Band(s) and Crew
With one final show to go, we are off to Puerto Rico! (I am not in this photograph)
Lift Off
Pre-launch preparations on the bus involved watching the NASA channel and engaging in some "space talk"
The perfect eastern facing vantage point for the launch was located on top of the venue
We have LIFT OFF! The fire ball turned into a long trail of smoke as the Shuttle ascended into the atmosphere.
Toes in the Atlantic
Last night we had a fantastic show in a cool venue called The Tabernacle, which had just reopened after repairing the damage caused by the tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta a few months ago. The building was built originally as a Baptist mega-church over a hundred years ago and was renovated for the Atlanta Olympics by The House of Blues. This morning we woke up in Miami, Florida where we made the most of our last day-off.
Tour Slideshow
Click on the images to enlarge them >>>>
The pictures are arranged chronically and according to our travels:
North America July-Aug 07
Europe Sept-Nov 07
Asia Jan 08
Australia Jan 08
South America March 08
Mexico & North America May 08
Parade
Memorial Day Parade down Constitution Ave in Washington DC
NYC pictures
Saturday in the park
It is a beautiful day in Central Park and we are off to Washington DC. After three days without the tourbus it is good to be reunited with our home away from home.
This Must Be The Place
I am sitting backstage in the darkness as the opening bands perform in front of the curtain and the amped up audience starts to crowd surf. This venue feels like a scene form The Gangs of New York, with three levels of audience looking down on the stage.
I was asked to post some new photos and have begun to put together an album of this year on the road (only 8 more shows on the World Tour).Till those pictures are ready, enjoy these three versions of my favorite love song - the perfect soundtrack for tonight.
Talking Heads- This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
David Byrne- This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Arcade Fire- This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Time-lapsed Detroit
Last July when we were at the same theater I shot this time-lapse of the stage during the load-in and set-up.
Tuesday in Chicago (AKA:SickasaDog)
A number of people have asked me "What are these live cameras that you use on tour?" I found this video from a few nights ago and thought it was a pretty good example of what my small robotic cameras can capture and magnify for the audience. This clip features keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess on a Korg Kaoss pad at the start of the encore. The image you see if actually the video screen above the drum riser.
This is a good clip of the video (without live cameras) and lighting from the Vancouver show last week.
Dogie not Doggie
We are reaching the final hour of a twenty-two hour bus ride and we are watching David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Needless to say, we are a haggard bunch who are ready to get off this bus. But since I had some time to kill on mind numbing activities I calculated that we have done 96 shows during this tour which involved travel through the Americas, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia. As we near the end of this World Tour everyone is beginning to plan their next jobs. One guy is going out with Billy Idol, others are heading out with the bands Yes, Poison, Muse and even American Idol. We are looking forward to heading home to LA, where I have some exciting curatorial and writing projects lined up.
Montana roadside signage
Snow in May
Waking in Calgary this morning we were shocked to be greeted with fresh snow! The tour has been going well so far, but tonight is #6 of 22 shows- so we still have a ways to go. In Vancouver they did a 7 camera video shoot of the show so there should be a DVD of this tour in the near future.
Indoor parking
Coffee Break
We made it to Seattle in time for a perfect cup of coffee. Look- there is the newspaper ad for our show. This time out we are traveling with an additional three opening bands as part of a progressive rock/metal tour. It sure is crowded backstage.
On the road, again
We are back out on video tour and will spend the next month zig-zagging across the US. Touring is like taking a long road-trip with twenty five friends or perhaps more like being in the circus. This morning I woke, snuggled all cozy in my cocoon-like bunk, to the gentle swaying of the bus that indicated we were going through the mountains. Sleeping on the bus is similar to living on a houseboat, so that even on solid land your body feels like it is gently rocking. It is a lovely sensation. Crossing from the dark sleeping quarters into the front lounge, I realized that we were already into the lush green of Oregon. Will be in Seattle by dinner and I am looking forward to sneaking off with my partner in adventure to explore the city.
desert appreciation
Greetings from an Oasis in the High Desert.
I have a deep attraction to this rough and rocky
desert region which I cannot explain. It cannot be
nostalgia because I grew up on the East Coast
surrounded by water, swimming, sailing and learning
to tie knots. But something about this Western
desertscape just makes me feel GOOD. I came here for
the first time in the year 2000 and stayed at
the
Twenty Nine Palms
Inn
&
I am back here today. The small adobe bungalows
without telephones or wifi are perfect for a quiet
getaway (even though Johnny has set up a rehersal
video studio in our bungalow.)
