Tuesday,October 31th 2006
Last show just finished in Japan...in Nagoya to be exact. We had to go to the Bullet Train station immediately after Maiden finished their last note in order to catch the last train to Clarkville...Ehhh.. I mean Tokyo. Made the train with seconds to spare and ended up in the Narita Hilton so we could catch the flight to London the next day.
I want to thank everyone at the Japanese promoters office Creative Man- Naoki Shimizu and AO [thanks for the dinner at the "screaming" restaurant in Roppongi] Nozue "Houston" Yasui, Mei Feng [who was our interpreter and always looked worried] Toshi and Junko who handled the stage. And last but not least, Spikey and George who are long time fans of Steve and the Maiden band and now our friends too.
Return to the US for a couple of days then off to Europe for the first dates in Denmark.
Back soon.
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Monday, October 30th 2006
Spent the whole day Sunday filming in Kyoto. There are two main temples in Kyoto. This photo is Me, Randy and Richie in front of the first one. Obviously,one of the most amazing sights on the planet.One of the unexpected benefits of playing shows on the road is seeing places that you would never be able to see otherwise. We spent a couple of hours at each temple filming Lauren in and around the astounding architecture and amazing gardens. We were also with Lauren's father and he was gracious as ever posing for pictures and signing things for fans. We left that evening for Osaka. The show tonight is at the Osaka Jo Hall. We have a 4pm lobby call and the venue is right outside the hotel. I am looking at it as I type. Should be fun.
Tomorrow we leave bright and early for Nagoya. I was hoping to do some video footage before I leave. I am still trying to figure out how to get all the footage I have into my Final Cut program, as soon as I do I will post some vids.
All for now. Be back soon.
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Saturday, October 28th 2006
Today was the second gig in Japan. At a fantastic venue called the Kokusai Forum. It went great we did our 25 minutes and we "buggered off". I do find it strange that just a few years ago I used to play five forty five minute sets a night and feel fine. Now just 25 minutes seems like forever. Maybe I AM getting older.
The one thing that hasn't changed is the warmth that the Japanese fans have for artists they like. Fans are in the lobby of the hotels almost non-stop. Of course , they are there for Maiden, but is was nice that once they saw us perform there would be a group who knew who we were and wanted pictures etc. We even had one girl who took a photo after the first Tokyo show and showed up tonight with copies of the photo wrapped up in nice packaging to give each of us as gifts.
There are some nice shots on Ross Halfin's website
click here
with Lauren and her Dad from the Roppongi shoot. Scroll down to October 24.More from Osaka tomorrow.
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Friday, October 27th 2006
Just got back from Hiroshima. We are traveling via the Bullet Train on this run. Here is a photo of me and Steve Gadd, Maiden's assistant tour manager, at the train station in Hiroshima. Steve played drums in a British band called Charlie in the late 70's and early 80's. He is a great guy[as are all the Maiden crew].
The Hiroshima show went fabulous.Lauren was much more relaxed and confident. Once again she had everyone out of their seats by the second song. we also did an additional song we had been rehearsing because we had a litle extra time, mainly because I started a couple of the tunes a little fast. In the end we quit right on time, and it was a smooth transition off stage.
Tomorrow we have another show in Tokyo, this time at the Kokusai Forum
Time to go to sleep, I think the jet lag is beginning to build up.
Konichiwa.... for now..
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Thursday, October 26th 2006
We played our first show in Japan last night. It went better than any of us had hoped. Lauren was awesome, she had the normally reserved Japanese audience on their feet from the second song. we arrived at the venue around 3pm and then had to figure out where all our gear was and then if it was all there.Thankfully it was. I want to thank Fujino and his people at DW drums Tokyo for coming to the show and also for providing the fabulous DW drums I am using for the Japanese run. Also thanks to Bobby Boos at Sabian cymbals. I would thank the Japanese Sabian rep, but I haven't met them yet. Thanks in advance who ever you are. Although, Bill Conte, Maiden's stage manager got on the local crew a little for having not polishing the cymbols enough. The Maiden crew has been fantastic to us. It makes it so much more fun when the headliners crew are that cool!
Today we go by Bullet train to Hiroshima. I think it's around a four hour ride. I remember from last time over here, you pass by Mt. Fuji on the way. Could be time for a photo. Speaking of photos. I think Bob the site guru is going to allow me to start uploading photos, as long as I promise not to break anything.
