Monday, October 3, 2011

Queensryche/Windowpane 2011 tour... back home ;)

We drove 54 hours non-stop from Austin, TX to Seattle, WA. After a few too many "mountain experiences" we decided that I-10 from Texas to California then up the coast on I-5 would be best. (They BETTER include some "driving levels" on the next version of the game "Rock Band!!" ;) We were all sleeping in 4 hour shifts... sometimes it was light out... sometimes it was dark...lol... man... we all got to the point where we didn't know what day it was... but I have to say, all of our sleep deprived souls were feeling pretty damn good about the past month's progress... and we CAN'T WAIT to share the stories with you guys!

Probably around 5am, on one of Glenn's and my driving shifts, we had a conversation about how we've shifted on this tour. I spoke of the feeling of validation in a past post.... and that feeling continued through the rest of the tour... in every city the response was the same, it was amazing! We all feel as though we're walking the path we are meant to... and didn't realize how lost we were until we found it out there... it's hard to explain but... after all these years, things feel "right." Along with the validation came a reinforced, re-found feeling of purpose... and, well, it just feels good :) We're looking forward to getting back out there as soon as we can! We have a LOT more work to do!

I'll leave you with some more images from the road. Most are from my phone as unfortunately the nice camera we took with us broke in the first few days...sigh (figures) ...but you'll get a kick outta these regardless~
Much love guys, see ya soon!
Tony

The Majestic Theater in San Antonio, TX... BEAUTIFUL...

 ...and a KICK ASS show to boot ;)

The night before I had partied with the Ryche boys on their bus on the way there... slept in an extra bunk on the bus... woke up and had coffee and a fantastic conversation about beautiful cities around the world with Geoff Tate...and spent two hours on the beautiful San Antonio "River Walk" ...LOVED that place!! What a day eh? ;)





Eddie Jackson and Mark getting food for a BBQ at Eddie's cousin's place in Dallas on our day off... you should have seen them both, so passionate about cooking!! lol.... was a great BBQ, Eddie's family are good people...
.....and these guys can COOK!! What is it about bassists and cooking?!?!



Our new backdrop in the House of Blues in Dallas, TX.. almost makes us look like a "real" rock n roll band ;)

From the 3rd balcony at The House of Blues in Dallas, TX

Got Gibson?

Somewhere in Montana! Beautiful...

 Soundcheck at the Wilma Theater in Missoula, MT... they know how to rock there! Was a very memorable show :)

Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, OK....
 We discovered that it's a pretty legendary place... had the photos of legends who have played there on the wall (Hank Williams below)


Can you guess who this is...?????

Yep... Kevin got a tattoo to help him remember this tour ;)

A shot from behind the drum riser before we took the stage at the Ogden Theater in Denver, CO
From the crowd in Denver... another really memorable show! Just awesome~



A home cooked breakfast I made in the RV... somewhere...

From the first floor of the Knitting Factory in Reno, NV... we partied WAY... TOO... HARD... in Reno, NV...

Can you tell which one is ours??? lol

OK... so the Queensryche rig was a little nicer ;)

Queensryche from the side of the stage in Tucson, AZ. ...it's official, I have now seen Queensryche more than any other band! lol... they were killer every single night :)

Not much to see from the freeway through Kansas ;)

A little revitalizing pool time in Tucson, AZ

 Right before we took the stage in Albuquerque, NM. What a KILLER show!! Awesome crowd! =P

Part of Sean's merch booth... he kicked ass for us every night :)


The view from our room at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, MS... too bad we were not there long enough to enjoy it!

 From the stage at the Hard Rock in Biloxi, MS. I'm telling ya, it was fun getting used to the big PA systems ;)

 From the merch booth during Queensryche's set in Biloxi, MS... of course we never got to see it... but our friends said we looked good on those side screens! lol (A lot of venues we played actually had those)
After the Biloxi Hard Rock show we were escorted to a VIP area of the "Booty Club" ...uh...there was gawd-awful dance music playing... LOUD... and a bunch of people in the club looking at us, in our "area with our own couch from behind these velvet ropes" ...I think we were suppossed to think it was cool??? lol... it was...weird! We slammed our Jagerbombs and got the hell outta there ASAP! lol

Petsi, Mark & Micheal Wilton after our last show of the tour drink'n in our RV (I know, the camera broke remember! lol)

Here's some videos that Ted shot while visiting us in Houston, TX
When I'm Done

House Of Cards

The Number 28


...and a couple more vids from previous posts...
The outro to "When I'm done" and crowd reaction in Denver, CO

The crowds reaction to the end of our set in Tucson, AZ

...I'm sure there will be many more to come but this is (with the photos/videos from earlier post) what I have at the moment... will keep ya posted!

