DOOMINATION OF USA

2003

DIARY OF THE MADMEN PART II

DARREN MOORE

LA, Downey

Setlist
The Words that Crawled
All Hope is Pleading
Narcissistic Funeral
In Mourning My Days

Our ten-hour flights were insane, it is the longest any of us had been on a plane before and we arrived in LA about the same time as we left Ireland to sweltering heat after a little inquisition from Irish emigration for Frank.
Rested in Justin's for a night and played Downey LA the next night to approximately 20 people. We did have our first sample of Mexican food that ended about knee deep in the venue toilets. Not a bad set by any of the bands. Back to Rhetts and we left for Fort Collins at 3AM. Driving past Las Vegas as the sun rose and I don't think the sun reflected from anything. Las Vegas is like a big plastic dinosaur in the middle of the desert and it stuck out like our pale skins. Drove through more desert and the sweltering heat to Colorado and the immense red mountains. Some insane driving as the day passed but we were too fucked to notice. We arrived at Fort Collins very late, about 10 pm and some people had gone home -a mis- calculation of the rough terrain journey but we played our set and were beginning to settle in.

Fort Collins

Setlist
Mountains
Narcissistic
Part 1
Words
Mountains

No sign of the other Morgion car with Dwayne and Gary so we headlined tonight and played a good set to the gathered masses. Met some fans who shared their wares with us..thanks. Free beer and we are all fucked. We pile back to Pat (Cephalic Carnage) house for a well deserved rest and a view of his home 48 track studio in the basement..very nice.
Next morning got our first taste of Subway and their famous foot long rolls

Onwards to Lawerence through the desert and miles and miles of desert, it is a bleak, bleak place, even with the sun shining..no sign of life and just a highway stretching for hundreds of miles. We arrived in Lawrence Kansas, too late and the gig was cancelled. It was a fucking shame cause the venue was great, Anthrax had played there the night before.
We stayed around for some beer and pool and some locals gave us a cocktail called the Irish car Bomb. Due to the disappointment of no gig we decided to have a party in the motel, a long night.
Still no word of the Morgion car

Lorain, Ohio

Setlist
Words
Narcissistic
All Hope
Mountains

We woke late and so had to drive through the night to Lorain, Ohio. I discovered mountain dew and it kept me awake along with some dodgy metal, myself and Justin (Pinky) sang and drove through the night.
We arrived in Ohio about 7 the next morning and it is a rural, run down town. We found the venue on the outskirts of the town and parked up and slept for a couple of hours. We awoke about 10 am in the van to find Adrian had moved outside due to certain people snoring. I awoke to myself almost puking with the smell of my shirt whihc was by then three days old. Decided I needed a shower and the only thing available at that hour of the morning was a tap behind the venue about a foot from the ground. We hit the town for some food and beer and stumbled upon the "black" side of town. Ate some American cuisine in the shape of burgers and went to the local liquor store. Back to the venue and an all day drinking party.
Orodruin arrived at about 2 pm and news was coming through of an accident involving Gary and Dwayne, Rhett had decided to return home to find out what was going on and Justin stayed on as our new found tour manager
Large dosages of alcohol later and many lies later we all knew each other and some of the local bands had come along where we introduced them to Primordial and we spoke of politics and the general state of the world, and how much beer we could drink before we fell down
We were all so drunk by now and it was only 4 pm we decided to sleep for a time. We met some people who had driven from Canada and we shared some beers. We played ok, a bit hung over. I enjoyed the Orodruin set but fell asleep behind the stall for the TP set. We met the mother of doom forum Somnius who was a really cool person and who bought a lot of merch. Thank you- we will eat tomorrow
We all topped up on our alcohol after the set and then drove around for an hour for accommodation. Gave up and decided to go to Denny's at 5 in the morning for steak and eggs and slept in and on top of the van for 4 hours.
Hit the road early and I just slept all the way to Upstage Pennsylvania. We found the venue, a cool place, upstairs in a building but the venue was huge. We drove about 20 miles to check in to rooms in the Sunset Inn. Had some fun sneaking 12 people into the rooms and then when Brian broke the shower, came running out with a towel around his waist and water flying everywhere we all decided to scuttle to the Prophecy room while we changed rooms.
Arrived at the venue and had some Italian pizza which filled the aching bellies, The prophecy guys decided on a traditional English meal, an Indian.
We knew we had to improve our performance from the night before and we did, probably one of the tightest sets we have ever played and it showed in the crowd response. Malaria headlined, with Killjoy on vocals they played a mix of sludgy doom and grind…a good drummer.
Shared some drinks with Mary of Penance and we even had some dedicated fans follow us around for a time but they fucked off due to our increasingly drunken antics

