Heading North!!

So after the fun that was Venice, it was off to Interlaken in Switzerland for the Greenfields festival. As you can see it was a pretty amazing drive on the way to the festival.


As we got closer to the site we saw all these weird shapes above us, turned out to be people hangilding


Also on the bill today were

Flogging Molly


The Hives


Queens Of The Stone Age


Also on the 2nd Stage were 2 of my favourite bands

The Lemonheads

&
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes


It was my first time to see the Gimme Gimmes and they were great fun. If you've never heard of them then check 'em out. They are essentially a covers band who play everything from Andrew Lloyd Webber to The Eagles in a punk rock style. They also feature various members of NOFX, Lagwagon, Foo Fighters and No Use For A Name.

Next it was off to Austria for the NovaRock festival alongside

Less Than Jake


Slayer


Oh i learned a painful lesson during changeover by the way.....Never trust a sound engineer to put his gear in the same place everyday.


Thats my shin after i ran to get a new battery for my radio and ran smack into our monitor guys speaker which was in a different place than normal. Doesnt look like much i know but it was actually pretty deep and i managed to freak out the Austrian lighting guy who was sitting next to me while i was standing up operating the show as he saw the blood running down my leg all through the show and he thought i was completely insane.

So after the show was the "Fun" part of the week. A 23 hour drive to London with a 9 hour stop in Cologne thrown in for good measure. After we left Austria on Sunday and arrived in London on Tuesday, i needed something to do. A few calls were made and we were off to see Ozzy Osbourne at Wembley Arena.

And while it was sometimes like watching your drunken Grandfather doing Karaoke, it was worth the trip to see a fully fledged "Rock God" in action.

So a couple of days off and rehearsals in London were to follow so the band can fine tune the extra bits we are doing at Glastonbury this weekend. I decided i would take in a bit of theatre while i was here.

First up was Avenue Q.


This is basically "The Muppets" for adults and it is hilarious. Its a little disturbing seeing "Muppets" doing some of things they do in this show but its definitely one to see. Some of the songs featured are "If you were Gay(But im not)", "Everyones a Little Bit Racist" and "The Internet is For Porn".

After that i decided to take another trip to a show tonight and see Blue Man Group


I have to admit i was sceptical at the beginning as im not a fan of "Art for Arts sake" But you should see this show if you can, it is fantastic, very funny and at times surreal. The finale is also fantastic fun.

When Festivals Go Wrong....

So today started out like any other, out of bed, onto the bus, off to the festival looking forward to a great show alongside My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park and Pearl Jam.

About 4.30pm however things took a turn for the worse. Just as My Chemical Romance were about to take the stage, the skies suddenly turned black (Not part of the show, i would have been well impressed). The rain began and before you could say "Shit, wheres my umbrella" we were hit by what basically amounted to a typhoon storm with winds up to 100mph. Suddenly every one started running frantically for cover anywhere they could....and suddenly it was over!!

When we all ventured out we found the winds had taken theyre toll on the stage.





As well as the structures in the middle of the audience holding up the screens and speakers




Although it may look extremely bad, luckily nobody was killed. 19 people have been taken to hospital, one of which is apparently quite serious....hopefully not!!
Obviously the rest of the show was cancelled and we are now sitting backstage 7 hours later waiting to see when the stage will be passed fit for us to go up and remove our equipment which is no doubt completely soaked and some of which is probably beyond repair.
What amazed me was that some people had to be physically dragged away from theyre equipment to safety. Its only a rock show...It isnt worth it!!

Mud, Sweat and Beers!!!

So, its European Festival season so after a private show in London and bed at 3am it was off to the airport at 5am to fly to Madrid for the first "proper" show of the tour. It was at an old Bullring in the centre of town.



Always interesting to play in these sorts of venues, a bit of a challenge never hurt anyone. Also on the bill tonight were the newly reformed Smashing Pumpkins.


After a well deserved lie in it was off to the airport for the flight to Venice, but not before running into Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz in the lobby who were in town to attend the premiere of Shrek 3.

So off to Madrid airport we went for the most bizarre and drawn out route to get on a plane, 3 trains and 9 escalators later i finally managed to find my plane.

