ICED EARTH

ICED EARTH Drummer Issues European Tour Diaries #7, #8



ICED EARTH drummer Brent Smedley has checked in with the seventh and eigth installments of his European tour diary. All of Brent's diary entries can be read at the official Iced Earth website.

"November 7, 2007

So my friends, welcome to a special seventh edition of the Road Rage reports: A Shout out to a killer crew, and memorable moments from the road. Here we will take a moment to acknowledge the most awesome of crews that we were blessed to work with on our now complete headlining leg of the European tour, and also some memorable moments from the road...

So first the crew: We will start at the top with Dave Price - tour manager (he does an excellent job of taking care of us), Chris Buckley - Sound for front of house (the best sound man we have ever had the pleasure to work with) , Simon Effemey - stage manager/monitors (a genius on the monitors) these two together (Chris and Simon) make an unbeatable team, Chris Mermod - Lighting engineer (a totally awesome light man who is never short on words or stories), Shawn Erbland - Guitar tech (very intelligent fellow), Greg Winn - Guitar tech (nice chap who always seems to be in a good mood), and last but not least Dominik Schrieber - Drum tech (I am always confident and at ease with him on the case). Also the bus drivers Guido and Ute who make a great team and take good care of us, always get us to the shows on time, and who clean the bus daily and make our home away from home as comfortable as possible.

We cannot forget about the crew who have already departed: Stony - Merchandise (an absolute professional), Udo - Physical Therapist (The man with the magic fingers), and Paul - Lighting Engineer during Chris’s brief absence (very good light man with many good ideas). Kudos to the crew one and all!

So now for a few memorable moments from our European headlining tour...The first one that comes to mind was the show in Stockholm at the venue called Tyrol. Simon found what looked like one of Liberace’s old outfits backstage and sported it for the show...some one should have taken pictures. The next one that comes to mind was a night at a truck stop where Jeff Waters from Annihilator and his guitar tech Jakob Paubel were frolicking through the night in their brightly-colored underwear. The last one that comes to mind is the last show of the headlining portion of the tour where many antics were played, but most memorable was Chris Buckley’s giant flying viking impresonation during the Turisas set. Also we can’t forget about the many late night karaoke sessions in the bus, hosted by Chris Buckley on guitar and vocals with help from Simon on vocals as well. These are but a few of the memorable moments from the road, stay tuned for more...

Metal Lives - Brent"

November 8, 2007

Welcome to the 8th installment of the Road Rage report. The Worldwide Wicked Tour has entered Chapter 2: The U.K. with Heaven and Hell and Lamb of God.

The first show of this leg of the tour began in Newcastle, England at a place simply called the Arena. We were treated with much respect and consideration by both bands and all the crew. We were even fortunate enough to get a sound check on this day (probably the only one we will get on this leg of the tour). The dressing room was rather spacious, although it was up several flights of stairs and a considerable distance from the stage. The Arena is quite a massive venue. So on to the show – the sound was massive and booming. The crowd was awesome and I believe that this night many new Iced Earth fans were made. The band was in top form and adjusted well to our change of position within the show (from headlining before to opening the show now) and also to the change in the set list.

I must say that the security here was excellent and extremely courteous. The next show was in Glasgow, Scotland at a place called The SECC (I believe that stands for The Scotland Entertainment Conference Center). This place was so massive it made the Arena in Newcastle look small. It was located inside of a shopping center. Outside was a very peculiar structure shaped like an Armadillo. This night we had a small crisis before we went on; the monitor desk completely crashed about 20 minutes before we were set to go on stage. This would have meant that we would have gone on stage not being able to hear anything. But much to Simon’s credit (our monitor man) he had it fixed by the time we hit the stage. I believe he was working on it up to the moment we began.

The Glasgow crowd was particularly intense and once again many new Iced Earth fans were brought into the fold. The people in Scotland have a very strong accent and even though they speak English, it is often very hard to understand what they are saying. I found myself asking them to repeat what they were saying numerous times. We were very fortunate to have Chris Mermod (our original light man) return on this day for the duration of the tour.

The third show was in Sheffield, England at another place, again, simply called the Arena. Another massive venue, as I believe they all will be throughout the remainder of the tour. Another great show, with an awesome crowd. The band was in top form once again. Once again many new recruits were brought into the Iced Earth fan family. The response from the fans in the UK has been absolutely phenomenal – Blessed Are You!!! We are most honored to be a part of this show, playing with Heaven and Hell and Lamb of God, with the chance every night to showcase our music to new fans, Metal Heads, and Music Lovers. Eight shows to go...so stay tuned for more exciting news from the road...

Metal Lives - Brent"

Iced Earth are currently on tour in support of HEAVEN AND HELL in the UK. Remaining dates include:

November:
17 - Plymouth, England - Pavilions
18 - Bournemouth, England - BIC

ICED EARTH Drummer Issues European Tour Diaries #9, #10

ICED EARTH drummer Brent Smedley has checked in with the ninth and tenth installments of his European tour diary. All of Brent's diary entries can be read at the official Iced Earth website.

November 17, 2007:

Welcome to the 9th installment of the Road Rage report. The Worldwide Wicked Tour, Chapter 2: The U.K. with HEAVEN AND HELL and LAMB OF GOD.

