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… is a piece written by PMM Simon, and he is having an interview with Gingger Shankar, 1 of the guest musicians on the tour. Read this, I was so much like \"hell yeah, this is what it is all about! And damn, it shows in what I heard so far!\"
Simon: From the reviews I have read, the first half of the tour seems to have been quite intense.
Gingger: It is a very intense tour, that is the word. But for me, it has been incredible working with so many musicians. I can honestly say I have never been on a tour where every show has been an \"A\" or above. There has not been a show where the musicians were bad – that is the level of these musicians. Of course, Billy and Jimmy are amazing musicians, but if you look at Jeff one night, or look at Lisa, or Ginger – the level of musicianship is flooring. Billy and Jeff’s solos – they are incredible. And people don’t get it! They focus on \"Oh, they didn’t play this\" (\"they didn’t play \"Drown\"\", adds Lisa in the background). But three hour shows where people are playing at that intensity level…!
For us, Gabe, Stephen, Kris and I who are new and are walking into this, it is great, because we are given such an amazing palette to play on top of. Plus, Billy is really good about \"you do what you are good at\". He never micromanages; he never told me this is what you need to do here. So, it is an amazing context to come into, to play with staggeringly good musicians and have a great night. The fact that we can play a song for 15 minutes? You cannot do that if a band is not good. You really have to be on top of your game to say, \"We are going 15 minutes this way, everybody join us other there!\" Most people get it when we do the Floyd cover, even though there are always a few people in the audience who are trying to reminisce; \"In 1990, when I lost my virginity to so and so, I was listening to your song.\" You cannot deal with these people. They are there because they are trying to capture a moment in their life, and it has nothing to do with the band up there. It really doesn’t.
We live in a world where people’s attention spans are two seconds long, and they expect the bands they see to play two and a half minute songs, and fifty of them. But I cannot think of one band right now that is doing what these guys are doing, that are going out and experimenting and trying really interesting things. They are playing three hours a night, night after night, with two shows in a lot of cities, playing over fifty songs; as far as material and music, people are not going to see a show like this one anywhere else. So, for people to complain and say \"you did not play this two and a half minute song\" shows they are not getting the idea of what it is. I think it is frustrating for Billy and Jimmy, but they have to do what they are going to do. They are never going to be a sell out band, they are not. And I am happy to be a part of it. People are going to have to catch up when they are ready, but the band cannot hold back waiting around for people to catch up – it does not work that way.
But most of us have not payed attention to the negativity much, because overall, it has been great. Like San Diego was an incredible show. As long as we can honestly say we put on a good show, we are walking away feeling good about it. We cannot regret anything. We all are doing the best we can, and we cannot feel anything bad about that. Whatever people think, whatever they say, that is their own stuff, but the band in total is incredible, and the tour is fun.
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