I have been back to the high desert several times
since 2000 and I always fantasize about what it would
be like to live in this remote region of bright sun
and strong wind. A month ago I found my high desert
dreamhouse for sale and got close to actually taking
that leap into the desert. But for now I am happy to
come here on mini-vacations, cause I still have too
accomplish in the city.
Speaking of vacations, last night we sat in a hot
tub, gazing up at the star filled sky and listening
to the birds. Today Johnny turned a year older and I
am reminded of how much the both of us have grown. I
could not ask for a more amazing partner or
interesting life- Happy Birthday Baby! Tomorrow we
head to Coachella and then off for a month+ tour of
the US.
They painted a movie screen on the bungalow for lawn
screenings
Hot tub shack on the edge of the Oasis
On the road with projectors
NODE VIDEO
(that is us!) is getting ready to hit the road with
our live video shows. We are excited to cross-cross
America and would love to see you along the way.
Friday, April 25 at
COACHELLA
in
Indio, CA
with Adam Freeland
----------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, April 29
Mexico City, Mexico
Friday, May 2
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, May 3
Oakland, CA
Monday, May 5
Seattle, WA
Tuesday, May 6
Vancouver, BC
Friday & Saturday, May 9 & 10
Calgary, ALB
Monday, May 12
Minneapolis, MN
Tuesday, May 13
Chicago, IL
Wednesday, May 14
Detroit, MI
Friday, May 16
Columbus, OH
Saturday, May 17
Cleveland, OH
Sunday, May 18
Albany, NY
Tuesday, May 20
Boston, MA
Wednesday & Thursday, May 21 & 22
New York, NY
Monday, May 26
Washington, DC
Tuesday, May 27
Richmond, VA
Wednesday, May 28
Atlanta, GA
Friday, May 30
Miami, FL
Saturday, May 31
Orlando, FL
Sunday, June 1
Tampa, FL
Wednesday, June 4
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Globe Trekker
Today Luc and I went to The Getty to check out
the
California Video
exhibition and decided that we would need to go back
when we had more time. AH...the curse of time-based
exhibitions. Here is one of our photos from today's
trip up Mt.Getty.
Tonight I turned on TV to watch one of those travel
shows that I adore and was surprised that Megan, the
host from
Globe Trekker
was not in Istanbul or Hong Kong because she was
right here with me in Los Angeles. She even went up
to
Signal Hill,
for a little So.Cal oil history. Nice job!
As I type this post, a film crew is shooting a cop
chase scene outside of my house and there is a
spotlight erected in my neighbors' yard. Los Angeles
folds in upon itself in amazing ways and it is always
beautifully lit.
Musical Tour
Seems I have been a little focused on buildings
lately and have neglected to tell you about all the
amazing music we have been seeing around Los Angeles.
A few weeks ago our friend Steve escorted us
to
NOSAJ THING
at The Eco or maybe it was The Echoplex? His
Electronica/ Hip Hop has been described as "laser
bass" because it sounds alot like those laser sounds
from Sci Fi or Star Wars. This kid is gonna blow up-
check him out! Another great show was the US premier
of Sweden's
LITTLE DRAGON
presented by KCRW at The Roxy in Hollywood. Beautiful
and talented singer Yukimi Nagano was great and it
was amazing to see with such clarity the
impact
KCRW
has on the music scene of Los Angeles. Machine
Project wrapped up its
TablaCentric
residency with Robin Sukhadia & I am glad that I
caught the free Monday concert with
Srinivas Reedy
on Sitar and
Sameer Gupta
on Tabla. Fast forward into the future. We will be
doing video for the rockin DJ from UK and now fellow
Angelino,
ADAM FREELAND
& we are really excited to work with him. Come
check out the show Friday at
Coachella.
At the end of April we are heading back out with
the
BAND
for the final month of this year-long world tour. I
cannot believe it has already been a year. We have
been so many places, clocking thousands of miles and
frequent flier points. I will miss it when the tour
is done, but it will be great to concentrate on the
LA studio. If we are coming through your city, drop
me a note. We would love to see you.
Venice Beach to Griffith Park
Johnny Video
The tour of South America has come to an end. This time out we logged 11 flights in and out of 5 countries to do 8 shows. And as I add up the ticket sales (or venue capacity) for this tour, it is mind blowing to realize that we created a live video show for 73,932 people.
