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Ozzfest
2002 - Diary Of A Mad Band – Neurotica Tour Diary!
Get the inside story of Ozzfest from
Neurotica's Kelly Shaefer.
Week Eight
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Aug 22 -
Denver, Co
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After a day off in the middle of nowhere Denver,
we had stayed at this hotel where we met our 4th driver of the tour “Mark”
there was nothing around that hotel!!
We just hung out and showered not much partying
cause we need to get up bright and early, we wake up the next morning at
about 8:00 a.m. fucking early man!!we are really far away from the 2nd
stage for some reason, I was thinking right away that it was because of
our new driver, but I guess they are about to have this grand prix racing
event at the Pepsi center and well...they had to re=route everything. I
asked for directions from a security guy and he routed me all the way through
the building, today’s main stage is inside of the Pepsi center. so here
I am trying to find the closest bathroom 10 minutes out of bed at 8:00
a.m. this tour is so fucking crazy, its very easy to get sort of removed
from normal life, I can now see how easy it is to lose perspective of things
out here, if we were like a HUGE band or something and we were on the road
for many many months, it would be easy to just forget what a normal
life would be like I think, its very important to keep it all in perspective.
So I find the john, and proceed back to the bus to get ready for the show
which is in about 40 minutes, walked over by the stage to see how it looked,being
the first band has its perks and its downsides, the perk being able to
set the standard for the day by kicking it out hardcore early in the morning
and the down side is ...well of course getting up early and shit! we went
out and Denver was really cool, they were energetic right off the bat and
it seemed that they knew “ride of your life” they cheered when we announced
it which is very cool, we have never been here before so it was cool to
get that sort of response from strangers. the show today was literally
right beside six flags, so we could see the ferris wheels from the stage,
any how we had a good time, felt really great about the show, hit the tents
for the signings, they went long as hell which is GREAT! FINALLY HOOKED
UP WITH SOME GORGEOUS HERBS!!! I knew the western side of the country was
gonna be cool, and its, the mountains are something we do not see often
in the south. we basically hung out most of the day, bus call is not till
7:00 ish, we have a really long drive to the next gig, we have to be in
Santa Monica the day after tomorrow, its about a 24 hour hike, so that’s
why we are leaving kind of early. not much else to report today, it was
not the coolest venue for hanging out so we didn’t hahaha
Day off DRIIIIIVNG AND DRIVING!! saw switched at
a casino just outside of Reno, Nevada kelso won 50 bucks in the nickel
slots hahaha, I like the “Switched” guys, they are a very good band and
really nice guys as well, I think they will go far, the singer is also
very talented musically! we hit this little town called “Wells” Nevada
to get some money from the bank, this town was really small and very abandoned,
but they had a bank, so me and kelso roll into the bank thinking that they
are gonna give us a hard time, we always get a hard time when asking for
a couple thousand bucks, even with our id’s and shit, anyway, we met a
very cool western bell type girl who was completely non-judgmental and
we were pleased that we got our dough quickly so we could roll on, we signed
some posters and gave them some samplers, there were 2 other older ladies
who had sons who were into the wwf scene so we signed it for them and we
were back on our way, stopped into another flying J cafe had some food,
and then proceeded to play 54 holes of golf on the tiger woods playstation
game. got a call from my boy scotti hill from skid row, he is back out
on his tour with skid row, those guys are cool as shit, scotti has become
a great friend, he recently bought a house in Florida, our girls hang out
together. he is out with TESLA, and others on a summer package tour, he
is as cool as they come man! hung out ,got into Sacramento around 10:30
, took showers met up with some friends of our in Florida, Henry and Paul,
it was cool to see them, they will riding along with us for a few days
which mean our bus will be super cramped, oh well its a fucking tour right,
we are like a band of gypsies hehehe!
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Aug 24th
- Sacramento, Ca
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Show day Sacramento!!! The weather here
is fucking GREAT!! we have a totally non humid climate to slam it
out in, we found out that we have to play at 9:30 AGAIN that’s 2 days in
a row, it seems that our......friends in “the used” were making a video
so they....could not make it!. I decided to wear my baggy ass patchwork
pants on stage today, hell its cali and they are spirited!!!. This is kind
of funny, I really hate to start off each new day with a story of trying
to find the shitter, but I was in the bathroom and when I came out, they
were yelling at me to hit the stage, I was ready , but not really, it seems
that somehow we got out of sync with the “ozzfest: clocks and I am in the
porta john one second and then 30 seconds later I am on stage hahaha and
then some crazy shit happened we went out and there were like 8 people
right in the front of the stage and that’s it!!! hahaha It seems that at
this venue, the walk from the front gate to the second stage was about
10 minutes, so they thought they had timed it right but they did not so
actually they were juiced up kids and within a few minutes of us starting,
the kids were filing in in droves, by the time we did the sing along in
I like it there were over a thousand kids there!! that was crazy
though and the first time that had ever happened in the morning, usually
they are really great about getting the kids in first and then , getting
the music started! the crowd was so cool, you could tell it was a cali
crowd, I played in my fucking slippers man!! how laid back is that!! we
had a blast!!!! playing early allows for a lot of “extra” time! after the
tents, we just roamed around the nice ass weather made it very cool to
stroll around in. since scoring our dizzank we have all had a very laid
back vibehahah it has that effect and that is what I love about it, I played
my guitar for about 2 hours, I really needed to do that it felt really
great! I guess bus call is at 3:00 cause the next gig is only a few hours
away, our poor driver has not had a room since he has been out here with
us, there were no rooms available within 40 miles so he had to hang out
with us on the bus, he must have been so tired after that long ass drive!
