May '05

Last nights V show was fucking awesome... I just love it when a strip mall gets turned into a complete anarchic mob. But on the other side of the coin I was feeling a little bad for some of the fans that showed up early to secure a front row viewing position then ended up having to be hauled over the barrier by security because they were being pummeled by crowd surfers or crushed by the mob. It looked to me to be about 4000 people. I think channel V will have to be careful in the future... these free mall concerts or "mallcerts" are pretty much a full fledged outdoor festival without all the health and safety requirements that real festivals have like paramedics or even porta-potties. I did see several people hauled out of the crowd unconscious and I was wondering at the time where they were being taken. Maybe to Borders books to be revived or even Hot Dog on a Stick in the food court for some refreshing and healthy snacks.

So for any Foo fans reading this... If you are up front at a show... it WILL get crazy. If you are not prepared for this, view from a safer spot. But it can be super fun to be right in the middle of the frenzied mess if your ready for it. I always see cute little girls up front at the barricade before a show like it's a Boyz to Men show knowing that they're not gonna last two minutes up there. Barricade security are always really good about warning the little ones but they never listen. I've even gone out and personally warned the really wee ones but it usually falls on deaf ears.

The Foo crew roadie band A.K.A "Pork Tornado" played in front of people for the first time at sound check. We played the only three songs we know... one of my songs... "Cary", a "Willie Nelson Song", Blue Eyes Cryin', and a Helmet song, "Unsung". I asked the waiting crowd if anyone knew the words to Unsung seeing as my feeble brain can't seem to remember them ever. I was hoping a fan would come up and sing the song, but no takers. Quite unexpectedly, Cary started a small pit and received thunderous applause... o.k... maybe not thunderous... ten or 20 people clapped...hehe. It was fun.

Sorry folks... no pictures of the mallcert... I was having to much fun watching the chaos and forgot. Sue me.

5/29/05

So we jumped on a JAL flight to Sydney last night. I think I slept the almost whole way which is nice seeing as I rarely sleep on planes. Got into our hotel early... about 8:00am. Sorry cant reveal the hotel till we're gone. Sean came up with the great idea to spend the day in Manly, a little surf town on a peninsula on the other side of Sydney harbor I guess. I'm sure you can drive there but we took a ferry. Once off the ferry, we walked through town, down the beach (great break), and then up a bunch of cliffs... we must've walked ten miles today. Here's some photos of our adventure.

I don't think Manly has ever seen the likes of Sean. I realize he's a little striking but jeez... I've never seen so much gawking. I was pretty annoyed by the end of the day. I wanted to slap a few pretty boy surf nerds around. He did look a little out of place on the beach though. hehe. So did I for that matter.

I've been thinking... I never would've done shit like this before I got sober. I've been around the world many times now but I don't think I've ever been overseas sober. The old M.O. would've been to get off the plane drunk cuz drinks are free on intl. flights, Get to the hotel and find the hotel bar or the nearest cool pub and start fighting jet lag with whiskey... (the whiskey always wins). Instead of waking up early and seeing the sights before load in the next day I'd be sleeping it off... I've never really been a hangover guy but I would wake up tired and unmotivated if you know what I mean. After a show and after load out I'd have to have a beer or a whiskey to wind down and sleep which would inevitably turn into a party with the rest of the crew which would shoot to shit the possibility of doing anything cool the next day. Even if I managed to do something like Sean and I did today we probably wouldn't have made it a third as far cuz we would have been hitting every cool looking pub on the way through Manly. I'm not saying it was bad all those years of partying... just different. I've traveled all over the world and saw the inside of bars, pubs, theatres, and arenas. Like I said... not necessarily bad... I'm just bored of that, I want to do it different this time. There have been exceptions to that drunken picture I painted... like when we went to Iceland a couple of years ago... amazing... and Brazil before that. But always Europe... drunk... Japan... drunk.... UK... drunk... OZ.... drunk. It's one way to do it I guess.