Monday, September 26, 2011

The morning after......

So it's Monday in Austin. Tony and I are planning the route home over a cocktail or three. Our final show of this leg was last night. We were properly hazed by the crew during our last set. Our intro music was changed; it was certainly special. The highlight was a diaper-clad bender hitting the stage, wearing a cape and sunglasses, eating a sandwich and drinking a beer. Only to be followed by Fozzy and Mike shooting us with silly-string from behind the ryche drumset. And Kelly Gray then strolls onto the stage and starts yanking on cables (not maliciously, just enough to mess with us). All in all it was a fantastic hazing.


We really want to express our sincere thanks to all of the Queensryche crew, and band for being soooo good to us while we were on the road with them. I'm now going to turn the blogging over to everyone else. The South Texas sun has fried my fragile little mind.Until next time.........


Mark

Monday, September 19, 2011

Hello from Glenn...

Hello again fans friends and loved ones…..!!!!
   We're…okay…. I have no idea where we are…I woke up about 30 minutes ago and I think we're still in Colorado. It's flat driving where ever we are…which is a wonderful thing. The boys in QR have been cool enough (God bless you big Ron) to let us start hauling our gear in their Semi so that our trailer would be lighter and we could make better time and get better gas milage out of the White Knuckle Express..but our load out in Denver was a little crazy so we're fully packed again…thus…I am stoked for the current "no hills" factor we seem to be experiencing on our way down to Tulsa Oklahoma. 
   
The past couple nights we're damn long ones…play our gig, meet and greet (always the high point) and then pack into the RV and take off.. for 2 nights running Tony and I drove (one guy drives, the other makes sure he doesn't fall asleep and kill everybody) from 1:30 am until about 7:30 or 8:00am…and then we would wake up Mark and Kevin…they take over and we rack out until we'd hit the venue…so we're like some kind of submarine crew..sleeping in 4 hour shifts while the other semen are on duty (yeah…I said semen…look…we're all away from our girls so at this point..the back up of seminal fluids alone qualifies us as high level priests…wait..that could open even more doors..I'm gonna leave it at that…other wise the subreferences and bad jokes could consume this blog entry)
   
anyway…by Denver the 4 of us were all pretty shot….there's nothing like watching the QR buses zip past us like we're going backwards at 4am….knowing that all our friends are asleep in their bunks…with their well rested driver safely behind the wheel…lol….fuckers..sigh..
  
As a result of the sleep deprivation, general wear and tear, and kick ass sets….I have lost my voice completely…my band mates seem happy about this for the time being, but may be bummed tomorrow if I cant sing,…lol…mark and I have developed a psudeo sign language as I'm trying not to talk and get my voice healed up for the next leg…of course it involves a lot of masturbatory gestures and gagging noises…how all that translates to "dude can you get me a bottled water"…"sure man..no sweat" I'll never really know.
  
The shows? My God the shows have been killer…they all start to blur together into these snap shots of incredible moments in time for me…Jesus the attendance at these last few dates was mind blowing…and the response to Windowpane has been so overwhelming…as I mentioned earlier in this post…for me…even more so than getting the audience whipped into a frenzy and chanting and cheering…the high point is ALWAYS meeting the fans at the merch area to take photos, sign CD's and just…meet all these amazing people…it's a little strange I guess as honestly…I think we may be even more excited to meet them than they are to meet us..the hugs, the gratitude we share..it's so amazing to be able to exchange that with these people…such genuine and sweet people, to know that we mean something to them is something I cant even begin to comprehend…because they mean everything to us..it's just killer and these are memories and faces I'll carry with me until they cover my dumb ass with dirt. 
   
Knowing that we've made all these new fans, and knowing how much it meant to them that regardless of how late it gets…we'll stand there and ask every last name, sign every last ticket, set list, CD, photo…I keep hearing "thank you guys so much…I cant believe you guys would take all this time!!" and all we can say is "My God…that's why we're here!!!"…it's been our lives honor to meet and connect with these people…and despite the tired eyes, empty wallets and empty stomachs…I'd say in some ways….we've made it. What ever the hell that means…. to so many people "making it" means the big house, the sports car collection, the limos, the life…man…when a 13 year old kid hands me a crumpled set list and says "I'd be honored if you would sign this for me"….I mean…who the f*ck am I?? We're really all just dreamers and I think really the four of us are just stubborn and stupid enough to actually be trying to get out there and play real rock music despite an industry and economy that is dying fast..maybe now more than ever people need to look up on a stage and see some people that are just like them throwing down like there's no tomorrow…so when I say…"brother…the honor is mine"..I mean it…(okay..now I've gone from Semen and Priest jokes to over the top flower land..so…in a minute I'll type out a fart joke to level things out..cool?)

