![Da Outro [Blog & Vlog]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568a382440667a3869232c61/1488872829079-7WLKPXQUW0M1CXMIXHQ5/DSC08984.jpg)
Da Outro [Blog & Vlog]
Final post from the Tour with Protoje & The Indiggnation on the West Coast US Tour All Vlogs, and a couple extra photos
Finally completed my first vlog series on my youtube channel.
It was certainly fun, it wasn't my first time shooting vlogs per se, but my first time really shooting a vlog for myself (or being the narrator). Walking around holding up a camera definitely does make you feel a bit self conscious (read: stupid) at times, but- you start to get used to it, and you get reminded people don't really care (or really paying you much attention) as long as they don't feel like you're filming them.
Knowing you have to release a vlog, every 2 or so days, motivates you to engage in interesting things that will enrich your videos. which definitely paid off in particularly adventures, like trying the upside down machine in LA, or heading up two mountains in aspen.
Unfortunately, the time I would choose to edit and try have the vlog uploaded, is usually the same time that I would use to update and curate my blog. So this on this trip, my blog kind of fell behind to facilitate my vlog. Personally, i'm not too upset about it, because the engagement and response from the vlogs exceeds the level of engagement from my blogs (the response has been really really crazy by the way), so I feel like it's a better way to connect with people and help share the experience - but I have a personal love for my blog, and writing down extended thoughts and opinions that I can't necessarily stuff in a video (I try to keep it entertaining).
Moving forward I still haven't figured out how the blog will function while on tour and doing the vlogs (Working on a new one now while typing this) but that's a work in progress that seems more entertaining to figure, out as opposed to being stressful.
I made a playlist of the entire west coast US tour vlogs, for your viewing pleasure- maybe you've never seen any, maybe you missed one or two, whatever it may be, they're all here below- enjoy!
N.B. Also after the jump are a couple photos that I never really got to either post on instagram or make a blog post about so I'm putting them here
The Road to Pemberton
Check out Protoje & The Indiggnation at the biggest music festival in canada + the new Vlog!
From Minnesota to British Columbia tok us a two day long drive- through some nowhere points.
Middle of nowhere in billings,montana
This very cool vintage RV i saw at rest stop!
Tour Bus driver; Tiny
Pemberton Music Festival is far up in the hills of British Columbia.. a place called Whistler (sp?), the venue is pretty much a valley situated between mountains, one of the most beautiful venues I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Mountains draping above stages, capped with the whitest of snow. - Magical
Some panoramic images of the venue before gates opened
Views like this made the long drive to the venue more than worth it. I really underestimated Canada. Its cleanliness, calm vibe and the friendliness of its people. The venue had 4 stages (I only went to three of 4). We played main stage
For sure this was the most satisfying screen experience I'd ever have the pleasure of working with. The biggest screen I've ever seen (except the mainstage at Coachella (not where we performed))
Pemberton Main Stage
"So What about my picture!?" ..well sir here ya go!
SZA Performing her cover of "Come See Me"
Anderson .Paak live - sheer excellence. Excuse the angle- had to sneak the shot
This shit right here?
Another Panoramic image of this beautiful venue.
Thoroughly Enjoyed DJ Snake's set- during which a girl touched my dreads and told me I'm a rockstar.
All in all, Cananda's biggest Music Festival did not disappoint, really wish I got the oppurtunity to take in Acts from the days before, but I'm pretty content with the experience I got!
Before you check out the gallery below, Along with this blog we just released the Vlog of the past 5 cities we've been to in the North American Tour! - As you know the comments section is open for criticism, suggestions, comments and feedback! always wanna know what you think!
Email: yannickreid@gmail.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thetherapistsol
Twitter: www.twitter.com/thetherapistsol
Toronto, Canada: 6 to the 876
Nuh sleepin' in the streets!
A long drive from Quebec had us ending up in Toronto in the early afternoon. The skies seemed just as grey as how Drake's music painted it. the vibe where we were at was pretty decent. People of different ethnicities walking up and down the street. A lot of bike riders. A couple Portuguese flags (as someone explained that we were close to 'Little Portugal').