The past 48 hours have been the most extreme of this two weeks on the road. On Thursday we left Bogota, Columbia at 10AM and arrived at the airport in Caracas, Venezuela at 6PM. We then boarded a bus that took us over the mountains and arrived in Valencia, Venezuela at 10PM. On Friday morning we boarded a van at 10AM that took us to the venue and that night had a 9PM show for an amped up audience of 6,000.
Immediately following the show we broke the stage down and loaded the trucks. By 12:30AM we were boarding the bus that would take us back over the mountain to Caracas. We checked into a hotel at 3:30AM, showered and then checked out at 4:15AM to catch the last van ride of the tour to the airport for our 7AM flight home.
Not much deep reflection about the tour is available at this time. Now I am looking forward to unwinding at home while writing an article about Houston for the upcoming "Urban" issue of ArtLies magazine. Later this week we will be doing video for two club shows in LA. Wednesday night's show is with DJs Steve Nalepa (LA) and MattB (Tokyo) who will be rocking the house with their Bass Science collaboration and on Thursday night we will be at Spaceland in Silverlake with the Bay Area band Film School .
Bogota, Columbia
Bogota, Columbia (photo: R.Dorion)
Not so glamorous
Sometimes the accommodations touring through South America are less than glamorous. At one venue in Brazil, the production office was a repurposed shower room and this left the toilet area as the default dining room. (photo: R. Dorion)
Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand
Arrived in Rio de Janeiro just in time for sunset
Loud in Chile
WARNING: Turn down your speakers before hitting play
Loud in Chile from bree edwards on Vimeo.
Back on tour
3/1 Santiago
3/3 Buenos Aires
3/4 Buenos Aires
3/7 San Paulo
3/8 Rio de Janeiro
3/9 Belo Horizonte
3/12 Bogota
3/14 Caracas
Week 1 Los Angeles
I am slowly morphing from tourist into a Los Angeles resident, as I set out on my daily driving missions armed with print-outs from Google Maps and a GPS backup. I have established some ground rules for these solo missions. The first of which is that I can only travel on surface roads, avoiding all highways. This is generally my rule with city driving, except when I am passing through, which is all I have been doing this year.
However, I already see some geo-relationship problems looming on the horizon. Yesterday I called Johnny while stopped at a red light and asked; “If I am at the intersection of Pico Blvd & Crenshaw, then what neighborhood am I in?" A few Los Angeles friends have offered to loan me their Thomas’ Guide maps, but I have declined with a “No thanks, I have a GPS”. But I am coming to realize that the GPS is best for getting from point A to Point B but the technology encourages a lack of interest in the spaces between the start and end points and provides no clues to how neighborhoods fit together to create the larger city of Los Angeles.
Yesterday, I followed my GPS over to Venice Blvd in Culver City to visit the Museum of Jurassic Technology and the new-ish exhibition BIRDFOOT: Where America’s River Dissolves into the Sea at The Center for Land Use Interpretation. I had heard about CLUI's birdfoot project while working with Matthew Coolidge in Houston, and while Matt’s first-hand stories are more colorful, the CLUI slideshow provides a muti-directional overview of this seriously downstream delta region. The delta terminology birdfoot or bird’s foot originates from the bifurcated nature of this unique watery terrain. These narrow lobes of Louisiana land are located between branches of the Mississippi River, as it nears the Gulf of Mexico. This is remote and delicate land that has been hard hit by the recent hurricanes.The CLUI presentation in Culver City reveled a landscape that is dangerously over engineered to accommodate the demands of the petroleum industry.
photo is from the CLUI exhibition BIRDFOOT & links to their website
Journey into the basin of the Great Salt Lake
We are huge
Here we go!
Rock and Roll
Above: End of concert in Sydney (photo R.Dorion)
Below: Concert in Bangkok
The Downfall in Perth
Beijing is no Bangkok
On the "it's a small world" tour we spend on average 48 hours in each country. This never feels like enough time, until we got to Beijing, where suddenly I could not get out fast enough. We arrived in the PRC around 10PM and were held up by arguing customs officials who seemed to be unwilling to let the 14 of us into the country with our 51 items of luggage and gear. When we finally made it out of the airport and to the hotel, the bus was prohibited from pulling up in front of the hotel, meaning we would need to lug everything across curbs and snowbanks. Another argument broke out between our bus driver and a hotel worker and we finally unloaded the bus in front of the hotel. Then they did not have our rooms ready & seemed to be saying we might need to move to another hotel. Needless to say another argument occurred. Anyways, by the time we got to our rooms and dropped our bags it was midnight. Little did I realize this would be the easy part of our China Experience.
