RADIO RETALIATION TOUR - Bucharest, London and Portugal - Entry 2

Bucharest was jaw dropping, start planning your trip now! Forget Transylvania, Count Dracula, and any other long standing myths and rumors you have heard, go now to your favorite web based travel agent and book tickets, before they start using the Euro in 2011. Bucharest is beautiful, the focus of a country wide renaissance it is the center of art, culture and mass media for all of Romania. The city is a sprawling mass of 2.6 million first recorded historically in 1459. It was home to the infamous Vlad the Impaler (yes, he was real). After being taken over by the Ottomans and burned, Bucharest continued on through centuries of turmoil, burned, captured by many, and burned again. Most of the historical areas of the city have been reduced to rubble more than once. It was only in 1989 and 90 that Romania and Bucharest began to change into the modern, but historically relevant city it is today. When we were walking through the old city, most of its infrastructure was under the process of renovation and revitalization.

The show was all business as usual, with a killer crowd. Everyone in the band is getting used to the new songs, and everything is finding a flow that is partial chaos associated with ample consumption of whatever, and total calm associated with ample consumption of whatever. The venue was your typical communist era building with a no frills theater style set up. During sound check we noticed that the building was literally shaking to pieces, things falling from the ceiling, things tumbling over and rattling around everywhere. I think the promoter put it best when he was asking us to turn down the subs, "this has never happened here before". We turned it up instead, testing the structural integrity of the building. We like firsts, and I can tell you no one in Bucharest will ever forget that show, maybe because of SPLs (that's sound pressure levels for you non-audiophile types), but I think it was unforgettable because we are bringing something to a group of people that have been conquered, captured, and oppressed socially and economically for centuries. They are finally able to witness Thievery Corporation, a world-wide phenomena, shake the walls of their souls.

After the Bucharest gig we had a next day turnaround into Shepherds Bush Empire, which is in London. (Rock bands don't try this one!) Empire, as it is known by the locals, is a 3-tier theater with a big pit down front. We played there once before to only the pit, not selling enough tickets to fill even the first balcony. Thanks to everyone who came out this time for a sold out show. (They have all been sellouts on this tour, by the way) First, everything is fine, we knew it was going to take awhile for our gear to arrive from Bucharest, but we thought it would arrive at 5PM, leaving us barely enough time to build and have a line check. Thanks to customs and one moron or two along the way, our gear ended up arriving at 7PM, which is when we were supposed to open the doors. The extremely understanding venue held doors as long as they could, till 8. (If all of you Londoners are wondering why it took so long to get in, this is the reason) We built the entire show in a little over an hour, the same show that normally takes us 4 to 5 hours to build. We worked frantically to run lines, set up video, line check, etc, etc, etc. We had no choice but to go on and we were flying by the seat of our pants. Again, the band performed incredibly well under such chaotic circumstances. (This is becoming a theme of this run of shows, eh?) The crowd was sensational, of course they had no idea what happened. The band was awe-inspiring, and we managed to pull off one of the best shows in a long time. London we love you and we will be back soon.

The next day was a travel day to Lisbon, Portugal. In a perfect world, you have a day between gigs if you have to fly, which we were. We knew we were the number one band in two countries, Greece, did that, and Portugal. We didn't know, however, that we have become so popular in Portugal that people have begun to recognize certain band members on the street. It was like that, we ate in a restaurant in Barrio Alto the first night, the staff played all of our CDs and made us sign them, not that we minded. After resting up before our show (that is, taking shots of absinthe and being up all night) we made our way to the venue. It was, in a word, magnificent. Four tiers of balcony surrounded an angled pit, a massive architectural sphere above with columns radiating from it, one of the most beautiful venues I have ever seen. This day was to be one of triumph, ending on a high note, in a country where we are number one. The video show for Lisbon was unimaginable, a colossal LED wall behind the band, with a smaller counterpart hanging in front of Eric and Rob, it looked as though the principal members of the band were part of the LED curtain. I urge you to check YouTube for footage from this show. This is the type of day the band likes, no hang-ups, great food, beautiful venue, ample stage, surging crowds and great performances. We ended on a high note, to be sure. Lisbon, thank you. Thank you for the best buds, thank you for the great city itself, but most of all, thank you Lisbon and all of Portugal for allowing Thievery Corporation to be at our best, in one of the best places in the world.

