The latest major tour I did was back in 2009, with a few shows extending through 2010 as the birth of my first child approached. At that point, I decided to step away from life on the road in order to be a present father. I'm forever glad I did.
I assumed my touring days were behind me, but was always thinking that maybe I could step back in, or at least try to, when my kids reached a certain age. A gig here and there, perhaps.
Here I am now, 14 years later, and out of nowhere I've been booked to play drums for Suzie Stapleton supporting Depeche Mode on part of their Momento Mori world arena tour.
I played in Suzie's band for a couple of years before a certain pandemic hit, doing some gigs here in the UK with some bigger things looking likely, until everything shut down. I left the band when that and a string of personal challenges happened, needing all my energy to get through what turned out to be the most difficult time in my life.
I was very pleased to receive a call from Suzie to catch up and ask if I was still playing, now after a couple of trips to Brighton to see if we still gel musically, it's on!
How does this tie in to cymbals? It doesn't really, except for the fact that I don't have any, an irony of which I'm painfully aware. So, I'll be making myself a set for the tour. If you're in town for any of the shows, drop me a line and maybe we can meet and talk bronze! Dates are listed below.
Sat Feb 24th - LONDON, The Grace Sun Feb 25th - BRIGHTON, Brighton Electric
Sun March 3rd - PARIS, Accor Arena
Tue March 5th - PARIS, Accor Arena
Thu March 7th - MUNICH, Olympiahalle
Tue March 12th - MADRID, WiZink Center Thu March 14th - MADRID, WiZink Center Sat March 16th - BARCELONA, Palau Sant Jordi
Tue March 19th - LISBON, Altice Arena Thu March 21st - BILBAO, Bizkaia Arena