Wed 24th Nov – Tempe, Marquee Theatre I turned up late from the hotel on purpose knowing there was nothing around, but no way as late as James who’d been missing since the day before having his first tattoo, done by Evil Dave (Incision tattoos). He ended up missing sound check. We played here last year and I was excited to be in a good venue again, even though the shower was bust. Had fun watching all the other bands rip the crowd to pieces and when we hit stage all hell broke loose. We had technical problems form the start which became a major distraction for the show and so we came off a little deflated. The crowd was good though and still loved it, thankfully sparing us. Was a bit of a downer to also find that Himsa and BT had left early and so didn’t hang out much. And guess what… no bras! Thu 25th Nov – Los Angeles, House Of Blues We were woken at 8am by our tour manager Big Martin to the news that our bus had broken down 40 miles outside Pheonix and a new bus was arriving shortly. So, we swapped buses in the middle of the desert after only 3 hours sleep and carried on towards LA as soon as possible. Obviously, the crew arrived before us and so we had a late sound check. Bam and Brandon from Jackass suddenly appeared totally out of the blue and the other good news was tonight had sold out. I hung around and saw great sets by all the bands before us and I was nervous we were not gonna be able to keep up after last nights onstage shit. But… I was totally wrong. This could have been the show of the tour (I can’t say right now ‘cos its not over yet) and we came offstage on a total high. We had a laugh for once afterwards and some great people were there to witness it. I stayed over in LA with friends. Fri 26th Nov – Anaheim, House Of Blues Tonight was sold out over 3 weeks ago. Bleeding Through’s “Home town” gig. Arrived on time for sound check and a chance to chill before tonight’s show started. The venue’s security seemed a little confused with our passes which meant us and our guests kept being hassled the whole time. Some of our friends didn’t even make it in. Missed some of Himsa tonight as I fell asleep on the bus before. Shit. I was kinda feeling a little lazy before we hit stage but once we got on all was good. Managed yet another blinding gig with Dani being on top form, mid set pulling some of my missing underwear out of his pocket to get a cheap laugh from the crowd. Bastard. I invited some fans backstage who had made this their third straight show at the front and were even making tomorrows! Now that’s dedication. Hung with the Himsa guys and Sarah until we pulled out at the usual 3am leave. I’m still ill 🙁 Sat 27th Nov – San Diego, Soma Never been here before. The venue was a huge old cinema with below par facilities. Another day with no shower. Didn’t eat all day either. Bummed out zombie state was strong today. Did do a little toy shopping though at a flea market near by. The positive was, the ticket sales was approaching 2,000 and all the bands took advantage of the enthusiastic Saturday night crowd. Great show for all. We had a little party afterwards which finished with us getting kicked out of the venue. It then moved onto Bleeding Through’s bus, ending with Martin and Thomas (B.T. Merch guy) having a belt whipping session. I was shocked. I mean, what’s wrong with a kiss? I guess I’m just old fashioned. Set off without Sarah so she had to run after us down the street. We left early as we had to change bus again the next day. Wow, must have been good tonight, seven bras onstage!!! Sun 28th Nov – San Francisco, Fillmore Thought we’d been here before but I was wrong. Met the guys from AFI before the show, which was a pleasure. Also got to hook up with my old friend Ghost of G.G.F.H. Watching from the balcony I noticed a pretty violent pit tonight for Bleeding Through. Big guys just running into each other and punching anyone who came near them. Even girls are in there. I don’t see the sense but hey, I’m onstage. It looks dangerous. We got news today of someone who was seriously hurt in Denver I remember at the end of our set as we walked off stage, lots of security guards went into the pit and I instructed our tour manager to check it out, as I was concerned something had gone seriously wrong. I saw a couple of fans jumping into the pit from above before the end of the song and thought it was way out of line. I want people to know we, as a band, do not condone anything like crowd violence. We spend a lot of time and effort trying to entertain our fans in other ways. It’s a shame when something like this happens and we hope the person injured is ok. Anyway, back to tonight show. We did our fourth straight good gig to another sold out audience. Pretty hot without a shower, yet again. Thankfully, a day room tomorrow half way to Seattle to try get back to being human again.

