Diary Update - 25th December 2009
Hey y'all! Seasons
Greetings from Texas!
It's Christmas day and the house is filled with the smell of
cooking turkey. In typical Texas fashion, mother nature provided
us with a blizzard yesterday to make this only the ninth 'White
Christmas' in recorded Texas history. Oddly enough it was seventy
five degrees and sunny the day before, but as they told me when
I moved here, "If you don't like the weather in Texas,
just wait half an hour". Never a truer word spoken and
the one thing that you can say about the weather here is that
it is never boring!
Anyway, enough about the weather, time for me to update you
all on the happenings in UFO land. It's been some time since
my last entry (September, I believe) and needless to say a lot
has transpired in the last three months. We took to the road
at the beginning of October for the 2009 U.S. tour and I had
fully intended to fill you in on our exploits when I returned
home in early November. Unfortunately, the usual asortment of
domestic disasters, burst water pipes, malfunctioning tumble
driers and the like just seemed to eat up the short amount of
time between tours, and before I knew it I was heading off to
Germany to start the European run. It is hard now for me to
separate the two, they seem to have blended into ten weeks of
continuous touring. Because of this, I won't be going into great
detail about each show, but instead will just try and give you
more of an overview and a few highlights.
Before the tour started, we (the band) were very much aware
of the current economic crisis. With all the job losses, home
foreclosures etc., we weren't too sure what to expect with regards
to ticket sales. 'Do people still have the money to go to concerts?'
Well, as always, you guys came through with flying colours,
the shows were well attended both in the U.S. and Europe. In
reading some of the recent guest book postings, I know that
it wasn't easy. Entries like, "I spent my rent money"
and "I overdrew my bank account to buy tickets" make
it very clear that times are tough for a lot of you. On behalf
of the whole band I want to personally thank you all for your
continued support and encouragement. You guys rock!!
As usual we started with a couple of days rehearsal in Wilmington,
DE, being joined once again by the excellent Mr Rob DeLuca on
bass guitar. Many thanks to Don and co. at Sabion Rehearsal
Studio and to the manageress at Chili's for returning
my mislaid credit card. We then spent the next two weeks criss-crossing
the eastern part of the country, Springfield, Akron, and then
Milwaukee. Here I hooked up with friend and drum maker extraordinaire
Jim Beier, and took posession of my new snare drum (see
the gear page). Then on to Pittsburgh,
where after a well-deserved night off in a local restaurant,
Vinnie, Rob, Batttttty and myself waited *three* hours for a
cab to take us back to the hotel. Zzzzzzzzzzz!! If there are
any out-of-work cabbies reading this, Pittsburgh's the place
to be! Next stop Poughkeepsie, Sayreville, then B.B. Kings in
NYC. Nice to see Steve Lobmeier from D'Addario and
our good pal Mr. Eddie Trunk at the show. Then Sellersville,
where Rob entertained his entire family and I got to meet Vinnie's
close friends and neighbours, the lovely Hillary and
her husband Jeff, and eat one of the best steaks I've
ever had into the bargain. Many thanks to Dan and Alyson
at the Sellersville Theatre for their hospitality.
It was at this point that we headed west, and temporarily parted
company with our opening act, The Travis Larson Band.
Jennifer, Dale and Travis are not only
exceptional musicians but as we say in these parts,"real
nice folks" also, and it was a pleasure having them along.
October 15th saw us in St. Charles, MO, at the Ameristar Casino.
It was here that I was re-united with the Morris brothers, Jerry
and Don. I hadn't seen them since 1986 when we worked
together at Hollywood Centre Studios and we had a lot of fun
catching up. It was also here that Batttttty single-handedly
took on the buffet - and won. In all my years I've never seen
such a performance, the way the plates of grub and glasses of
White Zinfandel disappeared. It was like watching David Copperfield
in Vegas! Onward then to Chicago and The House of Blues. Over
the years the windy city has always been a special place for
UFO and I'm pleased to say that it still is. The place was rockin'
to the rafters thanks in part I'm sure to our good friend 'The
Byrd' at 97.9 The Loop. Vinnie and I got to visit
him at the studio on the morning of the show and we had a blast.