Today is an off day in Northwich, England. We stayed at a quaint little inn/pub aptly named The Slow and Easy. The owner of the pub is a good friend of our Soundman, Chris. We picked a good night to be here as it was jam night in the pub. Chris B., Troy, Dennis, Simon, and Dominik all got onstage to tear it up a bit with the locals. Many of Chris B.’s friends came out and it was a pleasure to meet his mother and father as well – very nice people, and a very nice pub. If you are ever in Northwich, England, check out The Slow and Easy on Manchester Road.

The next day we traveled to Manchester to play at the M.E.N., which stand for The Manchester Evening News. Another massive venue, as I believed they all would be for the remainder of the tour. Soundman Chris’s father was in attendance at this gig. The venue is located right down the street from a Hard Rock Cafe which some of the guys were able to visit after the gig. The nightlife was alive and well in this area. There was also another Rock club in the area, which supposedly stayed open until 7 a.m. and had 5 rooms with live bands. None of us were able to venture out to this place, maybe next time. The show was a good one for us, once again increasing the number of Iced Earth fans in the U.K. Biff Byford from SAXON was in attendance and of course backstage on this night.

The following day we played in London at the historic and quite famous Wembley Arena. It was quite an honor and a privilege to play this place that so many of the greats have played. Jon’s Wife and daughter were able to attend this night. Pretty cool first concert for his daughter to see at the age of 2. The band played exceptionally well this night, playing a flawless show with enormous energy, intensity, and emotion. I would have to say this was the best show of this part of the tour, both performance wise and also crowd wise. It was probably the biggest crowd so far and definitely the most enthusiastic. As we left the stage the crowd was calling for more...There were some other extra special guests in attendance this night – Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith from IRON MAIDEN. What a great night to have our best show yet!

The very next day we played in Brighton at the Brighton Centre. An interesting venue located inside a conference center. This is located a mere block from the Sea, The English Channel to be exact. I was able to take a walk on the boardwalk and the seashore and sample the sites and take many pictures. The Brighton Pier is a small amusement park in its own right; complete with several arcades, a carousel, bumper cars, a haunted house, and many, many more amusement park style rides. There were also several Tarot card/fortune tellers up and down the boardwalk. For blocks and blocks there were all sorts of shops. Seems like it would be a nice play to take a vacation.

So onto the show...This night we were plagued with technical difficulties. I broke a bottom snare head (which is an extremely rare occurrence); we had problems with the wireless transmitters, and several other things. Some nights these things happen, it is amazing how much can go wrong in a half-hour. But much to the band and crews credit we persevered and gave it our best. I think all in all it was still a great show and moved us ever forward in our goal of gaining new fans and exposing new people to the music of Iced Earth.

The next show is in Birmingham. This is the hometown of BLACK SABBATH's Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, so this should prove to be another great show. I wanted to take this opportunity to say that it is my personal privilege and honor to share the stage with the other drummers on this tour. Vinnie Appice is an old schoolmaster and Chris Adler is an absolutely amazing drummer who is on the cutting edge of the new breed of virtuosos. Alas, the tour is drawing to a close with 5 shows left to go. But stay tuned there are still more updates to come before we are done..."


November 18, 2007:

"We begin this segment in Birmingham. This is quite an important city for Heavy Metal, as it is the birthplace of both Black Sabbath and JUDAS PRIEST. We were fortunate this night to have them both in the venue. Sabbath onstage as Heaven and Hell and Priest were represented by a visit from Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing who came to watch the show. We were most honored to have them hang out back stage in our dressing room.

This was the biggest venue on the tour. The crowd was massive and we gave them a great show. I received a bit of good news tonight. The Artist/Relations guy for DW-Europe came to the show and told me that they have accepted me for an endorsement. I am thrilled as DW was definitely my first choice for drums. Overture of the Wicked and Framing Armageddon are both recorded on Drum Workshop drums. Vinnie Appice is also a DW endorsee...great to be in company with him. I was surprised to see bootleggers outside after the show selling counterfeit tour shirts. I didn’t expect to see that kind of thing in the U.K.

The next night we played in Cardiff, Wales at The International Arena. There were spacious dressing rooms and nice accommodations at this venue. The crowd was very responsive and we gave them a stellar performance. I am sure that many new recruits were brought into to the Iced Earth fold and there were definitely many old fans in the audience as well, as represented by the amount of our shirts in the crowd. There was even a chant of Iced Earth as we entered the stage. It was a bit different to hear that at the beginning rather than the end of the show.

There was a special event this night...Iced Earth versus Lamb of God in a couple of games of Family Feud, yes Family Feud. Not the normal after show activity, but it was good fun...complete with a host and even filmed for their upcoming DVD. The results of the game were a bit unclear, but I believe unfortunately they got the best of us.

The following night we played in Nottingham, England at The Nottingham Ice Arena. Nottingham is famous for being the hometown of Robin Hood. Many of the shows on this part of the tour have been ice rinks. They are very spacious, but often very cold. Tonight was a very good show – the band performed extremely well and convinced many new people that they need Iced Earth in their lives and CD collections. I was most honored to have Chris Adler from Lamb of God checking out the show.

There was a bowling alley located next to the venue...there was talk of an Iced Earth versus Lamb of God bowling challenge after the show, but there wasn’t enough time before we had to hit the bus. So two more shows left on the tour...one more update to come so stay tuned my friends."

METAL LIVES – BRENT