daughter tour 2017

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Daughter  

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Daughter (formed in 2010) is a British indie folk band built around the introspective vocal talents of Elena Tonra, hailing from London, England, UK.

Londoner Elena Tonra’s interest in and inspiration for music stemmed from listening to traditional Irish music with her grandfather and receiving Jeff Buckley’s “Grace” during her time in school. Initially an outlet for her emotion perils during her childhood years, in adulthood, Tonra’s music represents those topics she finds difficult to discuss. Having initially played under her own name, the singer found performing individually difficult and restrictive, and elected to enlist the the services of Swiss-born guitarist Igor Haefeli.

Following a number of well-received performances and the release of their debut EP “His Young Heart”, Daughter generated a substantial amount of buzz and online exposure. The band’s critically acclaimed second EP “The Wild Youth” was released on Communion Records in October 2011 and highlighted Daughter’s powerfully candid songwriting style and minimalist accompaniment. The four-track EP led to a series of high-profile performances including a 700-capacity show in London, after which Daughter signed with revered independent label 4AD.

Ahead of their debut album, Daughter released the single “Smother”, which earned significant airplay on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6Music. In promotion of their debut full-length, the band appeared on the David Letterman Show in December 2012, in aid of generating an American audience. Daughter’s first studio album “If You Leave”, appeared in March 2013 charting at No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart, and earning raving reviews from the musical press. “If You Leave” later won the Independent Album of the Year at the 2013 AIM Independent Music Awards, for its wearing of its heart on its sleeve and tugging at the listener’s heartstrings.

In support of the album, the band enlisted the help of multi-instrumentalist Luke Saunders and embarked on an extensive world tour. Including dates in the Far East and Australasia, the band supported The National for a number of their North American shows. Following the tour Daughter returned to the studio, this time with composer Joe Duddell, and released the EP “4AD Sessions” recorded at Portmeirion with an eight-piece ensemble.

Live reviews

I have always loved Daughter for their simplicity and beautiful innocence, the hard hitting lyrics have always captured me, along with their heavy bass notes and mysteriously beautiful guitar riffs. I had very high expectations for their show and knew that Elena (lead singer) wouldn't fault with her delicate vocals. I assumed they would be singing the majority of their debut album (If you leave) however they performed two very old songs, which both happen to be my favourite. This utterly smacked me in the face, I was not expecting to hear either 'Landfill' nor 'Candles' - Elena stated very innocently that they were recorded in Igor (Guitarists) bedroom for their first EP's. Daughter performed both songs flawlessly, the vocals were even better than the original.

The highlight for me was when they played their single 'Youth'. This is their most well known song, they had the audience singing passionatly to the lyrics. The added extra was that they had invited an orchestra to perform with them. The heavy bass notes in Youth were phenominally bought out. With a collection of violins, bass guitars, electric guitars, piano, synthesisers, drums and other percussion instruments. The whole energy and pure emotion on stage blew everyone away.

The over all set list was perfectly crafted, however did had to miss out a couple of songs due to timings, but I'm certainly not complaing. Being at Somerset House, it was open air, I personally thought that was the perfect touch. Daughter were so endearing, though very shy, they managed to win the hearts of everyone in the audience, with endless 'Thank yous' and sweet gestures to the audience. Daughter completely exceeded my expectations and not a penny was wasted. Incredibly beautiful.

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This was by far the best concert I have ever been in. The live music was fantastic, Elena's voice was clear and hypnotizing, and the audience was just as mesmerized by them as I was.

Our venue was a small theatre in Parque O'Higgins, and even though my friends and I got there quite early, there was already a long line of people waiting to get in. I told one of my friends, "it doesn't matter if we are not in the front, a Daughter concert can be enjoyed everywhere". And I was right. We sat just a bit off of the stage, and we had the best experience of our lives, especially since we could see how the audience in the pit reacted and interacted with the band.

You could hear every single whisper and little laugh from the band, as the audience was enraptured by the performance and remained absolutely silent (or they whispered the lyrics) when Elena was singing.

The two most memorable moments were when they performed "Candles", and when Elena sang "The Woods" alone on the stage. With "Candles" everyone whispered the songs, and sometimes clapped along with the guitar, and by the end you could hear both Elena and the audience sing every word clearly, which made for a magical moment. And "The Woods" was just amazing, because it was just her and her guitar singing with her sweet and haunting voice. I remember at one point, someone tried to clap along with the song and people shushed them, because we just wanted to hear her.

The mood and feel of the concert was beyond anything I have ever imagined, and it's one of those things you can't fully understand how amazing and perfect it is unless you actually live through it.

Whether or not your human underneath the skin there's not one single person that this bands music and energy cannot reach in one way or another. Daughter were electric, they literally had everyone jumping and filled with energy from start to finish. The worked an amazing show from start to finish covering their debut album and several EP's. The music flowed through the crowd front to the back and outside the outdoor arena. It would not have mattered come rain sleet or snow, Elena's soft voice would have warmed the crowd either way. When their infamous anthem 'Youth' came on it would have had anyone whether they knew the song or not on their feet feeling like a youth-filled teen as if they were playing on stage along side the indie-folk band. The sound they amplified through the open air arena would have had the whole of London in a peaceful trance, removing every care in the world enabling them to just focus on the energy the music brings to you. You can always expect great things from this band, and this is only the beginning of something amazing to come in the near future, with that the fan base will evolve and stretch far and wide reaching every corner of the globe spreading the love and youthful meaningfulness in their soul filling music.

Last night I saw Daughter at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. The opening act (Pixx) was pretty good, and looks promising for a relatively new artist.

When Daughter came on stage, the crowd started singing happy birthday as it turns out that it was Elena Tonra's (the lead singer) birthday! She was so sweet and slightly embarrassed.

