Tour Wrap Up Post

Well, the tour is over and I'd have to say that yes, it was a success! All band members and crew on this tour were just awesome. I actually didn't interact much with the Black Dahlia Murder guys, as we were in opposite parts of the clubs every night, but their tour manager Mike was always cool and ready to help. The SkeletonWitch guys were remarkably nice, funny, and cool. A real pleasure to be around, and always put on an awesome show with lots of energy!
We did a bus-share with Hour of Penance who were also part of our crew, and they were super cool as well. (Let's see how many times I can use the word "cool" in one paragraph).
A HUGE thanks to Alison Webster for taking over my job at home while I was out on tour. You ROCK! (Even if she's not reading this, she still rocks, haha).

Now time to mow this crazy yard (it hasn't been mowed in a month), pay the bills (yes, bills still come even when you're not home), and reset to "Home Mode".

By the way, Nile's newest album will be released on July 3rd (June 29 in Europe)!
At the Gate of Sethu Release Details

Hour of Penance Tearin' it Up, OK!

Hour of Penance

SkeletonWitch Puttin' on a Helluva Show!

SkeletonWitch - They do NOT disappoint!

Fucking NILE!

Still Fucking NILE!

Black Dahlia Murder in Black and White

It's impossible to get a non-blurry photo of BDM
with a point-and-shoot camera.

"No pictures, please!"

My brother Steve took a bus from NYC
to come to visit us in Philly! Rock on!

Slipped Disc

Ouch! I seem to have a slipped disc in my upper back (yay for tour bus beds!) - Maye I'll be able to hit up a Chiropractor in PA on our "day off" and spend half a week's pay to fix it, haha.
Ow-eeee!

I Wish Every Day Was This METAL!

I'm at "Death on the Vine" at Bogart's in Cincinnati, OH right now - Our tour joined forces for the night with the Cannibal Corpse tour. It is, in a word, AWESOME!
I was kind of pissy about it at first only because doors opened to the public at 3:00pm (instead of the usual 7:00pm) which totally knocked out my getting ready and eating a meal time. But its turning out to be a really good day (so far)!
It's 7:00pm and Arkaik, Hour of Penance, Abysmal Dawn, and Skeleton Witch have played so far - Exhumed is on stage right now - Next is Nile, BDM, then Cannibal Corpse.
So hell yeah for a day and night of metal!

UPDATE: It's now at the late hour of 8:41pm (haha) - Nile just finished up. The crowd is still great, and the bands I'm sharing the merch area with are super super cool. Thanks to everyone for making this a killer night!

Seeing the Country

Most of the time when we're driving from gig to gig, we're getting whatever sleep we can. I happened to be up to catch part of this drive through the desert and took some pics. I'm from South Florida, so this was pretty cool to me...

Took the pics, then crawled back in my bunk, put my ear plugs in, and got some shut-eye before arriving at the next locale.

Party Like a Rock Star!

Ever wonder what goes on in those crazy death metal tour buses? Well here's a little peak...

The Big Texan! Home of the Free 72 ounce Steak!

So we all went here last night: The Big Texan on our little day off in Amarillo, TX, and actually had a really good time! It was all 12 of us eatin' steak (except Todd), drankin' dranks, and bein' serenaded by some cool old timers.
These are the only pics I have so far, more to be added soon!

The Shootin' Gallery

George's Grizzly Encounter

The Plague is Here...

The sickness has hit the bus. 
I was laying in my bunk early this morning, listening to the various coughs coming from the other sleeping (or trying to sleep) bus members, and I thought, "Here we go..."
I was starting to feel it a few days ago, but the Los Angeles air yesterday just kicked my resistance right off.
I've already been on a steady Emergen-C diet, now I'm adding DayQuil and Ricola cough drops.

It's really really hard to get better once you start getting sick while on tour. Our work day starts anywhere from noon to 2:30pm, and ends anywhere from midnight to 2:00am. There's no time for a little extra rest, no facilities for keeping your body as clean as you should, you're in a small environment with 12 other people, all sharing the bathroom, fridge, etc... plus the climate changes every day. No time for being sick! The show must go on!

This Song Goes Out To...

Side thought: It's pretty funny when someone at a death metal show calls a song out to a friend / family / whatever. "This Song's for Mike! It's called 'Rot in Hell!'"

Um... thank you?

Next Stop: Seattle, WA

Had an awesome day of laundry, washing my hair (yes!), and sleeping in a bed at the Best Western Lodge Hotel in Boise, ID. It was, well, awesome!
Karl and I went to have dinner and a few drinks the next day in Seattle at what seemed like one of the only places open on Sunday night - The Pike Pub and Brewery.

Nom nom nom - Yummy hummus plate.

Is that hummus on your hand, or are you REALLY happy to see me?

Yo.








The next night the show was at El Corazon in Seattle. Someone pulled the fire alarm. Everyone had to clear out until the fire department could come to turn it off.

Hi!

Teaser Pics

Our Sardine Can.... of METAL

<-- All jokes aside, it's a great bus with a fantastic driver! Win!
















