Last update: 28.05.98

THE DAILY DIARY PAGE FROM THE TRIP

Day 1 (May 14th):
Arrived at Miami International 10:30am local time. I finally met Barry Waddell (Guitars) and Dennis Ristow (Keys) who drove down from Bradenton to pick me up. THANX guys for driving 4 hours to pick me up. Amazing!!! We took off back to Bradenton and the Wolfs Den. I was so warm welcomed , it was like meeting longtime friends. Barry told me a lot about the band during the drive. Finally, we arrived to their Studio. This place is so cool. They have build a big stage to rehears their Liveact. They also have all the stuff you need for recording stuff and right now they are hard at work to get their new album Lost In Hell released. Afterwards, we drove down to the Mall and met Barry's brother Wes Waddell (Vocalist) who works there. Like the others, he was all smiles and excited over my visit. We took a bite of food there, and drove back to the studio where I'm gonna live during my stay. Barry and Wes played some stuff from their new album. Folks, I tell you right now, THIS IS ONE HELL OF AN ALBUM coming your way. When this baby hits the streets, loose whatever you have in your hands and run for it. It's a must for everyone who loves progressive, melodic, hard Metal. After that, Barry and myself were pretty tired and decided to call it the day. Just a quick shower and then hit the sack for a good nights sleep. I'm in Rock'n'Roll heaven here that's for sure. See you tomorrow. Good night.

Day 2 (May 15th):
Today, we chilled out most of the day until the afternoon, cause it was killing hot outside. By 7:30pm, the remaining members of the band showed up and I finally met Phaedra (Bass) and Wayne (Drums). Now, the whole band were assembled ready to do a rehearsal. They are up for two gigs, Dracula's (St. Petersburg) Saturday May 23rd and Outerlimits (Bradenton) Monday May 25th. Barry thought they would sound kinda rusty since they haven't been playing for a while. No problem!!! They worked their way through the setlist and it sounded GREAT. They got some of the new stuff from the new album in the setlist and I can tell you, IT ROCKS!!!!!!! I'm looking forward to the gigs for sure. Else, I called Paul from NOVEMBER 67 and we will probably work out a date and time to hook up while I'm here. They are living in Jacksonville, 4 hours drive from Bradenton. Well, by now, time to hit the sack.

Day 3 (May 16th):
By 1:30pm, Dennis and Wes came out to the Studio. We drove up to Tampa to check out one big mother of a music store, MARS. Man, it took hours to check it out. Me being a tourist and all, picked up my videocamera and started to shoot like tourists are supposed to do. Two minutes later, a security guard came up and said, sorry filming or taking pictures was not allowed inside the store. Well I got some film out of it as a memory. I also got to meet Dr. Killdrums (Steve Wacholz), former drummer in Savatage. He played on killer albums like `Power Of The Night` and `Hall Of The Mountain King` to name a few. It was cool talking with him. These days, he's working at MARS in their percussion dept. Afterwards, we went to another big store called Thoroughbred Music. It has kind of lost it's glow after MARS opened (meaning Thoroughbred, Tampa). Last stop was Aces Records. Legendary Metal record store throughout the world actually. Mainly because of it's leading position in Florida. Lot's of stuff to be found there and absolutely worth while checking out if your searching for special Metal releases or merchandise. When we came back home to the Studio, Barry whipped up some gigantic mothers of Hamburgers, `Eddie Murphy Houseburgers`. No wonder good all Eddie played the leading roll in `The Nutty Professor` let me tell ya! Right now we're rolling around on the floor, trying to touch it with our feet, but our belly's wont let us. Well, hopefully by tomorrow, we'll be able to stand up on our feet again. Bye.

