Hello, Everybody on the Update List! Hope you all had a wonderful summer. Autumn has arrived as 2013 continues to fly by.
The second leg of the Fire It Up European Summer Tour has finished and all of us have dispersed, Left The Building, gone our separate ways for the final time in 2013. The tour and the summer as a whole was a huge success for Joe and his Mad Dog Touring Company. The second leg was seven and a half weeks of traveling with thirty one dates from Norway and Sweden to Bordeaux and Monaco to Pula and Minsk. The music festival circuit throughout Europe is a tribute to people's desire for live music, no matter the nationality and age group. Many of these festivals have been happening for decades now, and are well organized with the audiences being treated to not only a wide range of quality music, but fantastic food and a relaxed atmosphere in often beautiful scenic venues. It's a civilized way to spend a summer evening. Thanks to all the fans who showed up and rocked with us!
Arena, Pula, Croatia
This is one of the many Roman era ruins throughout the Mediterranean. Over the years we've played in these 2,000 year old venues from Sicily and Tunisia to southern France.
Backstage at the Pula Arena...
My heart-felt thanks to Joe, the whole supremely talented band and all the hardest working, make-it-look-easy, crew. It was a pleasure and an honor to work, travel and play with you all. After all the miles and all the venues, it was time for a break, but I hope we get the chance to do it again, someday in the not-too-distant future.
To say these people are good at what they do, is an understatement...
Flying into Nice and the Cote d'Azure on a summer afternoon...
Hangin with Laura Jane and Herman, the two "newbies" in the band this year, both seasoned and pro beyond measure...
Laura Jane Jones came recommended by our last love on background vocals, Kara Britz. Laura did a short promo tour with us last November coinciding with the release of "Fire It Up" in Europe to prepare for this year's run.
On the other hand, at Joe's request we did an audition for the Hammond B3 chair to replace our beloved and irascible Mike Finnigan. I called my dear friend Tony Lewis, drummer with Smokey Robinson and asked who he knew to have a good gospel feel. He recommended Herman Jackson, hands down. Anyone who knows Herman, who has worked with Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight, among many others, knows he can do much more. He's a consummate pianist, arranger and producer, as well. Loved working with you Herman. Thanks for the constant inspiration.
Laura Jane, Oneida, Gene, Me and Jack in the background, and Herman
Some of these venues have a wide variety of acts on their stages throughout the summer. This was the lineup at The Sporting Club in Monaco...
Minsk, Bela Ruse has grown a lot since we were there five or six years ago. I still get the feeling they are going through growing pains. Here is a photo outside one of the nicer hotels in the city. This is around 10pm. Looks like it could be 3am...
The more I travel, the more I want to know about history. Here, Jack Bruno is checking out the artisan work of a church door in the old town of Nurnberg, once a European financial center in the 1500s.
Basel, Switzerland. One of my favorite old cities in Europe. It's easy to spend hours along the river at one of the many cafes, watching the world go by...
This was the scene behind the stage at the Loreley Festival along the Rhine. On the drive from Frankfurt, there were at least a dozen old castles along the way...
Our show at Loreley was the last show of the festival and the last of our tour...
I like to say, "Play like it's your last show". And, then every once in awhile, that is the overriding case. Here Norbert, Oneida and I are stage right with Stefan and Donny of the crew, getting ready to take the stage...
Oneida and I backing Joe. Judging by my posture, this is probably "You Are So Beautiful"...
I'll sail calm or heavy seas any day with this dear captain...
Thanks for all the letters and responses from the last update. It's good to know these are being useful in inspiring you in some way. Thanks, too, for those who encourage me to write more and more consistently. I will be posting all of these as an archive on either my website (www.milomon.com) or a blog page in the future. I think the first one was back in 2006, I have to look. Sometimes, the pace of the road, and my desire to not spend my off time sitting in a hotel room, prevents me from writing on tour. Now that I'm off, perhaps I can bring more of these stories and songs I have brewing inside me to life.
I plan on doing another update in October even though we are off tour now. We recorded a live DVD and album in April from the Arena show in Cologne that will be released next week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QVAM-XamwtU Also, stay tuned for possible shows in 2014 Down Under and in the States.
So much to keep up with in these digital days... If you'd rather not receive these emails, please reply to that effect and you'll be taken off the list pronto.
May you all be heading into fruitful harvest time this Autumn.
Keep rockin'...
Nick
May you all be heading into fruitful harvest time this Autumn.
Keep rockin'...
Nick
Nick Milo
(Photos by Norbert Fimpel, Donny Clay, Marcus Busch and myself)
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