We went to a fund raiser last night for Light Of Day Canada.
This is an off-shoot of Light Of Day that started in New Jersey around 15 years ago.
So, there were a lot of New Jersey connections.
Some, I think are pretty cool and couldn't wait to share.
Fuggedabowdit....
Vinnie Pastore was the co-host. The other guy is from a local radio station.
Some E-Street Band representation:
Joe Grusheky and The Houserockers. They're actually from Pittsburgh, but play the Jersey Shore a lot and Bruce Springsteen always tries to get there and sit in. (Bruce has been part of previous Light of Day shows in Jersey.)
There were a couple of other bands there too.
Jason Heath and The Greedy Souls from California (banjitar content - sounded great but needed to be up in the mix a bit more)
Joe D'Urso and Stone Caravan
Bobby Mahoney and Seventh Son.
They all did two or three song sets. (There were two after parties at bars in the area where they played dulls sets. We didn't go to those. )
Overall, every one of them sounded great and put on a fun show given the limits imposed (few songs and quick changeover). Only a couple of sound issues that I realised later on were the sound guy's doing.
Oh, there was one more. And I saved this picture until now because she's from Kingston, ON (instead of Jersey) and that guitar.... I figured it would spawn a different conversation.
Here's Miss Emily.
The guitar actually sounded great. Mind you, she pretty much just strummed it like a regular acoustic.
She's got a hell of a voice too. Her first song was done a Capella and was very soulful.
She was there because she supports the Light of Day show in Kingston, ON which is tonight. She'll be playing with some of the guys from The Tragically Hip. The Northern Pikes are headlining that one.
And, finally, Blue Rodeo with Jim Cuddy doing an impression of Dave Grohl. He had a brace on his knee and used crutches to get around.
Another point of discussion that made me think of MWGL is more of a rant on the sound.
I wanted to find and throttle the sound guy.
I swear that the only reason I could hear most of what Blue Rodeo was playing was because I was in the third row and could hear it from the stage directly.
Most vocals, the keys, and the bass were fine. Actually bass was a bit much given the lack of everything else. We were right in front of the bins and there was a wedge speaker on top with the vocals and keys...and when the sound guy woke up, the electric guitar.
The drums, I think were non-existent in the mix. They were probably fine in the monitors for the band, but I heard nothing out front except what reached me from the kit itself. They use a shield to help Greg with his tinnitus, but I was off to the side a bit and it was open air between me and the kit. So, I could hear some of it.
Kick drum? They could have left it on the truck. There was nothing coming through the bins. I couldn't hear it at all because the plexiglass shield covered that up very well.
It was more annoying because the openers used a different kit, and one even just used a cajon. That all worked very well. Even the cajon had enough oomph to rattle the floor and shake your whole body. At first I though it might be disconnected mics on the kit, but watching the rest of the band it was obvious they heard it in their monitors.
And, I watched the drummer signal for adjustments in his mix several times. So, they were feeling it a bit onstage too.
Guitar solo? Oh, hey, you don't want to hear the first part do you? I'll just slowly ramp up the volume now that I realise that no one can hear it. Same thing happened with the sax player with the Houserockers.
There were parts where I wondered if he was plugged in at all but I could hear a bit from the monitors on stage. Great player though.
And to wrap up a grumpy evening, there were 5 women behind us that felt the need to catch up on all the latest gossip. All night long. In ear-splitting high pitched voices. At one point, I couldn't really hear the band because their squawking over rode my senses. Blue Rodeo turned into a garbled mess in my brain.
It was constant, too. Not just once-in-a-while casual conversation about what's going on in the arena. Constant, ear-splitting, rabble about stuff only they care about. Go up to the concession concourse and yammer ya ignorant twits.
The dude two seats down from me needed a bit of a punch in the face.
The YEAHs and the WOOOOOOS are fine. Exuberance at a concert is great.
The "WE LOVE YOU"s were fucking stupid. Especially to every person that walked on stage and multiple times. I wish I could say he was drunk. He was just an asshole.
The first thing I heard him say was, "I thought this was for MS or MD." (Light of Day supports Parkinson's research). So fine, you don't know why you're here. Or you're just here for the gig. That's cool. But hey, don't say that stupid stuff out loud. It makes you look stupid. Not even his date responded.
If you're going to sing along, know the words, and maybe be able to match the notes that you're actually hearing. Hell, even screaming the words is not as bad as trying to be soulful two and half keys out.
And when the lyric is a soulful OooOOOOOoooooooo, let the professionals handle it. Your falsetto is in your shorts, pal.
Shit, I was grumpier than I thought.
Sorry. Rant over.
We were going to go see our friends' band afterward.
Part of me needed to get a good dose of rock n roll with decent sound.
Part of me didn't have the energy.
