All in all, this tour was fantastic. We cannot thank Death Cab enough, and reallllly look forward to touring more with them in July!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
DCFC Tour #3
Here we are in the end of the April Death Cab For Cutie tour. This entry actually spans quite a length of time, I think starting around when we were in Michigan. Geographically, that means that this covers 3/4 of the travelling we did on this tour. I must also note that one of those drives was from San Diego to Austin in 24 hours. *pat on the back*
All in all, this tour was fantastic. We cannot thank Death Cab enough, and reallllly look forward to touring more with them in July!
All in all, this tour was fantastic. We cannot thank Death Cab enough, and reallllly look forward to touring more with them in July!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
"Can You Tell" Single
Ra Ra Riot's first official single for "Can You Tell" is released! Click the link above to connect to iTunes. Its got some reallllly awesome bonus tracks and videos. Pick it up, only 2.99!
Friday, April 17, 2009
DCFC Tour #2
First off, I must establish what happened in Tulsa, OK on Easter Sunday during Ra Ra Riot's set.
Yes, that's Death Cab in the suits. Jason McGerr actually PURCHASED his costume (the rest rented). He flew home the next day, took a car from the airport, changed, and surprised his wife and kids dressed as the easter bunny. Cool dad huh? And he plays the drums!!!
These last shows have been a blast though. Crushing, long drives (8 hrs) every day... but its worth it. Apparently this tour has propelled Ra Ra Riot back into the top 100 chart on iTunes! within about 6 shows, they appeared and climbed to #60-something. Exposure works.
We've all gotten cozier with the members of Death Cab and Cold War Kids, and there's been a streak of poker games in the green room before and after shows. Chips and all. Rebecca is notoriously good. How appropriate, she's sly like that.
Got a new video up here, its an action packed 10-minute long journey. Largely featuring Mathieu Santos doing silly crap. The camera loves it.
Yes, that's Death Cab in the suits. Jason McGerr actually PURCHASED his costume (the rest rented). He flew home the next day, took a car from the airport, changed, and surprised his wife and kids dressed as the easter bunny. Cool dad huh? And he plays the drums!!!
These last shows have been a blast though. Crushing, long drives (8 hrs) every day... but its worth it. Apparently this tour has propelled Ra Ra Riot back into the top 100 chart on iTunes! within about 6 shows, they appeared and climbed to #60-something. Exposure works.
We've all gotten cozier with the members of Death Cab and Cold War Kids, and there's been a streak of poker games in the green room before and after shows. Chips and all. Rebecca is notoriously good. How appropriate, she's sly like that.
Got a new video up here, its an action packed 10-minute long journey. Largely featuring Mathieu Santos doing silly crap. The camera loves it.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Death Cab For Cutie #1
Here's the good stuff. We embark on a month long tour opening for Death Cab For Cutie with Cold War Kids.
Our first show was in Toronto the day after Webster Hall in NYC... that was a hell drive. Departing at 6 am, we arrived in Toronto around 5 to the venue. Within minutes we had all met Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla, Nick Harmer, and Jason McGerr of Death Cab. It was entirely thrilling to be greeted so kindly at the onset of the tour. They truly made an effort to introduce themselves and make us feel welcome. All we can talk about is how cool they are. There have been countless times when Death Cab members have come over to Ra Ra Riot's dressing room territory or dining tables in the catering room to hang out and chat. For me, it was wild meeting them. And it remains to be wild. Death Cab is a top-five favorite band of mine.
That first Toronto show went great. Ra Ra Riot played a standup 25-minute set for a crowd of about 1000; Many of whom had intentions of catching them as the opener. Next, we played a large theater in Upper Darby Pennsylvania just outside of Philly, followed by DAR Constitution Hall in D.C., Davidson College, and another fantastic, ornate theater in Louisville Kentucky.
