| Doomination of America Tour 2003 |
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DOOMINATION OF USA 2003 DIARY OF THE MADMEN PART I ADRIAN BUTLER
A smattering of people turned up to see off the Doomination
Tour. Morgion, The Prophecy and Mourning Beloveth played ok and the
we started to get into the stride of things. Got our medicinal box Wednesday 6th Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thursday 7th Friday 8th We arrived at the Bottleneck and found out the show was pulled. There were a few people in the bar, I guess the rest of them fucked off after they knew we were going to be late, a thing that could have been avoided if people had to get their ass moving a bit quicker. Anthrax played here last night as it happened so maybe there was a cash flow shortage too as can happen. Nice venue too. A few pool tables were beaten around to alleviate the disappointment and some consoling beers were drunk. Off to another motel- (I think we slept in the van this night though) Yeah, this was where Greg slept the night on the roof of their van. Saturday 9th We got here at 6am. I tried to sleep in the van to no avail, went and sat under a tree for a while to see if that would work, never gonna happen. I ended up in a doorway like a true bum.(This was actually the back door of the venue I found out later that day). Something nasty bit me during the night too or else I stepped on something sharp that day ow! Lots of local interest in this gig tonight it seems. Every shop owner in the town had a relation from Ireland strangely enough and this kinda thing continued to happen throughout the tour. Lorain is mainly a black town or so we're told. Some white folk were happy to see some extra whiteys around on the street as it happened. Orodruin arrived at around 4pm and we all got aquainted. What a cool bunch of guys!. Finally we were a complete tour package and Domination could finally commence in earnest. Orodruin's label manager Mark Hegedus was coming over to join the tour in Denver. It's bloody warm. I managed to wash some clothes under a tap behind the venue, such home comforts were never seen before! All I need now is a shit and a new toe. Some girls that had travelled down for Canada turned up in the car park earlier-they were from Latvia or somewhere were on holidays. Found a metal station on the radio-Why can't we have this at home? Sunday 10th We played our best set tonight, good sound and plenty of room. We got to the venue in plenty of time and were able to chill out a bit and have a brief look at the town. Malaria was the support band tonight. They of course feature the mighty Killjoy from Necrophagia on screams tonight-They played last in order to keep the crowd there-small enough but not bad. It was the better crowd of the four dates so far, good response too. There were a few folk from Penance there tonight. One of them organised this show for us, thanks Mary. No beer on sale in Pittsburg on Sundays nearly brought us to tears but it was mostly just liquor stores and some bars-Ours had a cage built around it so you couldn't bring beer bottles/glasses on to the venue floor-a bit crazy. Back at the hotel later MB,Greg and Justin kept the bar open to 3am with some drunken shenanigans. Our leftover pizza from earlier in the day was heated up courtesy our host Alan old git. Some minor stealing of beer and whiskey was had when backs were turned heh heh. Can't remember the name of that old biddy pisshead that was drinking with us-Must ask Frank that one.
Tuesday 12th Wed 13th We left Mikes place in Rochester at 9am. I got a bed last night! -nice for a change. We met Tom Jim and Scott from While Heaven Wept at the venue and got the stuff in. This is sweat city tonight. I broke a fucking string too! Good gig though. The heat wave is almost unbearable. Clammy and stuffy as fuck. Traded some 7'' vinyl's for WHW stuff tonight-mmmmmmmmm We saw the top of the White House today-What a buzz- yeahaaaahh-Howya George-ye fucking spastic mentalist! Thursday 14th Tonight it's the Pirates Den in Glouchester, New Jersey. Home of the Bellybuster sandwich. Surely someone remembers the A-Team episode where Murdoch dressed up as Captain Bellybuster? I got a demo of some cello/upright bass doom here- very weird but promising-He'd travelled a few hours with his sister to catch the gig-nice folk. As we were out for some food we met 'Trudi' who explained to us that we were in the town of "girls with millionaire bodies and welfare faces" funny woman. "Is that you're real accent?" was what topped off her mindset for us- What a comment. The food was nice anyway-about 5 lbs of ham per roll-large portion yes. Negative Reaction were the support for tonight's gig. They are on the same label as Orodruin so it was cool for them to get a chance to meet up. Friday 15th Left the Motel at 11. Miserable Indian bastard at reception wouldn't give us more towels for showers etc that morning either. Maybe its because there were 10 people in a 2 person room ha ha . Oh the screams of popadomania and sanje type had signals made me laugh. So we quickly scooted outta there. Subway was on the breakfast menu today. I remember waking up later on to the same choice again. "Magnificooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…………………………." Fwwaaaaaakkkkk!!!!!!!! The infamous L'Amours. I didn't know how famous this venue was until John(Orodruin) mentioned it and Mike was saying how great it was to get there. Even my aunt from NY whom I got to meet up with today had said her friends in work knew about it too and had spent their heydays there. The venue wasn't open when we arrived some beer was purchased and alleyway soccer commenced. Today was the last day of the