evile Infecting Nations 2010 tour. Part 7.

Today we find ourselves in Nottingham, home of Thrash metal label Earache, the label that had the good foresight to sign Evile and put them on tours like this one! This is almost as exciting as getting to see my family in Manchester, me and Ol are up and changed quick smart so we can stroll on down to the Earache HQ and say hi to everyone.

Earache HQ is like a boys dream office. It is floor to ceiling Thrash C.D’s and posters and all sorts of cool bits and bobs. If you are lucky you can get to go in the stock room and grab a few t-shirts or C.D’s too. Tis a dream grotto in there, everything from Napalm Death stuff to Muni’ Waste, Iron monkey and of course Evile, stacked up high, wall to wall. I want to sleep in there.

Hugs and hello’s all round and the next half hour is spent talking business, Matt and Lyall came too so we get to go over merch sales, stock needed, tour itinerary and general queries about the up coming dates.

Digby himself gets out of a meeting and takes us to lunch at Pizza Express where the shop talk continues which is fine with everyone ‘cause we are totally loving what we are doing. The only time the re was silence at the table was when our food came which was for the most part massive pizzas. We say our goodbyes till this evening when the office will be coming to the gig pretty much on masse, and get our food coma arses back to the bus to load in. I have just eaten the most amazing pasta dish of life, I’m so sleepy I’m finding it massively hard to keep my eyes open. I’m getting tired just thinking back on it.

John Laux is jammin’ away on his own in some random part of the cold and empty venue so I go and hang out with him for a bit and shut my eyes for five minutes while I listen to his electric guitar. Could’ve stayed there all day but rumour has it this place has a washing machine so I pull myself up and get to the bus to gather my dirty laundry together with everyone else.

Merch will be found gaffa taped to brick tonight, in a relatively well lit back corner of the main area, where if I stand on the bench running the length of it, I can watch the whole show. Sweet. I get all ready and go next door to the rescue Rooms for dinner with Joel, Ol and Adam. Adam went to the oldest pub in Britain today, apparently it was fucking awesome and I’m kinda bummed I won’t get a chance to check it out for myself. I don’t get time to finish my dinner so take half of out in a doggy bag and race back to the venue to get on the merch stand, which Lyall has been covering for me while I eat.

A funny little constant puff of dry smoke is coming out from the top of the venue, left side of the stage, which in it’s pointlessness makes me laugh throughout the evening, and Kevill comes and entertains me heaps with his abundance of energy and brilliant Americanisms and all the silly shit we have made up in the last week. He never calls me Lucy but instead has christened me Lusar, which always puts a smile on my face and we go in to our stream of bullshit talk about FIB, a made up club him and Matt from Evile came up with on the first night who’s motto has over the last week become ‘Strength unt Honour’, said with meaning , purpose, German accent and fist in the air. You will never know what FIB stands for alas, that one stays on the bus.

Sales have started off well enough and The Fading are playing a fucking brutal set. The crowd are definitely in to them and they are getting stronger each show they play. I get a shout out ‘cause they can see me and Kevill up on the tables and chairs pumping our fists along with them and all is happy and well in the land of Thrash tonight.

So the bands played really fucking well tonight but the merch sales were wank. This a weird anomaly that happens now and again and totally bums me out for the next 24 hours until I get to do another merch stand and do better. It never fails to stress me out and I spend hours trying to figure out if it’s just that everyone is broke , in which case they could buy a sticker for a quid or a lighter for two or even a patch for three. Or is it ‘cause the merch stand looks shit? Everything laid out neatly and in an organised fashion though? Is it ‘cause they are spending all their money on booze? Joel say’s that the average gig goer will take 30 quid to a gig. Of that they will probably spend half of it on booze and save a fiver for getting home. So by rights each person has a tenner to spend on merch. So why the fuck are they not dammit? Stressed. And I’m pretty sure a kid nicked a lighter too the little fuck.

Still, I got to replenish the Evile hoodies when Earache brought them down. That’s how blah I feel about the merch tonight, excitement at more stock. What a gay. It was a fucking sick night with the Earache massive. Of course we got pretty steaming in the dressing rooms after the show, courtesy of our lovely friend Jager again and it was cool to hang out with friends and not get rushed out of the venue.