Tomorrow is a Channel V show. Which is Australia's MTV. It's kind of like a free concert in an outdoor strip mall with cameras. I've always had fun every time I've done it with The D or the Foo's but if you were to talk to other crew guys you'd get a different answer. It is logistically a pain for some of us. I just like the idea of turning a mall into a completely chaotic clusterfuck. There is a VJ I'm looking forward to seeing again... Andrew. A really great guy. Always treats us well and rolls out the red carpet. The OZ fans are always great to the crew as well... many have brought us gifts in the past... thanks for that.

Today was a good day.

I love my job. I love this band. I love this crew.

5/27/05 11:59pm

So first off, our hotel here in Tokyo is so fuckin' awesome. Someone spent alot of dough building this place. It's that same hotel from that movie "Lost in Translation".... the Grand Hiatt Tokyo. Here's some photos of my room.

There is a panel in the wall next to the bed that is a remote control for the blinds in the window.... blinds go up, blinds go down, blinds go up, blinds go down. The lighting in the room is super tasteful and the shower is the best. I think this is the cleanest the roadies have been in years.

Once again one of my favorite things about this country are the toilets. There is a remote control on the wall next to the shitter. You can control the temperature of the seat, the pressure of the water that shoots at your bum, the width, direction, temperature and duration of the stream that shoots your tushy. I personally don't like the whole bidet thing... but I like having all the options. The heated seat is nice though. Sean says he doesn't like it. He wants a refrigerated seat and his toilet paper wet. To each their own I guess.

I didn't understand the directions but managed to figure out by trial and error which buttons not to push. There was some screaming involved.

The TV show we played today went well. The label took us out to dinner at a great Korean BBQ place. Korean BBQ places in Japan are the best... kinda like in the UK the Indian food is the best. Much was imbibed. Especially by my hero Sean... who managed to power down an insane amount of meat, beer, and sake. after which he did his flying nun impression.

A good meal was had by all except my mutant fasting ass.

The whole sitting on the floor thing is cool but uncomfortable if you're not used to sitting like that for extended periods.

Lucky thing the hotel was close cuz traffic is as bad as LA here.

5/27/05 7:00am

Well, I'm not sure what to do with birthdays anymore. I'm drug and alcohol free and right now I'm on day 8 of a long fast... God, I'm so boring. I always thought birthdays were a great day to celebrate a real mothers day though. Especially seeing as though the current mothers days is a hallmark holiday and has no substance. "Hi, mom... it's my birthday and just wanted to say thanks for having me and raising me to be the dirty roadie that I've become today". Hmmm... maybe not. Well anyway, thanks to all of you that sent cards and emails... you guys rule. A special thanks to speedy for these pictures... you vandal you.

5/25/05

So I got my first piece of hate mail... It's nice to know that a dumb roadie such as myself has the the power to wind someone up this much. This email was sent to me privately so I wont divulge the identity of the author... however, I will post the content. I must say, my favorite is the beginning. The letter is copied and pasted verbatim and is as follows:

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HEY IDIOT, FIRST OF ALL IT IS MOTLEY CRUE NOT CREW DUMBASS AND SECOND OF ALL YOU ARE A FREAKIN MORON. EVERYONE INCLUDING I HAVE READ YOUR STUPID REMARKS ABOUT THE LEGENDARY BAND MOTLEY CRUE AT THE WEENIE ROAST. SLOPPY AND CAMPY?? I DO NOT THINK SO, THEY WERE THE BEST BAND THERE AND KICKED EVERYONE'S ASS INCLUDING THE HORRIBLE SOUNDING AND UGLY BAND FOO FIGHTERS.... WHAT?? THEY SUCK. I HOPE YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE DI*&. 'NASTY OLD STRIPPERS'???? SORRY, YOU CAN'T GET ANY OR ANYONE FOR THAT MATTER, JEALOUS ASS. YOU GOT THAT RIGHT, THEY WERE HAVING FUN AND LIVING IT UP, UNLIKE YOUR BITTER ASS, WHO WORKS FOR CRAPPY BANDS.

