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