Irony

On the flight back from Rio de Janeiro, my wife and I were bumped up to First Class. (Bummer! I hate when that happens.) I'm sitting in my seat reflecting over the last nine months touring and performing in Saltimbanco and all the things that were experienced with this production coming to an end.

The flight attendant comes by my seat and gives me a porable DVD player with 21 movies to choose from. I notice a movie called A Prarie Home Companion, a movie I know nothing about. But I do notice that it was directed by Robert Altman, and I'm a big fan of Robert Altman's!

I pop in the disc and hit the PLAY button, and am amazed that this is a story about what goes on backstage at a radio show that is coming to an end after a long and successful run.

Goodbye Saltimbanco & Rio de Janeiro

Saltimbanco had its last performance on Dec 10th, 2006, and closed its doors after a 14-year run playing to almost 10 million people in 69 different countries. It was an amazing last show! All the acrobats and performers nailed their parts, the band was tight and rockin', and it couldn't have been a better show.

It was the longest period of time I had been away from home...at times exhausting, at times exhilerating, but never a boring moment.

Asleep at my makeup table between shows,
Sat. Sept 16, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Being a part of this Cirque du Soleil production was not only extremely rewarding but also one of the highlights of my life.

One of the most difficult I've ever done was saying goodbye to the many friends I made in this show -- performers, musicians, administrators and crew... a few are moving on to other shows; some taking time off, some going back to their homes in Russia, China, Ukraine, America, Canada, etc.

Thank you Saltimbanco for the ride of my life. You are all the most talented, creative, fun, amazing and whacky group of people I have ever worked with!

Saltimbanco Head Shots - Cirque du Soleil

I was able to get a copy of the head shots that appear in the Saltimbanco program. Here are two head shots that were taken of me at Cirque du Soleil headquarters back in April 2006.

Click pic to enlarge

2nd Biggest Mortadella I've ever seen

There was a mortadella promotion in our hotel and this is the 2nd biggest mortadella I've ever seen! Holy cow! Check this thing out!!

Xi Shun (Tallest Living Man) at Pão de Açúcar, Rio de Janeiro

Meet Xi Shun. He's the tallest living man in the world, just short of 7' 9" tall, but actually seems taller when you're standing in front of him. Xi Shun is from Mongolia and was doing a promotion for the Guiness Book of World Records in Brazil. My wife and I just happened to be at Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) here in Rio de Janeiro while they were promoting the book.

He was so happy to meet everyone...had big smile on his faceon his face the entire time, shaking hands...chatting. It was very cool meeting him.
(Click pics to enlarge)

Susan and Xi Shun



Xi Shun towering over us


View from Pao de Acucar mountain in Rio de Janeiro


Looking down on Rio de Janeiro from Pão de Açúcar


Looking across to Corcodova mountain from Pão de Açúcar


My new friend


Jackfruit Tree - This stuff is yummy!

Goodbye Sao Paulo; Hello Rio de Janeiro

I was a bit melancholy leaving Sao Paulo, especially after making so many friends, experiencing the amazing local music scene there, and visiting so many cool places. But change is good and I'm excited to be moving to Rio de Janeiro. We played to sold out crowds for every show during out three months in Sao Paulo, and Saltimbanco has sold out in Rio as of April 2006!

It was a pretty comfortable eight hours bus ride and the landscape outside was picturesque.

(click on photos to enlarge)








We arrived at a lovely hotel in the evening and were greeted by live samba, caipirinhas and lot of smiles! And that's just while we were checking in to the hotel!


It felt so good to breathe in the healing ocean air. I woke up the next day to my wife climbing into the bed to show me pictures she had just taken of our view while I was asleep. It's beautiful...a bit strange in a way but gorgeous because I have the ocean to my right, and the biggest favela in Brazil to the left.



This is a good start to the last leg of this Cirque du Soleil tour!

Percussion Shop and Choro Music - Sao Paulo, Brazil

Many of us on Saltimbanco left Sao Paulo for Rio de Janeiro on Monday morning. The Cirque du Soleil big top is going up this week! But before leaving Sao Paulo, I was on a quest for some quality percussion instruments, particularly a berimbau and pandeiro along with some other 'toys'. My friend Bruno hooked me up and took me to a percussion shop called Batucadas 1000. (click photos to enlarge)

Batucadas 1000 percussion shop


Then off I went to play two shows. Afterwards, a bunch of us were invited to a tavern called Ó do Borogodó in the Pinheiros neighborhood to listen to our friend Andre Hosoi play mandolin in a choro ensemble. This is the music that gave birth to the samba.

Andre, Bruno, me, Chantal


Videos of the group performing two songs:

"Proezas de Solon" - Composer: Pixinguinha e Benedito Lacerda

"Simplicidade" - Composer: Jacob do Bandolim

Bleecker Street Gig - Sao Paulo, Brazil

It's a bit of a grind doing 10 three-hour Cirque du Soleil shows per week. So the night we play our last show of the week we really love to let loose and blow off some steam. So on a Sunday at 1:30 a.m., the Saltimbanco band was more than happy to give back to our fellow Saltimbancs and provide the music for the rockin' party we held at the Bleecker Street bar in the Pinheiros borough of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

We played some U2, Green Day, Brian Setzer, Commodores, Jimi Hendrix, CCR, Jet, and the list goes on!