He joined us later backstage after the show along with Kirk
Hammett of Metallica, our hard working agent Mark Hyman
and Sergeant Mark Evans who runs Pizza for Patriots,
an organisation that provides pizzas to American troops serving
in Iraq and Afganistan. A worthy cause gentlemen, keep up the
good work!
After Chicago we worked our way through Hamel, Minnesota (thanks
to Steve and Becky Byland for the great pics) and Des
Moines, Iowa to the west coast. First up The Catalyst in Santa
Cruz where we were supported by Zen Vendetta, a great
band and a great bunch of guys. My sincere thanks to their drummer
Anthony Bettencourt for his most generous gift (see gear
page) Then on to Redondo Beach, San Juan Capistrano, Las Vegas,
Ventura, Los Angeles, Modesto, Portland - where we had a suprise
visit from our long time producer Ron Nevison - Seattle,
Medford, and finally San Francisco. Many thanks to Rick Reed,
his mum Glenda and friends, for once again providing
us with a magnificent array of food and drinks both in Portland
and Seattle. We look forward to seeing you again next year.
That concludes the
U.S. dates, now on to Europe. As I mentioned earlier the brief
gap between the U.S. and Europe seemed non-existent and November
16th saw us conducting 'business as usual' in Germany. Thanks
to the fact that we had just finished the U.S. run, and we could
now play the set in our sleep, no rehearsals were needed and
we went straight into the tour. Not wishing to subject you all
to Parker's version of 'War and Peace' I will try and be brief.
In the space of twenty-three days, we played nineteen shows
in seven different countries. Germany, Poland, Czech Republic,
Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland. They were all very well
attended and the crowds really enthusiastic, especially the
Spanish shows where the venues sounded more akin to soccer stadiums
than rock clubs. We were backed on these shows by a couple of
outstanding bands, The Bulletmonks and Pump. Nice
job guys! All in all the European travelling was fairly uneventful.
Other than getting stuck in a snowdrift on our way to Milan
and getting locked out of our hotel in Switzerland on the last
night of the tour, things went reasonably well. Thanks to some
first rate driving by Armand our bus driver, and some
nifty work with a butter knife by Vinnie, these problems were
quickly solved. We did seem to see an awful lot of Berlin this
time round, however. I'm not sure if this had any thing to do
with the fact that our tour manager Tonio lives there.... If
it did, he's not saying!
Thanks to all of
you who came to the shows both in Europe and the U.S. You really
made us feel welcome once again and I hope to see you all again
very soon. In the meantime, check out some photos from the roadtrip
HERE. I wish you all
a Peaceful and Prosperous New Year. Cheers!
Andy
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Diary Update - 9th September 2009
Hello all!
Andy here once again with a quick couple of lines just to keep
you up to date on recent events.
As you know it's been festival season in Europe and this year
UFO were fortunate enough to land a couple of blinders. July
31st saw us at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.
This is probably the biggest outdoor festival in Europe and
this year marked their 20th anniversary, so as you can imagine
it was very well attended. We were scheduled to perform on the
'True Metal Stage' at 11:45am, and to be honest when
I saw the itinery I was more than a little concerned. Firstly,
I have never really considered UFO as a 'True Metal" band,
secondly, were any true metal fans likely to be awake at 11:45
in the morning? There was also the question of whether or not
yours truly would still be in his jammies clutching his toothbrush
at stage time! No need to worry, the audience was massive, wide
awake and totally awesome. A huge thanks to all who turned out
to see us, and made us so welcome. Danke!
The next day we hopped on a plane and headed for Italy. First
stop, the Baloma Bikers Fest. To say that this was one
of the noisiest shows ever would be an understatement. It had
nothing to do with the music however, more to do with a bunch
of Italian bikers pouring hi octane fuel into stationary bike
engines and revving them up until they backfire. This procedure
being followed by much hugging, cheering and backslapping. Mmmmm,
interesting! Our stage time being sometime after midnight, I
was once again left thinking about pyjamas and toothbrush, but
all went well and the small but appreciative crowd seemed to
enjoy themselves. The next couple of days saw us in L'Aquila
and Massingnano. The shows were fine, but unfortunately
the promoter had chosen to place us in a 'Holiday' hotel for
five days. The extremely late show times coupled with the 9am
poolside disco, extra hot weather and lack of air conditioning
started to take its toll. I think I speak for all (band and
crew) when I say we were more than a bit relieved when we finally
boarded the plane and headed back to England. Nice to run into
Uli Jon Roth and Mike Terrano though - good seeing
you guys!
