Well yesterday was a long day. We finished load out in Munich at 5 am last night (this morning) and then drove 6 hours to Vienna for load in here. We just have so much crap. Kiss does not travel lightly. We are in 13 Euro trucks and they are PACKED TO THE GILLS. The Kiss show is full of all kinds of moving pieces and set stuff. They just do everything big. But that means that it takes FOREVER to load in and out. In fact the last two days and tomorrow will be wake up and work and go to bed. No rest for the wicked.

Tomorrow is three of three in a row and it is an outdoor amphitheater that is a historic place. It is pushing gear over cobblestone and a real pain in the ass. Great place to see a show, not so much fun to work at. Leaving after that show to travel home. Verona, Italy to Frankfurt, Germany to Dallas, TX. Once again on Southwestthansa.

I forgot to post the photos of Shellie and I clearing our lot the weekend before I left for Europe. We are really stoked to have this piece of property in south Dallas.

Click here to see the photos of the property.

Went running yesterday for 5 miles. Yup..... running..... Who would have thought that I would have EVER said that. Had a good time with Bill Sheppell. But next time I decide to go running, remind me to NOT go with a world class kayaker and mountain biker. Bill is just at a completely different fitness level than I am at and kicked my ass. He was nice enough to take it at my pace, but I know that he wanted to run ahead when I was dying. I would be panting and about to fall over and he just was cooking right along, not even breathing hard. Bastard..... Maybe some day I will be able to exercise with such little effort. :-)

Went and had a really nice dinner with the noise boys. We had Indian food and it was delicious. The only thing weird was that it was in the same building that a mini mart for a gas station was. Scary at first, but after the first food came out we settled in.

Three more days here with KISS and then homebound. The load in today is going slow. It is 2 pm and one side of the PA is up and we have NO points for the other side. Gonna be a long day.

Here are some photos of the set up for the Euro leg of the Kiss tour. Bill Sheppell is taking over the FOH duties and really has it sounding good. I am just here in the role of audio consultant. I am here for four shows and then I am home for a couple of weeks before I head out with the LP guys for the summer. First show in Oberhausen, Germany today. Things are hectic here, but going well.

Flew to Germany yesterday to start the Kiss tour. My flight was on Lufthansa. Boy they are the german southwest let me tell you. Tiny ass seats and every flight packed to the gills. Definitely the greyhound of the euro skies. Ten hours of fun for sure. Just loading in to the arena in Oberhousen to start production rehearsals. Band is supposed to show up later, so there is lots of pressure to get everything working. Good to see old friends once again. Every time that I come back to KISS it feels like coming home again because of the crew family.

After Coachella Shellie and I enjoyed some days off in Los Angeles. We did the dork world tour and did ALL the tourist attractions that we had not done before. Went to Universal Studios all day one day. Went to see the Price is right. Here is contestant 252. Isn't she beautiful?


Shellie did not get called up to bid, but she did dance on the stage prior to the show alongside Rich the announcer - you know the guy who says "a new CARRRRRRR !!!!!!" when Drew Carrey asks what we have for the contestant. So we didn't win anything, but number 41,085 on the list of stupid shit to do in our lifetimes has now been crossed off. (#41,085 was go to Price is Right. #41,086 was WIN on the price is right - so we only get to cross one out of two.)

Ate lots of great stuff - some high lights were: The Stinking Rose, Grand Lux Cafe, Carney's, Del Taco, Micelli's, and Jerry's famous deli. Can you tell we like food? - we judge how our vacations are by what we ate - funny.

Back on the 'program" next week - fun to eat whatever you want though sometimes. I will pay for it on the scale though.

All in all - a great little mini vacation.