Indecision led to choosing the shorter drive - home.
This is an off-shoot of Light Of Day that started in New Jersey around 15 years ago.
So, there were a lot of New Jersey connections.
Some, I think are pretty cool and couldn't wait to share.
Fuggedabowdit....
Vinnie Pastore was the co-host. The other guy is from a local radio station.
Some E-Street Band representation:
Joe Grusheky and The Houserockers. They're actually from Pittsburgh, but play the Jersey Shore a lot and Bruce Springsteen always tries to get there and sit in. (Bruce has been part of previous Light of Day shows in Jersey.)
There were a couple of other bands there too.
Jason Heath and The Greedy Souls from California (banjitar content - sounded great but needed to be up in the mix a bit more)
Joe D'Urso and Stone Caravan
Bobby Mahoney and Seventh Son.
They all did two or three song sets. (There were two after parties at bars in the area where they played dulls sets. We didn't go to those. )
Overall, every one of them sounded great and put on a fun show given the limits imposed (few songs and quick changeover). Only a couple of sound issues that I realised later on were the sound guy's doing.
Oh, there was one more. And I saved this picture until now because she's from Kingston, ON (instead of Jersey) and that guitar.... I figured it would spawn a different conversation.
Here's Miss Emily.
The guitar actually sounded great. Mind you, she pretty much just strummed it like a regular acoustic.
She's got a hell of a voice too. Her first song was done a Capella and was very soulful.
She was there because she supports the Light of Day show in Kingston, ON which is tonight. She'll be playing with some of the guys from The Tragically Hip. The Northern Pikes are headlining that one.
And, finally, Blue Rodeo with Jim Cuddy doing an impression of Dave Grohl. He had a brace on his knee and used crutches to get around.
Another point of discussion that made me think of MWGL is more of a rant on the sound.
I wanted to find and throttle the sound guy.
I swear that the only reason I could hear most of what Blue Rodeo was playing was because I was in the third row and could hear it from the stage directly.
Most vocals, the keys, and the bass were fine. Actually bass was a bit much given the lack of everything else. We were right in front of the bins and there was a wedge speaker on top with the vocals and keys...and when the sound guy woke up, the electric guitar.
The drums, I think were non-existent in the mix. They were probably fine in the monitors for the band, but I heard nothing out front except what reached me from the kit itself. They use a shield to help Greg with his tinnitus, but I was off to the side a bit and it was open air between me and the kit. So, I could hear some of it.
Kick drum? They could have left it on the truck. There was nothing coming through the bins. I couldn't hear it at all because the plexiglass shield covered that up very well.
It was more annoying because the openers used a different kit, and one even just used a cajon. That all worked very well. Even the cajon had enough oomph to rattle the floor and shake your whole body. At first I though it might be disconnected mics on the kit, but watching the rest of the band it was obvious they heard it in their monitors.
And, I watched the drummer signal for adjustments in his mix several times. So, they were feeling it a bit onstage too.
Guitar solo? Oh, hey, you don't want to hear the first part do you? I'll just slowly ramp up the volume now that I realise that no one can hear it. Same thing happened with the sax player with the Houserockers.
There were parts where I wondered if he was plugged in at all but I could hear a bit from the monitors on stage. Great player though.
And to wrap up a grumpy evening, there were 5 women behind us that felt the need to catch up on all the latest gossip. All night long. In ear-splitting high pitched voices. At one point, I couldn't really hear the band because their squawking over rode my senses. Blue Rodeo turned into a garbled mess in my brain.
It was constant, too. Not just once-in-a-while casual conversation about what's going on in the arena. Constant, ear-splitting, rabble about stuff only they care about. Go up to the concession concourse and yammer ya ignorant twits.
The dude two seats down from me needed a bit of a punch in the face.
The YEAHs and the WOOOOOOS are fine. Exuberance at a concert is great.
The "WE LOVE YOU"s were fucking stupid. Especially to every person that walked on stage and multiple times. I wish I could say he was drunk. He was just an asshole.
The first thing I heard him say was, "I thought this was for MS or MD." (Light of Day supports Parkinson's research). So fine, you don't know why you're here. Or you're just here for the gig. That's cool. But hey, don't say that stupid stuff out loud. It makes you look stupid. Not even his date responded.
If you're going to sing along, know the words, and maybe be able to match the notes that you're actually hearing. Hell, even screaming the words is not as bad as trying to be soulful two and half keys out.
And when the lyric is a soulful OooOOOOOoooooooo, let the professionals handle it. Your falsetto is in your shorts, pal.
Shit, I was grumpier than I thought.
Sorry. Rant over.
We were going to go see our friends' band afterward.
Part of me needed to get a good dose of rock n roll with decent sound.
Part of me didn't have the energy.
Indecision led to choosing the shorter drive - home.