Friday August 7th, Stratford on Avon, Bulldog Bash Festival.
What can I say? We had an absolute blast. This event is now
in its 23rd year and although there has been a lot of talk in
the press about shutting it down, I for one hope it continues
for another 23. The crowd were great and the organisation flawless.
Lovely to see so many old friends. My nephew Luke all
the way from New Zealand, Nom and Liz, Leah (a
pleasure as always - say hi to Spike), Martin Nicholas
and Dave 'Lights' Beazley... excellent job sweetie! Last
but by no means least, a special thanks to 'Big Chris"
for sorting me out with a t shirt. Thanks mate!!
As always my thanks to Phil, Paul, Vinnie
and Rob for making it so much fun. To our crew, Tonio,
Martin, Eric and Hille for all their hard
work. To Matthias for getting the gear there safe and
sound with no missing toms. To our manager Peter Knorn,
our agent Nick Peel and of course the fabulous and indispensible
Kate Moore.
Next stop U.S.A. Check the tourdates
page for details. All the best.
Andy
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Diary Update - 17th July 2009
Hey all, Andy here.
It's that time once
again when I attempt to bring you all up to speed on the latest
happenings in the UFO camp. I apologise in advance for all the
references here to tracks from The Visitor but
I promised the webmistress that I would name-check as many of
the songs as possible, so here goes.
As most of you probably
already know we have just finished a five week run of shows
in Europe including twelve in the U.K. To say that I had an
absolute blast would be a total understatement and judging by
the comments in the guestbook it would appear that most of you
did too. For those of you who don't know, we had a Stranger
In Town, the amazing blonde haired bass player who's
been filling in for Pete - Mr. Barry Sparks. This was
my first time getting to play with Barry and from the day we
started rehearsals I could tell that it was going to be a real
pleasure. Not only is he an awesome musician and a great guy
but he is also a huge UFO fan - in fact I challenge anyone to
come up with a UFO song that he doesn't know. Believe me I've
tried and failed - the man is a walking UFO juke box! I'm sure
you will all agree that he was undeniably Rock Ready
and did a magnificent job. Along with my thanks I would also
like to extend my congratulations to Barry and his lovely wife
Alex on the upcoming birth of 'Baby Sparks', later this year.
It's their first, a girl, and we wish them all the best.
The next run of shows
will feature Mr Rob De Luca on bass. Those of you who
caught any shows on the last U.S. tour will already know that
Rob is an outstanding musician and we are very pleased to welcome
him back. He already hit the ground running playing the Mossingen
show on July 4th and he will be with us at Wacken and
the Bulldog Bash in a couple of weeks.
Back to the recent
tour.... The first few shows went very well, even the Rock
Hard festival in Gelsenkirchen where I thought we might
seem rather out of place among bands like Sacred Reich and
Children of Bodom. There was no need to worry however,
the audience were very appreciative, Saving Me from
any trepidations, and we had a mammoth signing session after
the show. Good to see our old mates Saxon too, who were
topping the bill.
On then to Solvesborg
and Sweden Rock Festival, another great show although
Vinnie reckons it was the coldest gig he's ever played. Cheers
to our tour manager Tonio who kept the boys' fingers
from freezing by supplying them with bottles of hot water throughout
the show. Me, I was having too much fun to feel the cold but
I do have some words of advice. If you are heading to Scandinavia
you had better take plenty of money, it has to be one of the
most expensive places I've ever been. You certainly Can't
Buy A Thrill at those prices - at least not on our expenses!
As you can imagine we were all very happy to reach the U.K.
where you can still buy a Full English Breakfast without having
to take out a mortgage. I was particularly happy that the ferry
crossings went smoothly, being the world's worst sailor. Hell
I can get seasick just standing On The Waterfront.