blackout that also resulted in a lot of people and magazine folk not being able to make to the show. All the trams and trains etc were still down until 12am that night so we didn't know how things would go. In the end it did but all in all it was a good show. The venue staff were a little fidgety and stuff but nonetheless it was nice to play in another good venue which we have been luck with so far on this tour. The club is run by the mob too apparently. Fat Tony (you guys want doughnuts?) kept us amused throughout the night. The first support tonight was fronted by a Japanese chick who just went "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" a lot and then some "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" again from time to time. The music was a kind of ecclectic funeral doom but the vocals were a bit hard to digest. Very experimental. Can't say much for the other supports though. We left straight after the show to get to North Carolina in time. Saturday 16th We got to the venue in plenty of time in the end and hung about in Raleigh for a bit checking out the throng of back to college talent that was walking around. Liquor store across the street and tasty burger place up the road was sampled. Eventually the venue opened up for us and a very friendly engineer showed us the ropes. Generally everybody we'd met today were very cool. There seems to be a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere the more we make our way south in the US of A. Some of the guys from Soul Preacher came back to the motel with us for some beers but we got a little too numb to last the whole night at the bottom of a bottle.- Anto fucked off into the already closed pool for a midnight swim. Later that night myself and Frank went to war on a vending machine which we eventually mastered with the help of some sober folk who were washing their clothes there also. Some Vietnam vet wanted all of us to go to his room and drink with him too- naaaaaaaaa….. We eventually legged it with our chips and chocolate bars. The bars were more like a liquid when we opened them-fucking heatwave . We'd met Matt in the laundry room and he filled us in on how they got lost after we left the venue- A fight had broken out between Orodruin's van and TP's so they got held up and we motored on not realising they were amiss.. 40 minutes later though they trundled in . Anto was in the pool as they came in. American TV- We got to see the fabulous twin midgets on a commercial selling courses on how to sell real estate. What a fucking joke. Throughout the ad and in very small print there were flashes of " Unique experiences- Results may vary". Revelations of " I can't believe I made $30,000 on my frst deal!- This really works!- My friends in college can't believe how much money I have" etc etc etc. Arnold from Different Strokes is going for Governer of California + Arnie Terminator too. What a joke. Mad country. This motel room is huge actually- 3 hours sleep tonight but no driving for me today hooray-back of the van and more sleep. Next stop Nashville,Tennessee. The Prophecy have a puncture-more fucking delays! The curse of Doomination has struck once more. Sunday 17th Gig is cancelled. Some bastard rave DJ blew the sound system last night-rave biscuit bastards. 27 hours to Austin , Texas now instead of a shorter drive to countryville. We've stopped somewhere outside Knoxville. Some massive storm we've just gone through and Justin says there is a bigger one on the way. Cabin fever has truly set in. John Gallo was having fits behind the wheel-what a funny guy. The novelty shops just get better over here. The local store here had one half of the place dedicated to fireworks-semtex anyone?? I've just loaded myself with a coffee and 4 sugars and readied myself for driving only to find out Anto is staying behind the wheel for a few more hours. Wired to the moon I stare out the window a lot and watch the scenery with much vigour and interest. Hope I still have some more of those energy sweets for later. We should get to the venue in Nashville soon for some beers with the promoter. We're still getting the gig money which is cool of him. Frank is comatose-Fucker stayed up all night getting pissed and slagging everyone-Whats new I suppose. Tonight I was proclaimed non-metal,non-irish,not a bassplayer and a lot of other things amongst his plethora of abuse- Such tranquillity we have before us right now. We're gonna do 3 hour shifts after we leave Nashville to save the energies. I would have like to play here tonight. I went into the venue for a piss and it looked really well. It was well promoted too it seems which is more that could be said for some of the other shows. I wanted to go and see Sun Studios too for pure nostalgia but to no avail. Ah hah Thank ye very much. 9:42pm. Orodruns van has broken down. It's the alternator they think. Looks like they are getting towed to the next town to get it repaired in the morning. MB+TP press on to Austin and we will use the local support acts gear so it's not a complete disaster. The curse has struck again. We'll get to Austin at about 11am. Myself and Justin have planned to do a bit of a tour of Austin. Apparently it's the 2nd biggest musical state after Seattle. Metal is the law!