My computer access has been sparse for the past few days, but I did read Pete's post about the death of Adam Carter, bassist of Spector 45 and the Felons.
I didn't know Adam too well. We had mutual friends, but I never hung out with him one on one. I had seen him play with the Felons a couple of times, but I got to know him when he ran sound for the Pull Tabs. He was life-saver at the venue we were playing.
You see, when a venue books a rock band, you should expect a rock band to show up. And a rock band that doesn't play loud is not a rock band. So when this venue (that has rock bands all the time) believes a loud band scares off customers from keeping a beer tab, they tell bands to turn down. As somebody who has been to this venue before, I've seen the venue packed and the bands playing at full volume. So, why tell any bands to turn down?
Before working with Adam, a couple of soundmen at this venue told us to turn down, whether it was a guitar amp or me to tone down the drumming. Adam never pulled that with us. He wanted us to be ourselves and play however we wanted to play. In turn, he granted us some of the best monitor mixes we've ever had as a band, and he made us sound good.
This is the lasting memory I have of Adam, along with his talents behind an electric bass. He was a quiet, mellow guy who cared. He said a lot with his actions rather than his words. I'm sad this memory has a tragic post-script, but I'm glad to have been around him.
I didn't know Adam too well. We had mutual friends, but I never hung out with him one on one. I had seen him play with the Felons a couple of times, but I got to know him when he ran sound for the Pull Tabs. He was life-saver at the venue we were playing.
You see, when a venue books a rock band, you should expect a rock band to show up. And a rock band that doesn't play loud is not a rock band. So when this venue (that has rock bands all the time) believes a loud band scares off customers from keeping a beer tab, they tell bands to turn down. As somebody who has been to this venue before, I've seen the venue packed and the bands playing at full volume. So, why tell any bands to turn down?
Before working with Adam, a couple of soundmen at this venue told us to turn down, whether it was a guitar amp or me to tone down the drumming. Adam never pulled that with us. He wanted us to be ourselves and play however we wanted to play. In turn, he granted us some of the best monitor mixes we've ever had as a band, and he made us sound good.
This is the lasting memory I have of Adam, along with his talents behind an electric bass. He was a quiet, mellow guy who cared. He said a lot with his actions rather than his words. I'm sad this memory has a tragic post-script, but I'm glad to have been around him.
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