March 31st, 2002

The Belly-Up is that rarity in America today, an independent operation run by people who actually love music. You can feel it just walking around inside – this is a room where many happy audiences have had some awesomely memorable evenings.

Ralph Pitt

After the show, I ask Marc Chevalier how he liked the system. While he and Ben were soundchecking, it seemed to be the most transparent of any of the rigs that I had heard that week. Marc responded that this was proof that once again, it’s about the guy, not just the gear. He was referring to Ralph Pitt, the Belly Up’s FOH tech, who I had talked to earlier in the day, and discovered to indeed be a very knowledgeable, and cheerful, person. Ralph has a day job over at the University of California’s San Diego campus, in their Department of Music, and also tours, when he can get away.

Ralph had a PC running SMAART at the FOH position, and I noticed a feature that I hadn’t seen before, where the user can call up a horizontal graphic of a piano keyboard across the bottom of the readout, with the keys corresponding to the frequency ranges they represent. Not enough people are aware that notes are frequencies, and this makes it very easy to grasp.

I discussed the venue’s speakers with Ralph. They are an active four-way modified Sound Image design, that I will let Ralph describe to you. “There are six Mid/Hi/Vhf boxes flying over the stage to keep the sightlines clear, two "left" and two "right" of stage center for the main space, and a single M-H-V box on the sides of the stage, that act as ‘clarity fills.’ These each contain either two JBL 2204, or Fostex L-362, 12" speakers (wired in parallel for a 4 ohm load), one Radian 850PB 2" compression driver (that shares an amp channel with its companion in the adjacent box as a 4 ohm load) and two JBL 2402 "bullet" tweeters (in parallel for an 8 ohm load.)”

“The subwoofers are under stage center, and are physically isolated from the stage. The compliment of drivers are in three separate enclosures. Each of these houses two JBL 2226 15" speakers (each an 8 ohm load.) The amplifier arrangements are as follows: one channel of a QSC MX-2000A for each 15" driver, one channel of a QSC MX-1500 for each pair of 12" drivers, one channel of a RAMSA WP9440 for each pair of 2" Compression drivers in the stereo fly, one channel each for the fills, and one channel of a Ramsa WP9110 for each channel of VHF, four drivers in the main stereo fly per channel (4 ohms) and two per channel for the fills (8 ohms.)”

“The main stereo fly is crossed with a ‘tweaked’ Yamaha D2040 digital crossover, with the subs being summed mono after the crossover. The "fills" are crossed with a BSS FDS-340, and the house EQ’s are Klark-Teknik DN-360 and DN-27.”

I can best describe the results of Ralph’s matching of amps and drivers by saying that the Belly-Up listeners can just experience the music, without the presence of the system announcing itself. There is absolutely no honking, no harshing, and no woof-woof-woof-ing!

It was a very special evening, partly because Ben had played his very first non-Ben Folds Five show there, last year. And, for some reason, on this last night of the tour, after five weeks in a van, when you would think that it would be only human for him to be on automatic pilot and just going through the motions, something in Ben reared up and delivered a stunning performance, definitely the best of the week that I was with them.

April 1st, 2002

I get behind the wheel of the van, and the day starts off with a good omen. At a Texaco station, I find a lighter shaped like an adjustable plumber’s wrench. It is heavy cast metal and costs almost five bucks, but I have to get it. Ben is impressed. We do a McDonald’s drive thru, and then hit our old friend, the 5, up towards LAX.

Marc Chevalier’s flight leaves first, we deliver him on schedule, and then head into downtown Santa Monica. Ben gets a room in a funky motel, and makes plans to have dinner with some friends, who will drop him off for his evening flight to Australia. I set off for distant industrial Van Nuys and the METS complex, to return the van, which wins their award for the messiest one returned so far this year. A METS guy takes me to the Van Nuys Flyaway, and I catch a cab back to my place.

Serious napping ensues.