LA ROCKS...my last gig with Al Atkins!

The City of Angels...the City of Dreams ...call it what you may, but this town rocks! It is the Rock Music Capital of the World...it has to be! LA's rich movie history tends to overshadow its deep roots in rock music and music in general. LA is also one of the friendliest ‘super' cities I have ever visited, the locals were really polite and very eager to help. Exiting Bob Hope airport into the city can be a bit daunting, but after an hour or two I soon relaxed and after a day in the saddle, man I was trotting up and down Hollywood Boulevard as though I had lived there all my life.

Our baggage handlers never pitched for work at JFK so the good folks of ZOOM and JETBLUE airlines had our luggage delivered the next evening at the Knitting Factory. Drummer Alex was counting us in to the first song on the set list when it all arrived, that's a rock n roll city for sure.

The Knitting Factory is a three roomed live music venue with everything you could wish for, it is superb! All the staff from the sound guys to the security dudes were great, really helpful, very friendly and super pro! The band on first was JUGULAR, awesome metal with all the trimmings and dressed to kill...superb bass player. IMAGIKA were next up, from San Francisco they are a throwback to the mid-'80s when the Bay Area scene was home to the first wave of thrash metal bands. Formed by vocalist David Michael, guitarist Steve Rice, bassist Michael Dargis, and drummer Henry Moreno, the band recorded two independently released albums, 1995's Imagika and 1998's Worship. They were simply blinding!

AL ATKINS HOLY RAGE appeared as special guests and special thanks to IMAGIKA and TAZ TAYLOR BAND who let us use all of the their gear. Folks were rocking at the stage front and it really surprised me to see the ladies grooving and rocking out too! It made the evening a really special one for me and crowned the set as one of our best yet.

A big THANK YOU to all who braved the torrential rains to see the bands and also to my long lost friend Lister Coleman , who left his family to come and visit me. Lister you are a diamond my bro, I love you dude and wish you and your family nothing but the best for the future...30 years is way to long a gap between visits man, we got to get that sorted!

The headline band, TAZ TAYLOR with GRAHAM BONNET...they deserved the headline slot without a doubt, absolutely brilliant!

This was my last gig with Al Atkins, because of time constraints it has sadly come time to move on to pastures new. My time with Al has been special and it has been an honour and a privilage to have worked with a living legend. I wish Al and the guys everything of the best for the future.

Thank you Italy!
What an incredible weekend!! ITALY ROCKS!! They are the best metal/rock fans in the world for sure, they have have wine that is divine, the country is stunningly beatiful, the food fresh with pizzas & cappuchino to die for and the people are just so friendly and a pleasure to work with. A huge thank you to the magnificent people who made this mini tour with Dennis such a wonderful experience, Fulvio, Marco, Marco number 2, The Clairvoyants...Marco, Luca, Paolo, Gabriele and Manuel - you guys are the best!

The first gig was at the Live Club in Trezzo d'Adda, the best live rock venue in Italy and that is near Milan on the 7th December. The club has a stunning restuarant that served us the best pizzas and pasta I have ever tasted. Their service and hospitality was excellent.

Tony Liotta, drummer for Phil Collins and Tina Turner, started the show with an awesome drum solo, blimey mate, I didn't know drums could sound like that! He was brilliant, the Trick or Treat, a Halloween tribute band came on and they had a singer with one of the greatest rock voices I have ever heard - superb! The Clairvoyants did their set while we sat backstage waiting for the call. They were outstanding.

Then we heard Gabriele make the introductions and my legs turned to jelly...after all these years, I still get the heebie jeebies and the adrenalin rush kicks in! Dennis insisted I walk out with him and I did...the crowd roared and time stood still!

We started with IRON MAIDEN and you could hear the crowd singing, many of them not even born when the album was released...the best Maiden fans in the world live in Italy, that is a fact! The set was over in a wink of an eye and we left the building and headed for Florence.
The second gig was at the Siddharta Club, a smaller venue but equally as vibrant and the roof lifted during the show. A great gig and we would love to come back for another sometime. The owner cooked and served our food himself, two delicous dishes of pasta and a variety of other Italian dishes were enjoyed by everyone. Dennis and I met as many fans as we could, we signed hundreds of autographs and seemed to be posing for photos the whole night. It was lovely to see and a pleasure to meet everyone, we thank you so much.

The GuitaristTV film crew filmed both shows but there was no time to do interviews. The videos I believe will be on line soon.