Chinese store I went to
How'd they... where'd they get that shirt??
Kardinal Offishal even showed up
Thanks Toronto!
MEGA BLOG POST: Belgium, Boston, Philly, NYC & Quebec
6 shows Brussels, NYC, Philly, DC, Boston, Quebec rolled up in blog burrito
you like burritos
Let me first apologize for chocking so many things into one blog post. Not being able to work on blog posts while offline (Flying, driving on the tour bus) really hits my ability to keep the blog up to date. Time passes, new photos come in, I forget what happens the daybefore.. and as you see above, we have 5 Blog posts unposted.. rolled into one. Hopefully this prooves an enjoyable read, versus a Tedious one. I'll try and keep it quick!
BELGIUM
Festival show- Colouer Cafe in Brussels, Belgium. Our last show before heading out to the US. Interesting Venue, Interesting stage (a Vlog exists, its been edited, soon to appear on the Indiggcollective youtube page and my blog), Great show.
BOSTON
The first show in our North American tour was boston. It was a good vibe all around, lot's of jamaicans in the crowd came through and brought a huge vibe.. at one point I thought I went deaf.
She held this iPad up for the entirety of the show
PHILLY
This show went by really quick to be honest.. I don't remember that much (besides drinking a decent amount of Hennessy). Oh! The NoMaddz were in town as well for that night and made a very unexpected appearance on stage with a Wa Dis (Poo Puku) x Kingston Be Wise Mash up.
The "Jah know wifi" pose
NYC
NYC was very interesting, when we started off with a live radio set at Sirius FM. Along with an interview, it was interesting moving our huge buss through the cramped NY streets. After we posted up at Irving plaza and the surrounding area until showtime. There was a #blacklivesmatter protest around the corner at union square which made nearby NYPD frown, but it didn't seem to harm any of the crazy vibes inside Irving plaza as we filled both floors to the brim. was quite the energy
DC
woke up on the festival grounds for the first Merryland Music Festival in DC. A basketball sized arena. Where we played a short and spicy set. Highlight of this show was the suuuper fast wifi, fire catering, and the free back massage from Kat.
Big up Taj Francis three time
QUEBEC
Quebec was pretty memorable and outstanding. Took a while for me to really understand that they spoke french. it's just really weird to know you're in North America, but everything looks and sounds like Europe. Surprisingly enough the crowd was very turnt and knew songs word for word. Pretty memorable show and beautiful city (looks like gotham) and great people.
That's how Protoje x Indiggnation Shell show
(P.s. Quebec looks like Gotham)
Groningen & Utrecht - Return to the Netherlands
Lost baggage in the country below sea level
GRONIGEN
Return of the G
Landed in the Netherlands, real quick from Gatwick airport. only to go to the conveyor belt to pick up our bags.. but after waiting 30 mins and only two members had their bags.. we knew something was wrong. Turns out British Airways left like half the flight's luggage back in the UK. Never experienced something like that before. it was literally like HALF the flight... BA said they'd bring the bags on the next flight coming into the Netherlands, so we didn't have much of a choice with our schedule but to go.
As you can see.. the gang looks a bit light.
To just interject (might sound like a bit of a humble brag), I wasn't as bothered as the other members because I had experienced a bag loss before in italy.. and equipment was in that bag- loned equipment might I add. I sweat my skin off the rest off the tour, fortunately I got back the bag, and vowed I'd never put anything I couldn't replace into a check on bag.. ever. So my carry on has three days of clean clothes and my equipment is distributed between my backpack and carry on bag. That plus I had a strong feeling we were gonna get it back.
Not much to worry about with nice hotels like these
drive the venue...
The festival was a two day festival over a period of two days at two different indoor venues in Holland, the first being in Groningen, and the second being Utrecht.