We hung out for ages and hit the club for a bit of stupid dancing to Emo. I nearly got in a fight at the bar with some lone dodgy Asian dude, and shoved him flying in to the people on his other side when he continued to act like a sex pest twat and bother me relentlessly. Then I had a row with the toilet attendant lady ‘cause she wouldn’t give me any bog roll without me giving her money. WTF? Bitch. Then I went with Adam and Joel and Lyall to the rave area and lo and behold bumped straight in to sex pest man again. At this point I grounded myself to the bus for fear of flying of the handle and kicking off properly. Everyone in that place seemed to be a complete cock that, since I am capable of humility, means it was probably me! Tut tut, off to bed.

evile Infecting Nations 2010 tour. Part 6.

So far, Manchester has been awesome. Yesterday was our day off and I got to bum about all day with Adam and John Laux from Warbringer. We had brunch at a mediocre student pub since we are bang slap in the middle of the university student land and then went for a wander up to the centre but only got as far as the first music shop. We spent the following couple of hours looking at instruments and the guys had a go on some beautiful guitars. Fucking geeks.

We headed back to the bus in time for my big bro’ to come pick me up and I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with my niece and nephew, aged two and five, eating barbecued jerk chicken and being tattooed by them with biro all up my arms.

Back to the bus and I’m drunk having put the little fragils to bed and knocked back a bottle of wine with my brother and sister in law, and after a fail of an attempt to find somewhere good to party I end up hanging out in the kitchen of the bus with Lyall, doing work and listening to anything but Thrash. I’m talking The Grit and the Dirty Dancing sound track. Ha! What? Don’t give a fuck. I was pretty drunk having said that. Jager sponsors Evile’s merch, so we have plenty of the wonderful nectar on the bus and are managing quite happily to cane a bottle a night at this point.

Having woken up the next day, me and Ol hit the same generic pub for grub and poo time. Unfortunately we do not miss load in, so that’s next. I set up the merch stall, another fucking hallway. The dressing room is forever away and the shower is a floor down from the dressing room. Still used it though since I never did get round to getting a bath at my Bro’s place ‘cause I was too busy getting pissed with him. A bad fake tan spray follows, which I will not know was bad till the next day when I wake up with soiled looking arms and hands, and back to the merch stand to realise, to my delight that I am down a hallway that no one even needs to walk through to get from the entrance to the stage. Fucking great. This is going to go well.

I have stocked up because the pre-sales were outstanding but I’m dubious as to how well I can do on merch sales when I might as well be in another fucking building. The security guy fucks me off as well, stared at me the whole time I’m setting the stall out. Fucking sex pest. I couldn’t even set up till late because the area had students walking around so I would have had to just sit there for an hour after. So I’m rushing to get everything sorted on the shittest merch stand ever to date, and I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before but this is the new winner.

On the upside I get to see Dan Brown, a friend of mine who did work at Earache, which is rad ‘cause he’s a real little sweetie and I can trust him on the stall while I go for toilet breaks or ciggies.

To be quite honest with you, what can I say about Manchester. I was down a hallway on my own, bored shitless. I made good sales for the bands. I was bored. I was bored. I was bored. Very fucking bored. Even Vodka and Coke couldn’t alleviate my boredom. I nicked me some Warbringer merch to butcher with some scissors and rock out in on another night. I packed up. I went to bus then went to bunk. Laters.

evile Infecting Nations 2010 tour. Part 5.

The stillness of the bus wakes me, the stillness and the quiet. There is some distant thumping around, some one down the back of the bus is stumbling out blearily trying to assert themselves. I need a smoke so bad right now and wish for the umpteenth time that I don’t have to trek out in to the cold lunch time air to have one.

Biting the bullet, I chuck some layers on, roll a smoke and practically fall out the bus looking like some skag head fiend desperate for their next fix. As I light up my ciggie, I look up and from under my hood see half a dozen young boys dressed in their Evile t-shirts looking over at me with their mouths hanging open in pure shock horror. Oh fuck, just ruined so many school boy fantasies, sorry, my bad.

It is fucking odd having fans waiting around before the bus has even pulled up though that’s for sure. Going for some dinner after sound check leads to kids stopping which ever band member you’re with for photo’s and autographs and excited banter on their part met with confusion on the bands part. It’s pretty surreal but nostalgic at the same time. I used to turn up to gigs early and stay late, hanging around in the vain hope that you will get to meet the band and some of that rockness will rub off on you.

