itís Andrea Kingís b-day tonight as well. The entire place is full of people that know other people. It seems that everyone in attendance is connected to everyone else in just 2 or 3 people. The place is buzzing. Writers from both M8 magazine in Europe and Remix in the U.S. are here, and Zel from Groovetickets.com is here after promoting the show through his killer interview. The Pink Mammoth crew has done a great job setting up the opening and closing DJs and promoting the night. I down a Jager shot or two, circulate and say hello to everyone, and take the stage. In the beginning itís just me, spinning some records. I keep it pretty low key and housey. I get on the mic to announce what cities people have flown in from to lots of applause. I slowly build the music and announce how the recording will go. Iíll stop the record and then weíll start cold. Weíre not doing mix editing or time editing on this show so itís a straight 80 minute shot from beginning to end. If I mess up weíre basically f*cked.

12:30AM My mixing is still not where I want it to be but something comes over me and strangely I calm down and decide to have fun with it. Whatever happens, happens. I look over at Hiratzka and heís nervously pacing around like a caged animal, but itís obvious heís ready to bring it. MC Flint is hanging on the sidelines ready to go. Dannyís at the recording console eyeing the mix. I give everyone the one minute warning. Then I stop the current record cold. I scream ìSan Francisco let me hear you!î and the place goes mental. The energy is infecting, and instantly Iím ready, I immediately begin an impromtu cut-out fade on the mixer, bringing the track in and out in rhythm, and bang on the conga like it was my red-headed step child. I grab drum sticks and run across to my percussion set up and the drums come alive through the sound system.  I feel completely in control and completed relaxed to deliver this recording, I jump up and down to shake the anxiety away. I look over at Hiratzka who is already tweaking killer sounds on his Korg vintage analogue keyboard and grabbing his guitar. MC Flint comes in with his flavor in the breakdown. I can tell even though we have had sound check problems all day that now, in the matter of 3 minutes it has all come together. Weíre gonna pull this thing off!!!!

1:30AM ñ If ya need to hear how the rest of the recording went you gotta go put the CD back in. Tight man!!!! Tight!!!!! The only technical problem we have is my Roland Handsonic- it has melted down and will not play. If you are thinking about buying the Handsonic make sure you baby the thing in your home studio. They are not meant for the road and are absolute plastic pieces of shit. Iíve gone through three in three years. Drinks spilled on them? Nope. Periodic maintenance NOT performed on them? Nope. Dropped? Nope. Are they cheesey pieces of shit that are so shoddy that authorized Roland reps canít repair em? You got it. Like I said, unless you plan to barely play on one do not get the Roland Handsonic.

1:50AM- I stop the record cold, shout some thank yous to the crowd, and close out the recording. Done baby!!!!

2:30AM Time to break down while the next DJ takes the decks. Here comes the biggest stress moment of the show. Iím disconnecting power chords way across the stage from the Mac G4 Pro-Tools recording rig which has the entire recording on. Itís a lot of info so Mike and Danny are downloading it and saving everything. Little do I know theyíve plugged the rig in to my power strip. I turn it off right in the middle of them saving it. They turn around panicked. Oh no!!!! I immediately turn the power back on but itís too late. Itís very likely we just lost the entire recording. Youíve got to be kidding me! I head to the bar to buy everyone a shot while they try to pull the file up. I return 10 minutes later and see Hiratzka and Cheung staring at the computer screen, hands on their foreheads with pale looks of horror. I just walk away unable to watch the possibility that we just lost the entire recording. Five minutes later I finally have the nerve to approach the recording rig. They look considerably more relaxed, the file pulled up and everything is okay! Talk about sh*tting bricks. That was close!!! After that Hiratzka, Cheung, and I take turns guarding the power outlet to make sure it doesnít get unplugged, just to be safe. The recording file is so massive it takes almost 30 minutes just to save and transfer it.

3:30AM We finally break everything down but are having a tough time getting Derek to focus enough to get the car to drive us back to the hotel. Maybe a few too many cocktails. The SUV is finally brought around and we get everything loaded up. The equipment takes up the entire vehicle. We end up booking a cab to get us back to the hotel.

4:30AM Thereís a tasty little after party thatís been arranged at a loft known as ìThe Barnî tonight. We beeline it over there to blow off some steam. Mission complete! It all gets a lilí hazy from here. OuchyÖÖ

4:30PM Saturday- Iím back at the airport for a show in Chicago tonightÖ..