we are really crowded on the bus so its hard to find a space to chill quietly
these days, but its cool I guess we have all had visitors and that’s part
of how we are as a band, its very much a family of people who have believed
in us for a long time, and when we get a chance we like for them to come
out with us and hang out and experience what we are ! watched down today,
I love to watch them along with otep and hatebreed as well, we are signing
shit when lost prophets and apex are on so sometimes we do not get to see
them, we can hear them, but not see them, Phil has been sounding a lot
better this week, it seems that he more awake and with it, he is a lot
of fun to watch on stage cause he is a bit of a time bomb and you never
know what he will say or do, I think that is something that is missing
these days with hard rock bands, not enough TIME BOMBS!!!!! Chilled , had
a great day, looking forward to tomorrow, its closer to san francisco,
should be cool ,we go on at around 10:20 3rd sweeeeet! |
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Aug 25th
- Moutainview, Ca
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woke this morning around 8:00 feeling so much better
now that that fucking cold is gone, man that was a drag to try to
sing with that shit, glad its gooone! Had me a little rock and roll shower
and got dressed for the day, man the weather here is REALLY nice, the line
to get into the show was literally right beside our bus, so we could not
hang out around the bus before going on stage, we went up and hung out
behind the stage till we went on. Mushroomhead opened up the day today
for the first time, now that’s a way to start the day I would say, those
guys are cool as shit, we have gotten along well with them on the tour,
they like to smoke out, actually almost everyone likes to smoke out it
seems, it always smells great around the camp hehe. today on stage I though
I would be a smart ass and I said hey!! we are neurotica from Tampa bay
and now I know your gonna be pissed CAUSE THIS IS A MAJOR FOOTBALL TOWN,
but... WE GOT YOUR COACH ...BIIIITCH!! hahahahah I could tell it was not
a wise idea hahahaha but it was funny as shit for the football fans anyways,
it was a bit of a laid back crowd this morning, its always that way with
cali, they can dig the shit out of your music, but react totally different
that an east coast crowd, we had a nice little morning pit kicking and
made some great new friends here in san fran, the kids have a ton of style
here as well, I like that, interesting kids, kids that show individualism,
when its not welcome, that’s fucking rock and roll man!! as I speak I am
just chillin in the back of the bus, I just came from catering and it was
a fairly star studded day over there, while I was eating Kirk Hammet was
standing next to my table, cool!! Also saw Paul Bostaph(slayer,systematic)
dino from fear factory etc etc in LA it should be a total blowout!!! the
weather was just so damn perfect, our friends Henry and Paul and also our
friend Jen have picked a great part of the tour to ride along on! I watched
the down set today, Tommy lee has been announcing all of the 2nd stage
bands today, sort of mc of the day, I heard a rumor today that he was not
gonna be on the tour anymore....???? not sure why? but someone said he
would mc’ing the cali shows, I thought it might be a weird mix over there
with his new style change, non the less it was cool to have him over here
at 2nd stage with us!! hung with evil jay from otep for a bit today, we
have been trying to spread the word to some of the band to tell there labels
we are looking for a new deal, otep has been a great help so far and we
love them for that!
its 9:00 I watched ozzy last night so I will skip
it tonight, its actually a little cold outside, the guys are having another
little all star jam outside the busses right now, I think I will just play
some madden and get high and maybe jam a little later, we have a day off
tomorrow but its a 18 hour drive to Seattle, I cannot wait!!!! CHEERS AND
THANKS FOR READING THIS SHIT!!! DAVE WILLIAMS R.I.P.