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Wednesday, October 25th 2006
Today is the first show day in Japan. We are playing at the Budokan in Tokyo. I hope to have the whole photo "thing" together so I can post some shots tomorrow.
Had a great dinner with the band and most of Maiden last night at Toraji in Tokyo. Highlight of the evening for me was, after dinner, we went walking around the area outside the restaurant with Ross Halfin. Ross for the uninitiated is probably the most respected and well known music photographers in the world. Ross was photographing Steve H. in front of this amazing neon clock sign, and then proceeds to start taking photos of Lauren and the band. We all felt really honored to be photographed by great Ross Halfin. Can't wait to see what they look like.Thanks again Ross.
Got to go and shower, we are doing some video footage with Lauren today around Tokyo.
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Tuesday, October 24th 2006
Just flew into Tokyo. Heading out to the Hotel Okura , where we will be based out of on this whole Japanese run. Had a bit o' drama on the flight over, we were way over weight on our bag allottment, but after expert negotiations by Steve A. we were finally able to make the plane with about 10 minutes to spare. Then the plane had a "mechanical" and we left the ground a little over an hour late. The pilot did come on and say the plane was two days old so, I guess they were still getting the kinks out [you really got me].
Bob the web guru just e-mailed me from the west coast and said he was in the process of working out the" comments" section of the site along with photo posting. Which should be fun.A couple more things I can muck up and he can fix.
I am also trying to figure out how to download the videos I have been taking. I think the camera I bought is to old to use USB technology to upload video to my Mac. Lucky for me Johnny B is out on the road with us. If anyone can figure it out he can.
Have to go, the lovely folks at EMI are treating us to dinner here in Tokyo. I am looking forward to seeing Tokyo again in the night time. The neon lights in the city are amazing. See if I could post photos I would show you. Ah well... maybe tomorrow.
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Thursday, October 19th 2006
We did the Square in Harlow in Essex on Thursday. Small crowd but very enthusiastic. Played with a couple of great local bands. I want to thank everyone who works at the show, especially John S. who ran front of house and made all the bands sound fantastic.
Great review of the Marquee show at
Hardrockhouse
.Couple of days off in our future. Maybe I will have some time to practice my HTML and get these posts to upload properly without having to drive Bob crazy, And while I’m at it , a round of applause for Bob from Ouch My Eye for putting together this site for me.
Looking forward to the Japanese shows next week.
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Wednesday, October 18th 2006
First show finished at The Hertford Marqee. It went spectacularly. I want to thank everyone who came out. Especially John and Julie and everyone at the Marquee. I want to also thank the bartender who kept trying to give me back the money I left on the bar.
Apparently, nobody tips in England. I come from Miami, Fla. you tip everybody for everything. She kept saying how nice I was to give her money. Finally she allowed me to give her the tip.
I still don't know how much I actually gave her. As many times as I have been to England I still can't get used to the big coins. It’s always hard to tell by looking at them how much they are really worth, Spoken like a true"Yank".
Tomorrow night is the Harlow Square in Essex. That will be the last show we will be doing before we fly to Tokyo.
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Tuesday, October 17th 2006
Just finished our first day of rehearsal out here in Harlow, Essex, UK. We had been doing just a thirty minute set for the European festival dates, so we needed to add some additional material. We picked up a cover of Natural Thing by British band UFO. UFO was one of the bands Lauren loved growing up.and she is doing a great job of singing it live.
Still a little tired, though, from traveling eight hours from the States yesterday and going straight into rehearse. Worst part about Harlow….. no Starbucks! They do have a McDonalds so off we go for an Egg McMuffin. Guess this means a trip to Tesco for instant coffee to keep at the house.
More to come soon…
Tommy
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__________________________________________________Friday, October 13th 2006
Welcome to the new weblog at tommymcwilliams.com. Hopefully, I will be able to keep everyone up to date with all things Lauren Harris. I will be on the road with her doing shows as her drummer and musical director. I'm sure there will be plenty to report considering there is a Japanese tour with Lauren's father's band, Iron Maiden,beginning in a few weeks.
I leave for the UK on Monday Oct.16 to begin rehearsal in Essex. Then on to some warm up shows in England before the first show at the Budokan in Tokyo on the 24th.
I am excited about building a cool place where everyone can come and enjoy all the great things going on with Lauren's music and our exciting times on the road. My plan is to create a community where we can all interact and stay connected via the greatest tool ever created for artists to "take it back".
I look forward to meeting everyone out there and bare with me as I figure all this out. More to come soon…
Tommy