Monty's pedals for the show that night. these arent actually his..... those were in his luggage- in the UK
Check out the gallery below for the show vibes-
UTRECHT
We left Groningen early the next day with less than happy campers, as our bags hadn't reached the hotel as promised. The update was that they hadn't even reached Netherlands allegedly... complaints floated through the air.
We were still promised that the bags would reach our next hotel (kinda skeptic as it was now four hours away from Amsterdam) but I just kept my mind open.
Don't mind me too much but I was just impressed by the composition of these bathroom toiletries (lol)
Luckily, while at the hotel resting before the show, we got the call from the lobby that our luggage reached. I thought I responded to the call pretty quickly, but on my way to the lobby, everyone was already on their way back to their rooms, faces grinning with their bags.
Backstage pre-show views.
Collie Buddz performed at today's festival as well
Show in the Gallery below! Up next is the Euros in Paris, France
The Mud Monster of Glastonbury
Trying not to fall into the mud, but I failed
For more than a year, I've been warned about Glastonbury. The prestige of being the largest festival in the UK seemed to be overshadowed by the monster of a daunting task it has become. Many faces twist, and wince at the mention of the festivals name. I believed what everyone said.. It was just the magnitude I had yet to experience.
NIGHT 1
Landed at Heathrow after a sleep filled flight, grogginess was no where near over though.
Land pon 'ih scene
Indiggnation filled on a bus for a 3 hour drive (after an 8 hour flight) from London to Bristol where would stay that night
Becca D
Packaged a bunch of Royalty free CDs fresh from the pack that we'll be giving away through the whole tour
A Glastonbury artist ticket
No amount of words could have prepared me for the complicated mess that was Glastonbury. The van left out with a small crew of myself, Claire, Protoje, Becca D and Greg. Proto was to perform the "Who Knows" Remix during Shy FX's set at DJ Annie Mac's stage, and Becca was doing a DJ set at the Rum Kitchen stage.
We sat in gridlocked traffic heading into the event for about an hour, seeing the mud take over the landscape with each small drive forward in the van.
M U D .
I was worried.. I thought I was prepared for the mud- I brought an old pair of sneakers specifically for Glastonbury but I would soon learn first hand that it was nowhere near enough for the ankle deep mud we were to face. Looking out the window, everyone I saw was decked in water boots (apparently called 'wellies' in the UK) walking like half balanced toddlers through the mud. It looked so grim.
It really may sound like I'm complaining but it was just the most complicated experience... Glasto is HUGE, I mean huge! I'll link an aerial shot of the grounds here for you to have a look. it's about the size of a city.. 10 miles long. the best way to describe it- is multiple festivals.. within a festival. Our van being stopped about 8 different times to check tickets and bands by annoyed security.. walking from the entrance to the stage we were headed to would surely have taken anywhere over 45mins- so serious.
Just HALF of the camping section alone is as big as some festivals i've been to.
If you look at this photo above.. the little silver coloured specs near the forrest.. is Glastonbury.. just one part. It was bananas.
eventually we reached Annie Mac's BBC radio 1 stage in time. Shy FX was already on playing a variety of Jungle remixes.
I'll let you assume what Becca D has in her magic bottle
After leaving the stage, and a short wait.. having to switch vans at one point.. I fell in the mud. My track shoes didn't have enough grip to hold firm in the mud, and (because I have bad knees) my kneecap slipped out and I fell on my back in the mud. I'd be lying to you if I said it didn't kill my vibe.. considering we had about 5 more hours at the festival. I was mostly grateful I didn't hurt myself OR MY EQUIPMENT. something told me to keep them in my backpack as I traversed the mud, so I was only left with my pride bruised... which would eventually recover quickly.. but the discomfort of being 30% covered in mud was a bit harder to shake.
Having to get out the van and walk another distance to get to Becca's stage was honestly a short ordeal.
before she went on there was a trap/poet artist performing who's name escapes me, but he was good.
