Tagged: Kelly Sundown Carpenter

A tour that’ll be like heaven on earth!

Things are really shaping up, slowly but surely – to exactly what I want life to be!

Steel Panther in Manchester, D.A.D in Gothenburg, interview with Sebastian Bach (again), the Gus G/Marty Friedman solo tour this spring, Rob Zombie and Megadeth later this summer, festivals….

Was really glad to hear that Jo (Nunez – drummer of Firewind) is going to be part of the Gus/Marty tour-package as well. What a kick-ass lineup.
And all of those guys are great, down to earth kind of people:
Mats Leven, Gus, Marty, Jo. And that’s just a bonus besides the fact that they are all just ridiculously good musicians!

This tour will be like heaven on earth for a music-geek like me. :)

And I’m never as happy as when I get a reason to pack my bags and go somewhere, anywhere. It’s that challenge, the adventure, the thrill, all the things that make me feel alive!

I’ve got my flights, trains, buses and hotels all sorted out for a few shows. I’ll devote next week to sorting out the Germany and BeNeLux-dates, as the logistics aren’t as simple and logical as they have been in the past. The distances are longer this time and not in “the right order”. So, I’ve got to figure out how to do it, as smoothly as possible and as cheap as possible. THAT is what I love doing. :)

The kicks I get from travelling like this, are almost on the same level as music itself. I’ll even put up with people who don’t get it and think that this whole thing is about “stalking”. That’s not what this is. I just choose to live my life this way instead of spending my money on expensive things. I want experiences and memories for life!

I started travelling for rock’n’roll in the early 90’s. The first band I started seeing “everywhere” was Skid Row. Then it was Judas Priest, and then just whatever I felt like seeing, cause there was a LOT to choose from in the late 80’s, early 90’s!

The first time I was really welcomed as a part of the “family” was with Jon Oliva’s Pain (Oliva, ex-Savatage). Went on a few tours and gigs of Europe with them, had a great time. Those are memories for life, I’ll never forget those days.
That’s something that’s on my “things-to-do-before-I-die”-list. Get on another tour, have my own bunk and just be out there for however long the tour lasts. I’ve honestly never felt more at home or more content anywhere else in my life.

I had no idea I would end up going to that many Gus G/Firewind-shows, but I found myself enjoying it so much that I just kept vagabonding from country to country, city to city, from small clubs to festivals… And now I don’t even think anymore, I just do it, because it’s a BLAST! :)
Life is way too short to deny yourself things that make you happy. :)

According to my calculations, I will have seen Gus shred his ass off live on stage no less than 50 times by the time I get to MUNICH on this tour. That will be gig number 50 in… 3 years. Call it crazy but let me tell you – I can’t think of a whole lot that would have been more worth the time or the effort. :D

And it’s always been something different. The Ozzy shows are nowhere near the same thing as Firewind. Not even Firewind has always been the same. During these 3 years I’ve already seen the band with 3 different singers: Apollo, Mats Leven and Kelly Sundown Carpenter. NOW it’s going to be yet another situation which I’m so curious to see! All I know is that it’s going to kick ass. Bring it on! :D

[Firewind with APOLLO]

[Firewind with MATS LEVÉN]
[Firewind with KELLY SUNDOWN CARPENTER]

The madness so far – and future insanity!