The U.K. shows were
fantastic, you guys really did us proud. The venues were all
well sold and the crowds were really enthusiastic. It was great
to see so many old friends show up. Special thanks to Dave
'Lights' Beazley and Tris Geatrex for all their hard
work. Also a special Stop Breaking Down mention
to our bus driver Costa who got us out of trouble when
our bus decided to shed all its fan belts and we were Forsaken
by roadside assistance. Thanks to his ingenuity we
made it to the Cambridge show on time and intact. Thanks buddy,
we owe you one. While I am on the subject of drivers some of
you at the Belfast show may have noticed a character with an
uncanny resemblance to a certain German guitar player. If you
did, don't worry it wasn't Michael moonlighting, just our relief
bus driver Robert or Hell Driver as he became
known. While I think of it, a big THANK YOU to the chaps in
Belfast who gave us the commemorative glass plaque, we really
appreciate it fellas - and also a big thank you to Paul Chug,
who saved our bacon by topping us up with milk and tea-bags.
THANK YOU!
Also many thanks
to the crew from the A1 Bus Company who, unlike the many
Villains & Thieves out there, did a great job repairing
our bus. Well done lads! The rest of the tour went pretty smoothly
after that. All in all we had some fantastic shows with some
great supports. Dirty Shoes in Brighton (hope your drummer
is doing ok!), Raven Vandelle on several shows, great
to see you guys again, Toxic Federation in Wolverhampton,
Rolling Thunder in Manchester, Axxis in Speyer
and anyone else I have missed.... great job, all of you!
I guess that just
about wraps things up, except for me to thank all of you who
came to the shows and made them so successful - we really couldn't
do it without you - and to thank our management and crew, Peter
Knorn, Tonio Neuhaus, the recently married Mr.
Martin Leissner (congratulations!), Eric Holzhauser,
Hille, Daniel, Rob, Andre and of
course Kate - we definitely couldn't do it without you
guys. And last but by no means least the rest of the band Phil,
Paul, Vinnie and Barry, thanks guys for
one of the most enjoyable tours ever, and if you want to see
a drummer having way too much fun just look for me, I'm the
Living Proof.
Catch you on the
next leg, till then, keep on rockin!
Cheers. Andy
p.s. Here are some
behind-the-scenes photos
from our recent roadtrip.
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Diary
Update - 17th February 2009
Hi all, Andy
here.
Thought it was about time that I brought you up to date
with what's been happening on the UFO front recently.
As most of you know, we finished touring at the end of
August '08 and after some well deserved rest we began
collecting material for a new album. Everyone pitched
in ideas so there was plenty of stuff to chose from.
We all met
up in Hannover towards the end of January and after a
few days in a rehearsal room we came up with a short list
of thirteen songs. At this point Phil and Vinnie headed
home to work on their parts while myself, Paul, our surrogate
bassist (oddly enough also called Peter) and drum tech
extraordinaire Andre headed to Area
51 studios in Celle to record drum tracks with our
old pal Tommy Newton. This was my first time at Tommy's
studio and I have to say I am extremely happy with the
results. I had already decided that for this album I wanted
to try and "get back to my roots" a bit, as
far as the drum sound was concerned and I was not disappointed.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Andre and Tommy the
kit sounded amazing and the whole experience was thoroughly
enjoyable. Interspersed with cups of Andre's special tea
and large doses of Rab C. Nesbitt ( one of Tommy's favourites
) our work days were fun and productive - as you can see
from the photos! I for one can't wait to hear the finished
tracks. Special mention must also go to my 'home from
home' Bohemia
Hof. The owner is Peter (yet another one) and the
two young ladies are Sarah and Steffie. |
Of course
the one downer in all of this was the absence of Mr.
Way. Those of you who have read the news release will
already know the reason so I won't go into it again.
Suffice to say that we all wish him a speedy recovery
and hope to see him back on top very soon.
That is
about all for now, Phil is heading to Germany once again
to begin recording vocals. We are hoping that the album
will be released some time in May/June to coincide with
the start of our touring schedule. It only remains for
me to thank you all for your continued support and to
say that I am looking forward to seeing you all in the
near future. Oh and BTW, I still haven't found a replacement
for my missing 18" tom (details below) so please
keep your eyes open. Thanks to all who contacted the
website with info, even the guy who thought that he
had seen Mick Fleetwood using it. Seems doubtful but
we will leave no stone unturned!
All the
best.
Andy.
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