Arriving at the Twist in Colchester we were greeted by an extremely wet day and the guys from To-Mera, who were playing with us. It was great to meet them as I had been talking with Tom on Myspace for a few months. The Twist is a great little venue with a cool stage and we all really enjoyed the experience of playing there.
The show went really well and we all had a great time. The audience again were awesome and I have to make a special mention of a couple of fans from Scotland who flew down for this show. that's dedication! I believe one of them is a forum regular as well! Awesome! Needless to say we spent some time hanging out and taking pics afterwards. as on most nights we were invited on to some late night drinking, but due to time constraints we had to leave at 1am to make sure we got some sleep before the long drive to Hard Rock Hell.
We were on the road to Prestatyn between 7:30 and 8am on December 6th and we arrived around 2:30pm which was pretty good going. I was actually born only a few miles from Prestatyn and it was the first time I had been back in that neck of the woods for over 20 years.
We were not due on stage until 11:45pm so there was time to relax and hang out, although Andrea and Alessio had been packed off to bed as they were very ill by this point. Come show time we actually had to have a chair at the side of the stage in case Andrea couldn't manage standing up.....that's how bad he was!
Myself, Bill and checco spent a couple of hours doing interviews in the early evening and we then had the pleasure of bumping into Andre Bargmann, who was working for BLS. Always cool to hang out with Andre, and we could hardly believe that it had been 3 years since our paths had last crossed. we also spent some time with our old touring buddies Firewind, and Bob had need of keyboard stand for their show and i was only too happy to help out in that department.
the show itself went well, despite the fact that we were on stage the same time as BLS. The room was pretty full by the time we finished...and we got a cracking reception from the fans. So that was Hard Rock Hell.....next stop Southampton.
As I have been living in Southampton since 1990, it's pretty much a hometown show for me and we arrived mid afternoon with just enough time to sort out the hotel before heading to the Firehouse.
It was cool to see so many friends and work colleagues coming out to see us on a Sunday night, which was kicked off by a great performance by Sorcerer's Spell. Cool band and cool guys too!
Checco was suffering this night but you would never have known from his performance....110% as always! This guy really is a phenomenal drummer....and when you consider that a 75 minute set with Far Away and Neverworld as the last 2 songs.....that's hard out! Again, a great night and everyone left with a smile on their faces!
I should also mention a couple of fans from Spain who had flown over to see the show.....amazing! Great to see you there guys
December 8th saw us make another long drive to Manchester for our first ever show in the city and the last show of the tour. Again the weather was crap but the venue was cool. It was "in the round" with the stage in the centre, which meant the fans could get close and personal with the whole band. An amazing turn out for a Monday night.......where we were joined by Acaldema and Neonfly, who both turned in awesome performances. Arguably the loudest fans of the whole tour ensured that this was a perfect way to end our little jaunt around the UK.
December 9th......airport time! We drove to Stansted to drop Bill (to get the bus to Heathrow), Andrea, Alesssio and Checco (flights to Italy). Manuela, our tour manager also left us here to head back to London. JOn had already made his own way home in the morning so it left me, Simon and Paul to head back to Southampton for the last time.
I'd like to thank Manuela, Simon and Paul for all their efforts during the week......we really can't do it without you guys!
Thanks to Jon for filling Kiwi's shoes so well and for being a great friend as well! Legend!
Thanks to the rest of the band for putting on a great show night after night.....you guys rule!
Finally.....thanks to everyone who came out to see us over the course of the 8 shows. I truly hope you had as much fun as we did!
Until next time.........
The show went really well and we all had a great time. The audience again were awesome and I have to make a special mention of a couple of fans from Scotland who flew down for this show. that's dedication! I believe one of them is a forum regular as well! Awesome! Needless to say we spent some time hanging out and taking pics afterwards. as on most nights we were invited on to some late night drinking, but due to time constraints we had to leave at 1am to make sure we got some sleep before the long drive to Hard Rock Hell.
We were on the road to Prestatyn between 7:30 and 8am on December 6th and we arrived around 2:30pm which was pretty good going. I was actually born only a few miles from Prestatyn and it was the first time I had been back in that neck of the woods for over 20 years.
We were not due on stage until 11:45pm so there was time to relax and hang out, although Andrea and Alessio had been packed off to bed as they were very ill by this point. Come show time we actually had to have a chair at the side of the stage in case Andrea couldn't manage standing up.....that's how bad he was!
Myself, Bill and checco spent a couple of hours doing interviews in the early evening and we then had the pleasure of bumping into Andre Bargmann, who was working for BLS. Always cool to hang out with Andre, and we could hardly believe that it had been 3 years since our paths had last crossed. we also spent some time with our old touring buddies Firewind, and Bob had need of keyboard stand for their show and i was only too happy to help out in that department.
the show itself went well, despite the fact that we were on stage the same time as BLS. The room was pretty full by the time we finished...and we got a cracking reception from the fans. So that was Hard Rock Hell.....next stop Southampton.
As I have been living in Southampton since 1990, it's pretty much a hometown show for me and we arrived mid afternoon with just enough time to sort out the hotel before heading to the Firehouse.
It was cool to see so many friends and work colleagues coming out to see us on a Sunday night, which was kicked off by a great performance by Sorcerer's Spell. Cool band and cool guys too!
Checco was suffering this night but you would never have known from his performance....110% as always! This guy really is a phenomenal drummer....and when you consider that a 75 minute set with Far Away and Neverworld as the last 2 songs.....that's hard out! Again, a great night and everyone left with a smile on their faces!
I should also mention a couple of fans from Spain who had flown over to see the show.....amazing! Great to see you there guys
December 8th saw us make another long drive to Manchester for our first ever show in the city and the last show of the tour. Again the weather was crap but the venue was cool. It was "in the round" with the stage in the centre, which meant the fans could get close and personal with the whole band. An amazing turn out for a Monday night.......where we were joined by Acaldema and Neonfly, who both turned in awesome performances. Arguably the loudest fans of the whole tour ensured that this was a perfect way to end our little jaunt around the UK.
December 9th......airport time! We drove to Stansted to drop Bill (to get the bus to Heathrow), Andrea, Alesssio and Checco (flights to Italy). Manuela, our tour manager also left us here to head back to London. JOn had already made his own way home in the morning so it left me, Simon and Paul to head back to Southampton for the last time.
I'd like to thank Manuela, Simon and Paul for all their efforts during the week......we really can't do it without you guys!
Thanks to Jon for filling Kiwi's shoes so well and for being a great friend as well! Legend!
Thanks to the rest of the band for putting on a great show night after night.....you guys rule!
Finally.....thanks to everyone who came out to see us over the course of the 8 shows. I truly hope you had as much fun as we did!
Until next time.........