As Ra Ra Riot's front-of-house sound engineer, this tour has been really exciting for me. I will admit that I was a bit intimidated by the notion of mixing every night on a large, flown, line array PA in large rooms with a digital console that I have never used before. But this stuff is state of the art technology, and its surprisingly intuitive and easy to use. The coolest thing about the console is that, because its digital, every adjustment and bit of progress I make at each show is stored at the end of the set, and loaded up at the next venue we play. The band's mix has gotten progressively tighter and stronger... almost eliminating the need for a lengthy sound check. Working with the system technician (employee of the hired production company that brings semi's of lights, stage, and PA to every show) and Will, Death Cab's sound engineer, has been so helpful.
Merch sales have been INSANE every night on this tour. dozens of CDs/vinyls, and catastrophic amounts of t-shirts.
Really looking forward to the rest of this tour. Check out the first video I put together.
Till next time
Our first show was in Toronto the day after Webster Hall in NYC... that was a hell drive. Departing at 6 am, we arrived in Toronto around 5 to the venue. Within minutes we had all met Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla, Nick Harmer, and Jason McGerr of Death Cab. It was entirely thrilling to be greeted so kindly at the onset of the tour. They truly made an effort to introduce themselves and make us feel welcome. All we can talk about is how cool they are. There have been countless times when Death Cab members have come over to Ra Ra Riot's dressing room territory or dining tables in the catering room to hang out and chat. For me, it was wild meeting them. And it remains to be wild. Death Cab is a top-five favorite band of mine.
That first Toronto show went great. Ra Ra Riot played a standup 25-minute set for a crowd of about 1000; Many of whom had intentions of catching them as the opener. Next, we played a large theater in Upper Darby Pennsylvania just outside of Philly, followed by DAR Constitution Hall in D.C., Davidson College, and another fantastic, ornate theater in Louisville Kentucky.
As Ra Ra Riot's front-of-house sound engineer, this tour has been really exciting for me. I will admit that I was a bit intimidated by the notion of mixing every night on a large, flown, line array PA in large rooms with a digital console that I have never used before. But this stuff is state of the art technology, and its surprisingly intuitive and easy to use. The coolest thing about the console is that, because its digital, every adjustment and bit of progress I make at each show is stored at the end of the set, and loaded up at the next venue we play. The band's mix has gotten progressively tighter and stronger... almost eliminating the need for a lengthy sound check. Working with the system technician (employee of the hired production company that brings semi's of lights, stage, and PA to every show) and Will, Death Cab's sound engineer, has been so helpful.
Merch sales have been INSANE every night on this tour. dozens of CDs/vinyls, and catastrophic amounts of t-shirts.
Really looking forward to the rest of this tour. Check out the first video I put together.
Till next time
Saturday, April 11, 2009
SXSW
SXSW Activities Recap. I think this is somewhat accurate... its a very homogenous experience and hard to sort out what happened which day. But a blast nonetheless!
DAY 1:
- Thursday night arrival
- Caught Dirty Projectors at the Emo's Annex
- Somehow took an hour to attain street vendor food
- Ran into 15 people we knew within 15 feet of walking
- Mathieu goes to the hospital because of a worsening chest pain
- Walked to a fake address to find the "Playboy Party"
- Found the real address, and took a cab there
- It was lame.
- Josh Milo and I are forcefully handed $20 each from a crazy girl desperate for our passes to that party... ?
- Run into more friends. It never ends.
- End up at an after-party at a Dillard hotel suite
DAY 2:
- Mathieu learned from his hospital visit that he is okay, just has a strained muscle and not a life threatening heart ailment.
- Went to a free lunch/gifting event
- Went to the Fader Fort to get some Levi's stuff
- Load in at Radio Room for Ra Ra Riot's first show at SXSW
- Run into my buddies Elizabeth Dilk, André and Liz Anjos, and some cool kids we met from our recent McCallen, Texas show
- I go to the Verizon store because my phone has decided to stop working. Good timing, right?
- Hang out with the Princeton boys
- Go to see Princeton play at Maggie Mae's
- Walk around a bunch
- BBQ dinner at Stubb's
- Back to Maggie Mae's to see Au Revoir Simone
- Throw a bit of a party afterwards at the hotel
DAY 3:
- Ra Ra Riot play at the Rachel Ray party
- We get awesome food and vouchers for free Crocs
- Go to the Myspace/Spin Party and get some free shoes
- Load in to The Parish for Ra Ra Riot's performance at the Barsuk Showcase
- Back to the hotel to rest up, get ready for the show
- Head to the Parish, play an amazing set at 1am
- Wes chats with Drew Barrymore after the show for a sizeable amount of time
- We wander to some party, but ultimately decide to head back to the hotel to call it a wrap
The next entry will briefly take you through the rest of this leg of the tour, playing some more of middle America. There will be the best Ra Ra Ra fight scene yet too. And yes Mat is the victim of excruciating violence, again.
THEN DEATH CAB TOUR!
thank you, come again.
DAY 1:
- Thursday night arrival
- Caught Dirty Projectors at the Emo's Annex
- Somehow took an hour to attain street vendor food
- Ran into 15 people we knew within 15 feet of walking
- Mathieu goes to the hospital because of a worsening chest pain
- Walked to a fake address to find the "Playboy Party"
- Found the real address, and took a cab there
- It was lame.
- Josh Milo and I are forcefully handed $20 each from a crazy girl desperate for our passes to that party... ?
- Run into more friends. It never ends.
- End up at an after-party at a Dillard hotel suite
DAY 2:
- Mathieu learned from his hospital visit that he is okay, just has a strained muscle and not a life threatening heart ailment.
- Went to a free lunch/gifting event
- Went to the Fader Fort to get some Levi's stuff
- Load in at Radio Room for Ra Ra Riot's first show at SXSW
- Run into my buddies Elizabeth Dilk, André and Liz Anjos, and some cool kids we met from our recent McCallen, Texas show
- I go to the Verizon store because my phone has decided to stop working. Good timing, right?
- Hang out with the Princeton boys
- Go to see Princeton play at Maggie Mae's
- Walk around a bunch
- BBQ dinner at Stubb's
- Back to Maggie Mae's to see Au Revoir Simone
- Throw a bit of a party afterwards at the hotel
DAY 3:
- Ra Ra Riot play at the Rachel Ray party
- We get awesome food and vouchers for free Crocs
- Go to the Myspace/Spin Party and get some free shoes
- Load in to The Parish for Ra Ra Riot's performance at the Barsuk Showcase
- Back to the hotel to rest up, get ready for the show
- Head to the Parish, play an amazing set at 1am
- Wes chats with Drew Barrymore after the show for a sizeable amount of time
- We wander to some party, but ultimately decide to head back to the hotel to call it a wrap
The next entry will briefly take you through the rest of this leg of the tour, playing some more of middle America. There will be the best Ra Ra Ra fight scene yet too. And yes Mat is the victim of excruciating violence, again.
THEN DEATH CAB TOUR!
thank you, come again.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Texas & Tokyo Police Club
This was a part of the tour I was really looking forward to. And I have to say, it was as thrilling as I imagined it to be. We played six shows opening for Tokyo Police Club in and around Texas with another great Toronto band called Ruby Coast. Keep your eye on Ruby Coast; They're fun.
Tokyo Police Club has been one of my favorite bands for the past two years. If you had told me I'd be going on tour with them and hanging out with them for a week, I wouldn't believe you. They are cool dudes, and really exciting to watch night after night.
We played the Harvest of Hope festival in St, Augustine FL, then travelled to New Orleans, Houston, McCallen TX, San Antonio, Dallas, and Omaha. Just as we started to feel cozy, the tour was over, and time to head back to Austin for SXSW.
Catch the SXSW entry next!
Tokyo Police Club has been one of my favorite bands for the past two years. If you had told me I'd be going on tour with them and hanging out with them for a week, I wouldn't believe you. They are cool dudes, and really exciting to watch night after night.
We played the Harvest of Hope festival in St, Augustine FL, then travelled to New Orleans, Houston, McCallen TX, San Antonio, Dallas, and Omaha. Just as we started to feel cozy, the tour was over, and time to head back to Austin for SXSW.
Catch the SXSW entry next!
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