Day 4 (May 17th):
I talked with Max Murdok from LIVER (over in Melbourne,FL) today. First time I talked with him and as expected, I had some good laughs during the conversation. We agreed on trying to arrange a kind of meeting together with NOVEMBER 67 during this week. Later on, a journalist from Sarasota Herald Tribune, came out to the studio for a visit. She (Dawn's her name) has recently opened a column in the paper which will deal with the local Metal scene. She was impressed by the Studio and rehearsal facilities here. She also heard the title track 'Lost In Hell' from their upcoming album. Later on, Phaedra came and took us out for a dinner at the Outback Steakhouse. Outback Steakhouse is a chain of restaurants specialized in Australian food which is very popular in USA. I went for a 12 onze spareribb, cheese fries and salad. Man, I didn't realise how much food this really is. We rolled out of the restaraunt one hour and a half later. After a short stop at Phaedras mother, we headed for the beach at Maria Island to catch the sunset. We didn't make it, but we went out on the pier and had a good view of the Skyway Bridge in the distance. It goes straight over Tampa Bay and is one of the longest bridges in the world. A mighty sight it was. I used both my camera and videocamera during our stay. Afterward, we kinda called it the day. The beaches are waiting tomorrow for all I know. Good night. (By the way, Elvis has left the building!!!!)

Day 5 (May 18th):
Well, today it was time for the common tourist treat. Wes picked us up and I was in for the the grand tour of the Bradenton - Sarasota area. We headed out to the islands and the beaches of Longboat Key. It was awsome! The beaches stretches out for miles and miles. Barry and Wes used to live out there and told me that there's been a lot of changes since then. More hotels, malls and condo's built since they moved into Bradenton. Of course, for me, coming from Europe, this looked like Paradise, man, and it has corrupted my mind! We drove in to what's called The Old Village. Here's where you find the oldest houses in Longboat Key. The funny thing here, was all these wild peacocks walking around the doorsteps making noises like little kids all the time. They are indeed a treat for the eye to watch, but having their noise around the house all day long must be frustrating. We cruised towards the city of Sarasota and passed the house where Brian Johnson of AC/DC lives. Sarasota seems to be the town center of the area with a skyline and all. I guess the city is quite typical for America. After Sarasota, we headed back home to the studio. Later on, the rest of the band came out for rehearsals. They played some stuff I haven't heard yet that will be included in their next album after Lost In Hell. Well, time to sign off. See ya.

Day 6 (May 19th):
Today, we decided to chill off a bit. Just relax and 'solve all the problems of the world' kind of a day. I knew our radioshow was on today, so I picked up the phone and made a call to the radiostudio to provide a Live report from Florida on the air. It was fun, and Barry actually did an interview on the spot telling people about the band and all the things happening around the band. Barry is a funny guy and put on an entertaining interview. I'm quit sure there was many listeners out there who had a good laugh from it. Later in the evening, the band came in for a last practice before the show at Dracula's (St. Petersburg) Saturday May 23rd. I got the chance to meet Charley, who does their lightshow at their gigs. He's been a part of SOTW for many years. A really nice guy, like all the people I have met sofar. Barry says that Charley probably know's more about SOTW than the band do themselves! During this practice, Charley videotaped most of it. This practice was devoted to get the small details correct for the show, so naturally there was a lot of breaks. I guess these things are important to make a gig more than just another gig. After tonight, I'm sure the Metalheads are in for a treat at Dracula's on Saturday.

Day 7 (May 20th):
It's HOT outside, so Barry and me fooled around in the studio during the day. Later in the evening, Dennis and Wes came over because tonight we planned to start the recording of the Norwegian version of the 'Lost In Hell'. Barry says they want to release a CD-single of it in Norway and it will be included as a bonustrack on their fortcoming album 'Lost In Hell'. I've translated the lyrics into Norwegian and done some pre-coaching with Wes regarding the prononsiations. Dennis is the computer guru who's responsible for the recordings of the band in general. He uses Cakewalk, which is an amazing piece of software. Well, we started up and Wes was all fired up. By the time we finnished, they actually nailed one vers and a couple of choruses and it sounded GREAT!!!! We'll finnish this before I go back home to Norway of course, but the next couple of days, I'm going up to Orlando and Jacksonville to visit LIVER and NOVEMBER 67. See you tomorrow.