We began the show day by being told that our shuttle would be late because of "problems at the venue". But it turns out that the shuttle bus had just broken down and was replaced. Once we made it to the venue; a smelly convention hall with a rocket outside but no heat inside, I knew our day would be rough. I will not bore you with the details of having only one translator for the entire operation, who was also the promoter, stage manager and caterer. Because the biggest problem proved to be the electrical system in Beijing- which is ungrounded and seems totally unregulated. Over the course of the day we blew three transformers and this even before the start of the show. Actually the show was almost cancelled when the Chinese lighting team blew out all the electricity to our video system minutes before the doors were to open. Despite that awful smell of burning ozone from the blown transformer we scrambled to get video back up and running, while 2,000 people were standing in lines freezing outside the doors. The whole day was totally sketchy but the show happened and was good. But I could not get out of Beijing fast enough the next morning- even with the 5:30AM lobby call. We are now in sunny Australia for the rest of the tour- hallelujah!
Side note: The air pollution levels on an average day in Beijing are nearly five times above the World Health Organization standards for safety. The pollution that results from China's inefficient dependence on coal powered electric is visceral in Beijing.
Beijing
Bangkok 2
Bangkok 1
The Temple of the Emerald Buddah, Bangkok
Arrival in Bangkok
.
36 Hours in Singapore
We had a great 48 hours in Tokyo and even managed to meet up with our friend Steve Nalepa (see past entires on DeKam vs Nalepa in Houston) who was in Tokyo to work on a new album with Matt, one of his DJ collaborators.
Last night in Tokyo (after our concert at the famous Budokan theater) we all went for dinner at the restaurant made famous by the sword fight between Uma Thurman and the Crazy 8s in the movie Kill Bill- it was cool.
여보세요 from Korea
Happy New Year!
Home for the Holidays
Upcoming travels for us at Node Video
We are heading back out with the boys in the New Year:
Jan 12- Seoul, Korea
Jan 15- Tokyo, Japan
Jan 17- Singapore
Jan 19- Bangkok, Thailand
Jan 22- Beijing, China
Jan 26- Perth, Australia
Jan 28- Adelaide, Australia
Jan 29- Melbourne, Australia
Jan 30- Sydney, Australia
Feb 1- Brisbane, Australia
* Johnny and I produce the video screen show during the concert. I am the videographer, who does the live camera shots of the band (using a variety of different cameras) while Johnny VJs these live camera feeds into his greater mix to create the video show. He uses VDMX software from Vidvox.
South of the border
We are in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. I am not sure I have ever been to such a tourist driven economy & it has been a bit overwhelming. Time Share offers, beach cover-ups, boat rides, trips to the jungle, fake tattoos, silver jewelry and anything else you want comes directly to you on the beach, over and over again. To escape this we took the 45 minute water taxi over to the remote village of Yelapa. This special spot has no cars, only got electricity a few years ago and has the best fish tacos that I have ever tasted. But if you need a hand with your luggage you will need to call upon a mule to help- travel light.
In the future, if we were to come back to PV I would book a one night stay in old town at the Hotel Casa Dona Susana, because it is beside the best coffee shop/ bookshop in town Una Pagina En El Sol (A Page in the Sun). After morning coffee it would be time to board the 45 minute Water Taxi to Yelapa, where I would stay at Hotel Lagunita in room 6 or 15. Buenos Suerte!
Radio Silence
Finished our last show of the EU tour!!!
For the next week we will be in a seaside village on the North Sea with no internet, phones or stores. We will observe a bit of blogger radio silence and enjoy this remote holiday. See you in a few days.
crew dinner
Photos by Stew
Durango, Spain
Today we are just outside Bilbao, in an airplane hanger styled convention center, nestled by Bavarian looking hills. All of the glass walls are etched with 00011000, making it apparent that this building was pitched to the local community as a hub for showcasing some type of high-tech media. Currently there are several huge New Media centers being established all over Spain, but this one certainly did not live up to its future-land promises. My guess is that this building was conceived around the time that the Guggenheim Bilbao was built. It is ironic to be surrounded by all this computer code etched glass & unable to find an open WiFi connection.
The endless garage doors and poured concrete floor make this most artists dream studio & it is actually a totally beautiful building. But it is less than ideal for a rock show! This will be our final show in Spain, as tonight we head for France.
