Journal - 02/10/08
So, major apologies for this massive break in between journals! I just got back from 2 weeks in Spain and was thinking 'It's been too damn long!' So here goes, where shall we pick up from? From after the last Journal I guess, now thereÂs a lot to fill you guys in on, so pay attention, it's a long one!
Firstly, the smoking thing, Jesus that seems like a long time ago, I lasted 10 weeks in the end and fell off the wagon soon back to my 25-30 a day habit. I know!! Yeah, I was pissed off too but hey, I WILL do it again. Farid had booked us a private show just outside of Paris, and as soon as we got there, this nice chateau, I just really felt the urge for a cigarette, it was a great show in even better surroundings and served as a great warm up show for the Hard Rock Cafe in Paris a few days later. We had the best time there, it was a full house, our second show there, and we had a few friends get up too, including Nono from Trust, Farid's other band. Thanks to everyone who came along, plus Laurent and all the staff at the HRC Paris for looking after us in the usual way.
After a few days at home I went down to the South of France, Bedarieux, with Melissa & Elli for a 5 day break and for a look round where they build my guitars, along with many other fantastic guitars at the LAG workshop, all overseen by my good friend Michel 'LAG' Chavarria. I've seen a lot of Michel this year, and I constantly realise what a beautiful person he is, with a real heart of gold, and he acted as our guide while we were down there. It was such a beautiful part of the country, and we had some great food, went up some big mountains and drunk some good wine too. I know I've said this already Michel, but thanks again!!
When we got back, and after a couple of rather chaotic Waysted shows on the south coast it was time for the London Guitar Show, or LIMS as it was also known this year. And who should come along with Marshall again? Only Paul Gilbert, thatÂs who! It was so great, firstly to be back with all the Marshall crew again, but also to see Paul again, who I'd last seen in Frankfurt back in March. He is such a great guy and this time he brought his lovely wife Emi along too. Also joining the Marshall Army for this show was the legend that is Ynwgie Malmsteen. I met him back in Frankfurt too, and he was stoked to be there, he'd been up to the factory and loved it. He compared my role to Ferrari Test Driver, which IÂve got to say I was pretty chuffed about. Jim was there too and signed for pretty much all of the day on Saturday. I get asked a lot how Jim is these days as he's not seen quite so much and hasnÂt been too well in the last couple of years, but to let you all know he signed posters on the stand all day, as he always has, says it all I think. I look forward to spending a bit more time with Jim later this month at some shows in Frome and Exeter, as I havenÂt had so much time to see him this year. On the last day of the show, and after some great shows of our own, Paul got up with us for the last one, and we had another awesome jam. If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out!
It was back to France at the end of June, this time just outside of Bordeaux for firstly a private show for the energy drink & extreme sports company 'Pirate Adventure', in another amazing chateau (where the shower in my suite was the same size as my whole bathroom at home). Then we had 'Show Bike' the following night, a massive bike show put on by the Outcasts MC. It was great, we played at around 1am following American Dog, a great band from the states. But the really funny thing about this gig was the accommodation.... Now, the accommodation supplied by the organisers of the show was at a campsite down the road, the closest and most convenient place for the bands to stay to get to the show (we had 12 hours between sound check and show time). We had gone from having a whole chateau to ourselves the previous night to staying at this site, in 2 static caravans that had to sleep the 10 in our crew. The craziest thing? It was a frickin nudist site weren't it!!!!! You've never seen so much saggy flesh on the people there with an average age of 70. For Christ's sake.... I first ran into the guys from American Dog on the site before the show down the road, and we were just beside ourselves how funny it was. And before you ask, no, we didn't participate. The show itself later that night was awesome, Farid even managed to do his solo around the crowd with the aid of a radio mic and a stage guy holding it for him, which weÂve done before at bigger venues.
July was pretty quiet in terms of live stuff, but there was a lot else going on. One of those things was the Marshall new product forum, where everyone meets up to check out the new products for next year, along with some distributors from around the world. I canÂt really say much more on this, but most of the stuff I'd already played in its earlier stages of life, and is going to be AWESOME. I also did some in-store demos for the newly opened Reverb stored across the country which were great.