Day 8 (May 21st):
Last night, Wes drove me over to the Bradenton/Sarasota Int'l Airport so I could pick a rental car for my trip to Orlando and Jacksonville today. A nice car it was, Buick Skylark. You got to have wheels in this country!!!! I took off by 11:30am and headed for Orlando. It took me 2.5 hours with an average speed of 70MPH, which is about 110km/h. I found the LIVER Headquarters as they call it, and Claudio was waiting for me. Unfortunatly, Max Murdok, the guitarplayer which I've had contact with for over a year had to leave for New Jersey before I arrived so I didn't get to meet him. But Claudio was a treat. He teaches and take classes at the Full Sail School. This school is famous i America, and they teach audio and video and related stuff. He took me over to the school and gave me a tour around it. They are updated with the latest technology you can find on the market for Audio and Video recordings. They also do jobs for International bands like Alice Cooper and resently Deep Purple, and they do work for major movies out of Hollywood too. I was totally amazed by the whole thing. Then we went back. Claudio had to go over to the school again to do some acting classes which he is attending at the moment. He would be back about nine o'clock in the evening. In the mean time, I enjoyed their pool in the back yard. This is a way of living I wouldn't mind at all!!! I had company with their rotweiller, Ozzy. It's a BIG, BIG dog I'll tell ya, but he accepted me and there was no problem. Then Claudio came back. He showed me their studio and played me some stuff from their forthcoming album, 'F'n' Banshee' (Stands for Fuckin' Banshee). In America, it is not allowed to use words like that on the cover of CDs. he played me an instrumental called 'Techno Fart' which knocked me over in laughter. He has 264 different farts stored in his computer, and one day he was going to sort them out in directories. When he started, the fart started to loop and had a kind of rythm to it and that's how he came up with the idea of making an instrumental of farts! Your in for a treat when that sucker reaches you!! Their current album 'Brown Speak' is available from their web site Livernation . All tracks can be downloaded to your hardisk for free. The new album will be released as a CD. Later in the night, I taped an interview with him, which I'll put on the show when I receive a CD version of 'Brown Speak'. Afterwards, we talked for hours and finally hit the sack. Tomorrow morning, I'm on the move again heading for Jacksonville.

Day 9 (May 22nd):
It's friday morning and time is 7:30am when I got up from bed. I wanted to make an early start. I said goodbye to Claudio and wished I had some more time to spend with him. Thanx for putting me up and for making my short stay so pleasant man. 9:00am, I headed down to Kennedy Space Center. I always wanted to go there and see all the amazing stuff they have down there. I was not disapointed. If you're in Florida, make sure to check it out. The only regret was that I had no time to take the busride around the premises. This ride takes you out to the launching pads. Next time, I will for sure. I did see the inside of a full scale copy of the space shuttle Explorer though, among a lot of other things. After this space adventure, I headed for Daytona Beach. I entered the southern end of the beach. It cost me 5 dollars to cruise the beach, but it was worth it. I knew the beach was long, but I didn't realize how long it was! It took me close to 2 hours to cruise it and man there was some pretty sights there I'll promise you. Check it out when your down here. Well, after a couple of bad turns out of Daytona, I finally made it to Interstate 95 which would take me north to Jacksonville. I arrived at Blane Gilbert's (the drummer in NOVEMBER 67) home 6:00pm. He was all fired up by my visit and called up the rest of the band and told them to get their asses over to the rehearsal studio so I could see the band Live. An hour later, I was sitting there listening to NOVEMBER 67 Live and they were awesome!!!! They played songs from their debut-album 'Welcome To The Revolution', which is due for release in Great Britain May 25th, and the rest of Europe a month later through Hengest Records. They also played a completly new song for me. They were all great and I felt like coming back to old friends. Paul Marko, the guitarplayer, have been living in Sweden for 4 years, so he knows a lot about us Scandinavians for sure. He told me that meeting me made him feel back in Sweden. After the gig, we all went back to Blanes home. Blane's living out in the countryside and owns a huge area of land. He has some plans for it, like building studio and stuff. Well, we all had a good time talking and eventually, the other guys had to leave. Afterwards, I taped an interview with Blane, which I will put on the show as soon as I return home. Blane works with loading and unloading trucks coming into Jacksonville bringing gear for International bands on tour. He showed me an impressive collection of things he's got from the bands. Pictures, drumsticks, passes, guitarpicks etc. He even gave me some guitarpicks as a gift. There was picks from Eddie Van Halen among others. He was sorry that I had to leave next day, because Saturday night, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page was in town doing a show at the Coloseum and Blane could provide me with a pass for that one. I was sorry to, believe me, but I had to get down to Bradenton next day to catch the Dracula gig SOTW was putting up. Thanx Blane and the rest of the band NOVEMBER 67 for giving me such a good time in Jacksonville despite my short visit. I'll be back for sure!!!!

