Eternity Tour U.K. Leg Under Way

The more things change the more they stay the same. With an album of new songs and a fresh German - made DVD showing yet another facet of this band, its legacy and its hopes and aspirations for the future, we find ourselves back in the U.K. in all our old haunts. It feels great.

First off, there was the usual first day accident(s). This little ritual is always the same, band members getting fingers trapped in doors, small prangs in car parks or leaving precious luggage behind in some hotel lobby. It has settled down nicely now. In fact we realize that it would be bad luck, should these little events not occur! We play the Stables in Milton Keynes tonight. It’s another sold – out show.

A couple of nights earlier, the Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford was also sold out. The promotion team there were one of the most professional we’ve encountered. I kept having to pinch myself – Hi Nicola et al. Thanks for everything, including the background as to why this place bears the great man’s name.

It seems that Mick attended the grammar school next door and was something of a reprobate in his day, carving his initials into a couple of desks….ooooh…wild … On this basis, the locals decided that was a pretty good reason to name the place after Sir Mick. He currently funds a program for needy pupils, I believe. Walking around the town, I saw in the faces of the many school pupils, a sort of cocky surliness, of which I’m very familiar and it’s easy to see from whence this very English/London rebelliousness emanated from, all those years ago. Seems kinda quaint these days.

We have a few new songs in our set; In Crisis, Happiness and the CD’s title track, The Power. It was fun working up Hope Springs during the sound check yesterday ( also from the new CD) . Tomorrow is our first day off so Joe and I will be driving to Banbury (as opposed to Delaware) to check out some serious in – ear stage monitoring units for him. It requires getting a mold of his lugs for a custom fit. I gotta see this. Apparently the company, ACS, inject some weird goo into your ears that was developed by NASA or something.

Anyway the result should be something special. I’d love to try them for vocals. I’m addicted to sound pressure but there is the possibility I could be persuaded to change from the usual monitor wedges you see at a lot of rock gigs. The last time I tried this concept was 10 years ago and the technology has come on leaps and bounds since then.