Monday August 17, 2015 – Part I
The Hotel, Burbank, CA
Of course, after that August 12 entry, things went into whirlwind mode, and I stopped writing. The last thing I typed had to do with “a different kind of pressure” kicking in. Little did I know.
From Wednesday morning we were indeed “on”. For the folks coming in from Europe and South America there was a lot of pressure and pervasive uncertainty. Necessary visas and last minute airline tickets. I was stressed mostly by proxy. All I needed to do was get on a plane. But it was all sorted out. The international players were all flying a day early in order to arrive in LA on Saturday so that they could have a day to get their feet on the ground. The North Americans all scheduled to arrive Sunday afternoon.
From my perspective, the success of this project revolves around how quickly and completely we can transform this diverse group of players into a single and unified team of players. We all have the grounding in a common practice, but there are differences in approach that need to be reconciled. I’m turning into a bit of a nag on this topic, but that’s me.
Miraculously, everyone arrives without incident. Guitars and luggage intact.
On Sunday afternoon, the 10 North Americans meet at LAX, find the van and driver hired to take us to the hotel in Burbank, and are whisked off to our LA headquarters; a very new, and by the standards of your typical semi-pro touring musician, downright luxurious hotel.
I don’t actually have any time to appreciate those aspects. I have a couple of minutes to drop my gear off and then get down to the lobby to meet the “management team” – Tour Manager Dev, Director Hernan, Music Director Mika, Sound Tech Dani, and Director Horacio, to head into town to have a look at the rehearsal space and meet with some of Ocean’s team. A 30-minute (on a Sunday afternoon) drive through LA to the Shrine Auditorium. An incredibly beautiful theatre. Here they are assembling the stage that will be used for the appearance at the FYF Fest. Lighting, sound, all just as it will be on Saturday at the sports arena.
The moment we walk in, it is clear that this process is a long way from completion. The original plan had been for us to rehearse there Sunday night. Clearly that ain’t going to happen, but we kind of already knew that. Since Dani is going to be our technical liaison, and Dev of course is the man in charge, we let them go talk to the people they need to get to know, and the rest of us stepped back into the shadows to kind of take it in and begin to visualize this show; that and staying the hell out of the way of union stage, tech, and teamsters.
Back to the hotel for 6pm inaugural meeting with the full team. We are in the conference room, which is really a bit small for us, but it is our only option for group work in the hotel. Around the room making brief introductions. A couple of people I don’t know, personally. A few I’m only acquainted with. And a whole lot that I’ve worked with for 10, 20, even 30 years. Very good discussion of what this gig requires of us. The plan is for us to head out for dinner afterward, but Ferni wisely suggests that getting together with guitars if only for 15 or 20 minutes. We take a short break to get our guitars, and meet again in the conference room, standing. Music Director Mika takes us through a couple of circulation strategies that they work with in BGE, involving full chords in whatever key is called. For me, very good to have to think fast like that. And it is really quite lovely. Maybe we can just do that for 25 minutes while Ocean sings over top? That would be something to see. Gets me quickly back in the groove. Steve proposes a couple of improv strategies. We can feel the group coming together very quickly. As we are quiet, and already over the time we set aside for “checking in with guitars”, but something is poking at me, so I initiate a simple circulation. Half a dozen times around the circle, and three chords at the end. What comes to my mind, and the immediately to my lips… “Ah. There we are.”
A walk into Burbank, a Thai restaurant located as a good option. Good food. A beer or two. Simple socializing for the team. Back to the hotel, a nightcap in the bar. While there, Ocean’s team contacts Dev with the schedule for Monday: to the Shrine in the afternoon, a couple hours for us to rehearse on our own, work with tech, dinner, and then a rehearsal with Ocean at 8pm. Wonderful. Up to bed and a good night’s sleep.
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| Shrine Auditorium - not quite ready for us |
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