Congratulations to Stream of Passion, and to Eric for landing a galactically cool gig!

Thanks to Hugo and Taz for the link!
I actually like his top better than my own

As some of you may already know, the first chapter in the story of SoP ended a few days ago, and the remaining members will go on to new adventures without me, Alejandro and Arjen. I’m proud to have been lucky enough to be part of SoP, and will always remember the amazing time we had together and all the new friends I made. I’ll miss my SoP family, and wish all of them every success and fulfillment. May SoP’s future shows be FLASH FREE and full of exuberant-but-well-behaved bananas waving at the appropriate places!

Some readers may be wondering what led to my decision to leave the band. Warning: I am about to WHINE.

My reasons are multi-faceted, but the upshot is that I have been unwell since the autumn, to the point that it has had severe consequences for my private life. There is no way for me to get well while still maintaining the kind of time/energy/availability commitment that “SoP Mark II” will require. Leaving was a tough decision to make, but hey, doing “more of the same” and expecting a different result just doesn’t work. Mirabile f’n dictu. (That’s Latin for duh!)

What makes it particularly difficult is that in many ways, SoP has been one of the few fulfilling activities I’ve had on my plate over the past couple of years. The evil stressors have come from “real life,” not from the band, just to make that abundantly clear.

So for anyone who is wondering what my “plans” are, here goes: until I am feeling well again, my main priority will be getting my private life sorted out and eliminating (or learning to deal more effectively with) the stressors that put me here in the first place.

Unfortunately, one of the most frustrating symptoms is a perpetual state of crushing fatigue that is not relieved by sleep. Unless I’d experienced it myself, I wouldn’t have believed that it were possible to be so tired. So please be patient if I owe you an email or snail mail. I am working through the backlog as fast as I can. If I’ve forgotten something important, now is a great time for those gentle reminders

I’ll still be playing guitar and working on music when the inspiration strikes, and posting the odd cheeky video. Maybe even with TAB. Warbride still needs to be finished, and there are some other plans in the works, so hopefully this confounded tiredness and brain fog will ease soon so that I can get my darned computer fixed and, with luck, start feeling inspired and productive again.

Thanks for indulging me in a bit of self-centered whining. And to those of you who have come to see us at our shows — your support and enthusiasm has meant the world to me over the past year. Thank you.

Pinkie respect m/
Lori

BTW, Robbo, if you are reading: THANK YOU for the package and the nice note! There’s nothing like naughty chocolate to cheer a girl up

I’ll be posting ALL the gory details here as soon as I’ve cooled off enough not to say something really nasty that I’ll regret later. But I wanted to help spread the word a.s.a.p. to maximize the chances that anyone who was planning to attend either of the U.K. shows would be able to cancel their travel plans in time. If you know anyone who was planning to attend either show, please let them know that the shows have been canceled.

Frustratedly yours,
Lori

Last night was our first experience playing at a venue where we’ve played before (Biebob, BE), and I have to say that it’s refreshing to know what to expect. For example, we knew that dinner would be fried chicken and chips/fries; that all seven Soppies would be getting ready in the boys’ dressing room (because there are no mirrors or working heaters or, most importantly, SNACKS in the girls’ room); that the backstage toilet would be locked until 7.30 pm, and that when the toilet finally did open it would be like a tour bus toilet: no “big jobs” allowed (for that you have to use the restroom out in the venue, which entails climbing up and over the stage — just a wee bit awkward if your opening act has already started).

We also knew that the graffiti on the walls would have a certain, err,”masculine” theme to it. Let’s just say that last year the overarching theme of the graffiti made me wonder if “Biebob” was actually a Belgian slang word for a certain part of the male anatomy. But hey, I’m not complaining; the interesting graffiti just gives us something to laugh about, we like it cozy in the dressing room (all the better for teasing each other and telling cheesy jokes), and what’s not to like about chicken and chips?

What we’d managed to forget since last year is that the stage gets extremely slippery towards the end of the show — Johan (bass) being the considerate gentleman he is, warned those of us within earshot, but despite this Marcela (lead vocals) at one point almost had a really nasty fall (read more about it in the official tour diary entry). So if you ever plan to play there, hopefully this tour diary entry will serve as a cautionary warning about the slippery floor and backstage toilet issues so you won’t run into unpleasant surprises.

We had no support act this time, so for once it felt like we had all the time in the world both during and after sound check. Our crew and other helpers are (as usual!) doing a fantastic job and making everything as comfortable and easy as possible for us. Hans, our new backline/guitar tech, is not only really good at what he does, but comes equipped with a supply of the most tempting chocolate in the known universe. If he had known how much Marcela, Diana (backing vocals) and I love good chocolate, I’m not sure he’d have been so eager to share his stash. And if he had known that he’d have to tune and string my dorky pink guitar, he might have had second thoughts about taking the job.

The show itself was fun, and I have to tip my hat to Biebob’s lighting engineer, who did a really super job despite not knowing our set. In fact, everyone at Biebob is friendly and helpful. The audience was really supportive, staying enthusiastic despite the myriad small-but-annoying technical problems we experienced during the show. For some strange reason I had serious problems with feedback, despite playing at a much lower stage volume than usual. It’s anything but fun when that happens, but one of the of the challenges of playing live is not letting technical problems or “bad guitar days” get to you, and just getting on with enjoying the show as best you can for the sake of everyone else involved. But sometimes it’s harder than you might think to not just throw a Metal Diva Hissy Fit (TM) and stomp off stage in a huff when you’re having a crummy day.

