Tour diary
Day 1, Monday 3rd May, London

I had agreed to meet Herman at his house and by the time I arrived so had Dave "shit hot" and his mate Dom. We weren`t allowed to get on the bus until 10pm so we were just hanging around being really metal, i.e. watching movies! After loading the gear onto the bus we headed for the pub across the parking lot where Kyle, the guitar tech, was telling us anecdotes from previous tours, including girls/groupies he`d met. One story was about this one 50 year old fan who`d "sucked so much dick that if you`d put them in a row you`d have a line stretching from London to Moscow". We also had a run in with a local. We`d sat down at this big table which had a few pints on it belonging to the guys playing a golf arcade game next to the table. After a while this guy, who looked like a black Rob Halford, said "This is my table", we more or less ignored him which got him a bit pissed off. Anyway, he went on to tell us that it's his local, though it was his first night back after being barred for 3 months for going behind the bar and pulling everyone a free pint! He realised we were in/with a band and said his brother had just bought a guitar, a Gibson "do you know what a Gibson is". Anyhow...
After all was packed and we were thrown out of the pub we set of for Glasgow. We had stocked up on beer and supplies and we all tucked in to the booze. Everyone was well behaved except for yours truly who got sick, not very metal.
Day 2, Tuesday 4th May Glasgow

By the time we all woke up we were just outside Glasgow. We stopped outside the Garage, where the gig was to be played, and me and some of the guys stepped out to go to Boots to buy a drink, as there was no water on the bus. As there was a long queue the others decided to go back to the bus, but, having waited, by the time I had my sandwich and water I stepped out to find that the bus had left without me, bugger! Though, after calling Herman, I was told that they`d driven to the back of the venue and to make my way there.
After getting all the gear into the venue and checking out the dressing room, Sam and I decided that the 48 beers and 1 bottle of JD, nice as it was of the promoter to provide, was not enough, so we went looking for an off-licence to buy another 48 cans …Sam needed beer courage to talk to the fans.
The tour manager informed us that there were fans outside requesting to meet the band, so Vadim, Dave and Adrian went out to speak to them.
On Sam's and my way back to the venue we met a few fans who had seen us go into the parking lot and slowly and shyly approached us. They asked for autographs and told us that the gig was sold out. Two of them had arrived at 9am in the morning, had no way of getting back home until 5am the next morning and asked could we get them in?
As they were friendly and as the band is a bunch of nice guys, Sam put the guys without tickets on the guestlist. However, the following morning Adrian received an e-mail from them saying that they did not get in as the staff thought they were too drunk! Later on we met another fan, who looked like Udo and asked us if we knew Manowar.
My job tonight was selling t-shirts and I managed to sell two even before the doors opened. As I was standing waiting for the doors to open, Stet, the drummer of W.A.S.P. came over to introduce himself, cool!
There weren`t too many girl fans offering to keep us company, except this Greek girl who really wanted to get on the W.A.S.P. bus, as she was following them through all the gigs. She asked if she could get on ours by saying "It's OK it's not you I like, I like W.A.S.P." points for honesty but seriously...
Another anecdote. On my phone I`ve got this really lame ring tone. It`s a girl saying, "Hello, are you there? ...hmm hmm, are you there?". I lent my phone to Sam who needed to call home, once he was done he left it in the dressing room where Herman and Vadim were sitting. A friend of mine apparently called it and both Herman and Vadim answered "the girl" asking if they were there!
The Gig was a success, according to the fans who'd heard DragonForce, but I couldn't hear too much from where I was standing. Most of the band came to the t-shirt stand after the gig to sign t-shirts etc, which we later on decided should be the case every gig!
Day 3, Wednesday 5th May Manchester

Woke up just outside of Manchester with a massive hangover, due to the amount of beer and whiskey that ZP made me drink …but hey we`re rocking with the coolest band around! After another late sound check we went to the bar where we met a few fans and had a few drinks! Also, another run-in with the Greek fan. This time she tried a different approach …talking to us. That was until, Sam, ZP and myself got bored and went to the student bar for some food (read drinks). We were well chuffed as the beers were only £1.40, a big change from London!
The Manchester show went down a storm and the guys were in good form so we hit the bar again, talking to loads of fans and signing their stuff! We also met the former webmaster of DragonForce.com who, with a bunch of fans, followed Sam and I to the bus where we had a few beers! They had to leave early though, as it was a "school night", but the rest of us went on. We found this rock club down from the venue where we spent most of the night drinking loads, in true rock fashion! We spent most of the night there and didn`t really want to leave, but seeing as we had a bus to catch we had to! Another good night though.
Day 4, Thursday 6th May Bradford