In Manchester we had these kids outback who were there when we got up playing their music out of a ghetto blaster, drinking beers and totally not interfering in any way. Just chilling, making a day of it. Fucking ruled, that’s some passion right there.

Back in side the bus I sit down for the next instalment of childhood boydom with Joel and Adam and watch back to the future 2. What the fuck, that film is off the chart confusing! We are literally in hysterics at the ridiculous time travelling misadventures of Doc Brown and Marty. Just watching these two is exhausting, remember they still haven’t stopped since the beginning of the first film. Jeez. I bosh down a Burger king meal before load in ‘cause I’m so hungry I don’t think I can actually get load in done without eating some sort of shit in me.

Tonight we will find ourselves at Newcastle O2 Academy. That means we get some tasty dressing rooms with showers thank fuck. I have the best shower in the world ever and get some spray tan time down, slut it up and get up to where my little merch stand will be based this fine Geordie eve. Oh fucking grand, I’m in a hallway. Joy. Fun times ahead.

Seriously though, one of the most boring times of my life right there. And I’m tired, so fucking tired. The two just go hand in hand skipping throughout my sub-consciousness. Tired and bored, bored and tired. The funniest thing that happened to me that night was this…..Halfway through Evile’s set, some little kid came tearing out of the main stage area, stopped just short of my stand, bent over and puked his little thrash guts up three times in a row all over the Academy flooring. Ha!

Awww bless the little fucker, I did let him know that if he swung round there was actually a bin behind him but I think he was pretty much empty by then. Ah well thought was there, unfortunately it wasn’t too useful ‘cause it didn’t come out my mouth till I had stopped laughing.

Back to the dressing room though ‘cause some important shit went down, a discovery was made. Phantom Menace has the most amazing rogue reviewer covering the whole shit shebang from start to finish, picked apart in seven genius parts. Oh how we laughed. I don’t know why I’m being sarcastic, we laughed are fucking arses off, I watched it again later with some of the Warbringer boys and laughed so hard all over again that nearly wee’d my pants. I believe at this point, everyone on the bus has seen it and enjoyed it to the point of tears. Look it up.

Yeah so Newcastle was piss boring for me, I was stuck in a hallway, it was all a bit corporate, but on the upside I had a lovely shower and fake tan time and spent the night safe in the knowledge that the next day would be a day off in Manchester Thank fucking god, I am so God damn tired.

The routine is as follows, as it has been every night, pack up, load out and hit the booze. Tonight though is different, I genuinely am too fucking tired. I traipse after the other usual losers I love because I’m too weak willed to just stay in, but, after 10 minutes of walking in the freezing fucking cold, I turn back and admit that tonight I am a big gay and need to be in the bus.

A McDonalds later I’m tucked up in my lounge clothes and thick socks in the kitchen with Adam and Joel my movie buddies and Lyall and Evile’s long time friend Alex, ready to watch Back to the future three! I’m well loving being a boy, usually fucking hate Back to the future, Die Hard and all those boy flick types but I am totally in to it now. Shit. Back to the future is a hell of a lot less confusing than the second one thank fuck. I mean, I watched all these when I was young but years of toxic self abuse means I cannot for the life of me remember any of them so it’s all fresh and new yet familiar at the same time!

Back to the future done, it’s upstairs as the bus pulls off to watch Planet Terror. I get so near the end but fall at the last hurdle and sleep, pack myself off to bed and dream of my day off in Manchester where I will get to see my big Bro and little niece and nephew, have some home cooked food and possibly even a bath.

Evile Infecting Nations 2010 tour. Part 4.

Dude so I got to bed fucking early last night ( 4am ) and wasn’t drunk but still didn’t wake up till noon today. What a lazy bastard I am. On the up side…we in Glasgow innit bruv! Fuckin’ love Glasgow! Last time I was here was with Bonded By Blood and Cauldron and I had the best time. Plus, Lyall lives here. Plus, Evile have always had a blinding time here. WIN.

First stop after the usual ritual of falling out of the bunk and chucking jacket and boots over track suit I’ve slept on, is cross the road to The Goose pub to grab some grub and use their bathroom facilities. I get the Sunday roast, ‘cause apparently it’s Sunday, who’d of guessed mate honestly, no idea what day it is. Kevill gets some pie shit and The Fading get told to leave ‘cause they are wearing tracksuit bottoms? I mean dude I get this rule if it’s evening time but it’s fucking noon. Jeez get a grip Goose staff. Needless to say they end up changing and coming back. I chow down, food doesn’t hit the sides style and get my skaggy self upstairs to fix up.

