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TOUR DIARY: Green Carnation / Beyond The Embrace tour diary from GC tour manager "Slim Jim" Keller. Check back for updates and photos! Band Webpage: http://www.greencarnation.no/ Jim's company: http://www.stmmusic.com/ Monday 27 FEB 06 – Newark, New Jersey
It all started with an email. A tour manager had crushed his ankle, and a band was in need of a fill in, ASAP. 48 hours later I had a ticket, and another 48 hours I was flying to New York to meet up with Green Carnation. This six piece metal band out of Norway was set to start their first ever US tour and I jumped in 3 days into it. Our first stop together would be NYC at the Knitting Factory with tour mates Beyond The Embrace. I’ve always heard about the Knitting Factory and this would be my first time in it. A very cool club indeed. Three floors with three different shows every night. A controlled chaos by any means, the staff and crew handles it well. The biggest thing I noticed about the club was that it was predominantly run by women. The management, talent buyer, sound engineer, and most of the staff were all women, and a very cool bunch they were. My hat’s off to Natasha, Katie, and Nancy for taking care of us during the show. Top notch indeed and all of them were beyond beautiful to boot. Starting the tour in NYC means it can only go downhill from here right? Let’s hope not. Here is where I have to show my ignorance. I had never heard of Green Carnation until I got the email that they needed a tour manager. After looking them up on the internet, and getting a crash course in their music, I was intrigued to say the least. After seeing them perform Monday night in NYC, I became a fan. The easiest way to describe them is Opeth-lite. However I think that short changes them. They are a very good, talented, and dedicated band. Coming from Norway, you’d think we’d have days off built into the tour schedule to burn down churches along the way, but the band’s sound has more in common with Gothenburg than it does their fellow countrymen. The after show drive down Broadway during a heavy snow storm was a site to behold! NYC has never looked so clean and pretty at 2am to me. Tomorrow we travel to Ohio to bring these Nord’s progressive metal sound to the masses in Kent. Notes to self: Why is it ok to drive a trailer through the Lincoln Tunnel and blow it up, but not the Hudson? Tuesday 28 FEB 06 – Kent, Ohio After a much too short 3 hour nap, it was time to embark on a 9.5 hour drive to Kent, Ohio and Screwy Louies. Tonight we had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Byzantine (a very cool group of guys, go see them when they hit your town, and go now to the store and pick up a disc of theirs). A six band mini-metalfest on a Tuesday night. Who puts 6 bands on a bill and starts at 6pm on a Tuesday night???? Green Carnation has a tour tradition of each member during the night all guessing how many units of merch will be sold. Whoever is closest to the number gets to pick the setlist the next night. So we never know what we’re going to play until showtime. They have a rough idea, but the last two nights they go onstage and pretty much pick the songs as they go along. Tonight gave us a Theremin demonstration by Michael the guitarist. Very cool indeed. House technical difficulties would end up marring a great set, but the band plowed through it with the utmost professionalism, and didn’t miss a beat. When you see the local promoters wrestling with their friends throughout the club all night, you know it is going to be a long night. We received a homemade goodie bag from an adoring fan, that could end up taking us a week or two to eat through… and there are 8 of us in the van, and none of us are slight by any means. Notes to self: it’s damned cold this time of year round these parts. If you put WD-40 on ANYTHING it will not freeze. Tuesday 28 FEB 06 – Kent Ohio The tour numbers so far: 7 Nords 1 German (who only speaks English) (and that's me, if that doesn't read clear enough for y'all) 3 hours sleep 2 shows 4 states 12 hours accumulated driving 1 driver (not a Nord, but the German) 12 Red Bulls (can't find a rockstar round these parts to save my life) 1 drive down Broadway in NYC at 2am during a killer snow storm. Never seen Broadway like that before... 1st time driving in NYC and it's a 12 person passenger van with a trailer... THROUGH 1st time seeing a female sound engineer. Oh, and she was hot too. 1st time having to explain McDonalds breakfasts to someone. How do you explain a McGriddle? I tried... and you should have seen the looks on their faces.... priceless. Needless to say, not one McGriddle was ordered. 2 shows and not 1 T&A pass given out yet... sighs... Well, off to
Wednesday 01 MAR 06 – Runner up quote of the night… “I need a beer!” – Tommy (drummer – Green Carnation [see photos]. Thursday 02 MAR 06 We’re at Vnuk’s tonight, playing just outside of
Drove 11 hours today to get to a club that was run by a very cool guy, but had no audience. Why? Flogging Molly was right down the street, and everyone was there tonight, as well as there were many other shows in town. Our show ended early, early enough to catch at least half of Flogging Molly’s set. Tonight was my first time seeing them, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Saturday 04 MAR 06 - Took the band on their first trip to Wal-Mart. We’ll Americanize these Nords yet!