Day 10 (May 23rd):
I got up from bed 6:45am and took off at 8:15am. I was going straight down to Bradenton, and I arrived there 1:00pm. Barry and the rest of the guys had allready loaded the truck and was ready to leave for Dracula's Night breed. We took off at 4:00pm and headed north to St. Petersburgh. We crossed one of the longest bridges in the world, Skyway Bridge. Dracula's is located in Pinella's Park, a section of St. Petersburgh. It is not a large place. It's actually one of those places they call 'A Whole In the Wall' over here, but they do put up some good Metalshows there, and SOTW has played here many many times and they have a big following here. When we arrived, and they unloaded the gear, the bar was crowded with old people yapping around. When SOTW did their soundcheck, they kind of ran out of the place. This kind of music is not their kind for sure. This evening, they had an opening act called TAKEN BY FORCE. These guys are no newcomers to the Metal scene, and they also have a big following. The band that comes to my mind comparing them with other bands, is SAVATAGE. I've never seen SAVATAGE live yet, so this is the closest thing to SAVATAGE I have ever been. They do SAVATAGE covers among other covers, but this night, they consentrated on original songs. They have a 4 track Live CD out, recorded at Dracula's in January this year. They are currently working on a full time studio CD which will be released later this year or in the beginning of next year. These guys kicks ass!!!! They played an extra SAVATAGE cover for me, 'The Hall Of The Mountain King'. Thanx guys, awesome!!!! They gave me the Live CD and press-kit, which I will present on the show as soon as I'm back home. And, I'll be busy exchanging E-mails with the vocalist Troy too. T.B.F. delivered a good show, but the guitarist busted a string in the end which really destroyed his night. Nevertheless, his guitarwork was amazing and there has been more than one major band asking him to join their ranks. Troy says 'keep your hands off my man guys, he's with us!!!' Then there was time for SOTW. No doubt, the majority of people had turned up to see them. They started the show with a selfmade intro and then banged into the song 'Battle Scars'. Wes came out with flames shooting out of his hands and took the stage with storm. 'Battle Scars' is a new song, and a good song to start a show with. SOTW has not been playing live since october last year, so they were all fired up ready to tear down the place. They had an impressive setlist and their performance was outstanding. People had a good time no doubt, and I had a tremendous time finally seeing them Live. These guys belong on a stage for sure. After the gig, they took their time talking with people despite the fact that they had to be totally exhausted after the nearly 2 hours long gig. I was introduced to the clubowner Tom, who gave me a couple of T-shirts. Thanx Tom, I'll wear your colors around Oslo for sure!!! I also met Lenny and Debbie who's been longtime diehard fans of SOTW. They take care of selling merchandise whenever SOTW doing gigs. They were so nice people. Lenny was quite a sight. He was dressed up in all kinds of SOTW stuff, and he had a pair of enormous wolfshape shoes on his feet. After the gig, the truck was loaded and we headed back to the Wolfs Den. The guys are so funny during unloading and I got most of it taped on video. It's like that every time they return from a gig. On monday, they are ready to play at Outerlimits right here in Bradenton. Finally, bedtime!!!!