They opened with How from their newest album 'Not to Disappear' which was a fantastic show starter. The lighting was great and the acoustics were quite good considering we were towards the back of the balcony. They performed a mix of songs from their new album and past EPs like Youth, Home, Winter, Shallows.

After one of the songs, a man from the balcony screamed "NEW WAYS!" which they heard and performed just for him! I thought that was cute.

They 'ended' with Fossa, but the audience demanded an encore after they went off so they came back and performed what they said was one of Elena's most favourite songs from the new album (as a birthday gift to her, of course) and played 'Made of Stone', which was a fantastic actual ending to the concert!

I loved every part of the concert and I would most certainly recommend to any listener of indie music. I will be looking forward to next time!

I was introduced to Daughter about a year ago by a friend on Facebook, and purchased “If You Leave” within minutes of sampling a few songs. I was immediately enchanted by the song writing, the performance of all the musicians and production of this album. The universe of Daughter is unique and one needs to be in the mood for this kind of music, but isn’t that what music is all about?

When I heard they were coming to Montreal, I jumped on the occasion and purchased 2 tickets (not even knowing who I was going to invite!)

Luckily, the release of the second album (excluding EP’s) “Not To Disappear” came right before the show, so I was able to get familiar with the latest album prior to the show.

I was blown away!

The show was amazing!

I honestly was not expecting the band to be able to reproduce the sound from the 2 albums as accurately as they did last night. They are able to play very intensely without blowing our ears out. I always bring ear plugs with me, but did not feel the need to use them as the sound was intense, but very enjoyable. One of the best shows I have seen in a long time and trust me when I say that I go to quite a lot of shows!

Please come back to Montreal!!!

I was absolutely blown away by last night's performance! The energy of the fans, the enthusiasm of every single one of the performers, the quick adjustments the man I dubbed the Shadow Man worked on in between each song- overall the show was spectacular. I had never been to a concert previous to last night, so I am just so honored to have attended a show performed by Wilsen and Daughter as my first concert. I will easily remember this night forever. How can I not? Tamasin's sweet and innocent, but powerful voice was just mind blowing to witness on recording, so when I heard her voice in person, I was mesmerized. Along with that, Elena's voice, lyrics, and playing were undescribable. Simply put, perfect. I am amazed at how well these bands performed and how hard they have worked to play for a live audience. I cannot be more thankful for being in the same room as these artists, let alone being in the same room as them performing. I am excited to see how both bands grow in the future. To every single artist- vocalist, percussionist, guitarist, etc.- thank you, sincerely, and keep it up.

Shoutout to Remi! You're one wicked drummer, man.

Elena's vocals were the main attraction for my wanting to go to the Daughter concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. Unfortunately, her voice was overwhelmed by the other 3 musicians in her band. Their song "Youth" was on the playlist, along with 4 or 5 others that I have in my music library. I think I will stick with the digital version of their music on my iPhone instead of hearing them in concert. We heard a good rendition of "Medicine" for their first encore, but this was followed by a number where the objective seemed to be try to be as loud as you can!

The concert was opened by the Vancouver Sleep Clinic from ... Australia. Tim Bettinson's vocals were also difficult to hear - lots of overdubbing. Whatever fans he had at the concert, he may have lost most of them after referring to all of us as Americans. Perhaps he didn't realize that he had crossed the border into Canada after playing in Cleveland on Tuesday night. So young, and lots to learn!

I went to a daughter concert last november in Norwich and it was amazing. Elena Tonra's voice is absolutely beautiful. She sounds just as good live as she does on recording. She's also extremely nice, in the concert she kept thanking everyone for all the support and was very grateful.

I always think that Daughter's lyrics have a lot of meaning behind them, they're very powerful and Elena Tonra's voice really expresses the emotion in them.

The concert had people of all ages there, but most were over 18. It had a really nice atmosphere and the audience was really kind. They also sold really nice merchandise, I bought a poster and a t-shirt, and I love them both! I would recommend going to a daughter concert to anyone who enjoys indie folk/rock music. However, it is not the kind of concert where people are dancing around like crazy and jumping around, it has a more relaxed atmosphere, so go to a daughter concert if that's the kind of atmosphere you like!

I saw Daughter first at the Park Stage at Glastonbury and thought they were brilliant. The second time at Latitude was also fantastic.

Since then, I've watched loads of their live performances on YouTube, all good. So, I went to the Brixton Academy buzzing with anticipation. Sadly, this time, I was disappointed.

I can't relate the other enthusiastic reviews I've read to their listless, detached performance in Brixton.

It wasn't helped by the abject mixing, in which Elena's vocals and guitar were often lost. While Igor and Remi add value, the life and soul of this unit is Elena, so we need to hear her.

But most disappointing for me was the upsizing of the band to eight. I have nothing against the additional musicians and am sure they're very talented. It's just that less is more, especially in the case of Daughter.

The best moments were when Elena was singing and playing scarcely accompanied.

I had only recently discovered this band and fell in love with them in an INSTANT. I'm so glad I impulsively bought a ticket, because just a day later, Redcat sold all their hardcopy tickets, and online tickets were long gone before then. Good thing for me, I didn't have to wait that long before their second album, "Not to Disappear" was released. Saw them live in Vancouver and they did NOT disappoint. It was AMAZEBALLS. Her voice is so beautiful. All the feels she pours into her lyrics, you don't realize the instrumental music isn't very complicated; simplicity at its finest. She has the ability to take her listeners to a place where they are raw and allows it to be exposed.

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Daughter: International Tour

I’m not entirely sure who coined the term neo folk rock, but it seems to fit well for London-based electronic trio, Daughter. Fronted by Briton Elena Tonra, alongside Swiss-born guitarist Igor Haefeli and French drummer Remi Aguilella, the band are developing a live show as enchanting as their ethereal sound. Kelly Murray speaks to the young crew helping Daughter deliver visual beauty and audio clarity on the road. 

