So after another long drive to Glasgow it was into a show at Glasgow Academy. The last time The Killers were in this venue was on the Hot Fuss tour and we had to stop the show because one of the many flying beers that were thrown hit the keyboards but luckily we managed to get everything fixed. No such problems this time thankfully, next up we were off to Leeds and Liverpool and it seemed like every day we were losing another crew member to illness as one by one they were going to hospital but we adapted and battled on. We did have a special treat in store for the show in Liverpool, since it was the home of The Beatles and all that.
Next up we had a day off in Manchester before starting a 4 in a row before the end of the tour. After a great show at the new and updated Manchester Academy we were off to the Forum in London where we had one of those days where everything else went wrong which started with one of Brandons monitors that allows him to hear himself on stage blowing up. As this was a Sunday it wasn't the easiest fix but luckily we managed to get a hold of one and just as soundcheck ended the sound desk decided to crash and not reboot, this meant we had to rewrite the entire program that is used in the show on a different desk format and then resoundcheck everything which left us having to hold doors for 30mins unfortunately. Luckily we managed to get through the show and were off to Birmingham. Apparently the British prime Minister, David Cameron was at the show. I didnt see him myself though. So after many phonecalls we managed to get a replacement desk and were back up and running. after wandering out for dinner i saw the front of the building and had to make a quick phonecall. Who is Bradon Flowers anyway??
It was soon fixed
And finally we were back to London for the last show of the tour at Brixton Academy
There was also a few surprises in store as Stuart Price was in attendance at the venue. Stuart was the guy who produced the last Killers album and also a remix of Mr Brightside.
So a quick afternoon rehearsal and we added versions of Human
and the very first liver performance of the remix of Mr Brightside
So that was it, 2 weeks is coming up before the US Tour
After a quick trip over to Germany we played at the SWR3 Tv show/festival in Baden Baden. The usual nonsense of doing tv shows accompanied the day so i found a few laughs of the costumes which were left lying around in the dressing room for some reason.
Also for some reason that night we found that the streets of Baden Baden were all laid out in carpet for the festival.
Anyway, next day we were off to Cologne where we finally took delivery of the new stage set for the tour. Particularly happy with how the new drum riser turned out.
Also tonight was the debut of the desk mascots for this tour. Every tour gets a new one. This time its Doctor Who and a Dalek from the TV Show Doctor Who
Tonight was an OK show though the audience didn't seem to be very responsive, maybe it was the sunday night thing. Who knows Anyway, it was over and off we went to Brussels for show 2 of 4 in a row at the Ancienne Belgique, which was a much more receptive crowd
After a walk around Brussels we were off to the Port of Amsterdam for a show at the Paradiso club. Always a fun venue to play at and usually a good crowd.
And after the fun and frolics of Amsterdam we were bound for Paris for a show in a somewhat unusal venue, the Cabaret Sauvage resembles a circus tent more than a venue.
But after some intial worries that it may be a little cold inside the Parisian crowd made sure it was a fantastic show and were in great voice throughout.
Next up was a day off in Berlin after a long drive from Paris where we had time for some dinner and a stroll around before catching a showing of The Town, the new Ben Affleck movie. All in all it was a good film, if maybe a touch too long, but for some reason there was some bizarre commercials shown before the film, which i managed to find on good old youtube.
Can never watch X-Men without laughing at this now.
Anyway off to the show we were the next day where we finally had a decent lighting system so i managed to snag a couple of pictures
We also had a guest backstage in the form of the very nice Fran Healy, lead singer of the band Travis, who has just agreed to drag his guitar along and play some shows opening for Brandon in the US IN November, looking forward to that very much.
Next up was a day off in the fun that is ridiculously expensive Zurich (12.50 for a Big Mac Meal). A quiet day was had by all and then it was off to show before heading onwards to Italy for shows in Milan and Rome. Rome was by the far the smallest show of the tour with a capacity of around 450 squeezing into a tiny room for a great show.
The next day was spent doing a little sightseeing in Rome, the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain as well heading to the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel amongst other things. We were a little dissapointed to a line of people which had to be over a kilometre long as we drove to the gate but the ever resourceful chaps that we are we slid into the line unnoticed at the top (well, more like stepped over the knee high barrier in the hopes that no one would protest....and they didnt....SCORE....we were inside within 10 mins. I'll find out eventually if that one is going to come back and bite me on the ass i guess.
