By about now you should have *just* finished reading update 1 (sorry Fred! Haha!) and so here we have the DRAGONFORCE bassists next installment from the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem tour…Day 8
Day off in Phoenix. It’s really REALLY hot, my eyes are burning so I spend 4 hours in the pool to try and survive (and eventually tan). In the evening, ZP and I walk to the supermarket, “one mile away” (every time we ask our way to the hotel guys, we are told the *supermarket/theatre/restaurant* is one mile away, but we always end up walking for hours…) and on our way, a car stops, a window opens, and a nice family which recognized us gives us a lift to the supermarket! Nice!
We buy chips, fruits, ZP buys a knife, and we walk back… It’s dark, but still hot as hell, and billions of pretty big insects jump on the sidewalk. I hate this!!!! Burger King, hotel, sleep.

Day 9
Show in Phoenix (well, near Phoenix actually). So it’s… HOOOOT! The show goes well but I really have trouble breathing, I complain and explain everyone that at-home-it-rains-and-I-don’t-like-the-sun-please-help-me. After the show, I’m in the VIP bar with Brann from Mastodon, and some random guy comes and tells me he likes me so much in Demoniac and that he does not like Mastodon because it’s too “Metalcore”…?!?!?!? And then he listed fantastic bands, such as Decapitated Lobotomy, or Satanic Postmortal Hate… Well, you know what I mean. We tell him we are fans of Laaz Rockit and Evil Dead, thank you good night. And then we hang out with Craig and Joey from Slipknot, and go to sleep (a bit drunk but not too much)…

Day 10
Denver. At the catering, the guy who takes care of security tells me that he loves my t-shirt (a white and gray t-shirt I was given somewhere…), that he sells t-shirts on Ebay, and that his best sale is a pink U2 t-shirt. Hmmm.
Since the beginning of the tour, I have not partied with Mike from Disturbed, and we both feel awkward about it: we run into each other, but the days he wants to party I can’t, and same on the other side. So TONIGHT, WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE’LL PARTY TOGETHER!!
The day goes smoothly, except for the heat. Now we are in altitude, so it’s breath-taking. Good show anyway, shower, I watch Disturbed, and end up in their dressing room, with a Jagermeister shot as a welcome, and then HERE WE GO! What if we mix Ouzo with Jager and Redbull? Go ahead, bro! Mmm soo good… Nope, it’s disgusting. But we have a blast. Then… Just across the hall, it’s the birthday of one of the festival’s boss, so there is a Jack&Coke fountain, except there is not that much of coke… I take two shots with Corey, and right after the second, I leave to freshen up myself a bit (meaning: pour some water on my face and in my mouth not to throw up). I chat a bit with two Kerrang! UK journalists, and go to sleep.

Day 11
Show in Oklahoma City… Well, guess what. Yep, it’s terribly hot… Tonight we headline, with Airbourne opening for us. The guys give it all, but during their show one of the P.A. dies. So, the sound was not very good… And so it will be for us. We explain it to the audience before getting on stage, like “the sound will be bad, but we don’t cancel because we love you so much” And yes, we love them, because they know all the songs, and everything goes really well. Smooth evening, I’m happy. 3 more shows before the next day off.

Day 12
Dallas: yep buddy, it’s hot ! So I stay a lot in the bus. The show goes well, and in the evening I stay in the bus drinking with Dave, listening to music. Everything goes by, Judas Priest, Memento Mori, Morbid Angel, Metallica, Thin Lizzy, DJ Fred is in the house! We laugh, we smoke a few cigarettes, I take a walk to the second stage, and the Machine Head boys have their ghetto blaster and an iPod. I check it, and put some Faith No More and Sepultura. Woohoo! We have a chat with Robb, and Phil, Corey is here too (he makes a bit of the metal fence fall, everyone laughs, the spirit is good) and I go on a golf cart with James Hetfield (it’s the security guy for Disturbed, his name is actually Jason, everyone calls him J-Lo except me because I think he looks like James Hetfield)(and yes, he DOES looks like James Hetfield). And I go to sleep drunk.

Day 13
San Antonio. My head hurts but it’s my fault, so I don’t say anything, I suffer in silence. A hero is dying…
Today, photo shoot for Rocktron (yes, I’m a half time model…) and HEAAAAAT! Very good show, and tonight it’s Slipknot’s BBQ! We all have an invitational poster, it’s very nice, there is even a sentence in French : “ne vous glissez pas sur le vomi des clowns” (almost meaning “don’t slip on a clown’s vomit”). Well, there is a mistake in it, but since I’m the only French guy here, I drop a tear… Charming attention. Or is it because everyone can behave except me who is so lame I actually might slip on vomit? Mhhh…
So BBQ, music (DJ Corey in the house: Madonna, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, everything goes through, and I love it!) Then, Mike and I get the Jager bottle, helped by the guys from Five Fingers Death Punch. Very good night!

Day 14
Houston. We wake up by a lakeshore. Oooo, sooo cute! Nice lake, nice ducks… I’m wandering around to observe the incredible love parades of… No actually I’m looking for the bathroom. We don’t have a dressing room today, catering is 15 minutes walk, same for the second stage… Everything is far away. The show is good. Before going on stage, I look at the audience, to observe the incredible love parades of people throwing plastic bottles at each other. I even see a TP roll flying around, followed by a general “haaaaaaa”, like a cheap firework. Nice show, avoiding getting hit by a bottle (some were flying our way), then shower (far away), and then I get back to the lakeshore to look at Slipknot’s show on the other side. Tomorrow, day off!!!

To be continued…

DragonForce release new album ULTRA BEATDOWN on the 25th August. Pre-Order HERE.