Day 11 (May 24th):
It's Sunday, and there is really nothing much to report. The band was exhausted after the gig last night, and they really needed the rest. Also, it was important to recharge the batteries to the gig tomorrow at Outerlimits here in Bradenton. Wes and Barry took me over to their parents home so I got a chance to meet them. They've been away on vacation while I'm been here, and they came home yesterday night. It was nice to meet them and they are very supportive to the band. I guess that's it for a lazy Sunday here in Florida.

Day 12 (May 25th):
SHOWTIME!!!! Yepp, time for SOTW to make their mark in their own turf, Bradenton. They haven't done a gig here in two, or maybe even three years. The gig at Outerlimits is what you can call a showcase with 4 other bands on the bill. The other bands were QUICKSAND, BLAK, KLEGG and DOWNBRINGER. SOTW opened the gig which had the name ROCKFEST. They didn't bring all their gear this time because they were only gonna play for 45 minutes and there were other bands playing afterwards. The stage at Outerlimits is bigger than the one at Dracula's. This gave them more space to move around more and it affected the whole gig. I think they did it better tonight then at Dracula's for that reason. SOTW wanted to open the gig, because there would be a lot of younger people there and they feel it's important to present their music to these kids. The crowd responded at once and headed for the stage and screamed their lunges out. Lenny and Debbie was there aswell, selling merchandise and they were busy selling, believe me! Lenny was dressed up as a Wolf with a Wolfmask, rabbit skin on his arms and legs and a tale + SOTW T-shirt and Cap. Man did he put on a show on the dancingfloor!!!! This guy has to be seen let me tell ya. You wont believe it if you don't see it with your own eyes. SOTW really turned on the crowd and delivered a solid gig which made the metalheads in Bradenton aware of that they have an excellent Metalband in their own backyard. Next band was QUICKSAND. This is not the National band, but a local band from North Charlotte, Fl. The members was not born yesterday by far. I would guess the age to be 45-50 years (or maybe older). They played a bluesy kind of Rock and did it well. It didn't turn on the crowd, but I like them because these guys are in for it just for fun and enjoinment. Keep it up guys. Next one was BLAK. These guys are HEAVY. They mix very Heavy riffs with a rap-kind of vocals which seems to go down very well over here at the moment. Not my cup of tea, but they certainly made the crowd banging around. The vocalist, Ronnie Miller actually hosting a radioshow called 98 Rock Show/The Pit, which is on the air every Sunday night. They play mostly Death Metal and other extreme Metal music in their show. Next band was KLEGG. Not that far from BLAK stylewise, but there was more melody to their riffs. Good show for them too. Last band was DOWNBRINGER, which caught my attention. They play a powerful, melodic kind of Metal which I happen to like. I think they did a good show, good songs, well played and an entertaining vocalist. During the gig, I met a lot of nice people and friends of SOTW and had a really good time. The biggest surprise for me that night, was meeting 3 members of CRIMSON GLORY in the crowd. I met guitarist Jon Drenning, new vocalist Wade Black and Bassplayer Jeff Lords. They have just completed a new CD and this will probably hit the streets october this year. Jon told me that they got some great response from Metal Hammer and Rock Hard Magazine in Germany. After the gig, he took me over to his car to let me hear some stuff from the upcoming album. THIS WAS GREAT STUFF!!!!!!!! All CRIMSON GLORY fans should wake up from their sleep, because the C.G. album kicks ass!!!!! The band are back to the sound of their 2 first albums again, but it's heavier. The vocalist Wade has an amazing voice with the same range as Midnight, but yet more powerful. Jon said this is the album he always wanted to do after the last album which turned out to be a flop. The way the Metal scene seems to take, made him bring the band together again for this album. He promised to send me stuff for HIGH VOLTAGE a.s.a.p. and I can't wait to lay my hands on it. It's no secret I've been a die hard CRIMSON CLORY fan for years, so this is the best news I've heard in years. WELCOME BACK, C.G. Afterwards, we took off back to the studio, and we were 'waxed' all of us, as Barry likes to put it. Before we hit the sack, we got visited by three girls, friends of the band. It was basically one of them who had dragged her two friends over here, and she was a bit loaded to be polite. Anyway, she talked and talked and one of the other girls wondered if anybody could remove her batteries. It was cool to have them over, but we were all tired and wanted to hit the sack.