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Aug 27th
- Seattle
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| The Gorge(Seattle) Holy shit this place is
unreal, I awoke next to some little stream amongst some amazing mountains,
I have NEVER seen a venue quite like this, the kids are lined up for blocks
outside for the early set, we actually go on around 10:30 so we have a
little time to wake up! the kids are fired up, this is a great area for
“real” music lovers, these kids have seen some of the most amazing bands
ever! we had probably the best show we have had out here today, the kids
were just amazing and so cool, they were just the perfect rock crowd they
were singing and looking all glass eyed, this part of the country has some
of the best pot on earth so these kids were.....feeling good! I know I
keep saying in the journal that all these shows are so cool, but they really
are, this one was the one of the best though. went to catering and the
mainstage was literally set right in the middle of what looked like the
grand canyon, it was the shit!! catering was right beside the stage so
we could eat and watch the bands, I caught zombie’s set, saw my old friend
Steve De Giorgio from back in my death metal days, he used to play for
Sadus, we met years ago in san fran, he is a really good player and a cool
guy to boot. shot this shit with Down’s t-shirt guy Chet smoked out and
headed back to the 2nd stage to hang out, I came back later to watch ozzy’s
set, it was such an a amazing setting, while WAR PIGS was playing I just
looked around, its my favorite part of his set, to hear black sabbath cruising
through the air among these amazing mountains is something I could never
forget, it was so cool that I just hung out till the end of the show and
I watched ozzy leave the stage and enter his bus, its fun to watch all
the hoopla that is involved in just getting ozzy from the stage to his
bus, you see its those little things that make all of this so damn cool
for me! |
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Aug
28-30th Hollywood and there abouts.
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bus call is at 8:00 tonight so we can
start heading to LA for the big show, our driver mark said he will drive
straight through so we can get to LA in time to go out and hang in Hollywood.
we have a really long day of press tomorrow starting at 11:00 a.m. we have
a photo shoot with TATTOO magazine, we have an interview in the studio
of Westwood one, and also another one at the offices of LAUNCH.COM. we
had a long day off of driving from the gorge, great stuff to see along
the way, gorgeous mountains etc. we finally arrived in Hollywood around
6:00 Thursday night, the show is not till Saturday so we have time to have
some fun in Hollywood, Koch records got us a cool room to do our interviews
in right at the sunset marquis it was a nice ass room, we showered up and
headed to the WORLD FAMOUS RAINBOW BAR AND GRILL one of my favorite
places in LA.WE got there and saw Mike the guy who we met 2 years ago when
we were showcasing at the viper room. he is legendary, he was best friends
with john belushi and had lentil soup with him the day before he died.
all of the guys who run the rainbow are legendary, almost every rock star
from back in the day of the 80’s bands to now visit the rainbow while in
LA we saw Judd nelson(breakfast club) sitting on the edge of the bar, the
rainbow is a very small place so its cool to be partying and look over
and see the people you have seen on TV for years sitting there getting
hammered while you are also getting hammered hahaha we saw some fear factory
guys as well, within 10 minutes of being there they started jammin our
disc through the club, it was so fucking cool to come back the way we are
coming back, cause the last time we were here we were fighting for our
musical lives and now we are back to play a show to 65,000 people in fucking
LA on OZZFEST!!!!! ITS A GREAT FEELING!! We got shit faced on tequila,
some of our friends from Florida were with us as well and it was cool for
them to see all of this, we got out around 3 am and headed back to the
hotel staggering down sunset blvd that’s what LA is all about hahahaha
gotta get some sleep so these interviews will not be sucking hahhaa
see ya tomorrow!!!
Friday day off (press day) man I felt like
total shit when I got up, that’s what I get right??? our publicist mike
picked us up and took us over to the offices of Westwood one, had a great
interview with Stacy?? I think that’s her name she was really really cool
and knew a lot about our band, she was a joy to talk to for sure!! we then
headed over to do the launch.com thing, we were running behind cause I
am a blabbermouth hahaha we then headed back to the photo shoot to meet
the rest of the band for the tattoo magazine photo shoot, we have always
wanted to be in one of those mags!! After press today Otep’s mgr
“Zen” is taking us out for some bad ass sushi, we spoke about sushi with
him in Chicago I think it was, I told him I was down with good sushi, and
he said he would take us to his fav place ta-ki right cattycorner from
the Whiskey. We had about 400 bucks worth of some of the best Toro and
yellowtail known to man haha it was sooooo good, headed back to get ready
to hit the rainbow once again we got down there and it was a blow out,
everyone was there fucking meshuggah, the singer from sinnistar, the misfits
were there, also today Amy(Lita from the WWE) Is coming to meet up with
me at the rainbow when she flies in from Atl. she finally arrived and we
did some shots of tequila shot the shit for a bit, her friend from Hollywood
“bre” was there with her, Amy is really cool, we have hung out a few times
on this tour, she is doing her signings tomorrow at the wwe tent so that’s
why she is in town. we proceeded to get hammered, we saw X-Pac come in
the door hung out and talked with him for a bit, told him to come out to
the show, he and Amy of course know each other! we had another great time
met lots more amazing people out there and then we closed it down, we were
standing out front and saw Aaron Lewis waiting for the valet to bring his
fat ass Mercedes up for him, music I see has been good to him. hit the
sack to get ready for the show, man I am sooooo tired see ya
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Last
Week's Entry
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Week Six Entry
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Week Five's Entry
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Week Four's Entry
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Week Three's Entry
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Week Two's Entry
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Week One's Entry
Read
The First Tour Diary Entry
Check
out our special NeuroticaWorld Special with lots of killer stuff that will
help you to get to know the band!
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