24 April 2006 – Travel Day
Nashville, TN to Detroit, MI (USA)

In the bus’s DVD player today: Arrested Development (Season 1)

Today is the official start of the ‘Bozzio Minnemann Wackerman’ tour for the crew. Steve Vega (DW Artist Services), Paul Roraback (Terry Bozzio’s tech) and myself all flew into Nashville last night and are loading all the gear on the tour bus today. Last week, we shipped all of Terry, Chad and Marco’s drums to our good pals Harry McCarthy and Mark Arnold at Drum Paradise here. Mark at DP helped us get everything on the bus and trailer this morning and then we got on the road.

It was about 12 hours worth of driving (including stops) today. We had lunch and dinner at truck stops today because those were the only places we could easily park a bus with a trailer along the way. We all agree; we don’t recommend the mashed potatoes, meatloaf, or well…anything. But Steve, always looking on the bright side, assures us, “exposing yourself to mild toxins helps to build up your immune system.”

25 April 2006 –Travel Day
Detroit, MI (USA) to Toronto, ON (Canada)

In the bus’s DVD player today: Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Season 3)

Remember when I said “quick hop over the border”? I should have actually said “brutal, near 13-hour ordeal requiring the patience of a saint.” Getting across the Detroit/Windsor border turned out to be a huge learning experience.

(Canada, just across the river – We can see it, we just can’t get there.)

Of course they were curious about the drums and what the hell we were doing in Canada, and we expected that. In fact, our paperwork was more in order than most, thanks to Melanie Ayotte at Steve’s Music (Montreal) who did hours of prep for us over the past month. (Thanks, Mel!) I gave the immigrations officer said paperwork and they seemed pleased. Then an adorable black lab pup sniffed the bus and deemed us Canada-worthy. But the problem came upon inspection of passports. I’ll spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say, always check your bus driver’s credentials…

So, after picking up a replacement driver at the Detroit airport, we attempted to cross into Canada for the second time today at 9:00 pm. This time immigration sends us right through and now we have to check the gear in through customs. A cranky customs officer tried her best to give us a hard time. (I said DRUMS, not DRUGS, lady!) Eventually she throws the paperwork at me and points us down the road to the next checkpoint. The girl in that building has been expecting us since 9:00 am that morning. So, she stamps everything and sends us on our merry way. Piece of cake, right?

26 April 2006 –Gig Day
Toronto, ON (Canada)

Host Store – Steve’s Music

The BMW crew made it to Toronto at around 5:30 am this morning. Even though I phoned ahead and let them know we’d be arriving late, the hotel gave away half of our rooms for some reason. So, by the time all of that was taken care of, Steve, Paul, John (our driver) and I probably got 3 hours sleep each. But, sweet hallelujah, we’re actually in Toronto!

Terry, Chad and Marco all flew into town last night. They have a 3:00 pm bus call to be picked up and driven to the venue later.

We, the crew, arrive at the venue at 1:00 pm. It’s a really cool old theatre called The Opera House. Steve’s Music’s drum department manager, Jeff Zurba, was already there taking care of business. Jeff and his crew, Jason, Colin, Brad and Dave the soundman were all incredible. We never would have been able to get everything set up with out them. Eric from the shop was also a huge help and even ran the merch table during the show.

There was a slight issue with some risers when we arrived. It’s one of those things that you just can’t make a judgment about until you physically see it. So, I’m sure the venue staff were delighted when I asked them to take down the risers they had just put up. But they and Zurba were absolutely professional and made it all come together perfectly.

On top of everything else, Zurba and the guys snuck out for a minute and got a surprise for Paul (Terry’s tech). They found out that he was on a quest to get a Rush t-shirt while in town (we are in Toronto, after all). They came back and presented him with a 2112 Starman shirt just like he was looking for.

I, too, have a quest. I happen to be a big Maple Leafs fan. So, I’m on the lookout for any kind of cool Leafs gear I can find.