Day 13 (May 26th):
It's Tuesday and we were not upto anything but to rest up after yesterday night. Well, actually, we were going to finnish the Norwegian version of 'Lost In Hell' later in the evening, but due to very little sleep, and that Wes had to go to work early, we decided to prospone it till tomorrow. So tuesday turned out to be exactly what we needed it to be, a day totally dedicated to resting up.

Day 14 (May 27th):
It's wednesday and my last day here at the Wolfs Den. Wayne stopped by to say goodbye. He had to leave early. I wanted to do some shopping, and Phaedra picked me up and we took off heading for Sarasota. She new a big Mall where they carry all kinds of things and after a while, I found all I wanted to buy. Phaedra is the language expert in the band. She speaks several languages, and since I came down, she wanted to learn Norwegian and she bought a book for English speaking people who wants to learn Norwegian. There was supposed to be a tapecassette with it, but it wasn't. So whenever we took a break from shopping, she took up the book and asked me to read certain words so she could get the right prononsiations. I thought it was great to see an American really wanting to learn my language. She has a good ear for languages so I'm sure she will be speaking Norwegian very well in a short time. When we came back to the studio, Wes, Barry and Dennis was ready to finnish the recording of the Norwegian version of 'Lost In Hell'. After 3 hours work, we nailed it. Wes has done a tremendous job and I'm sure my fellow Norwegians will be impressed by his way of singing Norwegian. I know I am! Well, time to say goodbye to Phaedra and Dennis. I don't like goodbyes so I made it to be 'See you guys'. It's a drag to leave when you are having such a good time. Time for bed. I'm up for an early start going back home.

Day 15 (May 28th):
It's early in the morning and Wes drove me over to Bradenton Airport where I picked up a rental car. I was going to drive from Bradenton to Miami Int'l Airport. We headed back to the studio and loaded the car. I've got all kind of gifts from the band and had to buy an extra bag yesterday to get it with me. Well, time for departure. I was really sad having to leave, but we'll meet again soon I'm sure. I said 'See ya' to Barry and Wes, big hugs and stuff. I want to express my deepest thanx from the bottom of my heart to Barry, Wes, Dennis, Phaedra and Wayne for having me as their guest these 14 days and their hospitality. They have taken so good care of me and made sure I enjoined my stay to the fullest. I have never met a group of people being so nice and polite like these guys and I know I've gained friends for the rest of my life. I hope to see you in Norway soon! Then I took off. The drive down to Miami took 4 1/2 hour and it actually rained! We were 3 hours delayed in Miami due to some technical problem with the airplane. At last it took off. 10 hours later, I'm back home, totally 'waxed' as Barry says. Well folks. This marks the end of one of my best vacations ever, and the end of this diary. I hope you have enjoined it. If you are in the neighborhood of Sarasota/Bradenton, do check out what's going on in the clubscene. If the name SEASONS OF THE WOLF appears in the add, do your self a favour and check them out Live. They are awesome! Also, check out their new album 'LOST IN HELL' which is due for release in the fall. That's all folks. I'm outta here.....

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