For those who care: Green Day's mammoth 16-month American Idiot Tour ended this weekend in Melbourne, Australia. No other Rock band sold more albums over the past year than Green Day, not even U2... Over 10 million copies of American Idiot sold worldwide?! As the kidz say, that's off dah hook. And I can guarantee that no other band put on a better live show in the past year either (PYRO!).However, what was most amazing was that Old Metal friend Tour Manager Doug (TMD) was part of the Green Day Phenomenon and allowed Umlaut, Skychick, and assorted friends a +1 into that rarefied Rock World.
A Lock 'N Loll Alignment of this magnitude comes along but once in a lifetime. The fact that TMD and Umlaut met at a Krokus concert during the Reagan Administration made it all the more amazing.
TMD & Umlaut - Backstage in Amsterdam - Jan. 2005
Skychick & Umlaut @ Hammersmith Apollo - London - Feb. 2005
A blurry TMD (far left) @ Milton Keynes, UK from the Bullet In A Bible DVD
The Glamorous Life of a Tour Manager: TMD's seatmate on a charter flight from Lisbon, Portugal to Mannheim, Germany (Photo courtesy of TMD)
For those who care, you can relive the magic of the past year:
- San Francisco
- Billboard Music Awards
- MTV New Year's Eve
- Amsterdam
- London
- Head For Backstage
- Live 8
- San Francisco / Sacramento
- The Warfield
- Sweet Savage
Umlaut loves it when the Rock Godz drop blessings on you when you least expect them. TMD and I crossed paths more times this year than we have over the past 15 years combined. Very cool.
Thanks to TMD for this year's hospitality and +1 into his All Access Pass World. Keep it real out there, for The Kidz. This one's for you, my brutha:
Krokus - Keystone Palo Alto, CA - 1982 (Pic by Umlaut)