Anyway, back to the show…

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With all of the unforeseen travel delays, etc., we were almost an hour late opening doors, which ended up pushing the show start to 1/2 hour later than advertised. Being the first show of the tour, there are always bound to be some bumps though. Zurba apologized in advance as he welcomed the audience and kicked off the show. Sure enough, right off the bat there were some glitches in the video system. But as soon as Marco came out and played, everyone forgot all about it. Marco’s playing tends to do that to people; your mind is so blown, you forget your own name.

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Marco opens with a 30-minute pure, full-blown drum solo. The audience loved every minute. Luckily, the video was fixed in time for Marco’s famous performance of “What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us” – a unique and hilarious drum interpretation of the dialogue in a scene from Monty Python’s ‘The Life Of Brian’.

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Next, Terry and Chad come out. As they sit down behind their kits, someone from the audience yells, “Titties ‘n’ Beer!!” (I’m sure he was requesting the Frank Zappa song, not announcing his plans for the night.) And another guy yells back, “Shut up, eh!” Yep, we’re in Canada. :)

Chad and Terry’s set consists of a 45-minute duet that’s different every night. Tonight, the first movement starts with Chad playing delicate bell chimes contrasted with heavy tom and bongo voices. Terry answers with snare rolls in a kind of marching feel. Then he breaks into a tom roll melody while Chad moves to a cymbal groove. The whole spontaneous composition has three movements and brings the audience of 450 people to their feet.

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Finally, after a short intermission with giveaways from all the sponsors, all three drummers come back out to play together. I’m sure no one will be surprised when I say the performance was spectacular! And it’s even more impressive when you realize that the last time the three of them had played together was seven months ago, in September.

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Especially for me, I really related to Terry’s playing tonight. Watching him, I just felt he was giving in to everything and releasing tension in a beautiful way I can’t quite explain. It was so perfectly relaxing and intense at the same time.Maybe I was drawing on my experience at the border yesterday and that’s why Terry’s playing spoke to me in such a freeing way. I don’t know, but it really shows how a great artist can say so many different, powerful things to so many people at once.

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After the show, the guys signed a few things that Zurba brought to the green room for his loyal customers. One fan brought Terry a gift he had made: a tiny replica of Terry’s entire drumset, handcrafted from aluminum and painted with every detail. Terry was completely amazed and grateful. It will be going on his mantel at home.

(l-r: Collin, Brad, Marco, Terry, Zurba, Chad, Jason)

Everyone is starving at this point, so we all head out for Chinese food with Zurba and his staff. They deserve a celebration for all their hard work. Marco’s good friend, Rick Gratton, who also came to the show tonight, joined us as well. Steve, Paul and I must have gotten back to the hotel around 2:00 am.

27 April 2006 – Travel Day
Toronto, ON to Ottawa, ON (Canada)

In the bus’s DVD player today: Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 3)

Everyone slept in today ‘cause we’re all exhausted, obviously. I was able to go to Steve’s Music on Queen Street this morning though. The drum department is upstairs. Zurba and Jason were manning the shop today and showed me around. They’ve already been getting calls from people raving about last night. On my way back to the bus, I ducked into a couple of shops trying to find some cool Maple Leafs swag, but ran out of time. Once the crew, Terry, Chad, Marco and his girlfriend Petra were all on the bus this afternoon, we rolled on to the next city. I did get to see the Air Canada Center as the bus drove by on the way out of town. I’m so sad we have to leave. Did I mention that Toronto is one of my very favorite cities in the universe?

(Jason and Zurba busy at work)

(CN Tower)

(Air Canada Centre)

28 April 2006 – Gig Day
Ottawa, ON (Canada)

Host Store – Steve’s Music

Last night when we arrived in Ottawa, the cab drivers in front of the hotel didn’t take kindly to our giant bus/trailer parking in their spot, even for just a minute, to unload passengers. Let me tell you, maneuvering a near 90-foot bus with a 16-foot trailer on the back is no easy task! So, you take it where you can. This afternoon when John (bus driver) went back to the hotel to pick up Marco, Chad and Terry, the cabbies were, once again, none too happy. In fact, this time, a couple of them tried to start a fight with John. One of them jumped on the bus and grabbed the keys. There was a lot of yelling and Marco captured the whole incident on his MP3 player. What the cabbie didn’t know was, John is a part-time deputy sheriff in the States. What John didn’t know was, his jurisdiction probably ran out at the Canadian border… But, luckily, nothing got out of hand and the guys got to the venue unscathed.

