Faber Drive in Ottawa and Toronto

I spent the weekend working for Faber Drive. I went back to my roots as a guitar tech and tuned some guitars, changed some strings, and drank a lot of beer. I hadn't seen the guys in almost a year and it was awesome to meet up with them again and do a couple shows just like the old days. The band flew in from BC for the 2 shows so there wasn't much gear which is always nice. It was also really great not having to tour manage for a couple shows. As much as I enjoy it, its nice to give the old brain a break from the stress and impair it with alcohol...

We pulled a sweet prank on The Latency too. We made a bunch of bright signs that had rude (and hilarious) things on them, and we got a group of fans to help out and hold them in the crowd during their set. They didn't seem to get it at first until they saw us side stage laughing our asses off.

We had a day off on Saturday so we decided to take Faber Drive's new guitar player JP on a small tour of the city. It was his first time in T.O. so we took him to the Hard Rock Cafe, and the Eaton's Center at Young and Dundas, then went to Sneaky Dee's for some cheap pitchers.

I also met Murphy! He is Faber Drives new Tour Manager/Guitar Tech. There isn't much to say about him other than he is an awesome mother fu%&er! cheers Murphy!

Good times.
Check out the whole Album HERE

From Faber Drive

From Faber Drive

From Faber Drive

The Greatest Invention Ever...The Pooter!

Watch the video below...


He's using a "Pooter" Its a rubber tube thing that perfectly emulates the sound of a fart. Amazing!
I already ordered one and its sitting at home waiting for me. You can order them at www.thepooter.com.

I know its a bit off topic, and a little juvenile but you cant watch that video and not at least crack a smile!

Matt

Social Code

While you're here, check out Social Code. They are a hard working, great sounding band from Edmonton, Alberta who have been touring their asses off all over the damn place for a long time. Their new album "Rock 'N'Roll" is being released in stores on Sept 1st, and listen for their new singles on the radio now called "Satisfied". Check out their youtube channel HERE.

Buckcherry Tour

O.K . so I've been slacking lattely. Sorry. I was supposed to give daily updates of the Buckcherry tour but to be honest, I've been having too much fun to care. Buckcherry brings in a very rowdy crowd every night! Its been a tour of crowds drinking, fighting, and screaming "Crazy Bitch" all damn night. We've done a mixture of small arenas to large clubs and the shows have been awesome every night. Its been very nice to tour in Canada again and not have to wake up at 8:30 every damn morning like on Warped Tour.

Buckcherry has some awesome crew too. Everyone is so helpful and down to earth. Its amazing how much better a tour can be when you are working with great people. Thanks to everyone involved in this tour!

Like the last day of every tour, I'm going to try and take a bunch of pictures to make up for the lack of photography over the whole tour prior. I'm going to try and find a good free online photo album to post all my pics. If you know of a good one let me know please!

Best,
Matt

Inward Eye - Day After Day

Here is the video for Inward Eye's new single Day After Day. It was filmed in Winnipeg in China Town. This is currently their newest single and is playing in Canada and the USA. You can see that the guitar I fixed for kyle is still going strong as well. Its been through 2 tours now with no sign of breakage.

Their new album named "Throwing Bricks Instead of Kisses" has just been released (as of August 18 2009) in North America and you absolutely have to buy or download it! Its available in all music stores and on iTunes.

Inward Eye Buckcherry Tour

Here we go again! Today is the first day of our 5 day tour opening for Buckcherry. It looks like its going to be a fun time!

Here's the dates:

18 Aug 2009 19:00	South Okanagan Events Centre w/Buck Cherry, Social Code	Pentiction, British Columbia
20 Aug 2009 19:00	Dawson Creek Event Centre w/Buck Cherry, Social Code	Dawson Creek, British Columbia
21 Aug 2009 19:00	Kooler w/Buck Cherry, Social Code	Lloydminster, Alberta
22 Aug 2009 19:00	Cold Lake Energy Centre w/Buck Cherry, Social Code	Cold Lake, Alberta
24 Aug 2009 19:00	Exhibition Park w/Buck Cherry, Social Code	Lethbridge, Alberta

I get to mix on a D-Show Profile (my favorite digital console) with a full Meyer Line Array rig. I just pee'd a little.

A few short days off...

