Weekly Musician 10/13/2006 (www.weeklymusician.com)

Striken has blowout in Grand Rapids!

Well, a lot has happened this week... I have had a pretty terrible back problem.. doesn't it suck when that happens? Well, I wasn't in any mood for problems when Friday night came around... I had gone in and set up based on the information I had.. and lo and behold it wasn't ANYTHING like I had figured... Now granted, I could have gone online and looked at their setup, or at least tried to glean from the site what the band configuration was... but it would have made no difference... the band wasn't anything like the poster... or my expectations. When I arrived I was greeted by a double kick, 9 piece drum set... that's 6 toms..2 kicks and snare and Hat... this setup requires a bit of reconfiguring... and when I was done it was pretty obvious I would need extensive monitor modifications to accommodate this band... A full stack or stage left and a 4X10 with a single 18 below.. UFDA.. that's a lot of firepower. I met the guys and Joe assured me that he had sent an email that he was bringing his full 9 piece kit, and that they had fired the rhythm guitar player. It seems That the rhythm player had already run off a couple lead guitar players and was in the process of pissing off the latest guitar slinger Jonny , and it would be easier to find a singing rhythm guitarist than a lead player, so the Rhythm guy was out.. Hmm no harmonies, Well, that's not good, but we have to deal... So, after I got the snake reconfigured for the 9 piece kit, set about prepping the rest of the stage.. pretty strait forward, and now it was time to fire up the system and run with it. Well, I already told you I wasn't feeling all that well, and these guys were LOUD.. Man.. I have to tell you I fought the system all night long trying every trick in the book to get them reigned in, but it was never my cup of tea.. the crowd was excellent, and the band did pretty well.. but I had a heck of a time with the guitar sound.. It was awful thin and high pitched... I tried different positions, and mics, and finally got a combination and sound I could live with.. Jonny is a heck of a shredder.. And Joe.. geez the guys a blur on drums.. Thank goodness I didn't have a bunch of problems too deal with too. These guys are super heavy.. Prong, NIN, Sevendust, Marilyn Manson, Godsmack ..and they do them pretty darn well.. well except for the no backups.. which was a bit iffy in my opinion, but all in all a good bunch of guys and a very good band. Saturday Night was much better, I was feeling more chipper, and was able to reign in the mix and lower the overall volume some and get a better mix. The band played better, as is often the case on night two, except for the singer complaining of a throat problem brought on by a fire extinguisher incident... I suppose that your all a-buzz wondering what the heck that's all about.. Well as told by Dean, the lead singer, Jonny was smoking a cigarette, and Brian, who is by Dean's words, is normally the most sane one of us all, wanted to make a statement... an picked up the fire extinguisher, and... put the cigarette out with prejudice! As most of you know that have ever HAD to fire off a cheap fire extinguisher, It has ON... and no, there is no off.. and with the contents under pressure.. and in powdered form... it goes till it is spent... Now when you do this in a motel room... with the rest of the band present... things tend to get ugly quick.. There was the usual visit from the local constabulary... and the promises of payment for the cleanup.. and of course.. a different room... Well.. any day NOT behind bars being a good one the band had their temperamental rock star 15 minutes of fame right here in good ole GR... chuckle... Dean inhaled a bit too much of the powder.. and complained of a scratchy throat, but STILL managed to sing all the songs both nights... which is pretty amazing even without the unfortunate events of early Saturday morning. All in all another great weekend here at the RII... Next up, Tony and Dirty Boogie on Thursday, and N OD, this weekend.. come and see Griff and company punk the hell out of just about everything...! As always, be well, and we'll see you at the bar!


Gary Perrett
RII systems engineer