I find it incredibly bizarre that you sometimes require a passport to check into a hotel especially as today i had to showw my passport to get my room key but didnt need to show it to get into the country. Very Strange!!!

So a day off in Venice followed having a walk around this beautiful city and taking in the sites. You can spend a long time walking around the hundreds of canals


There is also such a rich history of art here from Leonardo Da Vinci right through to more modern pieces such as this.


After some nice pasta siting by the river it was off to the festival site to see 2 old stalwarts of rock

Slayer


and

Iron Maiden


It still amazes me that bands the age of these guys can still go out night after night and not only entertain but in terms of performance and energy kick the ass of 90% of the younger bands today.

Hopefully some of them are watching!!!

Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!

I really didnt think this blog had this amount of power but apparently it did. One little rant and Paris was dragged off kicking and screaming for Mommy and back to jail.

Sweet!!!!

Oh to be rich...

I rarely feel the need to write about anything that has nothing to do with work and the tour, but today i do. it amazes that Paris Hilton was released from prison after serving only 3 days of her sentance. How is it that someone who is only famous for being famous and tried to pass the buck for violating her parole onto her publicist is able to walk free and have to spend the remainder of her sentance in her multi-million dollar Hollywood Hills mansion. What pisses me off is that unfortunately some people judge this to be a fitting sentance. Kind of reminds me of that episode in the Simpsons when Krusty is busted for tax evasion.


Krusty: I can't go to jail!! I got a swanky lifestyle. I'm used to
the best.
IRS Agent: Krusty, this is America. We don't send our celebrities to
jail.

Seems to be the way doesnt it!!!

Baby, When The Lights Go Out...

No, im not admitting to being a fan of the "where are they now boyband" 5, its a reference to our show in salt lake city at the Great Salt Air. Half way through the 2nd song, we had a power issue when we tripped the fuse on a 400amp power service so we finished out the song with only 1/3 of the lights working and had to switch off all the power to change out the fuses so "Smile" was performed lit only by Brandon holding a flashlight. Luckily we managed to get it all working and had everything back up and running by the next song and everything got back to normal. Here is the view from outside the venue at sunset.

Tonight was the night that Dave chose to debut his new "navaho" style jacket, here he is modelling it just before going to stage alongside an old friend of the band, Wyatt Boswell.

Salt lake city is a very dull city, it is very picturesque city but with it being a Mormon dominated town its not exactly party central so a pretty relaxed night was apent walking around the city followed by some dinner at PF Changs (luv me that orange peel chicken) Here is a picture of a very deceptive looking building, from the front its very flat looking

But from the side it shows its true size though


Oh by the way check out the robe that was in my room for my day off.....Nice!!


So onwards and upwards to Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel "Theatre Under The Stars" for the last show with our friends Loius XiV and our last show of the current US Tour.

After a full day loading in 6 trucks of equipment in 110 degree heat it was time to do the big homecoming show. The show went pretty well, ive never been a fan of outdoor shows really as you've no control over the smoke levels on stage and the wind blows the backdrop and sound around but i guess im just being too picky. We also had some pyro in the show during "Sams Town" and the reprise of "When You Were Young", anyone who was at the show and enjoyed it...you aint seen nothing yet!

So there you have it, after 38 shows in 22 US states and 4 Canadian Provinces and over 48,000 miles in 8 weeks, the US tour is over until September. After the show it was on to the bar at the Hard Rock, a "few" drinks later i realised it was daylight again and it was time for a quick bit of breakfast before packing up my bags and heading to the airport and a very bumpy flight to Los Angeles and a 3 hour layover and then a 10 hour flight to Dublin. So here i am at home for a week before we pick up again for our festival run starting in Madrid next week.

EDIT!!! After our show in Sacramento i saw something i havent seen for a long time. As you may or may not know there are a lot of traditions and superstitions in theatre. One of the oldest and least observed ones these days is atill alive and while in Sacramento. There has always been stories of ghosts haunting old theatres the oworld over. The theory is that if you leave a light on at all times that will stop the ghosts from inhabiting the stage. To do this a single light on a stick is place downstage centre and left switched on all night while the rest of the theatre is left in darkness.


There is a bit of useless trivia for you..or an F.F.!! (Fun Fact)