<><'Motley Crew was exactly like you'd expect... sloppy and campy. Lots of pyro to make up for the lack of substance as well as some nasty old strippers and Harleys that were brought on stage for Girls, Girls, Girls. But in their defense, it looked like they were having fun, still "livin' it" exactly like they want to... Hookers and blow to the end. The body guards the were sporting backstage were highly unnecessary though.'<><

OMG!!!!!!! YOU ACTUALLY TOOK PIX OF THIS UGLY TALENTLESS MAN STANDING ON MOTLEY'S MIXING CONSOLE. YOU ALL WERE SO JEALOUS AND WANTED TO DO SOMETHING ON PURPOSE. I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW AND TELL EVERYONE THIS SHIT. CRAPPY PEOPLE AND BANDS CHEATING, HOW LOW ARE YOU?????? YOU LAUGH SAYING YOU LOVE IT WHEN DAVE DOES THIS SHIT. NO WONDER PEOPLE DON'T HAVE RESPECT FOR YOU OR THAT CRAPPY BAND, HOW WOULD YOU AND THE FOOS FEEL IF SOME GEEKS STOOD ON YOUR MIXING CONSOLE ON PURPOSE????? YOU ALL COULD NOT TAKE MOTLEY CRUE'S HEAT, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. LOSERS.

<><That's Dave standing on the Motley Crew mixing console out in the crowd... Nathan (our light guy) told me that their sound guy was yelling at him to get off... hehe. I love it when Dave does this shit. <><

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O.K. I'm back... Sorry I messed up on spelling Crue properly.... I always misspell Fu Fyterz as well. But hell... I'm guilty. Wow... speechless.... well, not really. My site, my opinions... I stand by my remarks... if you don't like them, don't visit the site. I grew up with Motley Crue's music and love alot of it. But I still think they were sloppy as hell.... Especially Vince. Big deal.... maybe it was an off night or maybe they just don't care as much as they used to or maybe they were shitfaced... who knows, who cares. Well, I guess the crowd cared. Half of them left after the Foos.

I just don't understand the last half of this letter... "on purpose", "cheating"... what the hell does that mean? Dave use to do the crowd run all the time... he's jumped up on our console many times... he didn't target the crue console... he didn't break anything... what's the big deal?

I gotta say I am kinda jealous that the band got more and better insults than I did... Hell, I'm the on talking shit... those guys didn't do anything. I at least deserve a follow up to the great opening line... maybe something about how small my dick is, or how much of a fag I am,. Jeez... I at least deserve a "dummyhead" or "stupidface" slur. I've got one for you... your letter is the feces that shame produces when it eats to much stupidity.

Why did this freak this girl out this much? The only reason I can think of is that maybe she was one of the strippers on stage and I offended her by calling her old and nasty. Whatever... there is this thing... maybe you've heard of it... it's called the first amendment. I can say whatever I want about anything. Don't you just love the internet?

5/24/05

Heading off to Japan and Australia tomorrow for TV shows and other promo stuff. So if anyone over there would like a BB and his Fistful of Babies shirt just email me a size and I'll hand deliver it. I actually like visiting both these countries. I think I like Japan cuz I grew up in Hawaii and Japanese culture is very ingrained there. I can actually understand and speak a little Japanese. Working there is even good... the Japanese people have incredible work ethic. I have toured over there and had the promoters come out with cameras and measuring tapes... taking photos and measurements of all the gear after it was set up the first time. Then for the rest of the time we were in Japan... by the time the crew arrived at the venue all the gear was uncased and set up exactly like it was in the photos. We didn't have to do shit. Japan is kickass. Sometimes you do feel a little isolated though... it's pretty overwhelming at times. If anyone saw "lost in translation"... that captured it really well. The Japanese fans are great as well... everyone so polite. I love it. At shows, whenever the band finishes a song, you'll get applause and screaming and whistling for 6 or 8 seconds and then silence. even if they haven't started the next song yet. It's kinda weird but cool.

Australia is just great cuz it's great. It's like the best of Europe and the best of the states with way nicer people. I never had a bad time there. The only drag is how long it takes to get there. I'm looking forward to meeting some of you ozzies that have been writing me.

