May 09, 2008
WEEK TWO - THE BIG ROCK SHOW!
I haven't felt this tired in a while! Four hours sleep after one of the craziest shows I have ever seen!! And I was right there in the middle of it all, playing my ass off with a bunch of musicians that I respect and love. Last nights Roxy Show (Week 2 of 5) was possibly one of the greatest 'vibe' gigs I have ever played. In that tiny club, on that small stage, we were joined by Chester Bennington, Slash, Duff, Tommy Lee, Billy Duffy, Jerry Cantrell, McQueen, Steve Jones and Paul Cook. And they were ALL on the stage at the same time for our traditional finale - Iggy Pop's I Wanna Be Your Dog!! Honestly, it was SO much fun for me, and from the noise the sold out Roxy was making, it was a lot of fun for everyone!! The full set will be over at Camp Freddy's site tomorrow (I dont have time today, cos its the MAP Awards) and I did get a ton of amazing video - so another 'clip/highlight' blog from me at the weekend as well. Just know that these Camp Freddy shows are very special - that everyone turning up, jamming and being a part of the family just want to play great music and have a fun night of loud rock and roll. We thank them all!
Marku - No, the song the band is playing is called A THOUSAND TIMES and its a Circus Diablo song that was an extra track on the Japanese release of the album (and I think certain stores here got the extra tracks as well - not sure)
Justin - Actually yes we have thought of the Camp Freddy Festival. One of these days someone will come to us with the logistics and we'll do it! And BK (and everyone else) - you have to understand that we have ten ideas a day! But making them real is a lot different. The 5 Cities Tour is still something we would like to do. In fact, JUST for you, I'll talk to the agent about it and see what it would involve. Don't hold your breath, though!!
Paul - we actually have never had a serious offer from the UK. A few enquiries, but nothing solid. I don't think we have actively looked into it. When the offer comes, we'll deal with it!!
So today we take our good selves down to the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, to perform at an Awards Show that is honoring Slash and Alice Cooper. We are happy to be able to take part, and I am looking forward to our five song set. Dave is in Vegas, so Slash is playing all five songs with us, and we will be joined by Steven Tyler, Chester, Billy Duffy, Jerry Cantrell, Duff McKagan, Robin Zander and Wayne Kramer. Yep - more Rock N Roll extravaganzas, and all in the name of sober musicians. I will give you a full rundown of the show when I finally recover from these couple of days. I'm thinking (and hoping!) that I will sleep all day tomorrow and wake up in time for Camp Freddy Radio with Dave on Saturday. Tune in and I'll see you there.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:33 AM | Comments (14)
May 06, 2008
THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
The days are moving pretty quickly right now and the calm before the storm of Week Number Two of The Residency is slowly fading. The next Camp Freddy show at The Roxy is almost upon us and its shaping up to be another epic. As we are keeping it all a surprise until the night of the show, I can only tell you that you REALLy should treat yourself to a $20 ticket this thursday!! I wouldn't miss it for the world, if I were you!! HAHA!! Its so much fun doing all this - I would love to do the same thing on the other coast. Dunno if the guys would be into it, but its been so much fun putting it all together and doing the show last week. Maybe if the logistics were right, who knows. Maybe do one in London. Why not!! I'm just thinking out loud - but I would be down. Either way, I am happy and humble that we get to do these shows. Thanks to everyone who is involved, from the band and guests to the crew and the club. Everyone is going above and beyond to put some pretty awesome rock n roll together.
Also this week is the MAP Awards. Another pretty crazy day of rock and roll for Camp Freddy, but this time honoring two of Rock's REAL Royalty for their outstanding and unwavering contributions to the Musicians Assistance Program and their help in the field of addiction. Slash and Alice Cooper. We will be playing a five song set at the Awards Show and will be joined by a few friends to help pay tribute to Slash and Alice. I believe we are doing a couple of songs with Steven Tyler, with Chester Bennington, with Jerry Cantrell and Wayne Kramer, with Robin Zander, and of course Slash will be getting up with us along with his band mate, Duff McKagan. Thats a lot of people on one stage! Looking forward to being part of a very valuable and important organization and being able to contribute to the evenings celebrations.
I think we should get around to talking about the Evergreen video that is being shot in June soon, as well as the planned release of that song on a five song Billy Morrison EP towards the Fall. It will all coincide with the release of Basement Jack, the movie that premiered at Fangoria and that has Evergreen as the closing title song. Oh yeah, and I happen to be in the movie as well!! One of the detectives that ends up dying a wonderfully gruesome death. Moving on to the third part of the trilogy (the first was a movie called Evilution, that I already shot) later in the year as well - The Necropolitan - and of course the move I shoot in June called The Perfect Age Of Rock And Roll. Juggling these films with the music stuff is tough (not to mention throwing in a couple of pitches I have going around right now and one movie that I am producing - A Necessary Evil!) but I still wake up and pinch myself every day to make sure that all of it is actually happening! Its a cool ride. I gotta go catch up on Lost now - see you lot on Thursday hopefully. All pics by the wonderful Mike D - check out the one of Dave swinging his guitar!!