Tuesday 07 MAR 06 - Sorry, got so worked up over the hotel that I forgot the big information. Kenneth (keyboards) actually took Tchort’s guitar during the “Dead But Dreaming” break down last night and wailed with Michael and Stein for the first time ever in Green Carnation history. Here’s a couple of pics for you. The first is of Kenneth on the guitar, and the second is Michael with a message, last but not least is the boys on top of the Rocky Mountains today on the way to
Tuesday 07 MAR 06 Quote of the day: Found on condom dispenser in men’s room of Club Vegas, "For refund, insert baby here" Wednesday 08 MAR 06 - I must say the weather has really been gracious to us. We were to have driven through another big storm today, but either drove through the area earlier than the storm or it just never transpired. This is the second time it has happened for us. Thursday 09 MAR 06 - A small world exists in the music business. You meet friends and people you’ve seen on the road with other bands, venues, promoters, etc. and your paths constantly cross. Tonight we met up with Jeff Hall a Tour Manager and local promoter in Which reminds me, I’d be remiss in my duties and thanks if I didn’t mention Terry Swan from the BLVD in Back to the pizza, club that is. Our largest crowd on this tour was tonight, but you couldn’t tell it from the front of the stage. My personal thanks to Will, Jeff, Susan, and Kat for taking care of us. Y’all rock. Extra special thanks to Mystique and We are 3 hours into a 10 hour drive to A special shout out to Jason (runner-extraordinaire) for picking me up my much desired Widmer Berrywizen. Sunday 12 MAR 06 - I’ve been a tour manager/promoter/roadie/etc for many years. I’ve put on shows with local bands right out of the garage, and I’ve done large theatre sized shows. And I’ve never pulled the plug on a show once, until tonight. A little background for those that don’t know. Green Carnation are touring with their own sound engineer. Many bands of all sizes do this. A sound engineer ensures that the band sounds the best they possibly can show in and show out. Green Carnation also have quite a bit of equipment they travel with that they need to connect to the soundboard for the keyboards also. We arrived in Off to the local watering hole we go. We return five minutes early and begin to load in. Things feel hinkey from the get go. But we are working through it. The sound man is about 45 minutes late or doesn’t make himself known until about 7:45 pm. By that time we are completely loaded in, and set up. All we have to do is have Reuben (our sound engineer) connect our subsystems to their soundboard and go over a couple things with the house sound guy. Once I introduce those two to each other it doesn’t take 5 minutes for the sound guy to walk off muttering to the owner of the bar that we’re insulting him and there is no way we are touching his soundboard. Now I have seen Rueben do about 12 shows personally, and I know he has been with Green Carnation since their inception some 15 years ago. It is my understanding that he has done their sound for every show they’ve ever done. Not only that but when GC isn’t touring he is a professional sound man for many other acts in A pow wow ensues between the band and I, and they let it be known that in no uncertain terms will the go onstage without Rueben mixing them. So off to the promoter I go, who understands my position, but is hoping I can convince them otherwise. It is all a moot point at this time because we aren’t allowed to connect our subsystems into their board, or if we are the local sound guy won’t know how to run it. So the conversation is really a waste of time. Let me spell something out here for you all. We are not talking a multi million dollar system at Madison Square Garden here, we are talking a little biker looking bar on the outskirts of Sacramento that didn’t promote the show, is normally closed on Sunday nights, didn’t have us on their schedule flyer in the club, whose soundman when I asked if he was the sound engineer, laughed and said, ‘no, but I occasionally do sound here.’ And we are not allowed to touch his soundboard. So we walked. No keyboards, no show. Off to the local watering hole we went, and took some fans that drove from That was our Sunday night. We are now in LA and I’ll be damned if I didn’t just lose the trailer off the back of the van driving down Hyperion BLVD. Trailer and gear are all ok, thank the gods for the safety chains! We’re playing a sushi bar, no I didn’t misspell that, we’re playing a sushi bar. Beyond The Embrace is taking the stage now. After the show we are on a long trek to Quote of the day: “$9.99 divided by 10 is 9, no 10 divided by 10 is 1 so $9.99 divided by 10 is 1. No, that’s not right either.” – Tommy (drummer – Green Carnation) while sitting in a Hooters trying to understand a joke on their menu (a cup of coffee was $9.99/10). Damn metric system gets ya every time!