  Regarding QR? Man, those guys are the BEST group of people I have met in a long long time. Just genuinely good human beings, regarding references to honor….it's an honor to be out supporting them, they throw down EVERY night and it's always incredible…these guys have had a 30 year run so far, night after night, show after show they are at the top of their game!!!!!….and you meet them….there are no egos, no bullshit, no "do you know who I am"….christ man..I am honestly staggered by these guys, who they are, and what they give to their fans every night. The coolest thing is seeing their support of us, knowing that they are hearing our sets, the heartfelt compliments we've gotten from them regarding our sets and our songs..I mean damn man…when Geoff Tate compliments you as a vocalist, and discusses your melodies with you…dude….that meant a lot. I could go on and on regarding this topic too…I'll just leave it at this: Geoff, Scott, Whip, Eddie, Parker, Jason..you guys are the top shelf…don't ever forget it…and thanks from the bottom of my battered little heart…

  the unsung heroes? Ohh let me hip ya to the backbone of these shows…

 Fozzy O'Hare - Foz is QR's tour manager and one of the greatest human beings drawing breath currently…Foz has gone above and beyond to make sure we've been taken care of at every turn..he's an awesome guy and I think a new die hard Windowpane fan…he keeps videoing our sets and last night even got up and jammed with us during our sound check of daybreak…I got to meet Foz's kids a couple shows back and I told 'em their dad was about the coolest guy on the planet and what he'd been doing for us…Foz….you are our minister of quan!

Kelly Gray - Kelly is out mixing monitors for QR and had been doing FOH (front of house) for us…night after night…Kelly is the REASON we sound so goddamn good…the man is a pimp! God bless you bro! he's really looking after us and seems to be another of the gang who is falling in love with our dumb asses…lol..

Mike Allen -  Mike is QR's lighting director and yet ANOTHER guy who has stepped up to help us out….those cool videos you've been seeing on line of the crowd all lit up as they cheer at the end of our set…yep…that's all Mike…he makes us look good every night (a daunting job…lol) and is always there to spot me when I'm chatting up the audience and light them up like the sun when they cheer.

Anthony Bender "Kenny" - Bender is Eddie and Parker's tech….he is there every night to help us with our gear, lets us use his tech station to get dialed in pre set, he even grabbed me a new set of locking tuners for my Paul which installed perfectly and painlessly. Thanks for looking out for me bro

Maureen Fisher "Mo" - Mo looks after other day to day items for QR…and has been looking after us too…bringing us late night food and water drops, pizzas, name it…she's a saint..God Bless ya darlin!!

Sean Smith - Sean handles all of QR's merch and has been dealing with all of ours too..Sean is a killer guy with a dry sense of humor that fits right in with our twisted asses..yeah..a brother from another mother..

Alan Miller - Alan does QR's front of house and has been checking in on us to make sure we've got all we need..or stopping by for a quick chuckle as we're covered in grease and working on the White Knuckle Express..lol..yeah..true story..

Geno Bishop - Gino is Whip's tech…and a total sweetheart man…you should have seen him snap to attention when Tony's input jack came up missing from his head at the Hard Rock… good on ya bro!!

Ron "Big Ron" Heiss - Ron drives the 18 wheeler with all the gear..and volunteered to haul ours after seeing how we were traveling!! today he spent about an hour helping Mark fix the door on the White Knuckle Express...Love you brother!!

 -- these brief sentences and descriptions don't nearly do the justice necessary in recognizing these people and what they have been doing for us…you guys (and gal) are all officially Windowpane family now…I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not…lol…so I'll apologize in advance…

  right now we've crossed into Kansas. Kevin is a the wheel…and driving back into his home state with his band by his side…all those years ago when he left here…I wonder if he ever thought it would work out for him to be crossing back into his home state on tour with a band like Queensryche…I'm proud to be by his side….

 I and we love you all very much…if you're reading this…you're a part of it…and a part of why we even exist. 

   …and now….for that fart joke…

         Glenn

Rabid Rychers

So here's a shout out to Denver. The Ogden theatre was sold out with “Rabid Rychers”. If I haven't said it yet, let me be VERY, VERY CLEAR!!! Queensryche is just absolutely amazing! And their fans are incredible!!!! We were well received by Denver. And for that we say THANKS!!!

Pre-show was like a tailgate party outside the venue. Post show was un-real. A lot of people took the time to get CD's, have them signed and chat with us. The feedback was great. The fans were great. And Richard Snow is one of the best friends a band can have. He flies into Denver, gets a great hotel room to share with us, and when we buy him a ticket to the show, he already has one. So we did a give-away on the radio in the name of Windowpane and Richard Snow. Not to mention he gave us a new merch set-up and a 'care package' to hit the road with. (also stocked us up with beer and cocktails in Denver) WE LOVE YOU RICHARD!!!!!!!