(Marco takes a break from soundcheck)

Paul, Steve and I were already at the venue setting up. Today we’re at the Adult High School Auditorium. The stage is huge and we have loads of room for all three monster kits. It’s wonderful!

(Chad and Steve really enjoy set-up)

Also wonderful are the guys from Steve’s here hosting the show. Pete has everything under control and makes sure we’re all taken care of. Chris, the drum department manager, is also a huge help. Jessie and Dan from the shop round out the crew. And another Dan is our MC for the night.

We also had some surprise guests tonight. Lenny, his son Shane, and Martin from Steve’s Music in Montreal made the drive to come check things out. We’ll be in Montreal tomorrow night, so they wanted to get a first-hand look at what they’ve gotten themselves into.

(Terry’s kit viciously attacks Paul)

Pete tells me there is a film crew from the A-Channel here to get some footage of BMW for their newscast. Apparently it will be broadcast on tonight’s program that goes out to Ontario and Quebec.

Even with everyone’s help tonight, we had a little trouble getting sound and were about 45 minutes late starting the show. We’re still getting into our groove with setup, but once again, the audience (of nearly 550 people) didn’t mind the wait.

Marco’s solo tonight started with a solid rock groove. Then he launched into wicked sextuplet runs around the toms while his feet were playing counterpoint with his four hi-hats. He played a really tasty cymbal solo in the middle of the piece. And then he built a swing groove and added stick twirls and tosses. The audience loved it! He closed his set with the innovative Monty Python crowd-pleaser and then introduced Terry and Chad.

They came out swinging. Terry begins with a sort of tribal sounding rhythm over booming bass drums. Chad enters with china crashes, splashy hi-hats and bongo hits. The second movement is just as intense. Terry rolls on his gong with sticks and crashes fiercely on the china. Chad plays the melody over toms and bass drums. Then Terry moves into a soft melodic pattern with mallets on the gong while Chad accents on his piccolo toms.

At the intermission, Dan gives away door prizes from the sponsors. There are lots of t-shirts, hats and lanyards. Vic Firth and Pro-Mark also sent bricks of sticks. Zildjian has donated a cymbal and we are giving away a couple of chrome piccolo toms.

When the three guys came out together, Terry began the piece by pulling a bow over his cymbals and then played djembe and bass drums with his feet. Marco and Chad join in gradually. Chad plays a melody on the toms with mallets. Marco plays implied groves on the rims of his toms with his feet building a hi-hat ostinato. Eventually Chad launches into a swing groove, which Marco compliments with brushes on the snare. Terry then solos over his mid section kit. Terry’s drumset can be thought of as three different kits all in one. Paul also refers to it as a pipe organ because of the way the feet and toms are laid out melodically.

29 April 2006 – Travel/Gig Day
Ottawa, ON to Montreal, QC (Canada)

Host Store – Steve’s Music

In the bus’s DVD player today: Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 3)

I think I have a new favorite city to add to my list. Montreal was amazing! We didn’t really spend much time in the actual city though. So, I guess I’m basing this on the people.

Lenny Lanteigne from Steve’s is such an incredible host! When you’re a visitor in his town, he rolls out the red carpet. We couldn’t have felt more welcome. One example: last night Lenny found out that I wasn’t able to find any Leafs swag while I was in Toronto. I thought he was going to kill me, being from Montreal (turns out he’s actually a Bruins fan). Instead, today he brought me a Leafs jersey with my name on the back. I was very excited, to say the least! Lenny is a pure sweetheart.

(Steve checks Chad’s kit to be sure it’s ready to rock)

Tonight’s venue is the beautifully restored Theatre Corona. When the crew arrived, Steve’s Music’s drum department manager, Martin Laplant was having tables unbolted from the floor to make way for all the seating. Apparently, this show has been sold out for 2 weeks already and they’ve had to sadly turn away hundreds more people. We need all the room we can get for the expected 700+ people tonight.

