First of all, my 1st gig was at Bristow, it was not my 2nd...I flew out to DC on July 5 where the guys had 2 days off....I didn't see or hear from a soul the 2nd day there, found out soon enough everyone keeps to themselves and do not hang together on days off. I woke the morning of the 7th to a greeting from Deen and him freaking that no one bothered sending me a set list or even discussed what we'd be playing that day. A setlist was faxed to my room but of course, I did my own homework days before by looking online as to what they'd played on previous dates before my arrival.
There was NO rehearsal, there was a 10 minute soundcheck which we did 3 songs and 2 monitor wedges were placed on the stage for me as everyone was on in-ears because of the not only the size of the stage but that everyone's volumes varied...with in-ears, everyone could have their own personal mixes in their ears....I didnt have this luxury as 1, I have always hated in-ears and didn't have any, but there was no time to arrange them for me outside of the generic headphones with a pack which I shot down within 30 seconds of trying it out at soundcheck.
Backing up a bit, the 'sounding rough' bit had a LOT to do with the months prior to me stepping in, I was working my ass off consistently singing up to that point, since Feb that year, I was doing 2 nights a week live with local gigs and in between those days I was singing the new Talisman album, from demos to final vocals. Naturally as one does when doing their 'own' thing, I would have drinks, hang out talking all day/night, blah blah, far from proper vocal rest one needs to prepare for singing the Journey catalog so yes, I came into the fold not just very rough but flat out spent, I honestly thought I wouldnt make it through the 1st week much less the next weeks before the 1st break of the tour.
I scraped by doing all I could to rest in between shows, I didn't drink so much as a beer on those tours and I didn't speak much either before and after shows. The 1st 2 weeks off, I took a week off vocally and did a 7 day sabbatical of silence. The 2nd week, I visited Perry's old vocal coach as he resides in LA and even if I got some warmups, it would have helped in which it actually did, he taught me how to work up to that 'pinch' that comes naturally in the voice by doing the right exercises.
From the 2nd leg onward is where I was able to step up finally. I got my customized in-ears but even then, it was a chore staying in pitch as if anyone knows direct pitch and relative pitch are 2 different things. When you hear an ambulance siren from a distance, the pitch changes as it gets near you because of the volume but then reverts back to the pitch it was once it passes. The same goes for direct signal into your ears verses hearing it from a distance, I found that wearing both ears had me singing chronically flat but once I pulled one ear off (and you'll see many in the industry do this), I could hear the pitch in one ear and what my voice was delivering directly into the exposed ear. This helped me stay on time and pitch with the band more fluently.
So there you go, my take on how it all started, I think that helps the topic here about my involvement...regarding those who didn't dig what I did or brought, can't help on that one, I do what I do and did what I did
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:05 am
