Thursday, July 29, 2010

Wrapping up the first leg


Be Afraid.

We wrapped up the first leg of the tour 2 nights ago in Chicago, at what I can only say was
one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I don't have the proper words to describe
how incredible this last month has been. As I write this from my hotel in L.A., I'm basically
blind, deaf, exhausted and post heatstroke, but even still, it was awesome.

View from my bunk, featuring tour guru Janet.

After Forecastle, we headed to Baltimore to play The Ram's Head Live, which was one of the weirdest rooms I've ever played it, it's basically four balconies high. We tried to go up on the high balcony at one point during the show to watch Bad City, but we were turned away because we didn't have bracelets. We had our all access laminates, and were literally signing autographs in front of the security personnel, but because we didn't have paper bracelets, we couldn't get up. So that was kinda lame. The show was great, we could barely hear anything on stage, but the energy was great, and Baltimore is probably now one of my favorite cities. It was in Baltimore where Nicole and I went to "Paddle the Dragon." Namely, this dragon:


So that was cool. Next stop was Virginia. Yet another beautiful city. We stayed in the Jefferson Hotel, which is a beautiful place, and also pretty much the Haunted Mansion. The first thing you see in the lobby is a giant statue of Thomas Jefferson glaring. Thomas Jefferson is also surrounded by alligators. Extremely welcoming. Nicole and I went and walked through the VCU campus nearby and grabbed some delicious diner food before walking back to the hotel to swim and then go back out for Ethiopian food with the guys from Kill Hannah. The next day I walked the same way to pick up some Chipotle before heading to the NorVa, and I saw the most hilariously awesome thing in the park. I didn't have my camera which was really upsetting. I saw a big group of VCU kids LARPing. For those of you who don't know what that is, google it, and you'll know why I was so excited.

Fun fact about venues in Virginia: they apparently all have hot tubs in the dressing room. We got to the National and Kat and Nicole almost lost their minds. We thought having a pool table was pretty cool too. The NorVa was twice as crazy, we had our own basketball court and ping pong table, where I demolished this guy:

My awesome drum tech Brad, being bummed that I smoked him at Ping Pong.

Next stop was North and South Carolina. In North Carolina I was lucky enough to get a tour of the Ludwig drum factory in Monroe. It was mind melting, they still use 60's/70's machinery to make their drums, and the process is truly amazing to watch. Going step by step through the building of the shells to the finishing of the wood, it's more science, math and engineering than I could've imagined. That night we played the Fillmore in Charlotte, what a great crowd. It was an awesome, awesome show.

The next night was Charleston, I'd been excited about this stop on the tour for a while. We pulled into the club and as soon as we arrived we knew this place was gonna be a toasty one. It wasn't til I saw Kill Hannah's drummer paul wringing his shirt out behind the venue that I knew just how ridiculous it was gonna be. We played an awesome show, between slamming entire bottles of water in 30 second intervals just to keep it together. It was a great time, and Charleston is a beautiful place. The most exciting thing about our trip through Charleston, however, was this:

Friggin' Delicious.

Jeff had been prepping us the entire tour for our first visit to a Waffle House, and we were
all extremely excited. However, none of us were prepared for just how delicious these
waffles were going to be. To summarize, I was served incredible waffles by a guy with dreadlocks whose
name was, ironically, "Dread", and then went to sleep and woke up in Orlando. What a good night.

The Myth, The Man, The Legend: Jeff Schroeder, 3:00 A.M. Waffle Champion.

The Next day we arrived in Orlando, where we enjoyed a beautiful poolside cabana before going to Disneyworld for the day. We went to the Animal Kingdom during the day and the Magic Kingdom in the evening. I got absolutely soaked on the river ride at Animal Kingdom, it poured rain on top of the standard soaking, I looked pretty darn ridiculous.

Awesome, Wet Socks.

After our relaxing day in Disney, we played the House of Blues in Orlando, which was awesome. Bad City's vocalist Josh came down with something that screwed up his throat, but it didn't seem to phase him at all as they came out white hot as always. At soundcheck, a guy in the back yelled up to the stage in a heavy jersey-ish accent "HEY, WHO'S THE KID ON THE DRUMS?" Billy responded by telling them I was Vinnie Appice's son, and the guy freaked out and just started pacing and "NO WAY, NO WAY."