Former SPINESHANK singer Jonny Santos is currently seeking musicians for a new band. “He is looking for a drummer and a guitarist in the L.A. area,” Scott Stokes of Sinister Management writes in an online posting. “Mind you, this project is going to be straight-up METAL!! That’s right, hardcore shit, boys and girls! He is still working on something else, but it is only twice or three times a month that they rehearse. He needs to play more!!!” Interested parties should send demos and photos to: Sinister Management 101 N. Victory Blvd. # G-99 Burbank, CA 91502 Jonny will review the packages personally and will arrange auditions beginning shortly after Christmas. For more information, click here.

More notes from the tour by Dave Pybus, COF’s bassist… Wed 17th Nov – Kansas City, Beumont Music Hall On the road again… last time we played Kansas was an off-date for Ozzfest 2003, the night before Martin’s birthday. He nearly ended up dead that night. Not this time though, as it’s Paul’s birthday today. He got away lightly compared. Me and James got up at 4am to visit our first Wal-mart since we arrived and bought him a huge chocolate cake (… and me a football, yay) etc. Was kinda surreal, us being the only two people in the whole place at that god awful time. Dawn of the dead creepy. So… later, we gave him the cake that Sarah kindly decorated (and got the numbers mixed up, reading 43), onstage and we played a tight set to a great crowd. I came down with a cold today and had Sharlee from Arch Enemy feed me whiskey ’til the early hours. Made me feel a little better but still didn’t sleep much. Himsa and the Bleeding Through guys tried to hijack me and Martin on to their bus for the night drive to Dallas. I managed to escape with my cold at the last minute. Martin wasn’t that lucky. Thu 18th Nov – Dallas, Gypsy Ballroom Never played here before. Didn’t do much today as we had a late sound check. Was nice to have a hot shower. All the usual hurry up and wait, get ready to do nothing fast bullshit. Didn’t really have the energy to fight it either. Just floated along. Watched Himsa from out front for the first time. Loud crowd tonight with a smallish stage. Had a few problems but nothing like last night, when my bass cabinet just went off for the last song. Ploughed through it in the heat. Got quite a few bras as the girls here in Dallas don’t seem to mind not wearing them. Chilled after the show with Brandon (Bleeding Through) and Johnny (Himsa) while watching some homeless guy moonwalk for Scott’s birthday. Gotta say, these two guys are like the most pleasurable frontmen I have encountered in my whole time in the music biz… Ever! We talked about the hardships of life on the road and how, over the years, things slowly change. Starting out in vans, near death experiences, playing small shitty venues to just a handful of people, just enough money for fuel to get to the next show… FOR YEARS! I remember the week before I started session for COF, back in May 2001. I was sleeping on the van floor for ten days straight on tour with Orange Goblin. This was quite common for me back then. These days we command two buses and a great crew. It’s easy now to forget those times. But in a way, it doesn’t get easier. It just means you can stay on the road for longer periods of time and put more energy into the show. It’s usually the downtime that bores you to death now. Fri 19th Nov – New Orleans, House Of Blues The venue where we first played with Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall and Sworn Enemy at the start of the Ozzfest tour. Our good friend Sammy Duet (Ex-Acid Bath/Goatwhore) came down early and took me and Sarah out for dinner and to show us around some cool stores in the New Orleans french quarter. Had to let him leave us early due to a hangover. Kinda funny, when we arrived there was a swingers convention going on next door to the venue and groups of middle aged drunk women with large cleavages kept trying to get on the bus. This show was a bit of a debacle. Heads down for most of it. Quite a few bra’s on stage though. After show was better. Met up with our friends again and went out. Bourbon Street was nuts! Our super hero Damien Storm showed up when we returned to the bus at 3 am. The drive to Austin was broken up by our bus being sideswiped by a truck and (only) losing it’s wing mirror. Close. Are we destined to die out here? Sat 20th Nov – Austin, Back Room Last time we were here it was over 100 degrees inside the club. Worse news was, it was like 110 OUTSIDE, so there was absolutely no escape. Today was a little better. Same club heat, probably the hottest show so far on this tour, but cooler outside, thankfully. Bit tired from the last three shows but it’s a packed house tonight and we managed to get it together for a great show. It’s way too small for any kind of production so it’s down to us performing good. Not really any technical problems tonight which helps us immensely and we collect a tour high seven bra’s in the process. It was Derek, the drummer from Bleeding Through’s birthday and a girl I met earlier turned out to be a lap dancer so he got a nice present. My good friend Lally showed up too. Tomorrow is a much needed day off. The show days are pretty physical and intense. You don’t seem to notice how run down you get until you actually stop and get a day room to shower and have a proper hot meal. Even the days off fly by. Mon 22nd Nov – Denver, Ogden Theatre Halfway point of the tour already. Played here before, although last time in Denver was with Type O Negative at the Fillmore down the street, a venue I seem to have no recollection of. Signing session at the store next door to the theatre after sound check. The queue didn’t seem to ever get any shorter but I only missed Himsa’s first song. Me and Martin went in the crowd at the front and we later joined by Marta. No one bothered us, except singer Johnny. He seemed happy to see us. Quickly went out for Chinese food and caught some of Bleeding Through and A.E. on our return. Tonight was pretty packed and when we hit the stage the crowd seemed a little laid back. Maybe tired? The sound onstage is always weird here, like quiet, so it makes us feel a little isolated and the audience at a distance. If they don’t make a lot of noise we feel lonely. On top of that, not a single bra hit stage! But it wasn’t bad… far from it. We had a little drink afterwards with Chris from A.E. as it’s his birthday tomorrow and we won’t see them until the day after as we will drive straight to Tempe.

