So, what is it like, touring with Jett Rebel and crew?
“Warm and fuzzy” is what comes to mind first. Is it the size of the band + crew? Is it the size of the venues? Is it Jett’s demeanour? Is it the attitude of the crew? I think it’s a combination of all of the above.
It feels like I’m in a hippie commune, and I mean that in a good way. In the “peace, love, and understanding” way, not “let’s all be drugged”.
One of Jett’s shirts says: “love is love”, and I certainly feel the message that goes with that. I feel adopted and included by the Jett Rebel family, and I hope I will be part of this family for a long time to come.
The amount of sincere hugs among band and crew was stupefying. Usually, before the show I’d hand ‘my’ musicians their instrument, and then a fistbump would happen. Or it wouldn’t.
I actually like it better this way. Jett and I share a moment, a hug, and then I wish him a good show, and off he goes.
The gear we use is definitely vintage, and authentic. I think that between the three of them, the newest pieces of gear are Jett’s and Peter’s tuners. The rest is probably been bought second or third hand. And you can hear it. The guitars and bass sound vintage, they sound warm, with a certain amount of ‘dirt’ dialled in when needed, and feedback is part of the music.
Did Joost, the FOH engineer, and I struggle with the hot single coil pickups squealing like an excited Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever? I know what they sound like, and how excited they are. Sven was only a halfbreed, but that was more than enough. Way, way, enough. 😉
Anyway, we did 10 shows around Christmas, as was expected (I think the first shows already sold out the evening they went on sale) each of the five cities’ extra show went on sale. The venues were small, and get-ins were late, but our gear (excluding the video gear that travelled separately with Ruben, the LD) was pleasantly compact. And no matter how compact the stage tried to be, we’d always make it fit, and workable for all. There were shows that I could actually operate the guitar amp, tune the spare instruments, and do guitar changes without making more than two steps in any direction.
It’ll be so different next spring, when that solo theater tour starts; I might need to bring a lunch box to walk from one side of stage to the other. 😉
Oh wait, vegan lemon cake. That is the way better option; and I seem to have bribed my way into the crews’, bands’, and even audiences’ hearts with that cake.
That’s how I roll, now. 😉
Oh, and speaking of food; I was pointed to this colum/concert review last Sunday (see link below). Jett is “quite the electrifying” person, but according to this column, I – whilst eating a sandwich during the show (it wasn’t, it was a slice of my cake 😉 ) – am a thousand times more exciting and interesting than Jett. <3
Wishing you all a lovely 2020, and as per Jett Rebel, “love is love” 🙂
Love, Laura
Column in Algemeen Dagblad (Dutch)