(l-r: Louis, Marco, Juels)

Soon Melanie Ayotte shows up with massive amounts of food for backstage. Mel is also the one who helped me with our border crossing paperwork. Trust me; we would not be in this country right now without her help. She went above and beyond the call of duty for us and we owe her big time. Plus, she is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met!

Setup went very smoothly tonight. Martin and his crew from the shop were the best! Linc, Patrick, Louis and Rene, who do work on the Montreal Drum Fest, were also there and spoiled us with their help. The sound and lighting crew absolutely were top-notch. Tonight we started right on time.

(Terry @ soundcheck - click to view larger)

Lenny welcomed the audience and opened with a joke: you know, the one about us trying to get across the border. He told the story, I thought, so they’d feel sorry for us. But they all found it pretty hilarious. I guess it is kind of funny now.

Marco’s girlfriend, Petra, has been teaching him French and it came in handy tonight. He walked on stage and said “hello” to everyone in French. At least I think it was “hello”. He said a lot of words… I don’t speak French…

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Marco sat down and went full force. Right away he broke into a thundering pattern between the toms and gong drum. Then he showcased his independence with his left hand and foot keeping time in one meter and his right hand and foot soloing in another. Then vice-versa. Of course the crowd also loves Marco’s back-sticking and super fast chops. At one point, he was playing this crazy-fast part of the solo and he nonchalantly rolled up one of his sleeves in the middle of it all without stopping. All I could do was laugh.

At the end of Marco’s set, the entire front row got up and bowed in a “we’re not worthy” gesture.

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Chad and Terry came out next with, what sounded to me to be, Asian-inspired rhythms and melodies in their duet. Terry started with soft, low tones. Then he exploded with high tom rolls until settling into arpeggios on the toms, which Chad soloed over.

By the way, if you’ve never seen Chad play, you are missing out. Chad could play two notes and I’d be on my feet applauding. Everything he plays is gorgeous. His phrasing is so unique and smooth. You don’t always know where he’s going with it, which I love because there’s this wonderful tension. And it always resolves way better than I could have imagined.

Lenny and Martin had everything so under control tonight that I actually got to sit in the audience and enjoy the show for a bit. It was great. Most people don’t realize it, but the audience plays a huge part in a show. The artists gather energy and inspiration from the crowd. Montreal was so welcoming and enthusiastic. Terry, Chad and Marco could definitely feel it and fed off that energy tonight.

We had a couple of special guests in the audience tonight as well: DW endorser Jean Nadeau and Montreal Drum Fest organizer, Ralph Angelillo were in attendance. I also saw Julio from Steve’s hanging out enjoying the show.

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Before the guys came out for the trio performance, Lenny had a surprise gift for them. Terry, Chad and Marco were each presented with personalized Montreal Canadiens jerseys on stage, which they wore during their last set. Being that hockey is practically a religion in Canada, and the Canadiens are in the playoffs right now, this was a really special gift.

Marco, Terry and Chad closed tonight’s show with all three playing ‘The Black Page’ in unison. The audience rose to their feet and thanked them for an incredible show.

After the show, Lenny took us all out for sushi. He was able to convince the restaurant owner to keep the place open way past when they would have closed. The food was delicious and the company was superb.

After dinner, Marco, Petra, Steve, Paul and I were walking back to the hotel, around 1:30 or so. A man down the street saw us and yelled something. We didn’t hear what he said because he was far away. We thought maybe he wasn’t talking to us. But as we got closer he looked straight at Marco and asked, “What? No response?” Marco wasn’t sure what he was supposed to respond to. Then the man pointed at him and said, “You know, go Habs*, go!” (*Habs is the nickname for the Montreal Canadiens hockey team.) It was at that moment we realized, Marco still had on his Canadiens jersey. We all replied, “Oh, right, of course! Go, Habs, go!” This made the man very happy and he walked away smiling.

Montreal is awesome.

