Mar 10, 2008

HARD SELL TOUR DIARY- DAY 1 (MARCH 10, 2008)

Hard Sell Tour Diary- Day 1 (March 10, 2008)
Welcome to DJ Shadow's tour diary, live from the Hard Sell European Tour. Sitting here on the plane over to London...Michael (from DJShadow.com), Ben Stokes (visuals guy) and Sound Man Neal are all on board with me from San Francisco. Cut is flying in from Los Angeles. Additional crew includes Luc (stagehand from Pittsburgh) and Jamal (my manager and tour manager from London). Kid Koala, who is excellent, is opening for us on most of the dates.
A transatlantic flight is a good place to reflect, so thought I'd kick it all off with a round-up of the North American Hard Sell Tour. It was the first time I had ever toured the states in the dead of Winter...Toronto was about 5 degrees, factoring in wind-chill. Made Chicago, at 30 degrees, feel somewhat mild. Being from California, I was ill-equipped for any of it and promptly caught a brutal cold, which didn't wear off until Kansas City. Apologies to anyone I coughed or sneezed on.
In general, it's safe to say that the Hard Sell tour of North America was one of the best-attended tours I've ever done...most of the shows were totally sold-out, and the ones that weren't came close. I'd also say that compared to last year, most of the audiences definitely "got it..." that is to say, they understood the jokes and references, knew what we were doing and responded appropriately. Some of the festival dates we did in Europe in '07 were rough going, particularly as we were usually slotted in "dance tents" before and/or after banging house music...hilariously, it seems that some of the audience actually thought we were choosing records off the cuff to make them dance (and failing miserably, of course). Can you imagine Cut and I conferring, "Hmm, they don't seem to be moving...let's give them 'Charlene,' that'll get 'em going!" Ah, the wonder of it all...

Anyway, back to the North American shows. I've scanned my memory and put together a few categories for our collective amusement.

BEST AUDIENCES OVERALL:

Austin

Atlanta

Washington, D.C.

Montreal

Toronto

Kansas City

Vancouver


These were audiences that rolled with the good, the bad, and the ugly...they didn't flinch during the "challenging" parts, didn't sniff at the "obvious" parts...from doo-wop to garage rock, they hung tight all the way. You may notice, Canadian audiences rock.


RUNNERS-UP:

Dallas

New York (first night)

Chicago

Minneapolis

Denver

Seattle

Los Angeles




MOST RAVENOUS AUDIENCE:

Austin

What more can you say about Austin...a great town, and some of the best audiences in America (I call it the 'Manchester' of the states, after the beloved township in England). The screaming and dancing never stopped...even when, frankly, it should have! They also purchased more merchandise than any other city, by a long shot. What a great way to start the tour...thank you, Austin.


BIGGEST AUDIENCE SURPRISE:

Kansas City

Having never played there before, and the fact that the gig was in a casino (yes, a casino), I didn't know what to expect. But I've spent a fair amount of time buying records in KC through the years, and have always enjoyed my time there. In a nutshell: the show was incredible. They were the only audience to form a mosh-pit, put it that way. So to all those who came to the KC show: thanks, we had a great time.



BIGGEST AUDIENCE LETDOWN:

Philadelphia

Nothing but brotherly love for Philly, but the crowd was weak that night. Maybe they were confused, maybe we sucked, or maybe I'm just not remembering it clearly; but the lasting impression of the show that night was that it was crickets out there.

RUNNER-UP:

San Francisco

Hmm...just felt a bit lazy. One of those nights where it doesn't matter how much you're feeling it, if the crowd doesn't give back, you start questioning life's purpose. In S.F.'s defense, it was an unusual venue (perhaps sound was an issue), and they DID come on strong at the end. It's just that we were filming the show, and hoping for an explosion, which never happened. All good S.F....maybe next time we'll stick with the Fillmore.


So, that's the North American tour.

In anticipation of Europe, I'm looking forward to London. I've become convinced over the years that London crowds are every bit as good as other English cities, despite the undeserved reputation for being jaded and sluggish. Nope, London crowds are great, and the Roundhouse is (I've heard) somewhat of an historic venue, so should be excellent. All Cut and I have to do is get through rehearsals!!! Hope everything falls into place...usually takes a couple of shows to iron out the kinks, but that's a luxury we won't have. So...fingers crossed.

Thanks for reading

DJ Shadow