Arriving at the venue in the morning we had time to relax before the gig. One of the fans we had met the previous day in Manchester, Jay, was outside queuing already, as was the Greek girl. Jay seemed like a cool girl so we invited her to the bus and had a few beers with her and since she was cool and was going to all the shows the band said we`d give her a lift the next day - treat the band cool and they`ll be cool to you!
It was soon enough time to start drinking and so we set off on the task. Sam had been experimenting with how early he can start drinking, true rocker, and today it was 3 hours ahead of the gig! The gig went really good and the rush for the t-shirt stand afterwards proved that! One unnamed person out of the band/crew apparently went rock style in the toilet with a groupie. Then, later on, picked up a girl while entering the bus, took her to his bunk bed and …well… anyway afterwards she left and went to the car where her mates were waiting.
Vadim apparently also had a toilet incident... though not a sexual one! While walking around the venue he spotted a few fans that he'd been talking to earlier and went to talk to them. It was a few minutes later that they pointed out to him that they were in fact in the "girls room" queuing!
Day 5,Friday 7th May Wolverhampton

Woke up on a freezing bus and an angry ZP shouting about him getting a cold. But, after a shower, he seemed to have lightened up. Called my colleague to update him on any gossip but it turns out that he updated me on the gossip on the web. He was asking if we`ve had any run-ins with a Greek W.A.S.P. fan, who`d been slagging the 'force off on the W.A.S.P. message board, and was she a complete nutter? Of course we had, just the previous day the W.A.S.P. tour manager had offered to kindly kick her head in if she didn`t stay away from the buses!
When I entered the pit to photograph DragonForce a bouncer asked if I had heard about a crazy Greek fan and if I could see her. It seems her reputation had preceded her. Though I hadn`t seen her all morning I did spot her in the crowd, she must have taken the orders not to hang around the bus anymore seriously.
After the gig we stayed behind to sign t-shirts and CD`s which the fans seemed to like! Then it was time to go see what Wolverhampton had to offer. We went to The Griffin, which is a gothic club where the band sat down drinking with a gang of lesbians that they had met earlier at the signing session. Apparently they had gotten their tits out to be signed! Apparently someone in the band/crew got two of them in the toilet and got them to play with themselves while he watched, good work!
Day 6, Saturday 8th Nottingham

We`d been in Nottingham all day and started drinking the JD early today. Everyone was looking forward to tonight's show, and especially the after party. I`d spoken to a couple of fans and they were bringing plastic swords! And for future reference, do bring a plastic sword to the next DragonForce gig you go to!
My first chance to talk to Blackie today, he's a very reclusive man, which is totally understandable. Nottingham Rock City is famous for its night club and rightly so. At lunch we sat down with Stet from W.A.S.P. and he himself said that he was looking forward to the party as they always had a good time in Nottingham.
This was the first gig (of the tour) that I had a chance to see in its full length and it sure rocked! The guys were really warmed up to the task of rocking this place out! Afterwards it was W.A.S.P.'s turn and they were awesome too. I've been a big fan of them since their start in the mid 80's, but never seen them, so I was extra psyched about the night! Afterwards we hit the club, being followed by fans. Some fans where taken backstage to have parts of their bodies signed, well done! I can`t keep track of how long we partied for, but by the look of people's faces the next morning we did it thoroughly!
Day 7, Sunday 9th London

By the time we woke up we were already in London, Regents Park to be precise. We had parked there to wait for the W.A.S.P. bus to unload before we could get access. As we were quite likely to have to stay there for 3-4 hours, myself, Adrian and Kyoko (the Japanese fan who'd been on the bus with us) decided to leave the bus. Kyoko went to find a hotel, while Adrian and I went to my house so we could have proper showers. After eating the finest cuisine the KFC could offer, we headed for the venue. On the way a 'Big Issue' seller approached us asking if we were twins, which we found amusing. After entering the venue it dawned on us that we'd all been there watching big bands, but we were now there to play (well not me but a man can have dreams right!).
Anyway, I had another chance to photograph the bands tonight and we had organised for Angela, one of the three cameramen to film it. The only mistake I saw was when Herman tripped while jumping, but fortunately Angela missed it, hehehheh!
Afterwards I was roped in to sell t-shirts as Tiziana (who usually sells t-shirts for DF) had to catch the last train home. As per usual!

For anyone who hasn`t heard DragonForce, buy their album.
For anyone who hasn`t seen DragonForce, go to their show.
For anyone who has done the above, do it again! And don`t be afraid to talk to these guys, they`re a bunch of cool, generous guys who let two fans stay on the bus as they were going to all the gigs anyway!
A big thanks to the band, crew and Sanctuary/Noise Records for an excellent week!