Having begun his relationship with the band six years ago, as FOH engineer and tour manager, Neil Dodd – who has since taken up the reins as FOH / PM – could often be found driving Daughter up and down the country the way most DIY-influenced bands start out, forming bonds that spawn a very personal and respectful way of working. “I was driving to every church they played in, in some very, very cold conditions!” he reminisced. “We love playing churches and older venues like that, because it’s often such a beautiful setting with a different vibe than those found in modern venues. The acoustics you get in churches meant we could use the reverb of rooms, which helped out with their sound a lot.”

Their sound is somewhat of a talking point; considering the modest budget the band has at this stage in their careers, their top class sound engineers have developed a technical feat that takes up little space yet delivers boldly. The band’s increasing popularity has ensured they’re now in demand at larger venues. This tour enjoyed a finale at Brixton Academy before venturing to the US, where its currently working its way through the theatre circuit.

Continued Dodd: “Over the years, it’s gone from being just us in a van, to developing a sound that requires an extra session musician, a brass and percussion section, and for the first time ever, a truck for our PA. “It’s quite intricate music. It’s detailed across the board with lighting and sound, so it’s a good challenge for all of us. To get that cross between a pop mix where the vocal is nice and loud, and also keep the ethereal nature of the music at the forefront is a hard balance to make, but we’re achieving it. Everything they do is played live so there is no backing track at all, just samples on the keys. I mean, every production manager is budget conscious and we could have saved ourselves a fortune by buying a hard drive and pressing play, but where’s the fun in that? There’d be more space on the bus for a start!” he laughed.

RENTAL RELIANCE

When it comes to his suppliers, Dodd knows what he wants in a vendor, and why those rental relationships are vital. “Because I came into a production role from an engineer’s background, I know what it’s like to work with suppliers that crew have an existing connection with. We’ve been using Adlib Audio since October 2015, and they’ve been cracking – the preparation of our gear is great, so we never have to worry about a single thing. All of their techs are really happy for you to plumb their knowledge and use them as a resource too, which is always a great bonus in a supplier. When you’re going into new venues, you can always rely on Adlib to sound them out and work out exactly how you want something done.

“As for lighting, I chose to use the supplier Sam [O’Riordan, LD] trusts. He’s got a long-standing relationship with TSL, and he’s been very happy with them.”

O’Riordan furthered: “I met Sam Tamplin, the director of TSL, a long time ago, when he started a small lighting company operated from his grandma’s garage and his dad’s front room! I used to tag along to events at weekends, and after a few years, his company really took off.  “Every time I walk into that warehouse, it amazes me how much they’ve grown – it’s got a special place in my heart. I’ve watched it grow from being their first employee to it now employing over 40 people. In North America, we use Martin Kelley from Christie Lites, because they follow a similar ethos to TSL, in their immaculate prep, equipment and service.”

Dodd continued: “Our freighting company, EFM have also been brilliant; we did a run of crazy festivals going from Milan to Lithuania in a couple of days and they didn’t even break a sweat! They send a driver out and crack on – our gear always gets there and there’s no fuss whatsoever.”

Finishing the vendor jigsaw is Phoenix Bussing, which Dodd describes as being “very comfortable,” and, for the first time, trucking duties came courtesy of Fly By Nite.

In case you hadn’t gathered, the ambience on this tour is all very pleasant. We’re currently sat on sofas while an open conversation ensues, making it obvious I’m in the presence of zero egos and multiple friendships. Tour Manager Cameron Stewart described the crew as really tight, stating: “We’re honestly a happy little bunch. We all genuinely like each other, and we’re pretty decent people… you have to be when you live on a bus together.”

CREATIVE CONSOLES

Perhaps the glue to these friendships is the level of excitement and appreciation felt within their jobs; they light up with child-like excitement when discussing gear, and seem pretty happy to have ended up with touring careers. For both Dodd and Monitor Engineer Jamie Hickey, DiGiCo is their think pad, at FOH, Neil is using an SD11i. Monitor mixes benefit from a DiGiCo SD10 for the larger, more complex shows, and an SD11i for the regular touring schedule. Dodd’s SD11i currently has 52 inputs, eight FX, four Stereo Groups and four Mono outputs. He uses a Waves Extreme server for most of his dynamics and effects, using the on-board Dynamic EQs for a few select things.

Dodd commented: “For the European leg of the tour we dropped both of our consoles down to SD11i’s because when we go to the US, we have to downsize from a truck to a trailer. The addition of the wind ensemble for the UK shows necessitated the move to an SD10 at monitors.”

Hickey explained: “I’m already using every input and bus on the SD11i for the regular Daughter show. Adding 4 extra musicians and 16 extra inputs requires something with a bit more grunt! By using DiGiCo’s SD Convert software, I’m able to switch my SD11i show file over to an SD10, loop in the extra SD Mini Rack and simply add the new inputs and outputs to my existing show. My Waves Multirack session is fully compatible too, so once we get to the US, it’s an easy switch back to the SD11i.”

Dodd agreed: “The transition between using an SD10 and SD11i is actually really easy because the Stealth Core 2 engine software allows you to do so much in a small unit. That’s the thing about using DiGiCo, every time you come up against something and ask the question ‘can it do this?’, the answer is always ‘yes!’”

Hickey continued: “To aid the change of consoles we’re both using Pi Engineering X-Keys and an app called ControllerMate which allows us to add extra macro keys to the SD11i, using a simple 1in-1out MIDI interface. I’ve currently got 28 macro keys to play with instead of the built in eight. By adding these extra keys, it means work flow is as quick as on the bigger SD10.

“With DiGiCo, I find that it offers a very easy way of working – the desks have been well thought out so it feels easy and natural to mix on, and, of course, they sound great. I’m happy to try out new desks, but every time I’ve gone to use different ones, they never match the clarity and user friendly customisation of a DiGiCo. I think they’ve set the benchmark for digital consoles,” he added.

