It was a great day in Frankfurt at the NFL Europa game. We started out sound checking in the afternoon. There were 1,000 cheerleaders, marching bands, pyro crews, camera crews and all sorts of craziness running around. After we sound checked Charlie (Kasim's tech) and I went out front of the venue. It was set up like a huge amusement park. I don't know what it was but there was this big mouse running around gooseing people.
I also met up with the USA Army band (USAREUR) that kicked ass. They actually performed at halftime.
Also as we were in our dressing room "The World's Fastest Golfer," Ogi, came in and was explaining to us how he holds the World Record. He has been on Letterman and all sorts of shows. Ogi was nice enough to let me video this. We went on pre-show and played five songs; Paradise, Lemon, Fryin Pan, Anything For Love, and Bat Out Of Hell. After we played we were invited to a private box at the arena where we had a blast.
There's more pictures from the NFL on the picture page under Bat III
On a day off in Frankfurt I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Sonor Drum factory. Joe Libretti (my tech) and I had been in touch with Thomas Barth, artist relations manager for Sonor, who had set up picking us up a bringing us out to the factory. Joe and I had started the day at Starbucks for a coffee where Thomas picked us up to head out to the factory. You can imagine for me this is like bringing a kid to the ultimate toy store. It was about a 2 hour ride, I think Thomas would agree that all the way up and back Joe was quite the conversationalist. I have made a short video called Trip To Sonor Just before we arrived Thomas suggested we stop for a bite, where we met up with David, the product manager. After lunch went over to the factory where we started our tour. Thomas and David explained every step of the way of how Sonor builds a drum set. We started in the room where they keep all the wood for educational instruments. From there they brought us through the room where they have the exotic laminates for the drums as well as where they actually make their own shells. It's amazing to see how they take all the thin plys of wood and glue them together and put them in a heated machine that curves them into a perfect drum shell. After taking the shells out of these machines they cut the bearing edge of the drum and also drill the holes for the hardware. All they machines are so precise it is scary. After that the drum shell is ready to be painted. There are machines that they place the shells on while painting which rotate until dry. It is unbelievable how not one shell has not even a waiver in its paint or gloss. After the shell dries they bring it into a room where they assemble the hardware to the drum. In this room they also assemble their drum pedals, where one person assembles every pedal that is made. They have a really cool pedal, the Giant Step that not only hits when you press down on the front but when your heel comes back down it hits like a double pedal. They also have Giant Step single and double pedals. From here the drums go to a room where before they are packed they are tuned by hand. Then they're packed up and sent to a huge warehouse. We also stopped by the room where they computer design and engineer every piece Sonor makes, from drum keys to drum pedals. I could not believe what goes into just designing a drum key. The thing that blows me away is that every step of the way, Sonor never ever cuts corners on craftmanship or quality. They only do things for one reason, to be the best. After this we headed over to a building where they have a Sonor Museum which we put on video. You have to see this, they had cool things, like the first double pedal, to Nico McBrain's (from Iron Maiden) first drum set.
After this they brought us to the part of the factory where they have one of every drum set and educational instruments, where we played for hours. I can't thank all of you at Sonor enough for this day at the factory, but even more for what you do every day. Check out more photos on Sonor.de and the picture pages of my website
Drop by and check out my cymbal setup at Zildjians site. Sarah at Zildjian has been nice enough to set this page up for me. You can play my cymbals as well as move them around and check out other models. I have played Zildjian my whole life, and have been fortunate enough to be endorsed by them for almost 20 years now.
MEAT LOAF TO HEADLINE GERMANY’S YELLO STROM WORLD BOWL XV
Meat Loaf will headline NFL Europa's championship game – Yello Strom World Bowl XV – held in Frankfurt, Germany on Saturday, June 23, 2007 at Commerzbank-Arena. NFL Europa is an American football league which operates in Europe. Backed by the National Football League, The World Bowl is the American football championship game of NFL Europa, similar to the Super Bowl of the NFL. The game marks Germany’s sports-entertainment event of the year and given Meat’s tremendous popularity in the country, his performance will make it an unforgettable experience for the over 52, 000 fans expected in attendance. Bat Out of Hell III, the third installment of rock’s greatest epic produced by Desmond Child with songs by Jim Steinman, debuted at no. 2 on the German charts upon its release in Europe on October 20, 2006. Frankfurt hosted World Bowls in 1998 and 2000 and is considered the American football capital of Germany, making it the perfect host for this year’s World Bowl XV. Yello Strom World Bowl XV is expected to be aired around the world in more than 150 countries, including a live audience in the United States on the NFL Network.
You are not going to believe it but this morning I was having coffee at Starbucks, sitting outside with Crook and our Tour Manager, Bill, and you can't believe what walked by.
I guess this brings new meaning to a bottomless cup of coffee. We never laughed so hard. After all this we decided to take a walk around the lake, and as we are walking we notice this guy working on his boat.
What was funnier then this blow out, was Crook standing beside the boat, in tears, to make it look like I was taking a photo of him and not this guy. I should have taken the photo of Crook instead.
' Well we just took a 3-hour drive from Copenhagen to Middelfart, Denmark, watching Finding Nemo. The venue was right on the water and the sun was hot as heck. It looked like there had to be at least 60,000 people there if not more. We went on about 6:30. I felt bad for Meat and Crook, the sun was directly on them the whole show. I was lucky I was in the shade. We did the same set list as we did in Sweden, minus Gimme Shelter. After the show it's off to Hamburg, Germany. On the ride to Hamburg we watched Indiana Jones, Meat and Crook love that stuff, I just sit and crack up. Stop by the site to see more photos of the gig.
Yesterday was a blast at the Rock Fest. Meat kicked ass. It was a real trip being on between Quiet Riot,Thin Lizzy and Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath with Dio). Looking out at a wall of die hard heavy rock fans all in black, as far as I could see, all mouthing the words to Paradise and Bat, was amazing. Meat really put together a rockin set list. We started with Break It, straight into Paradise,Took The Words, Frying Pan, Lemon, Anything For Love, Pigs, and Bat Out Of Hell. The crowd was going nuts so we headed back on for Black Betty, Mercury, and Gimme Shelter. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's Festival in MiddleFart, Denmark. No joke, that's the name of the town the gigs in. Click for more photos
I also met up with the USA Army band (USAREUR) that kicked ass. They actually performed at halftime.
Also as we were in our dressing room "The World's Fastest Golfer," Ogi, came in and was explaining to us how he holds the World Record. He has been on Letterman and all sorts of shows. Ogi was nice enough to let me video this. We went on pre-show and played five songs; Paradise, Lemon, Fryin Pan, Anything For Love, and Bat Out Of Hell. After we played we were invited to a private box at the arena where we had a blast.