(Eating, drinking and being merry)

30 April 2006 – Travel Day
Montreal, QC (Canada) to Portland, Maine (USA)

In the bus’s DVD player today: Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 3)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Season 3)

This morning Paul, Steve, John and I got a chance to check out Steve’s Music on Rue St. Antoine. This music shop takes up an entire block! Each section of the store has it’s own building connected to the next. The drum building was packed with lots of good stuff. I had to keep Steve (DW Artist Services - no relation to the store) away from the Roland V-Drums or we’d be there all day.

We grabbed lunch to go and everyone met up at the bus. Now we’re on the road again. We have another border crossing today, so I’m a little nervous…

Hey, that wasn’t so bad after all! Getting back into the States was much easier than I expected. I, again, had tons of paperwork to give the officers, so I think they could tell we weren’t messing around. The only thing that made them even pause was the fact that Marco and Petra’s passports are from other countries. So that took up all of 30 seconds worth of questioning. I went into the office and had our papers stamped for the final time. No strip-searches of handcuffs, it was simply welcome to America!

Now we can all relax and watch TV. After we got our cartoon and Larry David fixes for the day, Terry put on some music for us, ranging from Indian tabala music to Debussy to some of his own compositions.

Later, Paul and Steve were practicing on their pads and we got into a conversation about stick technique. Chad studied with Murray Spivack when he was younger and learned a very relaxed grip from him. That explains how he flows magically around his kit. Terry uses different grips depending on what he’s playing. In fact, I think everyone agreed that’s what we all tend to do. Terry said, “as long as your body isn’t hurting when you play, you’re doing it right.”

(Our waiter shows Paul and Terry how to rip an innocent life to shreds.)

We pulled into Portland pretty late tonight. It’s been a long week so we decided to have a really nice dinner. The ride to the restaurant was a bit of an adventure though. I called for a taxi, but they actually sent us a limo that we lovingly dubbed the “ghetto-zine”. Eventually, we arrived at DiMillo’s, this fantastic floating restaurant on a boat in the harbor. Okay, we’re in Maine, right? I pretty sure we would be arrested if we didn’t order lobster in some form. So, we all did our civic duty.                                                 

01 May 2006 – Gig Day
Portland, Maine (USA)

Host Store – The Drum Shop

Today our venue is a ballroom in the hotel where we’re staying. Ballrooms can be good and bad. They’re incredibly convenient, that’s for sure. And the hotel staff is usually glorious since they’re used to taking care of big events. This was certainly the case today. The staff here is so helpful!

With ballrooms though, you don’t have all of the amenities of a theatre (such as lighting, a stage or a green room). But Chris Dealaman and the crew from the Drum Shop have organized everything so well here. Marty and Stephen help get things set up and take care of the swag and ticket sales out front. Shane has to hold down the fort at the shop today while we set up, but he’ll be here later.

Paul, Steve and I also have some extra help with the kits today. DW’s Northeast Sales Rep, Andrew Meskin, has joined the tour while we’re in his territory. As a child, instead of Legos and Tinker Toys, I imagine Andrew’s parents gave him drum racks and hardware to play with. Which is good because he was a huge help to Paul with Terry’s kit. That way Steve can concentrate on Chad’s gear and I can handle Marco’s. We finally have our system running smoothly.

Paiste Sales Rep, Tim Shahady, has also come out to help with setup, which we definitely appreciate.

The soundman that Chris hired for the night is Daniel, one of the easiest – no, THE easiest soundman to work with I’ve ever met. Daniel was completely accommodating and professional.

So, we’re ready to open doors, but I haven’t seen Marco in a while. (Steve actually did Marco’s line check.) No big deal. It’s a hotel; how far can he go? Sure enough he arrives backstage at the right moment and starts the show with his usual bang. I find out later that, before the show, he wasn’t feeling well and was up in his room contemplating whether or not to go on. Obviously, he really wanted to go on, he just wasn’t sure he could. Watching him play tonight, no one would ever guess he was sick. He still gave it everything he had and blew everyone away. Man, if that’s how incredibly he plays on a sick day, there’s clearly no hope for me.