I bump in to Adam outside the bus and we have a quick jaunt to Superdrug to pick up some shampoo and then I have a fucking blinding ‘me time’ style browse round Fopp wishing that I had money to burn. A massive book later it’s back to the bus lounge to work on some writing while Laux plays the Blues C.D he bought at Fopp. I finally finish a blog and get to post it, which is immense ‘cause it took a lot to get that fucker down. I feel a massive wave of relief and bum around for the next hour setting up my merch stand, getting changed and slutting myself up.

Matt read my blog ‘cause I’m stressing about it again and says that he thinks it’s good and flows better than the other ones I’ve done, awwww bless him. So I hate it and he likes it, which is good enough for me and will have to do ‘cause it’s up now eh! I write some more blog shit, pour a drink and hit the stand just as doors open.

Sales start immediately and are fucking amazing from the offset and the verdict is in, Glasgow Cat House rules. And by the by, I seem to have got myself a security fan club going which can only ever be a win situation right?! A couple of them are actually cute as well. Fuck yeah I can see some quality flirting time coming my way.

I took myself off to grab a sarnie and pour a drink and got to meet one of Evile’s fans that had been following my blog on Terrorizer on the last tour. It has amazed me how many people have come up to me over the last week and asked if I’m Merch girl and complimented me on my writing. It also throws me when they talk about my last blog after Mike’s death and how choked up it got them. This bloke in front of me was welling up, it was proper intense and I felt really bad ‘cause I had to get back to the stall. Made a real mark though.

All the bands played a fucking amazing show that night for sure, the whole night and everyone in it was in sync to be their most awesome gnarly thrashness including the people who came to the show. The Warbringer fans were funny as fuck, the guys signed the usual tickets and C.D’s and also got to sign some white high tops, which I thought was fucking genius! The stall did so well we had to replenish it with Evile stuff during the evening and by the time I wrapped it up, it was clear that it was the best sales night yet and time to get trashed to celebrate! Jager test tube shots backstage courtesy of the lovely Jager people who sponsor Evile’s merch and the party had officially started.

Get this though, The Warbringer lot and The Fading lot don’t want to come out? I think we broke them, we being me and Lyall obviously. So off we trot, and sure enough within the next hour the usual suspects are out on masse and it all goes pear shaped as we know and love it to.

The 3am bus call is met, with a motley crew of drunk fucks aboard it having danced and drank the night away, and I fall asleep in my bunk all snuggled up looking out my little window at the dawn rising over the beautiful Scottish landscapes.

Evile Infecting Nations 2010 tour. Part 3.

Fuck about last night was vicious! Hang over city on the bus this morning I can tell you. And, the bus is in total darkness ‘cause we can’t get hooked up to the clubs power ‘till some one comes and opens it. And, I have just come on my period. Today can die.

Chucking my clothes on as fast as I can in such a hung dog state, I bump in to Lyall in our little bus hallway and ask where the public toilets are. He starts telling me, I yell at him quietly in true maniac pre-menstrual womanly finesse that he can fucking come with me ‘cause I’m not about to wonder round his home town in this state looking for a necessary convenience that one should not have to leave one’s abode to fucking use.

We are in York, hometown of our formidable Tour Manager Lyall and Britain’s most haunted pub. Apparently. Blah. York is fucking beautiful and the other two bands enjoyed wandering round it.

Lyall quickly becomes my hero for the day by telling me that we are going round his mum’s house to grab a hot shower while everyone is still asleep and I try and hold it together and not cry! I haul my shit together at the bus and curtail it out of there and on to the more normal run of the mill bus up to Lyall’s mums house.

I could not get out of the shower, it was like the best thing in the whole fucking world and the first time I had been warm in what seemed like forever. If it wasn’t for Lyall needing it next I would have stayed in it till the water ran cold for fucking sure! By the time he’s done, I’ve pimped myself up and look decent enough to d=face humanity again.

