OZZFEST

I drove down Monday night for the Tuesday Ozzfest hoping to get some rest before the 9am gate opening. While I was driving I got an emergency call from Tyler - there was no ice or beer on the bus!!! I pulled into an HEB along the highway and grabbed a case of Lone Star and a bag of ice. The beers were cold enough to drink when I pulled into the lot at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in front of the tent. The road crew had been working hard all day to get things ready for the morning. I said hello to everyone and then Tyler and Angela hopped in my car and we drove over to the bus. The first beers were opened and then they dropped the bomb, it was nearly midnight and we would be doing morning news which meant getting up at 5:30 am and being camera ready. There was talk of staying up all night but a few beers later everyone crawled into bunks for a couple fitful hours of sleep.

Somehow, we managed to pull off the morning news shoot with aplomb and even get a brief nap in before opening the show - though we were a bit late on the 9am gate. We did around 8-9 shows for great crowds in traditional ten-in-one style. When Ozzy took the stage we took a break and then gave them one more show after his set.

Before I headed back to Austin, I hung around backstage for awhile catching up with friends who happened to be there - like Disturbed from the 2005 Fall Jager Tour and some friend who were out working for SOAD.

EMOS

I rarely do hometown shows - mostly because I am simply not here that much with my touring schedule - so I was really happy to be at Emos doing a show. The crowd was small but energetic and easy to connect with. Meghan came out but I think she was mainly happy to meet Timmy the 'worlds smallest horse' and get her picture with Jesse and Chuy. Unexpectedly during the show, I ended up smashing a concrete block on Zamora's chest as he lay on the bed of blades. I believe this was the first time I have ever smashed a block on someone else after having thousands broken on myself. Near the end of the show I decided to smash another one as it hung from earlobes - another first.

GYPSY TEA ROOM

For the Dallas show, Jon from the road crew - who I have known for some time actually, had arranged to suspend as a special addition to the show. So, our friend Allen came by to rig the suspension and pierce Jon.