Our other two Florida shows were equally fantastic, it's just really generally relaxing in Florida. I mean how can you not be relaxed when this is the view from your hotel:

SO RELAXED!!!!!!!!

Hanging out with Bad City at Czar's in Tampa.

We spent a great day in Nashville, enjoying the shops and getting dinner at this nice little
restaurant near the hotel. Nicole and I went and saw Inception, which the guys from KH and BC
said was a total brain bender. Tip: when you're tour tired and jet lagged, it's about 400 times
harder to comprehend that movie. I had to go back to the hotel and watch a bunch of
Squidbillies just to calm my brain back down.

Nicole being a Cool Cat. GET IT?!?!?!?!?!? HA!

All the relaxation in the world, however, could not have prepared us for our show in Knoxville. Fun Fact: Knoxville looks nothing like you would assume, it actually looks a little more like this:

A temperate day in scenic Knoxville.

All jokes aside though, it was so damn hot none of us could believe we were going to try and play a show. There were a couple of moments I was about to just fall off the back of my throne and pass out. The A.C. in the venue was broken as well, so it was a sweatfest. That being said, easily one of the best audiences of the tour. We had an awesome time playing for you, and we were amazed how energetic you were in the heat. Kudos to you, Hellville, Tennessee.

We then drove to Pittsburgh, which was the longest drive of the whole tour. I got my ass kicked by the heat, and felt a little under the weather, so I went to sleep and woke up when we hit a truck stop outside pittsburgh. Coincidentally, it was also probably the set of deliverance. I was pleased when we drove far enough away to stop hearing banjos. (Speaking of Banjos, the picture at the top is from Gruhn's guitar shop in Nashville, amazing guitars.) I had no idea how pretty Pittsburgh is, though Kat's summary of the city cracked me up. She said it was "Muggy", but not the humid kind, more like the "get mugged" kind. We drove up to venue and soundchecked, and then Nicole and I found a Cupcake place that was open and I got my brownie on. The venue was really cool, it was an old converted church, had a cool, eery feeling to it.

The next day we rolled into New York City, which I was really excited about. I had a photo shoot that day for Drum! magazine, and then from there went to an amazing dinner at Blue Hill Restaurant with Kat, where she worked when she lived in NYC. The next day was busy busy busy as we drove from interview to interview, and then played one of the best shows of my life at Terminal 5. It was unreal! The crowd was fantastic and the bands played amazingly. The only bummer was that it was the last night with our amazing friends in Bad City. They lit the place up with one of the best shows that venue will ever see, they were on fire. Those guys are going to conquer the world, Nicole and I joked about how if they knew how totally crazy about those guys the whole band is, they'd be totally creeped out. If they come to your town, see them, it's an experience. We got back to the hotel and got about .000047 minutes of sleep before getting to the airport to travel to Chicago. We went to the studio to round up gear for the evening, and then drove over to the Metro.

What magical night. The crowd was amazing, the bands played great, and the cause was such a good one, it was fantastic that we got to help. I will never forget our 1979 singalong, it was one of the most vivid moments I've ever experienced, and a fantastic way to wrap up what has been an unreal month. We had such a great experience this whole month, it was sad that we had to part ways with our great friends in Kill Hannah, those guys are truly phenomenal human beings, and an amazing band to boot. All in all, what an amazing time.

I'll leave you guys with this video, we fly out to Singapore on Monday, cant wait to get this show back on the road!

-Mike

23 comments:

  1. this is great stuff Mike! Keep it up!

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  2. Awesome. The tour sounds fantastic. Don't forget to stop in Canada! Rock on...

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  3. sounds like you needed some 'aggressive cooling' - athlete style. Paddling the dragon was not at all what I expected it to be.

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  4. Great tour summary. I felt like i was on tour with you guys just by reading this! Thanks for taking the time to write it up. Looking foward to seeing you on many more SP tours in the future.

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  5. Thanks so much for writing.

    I was blown away by your performances in Richmond and Charlotte (also, NYC webcast)! Keep rockin, Mike! We love you!

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  6. Thanks for writing, Mike. Very entertaining. It's been a good month, I think - people have realized that youre not just some kid - youre a world-class drummer. Keep bringing the rock!

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  7. There is so much funny going on in this post that I'm going to purposefully confuse it all and choose to believe you got your brownie on in front of a Waffle House while LARPing.

