It's a beautiful day in Cleveland, OH

Giggity

Canada!

So we made it through the Canadian border. This was the first time Nile ever played in Canada and people were hungry for it! The support bands and fans were super enthusiastic and so into it. The vibes at these Canadian shows were positive and fun. It made me really like my job.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows!

We met up with the Behemoth guys while we were there too. They came and visited us for a drink after our show in... Montreal I think it was? Personally I was tired and in need of a shower, so I didn't partake. But, such is life ;)
Behemoth and Nile are basically following each other around the continent on this tour. The border police even said to us on our way out "You guys are so cheery! We had a Polish band come through here last night and they were not nearly as chipper as you."
Hahaha.

Early morning border crossing. Everybody up!

Our little corner of Montreal

Nergal and George - Crazy guys ;)

New York

Not much to say today. NYC show. Cool fans. Busy day.

"I will gladly pay $5 for a juice if I can use your bathroom..."

My brother Steve came to visit! Highlight of my day for sure!

Day off in Rochester, NY

First thing in the morning (well, noon), emergency dentist! Awesome! Turns out that the dentist may have fucked up one of the fillings I got before I left and now I need a root canal. Nice! I see 3 more weeks of soft foods in my future, and lots of ibuprofen until I get home and can take care of this... 

After the dentist I went back to the hotel and chilled out, ate some grub, and caught up on episodes of "The Following"

A couple of pics of the area... on may way to Subway.

New England Metal and Hardcore Festival Day

Today we joined forces with many other bands for the Saturday portion of New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. They have in-house merch vendors so I was not behind the table today. I'm not going to elaborate on my experience with the in-house merch vendors. Very nice people, we'll leave it at that.
We did see a few people we knew who were working with other bands on the bill.
Robin M. (merch extraordinaire) came and said hello and that was nice. She gave me some invaluable advice and tips that were sooooo appreciated. Thanks Robin!
Our dressing room was overrun with Sam Black Church people drinking and eating all day and night, so I finally took a shower while Karl stood guard. Even though it's a dirty tiny cubicle with no door, that shower felt fucking fantastic.

It looks like someone wrote this while the dryer was actually on...

Karl filming a scene for some indie horror flick guy.
He had to "pretend" to be pissed off and beat this guy up.
That's right up Karl's alley!

On a walkabout in Worcester, MA

We're not used to being out in sunlight....

Heh heh, This is George, the original Frisbie Hoar

And... Fucking NILE! 

Baltimore, MD

We have arrived! After a 650+ mile drive from Atlanta, GA to Baltimore, MD in some not-too-nice weather, we made it only a *little* bit behind schedule (thanks to Washington D.C. traffic). But we were up and running on time and it was a great show. The fans tonight were so enthusiastic, singing along, throwing the horns, and having a great time. And they bought some merch too, which makes me happy ;)

I also saw Lindsey, who does merch on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruises and she came to say hello, which was cool. Seeing familiar faces along the way is always a nice surprise.

Nice view from the merch area today

And.... We Have Lift Off!

What a fuckin' mess :-/

Okay Gorilla Tape - You rock, really, but I DO need the skin to stay attached to my fingers!!

Now we're getting somewhere...

Aww, I missed you lady!

George Kollias special Greek Frappe - Fuel for a VERY long day. Thanks George!

And we're ready to roll!

The "finished" product.... First show at The Masquerade in Atlanta, GA.

Thumbs Up, Babe!

A BIG thanks to Kadria from Inviolate for her help bringing me the grid wall and my new dress model to keep me company!

T-minus 3 Days

7:00am: Computer work for my *Other* job

8:00am: Preparing for my dentist appointment (that's right, I'm a huge p*ssy about the dentist)

9:00am - 11:30am: Drilling and filling at the dentist

12:00pm - 2:00pm: Sleeping off the hefty valium dose

2:00pm: Sneaking a pic of the guys while I'm still a little fuzzy headed 

2:30pm: Coffee up and GET TO WORK!

2:40pm: Open and inspect the new merch, and as you can see by my eyes, I'm still feeling the pain from the dentist, but the show must go on!

What do you think, does the XXL fit?

Mystery Model Man

2:50pm - 9:00pm:  Count, sort, and fold over 1,200 items; p.s. - ibuprofen is my friend right now :/

So when you get your new Nile shirt at the show and it's all nicely folded, this is why ;)Yes, I accept tips, LOL!

9:00pm: Stop and eat dinner 

I haven't been able to eat much solid foods in the past 3 weeks, fuckin' awesome.
So if you see me on tour and want to buy me dinner or a snack, get some of these for me, LOL!
(Or tequilla, that'll do too ;)

Next shipment comes tomorrow - maybe I should start thinking about packing my own clothes too?

Totes Magotes!

Picked up supplies today. I decided to treat myself to new merch totes (how's that for exciting news?). My poor old merch tubs have been loaded in and out of about 100 shows and been bounced around the trailer for thousands and thousands of miles, and it's time for them to retire.

I totally didn't expect the new ones to fit in my little Toyota, but I guess it was just meant to be.

I Think I'm Busy This Week...

Here's my timeline:

Friday (tomorrow): Drive 500 miles to drop off the dog. 

Saturday: Hang with my parents and the dogs in Florida. 

Sunday: Drive 500 miles back home. 

Monday: Get root canal treatment on infected tooth. 

Tuesday: Work. 

Wednesday: Sort, count, and fold Merch. 

Thursday: Two deep fillings (more dental work). 

Friday and Saturday: Sort, count, and fold more boxes of Merch, build displays, buy supplies, repack merch in some way that makes sense, pack clothes, and get house ready. 

Sunday: Leave for tour. 

I think I'm busy this week.

Houston, prepare for lift-off!

I'm a bad person, I know. I've only filled in this blog for one tour, and that was, like, 2 years ago. Well, I'm going to work on that, I promise! (Can you hear the remorseful kid tone in that? Don't worry, it's there ;)

So here we are. Just a little nudge to get the momentum going, because a blog in motion tends to stay in motion.
We leave for the U.S. and Canada tour on April 13th. Today I counted the merch left over from the last tour and Karl and I did a little bit of work in the band warehouse.

I am woman, hear me CLEAN!

I apologize in advance to the few Nile fans who will be receiving merch with dog hair on it.
I swear I vacuumed before laying those hoodies out!

Aww hoodies, I love you, but not as much as I love ice cream.

They actually smelled surprisingly fresh for being in the band room warehouse for a year...

And finally, a little something for you pervs out there.