We went back to the motel and another party in the bar, where a 50 year old woman arrived as we cooked some pizza, drank and got the old guy behind the bar singing and dancing. On our way to the room we "found" a cooler with about 60 beers in it and so it was a long night. Frank disappeared with some fifty…..argh splurt cough

Next morning the rain clouds had gathered and we spent an hour trying to find our way out of the city. Met up with Orodruin and as we drove to Indianapolis we experienced weather from 30 degrees to heavy lightening in the space of 10 miles. Found the venue easily enough and it was an excellent place,

The Emerson Theatre

Setlist
Words
All Hope
Mountains
Narcissistic
Mourning

and run by Dan who owned the record shop , Abyss next door. He told us he had already sold some our cds.
It was a big stage, big venue but could hear nothing on stage. Local support Gates of Slumber played a good mix of Doom and rock. Orodruin and The Prophecy went down well, in fact probably the best TP show so far. We saw the first glances of Johns doom dance and we all had some fun. Dan looked after us well with drinks and general hospitality
Our set was good but felt a little dry. We decided to drive on to the next venue but not after trading some Sulcus with Dan, I even got a Candlemass badge.

Drive to Rochester and Orodruin's home town, I slept all the way and woke in the morning in Cleveland with Anto buzzing from a 7 hour drive and energy worms. 4 more hours to go and we found out Morgion would not be able to make the tour as Gary had hurt his hand in an accident but Justin decided to stay on as our tour manager, where he became christened as BossBoy.

Fuck this was a strange night, we lost Morgion and when we arrived at Rochester we heard Nick (Orodruin guitar) had had enough and tonight would be his last performance with Orodruin..fuck man a few days in and all this shit….we all joked about the Doomination tour, TP lost Karl and Katie before they came, Tim could not join us, Morgion in an accident and Nick leaving Orodruin…not even a week gone.

This shit helps you reflect about what you are doing, a lot of miles, not enough sleep, eating shit, it is tough but it is better than just dreaming about it and I think we became more determined with all this shit happening around us.
We headed across town and rested in Mike's place where the guys got some provisions and I watched two episodes of Columbo…no ac in Mike's …fuckin hot
Frank cooked some noodles and we drank some Lyons tea.
Before the gig we had the infamous trash plate-macaroni cheese, chips, burgers and hotdogs on one plate with four different sauces for 7 bucks-a meal for two men or one Moore
We got some beers in the bar around the corner from the venue and played some pool during which time we decided Orodruin should headline being their home town it would be a nice gesture.
I arrived conveniently when everything was packed in, a little worse for wear.
The Bug Jar is an intimate venue that reminds me a lot of the old Frontline in Ghent. TP play a good set to the enthusiastic locals.
We played our best, if not tightest, set yet to and got a great response that was reflected in the sales.
Orodruin played, everybody drunk for the doom dancing and merriment. While I was at the stall afterwards a lady about 50 came to me and bought a Dust cd and asked the band to sign it, in my conversation with her I found out she was John's (Orodruin) mother…supportive people.
We stayed in Mike's girlfriend's apartment that had some air conditioning and we stocked up on the local massive burgers, some beer and sleep………. eventually.