Having honed his skills over the years, there is no one better to understand the band’s FOH mix than Dodd, but what has been slightly more challenging is the right person to mix monitors, as he explained: “It’s not difficult to mix necessarily, it’s more that engineers will often try to layer a bit of rock ‘n’ roll style into it, but this music is so very subtle, it needs attention to detail, and Jamie has that in spades. He’s very talented at what he does, and since he came along, we’ve never looked back.”

Hickey has 52 input channels from stage, 16 wedge splits, 10 stereo FX returns, plus 12 channels of comms/talkback. For outputs, he has eight stereo IEM mixes for the band and ensemble, three wedge mixes, a P&D BC2, three stereo mixes for the techs and TM, and a stereo Matrix as a spare.

He said: “They want a full-on, immersive experience on stage. They want it record quality and that’s the benchmark – it needs to sound amazing from start to finish and with DPA, DiGiCo and Waves that’s all possible! I have a bunch of go-to Waves plugins that never fail to hit the mark: SSL G-Master Buss Compressor, C6 Multiband, H-Reverb and Vitamin are all used to great effect.”

AUDIO APPROVAL

Hickey and Dodd have put a lot of thought in to the microphone choices for the Daughter setup. Each of the three guitar cabs are stereo mic’d, using pairs of AKG 414XLS, AKG 414 Xlii and Audio-Technica 4040’s. There are DPA 4099’s on the toms, brass and percussion; DPA 2011’s on the snares, vibes and ride cymbal; and perhaps most importantly, no less than six DPA d:facto’s for vocals.

Dodd describes the d:facto as: “Totally game changing. We went over to Copenhagen to see their factory, and what they create there is nothing short of genius. There are parts that go into those microphones that are microscopic. Honestly, the components are so intricate, it blew my mind. Over the years I’ve gone through just about every vocal mic going to try and get the right kind of sound for Elena. As soon as we switched to DPA, we knew we’d found it.”

The band is all on IEMs, using Sennheiser SR300 G3 transmitters with Jerry Harvey Audio JH16’s and Rev33 Reds, the choice of Hickey’s. “If you’re going to be listening through something that sounds rubbish, there’s no point in having in-ears, is there? The detail in the top end is fantastic with JH Audio; I won’t use anything else.”

Hickey continued: “There was a moment in the show recently where the guitarist got on the talkback and was like “it sounds fucking brilliant!” and I thought “great!”, because when you spend so much time arranging all the little details such as panning, compression, reverb times etc, it’s great that someone that is so close to the music notices a change for the better.”

NO SETTLING

When required for the larger shows, Adlib supplied a PA and sound design (by Ian Nelson) who opted for a dual hang system. Two hangs per side consisting of two L-Acoustics K1 above six K2 which covered stalls and two hangs aside consisting of two K1-SB above six K2 flown above the balcony to cover the circle area. “Utilising the dual hang reduced slapback from the balcony, while the choice of K2 allowed for greater horizontal directivity and being able to use an 800KG point for an entire hang of PA including subs,” said Dodd.

ARCs were used for both in and out fill, and KARA lip fills were deployed to cover the downstage edge. “Having such a high gain on my vocal mic makes a zonal PA a must. The more control of boxes further away from the mic means that I can really add impact to the show without drastically affecting in-ear mixes, and keeping that vocal prominent in a loud mix. When you’re touring at this sort of level, there are so many variables. We do arena tours and whether you have to load in and out of a lift, if you’re angsty about it all it’s not going to work. It takes a bit of planning and organisation and a level head of thinking how everything is going to fit in,” he added.

“To work in our camp, you need to keep a level head, and a view of the bigger picture. This show is totally scalable going from one venue to the next, so everybody here is trying to look at the final result and realise that sometimes they might have to compromise. But I feel like with this set up, nobody settles for anything at the same time. It has to be close to perfect, no matter how we get there.”

FULL FUNCTIONALITY IN SMALL SPACES

LD O’Riordan came into the fold at the end of the last album campaign. “I’ve really enjoyed the challenge,” he smiled. “Because my background was in pop and rock and this was the first time I’d worked with folk and electronic music. You could say their sound is quite gentle, but there are tunes that are heavy too and that makes for an excellent dynamic when you’re designing lighting.

“Igor [Haefeli, guitarist] is a very creative guy, not just audibly, but visually too, so we worked on the look of the show together. The band is a three piece, predominantly, although we have the extra musicians on this UK run. When we were thinking about the design in terms of shapes, the most obvious for a three piece on stage for the majority of shows was a triangle. We quickly decided on a very clean look allowing for big open spaces, yet utilising and emphasising depth effectively. In doing this we flew five 1.5m wide grey sails, arranged in a ‘V’ formation, one sat centre and four at a 35° angle heading down stage. The original plan was to project onto these sails with video, but reflecting on cost, we quickly realised this wouldn’t be a viable option within our budgetary restraints.

“As an alternative option, we decided to use spot lights, with good old fashion theatre tricks – focussing between gobo and animation wheels – creating texture and movement, and using blades to shutter into the sail.

“We also had a mirror image of fixtures, from rig to floor. The full rig comprised five Martin by Harman MAC Viper Performances, four Martin by Harman MAC Viper Profiles, six Martin by Harman Aura XBs, nine Robe Robin 600 Spots, 54 Robe Robin 100 Beams, 14 SGM P-5’s, 14 GLP impression X4 Bar 20’s, 20 2-Cell generic molefays and four ShowTec Sunstrip Active DMX strips, all of which had to cater for the absence of video elements.

“When it became apparent that video wasn’t a feasible option, I immediately knew that I wanted to use the Vipers as a spot. For me, the spot is all about optics, and clarity is key. The Vipers have mastered it. I’ve used the Vipers for projecting on to the sails because when you don’t have projection tools but you still want texture, and animated texture at that, it’s perfect. In terms of upstage backlight spots, we’re using the Viper Profiles, which again for the same reasons, I love the optics and the clarity of the beam.” O’Riordan also utilised Robe 100 Beams. “They’re not the newest of fixtures, but they’re great – lightweight, tiny, and energy efficient. You can throw them around the stage and still have a really big look on a budget.”