Peace
Billy
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Posted by vivelerock at 10:08 PM | Comments (14)
May 02, 2008
THE ROXY-WEEK ONE
I will be editing up a quick V-Blog later today, but couldn't wait to tell you lot about the first week's show at The Roxy. Last night was, quite simply, 'one of those nights'!! The place was a sell-out, with people just wall-to-wall, ready for some killer rock n roll. Drive A opened the evening and as I walked into the venue, I could see those kids jumping up and down and looking like total rock stars!! They sounded great and we were happy they came in the top 5 winners - awesome! Then we had Ace Harper and her Darling Stilettos dancing before we came on, and the whole place lit up like a christmas tree when these girls walked onstage!! Punk rock dancers, dressed in VERY little, and super hot routines ....all done to Zep/Idol/GnR classics! Whats not to like?!
So now its our turn, and after a hugely stressful afternoon of guestlist/setup/soundcheck/logistics, I felt ready for a nap! But the moment we got up there, I woke up!! We have changed a bunch of songs up now, and have an arsenal of new tunes - we opened with Cheap Trick's Hello There and then straight into Blur's Song Two. Mark McGrath (who is doing every show as our featured guest) came on and blew it all wide open with a killer version of Killing Jokes Eighties. And from there it just got surreal.....Poe singing Led Zep's Good Times Bad Times, Nuno Bettencourt just NAILING Oasis' Rock And Roll Star, Warren De Martini shredding Round And Round, Jerry Cantrell (not scheduled to play, but being part of the Freddy Family, always welcome!) wandering out and killing it on Jailbreak, and of course, my personal highlight (not only of the show but maybe my entire career!) - doing the Sex Pistols EMI with Steve Jones AND Paul Cook!!
Lemmy came on to finish the night out and we did Ace Of Spades (which is one of the most violent songs I have ever played!) and Eddie Cochrans Something Else, with Paul Cook and Matt sorum on drums, THREE Bass players (Lemmy, Chris Chaney and Corey Parks from Nashville Pussy!) and me, Navarro and Jonesy on guitars. I Wanna Be Your Dog finished the night in true Camp Freddy fashion....with the Darling Stilettos joining us all onstage and every musician grabbing an instrument and jamming. We got four more of these crazy shows to do, and I strongly advise any fan of rock music not to miss any of them. Each week is different songs and different guests. Next weeks show is gonna BLOW YOUR MIND!!!
CLICK HERE FOR THE NME NEWS PIECE.
CLICK HERE FOR THE BILLBOARD NEWS PIECE.
Thats all I got for ya - the V-Blog is now up so enjoy that little number, and last nights Podcast is also up on the Podcasts page as usual, thanks to UK Paul, and also if you subscribe to my page on I-Tunes. Circus Diablo tees are selling nicely now - if you want one, just click on the button in the STORE - and I'll be back early next week with more of the same. Adios amigos.
Billy
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Posted by vivelerock at 08:14 AM | Comments (29)
April 30, 2008
THE ANSWER IS YES.
Saw this online today - and the answer is simple. YES!! HAHAHA!!
Could This Be the Best Radio Station in the U.S.?
According to Rolling Stone Magazine, yes. I'm talking about Indie 103.1/Los Angeles, an alternative rock station which launched in 2003. This year Rolling Stone named it "Best Radio Station". So, what makes this particular radio station so good?
A press release sums it up by touting its lineup including shows like: "...Jonesy’s Jukebox hosted by the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, Harmony in My Head with Henry Rollins, Camp Freddy Radio with Dave Navarro and Billy Morrison, Community Service hosted by The Crystal Method (Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland) and Feel My Heat hosted by actor Danny Masterson and Brent Bolthouse. Each DJ creates their own playlists..."
Program Director, Max Tolkoff, says, "We’ve carved out a unique and rare niche for ourselves catering to radio listeners that lacked a true alternative rock station in the market."
Quite simply, Indie 103.1FM IS the best radio station. Not cos I'm on it....but because they fucking RULE!!! I have no headspace to throw up a decent blog tonight - I am fucked after all the rehearsing/logistics/madness. Can't wait for tomorrow when it officially becomes 'Gig Day'. You see, on a 'Gig Day', I allow myself to turn the phone OFF, and leave it OFF, so that all the people that wait until the day of a show to ask if they can get on the guest list get a polite but firm message saying...."leave yer name and number and I'll get back to you. Tomorrow.!!!!!" Back after the first show with video, a full round up, and more info about everything else thats going on. What I WILL say is - hold on to your hats, New York - MAY 28th. And thank God you GAIN time when you fly from East Coast to West Coast!! See ya.
Billy
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Posted by vivelerock at 10:55 PM | Comments (10)
