TSO - Week 1
(By David Z)

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10/27/06: And so it begins

Arrived in Florida. First day in and first night off. Our only concern was checking in and relaxing… though that proved to harder than one would think. More specifically, checking in wasn’t very difficult but finding our rooms was a fiasco. There were three different buildings with separate wings to search, and to top it off the hotel divided the rooms into sections of odd and even numbers making it virtually impossible to find a room. I must have walked every section of every wing in every building. I was feeling pretty ridiculous until I noticed a swarm of other TSO members wandering in the same confused manner; each of us carrying two tons of shit, lost and cursing the genius who decided to split the rooms that way.

Having finally won the battle against the hotel numbering system and found my room, it was off to the venue to take a look at the lighting. Oh, this is my journal – I can say anything I want and I’m supposed to be honest. Okay, I went off in search of catering. Seriously, one thing about being on the road with TSO, there is never a shortage of food.

However, after eating (gorging?), I did go in to look at the lighting. It’s always phenomenal and this year is no different. The fans are going to be amazed. The stage and the lighting are unbelievable. Just when you think they can’t top what they’ve done before, they add… well, I guess I shouldn’t give it all away here because the surprise is part of the fun, but I can tell you that we’re very excited about the fact that we have twice the amount of stage room as we did last year.

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10/28/06: Day 1 of Dress Rehearsal

Before heading over to the venue I hit the hotel gym (though, it was more like an empty room with a treadmill). Oh, and an empty water cooler. With no other option, I was forced to do what I hate the most…Cardio! Unhappily, I was later informed that I could have been pumping iron over at Gold’s Gym a couple of blocks away.

And then it was on to the venue for the first day of rehearsal. The first day of any production is where the saying “hurry up and wait” is born. We pretty much sat waiting while the production team handled last minute tweaks on the stage and lights. Then, once on stage, we spent the rest of the time getting the right individual mixes for our in-ear monitors. Not the most exciting thing, but necessary for this kind of show. By the time we got to play it was nearly time to wrap it up. A little disappointing because we all came to play.

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10/29/06: Day 2 of Dress Rehearsal

We’ve yet to play the set straight through. First it was the placement of the background singers. And I’m reminded again of how grateful I am that ZO2 is a trio. Then, it was on to the pyro demos. Now, I’d like to quote from my favorite band (that I’m not in), KISS, “Hot, Hot, Hotter Than Hell”. The flames were no joke. They almost seared the skin off Jeff’s (the drummer) back. There definitely won’t be any cold winter nights inside the arenas this year. Then, set changes and song transitions ate up more time. It’s only a couple of days before our first show and we’re still figuring out the set list.

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10/30/06: Day 3 of Dress Rehearsal

Success! We made it through the entire set with transitions, song interludes and all. It’s going to be a killer show this year! And finally, after three full days of rehearsing (or waiting to rehearse), it was time to kick back and relax. A bunch of us decided to hit the movie theater to see “The Departed”. Scorcese does it again. It was a fast-paced action thriller with as much bloodshed as you would expect from one of his films. It was a nice, violent way to kick off our Christmas extravaganza.

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10/31/06: Happy Halloween

Travel day. We’re flying from Tampa, FL to Charleston, WV with a layover in Pittsburgh. Planes are never as fun as a tour bus… or as simple. For starters, no one goes through your bags on the tour bus. You also don’t have to wait over an hour for a delayed flight after an already long layover. Oh yeah, and you never fear of being on a super tiny tour bus. With our second flight, we had the LaBamba plane that fit only 3 across in each row and jumped at every tiny bit of turbulence. I guess it’s only fitting that we were scared stupid on Halloween.

In the past years of touring with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra we always started the tour after Halloween. I was a little sad that I wasn’t home for Halloween this year. It’s now added to the list of occasions I miss while on the road including Thanksgiving and a couple of important family birthdays. At least we’re home for Christmas.

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11/1/06: One Last Dress Rehearsal

It’s the night before the first show and a last run-through is a must. Rehearsal isn’t until 5pm so I take advantage of the free time and hit another hotel gym. This time, thankfully, there were weights and machines in the gym along, of course, with my favorites, the cardio machines. After getting my work out on, I was off to the mall. I never actually find anything I need in a mall yet I always walk out with enough bags to imply that I did.

Before heading to the venue, I made sure I had my stack of promotional ZO2 postcards. We’re holding a live chat on the ZO2 fan site @ http://z-team.us/zteam/index.php on Monday Dec. 11th at 9 pm EST. Paulie, Joey and I will, for the first time, all be on the chat together. After making sure I had what I needed, it was off to the stage for a complete run through of the show. It went well barring the fact that the mic placement and staging got a little confusing. Happily, by the end everything was ironed out as well as it can be without audience participation.

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11/2/06: Show #1 Charleston Civic Center – Charleston, WV

It’s finally here. Opening night. This is where all that practice pays off. It’s where we see if all the components work well together. To get ready, I’m off to the gym to work out my biceps and triceps. I feel like Ron Burgundy, “998, 999, 1000. Feel the burn, deep burn. Oh, I didn’t notice you standing there.” LOL. Note to self (and any musicians out there trying to stay in shape): Don’t lift heavy weights on the day of your show. I played the whole show feeling like Gumby (but that didn’t stop me from checking out the audience for a Pokey to “ride”…).

But back to the show…aside from bumping into my guitar tech a half dozen times due to unfamiliarity with the set changes, the show went over pretty well. The crowd was very responsive. We all felt there were a few spots that didn’t catch the audience completely so we will remedy that at tomorrow night’s show. And that’s why the audience is vital to any show. We continually tweak the show based on the audience’s response. You’re the reason we’re there so we’re going to give you what you want!

Before going to do the after show meet and greet (aka. signing), we all head back to a room we call the “pre signing vibe room”. It’s a place for us to throw a couple back and pretty much VIBE out (thus the name). Even so. I was still wired from opening night. Come to think of it, I’m always a little wired. Must be all the Twinkies I eat on the bus. I couldn’t wait to get out to meet the fans – and they didn’t disappoint. The fans couldn’t have been nicer. And, for me, meeting the fans is singularly what makes being a musician so great. To hear that you’ve touched someone (sometimes literally – er, but that’s another story) is what makes it worth putting my all into every show. Luckily in both TSO and ZO2, all members feel the same way.

Tonight was also the first night that we got to ride our tour bus. Unfortunately for me and my five bus mates, our permanent bus won’t be arriving until the 7th. In the meantime, we’re riding a loaner. But the loaner bus kicks ass! (which makes me fearful that our real bus won’t be quite as nice.)

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Stayed tuned for next week’s journal.

SAME Z TIME…SAME Z CHANNEL…OR LINK FOR THAT MATTER!!!