UK Tour Reports.. Manchester – The first UK show ever for Ill Nino! Lots of anticipation therefore, and the band are anxious to play well and not disappoint. And the crowd goes wild… not only during the set, but when the band appear at the merchandise stand afterwards to sign some stuff and hang out with the people at the show. We hear they were literally mobbed! The band were happily overwhelmed and would have stayed there all night if they hadn’t been taken off to RockWorld for a few post-show beverages. Ill Nino have a massive amount of energy on stage, and don’t stand still for a minute. Marc Rizzo (guitar) demonstrates to the UK for the first time how it is possible to kick your feet up head-height, repeatedly, while still playing guitar. “Really fuckin’ excellent” was how we heard the show described. London Did you catch the band at their recent London Brixton show with Machine Head? If you did, then you may already know that the band spent near enough 2 hours hanging out at the merch stand chatting to anyone and everyone, and signing many an autograph to boot. They must of made some new friends, coz they sold out of every single piece of merchandise they had with them, and some fans were still clamouring for more… some of the band have shorter hair having not escaped from fans bearing scissors… New band bud Felicity (Flic) who skipped watching the Head to keep hanging with the Ninos was declaring she was going to marry more than one person in the band, putting Roger (Mr. Return To The Hood) in the Best Man position, and myself as bridesmaid… you heard it here first. Bodies were bared, and duly signed, and photos were taken as evidence. You’ll be able to see these photos and live ones from the set up here soon. Not wanting to disappoint anyone, the band stayed in the lobby signing and posing for photos even as the show ended and thousands piled out… and upon spotting the Nino guys hanging around, the flood of people out the venue slowed to a crawl as more fans joined the merry throng! So much so, security were overheard wishing the band hadn’t been so good, so they could go home! When all managed to make the after show party, some band members instead of diving into the free bar were still trying to do interviews (not easy in a room full of party people with a free bar to exploit) with foreign fans – now there’s dedication! As for exploiting the free bar, we hear rumours of a security guard, a headlock, and a band member, but what’s an aftershow without a little rock ‘n’ roll… Wolverhampton How was the show? Mindee, the RR rep out on the road at Wolverhampton was only in a state to say “it was just really fuckin’ good!” The band were again mobbed at the merch stand to sign anything and everything, and we hear reports of numerous lucky girlies keeping our boys company in their dressing room post show. It’s a hard life. We spoke to a happy Laz earlier today about how the tour is going so far, and all he had to say was “it’s been really incredible, such a great time. It’s been consistantly great, although of course every show is different, and we’ve had no negative response yet. We’ve been very very lucky at the reaction we’ve received over here. A lotta fun, a lotta madness.” As the band have been touring in the US with Machine Head already, the 2 bands are pretty tight, hanging out with eachother at the shows – so much so that Adam Duce (Machine Head guitarist) even tagged along on the Ill Nino meet & greet with the RR competition winners and roadcrew! Keep an eye on the Machine Head news page as well as here for more tour stories along the road… Glasgow Having travelled up to Glasgow overnight in the tour bus from Wolverhampton, the band slept most of the long journey! Although we have heard that Jardel has been making use of the Playstation on the bus after the shows, and a several hour trip is plenty of time to get some good practise in before your bandmates wake up and challenge you again. After load-in of all the band’s kit, much of the afternoon was spent doing regional radio interviews, with the likes of Oban FM & Caithness FM stations. Congratulate them on their good taste in wanting to feature Ill Nino in their shows. Squeeze in a soundcheck and a meet & greet with the Roadrunner street & e-teamers and website competition winners and it’s time to eat and play a show! Did you know at the end of the set each night, Ill Nino pay tribute to one of their inspirations, and do a blistering cover of Soulfly’s Eye For An Eye? It’s gone down a storm every night, and tonight was no exception. Guess there are a few Soulfly fans up in bonny Scotland too. Nottingham So keen were the band to play tonight, they came on 5 minutes early so they could play for that little bit longer! Seems like there are lots of Nino fans in Nottingham, judging by the number of Revolution t-shirts we saw along the crowd barrier at the front. Lots of faces who knew all the lyrics to all the songs singing along too. Suffice to say, the band loved every minute of it. With the aftershow taking place in the venue at the downstairs bar The Rig, it wasn’t long at all before all the band were found mingling with new friends, swopping bracelets, signing stuff, sinking a few drinks. With a 2-for-1 offer on Stella Artois, it would have been rude not to. With 3 Roadrunner staff there to queue at the bar, a merry evening was had by all, despite the bar running out of tequila! The double shots of lemon schnapps though, it must be said, did bring a tear to one percussionist’s eye. The infamous Machine Head Brown Eye drinks were circulating too, resulting in more than one sore head in the morning! Yes, a lotta fun was had in Nottingham. Newport The last show of the Machine Head tour for Ill Nino. Everyone is in fine humour, albeit starting to look a little tired, all the travelling and touring catching up finally. As we reported on the Machine Head news page, we heard the band made the most of the venue being a leisure centre, and spent all their spare time goofing off in the swimming pool, the jacuzzi, and bombing down the water slide! Joined by Machine Head, our waterbabies were having such fun, they were still in there when the doors opened, and some rather surprised fans were greeted by some semi-naked, dripping wet band members hightailing it back to the dressing rooms double quick! If you were up front in the pit for Machine Head, you may have been landed upon by one of the Nino guys, for the band indulged in a little crowd-diving from the side of the stage while the Head were playing. After the show, everyone just hung out backstage, drinking some beers, swopping merch, and saying goodbye to new friends made this trip. Cue lots of hugging and email address swopping. The band are now off to Belgium for a couple of days of press, before heading home for the Christmas break. Ten days of rest & relaxation before they head back out on the road again in the US with Kittie. They send their best wishes to everyone for a very Merry Christmas and promise to come back soon! Check back here soon for photos from the shows and friends they made along the way!