Rochester

Setlist
Words
Part 1
Narcissistic
Mountains

A ten hour drive to Virginia turned in to 13 and we hit the Washington traffic and the fucking heat, same temperature just no fucking air to breath. We arrived at the venue to Tom and Jason of WHW and they informed us they were about to close up. We loaded in in record time with help from the WHW boys and all was ok. The Jaxx is an excellent venue, big stage , big (doom)dance area. A few of us have loved the WHW album for some time now and were apprehensive in talking to Tom but when we did it turns out he is just like us, a doom fan. We swapped some 7"'s and cds and some stories. Hunger got the better of the MB boys and we ran to the local Chinese where we swallowed our first decent dinner in a week- a chinese
This was the first Orodruin gig without Nick and although apprehensive to begin with these guys pulled it off.
TP played a subdued set in my mind but their merch sold well
We were up about 10.30, well warmed up from the free beer and when we got up we noticed the size of the stage, monitors everywhere and a lighting tech. An excellent set and the boys finished off with their now patented triple doom guitar attack and it was an enjoyable set, pushed by the Orodruin and WHW boys the crowd seemed to get in to it half way through despite Aido breaking a string we filled the time with some lies.
At the end of the night a 40 year old approached the stall, bought some shirts for his kids and left us another 25 dollars to buy some beer for the night….nice guy and if you are reading this, thanks.
We all piled back to Jason's (WHW drummer), Tom, the drunk fuck, riding with us and we passed where they recorded the first album he told us stories that it was beside a morgue and they could see bodies being hacked to bits every day while recording…blood soaked doom anybody.
Waiting for Jason and the rest outside the house we could not hear anything but the noise of some of the biggest crickets I have ever heard…fuck…a hot clammy night was filled with laughter and beer and some funny picture opportunities that did not pass us by. Next day Jason was gone to work but Tom decided to stay away from work and bring us to the Cracker Barrel and some southern hospitality.
Fuck me, when the 16 of us walked in to that place you would think it was a hold up with the eyes burning our heads but we didn't care-food called, some excellent eggs, steak and hash browns helped us through the sticky weather.

Jaxx

Setlist
Mountains
Part 1
words
Narcissistic
Mourning

I don't remember anything of the journey to NY, all I remember is arriving with Aido driving and actually being calm behind the wheel for once while driving through the city. Everything is becoming a fucking blur with all this travelling night and day, day and night the only things that seem to stand out while travelling is the fact that we are now becoming addicted to Mountain Dew (American caffeine soft drink) and myself, Brian and Anto with subway.
We arrived to the venue early and some of us decided to walk the local neighbourhood where we stuck out like a sore thumb. We met the beautiful Trudy with the million-dollar body and the welfare face…I think her body was actually wrapped in a body bag. Stories were filtering through of a total blackout in NY city and we feared for the big gig in L'Amours the next night, but again our stomachs called and the local greasy spoon filled us with layers of tuna and bread.
The Pirates Den is a local bar and we got some pitchers of beer and a glimpse of the beautiful bar lady's pink g-string. Long Island's negative Reaction played support and their blend of caustic sludgy riffs was interesting. We got some pool in with the locals, and some more beer and tried to persuade the dj to "PLAY SOME METAL" which he eventually did.
Went on about 10.30 and played Words, Part 1, Narcissistic, Mountains

Pinky decided afterwards it would be fun for me to get wet and seeing as how I only had one other pair of jeans which had some mysterious stain on it-it was shorts for the night which was a fucking sight to behold…little apples as they say.
Back to the stinking, cockroach infested hole and two rooms for 15 people, no wonder the owner wasn't happy the next day. We actually turned on the tv to see 50% of America was blacked out but it was slowly coming back and we might be ok tomorrow. Local TV seemed to taunt us with their advert for subway which then became the daily catchphrase…MAGNIFICOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

