25/11/2009 by Brucie.

First off I would like to apologise for the apparent bad grammar in my last blog but I can only say it was all fine when I wrote it but somehow it all ends up as one big paragraph.

• Again I would like to thank everyone involved with the salvage operation that was this last Aussie tour and to say it was by far the most enjoyable that I have been involved in. That said I have noticed a few people had some complaints about the content of the shows and I would like to explain a few things without getting into any conflict with anyone as I respect the fact that everyone who has paid their money has a right to voice their opinion . The problem we have here is that this is a business whether people like it or not and when you ask the question is it all about the money well the simple answer is yes. That is not meant to sound mercenary but at the end of the day the promoter is the person who puts up the all the money in advance to expedite the tour and takes a great risk in doing so and therefor expects the band to do everything it can to help get a return on that investment so I’m afraid playing obscure songs that the vast majority of the crowd have never heard of simply doesn’t make any sense.

The reality is we are not here to educate or enlighten people,  that is the purpose of an album when it is originally released, we are here to entertain people and, as Hong Kong Mick  ( a man wise beyond his years ) has already said, most people who are now middle aged are just not that interested in songs they don’t know , sorry but that is true . Maybe you could think of it like going into work tomorrow and start doing things that neither your employer nor your customers actually want and then see how long you have a job. That’s the bit that’s often overlooked , this is our job it’s not a hobby. That said we love to stick in the heavier stuff when we can but all that would have been achieved in this instance would have been to squander a great opportunity to build for the future and the possible end of touring in Australia.

Again I’m not saying anyone is wrong if they disagree with what I’ve said and I don’t want to start an argument I just want to try and explain why we do what we do and hope that in the future we can expand the shows once we have solid foundation to work from.

I hope that explains things a bit.

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20/11/2009 by Brucie.

Greetings from Melbourne, we are half way through our revised tour of Oz and loving every minute . Can I just clear up any rumours that have been flying about. This tour was not in any way cancelled or re-scheduled by the band we are fine thank you. It is simply down to a very young and inexperienced agent who bit off more than he could chew and then bailed out leaving some people who had invested a lot of time and money high and dry, and I include ourselves in that as we had kept a whole month clear for this added to the fact that we had already bought our air tickets. So I am very sorry for everyone in Australia who has missed out this time but the silver lining in this case is that two sets of promoters came forward to salvage what they could, that is why we are doing the Adelaide and Melbourne parts of the tour, but more importantly we have found some great people to work with for the future. I know people can’t understand why we don’t just add more shows now that we are out here but believe me it’s not that simple.Anyway, with that explained , let me just say we are having a great time and Adelaide was blast and I have to thank everyone at Star Entertainment but especially Amanda for refusing to let this go. We had a fantastic three days with a sold out show and a trip to the Barossa Valley wineries on my birthday ,                NOICE !!!!!      but seriously the audience were fantastic and we stayed after the show to sign stuff and speak to what seemed like the whole crowd.Now that we are in Melbourne the great gigs continue and the crowds really appreciative and again I must thank Frank at Premier Artists for keeping the faith. We are staying in our favourite place St Kilda which is a real laid back beach suburb and I’m trying really hard not to sample too much of the lovely food and marvellous beer.JEEZ IT’S HOTTa Ta for now

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04/08/2009 by Brucie.

My it’s been a hectic couple of months , I should be a stick insect by now but have no fear dear blogee you can be assured that I have kept my stamina up and my portly physique in shape by the rigorous application of the amber-cure-all diet. We had a lovely trip a few weeks back when it took twelve hours to get from southern Germany up to the middle of Sweden, how we all laughed as we went from mini-bus to plane then another plane and finally a five and a half hour bus drive then straight to stage. If anyone thinks being in a band is just one long party I would recommend they try it for a couple of weeks.The next next installment of Suicide Tours Inc had us in four counties in four days including a double show, one in Germany and one in Austria, on the last day. In order to achieve this we had to travel in a private plane which was very nice but maybe the two parties involved should have actually spoken to each other. Unfortunately we arrived at Linz airport and the people from Austrian television, who were promoting the last show, were at Wells airport. Fortunately these two places were not that far apart but it still involved a police escort and a very hairy bus ride to make up some time but it still meant going straight to stage once again. The best bit was the hotel room that night which we didn’t see till after the show. I have never seen such a big bath inside a building, it was also a jacuzzi , about the size of a garden hot tub. There is a short video myself and Mr O’Hora reviewing the standard of the room ,with tongues firmly in cheek and more than a few beers inside us, which I have put on my facebook site but if anyone can tell me how to get it on here I will upload it ( it makes me laugh anyway ).Onwards to Australia

 Facebook Link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=108783835339&ref=mf

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02/09/2008 by Brucie.

Good day,I have been asked to do a blog,whatever that is, but assuming that it is another word for talking b*****ks then I suppose I am well qualified.First off thanks to everyone who came to the Robin and you stalwarts who braved the Rebellion festival. I’m sorry I didn’t make it down for a pint after the Robin gig but quite frankly I was totally shattered. I have this bizarre way of approaching a show ( which will no doubt be the death of me ) that unless you push yourself to a near death experience, or at the very least to being almost sick, then you might as well be in a cabaret band. Consequently I had to have a lie down with a cup of tea. You do get a great feeling of satisfaction though and I have to say I really enjoyed it even if it was like jogging in a sauna. The other reason was that I had to do it all again the next night and drive myself and my wife up to Blackpool , something I was a little bit reticent about in as much as I wondered whether I should have packed my “Maid of the Mist” plastic poncho that we got at Niagara a couple of years ago. I couldn’t get thoughts of flying gob out of my mind but I needn’t have worried as it was another unbelievable night and the crowd were just fantastic. In addition the bands backstage were extremely friendly and there was a great atmosphere after the show which was in stark contrast to how we felt going in , the words lamb and slaughter spring to mind , but we all left agreeing that we would definitely like to do it again. It makes the drive home the next day seem a lot easier when you’ve had such a great weekend.Sorry about Halifax by the way but the blame for that lies with the local council, in fact I only found out in the week running up to the gig.More recently we have just returned from Ostrava in the Czech Republic where another great night was had by all. More importantly however I discovered that the recent bouts of redness on my face are not triggered by Pilsner Urquell .Till the next timeBruce  

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