I just spent the weekend in Minnedosa, Winnipeg with The guys in Inward Eye and their family. They have a house there which is right by a scenic river in the shield area of Winnipeg. Its a small town so you get the feel of being in nature with all the perks of being in a city, like a grocery and beer store located less than a 5 min walk away from. The front door. On saturday night we had 18 people circled around a camp fire with guitars and shakers. It was definately a great way to wind down after Warped Tour. Thanks Sue and Martin for having me over!

It's back to work now though. We are currently driving 24 hours west to Penticton, BC to start off the bands tour opening for Buckcherry starting on the 18th of August.

More to come soon!

Warped Tour is OVER

Sorry for the delay folks, I've been recovering.

Our last show was in Denver, CO and boy was it tough! They had warned us about the elevation but it still hit us like a tonne of bricks. I cant believe Inward Eye managed to finish their set. The lack of oxygen in the air just seemed to suck the life right out of you. I drank about 5 cups of coffee that day just to stay functional. We had a great crowd for the last show, and even with the hot weather and thin air, Inward Eye played thier best show on the tour in my opinion. I made sure the band and crew all got a farewell photo, which promplty got ruined by our merch guy. You'll see.

Overall this tour sucked ass, but I wouldnt have missed it for the world. Hopefully if we get a slot next year, we'll be on a BUS. Trying to do this tour in a van makes a hard tour harder. Sure there was terrible weather, hoards of emo fans, long drives, and almost no sleep, but nobody remembers that in the long run. I'll remember the great people, bands, crew, and memories that I made along the way. I have to extend my thanks, and gratitude to everyone who made Warped Tour 2009 possible. Everyone who worked on the Kia Kevin Says Stage were amazing. Special thanks go to Brooklyn, Stu, and Tom, who are hands down the most fun group of guys I've ever worked with on a tour. Cheers.

Warped Tour Bonner Springs KS

Well we got our van fixed and it stops perfectly. Today was the best overal day on the tour. We got to park the van super close to the stage, we had a great time slot, and a lot of people showed up. I admit I've been slacking on the picture taking. I am going to force myself to take lots of pictures over the last 3 shows.

The best part about today was the fact that we get 2 days off. We have had to drive to the next city right after our shows every night which really sucks, but today we finally got to stay at a hotel for the night and unwind. We got some cheap American beer, sat on the patio, drank and went swimming. We ate at a fantastic Mexican restaurant and I went right to bed. Amazing!

Doing Warped Tour in a van really makes you appreciate the little things in life. ;)

Chicago IL and Shakopee MN

Im sitting in a Hooters as I type this. Just for the record.

Chicago was pretty uneventful. It was just another show in the rain. Same as Shakopee.

The most eventful part of the past two days was when our brakes stopped working on the highway just before our exit to the hotel. It was 5 am when we hobbled into the parking lot and we had to call AAA to get the van towed to a dealership. Turns out the brake pump failed and will cost $860 US to fix. So were stranded at the hotel waiting to cab it to the show and the only restaurant in walking distance is a Hooters. That's my excuse. Hopefully we can get it fixed today so we can make it to the show tomorrow. Cross your fingers!

Warped Tour Chicago IL

Chicago crowds are crazy! Inward Eye played their best show yet today and the crowd loved it. There were a bunch of punk rockers doing a circle-march-dance-walk dealie in the "mosh pit" which was a first for me. We got a sweet merch booth location too which meant really good merch sales as well.

Remember the white guitar I fixed? Well its still going strong. Its been played hard, hit with drum sticks, and knocked over a few mic stands and the head is holding strong. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

I'll leave you with a video of the oldest security guard we've ever seen... enjoy!

Warped Tour Detroit MI

Finally a day without rain! I tried my Heil PR40 on a kick drum taday. Tom and I played around with the positioning a little bit and my favorite spot was having the front grill of the mic in line with the drum skin facing the beater. In comparison to other kick mic (Audix something) I noticed more low end in the 80 - 150Hz range, as well as a little more high end. The Heil was even a little more sensitive than the Audix, and was really crisp and tight sounding. I was a little concerned about the mic being able to handle the SPL's from the kick, but it held up fine. Tom let me mix a few of the other bands which was sweet. He was happy to have a break and I was happy to mix a band with more than 3 members in it!

Sorry for any non-audio people reading this post, most of this must seem like a foreign language...

Pics later...I'm tired...