A restless night for all, too warm -turn the ac on-too cold turn it off-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh….fucking cabin fever is creeping in slowly and we are all going to burn.
Next morning and on to the local subway and straight to L'Amours. Anto drove through the NY traffic, which was insane…we were nearly squashed by a 16 wheeler bearing down on us. Skyscrapers tearing the sky, smog and traffic…a lot of people in a small area..NY is big and it stinks the streets are crowded with cars, the walkways with people and the air with filth
One thing we have found about this tour so far is that it is so easy to find venues with the block system, you are never fucking lost and that is one thing that has helped these journeys become bearable. We arrived at the unassuming L'Amours early and I tried to contact my cousins who had lived here for 12 years now shit it would be great to see them but although the power was returning where we were the public transport system was still down and nobody was moving around. NY seems to be a very cold place, as in the people are not too friendly. A game of alley football to pass the day
The venue opened and we were amazed…two huge venues in one and we were shifted around so many times….it begins to dawn on us, this place looks like it is mafia run and when I later order some pizzas I think it is true.
We were disappointed tonight, great venue, great sound but a small crowd due to this fucking blackout. Is this domination or doomedination?? One bright point was we got to meet Cathal (Pagan Reign) from our homeland and we shared some stories and beers. Cheers Cathal for the effort and the words of encouragement…and the purchases. We were treated to some free doughnuts from Toni and a luxurious backstage area and heard the FWACK(fuck to you and me) word used a lot by these stereotypical mobsters…murder- what's a mwoirder? Doom what's a doom?
Support came from an avantgarde doom band with Yoko Ono on vocals, which actually wasn't too bad and then an "old school" death metal band that sounded like Linkin Park, they even supported vest wearing….
We were rushed on and off stage and played the usual four, a tight set but disappointing turnout.
Nile, Nevermore and Archenemy were playing in the coming weeks and Cathal assured us that they would be treated in the same shit way as we were. We did get paid handsomely though which further proved our point…stereotypes are there for a reason

The brewery, Raleigh

Night driving to Raleigh and the night passed with sleep and personal pizzas. We arrived in Raleigh late in the afternoon and what a change of pace, a small city more south and the people are so friendly. First time we saw our name in lights and we got some photos. Loaded in and found the soundman to be actually interested in getting a good sound and we had a 30 minute sound check. I brought the MB boys back to the motel where we seemed to get lost for an hour…arrived back to the venue through the Orodruin set and a sizeable crowd had gathered.
A very enthusiastic audience, head banging and cheering which helped the night.
The insanity had began to kick in with us but when we eventually got some local herb the six day wait was well worth it…we even waited until the set was over to sample it, in all my years with MB this has never happened…what the fuck is going on???!!! Are we becoming responsible adults? I doubt it
We played a very tight set and even brought Autumnal into it. When finished we were shouted back for an encore, we played Part 1 and everybody went nuts. That was a great feeling
We mingled with the gig goers afterwards and found out some had travelled 6 hours just to see us…thanks Jeff and sisters.

An excellent merch night and we slumped back to the hotel with our new found friends SouldPreacher to a "quiet" party….shit no sign of TP…they were lost and no phones…shit man we were having fun….

Woke up the next morning with the phone ringing and news that a dance dj had blown the shit out of the sound system in Nashville and so the gig was off. Dragged our weary bodies and minds to the vans only to see TP had a puncture so they would be held up for a couple of hours while we embarked on the 27 hour drive to Austin Texas
Christian came with us and witnessed first hand the madness we go through, from drunkness to sober, from 40 degrees to lightning and several burrito filled stops later we were driving through the night. We took 6 hour shifts driving and it was tough going to stay awake…again the days and nights are blurring but I remember 11pm that night we lost Orodruin van in the darkness and got a call a few minutes later to find out they had broken down. We quickly turned around and joined up with them but there was no helping the van. It got towed, along with the Orodruin guys and we pushed on to Texas. Stopped off in Nashville as the promoter decided he would pay us the full whack anyway..which was very much appreciated.