Just got back from Los Angeles. Worked at Coachella with Scars on Broadway. Things were really hectic there. We were playing one of the side stages. Often times you just don't get the service that you get on headline stages. All was well up until our changeover. The audio vendor was Rat sound and I unfortunately have to tell you that I have not had a whole lot of good experiences with them. Not to bad mouth - I am just saying that 6 out of 7 visits have not been good. BUT prior to the show day - EVERYTHING was kosher and we were getting the star treatment. To be fair - they were very receptive to all of my requests and emails and file changes, etc. A+ for service there. But on the day, it was a different story. We had 36 inputs - so not a SHITLOAD, but enough to make a large patch. The scenario is this - each band gets 35 minutes with 20 minute changeovers. We brought our files that we made in rehearsals on our PM5D's and all would be well if they patched our stage one for one. I spent several minutes with the stage patchers backstage explaining to them where things were, and even patched the whole drum kit myself to make sure it was right. Here is where the problem happened. The band prior to us had MOST of the DI's and mics that WE needed. What the fuck? Shouldn't you have two of everything so that you can leap frog bands? Hmmmm - this was the first problem, then the second problem was honestly that there was much blank stares from the techs when I tried to explain to them where inputs should be plugged in. I realize that it is hot and it has been a long two days of shitty bands on a B stage - but we spent the time to dial up consoles and bring our own files and even MOST of our own microphones, pretty much the ONLY thing left for the Rat guys to get right was, - the patch. Line check time - Just about the only thing that WAS right was the drum kit that I patched. EVERYTHING else was a mess. Guitars showing up completely incorrectly. and keyboards (granted there was 12 inputs of keys) would show up right, and then when we would try for another one, I could watch and hear them as they UN-PATCHED the previously checked keyboard, and plugged another into it. OMG !!!!! Finally I screamed - "Once something is line checked - DO NOT unplug it"

BTW - this ENTIRE time they could not get my talkback to work, so I was trying to communicate to the stage with shitty radios that barely worked. VERY frustrating. Anyway after we were into about 35 minutes of our 20 minute chang over we had to go. I had guitars in the wrong order and keyboards showing up incorrectly, but I had all the inputs - just in the wrong holes. So all the time spent dialing things up in rehearsals was really kind of for nothing. I came out of the hole horribly. Had to dial like a madman to fix input gains and re-EQ things. Took me until about halfway thru the first song to start to have anything good, and halfways thru the second to really pull it together. I was bummed.

So what is the lesson learned? Sometimes it is worth the money and the time to bring your own board groups to festivals and otherwise. We had a console package (FOH and Monitors) for two days of rehearsals. And to save about $2500 dollars (for the rental on show day) management and the band decided NOT to bring the gear we used in rehearsals. The band certainly didn't have a great time, as you can imagine. For $2500 everything would have been correct, and the band would have gone on stage on time, they would have been happy, and everything would have sounded like rehearsals.

What can you do? You try to convince people to do the right thing, but ultimately it always down to cash isn't it?

BTW - the band was great. Scars is going to be a band that we will see in the top ten very soon - mark my words.

We have spent the last two days setting up for rehearsals for Scars on Broadway. Last night they played thru the set. I have to say that it was pretty cool. The new music has shades of old school Sabbath, mixed with an almost Jazz fusion punk sound. There were definite moments of greatness. (I don't say that lightly - It takes quite a lot these days to make me go "wow") Pretty stoked to be working with some talented guys. Good to see a lot of the old friends that were around when I was working for System of a Down. Both Daron and John look great and were in great spirits. They are really happy about their "side project" and now I see why. Waiting on the band to start rehearsals today and looking forward to it.

All the roadies are in town right now. Bill Sheppell is here, Ragman, Steve Kidd, Grady Champion. It has been one reunion after another. That is usually what happens at these festival dates. You see all kinds of people that you know. The wife is flying in tomorrow night so that we can have a little vacation in Los Angeles Sunday to Wednesday. I think that she is going to hang out at Universal Studios on Saturday. Wish I could go - but someone has to earn the money.

Check it YO.

LP LIVE INTERVIEW WITH POOCH.

I fly to Los Angeles tommorrow to do rehearsals for Scars on Broadway. Looking forward to that. Did an online interview yesterday for LPlive.net. It is an online fan site dedicated to discussing about recordings and the general sound of Linkin Park. I will post the link to the interview when I get it.

My wife traded in her car yesterday and got a new car. It is a really nice vehicle, and we are stoked to have it. 2008 Cadillac STS. Thunder grey with black interior. I am at the window tinting joint right now getting the vehicle looking fly. My wife is spoiled, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love her and she deserves it. We feel really lucky to be able to afford a vehicle like this Plus when I am home I get to drive it.