Anyway, that night we were off to Barcelona after a 15 hour to a night in a hotel where i found it a little strange that there was a welcome message written on my bathroom mirror for some reason
A little strange but what the hell, at least i had a good view from my window
next night we were off to the show at the Razzamatazz where we got off to a great start but then we had 2 massive power failures with the sound equipment. After tracing the problem to a faulty amp belonging to the venue, we were back up and running. Luckily this didnt kill the athmosphere and a great show was had. next night in Madrid we had a fantastic crowd and the band were on great form also for the final mainland europe show of the tour.
After a 14 hour drive to paris for 9 hours in a hotel, its now nearly 2 in the morning and im waiting on the bus to pick us up again for the last part of the journey north to Glasgow, hold on UK....we're coming!!!
So after a few days off i was off to London for 2 weeks to look after the Somerset House Summer Series of Concerts. Nice easy gig for me, 2 weeks in the same venue with bands such as The XX, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mystery Jets, Gil Scott Heron. After a few days off i was headed to LA for a few days for a Rage Against The Machine one off. This was a charity benefit show to raise funds for a political rally against the passing of a new Immigration Law in Arizona. This was also the first hometown show for Rage in over 10 years. After a quick 36 hour trip to Southern Cali i was on my way back home for 3 days. Next up was a quick flight to London for my first show with Motley Crue at the Sonisphere Festival.
Next up we headed to Germany and Belgium for a few shows then off to Sweden for another Sonisphere festival. after an hours sleep we were back to the airport to fly to Finland for the final European show. We arrived to the usual rain that was following us on this whole tour, which only got worse as the day went on. Right after Slayer finished (figuratively) ripping the roof off the Main stage, a change in the weather decided to come along and literally rip the roof off of our stage. Iggy Pop was just getting ready to go on stage when out of nowhere there was a massive downburst that felt like a tornado and rain came in so hard that you couldn't even see the main stage which was 400 feet away. All of our equipment was soaked and beyond use, as was Iggy's.
Just check out the damage to the leg of the stage, this 2 pieces should be welded together.
And there should be a roof here
Next day was travel hell day as we drove from Pori to Helsinki, flew to London then on to Chicago and then on to Rapid City, South Dakota. Next show was in 110 degree heat at a biker festival in Sturgis South Dakota where people were actually able to ride their bikes into the show and sit on them and watch the band. Quite Bizarre!!
Next was off to LA for the first of the Ozzfest shows in san Bernardino and the start of a very stupidly busy block of time for me as i was going to be hopping between 2 tours as well as having a theatre show i designed open in Dublin in the same week. After the San Bernardino show i was straight in a car to drive to Vegas for 2 shows with Brandon Flowers at the Encore Hotel and also the Shimmer room at the Hilton. Next day i was off to Chicago for the next ozzfest show before heading on towards Pittsburgh, Hartford and Camden before driving to Boston to go straight to the airport and flying to Chicago for another show with Brandon then going straight back to the airport to head back to Boston for the last ozzfest show then straight to toronto to catch up with the Flowers show again. In the 3 days before toronto i managed a total of about 8 hours sleep and somehow managed to squeeze in the debut of the theatre show via video link.
Anywho, the Motley crue tour was actually a great time. The band are some of the nicest people i've met and getting to watch Ozzy a few times was a good time also
With all that craziness over i was off to just do one tour for the rest of the year. After toronto we drove to New York for a show at the Highline Ballroom and a radio session at Sirius Satellite radio on my birthday where i ran into Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine as well. Home beckoned the next day and i headed back across the sea for 3 days before 10 days in London doing some promo shows at Alan Carr, BBC Radio and MTV before heading back to LA for appearances at Kimmel and Leno then back to London for Jools Holland before taking the ferry home to Dublin for 3 shows in 2 days. First up was a show at the Academy then the next day we played a 'secret' pub show at Whelans and then another set at the Academy and i got to give the Arthurs Day toast from the stage which was a good laugh.