LA has come and gone, a 16 hour drive to El Paso, Texas and we played a conference room in a hotel. The House Of Rock And Roll, or HORR as it is known is in a gutted out conference room of a hotel in El Paso. Decent crowd for a Wednesday night. I am still amazed at the distance some people are traveling to see Green Carnation. A ten hour drive and we arrive into the heart of chaos, also known as SXSW (South By Southwest). We’re playing the Lava Lounge on a label showcase with The Gathering, Unexpect, Giant Squid, and special guests Beyond The Embrace. The town is total chaos. Something like over 1,000 bands play in a three day period and who knows how many people descend on Austin to witness it. The tail here is unbelievable. But we are so busy trying to setup, find a place to park (only 5 miles away) and deal with 1,000,001 things that we don’t have time to enjoy the scenery or do anything about it. Last night before the show we went to the Cattleman’s Ranch and Steakhouse to have a steak. Amazing food they had there, great big steaks, and decently priced. The conversation at the end of the meal went something like this… No sleep for the wicked, as we don’t stay in Austin after the show, we drive on to San Antonio. A two hour drive for most… Friday 17 MAR 06 - San Antonio, Texas A two hour drive turns into a 7 hour drive. We’re a day early into San Antonio, ain’t no thing really, just called the hotel two days prior and bumped up our reservations from Friday night to Thursday night, only problem is when we get there instead of having two non smoking double rooms for Thursday and Friday, they have one smoking single room for Saturday. How the hell does that happen? Problem is they have no rooms. No hotel in San Antonio does. Between spring break, St Patty’s day, and the Spurs being in town there isn’t a room to be had anywhere, and I mean anywhere. We spend the next 4.5 hours driving around looking for rooms only to drive half way to Corpus Christi to stay in a dive an hour outside San Antonio. We arrive for load in at 5pm, and I get a feeling it is going to be a long night. I was told when I advanced the show that there were two shows tonight; we were playing on the front stage. I was never told we were the ‘early’ show, until we arrived at the venue. No promoter in site, and 4 bands loading into the club. Come to find out we’re playing with the Hellacopters, Nebula, and the Illuminatis. Well, sort of playing with them. I’m told by promoter number one that we are on the front stage. I’m told by the sound man when we arrive that there is no PA for the front stage and he just got off the phone with promoter number two and we are playing the main stage at 1:30AM. I’m sorry, I’m sure I heard you wrong; we’re taking the stage at 1:30AM? Color me unaccepting of this. They decide to push three of the local openers to the front stage on the ‘non existent’ PA, which pushes us back to 1AM. Not favorable, but doable. The Hellacopters finish their set, and all hell breaks loose. The sound man walks out. Leaves. Gone, Adios Muchachos. C-YA. Leaving a sound dude in training to run the show. Only, he doesn’t know how to cable the stage, snake, monitors, etc. So an hour and fifteen minutes pass between the Hellacopters and Beyond The Embrace, everyone leaves. All but 5 people. I’m all over the local promoter. He has already paid us and has offered to let us go without playing, but retaining our pay. I’m ready to walk, pack it in and go back to the hotel and forget tonight ever happened. But the five people that are still there all came from great distances to see Green Carnation, and they are not leaving until they see the band, and the band will not leave until they play for them. So, at 2AM we take the stage, play till 3AM and pull a decent crowd out of the front of the house that is having a Goth night dance party. Off to breakfast at MR