While Terry and Chad were playing their duet, Marco started to feel better. It was probably because of the music coming from the stage. Once again, Chad and Terry compose a gorgeous and highly complex piece on the spot. Chad pulls the sound out of the toms as if he’s floating over them, not even touching them. Terry pushes the sound out and physically rises from his seat with intensity. It’s such a lovely example of perfect yin and yang.

Terry has these really cool, saucer-shaped, metal, shakers he got in India. You can’t see them from the audience, but he has them arranged in a tonal pattern, Velcro-ed to a small suitcase that sits behind his kit. Tonight he played a melody on them with mallets. Over that, Chad played his bongos with his fingers. Then he moved to a hi-hat snare groove with sticks and Terry played a bass pattern on the djembe with his foot.

After the intermission with lots of giveaways from our co-sponsors, I went up to the mic to say something lame and bring the guys back on stage. Trust me, folks, there’s a reason why people hire professional MCs. Actually Marty was doing a fine job at the beginning of the show. But he’s also selling merch and taking care of things out front so, he’s a bit busy, to say the least. Hey, wait a minute! Shane is the stand-up comedian here. Why isn’t he MCing? He’s so much better at this. I’m sure he’s having a laugh at me backstage right now…

BMW come back to the stage and give the crowd of 275 people the amazing finale they’ve come to see. And for the closer, they perform ‘The Black Page’ as a trio again. Then they head up to their rooms to collapse after an exhausting show.

Paul, Steve, Andrew and I tear down the gear with Chris, Shane, Marty, Stephen and Tim. And, oh lucky us! It has started raining just in time for us to load the bus. But with everyone’s help, we got everything out of there super quick.

02 May 2006 – Travel/Gig Day
Portland, ME to Manchester, CT (USA)

Host Store – Dynamic Percussion

In the bus’s DVD player today: The Jerk

(One more inch and that rack would be poking through the ceiling - click to view larger) (Steve: “Hey, what’s this?” Chad: “Don’t touch it!” - click to view larger) (A happy Chad is the best kind of Chad - click to view larger)

We had a 9:00 am bus call today. We have a bit of driving to do to get to the next show. Portland, ME to Manchester, CT is about 3 1/2 hours by car. But remember, we’re in a huge bus with a bulky trailer tacked on the back. That adds significantly to the travel time. And, okay if you must know, we also got a little lost in Massachusetts. But that gave us some time to watch a Steve Martin movie and listen to some music by Dead Can Dance, Ani DiFranco and the Police along the way. Marco, Chad and Terry also told us stories about some of the overly obsessed Frank Zappa and Kelly Family fans they’ve encountered over the years…

Andrew was already at the venue when we arrived. Once again, tonight’s venue is in one of the hotel’s function rooms. So, except for the rain that’s still with us, the load-in is very easy. However, we soon find out that the low ceilings at the stage-side of the room are not built for Terry’s 8’ high rack on a riser (in all fairness, few rooms are made for that). Paul and Andrew get the kit to actually just fit with the top of the rack kissing the ceiling.                                                            

Besides running the top-notch drum shop, Dynamic Percussion, Art Bensen is a true pro at putting on shows. He and his crew, Chris, Mike and soundman Steve, had everything dialed in by the time we arrived. And then they helped with setting up the kits. Local drummer and loyal Dynamic customer, Rob the Drummer, was also there to help.

Tim from Paiste is with us again tonight, thankfully. Also joining in to lend a hand and to just be awesome in general is Matt Elliot from Sabian. Later, Zildjian rep, Mike Gross and Eddie Fritz from Evans come out for the show too. All of the co-sponsor support on this tour is so important and very appreciated.

So, you know how I was saying that Art is brilliant at running shows? Well, check this out. During setup, I notice Art whips out a big piece of paper that he’s carrying around to each chair in the audience. It’s a seating chart! He’s taping the names of the ticket-holders to each chair! Okay, I thought I was organized, but this just puts me to shame. With all of the labeled seats and the walk-ups, the audience will be around 360 tonight.