Tesco’s gets a visit for a fry up but fails to deliver and we are left eating shit macaroni cheese and potato’s instead. Adam, the guitarist from Warbringer rang to tell Lyall him and The Fading boys were off on a wander and I took great delight in telling him about my hot shower incurring plenty of name calling off him. Adam is my fave I reckon, he looks like Jay from Jay and silent Bob and is funny as fuck. Proper dry, British sense of humour, sly like. He’s great to hang out with and chat, him and Lyall have been up till the morning chatting about random shit every night so far. Very intelligent guy.

Slowly but surely the stories of last nights shenanigans start to creep out of our mouths. We are still coming clean about our crimes and sins on the bus back to…the bus. Turns out there was way more misbehaving than I was aware of, and yet again I feel proud and honoured to be amongst such bastions of society! I think Lyall didn’t notice the old grannies sitting around him as he regaled me with filthy antics although knowing Lyall he probably wasn’t that arsed anyway. Needless to say I laughed till I cried and suddenly the world was O.K again! Filthy beggar.

Back at the bus I power napped away the next three hours in a bid to stop feeling like such shit and Lyall woke me after the load in had been done, bless those boys I really needed to not be loading in. Win.

So still I’m finding it difficult to write but finally I manage to get some words down on the laptop and before I know it I’ve actually posted! Thank fuck for that. Jeez. I set up the stand, get my shit together and go outside for one last ciggie before doors open. There are already people queuing, which is rad, and York turns out to be a successful merch night and a great gig for all three bands. In fact it was the best so far.

The Fading get a great response, Warbringer get a circle pit going and we find out later that Lyall’s mate Richard broke two fingers in it! Awesome. The Fading are getting so much better with each gig, it’s amazing to watch the progression. Warbringer are a fucking shit hot band, Laux is an outstanding , mesmerising guitarist, Kevill is totally with the audience the whole way through to the point where I always think he’s about to launch himself in and join them, Adam is banging his head throughout and Nic is holding it all together at the back.

A tired but very happy bunch of metal misfits traipse on to the bus after loading out and after a couple of hours of chilling, of video games, a few drinks, and some net surfing, everyone’s wanders off to bunks and all is quiet at a reasonably early time of about 3am.

Evile Infecting Nations 2010 tour. Part 2.

Wrexham. Wales. I wake up all cosy in my bunk, at some point I must have stopped being freezing and started being boiling in my hoody, tracksuit bottoms and socks ‘cause now I’m sleeping in a reasonable amount of clothing. I climb out and stagger to the toilet, head fuzzy with a bit of hangover and find a delightful notice stuck to the seat informing me that the toilet hasn’t been emptied and is full of wee. Lovely. Seems Steve our driver didn’t count on us drinking quite so much and therefore having to get rid of quite so much eh! Tut tut. I chuck my bon Jovi boots on, that Lyall put in the freezer last night when we were all drunk, throw on some layers and trek off to find a café that will let me use their pisser.

Me mum gives me a call, to see not just how I am, but how the guys are holding up. She met them and Mike when they came to pick me up on the last tour and being a typical mum is full of worry and concerns. Bless her. I’m not sure that when she was raising me she would have been happy to know that one day she would be talking to me over the phone while I’m wandering around Wales looking for somewhere to piss, you know the tone of voice I’m talking about! Still, I tell her last night went well and promise her that I will behave ( Don’t worry, I crossed fingers) and head back to the bus.

Matt, the front man of Evile and Joel are watching Back to the Future in the kitchen, so I sit with them and watch the man flick while at the same time being horrified by how many microwave burgers are being zapped by The Fading. The smell is rank and me and Joel have to step off the bus several times to get some fresh ciggie air.

Once the venue is opened, we unload the gear in yet more freezing weather. Warbringer sleep through, jet lag and hung over no doubt! I find the ladies toilets and set about baby wipe washing since there are no showers for us today. I feel worrying clean and refreshed after that but still look forward to Manchester where I can drop in on my big bro’ and have a bath!

The venue we are in tonight is weird, one of the staff is shit and I’m feeling a bit off about the whole thing. We chow down our food, which has been cooked by the café attached to the venue while watching The Simpsons and then all get about our tasks, sound checking, instrument maintenance and merch stall set up.

Setting up the stand tonight is way easier ‘cause I know all the stock and I packed the boxes the night before, it looks pretty rad and I start getting excited about the night ahead. Until that is, I find out some rather worrying news. Low ticket sales. Fuck. By the time Evile come on stage, there are fifty-one people. 51 fucking people. As you can imagine, I sold out of stock completely and we all went home. Sold out of all three bands stock. Did I fuck, jeez, the few people who had come were obviously so broke they couldn’t even shell out a quid for a fucking sticker.