<-- Front Lounge













<-- Back Lounge

Skeleton Witch (love this pic, haha)

Blurry Hour of Penance

Fucking NILE!

The Merch Mess of Mess of Madness (that's not a typo)

Black Dahlia Murder
The singer Trevor has an insane amount of energy, running around the stage
and goin' crazy for at least an hour every night - Rock on!

Karl, our buddy Birgit, and me in Denver - Rock on!

I know I kind of dropped off the blogsphere there for a minute.. well.. Mom asked for more blog posts so here it is, haha.

We’re in Salt Lake City, Utah today, a little over a week into the tour. I’m REALLY looking forward to our upcoming day off, especially so I can wash my hair :-)  Hey, it takes a while to wash / dry this mess!

Anyway, the tour’s been going really well so far – everybody is super nice and easy to work with. We’re sharing the bus with Hour of Penance on their first U.S. tour. The venues have varied from itty bitty clubs to some nice spacious rooms, but the crowd is always the same… AWESOME! The fans are so into it, it’s really refreshing to see people going out and having a good time even in these tough economic times.Keep it Metal, my friends!

"The Complex" in Salt Lake City, UT

Headline of the Day: "Nile Merch Girl Gets Trapped in Luggage Bay! Pissed Off Rage Insues!"

<---- See that? I was in there minding my own business getting clean underwear out of my luggage (if you must know), and someone walked by and shut the damn luggage bay door.
With the generator and road noise, no one on the bus could hear me screaming and banging and punching.
Load-in wasn't for another hour and a half, so I was pretty much fucked, trapped in a dark, trunk-like space, with generator fumes pumping around. I'm actually not sure how long I would have lasted in there with that amount of exhaust. About five minutes later Nick the guitar tech happened to be walking by and heard the commotion - He thought something must have been wrong with the bus, but nope, it was me trapped underneath.
Thank you Nick, for being my hero of the day!

By the way, when I sprung out of the luggage bay i was royally PISSED, so I was ranting and screaming "Who the FUCK shut the bay door? What the Fuck? Fuck Fuck Fuck!" I didn't even notice the crowd of school children on a field trip walking by on the sidewalk. Haha, oops.

Feels Like Yesterday

Even though it's been a year and a half since I last went on tour - Now that I'm back in the groove it feels like yesterday...

The first show of the tour went great. We even had a special visit from our buddies Danielle and Kate, who acted as Coozie spokes-models for the evening. Hell Yeah!

Oh soooo glamorous

.....Are we there yet?

Can you tell I was starting to get tired by the time I got to that last one? Nah? Didn't think so.

Nile Tour Dates - America 2012

In case you were wondering, this is where we'll be...

2012-03-22          Pittsburgh, PA (Altar Bar)                            

2012-03-23          Cleveland, OH (Peabody’s)                         

2012-03-24          Grand Rapids, MI (The Intersection )                     

2012-03-25          Milwaukee, WI (Eagles Club )                    

2012-03-26          Minneapolis, MN (Station 4 )                     

2012-03-27          Chicago, IL (Bottom Lounge )                     

2012-03-28          Lawrence, KS (Granada)                              

2012-03-29          Denver, CO (Marquis Theatre )                 

2012-03-30          Salt Lake City, UT (The Complex )                             

2012-04-02          Seattle, WA (El Corazon )                             

2012-04-03          Portland, OR (Hawthorne Theater )                        

2012-04-04          San Francisco, CA (Slims)                             

2012-04-05          West Hollywood, CA (Hoe of Blues )                       

2012-04-06          Phoenix, AZ (Nile Theater )                        

2012-04-07          Albuquerque, NM (Sunshine Theater )                 

2012-04-09          Dallas, TX (Prophet Bar )                              

2012-04-10          San Antonio, TX (White Rabbit )                               

2012-04-11          Hoton, TX (Warehoe Live )                          

2012-04-13          Atlanta, GA (Masquerade)                         

2012-04-15          Detroit, MI (Blondies)                   

2012-04-17          Baltimore, MD (Rams Head Live )                             

2012-04-18          Philadelphia, PA (Theater of the Living Arts )                      

2012-04-19          New York, NY (Irving Plaza )                       

2012-04-20          Worcester, MA (New England Metal & Hardcore Fest at The Palladium )

Please & Thank You

So, I'm finally packing (we leave tonight) - and I found these in the bottom of my tour computer bag. I had bronchitis and lost my voice about 3/4 of the way through the last tour, thus resorted to using cue cards.

Me, a Procrastinator? I'll get back to you on that one...

So we head out tomorrow - maybe I should start packing? Nahhhh, it can wait ;-)

Quality Control - Inspecting the merch...

It seems to be functioning properly. Further tests may be required to determine lasting durability and effectiveness.

Folding shirts, folding shirts, folding shirts all daaayyyyy

Unpacked, counted, and folded over 700 shirts today. It’s hard to believe there must have been twice as much as this on the last tour!

This is Nova, doing her best to resist the temptation of defiling all those neatly stacked shirts.

"You Can't See Me...."