Becca's diverse dancehall set had people grooving in the mud (if you look closely at the ground), even me in my clay-face outfit found myself bumping at some points. Dancehall away from home just.. get's you more pumped than usual
after this, was another long muddy drive back to the hotel. got in at about 2 something am.. and spent the rest of my night (morning) washing my hoodie and sweats and kicks to wear the next day. I was feeling far too sorry for myself, to even take a photo of them. I was downed by the unsureness if they would dry in time for the morning because I was certainly NOT about to risk another GOOD set of clothes for tomorrow's longer adventure at Mudfe- I mean Glastonbury.
Full Gallery Below
NIGHT 2
The fall from before really set me off, to be keeping honest. I had an increased waryness that I didn't have the day before. But I was armed with some wallies of my own for 10 euros, so that boosted my confidene probably back to a regular number.
Day 2 was scheduled to have been much more of a task than yesterday. Today's Agenda included two sets with the band at different stages, and after would be three feature sets with Proto at some tents of industry friends of his.
Inception
the same squad we built yesterday came over in the van today. Driving past all the mud a second time was like returning to a lost fight, unsure of how today's tussle will go.
The band arrived at the venue, earlier than our bus to do line check and all the necessary pre-band stuff. Claire bought waterboots for everyone, so once we reached backstage it was... quite a thing.
Vince staples was chilling backstage, scheduled to perform right before us, and after his dope coachella set, I had to steal even a piece of his set the day.
Just believe me when I say its him lol.
One thing about Glasto, in comparison to Coachella, is there was veeeery little aversion to photography. While I was shooting with a smaller camera most of the time, even when I did pull out my clunky DSLR there were no threats to take away my equipment lol
First performance above was at West Holts stage. where we got a very riles up and enthusiastic crowd. While shooting front stage, I had to move quite gingerly through the mud, but my wellies made this a very manageable affair, I was pleased.
Shots of the stage above to give you an idea of what it looks like.
Afterwords I sat and watched Proto sign a long line of autographs, with some very peculiar looking fans
She wanted him to sign her chest...
Image is blurry but I wanted you to see the LEVELS of mud.
After the performance at west holt, we had a few hours before Proto's next performance.I was gathering myself when Becca mentioned that Stormzy (one of my favourite british grime acts) was performing on a stage nearby. I became instantly conflicted, because we had to walk through the actual crowd for a distance to get to the stage where Stormzy was. It looked pretty shaky. the general crew seemed interested in seeing the Stormz so we gathered some morale to head over there.
Even in my boots, it was super deep mud, everyone in the crew almost slipped.. the whole walk was filled with flashbacks, but excitement increased as I could hear Stormzy's actual voice floating through the air.
Got to watch the show from backstage and sidestage and sang along at max volume to his closing song "Shut Up". can't believe how lucky I was to catch it. Just need to see Skepta live now.
Diggy and #Merky
Even got to meet stormzy... #worthit.
Here my glasto story ends on a pretty wack note. While driving from stage to stage, SOMEHOW, my wellies fell out the van... actually one of them. I'm certain I placed them carefully to one side but I think traffic moving in and out of the van accidentally tossed one. So being short one boot, I was unable to go with Proto to the rest of the Glastonbury perfomances.. (which I heard were lit) Bummer.
overall to be honest, I thought Coachella was a bad experience, but for me Glastonbury was much worse. It has its pros and cons. Glastonbury is like three times the size of Coachella (maybe even larger, I've walked around and across the whole grounds Coachella, while it took us 20 mins to even get to one stage to a next via Van). I'm not a big fan of mud or dirt. I really like to be nimble and free in my work, so the mud was a restriction for getting images as well as getting comfortable enough to enjoy the whole experience. Also the grounds seem way too large to even navigate to see the acts you want to. I'd have to admit it's just a different culture. I don't think most Jamaicans would enjoy Glastonbury as the UK patrons do. Most of them were pretty "comfortable" in the mud, and camping on site. That's just not for me. It was certainly cool to be able to say that I experienced it though!
