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)

Home Stretch!!

We're moving towards the last couple of shows on the tour now so this will probably be the last update until i get home next week. So, after that nice long drive from Calgary to Portland and a rather nice encounter with the wonderful people at the border crossing who insisted on calling me a "foreigner" and thought my passport said Israel instead of Ireland, it was a day off in downtown Portland.
Portland is a strange place, its got a lot of homeless people and a big drug problem. I found it strange that there was entire families sleeping on the streets and 3 blocks away there is big fountains like this one.

Although after the show the fountain became a bathhouse for the homeless complete with 10 ft high suds from the bubble bath that they put into the water at the top of the fountain.
So, our day off was spent at the Jupiter hotel which is a very trendy bohemian hotel/motel, its a party place for sure. There is a nightstand on either side of the bed, one has a condom on it and the other has earplugs. Thank god for the earplugs is all i can say.
2 blocks from the hotel was a club called Outlaws Music Bar...here is theyre current show poster!! Take a look at the bottom left.


Yes, that is the same Vanilla Ice...scary eh!!

I have to say i did like the new billboard of the Oregon Beef Council!!


After the show it was onwards to Seattle to play the show that we post poned a week ago due to brandons throat problems. The show was really good and i think the audience appreciated the fact that the band chose to play the show when it would be a proper show rather than muddling through it a week earlier.


Earlier in the day we were allowed into the Qwest field football stadium to have a look around and get on the field for a kick about. Heres the team photo


The next day was spent mostly on the bus driving 14 hours to Sacramento, i spent most of this online watching random stuff on YouTube!! Here is 4 of my favourites....









After that the rest of the day off was spent relaxing by the pool in the heat before some dinner and drinks last night. So here we are now sitting on the bus outside the gig in Sacramento.



Only 3 more show to go then its off home for a week or so!!

Brrrr!!

So after a dull day off in Des Moines and a show in the Val Air Ballroom, it was off to Minneapolis then onwards to Denver, which is where the fun really began. The day off was spent driving mostly, its about 15 hours from St Paul to Colorado, but we did have time to go for dinner at the Buckhorn Exchange, which is a wild game resturaunt. We had a reglular smorgasboard of food from Elk, Ostrich, Yak and Buffalo to the starter which was Nachos with Rattlesnake Cheese dip. Not exactly vegetarian friendly if you know what i mean.

Next day it was off to Red Rocks Amphitheatre, one of the most amazing looking natural venues in the world.

Its a tough place to work though as its 6500 feet above sea level

I think you'll agree though thats its a pretty spectacular looking venue.

So after the sun went down, it became a night of horrors. 2 songs into the show, We realised something was up and after the 3rd song, Brandon left the stage to see the doctor and after some time passed we were forced to cancel the show. i hate to inform that he wasnt suffering from a hangover, he wasnt losing losing his voice due to an orgy of coke and heroin. Im afraid to report he had a bout of Bronchitis. Anyway, we will be back at Red Rocks on September 4th to make up the full show.
So next day it was off to LA for our performance at KROQs Weenie Roast festival. Check out this picture from just after take off in Denver.
Unfortunately Brandons voice didnt recover in time so we had another day sat in the hotel.
So i decided to head on daown to the festival anyway to meet up with some friends and see some bands, such as...
Tim Armstrong

Social Distortion

Korn

Interpol

Linkin Park

And replacing our set was a last minute acoustic set from Incubus


Incubus and Korn proved to be the surprise spots of the day, Social Distortion were fantastic as were Interpol who had to cut theyre set short due to Pauls amp blowing up during the last song PDA.

After another cancellation in Seattle, we made our comeback show at Virgin Mobile Festival in Vancouver alongside Hot Hot Heat and AFI. Another 16 hour drive through the mountains to Edmonton followed, this is always a fantastic drive, its almost like driving through a postcard.


Spent the rest of the day at the biggest shopping mall in the world. The West Edmonton mall has over 800 stores, 100 resturaunts, an ice skating rink, a waterpark and a theme park inside a building which takes up the equivalant of 48 city blocks. I also went on the in house rollercoaster which is pretty good, complete with a triple loop.

So here we are in Calgary now for the final canadian show of this tour before another 16 hour drive to Portland, Oregon tonight. Imagine my surprise when i woke up this morning to find snow all over the ground. Roll on california next week i say!!!

Boo!!!

I regret to report that this was one of the most disappointing films i have ever seen. It should have been called "The amazing adventures of Peter Parker the Nancy Boy"

While there is 2 very good action sequences with some fantastic special effects, there is nothing else to hold your intrest for the other 2 hours. Im all for action movies having more than just flash but this isnt it. Instead of having a heart it has a damb squib which is badly directed, lacks any real pace and has some of the worst acting i've ever seen (and i've done amateur theatre shows). And of course they just couldnt resist that cheesy Billowing American Flag shot. i know this is supposed to be a cartoon story and has no real root in reality, but this is just the most overblown piece of rubbish i've seen in a long time.


DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!

Back To Business!!

So back to work after the break with a show in Atlantic City before heading up North for our first show in Canada this year in Montreal, as you can see from the picture above i still have my desk mascot travelling with me, he's sat there for every show on this tour.

The show in Montreal was great with an exceptionally loud crowd as there always is there, especially when Brandon carried his "Canadiens" shirt back onstage for the encore. Next day it was off to Toronto and a show at the Air Canada Centre, the home of the Maple Leafs hockey and Toronto Raptors basketball teams. We were also given a Raptors shirt to commemorate the show.








































After that it was off to Detroit for a day off and some more baseball as the Tigers took on the Mariners.
A walk along the riverfront where you can still see Canada on the other side of the river,





















and a stop by the monument remembering the Detroit-Windsor underground railway which was used in the 60's for people to escape the racial bigotry which existed then.



Next day was the show at the Fox Theatre which is one of the most spectacular venues i've ever been in.





Next up was a show at the brand new Sears Centre in Chicago, its a decent venue but is the middle of nowhere pretty much. Not much around except a motorway and a Target!!!


Next day saw a show in Kansas City on an outdoor stage in a car park, i dont think any of us really believed quite how bad it would be but i think we realised when we saw the stage when we turned up.

I guess it was a work in progress, as was the power which kept going all day and we finally got some stable power an hour before the band went on stage.

Onwards to St Louis for the annual Pointfest Festival with performances from The Killers, Red Romance, Papa Roach, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Bullet for My Valentine and Wolfmother.


And now you find me in Des Moines, Iowa for a day off before a show here tomorrow. Not much to do here as im sure you can guess from this picture of downtown at 4pm today.

Garden Party!!

So on we rolled to New York for the big gig at Madison Square Garden. Its always been one of those hallowed venues for anyone involved in the music business to be part of a show at. So it was nice to roll up and see the Sold Out signs everywhere.

So this is what a venue looks like at 8am when we begin load in

And this how it looks 12 hours later just before showtime!!

And here is a view from the stage...

So after sets from Red Romance and The Silver Beats, the Killers played a great set in front of probably the most enthusiastic crowds i've ever seen at a New York gig.


After a few celebratory drinks it was off to Boston for the last show before a couple of days off in New York beckoned. Today was also the final show with The Silver Beats before the headed home to Tokyo. There is potential that they may do some more shows with us in the future.

So back to New York for 5 days off catching up with friends, good food and drink. Went to a baseball game between the Mets and Marlins at Shea Stadium.


Also went to see the movie "Vacancy", dont bother, its absolute rubbish!!!