As I write this we are finally east of the rockies, on a flat a$$ I-70. Let the gas savings begin!! Next stop is Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is where we will get to meet Kevin's parents and friends. And we also get to see Big Rog and Jola (Glenn's parents). I gotta feeling it's gonna be yet another fantastical, 'ryche-spastical show'. It's a really great feeling to meet so many new people, and also get to see some familiar faces. I think it may be finally setting in on me...... we're on tour w/ QUEENSRYCHE!!

Speaking of Queensryche, we want to thank the whole camp from top to bottom. Their whole crew has been very accommodating, and looking out for us. It almost seems like they kinda like us (but let's not be presumptious). We want to especially thank Kelly Gray, Fozzy O'hare, Kenny Bender, Mike Allen, Maureen Fisher, and Sean Smith. These are the people that have to deal with us on a day to day basis, and help us get through each day in one way or another (or many others).

The time has come for me to do another 'road show'. We are doing 70 through Kansas. Sounds like a perfect time to make some tacos....

Until next time.........

Mark

Saturday, September 17, 2011

What's happening out here...

It's 6:40 am and Glenn & I have been driving since 1:30 am from Albuquerque, NM on our way to Denver, CO. We did a similar grueling drive the night before from Phoenix, AZ to Albuquerque… drove till 7am when Mark & Kevmo took over. We're pretty damn wiped so… they'll be taking over for us in an hour or so, lol. We have all gotten used to only getting about four hours of sleep a day. Next tour we'll have a driver so we can actually get some sleep!

Tonight we played to 2500 people in New Mexico. The show was fantastic and we met an overwhelming amount of fans afterward! What a great city… so many personable, genuine people… you know, come to think of it, it's been like that everywhere on the tour so far! Maybe it has something to do with the kind of people that Queensryche's music "speaks" to. We're starting to get to know some of the guys in the band pretty well at this point and understand where their musical integrity comes from. They are all such good people… and have really been going out of their way to make us feel comfortable. 

My fiancee Sibel showed up tonight to surprise me! =P It was awesome!! I didn't see her near the front row until halfway through the first song… I felt the biggest, goofiest smile take over my face! It's so nice to be able to share this with her. The set felt amazing… we as a band have definitely passed through another threshold… we have never been THIS tight before. Playing to a large crowd night after night and having to "win over" a new audience, night after night, has given us a flow and an edge that we've never had before… but you know, it just feels like home. Talking to hundreds of fans post show and hearing similar perceptions from people all over the country is giving us an even stronger idea of how we come across to others from the outside point of view. 

Every show has one consistent commonality, we are completely WINNING THE CROWD ;) Every day we roll into town, sleep for as long as we can, load our gear in, get something to eat, sound check and then hit the stage. As we walk on stage we can tell some are thinking that they just have to "sit through another typical opening band" before Queensryche… part way through the first verse there is a look of relief, by the time we get to the first chorus of the first song there are smiles, screams and arms shooting up… by the time we hit song two we have them ALL… faces full of emotional content and connection, people breaking their necks and punching the air… and by the end of the set EVERY single person in the venue is arms in the air, screaming at the top of their lungs with PASSION!!  …and this is happening in EVERY…SINGLE….CITY! It feels amazing :)










There is a quite sense of validation amongst us now. We have all been working our asses off following this dream since we were kids…. but since finding each other, as a lot of you know, Windowpane has been clawing our way up, meeting resistance at every turn. We've had big time management companies & label execs tell us that we need to be more like "this current band" or "that current band" …all of which we feel are missing that essence that makes REAL Rock N Roll what it IS! The record industry is at an all time low…. and listening to rock fans bitch, from age 14 to 60, all over the country about the current state of radio, it is clear as to why. There is a reason why albums made with integrity 30 years ago are STILL outselling current trends. I have to admit that our insecurities and self doubts had also reached an all time low prior to the tour… and although we felt in our hearts that people would get what it is that we are doing… we were really starting to question ourselves. Not any more. People GET it… the LEVEL of complements we have been getting is almost enough to bring us to tears. Rock fans want integrity, they crave passion… people are really TIRED of the corporate, carbon copy of the last quarterly profit bands that are saturating the radio right now… and all seem to be just as relieved to find us as we are to find them!!! Don't get me wrong, there are a few great bands that have surfaced over the past decade… but I think you get what I'm talking about ;) We're just up their being ourselves... and it's working ;)
To our long time Seattle fans; thank you for supporting us as you have… thank you for keeping our heads above water, thank you for believing in us even when we did not… may you feel the vindication and relief that we are right now as well~
You all mean the world to us, thank you!
Much love
Tony