1. travelling. i love to travel but sitting in a minivan for months with smelly dudes has lost its allure. basically my butt is sore from sitting on it. it does leave a person with a lot of free time but you cant do anything with it. theres no room, no personal space. once you've finished the books you brought, theres nothing but countryside to stare at. unfortunately, ive seen it 150 times. its green, its england.
2. spending money. england is beyond expensive. maybe i just dont notice how bad ny is because im actually earning at home. ive spent a fortune on this tour.
3. beer. i can barely get it down. i do, but i might be reaching my beer breaking point. i need a new drink. past few days ive been opting for the healthy alternative, diet coke. beer over here is usually warmer and flat. even the familiar brands. when you're living on bread and hummus, its not so easy to get down.
4. recharging things. wires everywhere! which leads me to number five...
5. "whats the wifi password?" these words have been uttered so many times in the past month. i thought skype would solve all my calling home issues. it has helped but finding the right circumstances on tour is like a rare planet alignment. first there has to be strong wifi (once there is wifi discovered, 25 people use it at the same time) and it has to be quiet, this never happens on tour. when i say quiet, i mean no background noise let alone no soundcheck etc. skype is difficult in that way. of course, the person you're calling also has to be avaiable right at that moment, even worse, in front of their computer for the free video version. also, you have to have suffient battery power (see number 4). what happens in the end is you just get frustrated and text and call straight through and have a $500 phone bill. im happy skype has worked a bit but i'm beginning to think that free wifi should be a right to all. i mean, lets start with affordable health care but after that...
6. im missing the manchester stop of dio's greatest hits tour by one day.
7. my current sore throat.
8. eating. i starve myself all day to avoid spending money at rest stops. this is always in hopes that upon arrival at the venue you might get some food. im am always appreciative of this type of hospitality but we are a group of 14 people, all doing the same thing. it goes quickly. some nights are better than others but i will say this is one of the creature comforts im having an issue giving up. it's just eating...no biggie. if my band were more popular, this wouldnt be an issue so i guess its my fault.
9. loading 10 minutes after playing. we are headlining for this tour and almost without exception we have to get out of the club within minutes of playing the last note. this is when i feel very old. luckily there are a lot of hands but honestly, i need a breather....
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
TTFA ....so far....
so i thought about this far too much. when your on tour, thats all you have is time to think. fuck knows you can't get anything else done. ive even thought about thinking....i was going to do a traditional tour diary but its way too boring. i wondered if i should just make stuff up, everyone does that. nah, then i thought i could write about my days off. thing is, i dont have enough except this week. the german part of my tour finished and ive ended up in edinburgh, scotland for 4 days. today being my last. ive done it all this week, ghost tours, the castle, whiskey museum, and of course, i found the local metal bar, bannermans, where i sit wriitng this. they have free wifi. ive been in this city 4 times previous and besides the tourists, i love it. its like being in a harry potter movie. during this short trip ive learned a little something about myself. im a bit socially awkward. i dont know whether i always have been or its something i never noticed because as a bandmember and bartender etc, im never without something to talk about. as a lonely tourist, im retarded. even alcohol doesnt help, in fact it makes it worse. of course ive tried to avoid the band conversation with most people. nothing gets stranger looks than "im in a band called gay for johnny depp". but its inevitable. i dont look like a backpacker or your general tourist so it always comes up. i wish i could take video of customs officers faces...amazing. they actually wrote "gay for johnny depp" on my passport. anyway, its something odd ive learned and i still have a month left. i hope im done with the introspection. its a ruff road.
edinburgh airport, 7:30 am. didnt sleep a wink last nite. lugged all my shit to the bus, had to pay extra for baggage...again. i know, stop complaining. im excited to see friends in london but its expensive as hell. days off in london are the demise of ones tour funds. basically, you cant leave the house if you dont want to spend money. unfortunately, when youre staying with friends, thats not possible and usually, they are more broke than you. the english are the most polite and generous people on earth. also the most repressed. admittedly so i think. ever notice how a brit cant get off the phone...its all "bye, bye, bye...". they never want to be the one to hang up. maybe thats why bully boy tv is so popular (gordan ramsey) or was. that shits like hanging with a german. they are blunt, whether they mean it or not.
stop the presses! ive seen three people drinking in the terminal area. its 8:30 am. even in my heyday, i dont think i could do this. i guess its ok as long as its not the pilots.
a week has passed. im on my way to the third gfjd show. so far so good. we're just starting to get it together. the other bands are great etc. enough about tour. i was doing some research in my boredom and wanted to share the results. just like there is comfort food, there is also comfort music. you know that thing you throw on when you cant figure out what to listen to. we are all into certains kinds of music aestetically, but what are you really listening to? what are the hard facts. well, luckily with itunes, you can find out. i have very eclectic tastes. im older and have pretty much been into everything with out going too far. i love extreme metal, older political punk bands, britpop, classic rock, etc... but what gets the most ticks on my ipod? U2 "the unforgettable fire", by a mile! its my go to album in times of doubt. 2nd place goes to lush "spooky", a much maligned record at the time of its release. hmm...next up.... the lost classic from 1972, roy harper "stormcock". from there it goes into obscure oasis and verve tracks and downtunes to "the apostasy" by behemoth and mercyful fates "dont break the oath" and i'll end with yes' "going for the one". who knew??? i dont think the word eclectic even fits how weird this list is.
edinburgh airport, 7:30 am. didnt sleep a wink last nite. lugged all my shit to the bus, had to pay extra for baggage...again. i know, stop complaining. im excited to see friends in london but its expensive as hell. days off in london are the demise of ones tour funds. basically, you cant leave the house if you dont want to spend money. unfortunately, when youre staying with friends, thats not possible and usually, they are more broke than you. the english are the most polite and generous people on earth. also the most repressed. admittedly so i think. ever notice how a brit cant get off the phone...its all "bye, bye, bye...". they never want to be the one to hang up. maybe thats why bully boy tv is so popular (gordan ramsey) or was. that shits like hanging with a german. they are blunt, whether they mean it or not.
stop the presses! ive seen three people drinking in the terminal area. its 8:30 am. even in my heyday, i dont think i could do this. i guess its ok as long as its not the pilots.
a week has passed. im on my way to the third gfjd show. so far so good. we're just starting to get it together. the other bands are great etc. enough about tour. i was doing some research in my boredom and wanted to share the results. just like there is comfort food, there is also comfort music. you know that thing you throw on when you cant figure out what to listen to. we are all into certains kinds of music aestetically, but what are you really listening to? what are the hard facts. well, luckily with itunes, you can find out. i have very eclectic tastes. im older and have pretty much been into everything with out going too far. i love extreme metal, older political punk bands, britpop, classic rock, etc... but what gets the most ticks on my ipod? U2 "the unforgettable fire", by a mile! its my go to album in times of doubt. 2nd place goes to lush "spooky", a much maligned record at the time of its release. hmm...next up.... the lost classic from 1972, roy harper "stormcock". from there it goes into obscure oasis and verve tracks and downtunes to "the apostasy" by behemoth and mercyful fates "dont break the oath" and i'll end with yes' "going for the one". who knew??? i dont think the word eclectic even fits how weird this list is.
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