During the show there were a lot of friendly familiar faces in the audience, which is always a treat. The meet and greets we do after shows are always enjoyable, but it’s even more fun when you can look forward to meeting internet friends who you only get to see at shows. There were some really funny moments, like when two very dedicated fans showed us their homemade T-shirts that featured all the inside SoP and Ayreon message board jokes. But on a more serious note, we also had the honor of meeting the surviving family of someone to whom Arjen’s music had brought great happiness. It was a very special and touching moment for all of us.

So last night, despite knowing what to expect in some ways, the evening still brought with it elements of the unexpected. I suppose you can never adequately prepare for everything that life will send your way, but then again, encounters with the unexpected are part of what makes life interesting.

Pinkie respect to one and all,
Lori
m/

Just a quick update from the road — thanks to all who came out to see us at Copenhagen and Helsinki! You helped us get this mini-tour off to a great start! We’re already on site at tonight’s venue (Biebob, BE); the crew is hard at work setting up our equipment, and I’m doing my best to keep my grubby paws off of all the sugary treats and chips and naughty snacks that are the typical before-dinner venue food.

As you might have read on the official tour diary at www.streamofpassion.com, there have been several setbacks and close calls due to the storms that have been raging across Europe. I had to make a quick trip back to Sweden after our rehearsal period, and was depending on the Swedish rail system to get me to Copenhagen airport to meet the rest of the band the morning of our show there. There were lots of horror stories in the media about cancelled trains, power outages and other problems and I was really worried that I might not make it. But luckily enough time had passed between the worst of the storm and my departure time so that everything was OK. I arrived in Copenhagen in PLENTY of time to meet the band, who had their own series of delays and mishaps (see the tour diary for detail) and almost didn’t make it at all. I was REALLY lucky that some friends who were in Copenhagen for the show were willing to hang out with me at the airport while I waited. They kept me entertained and well-caffeinated at the Baresso bar (highly recommended for the carrot scones, btw), and also kept me calm as each new delay of the Soppie’s flight appeared on the monitor.

OK, almost time to tune the pink guitar for sound check, but on the day off tomorrow I’ll be back with a more detailed update. Looking forward to seeing those of you who will be coming out to see us tonight!

Pinkie respect,
Lori

The SoPpies have all now safely landed in Holland, and we met up for our first rehearsal today at our usual not-so-secret location. Same room, same equipment, same smell of rock’n'roll, but it’s been refurbished with guitar stands mounted on the walls, groovy mood lighting, and a whiteboard (useful for writing up the setlist!). As usual, rehearsals went surprisingly well given the fact that we are not a “normal” band who can meet and rehearse regularly. Everyone practices their parts at home, so when we get together it’s really just a matter of getting used to playing at concert volume (and, if you’re shy like me, getting used to playing in front of people).

We’ll be rehearsing for the next three days, then we have a couple of days off before the first show in Copenhagen. I do have my laptop with me, but time is limited for Internetting, so I hope you’ll be understanding if it takes some time for me to respond to emails or blog comments. My first priority will be keeping you updated with any silly or fun tour anecdotes that I notice this time around.

I have to say that, apart from the chance to play HAUNTED again (my favoreeeeet) and some other songs involving CHUGGAS, the highlight of my day today was Diana showing up with a box of my favorite touring snack: Kellogg’s All-Bran Fiber Bars:

I got turned on to these on last year’s tour, but they are extremely difficult to find in the shops. I look for them in every shop I go in, and I’m always asking our tour manager to look for them for me when she shops for the band. It was so massively sweet of Diana to pick up a box for me when she saw them in Amsterdam. I love these bars — they are both tasty and, umm, useful. ‘Nuff said about THAT.

Signing off for now, but I will leave you with this photo, sent in recently by P.L.A.G. regular, IntGod. I highly doubt we will see any bananas at the upcoming shows that top this one:

Pinkie Respect m/
Lori

The following dates/venues are confirmed:

18 Jan, The Rock / Copenhagen (DK)

19 Jan, Nosturi / Helsinki (FI)

21 Jan, Biebob / Turnhout (BE)

25 Jan, Lucky & Co. / Rijssen (NL)

26 Jan, Bibelot / Dordrecht (NL)

02 Feb, The Dome / London (UK) Moved to 04 Feb

03 Feb, (Venue TBA) / Rotherham or Sheffield (UK)

04 Feb, The Boston Music Room / London (UK)

Update: Cool – we’re going to Finland! There are (STILL) a couple more gigs in the works; I’ll post more news as soon as I have it.

Update 2: Apparently there is some confusion about the Feb 3 UK city/venue. Last I heard, there was a chance it would be moved to Sheffield, but it still wasn’t 100% certain.

Update 3: Thank goodness I have YOU ALL to let me know when the gigs are Jan 25, Rijssen!

Update 4: CRS have organized a gig for us in London on 4 Feb.

Rene Heimans from maxxivemedia came along with us to Mexico and shot a bunch of photos. Here are a few of them:

Getting the perfect feedback at the end of Spellbound (doesn’t happen often)


Johan with the “Listen to the flower people” lights


Diana with more “flower people” lights


Mexican audience makin’ some noise!


Marcela greets the homeland


Why it’s easy to gain weight on tour (I am the naughty one who got into the evil chocolate muffin)


Twin chugga attack


Davy and Alejandro metal out at the pyramids

Many thanks to Rene for braving the long trip with us and sharing his photos!

Update: the SoP photo gallery from the Mexican trip is up here.

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