(click on thumbnails to enlarge)

1. Me, Marc Soheir in the back*
2. Serge Maheux*
3. Marc Soheir*
4. Benoit Martin*
5. Paul Hanson**
6. Martin, Sitting in on lead vocals**
7. The Band*
8. The crowd rockin' away!**
9. Crowd shot 2*
10. Vasya "gettin' down"**
11. Taisiya and Bubu**

*Photos by Brad Fernihough
** Photos by Susan Chakmakian

Mad Max Party - Sao Paulo, Brazil

Every Sunday there is usually an activity planned for us at Saltimbanco since Monday is normally our only day off. A couple of weeks ago the technicians and logisitics' team on our site threw a Mad-Max theme party.

They threw us an amazing party and almost everyone dressed up for it. As you would expect from a Mad Max party, it was complete with mayhem, havoc and commotion. There were fire blowers, electric sanders creating giant sparks, an electric bicycle made from a Skilsaw™ motor, a swinging cage in the middle of the dance floor and people getting in touch with their most wild sides.

Saltimanco's current clown and barron, Amo, blowing fire*

Click on thumbnails to enlarge pics*

Video montage of party Highlights



*Animated GIF layers and photographs #1, #3 and #12 by Brad Fernihough

Super-Cool Saying!

Is anyone else out their tired of hearing the word "super" precede every adjective known to mankind? A few years ago, "It's all good" was the response I got to almost every question I posed to someone regarding a blunder.

"Why didn't you bring the money you owed me?"
"Don't worry. It's all good. I'll bring it next time."

You know what, if it was 'all good' I don't think you'd be trying to convince anyone. Thank god that phrase went by the wayside along with those jeans with the white fade on the top of the thigh area. That was certainly a fashion statement from hell that died a quick death, wasn't it? It looked super-dumb.

And speaking of 'from hell,' remember when everything was 'from hell'? The ex-girlfriend from hell, the bad restaurant from hell, the teacher from hell, the boss from hell, the job from hell, and the always-breaking-down car from hell. Things aren't so bad anymore though. These things got better because now she's just the super-crazy ex-girlfriend, it's only the super-bad restaurant...oh wait...things could've gotten worse if you consider the super-satanic boss from hell, the super-exhausting job from hell...Ok, I'll leave this thought to the super-smart philosophers of life.

I'm still waiting for the word "extreme" to come off the last batch of advertisements for products still on our shelves. I think the last bastion of solitude for this super-overused advertising phrase from hell is on a tube of Aqua Fresh toothpaste. Why would I want to use something referred to as extreme toothpaste? It makes me feel as if I'm about to dissolve the top layer of skin from the inside of my mouth and melt my teeth. I just want to clean my teeth and mouth, not give it an acid wash.

Ok, I've got to go because I'm super busy, and if I don't get off this computer my lovely wife's going to turn into the spouse from hell and open up a can of super-harsh whoop-ass EXTREME!

Dona Zica and Plumber's Crack

A few of us from Saltimbanco went to a club here in Sao Paulo, Brazil called Grazie a Dio to watch a local band named Dona Zica. Ok, here's my best attempt to describe this band: Take a bit of the B52s, throw in a little Talking Heads, punk them out a bit then turn them into a detective-themed cartoon in 1940s Brazil. The highlight of the evening for me was when one of the very petite and demure looking female singers singers posed in a "I'll kick your ass" stance with a megaphone, opened her mouth the way a python does when it dislocates its jaw to swallow a baby goat, and unleashed a deep and powerful satanic-like ROOOOAAAAAARRRRRR that shook the entire room!!!!

(click pics to enlarge)




Oh yeah, and this was pretty funny too.
(I heard that Brazil had the best butts in the world. Somehow, this guy slipped through the cracks - pun intended)

MP3s-Bonham Studio Jam Session - Sao Paulo, Brazil

Serge, the drummer on our gig, and I met a fantastic bassist the night we went to Barnaldo Lucrecia. His name was Alexandre Sengling and he invited us to jam with him at Bonham studio in the Osasco area of Sao Paulo, Brazil last Monday. We had nothing prepared as we improvised for a little over an hour. Here are a couple of clips I recorded with my MP3 recorder. Please forgive the distortion in the recording.

right-click link to download
Bonham Studio Jam 1 (Kinda funky, progressive fusion)


Bonham Studio Jam 2 (Freeform progressive jazz)

Clown Act Blooper - Saltimbanco

After an audience member pretends to slip on a banana peel as part of the clown act in our show, Amo, our clown walks him over to the band where we hold up scores for his performance. We all give him high scores except for Benoit, our guitarist who gives him an 0.6.

This guy wasn't thrilled about the low score, so he walks towards Benoit where he...well...you'll see what happens.

Barnaldo Lucrecia - Sao Paulo, Brazil

A friend of our's here in Sao Paulo happened to work at a very cool club here called Barnaldo Lucrecia. They invited all of us from Cirque du Soleil to their once-a-month jam night. All the musician that play at this club are also invited and play their hearts out all night long. It was a fantastic evening! (click on pics to enlarge)

The waiters came out and banged on pans with sticks as they joined in on the action




Serge, me, local bassist and Benoit playing some Sting


Video of the waiters joining in on the action during the set