The Jam Session

Nothing breaks up the monotony of "Groundhog Day" like a good old fashion jam session - complete with Elvis jacket! How did this come about? Well, at the premier party I met this guy named Gaston. When I told him that I was a musician, he asked, "Do you want to experience something very strange and interesting on Sunday night?" "Absolutely!" (As long as it doesn't involved the gimp).

So he tells me about his buddy who they call Baños ("bathroom" in Spanish). Baños has a gathering of friends every Sunday night to have a jam session. He's a plastic surgeon and an extremely cool guy, because the first Sunday we showed up, they were out on the sidewalk leaving the jam session! See, Gaston told me that they play till the wee hours of the morning. So we didn't think it was too late to show up at midnight. He invited us into his house and we jammed for about an hour. And when a few more Cirque people showed up at 1am, Baños let them in and hung out till about 4am. He felt so bad about his buddy Gaston giving us misinformation that he organized a special jam session a week later for the Cirque crowd. These guys even played "The Final Countdown" from 80s hair-band Europe! Too bad they didn't know any Asia. We had a blast!

Meet Baños

Man, these people like to party!

The Elvis jacket wasn't an option, it was a necessity!

Haku's first time on stage playing lead tamborine!

Left to Right: Olivier, Nuria, Svetlana, Serge, Elvis, ?, James, Benoit

Saltimbanco Premier Party - Buenos Aires

Some pics from the premier party of Saltimbanco - Buenos Aires, Argentina - May 6. It was held in a converted warehouse and went until 6:00 a.m. They had tango dancers, good music, dancing, booze and...um....I don't seem to remember much more. Thanks for the ride home Robski!

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First Time On Stage with Cirque du Soleil!

Today was my first day on stage playing with the band for Saltimbanco. The show has two acts with an intermission. Since there were two shows tonight, I played the first act in both shows. How did I do? I think I did about 90% potential on the first show and 95% on the 2nd. I hit a "clam" on the first opening solo, but it wasn't horrible. No complaints from the music director, which is always, a good sign. I have to admit, it was nerve wracking and I felt like I was on "high military alert." I pretty much know the music; it's the cues and all the little unexpected stuff that was putting my stomach in knots. There was no dress rehearsal for me. As a matter of fact, there were really no rehearsals at all. I ran through each song once or twice during sound check with the band over the last week or so. Before I went on stage, I was approached by about five different performers and asked, "You know the cue to start the song in my act?" Then one of the stage managers walked up to me and said, "We don't say 'good luck' or 'break a leg' around here. At Cirque we like to say, "Don't f@!# up!" That gave me a good laugh :-)

And about the unexpected "stuff," one example was that Cirque wardrobe people me some special red shoes to go with my costume. There are a bit wide, so when I go to hit a particular pedal to change sounds, I have to be careful not to hit any pedals or buttons adjacent to this extremely important pedal. Yikes! But the one that completely caught me off guard were these two: I start the show with a quiet solo piano piece as the band and I are covered with a parachute-type material. It gets rolled up very quickly to expose the band and the rest of the stage in the middle of the first tune.

So I see my cue in the dark and I start playing but I don't hear the piano in my monitor! (We wear earpieces and can hear ourselves and the other musicians in them). So I play half the tune by just knowing which keys to press and hoping the dynamics are cool because it sounds like I have my fingers in my ears with the in-ear monitors. Then BOOM - the sound pops into my ear...no problem...I'm a professional...I've played in biker bars...this was fine. Then as the band kicks into the very dramatic build up as they roll up the sheath exposing the band. It's rolling up VERY quickly and catches the corner of one of my keyboards...lifting it up and knocking over the two mic stands that are in front of me. But...no problem...I've played in biker bars...I've seen people thrown on stage in a fight... I can handle this.

I undo the sheath. Jean-Louis, the bassist grabs a mic stand while he's still somehow playing the bass. I grab the back of the same stand and pull it back up...continuing to make it through the tune. Apparently, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Great! The rest of the set went pretty smooth. I made it to the end of both 1st acts and survived.

At the end of the evening the cast came off the stage after the finale where I was backstage practicing the 2nd part of the show on my practice rig. They formed a circle around me then cheered and applauded. That was pretty cool. I've played in biker bars, and I must say that being part of this production - a Cirque du Soleil show, is pretty damn cool!