I’m not sure how many more times I can write about the show being unbelievably good every time, but these guys just won’t suck. Marco is feeling back to his self now and absolutely thrills the crowd once again. Steve had the perfect way of describing Marco’s technical independence, mixing of meters and solid time: he calls it “groove with math”.

Of course, Terry and Chad were flawless again tonight. I could tell the crowd didn’t want them to get off the stage when they were done with their set.

During the intermission, we gave away some goodies while Art asked the audience drum trivia. Then the guys came out as a trio for the finale. They once again close with “The Black Page” and everyone had a great time.

(l-r: Chad, Art, Terry, Marco - click to view larger)

After the show everyone went out for dinner. There’s not much open in Connecticut at this hour, but Art takes us to a diner down the road that’s perfect. There’s nothing like comfort food at the end of a long day.                                                     

03 May 2006 – Travel Day
Manchester, CT to Dover, DE (USA)

On the bus’s TV today: Comedy Central

Today’s a somewhat mellow day. Travel to Delaware is about 6 1/2 to 7 hours. So, after some lunch we all settled in on the bus for the trip. At the beginning of each journey, we all usually sit up front and talk for a bit. What do a bunch of drummers talk about? Drum stuff, of course. Today the topic was drumhead selection. Marco and Chad both play Evans heads. Terry has a signature line of heads with Attack. That prompted a discussion of micing techniques, which lead into talk of the tricks some of the legends (Rich, Bonham, Gadd) used to get their distinctive sounds in the studio.

Then we typically find our spots throughout the bus and do what we’re into that day. Paul is starting a gig with Monte Montgomery when he gets back to Austin after this tour. So he went to a bunk to practice and study the music that Monte sent him. Steve brought along some recording gear to play with while we’re out. He and Marco are at the back of the bus in the “lounge” composing some songs together. I believe Petra is taking a nap in one of the bunks.

Terry, Chad and I stayed up front to watch repeats from last night’s ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Colbert Report’ on the TV’s satellite feed. Then Chad shows us some quick home movies on his computer. His young daughter is a great little singer/actress already showing signs of a future Broadway career. And his son, taking after dad, is playing drumset in the school band, holding the beat better than most guys twice his age.

Now, Terry is doing some arranging on one of his compositions, Chad is answering e-mails and I am typing this diary.

When we arrive in Dover, it’s dinnertime. Andrew meets us at the hotel and we all head to one of the restaurants here. Since tomorrow’s the last gig, tonight will probably be our last meal all together. We drink a toast to the successful tour so far and all the fun we’ve had along the way.

04 May 2006 – Gig Day
Dover, DE (USA)

Host Store – B&B Music

Andrew and I got up early today to go visit B&B Music in Camden (our host) this morning. The shop is a full line music store. Mark Brewer is the manager of the drum department, which he claims is a mess right now. Are you kidding me?! This was one of the most organized drum departments I’ve seen! You can tell they take a lot of pride in their work here. Mark and Ron show us around for a bit and then Andrew and I got out of their way. We’ll be seeing them later at the gig tonight.

(Chad’s Kit: Natural Hard Satin over Kurillian Birch)

Tonight’s venue is the Schwartz Center For The Arts in the historical district of Dover. It’s a lovely theater and has plenty of room on stage. As promised, Mark and Ron are here to help us set up, of course. Also from B&B are Mark Donovan and Roy (shop owner) who are running the sound. And Russ takes control of the merch area. Mark Brewer has also brought along two loyal customers, Benji and Trey, who do more than their fair share of loading and unloading gear.

(Terry’s Kit: Natural to Candy Black Burst over Olive Ash Burl - click to view larger) (Marco’s Kit: Natural Lacquer over Olive Ash Burl makes Steve feel all warm and fuzzy!)

With everyone’s help tonight, plus the fact that we’re finally getting used to doing this after five previous shows, all three kits were set up, mics and all, in 1 1/2 hours – record time! This left us with about 45 minutes or so before soundcheck. Anyone want to guess what happens when you leave four drum techs with idle time near fully assembled drumsets?

