Blog : No More Mr Nice Blog, Volume 1

No More Mr Nice Blog, Volume 1

3/15/2011

KC - Alice's Assistant

My name is KC, I'm Alice's assistant on and off the road.  I haven't always been an assistant for Alice, I was originally a guitar tech and sort of jumped over to the assistant position when the need for a full time guy came about.  Now my days on tour is full of a wide variety of activities… Here's a run down of my typical show day:  Early AM Golf, after that shopping, then lunch, then hotel, interviews, nap, travel to venue, set up Alice's wardrobe & dressing room, prep for my own gags in the show, do the show, after show meet and greets, dinner (maybe), then tape a radio show with Chuck, then bed at around 1 or 2am… Then it's up again at whenever we arrive at the next hotel, usually around 6am to do it all over again.  It's really an all day every day job so there's no REAL day off, but there is a little down time every now and then.  Those are the slow days, but at least I don't have to push cases around all day anymore like the real road guys.  

So, about the tour… We're here in Ottawa, Ontario for a day off before our second Canadian show, which will be the third show of the tour.  Our first two shows went great, especially when you remember that we have 3 new band members and several new stage gags.  Here's what we've been up to for the last few weeks…

We had a week of band rehearsals in Nashville, where the guys got used to playing with each other, worked with Bob Ezrin to really iron out their parts and come up with the right setlist.  Drummer Glen Sobel, Guitarists Tommy Henriksen and Steve Hunter all more than surprised everyone as the band sounded like a "band" almost right away.  

We also spent some time tweaking some new stage props, most notably a new monster which was designed by Distortions Unlimited, who provided the props for the "Brutal Planet" tour.  If you haven't already seen video of the new show, do your self a favor and avoid watching it until you can see it live for yourself.  The new monster is… well, a monster!

Anyway, last week we moved over to the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, IN to do full production rehearsals for the tour.  There were some hiccups, but for the most part things came together smoothly and our first show went off without a hitch.  

Quebec's show last night was even better, and it's easy to tell that the band is getting comfortable.  Alice seemed to think that the setlist was solid, though he thinks there might be room at the end for a surprise.  We'll see what happens tomorrow in Ottawa.  

OH, and one more thing!  Supporting us on this Canadian run is the band Anvil!  If you haven't seen them live, they are killer!  Great guys.  They made a movie a while back, which is the truly inspiring story of their band, their true rock n roll spirit and their unending drive for success at any cost.  Anyone into Rock N Roll should see it!

That's all for now, I'm expecting Alice back at the hotel any minute so duty calls!

- KC