Going Down......Under!!!

So after fun and frolics that was Japan. It was off to Auckland to start our run of shows with the Big Day Out Festival. First up was Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand which is one of my favourite countries in the world.

The BDO has always had an extremely strong line-up and this year is no exception with Tool, Muse, The Killers, Jet, Violent Femmes, My Chemical Romance, The Streets, The Vines among the almost 90 acts over 12 stages in one day. The main stage area is 2 stages side ny side so as soon as one band finishes another begins straight away adding up to almost 12 continous hours just in that part of the festival.

On a day off in auckland we decided that a bit of a fun excursion was in order to kick start our Summer/January tour, a rarity being this warm just after christmas for most of us. So a day of Quad Bike ATV action was hastily arranged. Here i am about to come down what in fact was a pretty steep hill indeed. Even if it doesnt look it.

We had about 2 and a half hours driving about throught Forests and down to the beach just before sunset for some serious speed before heading back to camp.

After waving goodbye to Auckland it was off to Australia for a show at The Gold Coast Parklands, again same travelling bill with the New Zealand loacl acts being replaced by Australian ones.
The Gold Coast is basically Australias biggest beach party resort and the weather is always great here. So off to the beach it was for us.

And a little after dinner fun on the Dodgems became dangerous.....Dont tell me im a bad loser!!

I already know!!
Show day came and it was back to work, we've been seeing a couple of new changes in the set list lately with the inclusion of "Why do i keep Counting" making its debut recently.

I hung around after the show to watch another great performance by Muse who have been amazingly good on this run, i highly recommend seeing them to anyone who has the chance!! They will blow your balls....or boobs....off!!

Anyway its time to leave The Gold Coast behind....next stop Sydney!!!

Turning Japanese

After a week at home following the New Years Show, it was time to jump back on the airplanes again. First of all i had to fly to London, collect my passport from the New Zealand embassy and head straight to the airport to fly home again. I spent longer travelling to and from London then i spent in it.
12 hours later it was back to the airport to fly to Tokyo via Paris to restart the tour. First up was Japan, and shows in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. I like Japan, everything is incredibly efficient and people are for the most very friendly. After ariving, it was straight down to a production to meet all of the Japanese crew who would be travelling with us for the next couple of days. A quick look out my hotel room window showed that i had what i consider to be a lasting image of Tokyo.....The busy pedestrian intersection.

Our first night was spent in the Roppongi district in various bars etc, one of which was The Cavern Club where we watched Silver Beats, who are a Japanese Beatles tribute band who dont speak any english at all but can play every Beatles song perfectly.

After a show at Tokyos Zepp club it was off to the bullet train to Nagoya where we got to see Mt. Fuji as we passed by

After soundcheck it was off to see the sights of Nagoya as i`d never been here before. First up was Nagoya Castle

After that it was over to Osu Cannon Temple

After the show again it back to the bullet train and onwards to Osaka.
After the show here we went to the legendary bar Rock-Rock where i decided it was time to try and drink my own body weight in Jack Daniels and Jagermeister and then decide to vomit my way to New Zealand, but more on that later!!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!

This is Hilarious!!!!!

New Years and Warm Beers!!!

30 hours travel and 12,000 miles to do a 45 min show. Sound crazy?? .......It was!! We had a show to do at midnight on new Years Eve at Midnight playing on the New York backlot set at Paramount Movie Studios.
Here is a brief recap of my weekend

Sat : Dublin-London-Los Angeles
Sun: Show at Paramount Studios
Mon:Los Angeles-London-Dublin

Here is a bit of video from soundcheck of the guys doing Read My Mind


And yes...Ronnie has shaved off the 'tache!!