Power Quest and MSG

Thanks everyone who came to see the tour.. I had best time ever!!! Feels sad to be back in Finland now.. Thanks Steve, pete, Paul, Andy, Ben and Rich for taking me as a part of the PQ family during that tour, love you all to bits!! And thanks to the fabulous crew Simon, Sprocket and Paul. Can't wait to get back on road later!! And merry Christmas to everyone here!!!
 
Heidi Mannström;8780887 said:
Thanks everyone who came to see the tour.. I had best time ever!!! Feels sad to be back in Finland now.. Thanks Steve, pete, Paul, Andy, Ben and Rich for taking me as a part of the PQ family during that tour, love you all to bits!! And thanks to the fabulous crew Simon, Sprocket and Paul. Can't wait to get back on road later!! And merry Christmas to everyone here!!!

It was a pleasure to have you with us Heidi! It really added something different having you and Pete duetting on "Hold on to Love" and your solo performance of "When I'm Gone" in Kidderminster was immense!:headbang::kickass:
 
As promised I thought I'd scribble down a few words about the tour......one of the cornerstones for this tour was a good old English fry up every morning.......you just can't beat that!

Manchester - December 16th

We arrived in Manchester mid afternoon in the pouring rain. Andy, Heidi, Paul and Ben had gone directly to the venue while myself and Simon and travelled up via Watford (to pick up Pete) and then to Derby where we met Sprocket and Rich.
Academy 3 is a tiny venue and by the time MSG had set up on stage it left very little room on stage for us. That coupled with the fact that we didn't get a soundcheck meant it is was quite a difficult performance as we couldn't hear anything clearly on stage, which with this kind of music is an absolute pre-requisite. Needless to say we gave it our best under very testing circumstances.

Sheffield - December 17th

Our first real encounter with snow on this trip (which was to come back an haunt us again later in the week) as we arrived at the venue. It snowed on and off all day and it certainly made load out quite treacherous. As in Manchester we were confronted with little or no room on stage and again no soundcheck. Having said that it was a much better show than the previous night and the crowd were more prepared to listen to some power metal on this occasion. I did make a point on this occasion about the lack of soundcheck etc and luckily things improved after this. We had the pleasure of doing a couple of interviews on this occasion too. One of the funny things about this night was the fact that downstairs in the main Academy there was a Stone Roses tribute band playing! Says it all really! hahaha!

December 18th - JB's, Dudley

it was strange being back at JB's just 3 months after playing Metalfest with the previous incarnation of the band. The owner and sound engineer remembered me from there and promptly organised a soundcheck for my keyboards before MSG had arrived. Very kind and most helpful. We did manage to get a proper soundcheck on this occasion but the problem we faced on this occasion was that the hardly any of the crowd had arrived by the time we performed, and those who had were really holding themselves back at the bar. Pete tried his best to encourage them by jumping into the crowd and singing a song in amongst them but they weren't having any of it! lol!
Still, we were invited to a house party by one of our friends ( Thanks Kazz!) after the show and most of us proceeded to get pretty slaughtered from what I remember. This night was of course the night that saw the birth of the Cemetery Gates drink!

To be continued.........
 
December 19th - Kidderminster

Given all the stuff that had being going on the previous few days, I think everyone was quite relieved to be playing our own show on this occasion. As usual we were still in for some suprises though. The Taphouse stage was pretty small so it was quite an exercise to get all our gear set up initially and then we found out that the sound engineer had cancelled and a new guy had been roped in, who was making his debut in that arena. After we had blown a number of monitors and speakers the show was ready. Sorcerer's Spell opened things to up to a small but very enthusiastic crowd, after which we played for about 85 minutes. Once we were done.....Rich. Andy, Paul and myself led the crowd in a little jam version of Van Halen's "Jump"....after it was requested by a few of the regulars there. Thanks to Brad (landlord) and his good lady for taking care of us so well and letting us stay the night there. Needless to say we were partying until around 4am again! lol!

December 20th - Bristol

Our last night of course and by far the biggest stage of the week. Proper soundcheck too which inevitably led to this being the best show of the week. All the guys were on top form and we won over a number of MSG fans on this occasion. A fitting way for the tour to end. There were some interesting trousers on display that night too! lol! Everyone let their hair down a little bit more on this occasion and some fun was had after we had loaded out.
Unfortunately by the time we came to leave it was snowing heavily. Myself and Simon were heading to Southampton and the rest of the guys were heading to Derby via Watford. On the M4 it was chaos.....travelling at 15-20MPH.....vehicles stopped on the motorway randomly and wheels spinning and slipping all over the place. Luckily by the time we reached Swindon things had cleared and we could make steady progress.

Someone remind me not to tour in mid December next year! hahaha!

thanks to everyone who came out to see us despite the inclement weather and the proximity to Christmas. It's never easy to shell out £20ish when there are Xmas presents and stuff to be buying! We very much appreciate it as always guys!

See you next time!
 
December 18th - JB's, Dudley

it was strange being back at JB's just 3 months after playing Metalfest with the previous incarnation of the band. The owner and sound engineer remembered me from there and promptly organised a soundcheck for my keyboards before MSG had arrived. Very kind and most helpful. We did manage to get a proper soundcheck on this occasion but the problem we faced on this occasion was that the hardly any of the crowd had arrived by the time we performed, and those who had were really holding themselves back at the bar. Pete tried his best to encourage them by jumping into the crowd and singing a song in amongst them but they weren't having any of it! lol!
Still, we were invited to a house party by one of our friends ( Thanks Kazz!) after the show and most of us proceeded to get pretty slaughtered from what I remember. This night was of course the night that saw the birth of the Cemetery Gates drink!

To be continued.........

Pretty much how I DONT remember it but I was told, and not a Cemetary Gate in sight. Just everything else.. I think. Was fabulous to see you all again though. But next time.... add a scottish date so I dont have to travel so far! :lol: