Summer 2007 Update

Its 11th August, and I should be in Balve, Germany, gearing up for a festival show tonight. Unfortunately, the promoter seems to be in trouble financially, and the festival site resembles the Lake District!

So I guessed it was time for an overdue update!

The Inner Sanctum tour was probably the most enjoyable tour I've ever done so far - the gigs were great - the audiences were fantastic and the band were cooking every night - it was a long trek - and it's not over yet! The body held up well to the strain - in fact, I've never felt better, and my playing, I feel, has become a lot more aggressive, which, I think is necessary for a heavy metal band. The Niggster stood up to the nightly pounding with great aplomb! - however, I do think it's time to retire it! So now the hunt is on for a replacement - that's a big gap to fill - I still haven't yet found it's equal sound-wise, although Torben, our sound engineer, spoke to me and let me know he thought the shells were sounding a little tired. Hardly surprising really since the drums are 18 years old!! I'm looking at various options and will reveal the outcome at a later date!

We've done a few festivals since the main part of the tour - Wacken was incredible, although the height of the drum riser made me crave oxygen!!!! - no, I had a great view being up there, but Django, my tech, had to keep basting me when the flamethrowers were unleashed - felt I was being barbecued!!!!

Next stop is Japan in October so, until then, I'm going to get my head down, bury myself in my studio and get the synths cooking! - and practice of course!

Must say thanks to all the crew who worked tirelessly to keep the show turning over - cheers guys! - and thanks to Masterplan, Hellfuelled, Rose Tattoo, Chokehold, etc., etc. - great to have you with us! To our intrepid tourbus driver John, who managed to sniff out Indian restaurants with the intensity of a bloodhound - well done! Could also be due to the fact that he found a website listing practically every Indian curry house in every city of the world - this led to us partaking of curry in such places as Helsinki, Talinn, etc. - brilliant!!! - also, the apres-gig curries on the tourbus were most welcome!

On a different note, saw Magnum on their latest tour at The Mean Fiddler - a few beers were sunk in the Royal George after - the Crobar had a pre-gig visit!

We were kindly invited to the Metal Hammer Awards - that was a great night - and watched short sets from the likes of Lamb Of God, Dimmu Borgir, Machine Head, and others.

It's been a busy year so far - phew!

And I want to say thanks to all that have attended the gigs so far, and to say Hi to everyone I met - see you soon!

p.s. - A load of pics will be added to the photo section very shortly!

Nige