11th June 2025
Steven Tyler from Aerosmith famously informed us that he was back in the saddle again, in fact in that tune released in 1976 he mentioned it more than once. Lo and behold here I am, back in the saddle for the second (could have been the third if it wasn’t for that damn pink drum kit – cherry rose actually) time.
Am I pleased to be back, christ yeah. I love Paradise Lost! It has been documented everywhere about my time in the band, immortalised in the book and I am not here to rake up the old earth. I will say that in the passage of time between stints I have been through every emotion and it took a good ten years to get over stepping out. In the time though we genuinely stayed good friends and of course we did have the occasional get together but a day never went by when I didn’t think about the band and Paradise Lost became a layer to my life, my personality and was always something I was very proud of.
So, what has changed? I still wear the same clothes, listen to the same music, still love Man United (although that is really difficult) I have kept on playing at a decent level here and there, survived a spinal injury and subsequent operation, I part own a successful business and have an amazing family which has been a lot of work but worth it. In fact Will (the middle one) is out on the road with me taking care of my drums. He loves his metal, is a great drummer and loves his guitar too. He has his mum’s looks lucky lad! If you see him at a show give him the horns and shout WIIIIILLLLL!
So who remembers the classic tour diaries? Really good times. I thought to myself, why not do it again? I didn’t want to vlog and in my old school way this feels much more personal. Why don’t we try it! So here I am on the bus, writing with a brew and my electrolytes and off we go!
The Run Up
When I knew I was coming back I undertook some intense solo rehearsal. I played on my electric kit at home and then ported over to full kit rehearsals at my shared lock up in Altrincham. The majority of songs I already knew from the old days but there was some new tracks which I found really interesting but challenging. Walt just thinks differently as a drummer. Walt is like the best of the new school, the five litre super charger whereas I am more about dragging my arse through the old school, the Vauxhall Cavalier of the drum world. For the new brigade, the Vauxhall Cavalier was a good but functional car from the 1980s of which I owned three.
The build-up meant I only had two hours of actual band rehearsal before we set off but to be honest it went well and more shows will bring more confidence.
And off we headed to our first show in Berlin. A long drive with two drivers, little sleep on the way out but it gave us time to all catch up. It is so funny that I slot in as if nothing has changed. Feels like family without me having to tell them all to tidy their bedrooms and stop shouting on their PS5s. It also felt really poignant landing on Dunkirk beach on D Day.
So we arrived at Columbia Halle early on Saturday morning. It turns out The Cult were setting up for a tour rehearsal next door and had a show next day next door which meant, as we had two days off straight away, we could take up their invite to see the show. Not everyone made it as they couldn’t be bothered travelling…20 metres.
In terms of the gig I wasn’t really nervous. I worry about equipment working and monitoring levels being right. First impressions of the King Diamond crew. Efficient, accommodating and pretty friendly. Importantly catering was really good so no complaints.
Gig time came around and off we went. Packed crowd who were really receptive. I felt really emotional during Enchantment, hard to describe, but believe you me there have been many ups and downs over the past 15 years so to take that seat again meant a lot.
Caught up with my good friend and old tech Tommy Noack after the show. I felt really happy to have the first one under the belt. Last Time was double speed with my over excitement.
So we finished with a sight seeing day in Berlin for Will and I followed by an evening with The Cult and a meet with the fantastic John Tempesta. And that was it, we set off for Wiesbaden as Weezer pulled into the car park to take our place.
PL always Uber Alles