This Last weekend we played infamous LA festival called the weenie roast. I think the most unorganized event on the planet. Aside from the behind the scenes lameness, from what I saw there seemed to be good performances by all. I've never seen Audioslave before. I was a huge Soundgarden fan and I liked Rage a bit and although I thought they did a good job... I think it was weird that they were doing Soundgarden and Rage songs. I dunno... I just think it takes away from what "Audioslave" could be. Not to mention the Rage songs lacked the gumption that they used to have. Just my opinion. Motley Crew was exactly like you'd expect... sloppy and campy. Lots of pyro to make up for the lack of substance as well as some nasty old strippers and Harleys that were brought on stage for Girls, Girls, Girls. But in their defense, it looked like they were having fun, still "livin' it" exactly like they want to... Hookers and blow to the end. The body guards the were sporting backstage were highly unnecessary though.

That's Dave standing on the Motley Crew mixing console out in the crowd... Nathan (our light guy) told me that their sound guy was yelling at him to get off... hehe. I love it when Dave does this shit.

Alot of festival stages have elevated platforms built for family and guests to watch from so that they don't get in the way of all the roadies from various bands trying to work.

A strange segmented video wall was flown behind the bands... I kind of liked it.

After the Weenie Roast every year, the hotel lobby at the Marriot fills up with bands, crew and fans getting hammered and wooping it up. You'd think the hotel would figure it out... it happens every year but still they're not equipped to handle it. Oh well, maybe next year.

Oh yeah, the night before the show, after sound check, Sean, Geoff, Yeti, Ian and I went to go see the new Star Wars movie. Although it's better than the last two, it still sucked ass. Sean fell asleep like 6 or 7 times.

Remember if anyone in Japan or Australia wants a shirt... email me a size and I'll hand deliver it.

here are the photos again.

5/20/05-addendum

Hey folks... I post these Foo and D info updates in hopes that y'all will visit my site. Maybe one or two of you will listen to my songs and enjoy them. I don't mind if a picture is taken and reposted somewhere else or an excerpt quote that I may have written is copied and pasted on another site... but, please don't copy and paste the whole thing. It kinda defeats my purpose. If it continues, I'll just stop posting anything about anything and anyone except my band and the site would be so boring no one will visit anymore. Like I said, I realize the benefits of posting the Foo and D gossip but I'm kinda doing a favor for y'all as well. My music is free and I pay for this site out of my own pocket and spend a good chunk of time updating it. I'm not mad... just please don't so it anymore. Thank you.... ( jeez, I'm so bitchy.)

5/20/05

So we got back from the UK a few days ago. We flew straight in to DC.... ack.... Dulles, the worst airport on the planet. You cant walk between terminals. You have to take these stupid busses they call "mobile lounges". Anyway, HFS was a good show even though I personally had some technical difficulties. I swear to god, I think I was sabotaged. D.C. area shows are always kinda high stress for everyone cuz there is so much family there. Guest lists are huge. At the first guitar change (stacked actors), the wireless transmitter on the guitar wasn't sending signal... I quickly realized this and grabbed my backup "actors" guitar... same fuckin story... no signal. By this point Dave, like the star that he is, had put the guitar down... grabbed the mike and just jumped down in the barricade and started singing. Sean and I franticly fiddled with guitars and figured out that those two guitar transmitters were off by one channel which is really weird cuz I checked them the day before during line check. I turned every single guitar on and made sound... huh... I dunno. That's why I think someone came by my guitar station while I was at catering or taking a shit or something and fucked with my stuff. But I don't know who doesn't like me... hell, I'm totally fucking lovable and I don't know anyone that doesn't like the Foo Fighters so it just doesn't make sense. I was pretty bummed after the show but whatever, the boys played great and it was an awesome show. Big radio shows like that are always good for seeing old friends that you've toured with before. It's a regular roadie re-union. Here's a couple of shots.

For the past couple of days we've been in production rehearsals at a giant soundstage in Burbank. Studio 606 was too small for this rehearsal cuz we had to set up some of the lights and sound and surprises that we have in store for all you psycho fans in the upcoming tours. I bought piles of supplies (Gaff tape, batteries, guitar strings, spare pedals and shit) and repaired stuff that was damaged and tuned in guitar sounds. But there was a whole lot of sitting around, fucking off. Here's some more shots...

