1/14/09

Rio Rancho, NM

This was probably the prettiest place (that we could see) we've been to, but also the worst show. Lots of problems in video. Not too much that the audience would notice, but still the most we've had yet. Could have been we're a bit rusty from the 10 day break, who knows. Today we were supposed to finally have both projectors up and running, but one decided to crap out in a way we couldn't fix. Tomorrow we're going to ship it to Barco in LA (that's the brand) and hopefully it will be fixed for us to pick up when we're there. Our camera riser is not very sturdy and that causes a shaky camera shot. Sometimes we use our riser instead of the house's because it takes up less room and that way they can sell a few more seats. There was also a roll in the screen that we've never had before. The projector and screen weren't originally hung right, so Brandon had to go up into the truss twice.

We got into town last night on a plane and stayed in a hotel. Then we met Robin (Jeff's manager) and Jeff's bus driver at a Mexican restaurant. I was able to see some of NM when we were driving to the venue from the hotel this morning. I think it's really pretty out here. I like the mountians and sand and Southwest-y feel. It was pretty cold though. In the 40s I think.. But it was a lot better than what was going on back home with at least 5 inches of snow and temperatures in the negatives!

Robin explained a bit more about how Jeff is and how it just takes him a while to come around. He said part of it was because "he's already got at least 6 voices in his head."

He also said the past few shows we've done have been the first in a while where he didn't have knots in his stomach worrying about what was going to go wrong. We obviously have our share of problems, but Steve and everyone are continuing to make them all better. Hopefully soon we'll get there.