Taco we go, cut short, and to the hotel for a couple hours sleep before our drive to Corpus Christi. Saturday 18 MAR 06 - Corpus Christi, Texas And hello Denny’s. We spend 24 hours in Corpus Christi Texas and eat at Denny’s 3 times. No lie, 3 times. Tempting fate we were, but the first two meals are understandable, well one of the meals there was understandable. We get to Corpus Christi at noon, rooms aren’t ready till 3pm, so we drive to find something to eat, and we drive for 1.5 hours only to end up back at the hotel and a Denny’s on the other side of the highway. You see we’ve gone three or four days on three to five hours sleep each day. So we’re tired. Bone weary tired, and all decide to take a nap, and then go out and paint the town purple. I hit the sack at 4pm and don’t wake up until 11:30pm. So much for a ‘nap’. Tchort and I are hungry, so we stumble back over to Denny’s to eat, and this is where I learn of Reuben’s strange teeth fetish. Don’t ask, or better yet, DO ask, because I just let it go at the basic information. So you want to know? Get on the Green Carnation boards and ask him yourself! We go back to the hotel, and back to bed. So much for partying in Corpus Christi. We wake up Sunday morning to play an all day Deathfest at The Ballroom with Six Feet Under, Sworn Enemy, and 9 other bands. Woo hoo. We’re told there will be two stages, and that we are going on at 8pm before the Six Feet Under tour package of five bands. But we walk in, and find only ONE stage. For 14 bands. Which means the show should have started 3 hours ago if we are to take the stage at 8pm. We’re told that they are going to split the stage in half for the locals, and as one band is playing on stage right, the other local will be setting up on stage left. This would work, if the soundman knew what he was doing. But as the day goes on, and he is asking Rueben to show him how to run his own board, I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. 10PM rolls around and we finally take the stage only to be cut short after 15 minutes to accommodate the rest of the bill that needs to play. So off we go looking for food, and end up back at Denny’s for meal number 3. We sleep and take off on a 15 hour drive to Tallahassee FL for our gig on Tuesday. There are some hot women who don’t own washers and dryers in Tallahassee. Got to remember to start hanging out at Laundromats more. Tuesday 21 MAR 06 - Tallahassee, Florida A sixteen hour drive is good for many things; sleep usually isn’t one of them. But I can tell you what it is good for, making the first ever Green Carnation road movie. You can go to www.greencarnation.no and check it out. It is also good for watching the entire Lord Of The Rings special extended edition Trilogy in its entirety as well as taking naps in between each movie, just ask Tchort. So we arrive in Tallahassee and are playing at Big Daddy’s. a dive bar like no other. And I say that with the utmost respect. I love a good dive bar. And if I were to live in Tallahassee, then Big Daddy’s is the bar I’d hang out at. Not only do they put on some great shows, but they’ve got pictures all over the place of hot young women in various states of undress, wet t-shirts, and no shirts implying that things can get quite nuts at Big Daddy’s. My kind of place for sure. Tonight’s first… Wednesday 22 MAR 06 - Jacksonville, Florida This would be the last show Shawn (vocalist, Beyond The Embrace) would do with us for several shows as he had a family emergency he had to attend to back home. The Green Carnation camp (Kjetil, Tchort, Michael, Kenneth, Stein, Tommy, Ruben, and I) would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to Shawn and his family. Hurry back brother. Thursday 23 MAR 06 - Fayetteville, North Carolina I’m home! Well, an hour from home. And we’re at Jester’s Pub tonight. Beyond The Embrace played as a four piece this evening. And even had a fan jump up and try his hand at vocals for them. Mad props to BTE for getting up and throwing down like they did tonight. It was a tough challenge and they rose to the occasion like champs. They have taken a few days off the tour while waiting for Shawn to return. They will rejoin us in Baltimore. You’re equipment is still safe!!! But we had to hawk The S’s drum kit for beer. Hats off to Mike, Claudia, and the entire Jester’s Pub staff for a great night. A class act, with world class peeps running the place.