So I’m just kicking back really, getting a bit tipsy, watching the show. The Fading Bassist has been playing bass for Warbringer too. Warbringer’s bassist is unable to make the first two weeks of the tour due to health reasons and so Elad has amazingly learnt all the songs and is playing both gigs every night! What a fucking legend. There have been drum kit issues too. Ben from Evile is letting the other two drummers use his gear and Nic from Warbringer is having trouble working on it. Other than this the gig is going well considering there is barely anyone there!

During Evile’s set I start missing Mike massively. Then I well up. Then I have to go to the toilet and I lock myself in a cubicle and fucking cry like a bitch. This would be the low after the high of last night. I was so intent on last night being amazing, first gig back and all. So intent on being all stiff upper lip for the guys, who rightfully do not need people around them who are finding it hard when you can only imagine what this is like for them.

Tonight was the bitch slap, wake up call, loudspeaker in your face…Mike’s not here. Evile are on tour. Everything reminds you of Mike, of Sweden and that day in Sweden, at least half a dozen times a day you catch yourself thinking where’s Mike? Forgetting that he isn’t on tour. I still expect him to be there, it’s fucking weird and upsetting. I get it out my system, and get back out there. Lyall is right, there’s only one thing for it, drink a lot.

We pack up and hit the bar in earnest. I am a serious drinker at the best of times but tonight I’m trying to forget that this tour is actually quite fucking sad and hard and that subsequently I have severe writers block and still cannot write anything.

Drinks and dancing later and it’s off to bed. Only joking, not gonna leave out the good stuff eh?! I was necking back the vodka from the rider with Dr.Pepper, there was Jager all over the shop, Lyall and Kevill were doing drinking competitions, Joel and Ben were chugging away, even Ol was out. The Fading and Warbringer boys were all out and the club quickly filled up around us.

Look see, as we all know, what happens on tour, stays on tour. And I realise I’m writing about what happens on tour but you better believe there are juicy bits left out.

Many, many people got lucky that night, some with more than one person, there may have been vomit, there was a stupid fucking amount of booze and eventually there was a ridiculously loud party in the back of the bus between bands before finally everyone resigned themselves to the fact that it was the morning and way past bunk time.

Evile Infecting Nations 2010 tour.

“A woman walks in to the bar and asks for a double entendre, so the Barman gives her one”. Oh Ol Drake you winner you. Least he’s awake and he’s telling jokes, but jeez, bad joke man, bad joke. The dude is not asleep so I’m letting him off. Just this once mind.

Ladies and Gentleman, The Evile infected Nations tour 2010. We have just left Luton Airport and the 18 man Night liner that we are travelling in is packed to the rafters. We have Steve the driver, Lyall the tour manager, Warbringer from L.A who are the main support and The Fading from Israel, the openers. All along for an Evile adventure. Oh and me, Merch girl.

I’m back kid’s, for two weeks only alas, but two weeks none the less, for the U.K leg of a six week tour. First stop, Cardiff, Wales. Nice.

O.K so let me come clean. Cardiff turned out to be such a fucking outstanding night of debauchery that this blog did not get written. And Wrexham? Wrongness till the morn’. So here I sit, still fucking shivering and freezing in Fibbers in York attempting to get everything down before my fingers go numb. Let me tell you what when down…

First sleep was Wednesday night and it was fucking freezing. That’s for starters. And we were only in London. I literally woke up shivering on way too many occassions throughout the night, parked up there in the underground car park. Kinda dreading getting up North to be honest because this is only gonna get worse, especially when you add lack of sleep and food in to the equation.

The bus dynamics are predictable for day 1, the Evile lot are up at the front chatting, The Fading are in the back lounge chatting and Warbringer are scattered between. There’s not a huge amount of mixing, everyone’s being polite and shit, pleasantries are made but other than that it’s all a bit new and weird. Exceptions there are, of course and the exception to this rule is one Mr John Kevill, front man of the mighty Warbringer. The guy is fucking hilarious. He is bounding around the bus between bands, I can tell out right that he is going to be the loud one that wakes everyone up all the time and trashes the bus but for now he is on fire. Totally laid back and chatty and definitely helping to ease the rest of the bus in to the same laid back manner.