“The XBs are excellent wash lights, they’ve got a great zoom, a great colour mixing palette. The two GLP X4’s deliver bold colours. I didn’t want something that we were going to rig and just light the sails, and this fixture has the ability to tilt and the zoom amazingly well. I first noticed it at a festival, and I couldn’t wait to be able to use it on this tour. I really like what GLP are doing in general at the moment, their X4 wash lights are a really good design,” he noted.

For control, O’Riordan uses his trusty MA Lighting setup; a grandMA OnPC Command Wing and a grandMA Fader Wing. “The great thing about this MA setup, is that I have the full functionality in terms of parameter count of an MA2 Light, with a tracking back-up, that fits into a 1610 Peli, I can fly it everywhere – pretty revolutionary!”

With the band’s finale taking place in their homebase of London, the show had to be spectacular. And O’Riordan relished the opportunity: “Brixton was a great show. The intricacy of their music makes this a really exciting tour to work on, yet a challenging show to light. There’s so much detail to pick out and highlight, even more challenging sometimes is to leave it alone and allow the music room to resonate with the audience without distraction. Yet framing a song with a visual representation, an environment in which to effectively deliver the message behind its origin is important. Elena, and the band are such beautiful songwriters, that less is so often more within a large portion of their set.

“I can’t take full credit for the complete design, as a lot of the concepts we worked through and developed backstage at festivals with a pen, a napkin and some Spinal Tap dimensions moments! I love that way of working, it’s organic and really enjoyable – some ideas literally had us crying with laughter – but that’s the beauty of a creative process. I think the day I say a design is entirely my own is the day I should consider a new career, because for me personally, that would be ego getting in the way of a process that’s best enjoyed with others.”

After watching the show, there’s no doubt of the talent on offer in camp Daughter, both on and off stage. “The set often feels like I’m walking around a gallery, with each song being a different canvas, captivating a different emotion. The unity between visual and audible creativity excites me,” O’Riordan said.

Drawn in delicately by the unorthodox and dark love songs, and enchanted by an otherworldly and ambient stage setting, the production shows a well thought-out glimpse of something bound to develop further with unique ideas and technical expertise. Dodd concluded: “We encourage and support each other’s ideas, and I think that’s why we can hang out together on our days off too, believe it or not! We spend 15 hours a day, seven days a week together and still want to go for a beer and talk absolute nonsense! When you have a trusting relationship with everybody you work with, that’s how you become a proper team.”

Photos: Marie Korner,  Zuzanna Sosnowska,  Josiah Van Dien,  Jake Haseldine

http://ohdaughter.com

www.adlib.co.uk

www.tsllighting.com

www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk

www.flybynite.co.uk

www.affectivedesign.co.uk

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How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam

A mexican drug cartel is targeting seniors and their timeshares..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

Hello, James.

Hey. How’s it going?

Yeah. I’m not having much luck. So the problem is funding. And all of my money is in Mexico, all of it.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Katrin Bennhold. This is “The Daily.” A massive scam targeting elderly Americans who own timeshare properties has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars sent to Mexico.

Once you move forward and make your payment, if anything were to happen, he will directly pay you the full amount of what you’re entitled to, including the gains. He will pay you the full amount.

You’ve got all my money. It’s been sent. I sold a freaking house.

Listen to this. I sold a house that I grew up in so that I could come up with funds to send to Mexico.

I don’t even have anything from the sale, nothing.

My colleague Maria Abi-Habib on one victim who lost everything and the people on the other side of the phone.

That’s it. That’s it. There’s nothing —

You know what? That’s what has been said every freaking time. Every time, just pay this. That releases the funds.

But that’s why we won’t allow it to happen again. This is the last time, James.

It’s Friday, April 12.

Maria, you’ve been looking into this scam that’s targeting Americans. Where did your investigation start?

So several weeks ago, I received a phone call from a lawyer based in St. Petersburg, Florida, who had been contacted by a family who was very concerned that the father, this man named James, was in the middle of being scammed. He’d sent hundreds of thousands dollars to Mexico. And he was considering sending another $157,000 when his daughter decided to call up this law firm and try to get her father to stop, stop sending money to Mexico.

So I called him a few weeks ago as I was trying to understand what was going on.

Hi, James. How are you?

Good. Thank you.

He’s asked that his last name be withheld for privacy concerns because he’s quite embarrassed about the story that I’m about to tell you.

You’re retired now, but what were you doing for work? And if your wife was working, what was her job?

I was with the Highway Patrol.

James is a retired state trooper from California. And his wife Nikki is a former school nurse.

She was born in ‘51. So 71-ish.

Two. She’s just reminded me, 72.

And they’re both in their early 70s. And they own this timeshare that is in Lake Tahoe, California. And they bought it in the 1990s for about $8,000.

And for someone who did not grow up vacationing in a timeshare, remind me how exactly timeshares work.

Timeshares are essentially vacation properties. And they tend to be beach resorts. And multiple people can buy into this property. The ownership is a shared ownership. And this gives you the right to use the timeshare for one to two weeks out of every year.

And so James and Nikki used their timeshare every other year with their daughters. But as they hit retirement age and their daughters are growing up and starting their own families, they’re just not really using it that much anymore. And timeshares require the owners to pay off yearly maintenance fees. And so they’re starting to think about maybe letting go of their timeshare and selling it.

Then one day, in late 2022, James gets a phone call from a company that is purporting to be based out of Atlanta, Georgia called Worry Free Vacations.

Worry Free Vacations?

That sounds enticing.