Rollin rollin rollin, keep those wagons rollin
This has been our route- with only one week to go!
Madrid
not really... Johnny took this photo as we passed through the beautiful south of France on route to Spain.
Escape from Italy
We are all thankful to be done with the Italian shows, it is so difficult to work there. This morning I woke in Switzerland, beside this lovely community of garden sheds. I have always wanted to do a photo series of these little garden villages, which I have also seen in Sweden, The Netherlands & England
Milan day 2
Milan
Bus driver JS gives us some tips on where we might find food on a Sunday afternoon in Milan & a cut-up video from our afternoon out on the town.
Show #42
This week we are in Italy. After shows in Bologna and Rome, we have reached Southern Italy and I can almost smell the ocean. I wish I could comment on all the wonderful food, coffee and architecture of Italy- unfortunately, I have not experienced much of it on this trip. What I can say is, Italian crews are very talkative & they often drift off for breaks.
Here is a quick little cut-up from the pre-show in Bologna.
12 German hours to go
Today we are in Stuttgart (home of the Mercedes Benz & Bosh spark plug) in a metal-clad exhibition complex. The show will be held in a large 1970s conference hall. Finding the hall this morning was straight out of Spinal Tap ("where is the stage?"). Last night we were in the city center of Erlangen, in a cool little brutalist theater from the 1960s made of dark wood & poured concrete. The audience was amazing, especially since they normally present classical concerts this theater. The night before we were at Kultfabrik, in a tented hall in the industrial edges of Munich. The concert hall was located in a huge factory complex where noodles were made. The factory turned party complex was very popular during the rave era. I am told that kids would come from all over Germany, in camper vans and party all weekend long. But the heyday of rave parties is over and now the place now looks like an abandoned squat. Making the 3 tons of lighting, audio and instruments fit into these varying spaces is the daily trick. Good thing I work with such an amazing team.
Munich
Chinesischer Turm Bier Garten in the Englischer Garten
From Munich we go onto:
Mon Oct 22 - Stadthalle - Eriagen, Germany
Tue Oct 23 - Messe B - Stuttgart, Germany
Thurs Oct 25- Land Rover Arena- Bologna, Italy
Fri Oct 26- Palaottomatica- Roma, Italy
Sat Oct 27- Palasport- Andria, Italy
Mon Oct 29- DatchForum- Milano, Italy
Tue Oct 30- Palasport- Padova, Italy
Wed Oct 31- Eulachhalle- Winterthur, SWI
Fri Nov 2- Barcelona, Spain
Sat Nov 3- Madrid, Spain
Sun Nov 4- Bilbao, Spain
Tues Nov 6- Toulouse, France
Wed Nov 7- Nancy, France
Fri Nov 9- Newport Centre- Wales, UK
Sat Nov 10- Civic Hall- Wolverhampton, UK
Sun Nov 11- King George's Hall- Blackburn, UK
music for the hours between dusk and dawn
Posting the full story might take a day....
In the meantime, check out DavidByrne.com for the curated radio program ROAD TRIP. Songs for the vagabond, wherever you may roam. Lots of good Texas songs in there, especially Fort Worth Blues by Guy Clark. Just click on PLAY MP3 STREAM at the top of the page.
10 countries in 20 days
Jahrhunderthalle Hoechst, Frankfurt
The story of this venue is that it was built as a Social Hall for the workers of the chemical factory, but over time it became too expensive to upkeep and was sold to the city of Frankfurt for one dollar. What a Sci-fi landscape it must have been in that utopian futureland of domes, plastics and chemicals.
Check out the slide show of this beautiful building, which is surrounded by cornfields and trees.
Düsseldorf
The audience in Paris was amazing & everyone left France recharged, ready for a break in Düsseldorf. Yesterday was our first true "Day Off" since September 22th and after 14 days of 16hour workdays & endless travel - we were ready to relax. The sunny Saturday afternoon was perfect for a bike ride along the Rhine River, followed by an afternoon of window shopping and beer drinking.
Antwerp
Not really... Johnny took the photo in Portland, where it was brilliant blue but here in Antwerp the sky is a dull gray.
Dzien dobry from Warszawa
The highways in Poland are the worst roads I have ever experienced. We are traveling on a 2 lane road with 18 wheelers covered with tarps and suddenly the road will drop off into the shoulder or a giant pothole. These roads make the BQE look like the Autobahn! All the bus boys are sleeping or watching videos in the back lounge. It is just me and the amazing German drivers, up front listenin