Hello and cheers to everyone. It has been a long time since I've posted anything at length on here. No good excuses except work and the craziness of life have kept me away for awhile. However, I plan to make more of an effort to come back here and talk more things TD.
The show in Chicago last Thursday was simply incredible. A big shout out goes to Shawn (spelled correctly, Lunesse?) the sound guy who mixed everything so beautifully. I had a friend years ago that was a professional sound guy so I know how hard it is to make all the different venues sound fantastic. The mix was awesome, and Thomas's voice was clear and true even though it was a large strangely shaped room with a huge dome over the crowd.
What was so great about this show for me was the fact that I'd never seen Thomas play with other musicians besides the Jazz Mafia Horns. It seriously blew me away to see Kevin Armstrong on stage shredding guitar solos, and Mat Hector pumping out some fantastic percussion. When Thomas was joined on stage with his opening act, it was just insanely awesome.
My favorite part of the night was when Thomas' son joined him on stage behind the drum kit. He had practiced a bit during the soundcheck and also at home, and he did a fantastic job. I spoke to him for quite awhile after the show, and he takes lessons at home and loves drums. As a drummer myself, we had quite a bit to talk about in regards to the music and timing. He is a very talented young man and you could tell that Thomas was a very proud dad. What was even more amazing was that his son had just flown in that afternoon from the UK and was still full of energy at close to midnight when things were wrapping up for the tour to head to Minnesota.
The setlist was a great mixture of old and new. I have truly fallen in love with MOTFC, and getting to hear those songs performed live was a treat. Of course there were belly dancers for Spice Train and it was funny to watch Kevin, Mat & Thomas develop huge grins as the audience began cheering wildly. Of course during the night one audience member shouted "Science" in between sets, and Thomas made the crack he was surprised it took that long for someone to finally yell it out.
I am truly bummed that I couldn't make any of the other shows. I had two tickets for the MN show the next night, and I considered renting a car and making the overnight 8 hour drive. In the end, I gave my tickets to Thomas' tour manager who agreed to give them away to some lucky fans that next night. I hope they enjoyed the show as much as I did.
If you can still make one of the shows, go. You won't regret it. For those that missed him for this tour I pray he does another set of gigs for this album. It truly all depends on us the fans. Talking with his tour manager he said that the more the songs are played on the radio, and the more the videos go viral, then that will determine future dates. In other words, tell all of your friends and family to buy his CD. Then tell them to call the local radio stations to play the CD. Spread the news on Facebook to your friends and post links to his videos. The more people who hear the album, the greater the album sales, then hopefully we can wish for more tour dates.
All of the people who are touring with Thomas are first class. They are doing an incredible job night after night to ensure us the audience has the best experience possible. I hope those who were lucky enough to see this tour feel the same way.
Cheers to the band, crew and all of the fans!
Brian
It is currently Sat May 18, 2013 5:32 am
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