Archive Sunday #63

   In the beginning of July, we had a show in Chicago at Millennium Park. It was at this beautiful amphitheater structure with a metal webbing draping over the crowd towards one end of a massive downtown park. We loaded everything in onto the stage that looked like it was built for full orchestras and symphonies, and during the soundcheck we could see a couple people from the park's crew taking readings around the stage to make sure we were within the decibel limits. I don't think the Naked Giants were familiar with the process, because Gianni went up to them and screamed in their boom mic taking the readings moving beside him. They looked so surprised as they tried to stop him haha but it was already too late. Luckily the readings take an average over a big chunk of time, so it ended up ok but I'll never forget the look on their faces. We joked about how this huge place would look so empty when we played, but it actually filled out and looked incredible when a circle pit formed during Beach Life.

    Up next we had a couple one-offs, including this festival we had in Iowa. Our string of bad luck there continued when during our line-check we noticed the stage crew was having trouble getting anything at all in our monitors. Usually for festivals like this the last couple headline acts will get soundchecks early in the day while the rest of the bands will get a changeover time slot for a line-check. So we had about 30 minutes while everyone was trying to figure things out, but at the end still nothing was coming through. Ultimately we decided to go ahead without being able to hear much of each other, rather than delay the show and the other acts afterward. We had to cut our planned Marvin Gaye cover short, but other than that we made it through alright by listening to the reflections of the PA. We did the best we could given the circumstances but unfortunately afterwards Andrew got pulled over speeding on the highway getting out his frustration. And to add to our bad luck there he was just over the limit of reckless driving, so it ended up sticking around and prohibited him driving in Iowa for a bit.

   After that, we had another festival in Quebec called Festival d'été. It was one pretty unfamiliar to us, but I remember it was one of those festivals that was spread out over a few weeks with shows occurring mostly at indoor venues. I remember we read the schedule on the day sheet posted backstage and planned a set that would fill our time slot but not go over and affect the event posted afterwards. We played a typical festival set that was pretty high-energy and succinct, but when we walked off-stage afterwards the production team made it seem weird that we finished the set on-time and without an encore. Little did we know we were actually supposed to be that night's headliner and the event afterwards was just a dj set to perform whenever we were done haha. But at that point most of our gear was packed up, so we couldn't play anything more without a lengthy setup. It was a bit of a bummer we couldn't perform longer, but we had a great time regardless.

   We got back to the Pacific Northwest to grab the van and headed up to Vancouver. There we played the Commodore Ballroom to start another run down the coast. I remember we covered Black Paint to start the show and had a really great night. The next day we drove back down to Carnation, Washington to play this great little festival called Timber. I remember swimming in the river a bit after we loaded everything in. It was a perfect day and we were one of the last bands playing that night. It was probably one of the first opportunities we had to play an encore for a festival, but I remember losing part of my in-ears right before we went back on. So I just shoved what was left in my ear and finished out the night haha.

   From there we went down to Portland to play the Crystal Ballroom. It was an unusually hot day and I remember sweating during our photo shoot beforehand and continually throughout the show. I'm pretty sure the venue didn't have AC at the time, and most of us got rid of our shirt before the end of the night. Next up, we had a couple shows at San Francisco's Fillmore. This is where we filmed part of the Tidal documentary with the live show footage. It made things a little more stressful getting everything done, but it turned out to be a great venue to have it at. We also met up with John Foresman here who filled the role of lighting designer from here on out. There's always a bit of uncertainty adding someone new to our touring party, but I feel like he pretty much immediately fit in with everyone.

  We continued south to Los Angeles to play the Wiltern theater. It was a super cool spot and the green rooms almost seemed too nice for a music venue. Our booking agent Ali was in town and came out to the show to see the new lineup. She had previously seen the Naked Giants play previously in Seattle when Grant must have had a seizure on stage. So when she saw the new high energy light show, she was rightfully concerned it might be an unsafe environment for him. We were totally unaware he had any issues surrounding that, but after talking with him it turns out the flashing/moving lights wouldn't trigger further episodes. Though we made sure to double check with John F. that the venues were posting warning signs that cautioned the crowd that the light show might contain flashing lights.

  The next day, we went down to San Diego to play the Soma. This was the type of venue that we were more used to playing, with those lumpy couches in the green room that permanently smell like stale beer. It was a fun show, but I remember the house lighting guy feel asleep in the middle of programming Naked Giant's set. He must have been pulling a double or something because everyone noticed the lights stuck on one cue and looked over to see him nodding over the board haha. Luckily we had John F take care of things for our set, so it ended on a good note. Then we played I think our only show in Las Vegas at this small little bar called Bunkhouse. It was kinda depressing seeing people addicted to slots at the gas stations, but the show was actually a really great time.

  From there we went back to the Southwest and played the 191 Toole and the Van Buren in Tuscon and Phoenix. I think the heat index was up to 120 degrees in Phoenix and we made the mistake of walking a half mile or so to grab lunch. The simmering breeze actually would hit you like a ton of bricks and actually make you feel worse. Luckily the venue had great AC and even had cold brew coffee on tap in the green room.

Then we had a couple shows around Denver, one at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood plus one at the Boulder Theater. I remember we tried to vary the setlist a bit and added War is Coming for the second night. I'm always surprised when driving around there we usually end up on a gravel road for several miles. between highways. I guess it must be the fastest route sometimes to get to Salt Lake, but we always get worried that we've lost service and are getting lost. In Salt Lake we had our last show of the run at the Urban Lounge. It was a great way to cap off the tour, and Andrew always gets the chance to see some family there. I remember the Naked Giants were so eager to get back to Seattle the next day, they drove the whole way in one day even though it was probably 15 hours!