(Paul) (Steve) (Andrew) (Juels)

Naturally, we all took turns at Terry, Chad and Marco’s kits. And by the way, if you think it’s easy improvising in a drum trio, think again. BMW just make it look easy, but playing together isn’t simply hitting something and doing all of your best licks at random. The art comes in listening and playing off of each other. Even with really talented drummers (the boys, not me), we were definitely not pulling off any musical masterpieces. But, oh man, it was fun!

(A line already forming outside The Schwartz Center)

It was a good thing we had everything set up early tonight because the fans were raring to go! The line was already forming outside the theatre by 2:00 today. Doors were actually scheduled to open at 7:00, but we ended up opening about 15 minutes before that so everyone could settle in and relax.

BMW were feeling relaxed tonight too. They had plenty of time to warm up, which is always a good stress reliever. And since it’s the last show of the tour, they were ready to go out having as much fun as possible.

Speaking of fun, Andrew, Steve, Paul and I decided to mess with Marco a little bit tonight. Marco’s gong drum sits high off to his left with a big 22” clear head – the perfect canvas for us to leave a note. I mean, it’s practically asking for it, right? So, Andrew wrote a fake note from a “secret admirer” on a post-it and we stuck on the underside of the gong drum head just before the show. Marco came out and started grooving on the rest of the kit right away. We started to wonder if he would even notice the note. Then he went into a booming pattern that included the gong drum. Still, he’s not seeing it until he lands a fill on the thing with a big exclamation point ending. He does a double-take and reads the note a little stunned. Realizing what’s going on, he looks back at us and laughs. Then he launches right back into his solo without hesitation. This all happened within about 2.5 seconds. No one could even tell that anything went down. Marco pulled it off so perfectly. And we were rolling on the floor backstage.

Chad and Terry had probably the best night of all tonight – definitely my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, every night with them is mind-blowing. But each night always seems more incredible each time.

The audience really helped pump up the vibe here in Dover too. All 350+ people in the crowd embraced BMW and were so wonderful. As far as I can tell, not a lot of drum events come through this area. And I’m pretty sure Terry, Chad and Marco have never been here before (certainly not together). We were all made to feel very welcome by the audience and everyone at B&B Music. Thanks to Mark B, Mark D, Ron and Roy for making our last night of the tour a memorable one.

05 May 2006 – Travel Day
Dover, DE to Knoxville, TN (USA)

WHEW! I can’t believe it’s over. Well, almost… We have lots of driving to do today. Along the way we are dropping Terry, Chad, Marco and Petra off at the airport. At first we end up at the wrong airport somehow (Hey, I’ve always wanted to see Baltimore airport ;). But eventually we made it to DC and got everyone on their correct planes.

We all said good-bye and thanked BMW for the brilliant shows along the way. Thankfully, it wasn’t a sad good-bye because we will all be seeing each other again soon. Being at DW, Steve and I get to work with Marco, Terry and Chad quite often, luckily. You would think that having three drummers on one tour would be a major ordeal. But not with these three guys. I would gladly go on tour with them anytime.

Paul, Steve and I continue on towards Nashville. We’re going to unload the gear at Drum Paradise again and catch flights back home from there.

06 May 2006 – Travel Day
Knoxville, TN to Nashville, TN (USA)

Once again our good friends at Drum Paradise in Nashville are there at our rescue. Poor Mark Arnold and Harry McCarthy come in on a Saturday to help us unload the bus and get all of the gear ready to ship out to various locations. Having their help in all of this has been invaluable!

Finally we’re done. Steve and Paul are exhausted, and they should be! They have worked their asses off. I’ve already said “thank you” to them in person today, but that is really a huge understatement. They were both priceless on this tour. Being on the road, you get to work with a lot of different personalities along the way. It’s one thing to be a part of a crew that gets the job done, but what makes it a pleasure is when you’re with two guys who always have a fun, positive attitude during the process and are just awesome people to hang out with no matter what. Steve and Paul, you guys are the best!

So, tomorrow we all fly home and back to our normal lives. But now, it’s time for some sleep. Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows. And even if you couldn’t make it to the gig, thanks for coming along on the journey in my diary here. Hope to see you all next time.

Good night.