Now I am off with the band to some shows in the States, Houston, New Orleans, which has a special place in my heart (not because of Katrina), and Dallas. Then to Mexico for Monterrey and Mexico City. Do not switch your dial, this is a test of the Thievery Corporation on Radio Retaliation.

RADIO RETALIATION TOUR - Thessaloniki & Athens, Greece - Entry 1

It's been awhile since I've done one of these so lets start with a brief recap of the year. After Australia in January, Thievery Corporation rocked The Langerado Music Festival in Florida, followed by LA, Vegas and Austin (where we had the incredible experience of being on the Austin City Limits TV show) New York, and then the hometown crowd at Merriweather Post. San Fran, England, Spain, Portugal in the summer, and now back to Europe for this run.

It's October 15th at 4:20 AM local time in Bucharest, Romania. We have been to Greece, Thessaloniki and Athens specifically. The Principal Club is pretty much the Thessaloniki equivalent of the 9:30 Club in DC. With a 2000 person capacity, large pit area and generous balcony, its was a great place to see a Thievery show. The show in Thessaloniki was incredible, we gave it all we had and Thessaloniki gave it all back.

Athens was an outdoor show with an arced cover, stadium style bleachers, and a boiling audience of more than 8000. Seated on the roof of Athens with an incredible view of the city, the venue was only the beginning of the story. The crew (Wedge, Andy, Joe and myself) arrived to the venue at 10AM, right from the airport. Keep in mind, we had finished the night before in Thessaloniki at 5AM, slept for an hour and made our flight into Athens. We were amazed to see our gear driver Mooney arrive in Athens, at the venue from Thessaloniki, WAY before we got there. I guess I should have ridden with him.

Everything went fine all day from 10AM till our show at 10PM, then it happened, an eclipse, a vortex to another dimension opened, spontaneous equipment malfunction, total power failure. Thats right, in the middle of Mandala, a new song only performed once in Thessaloniki 24 hours before, the audio equipment went dark. For two long minutes we had an amazing light show, and and acoustic set. For two long minutes, people were watching the talents of Yasmine our dancer, El John and Frank, our percussionists, Robbie the sitar player, and the lights. The audience became part of our impromptu show, whistling, clapping, whooping, even conversation became as important as the power generator. For two minutes people were losing their jobs, profanities were swirling, hearts were stopping, mine included. For two minutes Hash played the bass and nothing came out, Robbie played acoustic sitar, Frank and El John played percussion, Yasmine danced, and everyone waited. For two looooong minutes we had no power. An eternity. When the power finally came on it was a relief to be sure, and just the start of a myriad of other issues cascading through each piece of equipment. You see, lets just imagine your (insert name of equipment that requires electricity here) gets unpluged, now you have to reboot, reset, reload, you get the idea. The band was incredibly professional, holding it together in the most difficult circumstances, and by halfway through the set, the crew managed to redo most of our 12 hours of work accomplished earlier that day.

All told it was a nightmare, but we had an incredible show, and we had a day off in Athens to sleep the next day. Now we are in Bucharest, with a show today, and another tomorrow in London, I guess we will have to see how important electricity is for those shows. It certainly didn't matter in Athens.


THIEVERY CORPORATION – AUSTRALIA 2008

Stone’s Tour Diary…

Tour date: Feb.09.2008 – Melbourne - Update 1

We left DC on Tuesday, February 5th. Our original flight was canned so we were bumped to another airline resulting in a missed flight to Melbourne. After a night in the LA airport hotel, and another long day of lines in the airport, we finally boarded the flight to Australia. Fourteen hours of economy class hell later and were on the ground. Its Friday the 8th now and we have skipped Thursday completely; Thursdays are overrated anyway.

Upon arrival we were shuttled to the Good Vibrations site in Melbourne, a 12,000-18,000 capacity venue made of steel and concrete. It has a covered indoor area and awesome open lawn seating (similar to Merriweather Post or Wolf Trap back home)- should make for a great sounding and fun show for all.

After hanging out all night with Cypress Hill and nursing hangovers/jet lag, we set up the gear around 11AM OZ time for a 2:10 performance, only to be whisked away right after the show to fly into Brisbane for tomorrow’s show.

We will post some photos of the Melbourne and Brisbane shows ASAP, until then keep the Good Vibrations going!