DevilDriver is currently in El Paso, Texas recording the follow-up release to their self-titled debut. To Tony at Sonic Ranch studios, if you are reading this, you have the band’s gratitude for everything you have done for them thus far during the recording sessions. That being said, DevilDriver frontman Dez Fafara checks in with the following: “First of all, DevilDriver would like to thank you all for a great year – anyone who supported us, bought the record, came to a show, our appreciation goes out to you. We’d also like to thank the following bands who believed in us and have taken us on tour over the past year: Superjoint Ritual, Morbid Angel. Opeth, In Flames, Caliban, and Ozzy, Sharon, and the whole Ozzfest camp. “Sorry no update in a while, but things have been extremely busy. Here’s what is going on: We are currently in the studio with Colin Richardson, and having a great time. We started recording about 12 days ago, and are done with drums and well into the guitars. We’ve got 14 tracks, each one brutal as hell. All the musicians in this band, myself included, have stepped up. We’re gonna wrap up 2 days before Christmas…and we’re looking forward to a healthy dose of touring starting February 1st, the schedule is being worked out as we speak. “HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM DEVILDRIVER, LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU NEXT YEAR.”

It’s getting close to being Theory Of A Deadman time once again. The band’s upcoming release – titled Gasoline, coming early 2005 – has been written, recorded, and as of now, has been officially written about. Check out the brand new Theory Of A Deadman BIO for insight into the making of this album, inspiration of the album, bits on the songs, and where the band is going from here. much, much more to come…

“The second show of the UK part of the Machine Head tour was at Southampton Guildhall. After being on tour for the better part of a year, Machine Head would be at full strength coming in to Christmas. Unfortunately, due to train problems, I missed the first half of Caliban, but what I saw of them was very impressive. Playing a lot of stuff of their new album, í¢ä‰åñThe Opposite From Withiní¢ä‰åŒ, they did a good job of warming up the crowd. An impressive Wall of Death became one of their new trademarks near the end of their set. Caliban are a band that many people will look forward to seeing again. God Forbid were not as impressive as they were on the NWOAHM tour. They played an ok set but were not all that entertaining. The whole show infact could have done with God Forbid being the first band on. At one point, they asked the crowd to shout out together, í¢ä‰åñFuck George Bushí¢ä‰åŒ. This was a lame attempt to win over a crowd that already had respect for them. Overall for God Forbid, good music, but not anything we haven’t heard before. By this point, the crowd was feeling the electricity of the moment. Machine Head were about to come on next. A í¢ä‰åñMachine Fucking Headí¢ä‰åŒ chant started long before the band came on. Even when the sound check crew came on to test the instruments, the crowd were cheering. The sound crew left the stage and the lights went out. A thundering roar came from the crowd, it was deafening. The almighty roar evolved into the í¢ä‰åñMachine Fucking Headí¢ä‰åŒ chant. Then the bands legendary classical war theme tune began to play, with blue lights shining all over around the Guildhall. This blended into the Imperium intro, then, í¢ä‰åñHere Me Nowí¢ä‰åŒ, the crowd went into a frenzy. As usual, Machine Head were at the top of their game. They played classics like ‘The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears’ and ‘Old’, as well as stuff of their new-ish album ‘Through the Ashes of Empires’, like ‘Days Turn Blue to Grey’ and ‘ Descend The Shades of Night’. I was right in the middle of the pit for most of their set, and it is the most brutal pit ive ever been in. They played ‘The Burning Red’ for the calm down period and lighters were in the air. They had their interval bit, where they went of stage and the fans would chant, an obvious encore. They did a cover of Pantera ‘Broken’ and Rob shared some booze with the crowd. Then came Davidian. í¢ä‰åñLET FREEDOM RING WITH A SHOT GUN BLAST!!!í¢ä‰åŒ. And the pit spread out into a massive circle pit. More crazy moshers joined in for this, half the venue became a war zone. Crowd surfers were flying and people were head banging. This was Machine Heads second time playing in Hampshire, they played in Portsmouth around this time last year. For many of us, we had seen them before, but their shows always please us, and for those who saw Machine Head for the first time, this was the show to be at.” By Andy Bartlett