So, onto August. Back out to France, to Agde. About an hour from Nimes which was where we flew into. Firstly we had a thing called 'Night Of The Guitar', playing on a purpose built stage in the square of the town and it was such a nice atmosphere, and a great show too. The following night we played the other side of the square at a bar called Melrose, which was equally as good in a different kind of way. Unfortunately, Rob couldnÂt make it out at the last minute, as he had a family bereavement, so Farid found us a replacement (not that you can really replace our Rob, as we found out). Our stand in was Phil, a great guy who had a day to learn the set, and a quick rehearsal the day I flew in. Phil did an awesome job, his English was as bad as my French, but thatÂs the greatest thing about music, itÂs all the same language, and reminded me of when I've played with some guys in the past when you donÂt speak the same language but play an awesome show. Thanks Phil! You were great, but Farid and I realised that weekend how much this band is very much the 3 of us, all the playing Rob, Farid and I have done over the last 4 years has paid off to where we don't even have to think about playing anymore, and new stuff still happens naturally. Also that night, meeting 3 guys from Lowestoft who did our sound there a few years ago was just bizarre, considering they shouldnÂt have been there, it was just they were biking across Europe and one of the bikes broke down, so we all saw off the night together.....
At the end of August, just after Elli's 3rd Birthday, we had a bit of fun down at Bletchley Rugby Club for some friends of ours there. We did it last year and was a cool time, even if the weather was the usual British summer again this year. Farid was tied up with rehearsals for his imminent tour with Trust so I thought I'd throw a bunch of friends together for it. Along with me and Rob, we had FaridÂs sometime replacement Karl Randall on the drums, Steve 'Woody' Woodward on guitar and Lee Otter on vocals. It was cool, and we certainly made up for the fact it was a beer festival too! The other guest we had up was a friend of mine, Justin, over from Oz where he and his family moved to around 7 years ago. Justin was one of the first guys I ever taught guitar to, when I was about 13/14. In fact, a lot of the month was taken up with partying while he was over. He was here for a month, then gone again. It was a bit strange having to say goodbye again, but I enjoyed every minute of him being here, especially when he got up to jam with us.
Now, onto more recent events! Firstly, Waysted played the Rock Of Ages festival in Birmingham at the beginning of September, a really poor turnout was a shame but least of my worries by the time we came off stage. I wonÂt go into it but you may have seen some of the remaining Waysted dates pulled. IÂve said IÂll do 4 more including Hard Rock Hell and supporting Vince Neill in London, as heÂs an old friend of PeteÂs, then I think itÂll be time to wrap it up. We made a great album last year, and thatÂs the way I want to remember it.
So, the Paris Music Show, also in September was just insanely awesome, we had some f'in brilliant shows, in fact, some of the best ever and the show was SO well organised. Thanks to all the Algam guys for an amazing show, it was also nice to spend some time with Terry (Marshall), JimÂs son who has just returned to the fold. I've known Terry for a very long time. In fact, when I was 14 he showed me and my Dad around the Marshall factory, and how bizarre I've ended up doing this. Check out the video link below, there's other parts too. The sound quality is pretty naff but it gets the point across. Don't know the guy who took the video but as you'll see, I did randomly take his camera off him for a while .... I also managed to catch up with some old friends out in Paris, firstly guitar guru Trev Wilkinson and my old pal Steve Yelding who works for Laney now having made the move from Marshall after 20 odd years. For the last show in Paris we had a big old jam with a bunch of friends from out there, and I think all the playing in France this year has really paid off, weÂre starting to get a nice following out there. IÂll try and get some pics up soon. After Paris, I got home, grabbed my other bag and we were out so Spain and that just about brings us up to date!
A Couple of other things before we go! Firstly, you may have heard of a young kid who has been busking, playing electric guitar on the south coast of the UK, his name is Calvin Prior, and heÂs been making loads of money doing this. The BBC picked up on him and heÂs had a lot of exposure in the media. I've met Calvin a couple of times in the last few months, firstly when I judged a competition called 'Shredfest' in Eastbourne, where heÂs from (and he rightly won). Then again a few weeks ago when he came down to the factory for a look round and I helped him out trying a load of different amps in the theatre. What a cool kid he is, and heÂs only been playing two and a half years, but has real maturity to his playing.
Also, ever wondered what CGB merchandise can do for you?! Well, check out the picture from a guy called 'The T' from France who emailed me to say he went out fishing wearing his trusty CGB baseball cap (available from the online store!)for the first time and came back with that mighty whopper. If you've got any pictures of you wearing CGB merch participating in various activities, go to the contact page and send Âem in ha ha ha!
And lastly things coming up. Firstly, we won't be at Music Live this year, Marshall have decided not to do it, so we obviously won't be there either. Instead, I'll be going back to Denmark for some Clinics in various cities and then going on to Greenland for a clinic there. It should be amazing, I love going to new places and itÂll be my first time in Greenland. Also, the end of this month we have a Roadshow in Frome then onto Exeter for a guitar show put on by the music shop Manson's. For all remaining shows with Marshall this year, we're going back to basics, it'll just be me and my backing tracks as Farid and Rob are really busy doing their own things, and you know what? I like the pressure of it all!
So that's it, a couple of other things I'd love to mention but can't, as always, stay tuned and you'll find out in due course!
CG