Yeah. And they start off with a simple question, which is, do you want to buy a timeshare? And James says, I already have a timeshare. And then they say, great. Well, what about selling the timeshare? Do you want to sell? There’s this Mexican businessman, and he’s interested in your timeshare. And he’s willing to buy it for about $20,000.

So we figured, well, what the heck? If we can make a few bucks on it, we’ll go for it.

And James jumps at the opportunity.

And did he do anything to try and verify that this was real?

Yeah. So remember, James is former law enforcement. And he feels very confident in his abilities to sniff out untrustworthy people. So he goes online, and he googles this Mexican businessman and sees that, yeah, he is a real person.

He’s a very well-respected individual in Mexico, very well off. And —

And this makes James feel at ease, that he’s selling to a legitimate person, that Worry Free Vacations are who they claim to be and that he’s going to double his money overnight, essentially.

And what happens next?

Well, a couple of weeks after he makes the agreement with the buyer, he’s told that he needs to send a couple thousand dollars to facilitate the purchase.

What does that mean, facilitate?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I can’t remember specifically whether it was supposed to be cross-border registration —

So he’s being told that there are these fees that are paid directly to the Mexican government.

Or SPID or some other fee that was Mexican government required or not.

A lot of these fees are the same types of fees that you would pay in the United States for a real estate transaction. So he begins wiring money to an account in Mexico.

After that —

— a few days later, we get a notification. Well, everything went well, except that we have to pay an additional fee.

Every time that he sends one fee, he’s being told that he’s got to send another fee right afterwards.

Does he get suspicious at any point?

His wife is suspicious. After the first couple of payments, she starts saying, this does not feel right.

But James is the former law enforcement officer, right? And he’s the one that basically handles the family finances. And he’s confident that all of this is going to work out because he’s being told that the buyer of the timeshare will reimburse James for all of these fees once the sale goes through.

Michael from the Worry Free Vacations was constantly reassuring me the money’s in that account. Check with the commercial escrow account. It’s there. It’s just these fees have to be paid, and you’re being reimbursed for all of this.

They’re sending James documents that show all of the reimbursements that he’s owed and how much money he’s going to get. And this just makes him feel like all of this is kosher.

We have this commercial escrow company that was involved out of New York. So there was an air of legitimacy that I was comfortable with.

Maybe OK, these guys just need one more fee and everything is going to finally be cleared.

But about a year in, James starts to get suspicious. He begins asking questions because he wants his money.

And every time I asked, hey, is there a way I can get a partial release of these funds, there was always no, these funds have to be paid from your account before they’re released.

But Worry Free Vacations, they pivot. And they tell him that, listen, there are all these complications. It’s going to be really hard to get your money out from this transaction.

I could pay about $30,000 and change to reinvest the $313,000 into an environmentally-conscious development in Loreto, Mexico.

Instead, we’ve got this other investment opportunity in Mexico.

And I’m sure you know where that is, over on the East Coast of Baja.

And that is going to make you a huge return, even more money than you had thought that you were going to make, much more than the $20,000.

I’m supposed to have 54 million pesos in a Mexican bank account.

So this is now no longer just about his timeshare. They are now partners in a real estate investment.

Right. And there’s this whole new round of fees and fines associated with that.

So how many payments would you say?

Quite a few. Couple dozen at least, maybe more.

When was your last payment?

It would have been 17 January.

Uh-huh. And what was that for?

Good question.

And all along, he believed it was necessary to pay these costs just to get the money that he’s owed.

The amount of money that I’ve sent to Mexico is just freaking exorbitant. And I mean, it is approaching $900,000 or more.

And at this point, he’s sent about $900,000 to Mexico over about a year and a half.

Nearly $1 million.

That was almost all the money that he and his wife had saved for their retirement.

It also included money from the sale of James’s childhood home and money that he had borrowed from his daughter and son-in-law, about $150,000 from them.

It’s awful. So they were completely cleaned out by these guys.

Yeah. And this is when his daughter asks a law firm to look into this, which is the point in the story when I meet James. And when we start talking, it was clear to me that he just did not know what to think, even after losing this much money.

So this started in 2022. When did it end?

We’re still in it.

And he’s still talking to the scammers.

And as a matter of fact, presently, there was a request for $157,000 and change to clear up this whole thing. It would clear the entire issue out. Now —

And James is even considering putting a second mortgage on his house to send that money that he’d been promised would finally clear all this up — one final payment of $157,000.

It really sounds like he’s still wanted to believe that this was somehow legit.

Yeah. It was pretty clear to me that he was being scammed. But I didn’t definitively know what was going on, so I asked him if he could start recording his phone calls with the scammers.

Would you be so kind as to do me a favor?

Would you be willing to give them a call and record them?

[LAUGHS]: I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’ve been recording them.

And it turns out he already had been.

Worry Free Vacations.

So he shared the recordings of these calls that he’d had with these scammers over the last year or so. And it was just remarkable. It gave me huge insight into how the scam worked and the way that it sounded over the phone.

Is this is Michael in? I think he’s trying to call me. I couldn’t get through pick up.

Yes, I believe he did try to call you, sir. Give me a second. I think he’s only going to be in for a couple of minutes. One second.

There are two main takeaways for me listening to these calls.

Good afternoon. Michael McCarthy.

Michael, I missed your call. I was trying to pick up.

Yeah, don’t worry. Yeah, I figured something was wrong with your phone. Everything OK?

The first is that these scammers had really gotten to know James so well, and they really made James believe that Worry Free was a company that was working for him.

That’s why we need to hurry up and get this money over to you. Because hey, I’m losing my mind too. I’m not even here to convince you, James. I’m not — I’m your broker, and —

One of the things they continuously say is, trust me.

Look, I’m doing everything I can in my power and will on my end. So James, just look — like I told you from the get-go, I’m going to resolve this. And we are doing it. I just need you to focus on the goal.

They would refocus the conversation on what James needed to do to get his money back.

