Starting a North American tour is always an exciting thing for me. I have toured around the globe many times now with Megadeth, and while it’s all great for different reasons (and I do love all of it), touring in North America makes me feel a bit more comfortable in certain ways. I enjoy being on a tour bus quite a bit, as really it is our "home away from home" and with the fall season here, that means I can watch NFL football – Always an important thing for me 🙂 Anyways, enough of that. Here is a small glimpse at my life on the road.
Show #1 – Grand Rapids, MIchigan
For a 1st show, it really did go quite well. More often than not, the 1st show can be met with technical issue’s, from the crew getting acclimated to new equipment, etc. and just the stress of having to get it all sorted out in time for the show (Add 3 more bands to this, as this is a 4 band tour package) Needless to say here, we had a great crew and they pulled it off without a hitch. I had a minor issue with my left kickdrum pedal, which seemed to be a bit "off" from my right pedal, so I found myself fighting with it a bit in certain songs. Turns out I was correct in this assumption, as when I expressed this to my drumtech "BIG" Nick Grayson, turns out that the position of the beater was not synched up to the other one. Doh! This was of course fixed for our show the next day in Peoria, IL.
Show #2 – Peoria, Illinois
This is my 1st time performing here and the show went really well. My Buttkickers were jacked up to the point of almost knocking me off my seat with each bass drum hit, and just how I like it. I HIGHLY recommend any drummer to run out and get a buttkicker if you don’t already have one under your drum seat. I have 2 of them, naturally 🙂 they rule!
It always takes a few shows for me to get over the initial pain of hitting as hard as I do at 43 years old 🙂 My neck, back and arms are killing me as I write this, but I know by the show tomorrow in Milwaukee, that pain will subside… a little
Show #3 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
For whatever reason, it always takes me 3 shows to really get comfortable playing a show. I suppose it’s because I don’t hit the drums as hard when I practice at home (not that I practice much at home, to be honest). I suppose the soreness, with hitting as hard as I do on tour shouldn’t be a surprise to me. Add to that with each passing year I get more sore (could it be that I am getting OLDER???!!!!!!!!! Nah, it HAS to be something else – Heh). Great show, great crowd and it’s right off to bed in my bunk. Sleep is a top priority for me on any tour, and with myself being a "so-so" bus sleeper, I always try to hit the sack as early as I can.
Show #4 – Columbus, Ohio
Woke up feeling a lot of pain in my neck and upper back. This is a direct result of not having proper posture on my drum stool. So our tour manager makes plans for me to get a message via Dr. Dot’s company the next day in Cincinnati. The show in Columbus went very well musically, but man I was in a lot of pain by shows end. You know they say you have to suffer for your art! In my case sometimes this is very true, but hey, Football players play injured all the time so I flat out refuse to let some pain get in the way.
Show #5 – Covington, Kentucky
Real solid show this evening! Just one of those nights when it seemed a bit more effortless (though of course, it probably wasn’t). I made a small adjustment in bringing rack tom #2 and my snare 2 inches closer to me, which then enabled me to bring crash cymbal #3 closer, thus I am not having to reach over as much to hit this section of my kit. The trick worked and my posture seemed a little better… I did break 2 snare mic’s in the process, though (oops :-). Good show, good crowd, good night 🙂
That’s it for week 1 of this 4 week North American tour! See you all next week…
Be well,
Shawn Drover
MEGADETH
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