Friday 24 MAR 06 - Raleigh, North Carolina Well, we were supposed to be in Augusta Georgia today, but that didn’t happen. The specifics aren’t important, but we’d like to apologize to the fans that showed up to the venue not knowing we wouldn’t be there. We did everything in our power to notify everyone, and hated that we had to cancel the show, but there… well… there it is. We’re sorry. So, we’re in Raleigh, NC. I’m home. I get to sleep in my bed. The band gets a day off, and we spend it repairing guitars, amps, heads, racks, etc. I treat the band to Clyde Coopers North Carolina BBQ. The best NC BBQ there is, and the band loved it. We go our separate ways to nap for a couple hours, then I pick them up to go out and paint Raleigh purple. We meet up with several friends of mine and head out to one of our favorite watering holes… Night Moves. My personal thanks to Ed for treatin’ the band like the VIPs they are. Saturday 25 MAR 06 - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Tonight we are playing the Social, and what looked like a disaster in the making turned out to be a really good night. We had to play early because Beyond isn’t playing, and the locals that were scheduled to play dropped out at the last minute also. So we actually opened for ourselves tonight. The guys opened with the acoustic set first, to warm up the crowd, then knocked their dicks in the dirt with their electric set. One thing I’ve noticed (besides the amazing amount of merch we sell) is how people will come up during the set to buy their merch. Tonight, I had one guy that bought the acoustic album while they performed their acoustic set, then come up to buy The Quiet Offspring because of a song being played off it, and towards the end of the set he comes back to buy A Blessing In Disguise because A Lullaby In Winter was being played. Usually people buy merch at the beginning or end of a show, but the ‘new’ fans of Green Carnation come up during the set and purchase their merch as the show progresses. We have a day off tomorrow, and it looks like if the weather will hold out we’re going to have a miniature golf tournament here in Myrtle Beach.
Sunday 26 MAR 06 - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Miniature golf on our day off? Anything done on our day off? Hell no. We watched a marathon session of “Deadliest Catch” on the Discovery Channel. And that was Sunday. Monday 27 MAR 06 - Spartanburg, South Carolina Well we had some fans that drove to the cancelled Augusta show come out tonight and the band played one hell of a set. The venue was blown away by the band as was the small crowd. The band and I would like to thank Mick of Ground Zero for treating very well. We appreciate it! Tuesday 28 MAR 06 - Baltimore, Maryland Tonight saw the return of Beyond The Embrace to the tour for our last two dates. We played in downtown Baltimore at the Sidebar. A small punk bar most nights saw the local act playing on the floor, with Beyond The Embrace and GC taking the tiny stage. The crowd tonight was another small one, but louder than most of the crowds on the tour. Took the band to Five Guys for some world class burgers, and despite what Ruben says, they were damned good. Wednesday 29 MAR 06 - Springfield, Virginia
A couple hours were spent with the bands after the show saying goodbyes, etc. and we hit the road to drive 2.5 hours to go 20 minutes because I got us lost. Jaxx was certainly the best way I can think of to end a tour. PS… For four weeks I have called Kenneth Spitfire, because when he smiles he looks just like the spitfire logo. So now, for your benefit and to prove I am right… Here is Kenneth and here is the spitfire logo side by side…
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