Emo's Texas

We arrived at 3pm the next day all the worse for wear but immediately checked out the venue which looked like a nice place from the outside. Back to the motel and a dip in the swimming pool which was well earned in this 40 degree heat.
Texas is a strange place, the people are friendly but they seem to think Texas is the centre of the universe, which isn't bad if you are a Texan I guess. A lot of pick up trucks and a lot of Mexicans around and we sampled the legendary Texas steak which was mouth-wateringly meaty.
On to the venue and we found out that Orodruin could not make it tonight so TP and MB used the local bands gear to play. The support band was Vex and everybody was impressed by their tight brutal death metal assault. Emo's is a cool place with some cool people and we all enjoyed Snatch on the big screen in the bar-"I need ta have a shi" was the new catchphrase. We found out that Texan people are really friendly and the Mexican women are very fucking tasty. We met a few people who already had the TSS cd and were looking forward to our set. We played a sloppy set (only the second time on the tour) but with what had gone before, bad news upon bad news and some lethal doses of alcohol it was to be expected. Despite this we got shouted for more and more and eventually picked up again for an encore and played Part 1. The crowd loved it and were moshing and headbanging (slowly) and shouting for more but we had done.
Back to the motel for a night of madness.
One of the guys from the support band in Dallas, Plague of Ages, came to the Austin show to inform us the Dallas show was off as the venue was closed down 1 week previously due to health and safety but he was working on an alternative.
Next morning we awoke to find this wasn't going to happen but we were invited to Dallas for a party with our hosts Plague of Ages. Who could refuse going to Dallas?

Drove the few hours to Dallas and saw some chicken washing in the local gas station. Arrived around 4pm and entering the city with its huge skyscrapers and massive road system we arrived at the Plague of Ages guy's house. Went to the local bar for some beers and a few games of pool and later that evening back to watch 5 hours of the most surreal cartoon I have ever seen, Sealab 2021-even stranger than Ren and Stimpy and we met the local friendly duck. Fuck we slept til 11 the next morning and set out for Little Rock where the Orodruin guys had made their way.
The venue was a record store combined run by some friendly crusties where we had some Killian Red Ale-which was authentically Irish even though us Irish never heard of it before. A poor turnout but a good vibe at the gig and the promoters got in on the fun too. Orodruin played a great set and the doom dancing was so much by John his glasses came off and later during our set they found there way onto Franks head….
This was good to get us back in to the mood after the last few days of fuckin hell.
Day off tomorrow and a 20-hour drive to Denver to the Doom to Grind festival. On the way while I was driving I decided my revenge was nigh and while Justin nodded off in the front seat ( which wasn't his job) I decided a fright was in order-what happened next was hilarious- he jumped so high his head hit the roof but at the same time his hand went for my throat…nice one J….and as they say little apples
Arrived in Conan (Game Two Records and DTG organiser) house about 3 am next morning and we all just crashed. Next morning he went to do some chores and sent us in the direction of Rock Bottom and our first taste of American cider, the best burgers so far on this trip and some more pool, which is where the fun began. This is where I won the tournament of which Anto will never agree but ya heard it here first. Final score 13-12.
On to the venue and it was an old junkyard with 100's of trucks in the yard and engines stacked up the sides of the stage, it was definitely a Junkyard…as the name suggests. The guys who owned the place were really cool and tried to calm the guys nerves about playing here and after the disappointment of the last few days I can see why but I kept getting visions of Europe and the Black Dog in Paris, a wine cellar and everybody was downhearted but the Paris gig turned out amazing…and so did this.
As the night drew on we met more and more people outside who shared some beers with us and the crowd began to pack in. The place was crowded when the gig started-now this was an underground festival, all the local and not so local people getting fucked and listening to music. When the grind bands came on stage the crowd really tore the place up and we were really shitting it getting up there but we had met so many people before hand who appreciated us coming that our nerves were subsiding. We got up to a shit sound but a great performance and the crowd loved it, they went mad and one guy kept jumping in and putting his head under the cymbals as Anto hit them-it was a great feeling and we met Geraldo afterwards to cap off the night with the rub of the green….which we expended that night-12 of us in Conans little office…funny everyone standing around and yet floating at the same time
Next morning in Conan's we were still buzzing from the gig and we decided to head off when Conan arrived back with breakfast for 18 people…thanks Conan for the traditional American breakfast and to Pinky for the rude awakening…I think myself and the Pinkmeister are even now on practical jokes……