One of the cool things about this current configuration of crew guys is that everybody can play pretty well. For the first time since I joined up with the Foo's we can actually have roadie rock. It sounds ridiculous, but it really helps the sound guys dial in good mixes if the tech staff can play like the band. So far we've got three songs. One of my songs... Cary, a Willie Nelson song... Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain, and today we worked on a Helmet song... Unsung. That one is hard to sing and play during the verses... weird syncopation. We've got plans for a Men at Work song... Overkill, and a few more. I look forward to line checks now. When I worked for weezer we had a kickass roadie band... Adam Willard on drums, Bobby Schnek on guitar, and me on bass. We had it going on.

Oh well, I'll tell you all how the weenie roast goes as we're all heading out for that show tomorrow. After that, it's off to Japan and Australia on Wednesday I think.

It's my birthday soon... on the 27th. I'm gonna be in Tokyo. So send me presents. Why don't some of you psycho girls send me some naked pictures... ooooh... maybe not.

5/12/05

Oh my god the Brazilian chick on Jools... Marika, Martika, or whatever was so kickass... after she played her own music she sat in with Jools on the piano and sang "Fly me to the moon". She has the perfect female crooner voice just like Keely Smith or Peggy Lee. Hitting notes dead on, solid and steady... then towards the end of the note... trickling off to a short tight vibrato. I love that shit. Jools also has some impressive chops. He's quite the ivory tickler. The Foo's did a great job as well. Dave's voice held up and they once again showed everyone how it's done. Dave's acoustic performance of razor was moving. What a great song. I would venture to say it's the best ballad he's ever written.

Right after the load out of Jools, we hightailed it to the airport to jump on a charter we had waiting for us to take us to Copenhagen. A little 16 passenger Lear Jet. Sometimes flying private can be more uncomfortable than flying commercial cuz some jet layouts are very loungy and other bands I've worked for would try to put too many people on the plane... really cramping it up. But really the biggest benefit to flying private is being able to skip the fucking airport mayhem. No check in, no security screen, no boarding call, no endless hikes through airport terminals.... you just drive right up to the plane and get on. The smokers love it cuz they get to puff. The flight attendants are always hot and if you don't overload the plane it's sooooo cush and comfortable. Gus had 'em stock the plane with Kentucky Fried Chicken... MMMMMM.... yummy.

Copenhagen was good as well. With the exception of our hotel rooms. Super heated rooms with child size twin beds. Showers that constantly change from hot to cold and smell of sulfur. Someone pointed out that I'm a big whiny, spoiled sack of shit when it comes to hotel rooms. It maybe... but when I'm in the room or dealing with any hotel staff... I can't stop thinking how much the shit costs... especially in Copenhagen and Europe and the UK. When that kind of money is involved... I just think that shit should work for one, and two, excellent service should be included. In London I ordered some room service.... a very expensive cheese burger... the dude says "how would you like that cooked sir" to which I replied "medium please". He exclaimed a disappointed grunt and told it wasn't safe to eat meat that wasn't cooked well done. I told him I thought most meats tasted better medium rare or medium. He said "I'm sorry sir but we are not allowed to serve any meat less than well done... "why did you ask me in the first place" I said. " I probably shouldn't have" he said tersely. The internet service in the UK was 20 pounds per day (40 dollars American), You'd expect that it would at least be fast... hell no. a crappy breakfast in the hotel cafe cost 24 pounds (50 American)... cold , greasy buffet meats... runny, cold scrambled eggs... warm juices and milk. What the hell was I thinking.

Sorry... off on a tangent....

The show was in a big empty wherehouse... I think it used to be a brewery... Tuborg beer or something. It had something to do with MTV Europe so it was being filmed. We got another new addition to the Foo Crew...Phil (Big Daddy) Danneman. He is to be our tour carpenter. Phil is one of the best guys in rock and roll. I worked with him one other time on a 311 tour. I say welcome aboard.

