Friday the 13th....tour kickoff in Belgium, and the Paris attacks...

...It's the first time I've headlined here in Europe since 2006....Friday the 13th, and I'm in Mons, Belgium

    We had to take a plane to Istanbul first before our connecting flight to Brussels that morning, and after having a fairly decent set to start off the tour we are told of the news in Paris regarding the stadium attack and what went down at the american show......the word is surreal that describes most of my feelings, and I had a lot of family, friends, and loved ones scared to death knowing I'm roughly 150km away and the fear of more attacks popping off at anyplace at anytime.

     I'm now sitting in this tour after a week of shows making this post, and I've just digested footage of a pregnant women on a ledge during one situation, and I see how bad the future is going to be over here if the youth who are born here become brainwashed and radicalized.....it's a scary forecast to see how a lot of bored kids are being drawn in....kids who were once grateful and decent kids being turned into monsters because they feel they have only way to make a mark in this world

     One of the ways they keep them is not just with the ideology but there's a form of amphetamine I believe is called Captagon which is banned in the US due to it's hallucinatory effects.....you can be gakked-out on this shit for days and think you're in some modern-day crusades and you're Sir Galahad on his way to makkin with 40 virgins.....when really you're just a pawn for some hustling gangsters sacrificing the only thing you have....your life.

     Tonight they're lighting the skies of Syrian taking down a lot of bad guys, but Brussels is on high-alert fearing an immanent strike as well.....I see something like the changes our youth go through in America and how a lot of our kids are led astray.....and what I see here is it's about to take hold on this continent as I sit here and type this out

      The shows have been fine, and so far we've had a smooth run, but after really taking the first chance to really review this situation I see a change coming and the fear these people want to spread may get worse before we can even try and get close to changing it.....it's an economic as well as societal issue that's not just coming from being enlightened

     I'm going to try and document more but I haven't much time.....I don't have any crew with me other than my tour-man Marcus Schlumpf, who I'm glad is with us navigating this trek, and I've been non-stop and handling the merch as well most of the time....there's always something to do besides just the set

Kiss your loved ones and let them know they matter to you....don't let them feel as if they've become lost or astray....you may be horrified by what they end up finding out there

Turkish Airlines to Istanbul.....before I get to Brussels for THE SHOW*

    This shit never hits me until I get over there

     Even the first time I went over in 1991 I was in such a rush and panic with my own life before getting on a plane to Europe for the first time it never really hits me until at least 12 hrs after landing.

     I guess it's because there's so much else going on that I don't get to dwell as much on the fact that I'm on the other side of the world playing to old and new faces that have been touched by this thing of ours....this lifestyle, and music that's been coming out of NYC and the globe since the first bands over 35 years ago....then I get the realization of the journey.....and the fact that I'm still blessed to be doing it.

     I'll try and keep a diary once we get started on Friday, and hopefully I can entertain you with some of the shit that goes on...which is gut-busting funny, in my opinion....if it's relative and not 'you have to be there' to find it funny, but I guess we'll see.....I'm trying to enjoy these shows now and take it as serious as back in the day trying to be heard by more and more people....I just want to do shows again.

      I always said I'd do a diary when I start a tour, but then I get so beat-up on the road and running non-stop I don't really find the time...and I flake.....But I'll have the other guys entertain you as well and help me stay on point and keep up with having something day to day and not bore you.

      There's a lot going on overseas with all the border jumping from Syria and in Spain I heard they arrested a group of vegan straight-edge kids alleged to be terrorists(sounds ridiculous) so who knows what's in store....let alone for this world....we'll see what happens when I get there.

      Thanks, everyone, for the kind words and support helping me to reach this point and get back out there and allow one more shot at touring again.....I didn't think I'd be doing this almost a decade after breaking my neck and be close to 100% ever....I'm like the bionic man.....HA!

Halloween

.....I wanted to be Pablo Escobar so bad this year, but I couldn't find decent wigs at the 2 places I went to they were either sold out or didn't have anything available....I couldn't even find a decent long-haired curly wig so I could cut and then side-part the hair and have a little fun.
     I figured, "okay.....find a good hat and get a beige pancho"....even that failed....all they had were stereo-type mexican striped and colored panchos and sorry it was'nt worth $30 bucks.....so I had to come up with an alternative.
     I grabbed myself a good mustache, some spirit gum....I already had a black Navy Blue baseball cap and this burgundy "Member's Only" type jacket with one of those cheesy, artsy graphics you would find on one of those tired-assed "Affliction" shirts you see knuckleheads rocking.....toss on a pair of khakis.....and I became...
                               !EL CHAPO!
   The party I went was out in Suffolk County where, as a youngsta in the 70's I had the joy of spending several Halloweens out there as a kid.....I would prepare a month ahead for all the shenanigans I would pull on those nights along with the ritualistic egg throwing as a wild pack of dogs daring each other to do crazy shit and vandalize or whatever just to get chased through the night and cause mischief.....that's what some towns would call the night before Halloween...."Mischief Night", right?
      I look back on it now I'm amazed we didn't get the shit kicked out of us or even killed...hahaha
      I got out to the party to help and see how my friends were doing, but every time I went outside to have a smoke or answer their door giving kids candy I found myself having some recollections of my past that I forgot over the decades....and to see that Halloween was in full swing somewhere out in the suburbs made me feel like you can still find a bit of the same vibe as you see in the original movie Halloween with the kids all dressed up going house to house.
       Bands played downstairs at the party until about midnight, and the Mets were on their way to losing the whole series....but I still had a great time......another HALLOWEEN in BABYLON, Long Island