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1:45pm We arrive at Austin-Off to find a motel. Yes-This gig was a lotta fun…………………………………………Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit Dallas,Texas - Grafitti No show here today. Seems the venue was bought out by some new crowd and then closed suddenly by the health inspectors. The new owners didn't bother organise an alternative gig aaaaaaaahhhh. The promoter didn't even turn up at the venue either as we mingled with the locals at the bar who were very cool. We ended up going to the venue anyway for a look. The locals chatted with us and served us up some tasty burgers-nice…. The pitchers were pure tack…stick with the bottles I say. We played some pool and set fire to the jukebox for a while to keep us occupied. We stayed at the house of the guitarist from Plague of Ages and got wasted. The highlight of the night was discovering Sealab 2021. Funny cartoon indeed. The Property went into town to look at the streets and the tall buildings of Dallas while we lay waste to the floor and lots of chips with John and Christian (TP) who were slowly coming around to the MB way of partying etc he he he. I woke up a good few times freezing my bollix off but didn't wanna move to get me sleeping bag from the van. Eventually I got the blood flowing to try and grab my sleeping bag only to discover it was 11am and I was the first one up and we had to move fast. Blacked out windows can have that effect it seems. There was a nesting duck right outside the front door. Ahhhh so close to nature and its not just the animals in the van I mean either. I just remembered standing outside last night having a fag with our host when the cops rolled by very slowly with their lights directly on me thinking I was having a joint I suppose. Fuckers. Anyway that was Dallas. It was a funny moment as we drove into the city last night and the 'Dallas' theme tune was sung by all the sad gits-more like blah blah blah bla blah blah blah ha ha Pure cheese. Even drove along Ewing Avenue on the way in. Friday 22nd We arrived at the promoters house at 3am and we all crashed in his kids giant playroom. Nice house Conan(Game Two records). After 4 hours of showers the next morning we went to the Rockbottom Bar for food and ate in the Ugly Buffalo bar believe it or not. Food was huge huge huge and hugely tasty to boot. After some minor digestion we all headed to Golden for a tour of the Coors brewery. Some didn't make it in because if ID problems. MB decided to skip the hassle and remain in the Doombus being miserable and contemplating mosquitos, Eddies age and more nonsense. Myself and Frank tried to climb a mountain but gave up because of some fence that someone put in our way at the foot of it- and we would have made it too…….wheeeezzzz……… I swear…… I took a small walk downtown and saw the touristy shite that was on show and bought some touristy shite too…..big windows.. I went into one shop and there was a mother and son having a swordfight amongst the various displays. Buffalo Bills grave was just the other side of town but we ran outta time. Would have been better than being stuck in the stupid Coor's brewery car park for 3 hours though. Saw some major thunderstorms in the distance ,more of that please. Golden was an old mining village back in the day apparently. "There's gold in dem darr hills boy!" Saturday 23rd Sunday 24th Morning 11am After last night I reckon we've seen most of or at least had a good taste and understanding of American culture and the differences in the people north and south of the country. It's a big place and we've a good bit to go yet. At times it does feel like we've been here 3 weeks already but then again it has flown by so fast. I guess the photos will bring back a lot of memories too. I don't think another 3 would go as fast though. Cabin fever is rife. How the fuck do these bands do it for months at a time is beyond me. How do they stay together? Its probably the wrong questions to be asking because we're all in it for the one thing in the end and whether it be 4 weeks or 4 months its still got to be done. Evening 7:30pm The landscapes and weather we have driven through so far have been amazing. From the Colorado Rockies to the vast plains of Utah and all the way to LA- Ah the place is fucking huge. Las Vegas is about 3 hours away and then I jump into the hot seat for the nightshift behind the wheel of doom. Mountain Dew and chocolate loves me ,liquid energy sachets love me, strong coffee loves me-driving at night is great. Nobody can see your eyelids falling or the slight careers from one lane to the next ha ha . Let the babies have their sleep heh heh. Endless storms around as we travel today. We had to slow down a lot at different times today the rain was so immense. Fuck everything is bigger here. More mountains and big plains. I could imagine old western heroes like John Wayne and Little HairyToe with his bow and arrow clambering around the outcrops and hiding in the gully's just to my right, hunting parties riding across the plains looking for the guy who shot someone's Pa or stole a horse. It's not all that long ago really since that part of history was alive and kicking. Cowboys and Indians were a true reality in this part of the world and one can really appreciate the surroundings and especially things like the temperatures and ways of life in some parts a bit more. I'll never look at another Western movie the same again. I'm running out of film for my camera too, 11 rolls gone and 2 weeks to go…………… Monday 25th "Scream for me Long Beach!!!!!!!!!" Oh! to hear that in Long Beach was something else. This was actually the first time they had played here since that infamous recording all those years ago. "You fucked up my hearing Long Beach". Good ole Brucie. We missed Motorhead because of some illicit goings on in the car-park, fucking cunts, but we did catch Dio. I've never seen him before but for me it was way better than Maiden. The fucker was bounding around the stage like he definitely wasn't 62 years old. Another great night. I'd only seen Iron Maiden once before at the Graspop Fest in Belgium and that about 60 