The Foo performance was nothing short of spectacular. Dave, during Stacked Actors did one of his patented audience jogs. One again, his voice held up well and the band played tight and powerful. I miss hearing some of the old songs but what the hell are you gonna do? You've got to cut some old stuff to make room for the new stuff otherwise you end up with four hour set. I'm sure some of you psychos would love that.

Right now I'm on an SAS flight to D.C. to do the HFS festival. They've got wireless internet on this damn flight... awesome.

5/10/05

Played a festival in Newcastle the other day... I didn't think it was a good idea at first due to David's throat being fucked up and all. But Captain Grohl did a great job. He cut out the songs that thrash his voice and started slow with acoustic Everlong. He made it through the half hour set like the star that he is. Just when I think he's reached the top of my respect ladder... he takes it up a notch.

The show was in a tent in the countryside... we only understood every fourth word the local crew said.

View from the lobby and the front lounge of the typically cramped Euro tour bus.

Today we have the English TV show, "Jools Holland". We set up and line checked the gear yesterday which was nice except for a band I wont name that was so over the top awful... I though I was gonna die. I originally thought they were joking... but no, after hearing the same song 6 or 8 times the sad realization came over me. There will be a whole generation of kids growing up and Identifying this time of their lives with this sorry excuse of a band. What the hell is the music world coming to. WHOA!!! That was harsh.... Sorry. I'm sure people say the same about my crappy band. Oh well, whatever.

Tonight it's off to Copenhagen.

5/5/05

Yesterday was the kind of day that will either bring out the best or worst in a person. Another French TV program called Traffic TV or something. However, this show was a complete clusterfuck... totally unprofessional and unorganized. Let me explain what it's like to do a professional TV show... David Letterman for example. First, even doing a proper show is not always a picnic. Lots of hurry up and wait. For Letterman you load in early say 7 or 8 am depending on the shows schedule for the day. Now depending on what band you happen to be working for determines the treatment that you'll get initially from the union stagehands. Luckily the Letterman crew likes the Foos so all is well but when I did the show with Everclear I thought I was gonna get my ass kicked a couple times. Your TV day is very spaced out time wise and regimented. At load in you just get the gear in the building and just sort of prep it to roll on stage only once the stage hand tell you do do so. The lighting guys need the stage space to re-focus lights and or re-gel lights. Once they're done and the gear is rolled out on the stage and placed in position you better not make any noise... there will be a time for this later. At this point you are done for an hour or two while the sound guys mic up and tap check everything. Then it's line check... time to make noise. You can dial in and make changes to your instrument sounds at this point, tune drums... whatever. But not for very long as no one has much patience for this. They'll ask to go through every drum and instrument one at a time so they can get their initial settings for house sound, TV sound, and monitors. Sometimes this takes awhile cuz usually the sound guys that work for the band are not allowed to touch the mixing consoles... they can only sort of work with the house engineers and guide them or request a certain mix. When this initial line check is done it's usually union lunchtime. At this point you go grub down... and take your time cuz your next work time is actual sound check with the band at 2:00pm or so. Sound check is pretty quick. House, TV, and monitor level are finalized at this point. Take another hour or two off now cuz next thing to do is TV rehearsal... they call it camera blocking. The band comes in and plays the songs a couple or three times while the producers and directors take notes and figure out what angles to shoot the band at during different parts of the song. Making sure that they know where Taylor throws down a fancy drum fill so they can catch it on camera. Stuff like that. After camera blocking the gear gets struck.. rolled off stage behind the backdrops so they can do "stupid pet tricks" or whatever is planned for the evening and the band goes off to make up to get pretty. They then load in the audiences and try to warm them up with a campy, coked up, MC kind of guy that is just flat out pretty annoying. They try to get the audience to clap and scream on cue to facilitate the canned nature of these "live" shows. The shows format is kept pretty live feeling though... with timed commercial breaks and such. On Letterman the bands are always on towards the end of the program. The bands aren't the only ones that are nervous at this point. As roadies we are under the gun as well. The commercial break is about three or four minutes and during this time we need to get the gear rolled out on stage in position, plugged in and making noise in tune. Although you always give your guy fresh strings, you're still crossing your fingers that he wont break one during the performance. That is pretty much a day at the Ed Sullivan theatre in NY. This kind of format works well cuz everyone is a pro and has done it this way a million times successfully.