Look, if you make your payment as a security deposit, right away they will release the funds to you. With these —

And the other thing —

I’ve been having so much trouble trying to reach you, and I have not been successful.

— is that the scammers had created this elaborate cast of characters.

Why don’t you answer my calls?

And some of them were really aggressive. James shared a recording of this one man who claimed to be an agent for the Mexican government. And he basically started yelling at James.

I don’t care if your wife is at the hospital. To be honest with you, I don’t give a damn! But you know where I do give a damn? It’s your money, and my name is written all over it! Do you understand?

And he even threatened James. If James didn’t pay off these fines, then he would lose all the money that he’d sent to Mexico already.

You could get the best lawyer you want. You could get whoever you want. And this is not a threat. This is facts. But anyways, who am I to convince you, right?

Well, thank you for the information. And — are you still there? Hello?

Wow. So these scammers were basically doing a good cop, bad cop routine to stop James from walking away and to squeeze every last penny out of him.

If you provide me your email, contact information, I will certainly be happy to forward all of the wire transfer information from my bank account to you so that you can see where those funds went.

Yeah, that would be great. I have your email.

James asks me, a reporter who’s based in Mexico, who speaks the language, if I could help him figure out where his money had gone to.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your assistance.

I’m just doing my job. Thanks again, and we’ll talk soon.

And the only way that I could figure that out was to understand who was on the other side of the phone.

We’ll be right back.

So Maria, who was on the other side of that phone line?

So by the time that I’d met James, I’d already gotten a tip from US law enforcement agencies that they were seeing a new trend. Mexican drug cartels were getting involved in the timeshare scam industry.

Drug cartels?

Yeah. And not just any drug cartel. This is one of the most notorious, violent, bloody drug cartels that exists in Mexico and Latin America, the Jalisco New Generation cartel. And when I looked at James’s bank records, guess what? All the money that he was sending was going to various bank accounts that were all located in Jalisco state in Mexico.

Wow. So why would the drug cartels get into the timeshare scamming business?

It is a huge business. The FBI told me that it’s about $300 million in profits over the last five years.

But the thing is is that the potential for it to actually be multitudes more is huge. Because the FBI estimates that most of the scams are actually not even reported. In fact, only about 20 percent are. So that means the total timeshare scam business could actually be much larger than the $300 million that they have knowledge of over the last five years.

But wait. I thought the drug business was a pretty lucrative business in itself. So why get into the scamming of elderly people for their properties in Lake Tahoe?

Well, you have to remember that these drug cartels, they’re not just doing one thing. They’re doing multiple things. They’re essentially conglomerates. Because it’s really expensive to run a cartel. You need to pay off officials, both Mexican and American. You need to maintain basically an army in order to secure your routes up to the United States, ports of entry into Mexico from Colombia. And any big business, you need to diversify your income to make sure that you keep the money flowing. Because you never know when one business is going to be shut down by authorities or taken over by your rivals.

We’ve reported that they’re now in the avocado business and the construction business. And timeshare fraud is basically no different than any of those. So we’re seeing that the cartels have their fingers in many pies, the legitimate and the illegitimate economy here in Mexico.

It’s kind of fascinating to think of these drug cartels as like sprawling diversified business empires. But when did the cartels first get into the scamming business?

So Jalisco New Generation started about 15 years ago.

And when they started to consolidate their empire in Jalisco state, they found that there were all these scam timeshare call centers all over the state that were being run by various players, and that this was a huge, huge moneymaker. Because essentially, all you have to do is call up retired senior citizens in the US and Canada. It doesn’t take that much money to run that kind of a scheme. There’s no product you’re making.

So essentially, they conducted a hostile takeover of these call centers. They went in. They kicked down doors and dragged out the people who were managing these call centers by their hair and threatened to kill them unless they gave up the call centers or started handing over a cut of what they made. And slowly, slowly Jalisco New Generation cartel took over the entire timeshare fraud industry.

Interesting. Were you able to find any of these call centers?

So these call centers are pretty hard to find. They look like any other storefront. But I was able to visit two that were located in an upscale neighborhood in Guadalajara, which is the capital of Jalisco state. And it was just really perturbing because it was just so normal. Two villas about a mile away from each other outside. Outside of one villa, parents were walking by, holding their children’s hands as they did drop off at school.

It was right next to a park where people taking their morning exercise or their dogs for a walk. There was no real sign that the cartel was doing business there. But a few months before, Mexican law enforcement had found the bodies of eight young people who had used to work at one of these call centers and said that the Jalisco cartel had killed them.

Wow. What happened?

So I wasn’t able to talk directly to any of the victims’ families. They’re just too scared. But in general, this is usually how it starts.

The cartel seeks out English speakers to work for their call centers. Sometimes they don’t even tell them what exactly they are doing. They would tell the recruits that the job was adjacent to the hotel industry.

You have to remember, Jalisco is a huge, huge tourism magnet for Americans and Canadians and others. And the cartel would get their call lists from bribing hotel employees to give them the names of people who stayed at these hotels and also at the timeshare resorts. And the people who would work at the call centers are provided the names and a manual of what you need to do when you call, like a loose script of how to try to suck as much money as you can out of these people up North in Canada and the States.

So we don’t know for sure what exactly happened with the eight young Mexicans who were killed last year. But through an intermediary, one sibling told us that when their family member knew what their job actually was, they became extremely uncomfortable and tried to leave the call center and find another job maybe.

But the Jalisco New Generation cartel is known for being extremely brutal. They chop off heads, and they’ll put them on the gates of a playground, for instance. So that everybody in the neighborhood knows what went down. And in this case, it’s possible that they wanted to send a warning that there’s no defection from their timeshare call centers.

So basically making a very scary example of these guys, in case anyone else is thinking about quitting one of the call centers.

Exactly. And one man, who runs an organization who advocates for missing people and actually organizes search parties to comb the forests of Jalisco state looking for the missing, says that he knows of about 30 people who have disappeared from the call centers in Jalisco state since 2017. So while Americans and Canadians might be losing much of their life savings, in Mexico, this is actually deadly.