That was pretty much my reaction when i recieved the phone call asking if i was available to fly in for another of The Killers now seemingly regular one offs. Needless to say this wasn't going to be any ordinary show. The band were invited to play at the 4th of July Celebrations at the White House by the USO and President Obama. After a quick 12 hours travel to DC via London we checked into the hotel which was nicely within walking distance of the WH itself. After an evening off to relax and recover from the travel we were off to the site for what was one of the most unusual places i've ever done a show.
After the to be expected rigorous security and safety checks we were given our passes and allowed onto the grounds. As it was nighttime we were escorted everywhere by armed personnel and were always within view of our escorts. We were on the grounds when the President came back in his motorcade and it was an impressive site, we thought that would be the closest we would get to him while we were there, what did we know eh?
After i got all the lights set up it was back to the hotel before heading back in the morning to get the rest of the gear set up and get ready for soundcheck. As it was daytime now, things were a little more relaxed in terms of being able to move more freely on foot. So of course we took the opportunity to snap a few shots.
We got to have a little game of fetch with Bo, the presidents dog, too.
After the soundcheck we were back to the hotel and a wander around town whilst we waited to go for the show. We wandered back with a few hours to spare so we could join in the festivities on the south lawns. On the 2 previous occasions we had entered via the grounds but this time we were brought in through the House itself which was pretty cool, there are some amazing pictures on the walls of the ground floor, after a quick walk past the famed "West Wing" and the Oval Office we were back outside where we had some Barbeque and watched Pres. Obama give his address to the people in attendance.
After the speech, he made his way down the steps and walked along meeting and saying hi to people, it was pretty chaotic but a couple of us took our chances and stood on the opposite side of the garden from where he was and surely enough he made his way over and said hello and shook hands. To be honest, working in this business as long as i have, you used to unusual situations etc etc but even for a cynic like me, meeting a US President at the White House on 4th of July is pretty cool. Even for a non US citizen but someone who spends a lot of time in the US for work it was a great day and i can only imagine what it meant to the US citizens present. Im not informed enough to comment on Obama's policies or whatever as they really don't affect me as a foreign national but the brief meeting i had with him, he seemed like a personable and quite down to earth guy. Unfortunately, secret service were not keen on letting him pose for individual photos, makes sense i guess he would have been there all day, but i did manage to get him in the background of a shot at least
But anyway back to the show, first up was the MC for the evening, Cedric The Entertainer
Before opening act Brandi Carlile, then The Killers took to the stage. To be honest i was surprised that the audience were as into it as they were as sometimes these private shows can be a little reserved because you get people who may not necessarily be fans of the band etc etc
After the fireworks were over we loaded out and it was back to to hotel for a quick drink before bed and flying home again the next day. Though i did spot from the rooftop bar that the whole Whitehouse complex was now in darkness and people had gone to bed, Except for one light that was on, the light from the oval office window, the rest of the world doesn't stop for 4th of July i guess!!
Next up was a tour i was looking forward to for quite some time. The chance to work with truly one of the legends of music. So off to Germany i went for my first show with Rage Against The Machine. After arriving in Frankfurt, we had an hour and half drive that turned into a 5 hour drive due to a huge traffic jam on the Autobahn. Eventually we arrived on site for rehearsal with the band and then overnight lighting programming once it got dark. Always a strange place to do a show, in the shadow of the platform where Hitler gave his address at the Nuremburg Rally. I guess on one hand its a reminder of a dark time in history that no one wants to repeat. But anyway, first show was great and we were onwards to Rock Am Ring where we were sharing the stage with
Jay-Z
Slash
Another great show at ROCK AM RING with a crazy audience as always
After the 2 shows in Germany we were off to London for the whole reason that the tour was booked.
For those who don't know.
Every year since 2005 the UK Christmas No.1 single has been the winner of the TV show X-Factor. Its a huge ready made advertising campaign that generates millions for people like Simon Cowell while preying on fame hungry kids desperate for their big shot. In Dec last year however, a Facebook campaign was started by 2 people, Jon & Tracey Morter, to get Rage Against The Machines 1992 anthem "Killing In The Name" to the top of the charts instead of the X-Factor. The campaign started to gain supporters and the sales started to pile up. It was a very tight race but as we got closer to the end of the week, the sales were evening up and by the Saturday it was announced that Rage had taken the chart and had their first ever Number 1 Pop Single. It was an amazing campaign considering that X-Factor had 500,000 copies of the single and millions in advertising budget and a TV show that was constantly suckering people into buying the same pop schlock over and over. The Facebook campaign had no budget, and only had the download chart to count on.