The Cardiff Barfly is sold out and we are late. The pressure is on to get everything sorted before doors open. As soon as we have unloaded all of the three bands worth of equipment in to the venue, me and Lyall get straight in to the joyful task of stock check. Fuck My Life in the back of that trailer. In the dark and freezing cold we spent over an hour counting every bit of stock for Evile and Warbringer. Stock checks are depressing at the best of times but that was one of the most miserable times of my life right there. Thank fuck I don’t have to do it again until Wolverhampton. Fucking winter.

I set the stall up in record speed at the back of the room while the bands finish up sound check and start clearing the rider in to the bus. First set up is always long, getting shirts sorted in to workable piles so you know where everything is for quick sales. Just as I’m finishing sticking prices up and scribbling down a sales sheet, the doors are opened and people start spilling in.

I’m selling for all three bands, and all three bands sold well. Sweet start to the tour!

The Fading get up on stage and by the end of their set they have the crowd worked up in to a thrash frenzy. Turns out, this is their first ever tour! WTF? They did such an amazing job, English is their second language but they chatnervously between songs and are brilliantly received.

Warbringer are fucking A all over the shop! They definitely remind of Bonded By Blood but way more evil and I think that’s just the L.A connection too. The laid back style. It’s cool to see them performing it’s very removed from just hanging out with them on the bus.

By this time I have cracked open the Vodka and am in full merch swing. There’s something not right though eh? Mike’s not here. Evile have a new bassist, introducing Joel.

Joel is one cool motherfucker. From the minute I met him, he was laid back smiles, open with a spark in his eyes. Check how gay I am for him! I guess because you can still see the nerves in him, this is a big fucking deal after all. Obviously I was intrigued to see what he would be like on stage, what the chemistry would be like between them all. First couple of songs in there are nerves for sure. An amazing reaction from the audience helps no doubt to disperse this. Matt says a few words and bam, they are in full thrash swing, new songs and old for the next hour to a killer audience and the whole place is sweaty and buzzing and chanting by the end of it.

We pack up, I sort out the merch money and hand it out and then we take as much of the rider as we can carry, including Evile’s Baywatch posters and hit the bus. Pammy goes up in the toilet and drinks are poured, cans cracked open and…this is where it all goes wrong!

Wrong in the best possible sense of the word of course. We were down at that bar making the most of the cheap Welsh drink prices till bus call at 2am. I don’t know how many Jager Bombs we knocked back? I don’t know how many cheesy 80’s Metal tracks we danced to? I do know that the last men standing so to speak were Lyall, Adam and John Laux the guitarists from Warbringer and me. All stretched out in the lounge on the bus drinking even more and chatting about god only knows what.

Good times in the venue before that found Ben the drummer from Evile, Joel the new boy, Nic the drummer from Warbringer and a couple of The Fading out on the dance floor or propping the bar up till the end! A fucking awesome first night and definitely a great way to start a difficult tour. Difficult because Mike is all around us in his absence.

For example, he was one of the party crew for sure. One of the reliefs that I have about Joel, is that he drinks and likes a party. See, Mike was always Bens drinking buddy, and one of the worries that me and Lyall had about this tour, was that Ben wouldn’t have that. It’s not gonna be the same, Joel is not Mike after all, but Evile are in a new chapter in their lives and it helps that although Joel is a new member, he bares striking similarities to Mike. I don’t know if that sounds stupid or not, but it’s all the things that matter, not just the big things, but the little things too.

I guess in a sub conscious way this is another reason why I have writers block. I am finding it so fucking hard to write about this tour. It seems wrong to have fun, to laugh. It seems wrong to talk about Joel in a positive way. It seems wrong to mention that Evile are O.K, wounded and scarred but getting on with it none the less. And it is incredibly hard to write about Joel without drawing comparisons to Mike. Anyway, enough for now, time to finish the story….

I wake up around 6 or 7 in the morning passed out cold in the lounge, my throat is dry so I’m pretty sure I’ve been snoring, I look over and Laux from Warbringer is passed out too, Adam is shuffling in to his bunk and we come to, stagger up and follow suit. Man this is gonna hurt when we wake up.

When we do wake up, we are in Wrexham. A shit night that ends well will be what today brings us.