miles from the stage so I was looking forward to seeing them up close. From where we were sitting it was close enough though. There seemed to be something missing in their performance tonight but it was still cool to see legends like them again and in the Long Beach Arena too ha ha. Back home to Justin's and a quick detour via the pet duck for refreshments. We've spent the last couple of days at Justin's(Morgion). Arseing around and being tired a lot. America is a place I'd like to visit again and spend more time in places we've only really glimpsed at. I'd like to walk out into the Nevada desert or off into the Colorado mountains and the rolling hills of Ohio and Utah. On the outside it's got every stereotypical imagery you'd expect but that's what we are fed anyway. On this tour we've experienced everything at ground level and from the nicest folk possible too. It's a great way to try and get your own understanding of how the clock turns over here I suppose. Nice holiday and the best way to tour in my opinion. Tueday 26th Got up, showered and went out with Justin to get bass strings and some other stuff. Better not break any more fucking strings-its costing me a fortune. I broken 2 A's already. Ernie Ball just can't hack the fingers of doom. Gotta give him the sack. Hopefully Dean Markley will like me better and fight back a bit more. Got my energy sorted for driving later. 'Sam Poosie" with a picture of a scantily clad lady on the bottle and part of a limited edition it seems! Yes. Orodruin arrived at Justins at about 12:30- Mark Hegedus from PsychDoomdelic Records (Orodruin) was there. Finally got to meet up with him after a couple of years of sending mails-very nice guy. Soon after we began the final trek of the tour heading northwards to San Francisco. A quick stop first of all at Carl's Jnr for some processed fat and we were off. The mountainous region we head through going north is full of lakes and huge, I mean huge ranches of cattle and a lot of pure nothingness too. It's 5 more hours to go so hopefully we get there without any more curses bestowed upon us on this ill-begotten tour. Wednesday 27th Gamblin town! What a sight. I've never been to a casino let alone a big hole in the desert that swallows up people's money. Reno was more impressive at night with the neon signs and searchlights illuminating this little patch of greenery in the middle of armadillo country. The hotel put us on the 28th floor in a very larger room next to the rest of the troops-great view. The venue here was called the Ar-k-aik. Again it was another venue with a record shop at the front and a very spacious stage area behind a curtain at the end of the counter. There were several couches and armchairs strewn around the floor that were put to god use in the end. We put most of them up at the front of that stage as only about 5 people turned up for the show so it ended up turning into a rehearsal of sorts for our last gig at the ShoD Fest. All bands did play well but it was a pity there were fuck all there. 2nd last gig of the tour too. After the gig we headed back to the Circus hotel and down to the casino and jumped onto the 5c slots where I made a few dollars. There were a lot of freaks around last night, and a lot of Asian and Indian folk. If you stayed playing at the slots or anywhere in the casino for that matter a lady came around and served up free drink all night long. 6 of us in sitting a row at the cheapest slot machines in there and throwing back whiskeys he he what a place. Myself and Darren got hungry around 5am and went in search of an eatery but none to be found outside so we settled for the in house restaurant which we stumbled upon graciously. I tried a Mexican chilli bowl that I had seen George eat earlier on Seinfeld which in the end I couldn't finish but was filling. Next morning I had a banana omelette for breakfast which was nice but like a lot of food we've encountered here fat fat fat fat fat fat and more fat ….but tasty. After the petit dejeuner we had a tour of the in house circus and marvelled at the hula-hoop lady. Nice hoops and great legwork he he he. Seems we are heading straight to Portland today and stay over in the Radisson where we are booked to stay the following night. This is going to be the last show of the tour so a major piss-up is on the cards. Friday 29th This is the very last day of the tour. We got here last night and slept in a very dodgy hotel as we weren't bothered looking for the Radisson etc. Orodruin stepped into their room to be greeted by a cockroack scuttling up the wall, nice! No fucking around tonight and we all decided to have a good sleep in for the gig tomorrow. The gig was fabulous. Definitely our best performance. Tonight was the only the 2nd gig that we didn't headline which meant we could get locked out of our heads and fall down. Some girl Darren got friendly with was dishing out brownies like there was no tomorrow. Later on I remember staggering around hunched over and at the same time puking my ring up on the way across the floor to the toilet. I later fell asleep beside the merch table and missed the last 2 bands. Brian decided to walk back to the hotel that night. We spent an hour looking for him eventually giving up and hoping tomorrow would bring him back from wherever. Drove back to the hotel after a while with a drunken Justin at the wheel to find our baby Brian asleep in the room. A few thumps later everyone arrived. We'd 3 rooms booked but everyone still managed to stay in our room???. A 24 hour drive back to LA tomorrow and then 4 days of rest and recreation at Justin's before we head back to good ole Eire. It's all over.
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