Full Gallery Below
Vlog on the way
Youthful energy in "Ova" - A portrait study
Portrait study of the faces in the 'OVA' freestyle video.
Recently, Protoje and I released a freestyle video we shot all the way back in February up Skyline (premiered on FADER along with details for the upcoming North American Tour)
This video features a bunch of Young, vibrant, up and coming musicians from Jamaica, all in one place.. I couldn't let something that rare go without some form of Documentation.
So I set up an inpromptu little shoot with Jamaica as the background... pretty fitting. One day probably these faces will be one of your favourite artists (directors, producers, musicians, etc. etc.)
Brookly Bowl, Las Vegas #CoachellaTour2016
Vegas vibes and Yannick almost gets arrested
Another huge hotel/casino rolled into one.. bigger than the last one + it's vegas so it was just a totally different energy and night life vibe. I almost got arrested apparently
The funny story here before the pictures:
we hopped the balcony of our venue to jump on an adjoining roof, to get a shot for a video. We were there for roughly 5 minutes, we were waiting on someone to bring a charger. Then out of the cracks and other roof, a security guard pops up.. smiling like the chesire cat, asking if we have clearance to be up there. (Spoiler: we don't), he continues to smile at us.. he pulls his walkie talkie strapped to his shirt, closer to his mouth without losing eye contact with me. In the back of my field of vision we see some people from our venue appear o the balcony where we came from.. there arms are folded.. they are displeased lol! The guard asks us who we are.. we explain that we playing the brooklyn bowl tonight, I point to Protoje, tell the guard he's the artist. The guard looks over at the guys from our venue- "Do you know these guys?".. They shake their heads from side to side disapprovingly.. I nervously laugh. Once again the security guard fixes his gaze on me and repeats his walkie talkie movement,.. this time saying "The guys from brooklyn bowl don't know these guys", at me he says "Do you guys have ID".. I try to look innocent by saying no. At this point I knew that was code for, I want to stall you and arrest you while more guards come... same time I see another guard popping up from the other roof. I look back at Proto and Paris and they're like "Let's go".. Proto shouts to the guard "hey man, we're gonna get off".. I scurry off without another word, Two guards now looking at my back as I clumsily climb back over to our balcony. The promoter or person who's in charge of brooklyn Bowl.. a guy who looks like Colonel sanders, tells me to get rid of my camera and rig and he doesnt wanna see it again. then they banned me from taking pictures later and a whole lotta extra drama with police that pretty much blew over....
godddamn...
gallery below
Observatory, Santa Ana - #CoachellaTour2016
First show on the #CoachellaTour2016
The pace of this tour doesn't allow me much time to do my illustrious written post, apologies for all who take the time to read. I'm plenty days late but I'll keep it quick and let the photos do the talking
we went to SSUR in LA before heading over to LA. Amazing art inside the store and met the owner Russlan (who made like 90% of the artwork in the photos).
One big up to Club Diamonds Ja! with the dope fit.
show gallery below is a standard.
UNRELEASED: Trinidad Vlog - Protoje & The Indiggnation
In a series of many unreleased videos and vlogs that I have in my possession, I present to you: A recap of our show in Trinidad
I might upload the Tobago one.. who knows what's next.. just #WatchThisSpace
Ventura, CA - Ventura Theatre
A little street and heat in Ventura, Cali
Yesterday I woke up in Ventura, California. The first stop since Miami i've been able to wear shorts! It's an hour away from Los Angeles, and has a real stereotypical "Cali" feel to it. We're here for four days (Show day yesterday, Show day same venue today, and 2 days off), so don't mind me if some images look a bit.... similar.
Thus far it's mostly been stage shots I've been sharing but I made the effort to walk around the place for a bit and get some shots.
Shot with my Phone
Shot with my phone
I actually managed to take some street shots WITH my ACTUAL camera.
Some highlights from the show of course:
SIDENOTE: Follow me on Instagram and Snapchat (where I post a bunch of real time BTS): @TheTherapistSOL
Shot with my phone... Protoje is in this picture somewhere...