And yes i've heard all the arguments about bout both the singles being on the same label etc etc (which isn't really true, both labels are owned by the same Multi-national conglomerate, but that is true of almost all the labels in the world) . That wasn't the point, the choice of song was not important, what was important was that a group of people decided it was time to stand together against what was a pre-disposed certainty that was the accepted outcome. The band were more impressed by this than by getting a Number 1 single, so much so that they pledged to donate any royalties to charity and decided as a thank you they would play a free show.
So here we were at Finsbury Park in London for the Rage Factor. The band gave away every ticket free and paid for everything themselves. We had comissioned a cartoon of Simon Cowell to Intro the band onto the stage.
The band also brought the people who started all this out on stage for a presentation
The total money donated was £162,713.03
Of course the big moment was saved for the Encore and we couldn't resist a cheeky dig at the X-Factor so we put together a quotes reel set to the X-Factor song that lost out as the intro to "Killing"
Also check this video posted a bunch of guys who had climbed the trees at the back of the venue. Made us all laugh "it Don't get much better than being in a tree"
Of course the whole place went insane for 'Killing in the name". This was a fantastic night and one i am proud to be able to say i was a part of.
So next day after all the celebrations had passed we were off to Dublin for a show at the O2 Arena. Week 2 of the tour was a slightly crazier schedule
Tuesday 7am - Load In Dublin Show 3PM - Soundcheck 6PM - Doors 9PM - RATM 11PM- Load Out
Tues into Weds 1am - Return to Hotel 4am - Leave Hotel 6am - Flight to Amsterdam 9am - Land 10am - Drive to Arnhem 2pm - Load in 5pm - Soundcheck 6pm - Doors 9pm - RATM 11pm - Load Out
Weds into Thurs 1am - Drive To Amsterdam 3am - Arrive Hotel 8am - Leave Hotel 11am - Fly to Madrid 4 pm - arrive Madrid 6pm - Load In 10pm - Lighting Programming
Thurs into Friday 3am - return to Hotel 12pm - Depart for Venue 6 pm - Doors 9pm - Cypress Hill 10.45pm - janes Addiction
friday night into Saturday and into Sunday 12.30 am - RATM 2.30am - Load Out 4.15am - Arrive Hotel 5.30am - Leave Hotel 7.00am - Fly To London 9.00am - Arrive London 10.00am - Drive to Donnington 2.20pm - arrive 3.00pm - Load In 5.00pm - Megadeth 7.00pm - Deftones 9.00pm - RATM 11.00pm - Load Out
2.00am - Drive to London 5.00am - Arrive Hotel 8.00am - Depart Hotel 10.00am - Fly Home
So as you can see there was not much room for sleep anywhere in there as one day bled into another. And who says touring is glamorous eh
Though we got through it as we always do with good humour. Although we did have the cops called on us at Madrid Airport. As we approached the security line where they have those barricades that go back and forth over and over to condense the people who are lining up we noticed that there was no one in line so we ducked under the tape barrier to make it easier for oursleves so that we wouldnt have to double back on ourselves 6 times. Security were not happy about and started yelling at us in Spanish and getting really annoyed with. We explained that we werent skipping past anyone as there was no one there before us and they were trying to amke us go back to the start and walk all of it to get back to the exact same spot where we were currently standing. we said no and they called the cops who came over all heavy handed until we told them why we did it and the cops starting laughing at the airport security.
When we did eventually get thru security we found we were not the only ones who were a little tired. Apparently the guy at the British Airways desk had a late night too
But anyway, here are a couple of pictures from the shows in Dublin and Holland
But there you have it. 7 shows playing to 350,000 people ,5 countries, 12 flights in 11 days.
Still very glad to have been a part of it as the band and crew were very nice people and the shows were amazing night after night.....and who knows....maybe we'll do it again sometime!!!
