Hello everyone,
Raphael from chaoswave here! We just finished our show in Larissa (greece) and so far everything is great! This is our first experience with a "real" tour bus and I’m having a lot of fun, we’re supporting EVERGREY on their european tour. This is also the 1st time where I had to bring my "own" drums for a whole tour (before this tour I used to play every show with a different kit provided by the local bands) and I had to make some choices:
We live in Sardinia that is an Island in the middle of the mediterranean sea and we had to drive 200 kilometers then take the ferry, then we had to drive more 1200 km! All this to arrive to the place where we had to meet the whole Evergrey Crew. We met in BOCHUM (GERMANY)
Before leaving home I decided to ask DRUMCRAFT to provide me the drumset for the whole tour so we could have less stuff to bring with us in Germany.
Drumcraft were really happy to help us out and they provide me a very cool DC8 drumset, all black (of course) with 2 bass drums (of course), 2 toms, a floor tom and a very powerful snare drum! You’ll find my review about my DC8 drumset in the November issue of Sick Drummer Magazine.
We spent 1 night in the house of a dear friend of us where we found all our "new gear" (my guitar player received a brand new cabinet from Krank)…it was like christmass with a lot of packed presents and people with big smiles opening boxes!
The 1st show was in Bochum and was very good! I could mount my drums in the big backstage and take some pictures. Everyday we have 45 minutes of show and a very quick changeover/soundcheck, I am really playing in extreme conditions because some days i didn’t really have the time to set up my drums properly. In some clubs my drums have to be placed on weird places but that’s ok because we’re just the opening act… it’s funny when you see small stages and you feel like "where am i going to place my drums??? there’s just no space here" then the manager find a way to put your drums onstage…it’s very very cool to see how he can find a place for you!
I was a little afraid in the beginning that I could not play so many shows without having Physical problems…I was wrong! I didn’t have anyproblems except the 5th show that I felt my legs a little but tired but I didn’t have "real" problems, not at all! This means that I did a good job the weeks before leaving for the tour, I practiced a lot of endurance because I knew I needed new "batteries".
Regarding the gear: I have 2 Alesis d4 drum modules (that in my opinion are ok for triggering the kicks), that are working great… I love this modules because they are very cheap but very useful, maybe the 97% of the sounds are not good but there are few ones that really work fantastic in my opinion!
The 2nd show was in Prague… I really loved to play in Prague because I could meet some old friends! The club wasn’t really full but we did a good job!
we had to throw off my drums from the stage and put them on the cases right near the club’s entry, I am very lucky because my singer Fabio helps me a lot when I have to put things in order.
the 3rd show was in Hungary, i had the chance to meet a very cool guy and amazing drummer called GERGO BORLAI… don’t you know this guy? Go on you tube and see how the hell he plays! we spent the all night with Gergo and his wife talking about drumming, music…you know the topics!
The show was cool even if we had to really hurry up setting the things on the stage….some days I think I’ll heave an earthache If I keep running like while mounting my drums!
The 4th show was in Bulgaria…..lots of people here! We opened for CREMATORY and eVERGREY (Of course) and we played in front of an unbelieavable crowd! Maybe this until now is one of the best shows in my life, it was amazing…more than 1000 people screaming and having fun, unbelieavable!
The 5th show was in Romania, it was a nice show…but the nicest things were the girls that worked in the club!
Yesterday in Larissa (Greece) the tour manager told me I had to play with the kit of Evergrey and asked me if I could not move anything from the drumset…. I was a little bit afraid that I could not play well at the end I decided to try out so I played on Jonas kit without changing anything! I just put on my snare drum, the snare stand, the pedals and my throne plus all my cymbals(without moving the stands) and i had really fun, it was a challange expecially in some "tricky" parts! Was also very hard find the right balance because the pedals where not placed as they should be ( I couldn’t move the bass drums)… but when you finish a show in these conditions you’re very happy with yourself.
Today we played in ATHENS, we arrived early so I had the chance to meet an old friend of mine: George kollias! 2 years ago I went to athens to have lessons with this death metal god so today was a big pleasure to meet him and have a cool (but short) Jam with him at the Modern Music School.
George is the kind of guy that makes you feel confortable when playing near him, he’s so kind that you don’t feel like " Oh shit I’m playing in front of one of the best metal drummers in the planet!". I had some questions regarding ankle motion concepts and finally after two years I could ask those things directly to him! Unfortunately George couldn’t come at the show but I really loved to see him again.
Today I also played with Jonas Kit because the stage was too little…I hope to use my set soon because I feel really better when I play my kit. Today I had also the chance to make some "drum shopping" so I purchased:
Drumming out of the shadows – the book with the transcription of Jason Bitter. A Dvd about metallica licks . it was only 9 euros and I was very curious
…ad INSIDE OUT "exploring the mental aspects of drumming" by Billy Ward
Now I have a lot of things to watch/read while I am on the tour bus! Right now I am relaxing a little bit after 7 shows without a day off… my legs are feeling a little bit tired and fortunately tomorrow we won’t play a show!
That’s all for now guys, I will keep you informed…
Rock N’ Roll!
Rapheal Saini
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