What is Normal?

I'm experiencing something unusual...an interesting phenomenon. I now feel it's completely normal for people to walk around in circus makeup - eating, talking on the phone, working out in the gym, listening to their iPod, etc. There is nothing strange about it anymore.

Benoit (guitarist) and Taisiya (Trapeze artist) chilling out during intermission.

Can You Say "Multitask"?

In an email to my brother and a friend of mine, I came up with an analogy for what I feel like I'm going through right now as I learn this Cirque music and keyboard set up. Imagine playing keyboards while driving a car and playing a video game all as you're programming a VCR that's been recently unplugged so the 12:00 keeps flashing. Oh yeah, you have to memorize the road map and the video game manual.

Goodbye Montreal; Hello Santiago, Chile!

It was a bit sad leaving Montreal after making friends with some very cool people at Cirque headquarters, but it was time to leave the nest. My fight on Monday to Santiago was one of those red-eye-crying-baby-semi-turbulant flights, so I arrived at 10am with no sleep...paid my $100 welcome-to-Chile cover charge (they call it a tax) went to the hotel...unpacked...and shuttled off the the site where the show is set up, appropriately call, "The Site." It was my first time seeing Saltimbanco live (I'd watched DVDs of previous shows to learn the music). It's truly an amazing show. You really get a sense of the roots of Cirque du Soleil's beginnings as a group of street performers. I watched both performances and the applause at the end of both shows was so loud, it hurt my ears. All the shows in Santiago and Buenos Aires are now sold out to 2,500 seat crowds!

I've got a ton of music to memorize and I started rehearsing with the band already. They've got a cool way of integrating me into the show. I'll be backstage with my own practice rig - a keyboard set up and a video monitor. I'll be playing along with the band who is onstage without hearing the current keyboardist in my headphones. Cool training wheels, huh? Actually, it's a horribly uncomfortable and definitely not ergonomically correct "erector set" to play music on, but if I'm going to be uncomfortable, it may as well be in Santiago while I'm on a cool gig.

The hotel in Santiago is gorgeous - much better than the halfway house in Montreal, and the weather has been similar to the California desert. I'll be here for about two weeks.

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Chilean Mountains from the plane


Practice rig at hotel


View outside my hotel window (it's nice to be working on music while seeing this outside my hotel window


Screen shot of my computer and all the "stuff" I have up while working on the tunes. Notice that I have a photo of the keyboard setup in the upper right so I could memorize where all the pedals are and their function.


Keyboards - Stage Rigs (see all the pedals I have to deal with?)


Keyboards - Practice Rig backstage

Plateau Mont-Royal

I headed into an area in Montreal called Plateeau Mont-Royal...reminded me a bit of San Francisco, but a more mellow vibe. I passed by this familiar place on the way to the subway into town, but something seemed different about it. Maybe the Colonel got new glasses?

Poulet Frit Kentucky



The temperature was in the high 50s/low 60s...people sitting outside drinking margaritas at a place called Cactus...eating ice cream, walking around, just enjoying the sun after their very-long winter. I grabbed a sandwich and some raspberry/pear juice then kicked back on some stairs to do some people watching.







Dooby Day? Joint-rolling workshop? You've gotta love the disclaimer at the bottom of this poster: "These are informative events and do not encourage any behaviour." So ladies and gentlemen, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Sugar Shack

Cirque had a "sugar shack" celebration in the area behind the company. I've never heard of a sugar shack before...was a lot of fun! It's a celebration of springtime and the harvesting of maple sap to make maple syrup, maple butter, etc. Lots of yummy food, good music and a great time! They had maple sap-collection buckets hanging in different areas of the company for decor.
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The coolest part of this celebration is when they pour heated/reduced maple syrup over crushed ice (supposed to be snow), then it turns into a taffy-like chewiness.


Then you roll it up with a stick and devour it. Yum!


You can't do sugar shack with out the music of Quebec...think French...mountains...village... with a hint of Celtic. And even though it was about 60 degrees F, people dress up in sugar shack garb.


The guy in the crazy hat on was handing out maple butter parting gifts (softer than peanut butter)...



...but you had to wear the hat first before they handed you the parting gift. No need to twist my arm!