DATE ARTIST VENUE CITY COUNTRY
December 1, 2010 OZZY Madison Square Garden New York City USA
January 7, 2011 Firewind Relentless Garage London UK
June 11, 2011 OZZY Sweden Rock Festival Solvesborg Sweden
June 15, 2011 OZZY Olympiahalle Munich Germany
June 17, 2011 OZZY Rockhal Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg
June 25, 2011 Firewind Graspop festival Dessel Belgium
July 6, 2011 Firewind Kaftanzoglio stadium / Stop That Sound 2310 festival Thessaloniki Greece
July 8, 2011 Firewind Sonisphere festival Knebworth UK
August 9, 2011 OZZY Ergo Arena Gdansk Poland
August 11, 2011 OZZY Smukfest festival Skandeborg Denmark
September 10, 2011 Firewind Moho Live Manchester UK
September 11, 2011 Firewind Cathouse Glasgow Scotland
September 12, 2011 Firewind Sub 89 Reading UK
September 16, 2011 Firewind Rock Temple Kerkrade NL
September 17, 2011 Firewind Biebob Vosselaar Belgium
September 18, 2011 Firewind Underground Köln (Cologne) Germany
October 9, 2011 Firewind State Theatre S:t Petersburg Florida / USA
October 10, 2011 Firewind Masquerade Atlanta USA
October 12, 2011 Firewind Gramercy Theatre New York City New York / USA
January 14, 2012 Firewind Fuzz Club Athens Greece
June 2, 2012 OZZY Malmö Stadium Malmö Sweden
June 4, 2012 OZZY Westfalenhalle Dortmund Germany
June 22, 2012 OZZY Graspop Festival Dessel Belgium
July 18, 2012 Firewind Mylos Thessaloniki Greece
September 14, 2012 Firewind Moho Manchester UK
September 15, 2012 Firewind Button Factory Dublin Ireland
September 28, 2012 Firewind Knust Hamburg Germany
September 29, 2012 Firewind Godset Kolding Denmark
October 4, 2012 Firewind Underground Cologne Germany
October 5, 2012 Firewind Hedon Zwolle Netherlands
October 6, 2012 Firewind Biebob Vosselaar Belgium
December 15, 2012 Firewind 8Ball Club Thessaloniki Greece
December 16, 2012 Firewind 8Ball Club Thessaloniki Greece
January 3, 2013 Firewind Masquerade Atlanta Georgia, USA
January 6, 2013 Firewind The Gramercy Theatre New York City New York, USA
April 27, 2013 Firewind Rock In Den Ruinen (outdoor festival) Dortmund Germany
June 7, 2013 Firewind Sweden Rock Festival Solvesborg/Norje Boke Sweden
October 31, 2013 Firewind Manning Bar Sydney Australia
November 1, 2013 Firewind The Hi-Fi Brisbane Australia
November 2, 2013 Firewind Fowlers Live Adelaide Australia
November 3, 2013 Firewind Corner Hotel Melbourne Australia
  RELATED GIGS 2013
January 5, 2013 Nightrage (Jo Nunez) Trädgårn/Gothenburg Sound Festival Gothenburg Sweden
April 15, 2013 Spiritual Beggars (Apollo) The Logo Hamburg Germany
September 22, 2013 Craze (Apollo) Kajskjulet Halmstad Sweden
October 12, 2013 Spiritual Beggars (Apollo) 8Ball Club Thessaloniki Greece
October 26, 2013 Gus G Rockmässan / Swedish Metal Convention Malmö Sweden
2014 Gus G (solo) Block 33 Thessaloniki Greece
May 1, 2014 Gus G (solo) Klubi Tampere Finland
May 2, 2014 Gus G (solo) Nosturi Helsinki Finland
May 3, 2014 Gus G (solo) Stockholm Rocks Festival Stockholm Sweden
May 5, 2014 Gus G (solo) Trädgårn Gothenburg Sweden
May 7, 2014 Gus G (solo) KB Malmö Sweden
May 12, 2014 Gus G (solo) Backstage Munich Germany
May 21, 2014 Gus G (solo) O2 Islington Academy London UK

More to come. :)

Rockin’ it down under!

This year has been pretty slow so far, travel-wise – by my standards. And the reason is that I wanted to do something DIFFERENT this time. Instead of travelling all over Europe and occasionally to the US, I figured that I want to go to AUSTRALIA. But as I’m not the “touristy” type, I was looking for a good excuse to go – and I got it! :-)

The band that gets me out there on the road most of the time (it’s a great band to follow if you’re into the whole travelling-thing, cause they’re out there most of the year, all over the place) – FIREWIND, is going on a short tour to Australia in October/November. And I’ve just bought my ticket to go see those gigs. Woo-hoo!

And this time, I’m really making it a trip to remember. I chose to travel with Emirates – voted Airline of The Year 2013. And I’m booked in business-class. 

If I’m EVER going to spend money on travelling in business-class, it’s for a trip like this where you’ll be spending about 30 hours in a plane! You want to be comfortable for that.

So I booked that, and started reading about all the benefits, and it starts even BEFORE I board! I’ve been so excited all day about my forthcoming Aussie-trip!

Complimentary chauffeur that picks me up to drive me TO and FROM the airport! How nice to arrive somewhere and have someone waiting for you with your name on a sign! No standing in line fighting for taxis…..! HEAVEN!

You get access to the business-lounge at Copenhagen airport, Dubai airport….

You can breeze right through security in your own fast-track (same goes at check-in).

The seats can be turned into real, flat beds (and has built-in massage and all!). Your own large work-table, entertainment-system, Wi-Fi on board, complimentary champagne, drinks – a menu to choose from anytime you want…

I mean, the list goes on. If there is EVER a good reason to pay up for this kind of luxury, it’s when you’re travelling for more than 24 hours. :)

Take a look at this presentation of their lounge and business-class seats!!

I got my “local” Australia- flights sorted out as well – this is my route:

Sydney – Brisbane

Brisbane – Adelaide

Adelaide – Melbourne

4 gigs in 4 days, I have NO idea how I’m going to cope, cause I suspect that the jetlag is going to knock me out… I’ve never gone east before, so I will most likely be beat…. However, it’s just another adventure, but an Adventure DeLuxe!

I love all the planning, the hotels, the detective work to find addresses, the best ways to get from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the venue, from the venue to wherever… I mean, all that stuff is so much fun, I get such a kick doing the preparations!

I should be working with this full time, but it just never happened that way.

If there are any up and coming bands out there looking for someone to plan their tour – gimme a shout!

I know how to find the best options at the best prices, I’ve been doing it for myself for years already, this is definitely my turf. :)

Also looking forward to meeting my long-time online-friend Clint from Melbourne, this trip will absolutely, totally rock! :))