Hey everyone,
Here's my "tour report":
Where to begin? I'll start by saying, again, that this was the most incredible experience of my life!
The bands:
The bands we toured with were simply awesome! They were Black Abyss and Steel Attack. If you're into metal, you NEED to check these bands out! These bands are NOT in the "extreme" metal category. More like classic/melodic metal, with Steel Attack being on the more progessive side. As well as being great bands, the guys in the bands, along with our road crew, were fucking EXCELLENT people! I made some true friends on this tour, and it's because everyone was so cool, respected and liked each other that it was such a fantastic experience.
The shows:
WOW pretty much sums it up! The crowds varied in size, but were always extremely enthusiastic! At some shows, they were singing the songs louder than we were playing them... it blew my mind! The support acts were GREAT and got good response, but when we hit the stage the place would explode! That is NOT meant as a dig or shot at the other bands, they played great and did a good job of winning over the crowds, but those crowds were comprised of die-hard Exciter fans who were there to see us.
For me the crowning moment of the tour was at the last show when we got all the guys from the other bands to come on stage and play "Pounding Metal" with us... that was fucking INSANE!! Whenever I think of it, it puts a huge grin (like the one that was perma-glued to my face when we were doing that song with those guys) on my face!
The only bummer (and it's a pretty big bummer) on the tour was that our singer Jacques Belanger found out he has a lump on his vocal cords, and will need treatment for it, which resulted in us having to cancel the final show in Belgium. Also, the venue in Switzerland went out of business before we were scheduled to play there, so that show got canned as well. In the end we played 8 shows in 8 nights in 8 cities in 2 countires. As of right now, Jacques has not seen his doctor (he has an appointment for early this week), so we don't know how bad the situation with his vocal cords is. I will update when I know more.
Life on The Road:
Ah, life on the road... I slipped right into it without a problem! This is MY kind of life: stay up partying til 6 am, sleep til 4 or 5 pm, get up, eat, do some sight seeing (if time permits), grab a shower, go watch the other bands, get ready (tune my bass) get on stage and tear it up, then back on the bus for more partying til 6 am... repeat, heheheheh... I think I drank a river of Jagrmeister, and beer! Even though I got lit up every night, I never felt any negative effects the next day (Jagrmeister is SO easy on your system!).
The bus were touring in was a full-on Nightliner double-decker. It had 20 bunks on the top level, and on the bottom there was full lounge, with DVD player 3 TVs, surround sound, a couple of fridges and the all-important toilet! Here's a pic:
I met a lot of very cool people at the shows. I must have been in 100 or more posed pictures and signed 100s of autographs. It's a real honour to be in this band, and to be able to meet up with those fine folks!
So there you go! I am really looking forward to the next tour!!
Cheers!
Here's my "tour report":
Where to begin? I'll start by saying, again, that this was the most incredible experience of my life!
The bands:
The bands we toured with were simply awesome! They were Black Abyss and Steel Attack. If you're into metal, you NEED to check these bands out! These bands are NOT in the "extreme" metal category. More like classic/melodic metal, with Steel Attack being on the more progessive side. As well as being great bands, the guys in the bands, along with our road crew, were fucking EXCELLENT people! I made some true friends on this tour, and it's because everyone was so cool, respected and liked each other that it was such a fantastic experience.
The shows:
WOW pretty much sums it up! The crowds varied in size, but were always extremely enthusiastic! At some shows, they were singing the songs louder than we were playing them... it blew my mind! The support acts were GREAT and got good response, but when we hit the stage the place would explode! That is NOT meant as a dig or shot at the other bands, they played great and did a good job of winning over the crowds, but those crowds were comprised of die-hard Exciter fans who were there to see us.
For me the crowning moment of the tour was at the last show when we got all the guys from the other bands to come on stage and play "Pounding Metal" with us... that was fucking INSANE!! Whenever I think of it, it puts a huge grin (like the one that was perma-glued to my face when we were doing that song with those guys) on my face!
The only bummer (and it's a pretty big bummer) on the tour was that our singer Jacques Belanger found out he has a lump on his vocal cords, and will need treatment for it, which resulted in us having to cancel the final show in Belgium. Also, the venue in Switzerland went out of business before we were scheduled to play there, so that show got canned as well. In the end we played 8 shows in 8 nights in 8 cities in 2 countires. As of right now, Jacques has not seen his doctor (he has an appointment for early this week), so we don't know how bad the situation with his vocal cords is. I will update when I know more.
Life on The Road:
Ah, life on the road... I slipped right into it without a problem! This is MY kind of life: stay up partying til 6 am, sleep til 4 or 5 pm, get up, eat, do some sight seeing (if time permits), grab a shower, go watch the other bands, get ready (tune my bass) get on stage and tear it up, then back on the bus for more partying til 6 am... repeat, heheheheh... I think I drank a river of Jagrmeister, and beer! Even though I got lit up every night, I never felt any negative effects the next day (Jagrmeister is SO easy on your system!).
The bus were touring in was a full-on Nightliner double-decker. It had 20 bunks on the top level, and on the bottom there was full lounge, with DVD player 3 TVs, surround sound, a couple of fridges and the all-important toilet! Here's a pic:
I met a lot of very cool people at the shows. I must have been in 100 or more posed pictures and signed 100s of autographs. It's a real honour to be in this band, and to be able to meet up with those fine folks!
So there you go! I am really looking forward to the next tour!!
Cheers!