Are the authorities doing anything about this?

Not really, other than the fact that these two call centers were shut down. The authorities haven’t arrested others. They’re not putting pressure on Mexican banks, for instance, to look into these payments coming from senior citizens in the US or Canada. And you have to remember that people are really afraid. But you also have to remember that in Mexico things are not that clear. There is a lot of corruption and government collusion with organized crime and cartels.

And the tourism industry, it is huge in Mexico and particularly in Jalisco state. This is a multi-billion dollar industry. They don’t want Americans or Canadians or Europeans who are coming to Jalisco for its beautiful beaches and its mountains to hear about these stories regarding the cartels being involved in the tourism industry and think, I’m not going to send my family there for that beach vacation. It’s just simply too dangerous.

So everybody has an incentive to have the scam continue, whether because they’re too afraid and don’t want to speak out or because they’re in on it.

So in a way, local authorities have an interest in sweeping it under the carpet in order to just maintain this idea of a tourist destination.

Exactly. I mean, the spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office was very responsive to me until I told her what I wanted to ask her questions about. And then she just simply never answered any of my texts or phone calls.

So Maria, based on everything you know, all the information you have, would you say that you’re confident that the cartels were the ones who scammed James?

Yes, 100 percent. Everything I’ve seen points in that direction.

What did James say when you told him this?

So it took him quite a while to really allow himself to believe it. On the advice of his lawyers, he stopped picking up the phone calls. And about a week ago, they stopped after the scammers kept trying to call him.

But you said he was in it for over a year. Why do you think it took him so long?

Can you tell me, after all of that had been presented to you, why do you think you weren’t willing to be entirely convinced?

Well, I actually asked him that question.

That’s a very good question. Why wasn’t I able to pick up on that right away? And I think in the back of my mind, I’m finding out that I’m a little more stubborn than I thought I was.

And for him, it was pretty complicated.

And I think that I didn’t want to believe that I had fallen for this. I didn’t feel I was that foolish and stupid when it came to this. You know? I guess I didn’t want to believe that I could be fooled.

To come to terms with the fact that he had lost so much money was to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t the person that he thought that he was, that he wasn’t this kind of clever former law enforcement officer who was used to fighting the bad guys and winning.

I’m disappointed in myself. There’s a huge level of anger towards the perpetrators. And all of those things wrapped into one. And part of that, I think, contributes to not wanting to actually believe that I was wrong.

Hmm. Yeah, I hear you. I’m sorry. I can hear the pain in your voice.

[LAUGHS]: Yeah.

Some of it’s based on shame, right? That he lost all this money, everything that he’s worked for, and the fact that this was all supposed to be money that his children and his grandchildren were going to inherit. And now it’s gone.

And have you told your daughter that you think you’ve come to terms with the fact that this might have been a scam?

Oh, she’s been involved. Yeah. They know.

My daughter does.

I’m sorry. This is a tough time.

So I’ve got to make some sort of arrangement to compensate them for this on top of our regular debt. So yeah. It’s been a swell experience, all of it brought on by my — evidently, my stubbornness to believe that I couldn’t possibly be a victim.

How’s your wife doing throughout this whole process, with this new knowledge?

She’s not real happy, obviously, at all. I hear a lot of “I told you so.” And at this point, I’ve got no defense. She’s absolutely right. There’s no question about it.

Do you worry this is going to affect your marriage?

Yes, there has been an effect.

And do you think that at this point there’s any way for James and his family to get some kind of justice or at least find some kind of closure?

Ay. Justice? Unlikely.

At this point, I’m not necessarily expecting much in the way of restitution.

And as for closure, it’s a little bit too soon to tell. In a way, James has gone through several stages of acceptance for what happened. There’s fear. There’s shame. There’s resignation. And now he’s talking to me partly because he feels like it’s a public service, that he needs to be vocal so that other people don’t go through what he’s gone through and fall for the scam. And I think it also helps him feel a little bit empowered in a situation for over the last year and a half he was at the mercy of these people who were calling him multiple times a week.

I want to try to get as much information to as many of these official organizations as possible. I have a streak of anger through me now that I’ve developed to the point where I’m not going to let this go.

Well, Maria, thank you.

Thank you for having me.

Here’s what else you need to know today. OJ Simpson, the football star who was accused and later acquitted of murdering his former wife and her friend, died of cancer at his home in Las Vegas, his family said Thursday. He was 76.

Today’s episode was produced by Astha Chaturvedi and Will Reid, with help from Clare Toeniskoetter and Lindsay Garrison. It was edited by Brendan Klinkenberg and Michael Benoist, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Rowan Niemisto, Dan Powell, Pat McCusker, and Will Reid, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

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That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Katrin Bennhold. See you on Monday.

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Hosted by Katrin Bennhold

Produced by Asthaa Chaturvedi and Will Reid

With Clare Toeniskoetter and Lynsea Garrison

Edited by Brendan Klinkenberg and Michael Benoist

Original music by Marion Lozano ,  Rowan Niemisto ,  Dan Powell ,  Pat McCusker and Will Reid

Engineered by Chris Wood

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Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence.

A massive scam targeting older Americans who own timeshare properties has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars sent to Mexico.

Maria Abi-Habib, an investigative correspondent for The Times, tells the story of a victim who lost everything, and of the criminal group making the scam calls — Jalisco New Generation, one of Mexico’s most violent cartels.

On today’s episode

Maria Abi-Habib , an investigative correspondent for The New York Times based in Mexico City.

Background reading

How a brutal Mexican drug cartel came to target seniors and their timeshares .

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Katrin Bennhold is the Berlin bureau chief. A former Nieman fellow at Harvard University, she previously reported from London and Paris, covering a range of topics from the rise of populism to gender. More about Katrin Bennhold

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