We are heading back to LA for 2 days off and our mental state suggest we definitely need it, weary doomsters floating through the red rocks of Colarado and my driving has deteriorated that I hear muffles from the back about death and mammy…shit this is usually Adrian driving when these phrases surface but we are safer now on flat land through the plains of Utah and nothing but fences…a lot of theories as to why the fences are there and how long it would take to walk your lands if you were a farmer, or what even grows on these lands…aaaaahhhh who fucking cares back to sleep and dream. I remember stopping deep in utah and buying a can of spam…never again it tasted like a car tyre, I think the car tyre would have more meat though…I am just speculating here the gas is running low but the burrito filled farts may help propel us along the way.

LA

Back to LA and a night of rest, I got up at 8 the next morning, not use to a bed and comfort now and went for a walk-nice heat, very wet heat and some beautiful LA women.
Party condiments and on to Long Beach for Iron Maiden. Great venue, Dio was amazing but I was disappointed with Maiden, Nico even had some mistakes and the sound wasn't great but it was well worth witnessing and shall live in the memory.
Next day of recuperation and endless films and some shit American tv and a trip to a friend of Morgion, Greg who provided a huge barbeque and some refreshments and a time for us all to relax and party

From Carl Juniors through the LA hills and valleys to San Francisco. On the way we avoided something on the road but Orodruin drove over it and we got a call to stop and check the van, this is all we fucking need but the van is ok and we push on to San Francisco. We arrive at Lucifer's Hammer in good time and set up…shit man Mark of Psychedoomelic has been on the tour since DTG and I haven't spoken to him yet, my head is up my arse but I remedy that as we set up the stalls.
Everything is just floating by as if in a dream-roads, burgers-beer-sleep-gig-sllep burger-beer, that's been it for the past couple of weeks, the only things to remember now are the gigs cause all the roads look the same at this stage. Adrian has finally learned how to drive round a bend without waking us up but we still have a long way to go and along the way
A good crowd gather tonight and local band Asunder pull a big crowd and big response-I think they should have headlined. Good set of slow sludgy doom with a drummer who is also the main vocalist- and a bit wired to the moon aswell.
Nathan from the SHOD was at the gig. The venue is like Slattery's in capel Street was years ago and has the same sort of atmosphere-and patrons
We played a good set of the usual four and got a good response, met a fan from the doom forum who is a German living in America-cultural doom eh. Some free beers and we were back to a lady friend of Christians house for a long night of talk and some leg shagging by the very friendly dogs ( what's that white stuff on your leg Will??!!)
The Orodruin boyos got to stay in a huge pent house suite with Nathan and rubbed our faces in it the next day but we were quite content where we were
Next day to Reno and it is only a 6 hours but with our track record we push on early and arrive in Reno early. We lost TP on the way due to some four lane yoinking courtesy of Adrian.
Driving through the mountains to Reno I thought we were going to die and when we arrive down I shouted in joyous repose "at least now we don't have far to fall". Aido driving in the front oblivious to the fact that we are all wearing and gripping tightly our seat belts..fuck man we might just make it if we can kill Aido……Stopped on the highway to look for TP behind us and I got out of the van. The cops came by and I explained the story, the female cop turns around and says "keep talking we love your accent" and then quickly left us be, the Irish charm(!) strikes again. No sign of TP so we push on and they have no directions and no phone…..
Denny's has become a huge favourite of ours too, steak and eggs indeed and we indulged our little hankerings again, shit I think this is how we lost TP in the first place
We met a guy who was going to the burning man in the desert. I saw a documentary on this last year and it seems like an amazing festival of sorts in the middle of the desert with a lot of mind altering effects.
Reno is like a mini Las Vegas, all plastic and full of lights and we got a really cheap room in a huge Casino. The windows would not open much and Anto surmised it was because if you lose your house in a game of poker, you come to your room and the window is opened, what do you do?
The Arkaik is a really cool venue, a record store in front and a big venue out the back. The owner is a cool guy as well and I bought an Espionage LP for Aido (long story but something to do with spies on our plane) and we laughed.
TP arrived but nobody else. The venue had two paying customers and they had driven 4 hours to the gig, so we all played our sets and treated it as a rehearsal for the SHOD festival the following day.
Back to the motel for some gambling, free beer-Mexican Chile bowls at 4 in the morning and a party with the Orodruin boys and MB in our room. Poor old Mike P can't take his smoke…he will learn haha. John fills us in on his theory of the evolution of doom metal and he has some very valid points….I think we got sidetracked by Frank accusing Mike P of having a German accent on stage of which Mike was quizzical, he turned-stoned and asked did he…Frank strikes again haha.
Myself and Aido go on a wander of the city and it is fucking dead-lights everywhere, plastic building, perfectly cleans streets but nobody on them but it was good to see. We were propositioned by a whore on the streets to join her and her man fiend at a party, no thanks. Back to the casino for fodder.