Last week, at some point after Trivium played four dates with FEAR FACTORY, but prior to their post-Thanksgiving show with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, guitarist Corey Beaulieu answered a few questions for the Romanian webzine Protest Urban Online. Just what would a Romanian based webzine ask? And just how would Corey answer? All this and more can be answered by reading the interview HERE. Trivium Ascendancy coming Feb 28.

Just posted: Brand new live photos of Machine Head & Caliban from the Glasgow Barrowlands show on Saturday night! Find them in the CALIBAN and MACHINE HEAD photo galleries. Thanks going out to the folks at the Glasgow Garage as well, for a rather monster Aftershow Bash following the show as well. Much drinking was done by all, the party wrapping up only at bus call (4:30am). The photographic evidence of that part of the night, we’ll keep to ourselves. In other Machine Head news, stop by Deo2 for a new interview with Robert Flynn, done before the show.

What did you do with yourself last Friday night? We spent ours at the London Astoria, taking in all the awesome bands on the Eastpak Resistance tour, including the awesome Walls Of Jericho. Have a look at the new live photos, just posted in their PHOTO GALLERY. Check out some of Candace’s tats in them too.

Hot off the email from one of our Roadrunner teamers, Richy Muirhead, who went to the Machine Head show in Glasgow at the weekend! “When Caliban appeared on stage there was a chant going which was good. They kicked off with ‘the beloved and the hatred’, nice start. They played most of their material from ‘The opposite from within’. It was good to see them get a wall of death and circle pits going. The ended with ‘goodbye’ my person favorite from their latest album so I was happy! They had done a great job of warming us crazy metal heads up for God Forbid. When God Forbid came on the atmosphere was great. Now I was here to see this band the most as there one of my favorite bands. And they played an amazing set. All my favorite songs off ‘Gone Forever’ were played and even an older song, ‘Broken Promise’. They had us all chanting in unison ‘Fuck George Bush’. God Forbid has an amazing stage presence, there full of energy. And the singer Byron loves interacting with the fans at the front. They had everything from circle pits to stage diving and wall’s of death. They played a sound 35 minute set. It was awesome. I’ll definitely be going to see this band when they come back over. Moan the God Forbid!! By the time Machine Head were to come on everyone was so psyched up to see them. All the ‘Machine Fuckin’ Head’ chants had been going on! The atmosphere was immense! When we heard the intro ring for ‘Imperium’ everyone knew it was time. Straight after that they lashed into ‘Seasons Wither’. Rob was both amused and shocked by how loud the Scottish fans can be! He then went on to say that it’s a Saturday night and no one has school or work so let’s have a party with Machine Head. Hell, it sounded good. The band played a load of songs like ‘Bulldozer’ ‘Take my scars’ ‘Old’ ‘The Burning Red’ ‘Ten ton hammer’. When they played ‘Descend the shades of night’ everyone was singing along. Also we all starting singing The Flower Of Scotland. Rob didn’t know what we were singing but he thought if was amazing. When ‘Davidian’ came on everyone just went insane. Definitely one of my favorites it was great to hear it live! After that they went off stage and came back out. They decided to play some covers. They played some Metallica/Pantera/Sepultura/Judas Priest songs. It ruled! The last song the band played ‘block’. Glasgow have a record of having the biggest circle pit and this song proved it. í¢ä‰åñFrom the front to the back, left to right, I wanna see every motherfucker losing their minds!í¢ä‰åŒ It was the biggest pit I have I ever seen! The fans were so loud screaming ‘fuck it all’! After this Rob said how the band had an amazing night and will keep coming back here! He also mentioned that they had filmed the show for a DVD which was amazing. I was lucky enough to catch one of Rob’s guitar picks during the set too so that was cool. This has probably been one of the best gigs all year. Fuckin’ A! m/”