Stone

MELBOURNE PICTURES


Tour date - Feb.12.2008 - Brisbane - Update 2

Lets start by saying that this is an amazing country; diversity is the ruler here with biodiversity on the board of directors. Australia is a very young culture, having only been settled in 1788 by a band of petty thieves and other undesirables cast away by the British Empire.

They have done very well for themselves. Everyone here greets you with a big smile and and inexorable desire to show you the best corners of everything. The band is happy, the herbs are fluffy, and the food is amazing.

The Brisbane show is where I left off last time, so I'll pick it up there. Brisbane is a meandering city of 1.8 million, a little smaller than Thievery Corporation's home in Washington D.C., (with a muddy river running through it also) This is where the comparisons end. Strangely, no one in Brisbane seems to be over the age of 25.

Needless to say, Thievery made a big splash in Brisbane. With a huge open festival site again, and a standing room only crowd, Zeebo was easily crowd surfed out and back again by the massive audience during Warning Shots. We keep changing the set around to keep things spicy (and to keep the band perpetually confused) but for Sydney we are going to unload the clip!

Stone


Tour date – Feb.13.2008 – Sydney – Update 3

Here we are Sydney - all yours for the taking. After a tough night of eating, socializing, and drinking copious amounts of spirits with rock and roll greats like The Rapture and Cypress Hill, we managed to stumble into a taping of "The Liar" - a show for MTV that apparently has a bangin' after party. I guess we will see..

Sydney is a beautiful city, with Darling Harbour, Kings Cross, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge known as "the big coat hanger". With beautiful beaches galore, temperate climate, and 3 days to go, I'm sure that there will be more for the band to discover here..

Stone


Tour date - 02.17.2008 - Perth - Update 4

What's up Washington DC! Thievery Corporation is in Perth now, the most remote capital city in the world. Most people don't realize how big Australia is, yes it is an island, but one of vast and varied landscapes, wildlife, and people. Roughly the same size of the lower 48, this city is no longer the sleepy town that it used to be, with a spurn of growth lately, Perth is as cosmopolitan as as any other city with beautiful beaches and vistas abound. But first........

Today, we also played the Sydney show, precluded by a Thievery Corporation DJ event at The Basement yesterday night. The Basement is the longest running venue in Sydney, owned by the same family for over 30 years. The Dj culture is huge here, with young and old flocking to see the latest acts to penetrate the Aussie and world cultures. It was a sold out show, with Eric and Rob dropping the usual suspects, as well as some new science. I think it is safe to say that we made a lasting impression on the Sydney DJ scene. Sleep is not an option when you are in Sydney.

The Good Vibrations Festival in Sydney was amazing, and as i sit in my hotel in Perth, (a 4+ hour flight and two time zones away) I know that people in Sydney are just starting to wind down from a long day of celebration and sister/brotherhood there. The name says it all, Good Vibes all the way around. With the number of attendees in the multiple tens of thousands, it is also the largest in the four show run in Australia, sporting multiple stages and tents. The stage manager Boi (pronounced as BOY) was kind enough to let us get set up and start 5 minutes early, allowing us to play an extra song. We started with the Outernationalist remix, into Heaven is Gonna Burn Your Eyes. By the time we played Lebanese Blonde, the audience was capitvated; then we turned it up, closing with Warning Shots and Coming From the Top. Zeebo and Roots again managed to crowed surf through the sea of people, busting sick lyrics the whole time.

Ten minutes after the show we were wisked away from the festival site to Perth, which we will rock tomorrow leaving our mark on the ears of all Western Australia. Tomorrow is the last in this run of four here, and as the waves of sonic pressure roll over Australia from our shows still, I am actually a little sad that this tour is almost over, I've made so many friends, and not a single enemy. This tour may be coming to a close, but Thievery Corporation will be opening the doors and minds of your city soon. Be there or risk missing out on an experience of a lifetime.

Stone




About the author - Chris Garrett aka ‘Stone’ spends his time working as the sound and recording engineer for Thievery Corporation and music label ESL Music. With over five critically acclaimed albums to his credit since 2002, Chris has also worked on several film projects; engineering the sound for the documentary Disarm, as well as the Operation Ceasefire DVD, and is currently working on post-production for Babylon Central – an original, independent feature-length film directed and co-written by Eric Hilton, shot on location in Washington D.C. in 2006/07.



Stone joined the band during their 2008 Good Vibrations tour in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.