April was hectic. Lots of gigs at work and lots of fanboy gigs, too. Just for fun, we thought we'd mix up all the photos and let you piece it back together. Dior, Girlboss, Alt J, Pussy Riot, Adidas, Banny Grove, Phoebe Bridgers, Hermes, Mazda, Grammy Committee, NCL, The Live Nudes, Handmaid's Tale. Can you figure out which ones we got paid for, and which ones I bought tickets to? Me neither – it was a blur. See you in May.
We had some sweet Oscar gigs this year - and a ton of other gigs which is why this March post is dropping in the middle of April. David Rodgers and AgenC and Sequoia and a few others had us out to spice up their Glam-Slams, at all the chic joints in town. We were at the Dolby for the Governors Ball and at the Sunset Plaza Hotel for Hugo Boss and Bev Wilshire for Essence Awards and Tao for Fox Searchlight and Piaget brought us to the notorious Penthouse 64 at the Chateau Marmont where Howard Hughes used to stay to spy on starlets at the pool. Apparently time wasn't up back then. Thanks for the soundtrack to this video, Sufjan - You should have won the best original song Oscar.
Has anyone caught on to the fact that every other month our post is about a Kamp Grizzly gig? Seriously - amazing events these folks do. This one was for the NBA All-Star Week that was happening at the Staples Center. The gig was at the old American Apparel factory which is now a beanie-and-beard hipster joint for creative types. It was two days of 15,000 people enjoying a celeb basketball game (spoiler - Snoop was really high), interactive recording opportunities, concert with Childish Gambino and a ton of others including a cameo by Yeezy himself, new sneaker drops all over the joint, and an insane museum-like experience inside the first floor of the old warehouse which you will see in the video. Kamp also had us doing shows at Nice Kicks in DTLA and a big Footlocker show with Rick Ross where we took over the courtyard at Hollywood and Highland. Huge thanks to the hard-hitting creative team working with us including Lighting Designer Kate Stoval and Trevor Burk brewing up insane visuals. LOVE
The Recording Academy celebrated the 60th Grammy Awards this year, and they moved it back to New York for the occasion. Branden and Rex were gracious enough to bring us out to do our thing. Always the best week of the year, 2018 did not disappoint. The Person of the Year celebration was for Fleetwood Mac. Remember last year, it was our beloved Tom Petty to whom Stevie Nicks paid a heartbreaking tribute. Lorde and Miley and Allison Krause and Portugal the Man and many others played Fleetwood Mac tunes, then The Mac themselves came out and tore down Radio City Music Hall. The Grammy show at Madison Square Garden was great, regardless of what the haters say - Miley and Elton doing Tiny Dancer was unforgettable. And our big afterparty was in Times Square and raged until 3am. If you watch this video until the end, you'll see Adam and some of the boys huffing it across Queensboro Bridge - Their Uber had a flat tire on the way to JFK. You think Kendrick got cheated? How about these rock star techs, man!?
OK, so we're only two weeks in, but I'm still flying high from this amazing gig the other night. Sir David Rodgers included us in the new Stella McCartney roll out, and man are we glad. We supported Beck and St. Vincent and Grimes (I love Grimes) and Borns and a few others. It was a nutty celeb-fest, so no need for artists to flee to their backstage hideouts - chances are the guy watching you perform has sold more records than you.
For a fan-boy like me, it was heaven. Chris and The Team put up this rig in a matter of hours. Programmer Anthony spent his lunch learning Grimes tunes (I love Grimes), so he's now officially in The Club. Rock and Roll Royalty hanging at the legendary SIR studios on Sunset, surrounded by vintage guitars with killer indie acts and sweet handbags that my daughter covets. Something for everyone...
Dang - good gig.
I hope this doesn't bum anyone out, but we've been doing a really cool Rodeo gig for years, in Las Vegas. It's called the NFR - National Finals Rodeo, which is the Super Bowl of Rodeos. Or, the Coachella of Rodeos for you non-athletic types. It's considered to be the world's premier rodeo, and has been happening at the Thomas and Mack arena for decades. We are invited by this great Laser company, YLS, who brings us up every year to light it. 55 million households end up watching it on TV every year. Nuts. The rodeo consists of 10 rounds – one round per day for 10 days. Cowboys and girls can win big money - this year's total purse is over $10 million. We put in a lighting rig as well as a stage that drops from the roof of the arena, for some good country music. Hey man, sorry about beating up ponies and such, but it's a fun arena gig with a fun client.