25th June 2025
I am past 50 years old. I am a child of the 1970s and I don’t generally care what people think. I am not very PC or woke and my mouth has got me in a lot of trouble over the years. So, I am just going to say it. We had a short tour break coming up, I was going home and all week the excitement and anticipation was growing, I couldn’t think about anything else. Fantasising about it, dreaming about it and finally on Sunday morning I got to mow the lawn…YES!!!
Graspop was just a great day. It was a long one but was exciting. There is a central hub for catering on site, so I had breakfast with our drivers and then pottered around a little seeing old friends. Armando was there with Power Wolf before joining up with Kerry King and then Anthrax, Jaap from our record label was there, but best of all, the mighty Rob Heilig, my fellow Mancunian who was there with Carcass. Rob was our front of house engineer and TM during the Requiem tour and has worked for bands such as Bring Me the Horizon and Phil Anselmo amongst others. I love Rob. It was so good to see him. Everyone is being so nice about my return which is a great confidence boost. I must have done something right.
I met up with Simon Dawson, Iron Maiden’s new drummer. He was so calm. He talked about his new gig, what was needed, and we agree on the same pedal choice, the mighty DW9000. He is living the dream of every single drummer I know, playing in probably the best band in the world. I am very proud of him.
It was really hot and sunny all day. We played late afternoon in a great slot. The tent was packed, I think it holds around 17,000 people. It was absolutely buzzing!
My kit felt great, everything was smooth and then there was the briefest of power cuts during The Enemy which knocked out my click track. This eventually reset in time for Faith Divides us, but I played the whole of One Second without click. I only had backing track percussion to keep me in time and then Pity The Sadness, which was being streamed live, has no click anyway. There was great relief when the click returned. I felt confident and happy, and we certainly saved the show. The click issue could have been a disaster, but we ended victorious. I felt elated!
As we came off stage, I could hear Dream Theater playing on the main stage. I am a fan of the band and Mike Portnoy so to be on the same bill was another pinch yourself moment.
I had the coldest shower in the world, I am a bit soft with things like that and then had dinner. Will came rushing out to tell me Steve Harris was in the catering area and Janick didn’t have his meal ticket so was initially refused his dinner.
And so to Maiden. I had a tear in my eye as I stood in the field with my son watching the first band I fell in love with as the sun set. It was unreal to see Simon up there. Life felt good.
We then set off at midnight for an 18-hour drive to Lublin in Poland which is near the Ukraine border. I stayed up late with the team having a couple of wines. It is such a laugh. I love these guys.
I slept, got up for a very reasonably priced Burger King. Hopped on a work Teams while we drove and then we arrived in Lublin. It was Greg’s birthday, so we went to a nearby American Diner (reasonably priced) to celebrate. Nick had an ‘extreme burger’. The waitress asked if he was sure, technically a warning, but he went ahead and complained for the next two days about how hot the burger was and how it basically nearly killed him!
Lublin was a long day. Drums were set up by 10am. There were loads of PL shirts around town. Will and I were stopped in the local mall. I always make time for fans. It was a good show. We were in a square next to a main road. So, cars sped by as we played and Nick asked if the lady at the bus stop was enjoying the show.
We packed quickly and were away at 1am. Some of us were flying home as the bus journey to Bradford was to be nearly two days. Flights were only £43 so it needed to be done as there were things needing to be done at home, like my lawn!
We drove to Warsaw for 3.30am, flew to Liverpool at 5.30 am and Rachael kindly picked Will and me up. It was surreal to get home. Jax, my best mate, was so happy to see me and didn’t leave my side all day. Alfie and Charlie had actually noticed we had been away!
The afternoon and evening were spent worshipping Maiden again. Rach and I met up at Eddie’s Dive Bar, the Maiden pop up preshow, with the boys and spouses from the Maiden WhatsApp group I am on and then we were lucky enough to have passes and great seats, thanks to Simon, for the show which I attended with Mark, my Kill II This and Plague Of Angels colleague and his partner Rosie. Tim Preston was also there with his partner Amy. I used to go to all of the gigs in the 80s and Tim was always there, like me, trying to meet the bands we went to see. He went on to play bass in Dearly Beheaded and we toured together. Simon was the drummer for Dearly Beheaded. It is a small world but always believe. The only thing guaranteeing the end of your dream is giving up.
Monday morning, I was in the office, with match sticks in my eyes, catching up. Very surreal I can tell you. Going to recharge ready for the next leg of this incredible adventure.