Well, it's been a busy old month, that's for sure!
Firstly, Waysted had their first UK tour since the release of 'The Harsh Reality'. We started with just 5 UK dates to test the water, and you know what? It was good! Even better than we had hoped for which was excellent. We started out in Essex, which was awesome for a first show, then we had the London show with Tygers Of Pan Tang on board too, which was ok but a little rushed. After that we were up to Grimsby (great show apart from having some eye trouble afterwards thanks to some dodgy stage strobes), then Milton Keynes (nice to be on home-ish turf), then 10 days off and finished in Glasgow, which was the best and we all had a brilliant time. The crowd singing Heaven Tonight along with Fin was a real highlight, for those who came out to any of these shows, you'll know what is what like. For those who didn't, well, there's more dates later in the year!
Before I forget, a huge thanks to the guys from Pig Iron for coming out on these last shows with us. They're a great band and a great bunch of guys, check them out.
So, in the 10 days off, I had the annual Frankfurt Musik Messe, which was a real blast. The last time me, Rob and Farid played was back in November so we were rather excited should we say... This year was ultra special because along with us, Marshall invited Paul Gilbert out to do some clinics in the booth. Paul is an awesome dude, and we hit it off right away and we did everything we could to make him feel part of the family. We played together at the Marshall Dealer Dinner, which was a real highlight (especially having Kerry King and Yngwie Malmsteen sat in front of me), and then we managed to top that for the very last show in the booth. Fortunately, someone put it up on youtube, so if you haven't seen it yet, check it out (link at the bottom). The quality's a bit crappy, but it kind of captures the vibe (watch out for 3 of us on Rob's bass at one point, then Paul on drums!). Other VIP's signing on the stand were the aformentioned Mr. King, who made sure we had plenty of jager, and Slash came on the stand too! Talking of which.....
It's a funny thing. Slash, as you may or may not know, is my absolute hero. To me, he's everything a rock n roll guitarist should be, and I've been a fan of his since maybe '91, when I was 10 years old. So it goes without saying just how much of an influence he's been on my playing. Up until last year, I'd never met him, which was frustrating knowing other people who had. But it was at last year's Download festival that changed, and it was an awesome moment for me, and was worth the wait. We didn't have too long together, but enough for a quick bit of polite conversation as you do.
So get this, a few weeks ago in Frankfurt, there he was again. He was pretty knackered but I still managed to say hello after he's signed out on the stand, and once again, he was totally cool.
But last week I had a call from the good folk at Marshall to say that Slash was visiting the factory, along with Dave Kushner, on a day off from VR's UK Tour and would I want to come over and show them some amps and go out for lunch etc. Unfortunately I was busy that day. I'm joking!
He was an absolute dude, we had lunch and talked about so much different stuff, then spent the whole afternoon back at the factory and he was asking about the shows we do etc. It was a truly awesome day!!!!! Check out the link below posted by Marshall of Slash playing through the practice amp they made for him.
Anyway, as you may have seen, the locks are gone! I had a little lifestyle change recently and gave up smoking and started working out down the gym again. I feel so good and it's been 2 months now since my last cigarette and I think my smoking days are well and truly behind me now.
And on we go, lots of trips to France coming up in the coming months, Farid's been booking them up, plus the London Guitar Show and more with Waysted. See ya soon!
Chris
Firstly, Waysted had their first UK tour since the release of 'The Harsh Reality'. We started with just 5 UK dates to test the water, and you know what? It was good! Even better than we had hoped for which was excellent. We started out in Essex, which was awesome for a first show, then we had the London show with Tygers Of Pan Tang on board too, which was ok but a little rushed. After that we were up to Grimsby (great show apart from having some eye trouble afterwards thanks to some dodgy stage strobes), then Milton Keynes (nice to be on home-ish turf), then 10 days off and finished in Glasgow, which was the best and we all had a brilliant time. The crowd singing Heaven Tonight along with Fin was a real highlight, for those who came out to any of these shows, you'll know what is what like. For those who didn't, well, there's more dates later in the year!
Before I forget, a huge thanks to the guys from Pig Iron for coming out on these last shows with us. They're a great band and a great bunch of guys, check them out.
So, in the 10 days off, I had the annual Frankfurt Musik Messe, which was a real blast. The last time me, Rob and Farid played was back in November so we were rather excited should we say... This year was ultra special because along with us, Marshall invited Paul Gilbert out to do some clinics in the booth. Paul is an awesome dude, and we hit it off right away and we did everything we could to make him feel part of the family. We played together at the Marshall Dealer Dinner, which was a real highlight (especially having Kerry King and Yngwie Malmsteen sat in front of me), and then we managed to top that for the very last show in the booth. Fortunately, someone put it up on youtube, so if you haven't seen it yet, check it out (link at the bottom). The quality's a bit crappy, but it kind of captures the vibe (watch out for 3 of us on Rob's bass at one point, then Paul on drums!). Other VIP's signing on the stand were the aformentioned Mr. King, who made sure we had plenty of jager, and Slash came on the stand too! Talking of which.....
It's a funny thing. Slash, as you may or may not know, is my absolute hero. To me, he's everything a rock n roll guitarist should be, and I've been a fan of his since maybe '91, when I was 10 years old. So it goes without saying just how much of an influence he's been on my playing. Up until last year, I'd never met him, which was frustrating knowing other people who had. But it was at last year's Download festival that changed, and it was an awesome moment for me, and was worth the wait. We didn't have too long together, but enough for a quick bit of polite conversation as you do.
So get this, a few weeks ago in Frankfurt, there he was again. He was pretty knackered but I still managed to say hello after he's signed out on the stand, and once again, he was totally cool.
But last week I had a call from the good folk at Marshall to say that Slash was visiting the factory, along with Dave Kushner, on a day off from VR's UK Tour and would I want to come over and show them some amps and go out for lunch etc. Unfortunately I was busy that day. I'm joking!
He was an absolute dude, we had lunch and talked about so much different stuff, then spent the whole afternoon back at the factory and he was asking about the shows we do etc. It was a truly awesome day!!!!! Check out the link below posted by Marshall of Slash playing through the practice amp they made for him.
Anyway, as you may have seen, the locks are gone! I had a little lifestyle change recently and gave up smoking and started working out down the gym again. I feel so good and it's been 2 months now since my last cigarette and I think my smoking days are well and truly behind me now.
And on we go, lots of trips to France coming up in the coming months, Farid's been booking them up, plus the London Guitar Show and more with Waysted. See ya soon!
Chris