Some rest and on to Portland for the SHOD.
Drove and drove and again stopped in Denny's about 2 in the morning for food and Justin moaning about us stopping all the time but he availed of the opportunity to stock up too.
The day drive Pinky decided to send us on a mad route through the mountains and it was very beautiful, this was really mountain area, woods, deer and beautiful scenery. We drove through some hick town went in to a gas station and the young guy behind the counter asked for all our autographs, he didn't even know who we were. We all stopped for the sunset over the mountains and also a chance to relieve the cabin fever which had been building due to the lack of greenery. Some mad storms, some mad mountainous roads and some mad conversations later we arrived in Portland about 4 in the morning where we argued about where to stay eventually ending up in a Paki, cockroach infested hell hole which smelled of old people.
Woke up the next day and drove to the venue which took us about an hour to find even though we were only 5 minutes away, damn these one way systems. Finally found the place and on to the Radisson hotel where we were staying. Beautiful place and it seemed the HQ to bands and fans alike. We showered and decided to go for a beer in the bar before heading back to the venue where an amazing coincidence occurred.
A few years back as we were about to release the Dust cd we travelled to Belgium to see MDB in the Hof ter Lo where we handed out some fliers and met Magz behind the desk. Magz played some Mb songs, having just recorded them while we handed out fliers. This was the beginning for us as we met a lot of people that night who were to become long time friends. We were short on the old greenery and when two beautiful American ladies, AJ and Suzannah arrived with that particular smell we quickly hunted them down and shared a toke. 3 years later and MB on the last show of the American tour for TSS we find AJ and Suzannah in the lobby drinking. What a surprise, what a small world and what a community the doom community is. Ten thousand miles away and we meet the very ladies who saved our lives and heads that night. They were obviously heading to the SHOD fest and it just happens that AJ is about to be wed to the guy who was playing bass with the support band Asunder in San Fran. A small world indeed.

We arrived at the venue early and got best position for a stall, loaded all the gear in and were a bit worried about our collective time slot. Turns out it didn't matter as the crowd swelled very quickly to about 150 people. Orodruin played a great gig, as did TP and both even played some extra stuff and the crowd were very appreciative. During this time we met a guy who was at the DTG fest and he shared some greenery with us, he said it would keep us peaceful and it sure did. We took the stage and played the usual four to an absolute amazing response, the crowd cheered and cheered and we played a great set helped by this, it was great to end the tour on a high note and the crowd response just gave us the feeling that we didn't want to leave the stage that night, met a friendly strawberry lady who shared her cooking with me and we partied till the early hours with our friends TP, Orodruin, some porn stars and some other friendly folk-of course all in the MB hotel room.
Portland is a beautiful city, the people are as friendly as the people down south and nature surrounds just a mere 5 minutes away, the air is clean and we don't want to leave.
The DOA crew shared their final breakfast the next morning and said our goodbyes for now. 27 hours back to LA and dreams of the DSR next year.