OK... back to Traffic TV... This is a talk show that planned 5 bands to play on the day that we were there. This alone require a different strategy. A production manager for the show needs to stagger load in times according to performance slot and figure out a traffic flow as gear comes on and off stage. Staging areas need to be assigned according to the size of backline and tech requirements each band has. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. In addition to a language barrier there was a give a shit barrier. All those fuckers seemed to care about was covering up the logos on our drums and amps of which their excuse was that it was illegal to have logos on French TV. When I informed them that our logos were on French TV last night and we weren't in jail the dude just said..."our channel is illegal". Whatever. The band was slated to perform one song at 9:30pm... we did not perform until midnight... that's bad business. I took some photos and as you can see the set looks straight out of 1972... maybe the Sonny and Cher show...

After load out we hopped on our euro bus and drove to London via the ferry. Today's show was to be Top of the Pops... however it was cancelled. So today was spent in the hotel room (it's too expensive to go outside... 150 dollars got me 78 pounds... ouch). Ian, Sean, Geoff, Heike, and I did go to dinner at one of our favorite Indian restaurants in Leicester Square. We took the Tube. In keeping along with my positive lists... The underground is at the top of my favorite things about the UK.

1. The Underground

2. Indian food (the best curry houses are here in the UK)

3. Pound coins (heavy... good for chucking at snooty French TV producers... although they're too valuable to throw now)

4. The Metropolitan Hotel (although that's not where we're staying this trip)

5. Scotland ( I love the Scotts!...Go Rangers!!)

Here's some shots I took of our trip to dinner tonight....

Tomorrow it's off to Newcastle for a day off. I love the Geordies... one of the best accents on the planet like.

I'll try and post again tomorrow.

5/3/05

Paris... Day three. So far everything's been O.K.... no major French catastrophes that usually happen to one of more of our crew every time we visit Paris. Last time we were here Our sound guy had a gun pulled on him... and at the show we played at this small club, the barricade security was roughing up kids that would come over the top so Gus fired them and Gus, Eric Fermin and I stood in the barricade all night catching kids... I gotta admit though... it was pretty fun. But someone in that security staff or club staff was pissed and stole Sean's brand new Sony digital camera.

This time it's been pretty uneventful... aside from crappy hotel rooms which are the size of a large closet, we've actually had some fun. Nathan (light guy), Yeti (drum tech), Heike (Europe production assistant), Sean (guitar tech), and I decided to get some exercise after a mediocre dinner last night. So we went to the Eiffel Tower and walked up the stairs. It was pretty awesome. Yeti, the poor guy, has a thing about heights and didn't walk the stairs with us. He took the elevator to the top and met us. He was pretty gripped... but he manned up and slowly made his way to the edge of the platform where we were hanging out. On the way up Sean had a couple heart attacks, Nathan revived him with CPR... nothing serious though. Here's some shots.

Here's poor Yeti working through it..

down is easier.

Today we just finished doing a French program called Canal TV or something... the first actual live performance of the new songs... All was good. Except for me trying to stay awake all day. Last night I didn't sleep a wink... jet lag is kicking my ass. I napped in the runner van for a couple of hours after camera blocking. Here's some shots of the show.

I usually have a crappy attitude about traveling to Europe... but I'm trying to turn it around this time. So instead of bitching about the lack of ice, slow elevators, and work ethic... I'm gonna try and spray about some things that I do like...

1. More efficient toilets... two buttons. One send a small amount of water down for #1... The other is a full flush for when you release the hostages.

2. watching strange old American TV reruns like bewitched or McMillan and wife and other languages. There's alot of that shit.

3. Traffic anarchy... driving over here would be such a rush. It seems without traffic laws sometimes. It would probably be fun until I was killed in a horrific accident. Still I gotta do someday. Anyone wanna loan me a car?

4. Indian food... flat out it's the best over here. especially in the UK.

5. The news media is much more objective and honest. You get real world news over here. Unlike the states where we're lied to every day.

I'm gonna try and think of things I like every day...