    That is all.

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  8. Where can I find this video on youtube?

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  9. Awesome wrtie-up Mike! It was like we were right there with you :)

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  10. Thanks Mike, that was great. Keep going with the writing and have a blast.

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  11. I love that dragon boat! So cool! Your first Waffle House huh... yummy ain't it?! I had a big smile on my face reading your whole post, thanks for sharing so many details of the tour :)

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  12. Great update!!! I watched your audition clips that Billy posted and you are definitely one in a million.

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  13. Keep em' coming man... I really look forward to reading the updates. I am living vicariously through you.

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  14. Great job Mike! I was at Newport and Forecastle and you guys were amazing! You are filling Jimmy's shoes with a tenacious ferocity, while putting your own stamp on new and classic SP jams. Keep bringing the thunder!

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  15. Thanks for the update Mike! I was one of the people in Hellville, TN, I'm so glad to hear that not every night was as vicious as that one was! It was so damn hot, but you all played so well. It was a fantastic show! Thanks so much for dealing with the heat! Have fun traveling around the world! I can't wait for the next post!

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  16. I was at the Terminal 5 show, I met you out back after the show post band exit.

    This guy > http://i27.tinypic.com/2ijoj0h.jpg

    Thanks for taking the time to get a picture with me, you were very very cool to greet the fans. It took me 15 years to make it to a Pumpkins show and it was one of the best nights of my life. Such a solid line up.

    Come back to NY soon!

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  17. Dude, great meeting you after the NYC Show. I was the guy with the white Might SP heart t-shirt. You guys were incredible. Definitely the best concert I've ever been to, and I've been to my share. I know everyone appreciates the original lineup of the Pumpkins, but I don't know man... I think you, BC, Nicole, and the Shredder got 'em beat! Oh, and Thomas, thanks for the beer, man! haha

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  18. Thank you for all the random thoughts of your adventures! It's really great to read and see how things are going for you. I go with the Milvale,PA sentiment, Mikey for President! :D

    Keep rocking! You're doing a great job and just enjoy every moment of it! Have fun overseas as I can only imagine what your random encounters will be.

    I really loved this picture of you that a friend caught in PA 7-24-10. Somewhere in those sea of hands is mine!

    http://www.scrapbook.com/gallery/source/179683/SamuraiMikey.jpg

    The fans love you! Enjoy the journey!

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  19. Hello Mike,

    I am so excited to catch Pumpkins live in Singapore. It seems a little unbelievable that I'm actually going to catch you guys live!

    ...can I get an autograph... pls... :)

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  20. Mike,

    NYC was my 16 SP concert...I feel the band is finally charting it's own, new, productive direction. I was extremely taken by the potency, power and punishing show I had the privilege of experiencing from 1-2 people deep, front & center, at the stage. As a lead guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and general music enthusiast, I was enriched on several levels where I'd anticipated being underwhelmed.

    I can totally dig the identity you are staking for yourself. I have begun to appreciate you for your own merit and sonic proclivities. I have a feeling the next 2 years will be a time of exceptional musical development - in development, technical ability...also in judgment.

    Your story is a modern day version of how Keith Moon got behind the kit during an opportune time and snared his dream, job, legacy and status within the then-to-be legendary "The Who". The percussive canvas you have even reminds me of Keith Moon (early on). As you find new fills and develop your own style, who knows man, someday we'll be saying, "Only two drummers ever pulled that off and were that good, Keith and .... By then last names will be superfluous. hahahaha

    Anyway, thanks for all you put forth so far. I only wish casting was being called for a guitarist up there with you.

    Best Regards, bro

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  21. ahah, it sounds wonderful Mike! hope you will enjoy all your travels as you enjoyed this one.
    how was the tourbus? some days i just wanna live in a bus... one of the best places to be :p


    did you meet Smashing Pumpkins' fans ?
    did they were in the hotel ? :D

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  22. Hey Mike,
    You and I spoke after the Fort Laud concert at Revolution Live (We took some pics and you signed my bright yellow pumpkins shirt). Just wanted to say I'm a big fan and being someone that knows almost all the pumpkin songs on the drumset, I'm very impressed that you have the energy to keep up during these concerts. Best wishes man.

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  23. Paddling the dragon was not at all what I labatterie
    expected it to be.

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