Ahh .... Orange County. Costa Mesa, to be precise. That strange, twighlight netherworld just outside of Los Angeles, that actually isn't JUST outside at all, but a few hours drive away!! How come people who live there INSIST that its "only half an hour away" ....... "oh, its just outside of LA" ...... but unless you decide to go there at 3.00am, when there is nothing on the freeway, it takes HOURS!!!??? When the car actually arrived at the venue, I noticed that we had not actually seen ANY residential areas anywhere near us. In fact, I started to wonder if anyone actually lived in Costa Mesa, or if they only came there to visit the Westin hotel, and the South Beach Plaza!!! I'm joking, of course. I know people live there ..... I just couldnt figure out WHERE!!!

The building was brand new (see the V-Blog ..... I mean there were still BUILDING the building!!!!) but they did a great job of rushing around during our soundcheck and finishing the painting, laying the carpet, throwing the couches in the dressing rooms, and making the place seem inviting. And the actual show was really great - tons of energy, a noisy crowd (having the whole front row made up of Morrison Family members and 6767'ers does tend to help matters!!!) and an enjoyable set list. CC Deville made his Camp Freddy debut with ACDC's Highway To Hell, and Poison's Nuthing But A Good Time, Steve Stevens and Mark McGrath pulled off an absolutely incredible version of Ted Nugents Cat Scratch Fever, and Chester Bennington sang an INSANE version of Janes Addiction's Mountain Song. For the full set list and guests, check out the EVENTS page at WWW.CAMPFREDDY.NET.

If you haven't already watched the new YouTube Favorite video, do so immediately. Click on the image of the Andy Warhol/Velvet Underground album cover on the top right of this page and watch one of the cleverest animations I have seen in a long time. Thanks to my friend Gary for sending me that link. Pure genius. I also noticed the banner for SAW 3 that popped up on YouTube ....... I am starting to build a huge list of movies that I need to go see - Grudge 2, Departed, Saw 3, Prestige, the new Texas Chainsaw ..... better get my ass to the movie theater today. Except that -

I am working this afternoon on some video editing WAY out in the valley. Its one of those projects that isn't really worth talking about until its done and dusted, but I am excited enough about it to be putting in the hours. And so on this wonderfully lazy sunny Sunday, I will be driving an hour outside LA to go sit in a small, dark room, to watch and edit frames of video ..... probably for hours. There HAS to be something wrong with me!!!

Peebs - Well spotted. That movie project, SIN JYN SMYTH, seems to have been one of those things that disappeared into the ether. Its interesting how it happens ALL the time in Hollywood, and THAT is why I am loath to give out ANY details until something is locked in 100%. One minute we are getting screenings of the daily rushes over at Warner Bros Studios, and being told this and that, and then you hear ....... nothing. Not a peep. Not a dicky bird. Nada!!!! You get the idea - I am sure the movie will eventually come out, but as far as the "Two Billy's" involvement? ...... not so much, it seems!!!!

Terri - Tried The Nine ..... didnt really grab me too much. My new shows include Jericho, Six Degrees, Heroes ..... and Ugly Betty!!!!

Susan (Anderson) - Welcome to the Morrison blog. And welcome to whatever world this is opening up for you! I hope you enjoy your time spent in this world. Keep your dial here!

Dennis - Thanks mate. Nice to see you are still around here. Hope all is going well mate.

Sue - Wow!! That movie, The Bridge, looks amazing! Yes, very dark subject matter, but hopefully its been done well. Looking out for that one - thanks for the tip.

Mayhem - You are too funny! Its like my life is like the Geico Lizard! (Oh, wait a minute - do you guys have that in the UK? If not, search Geico Lizard in YouTube!)...... "Come over to the Morrison gaff. 'Ave a cuppa tea, keep it social, hows ya mum?!!!..... Love it! In answer to your question, we normally tend to hang out at dinner, usually a restaurant (cos there are tons of good ones around here) or meet up in the evening for one of the parties or events that are always going off in Hollywood. Popping round for a cuppa doesnt really happen ..... and never really did in my life, either, come to think of it!

Matt S - You are so welcome, my friend. And actually, I am the one that should be thanking you - for taking care of us so well!!!

Paul - I hope that flying halfway around the world, hanging out in Mahony's Shamrock Tattoo's, seeing Lemmy in the Rainbow, meeting all the Morrison Family ..... and getting into a Camp Freddy show, has been worth it!!! Great to see you. Now someone explain what 615 is please!!!!!!??????

As much as I just wann keep typing (and I have to admit that this has ended up being a rather LONG post!!), I really do need to get dressed, get out, and get moving with the day. If I can get this video shit edited and done, then I can move forward with the whole project, so its worth spending my day off working, I suppose. Thanks to ALL of you who come here and continually read this blog - I do hope I do enough to keep it interesting for everyone. And respect to all of you for helping it remain a no-stress, cool place to hang out. MUCH appreciated. Oh yeah, and Theresa? ...... you KNOW that Dave and I were only messing on CFR last night!!! Once we start giggling, we cant stop!!
See you ALL next time. Peace.

Billy

(CLOSED)

Posted by vivelerock at 12:06 PM | Comments (54)

October 19, 2006

THERE'S A BRAND NEW DANCE .......

.....but I don't know its name. Ooooo - FASHION!! Yep - fashion week hits Los Angeles again (are they now having four fashion weeks a year, or am I losing my marbles?!) which means nineteen different parties in one night, and a HUGE valet parking bill!! Last night I attended the Rock And Republic fashion party at the new Area nightclub, and then a swift change of location found me at Matt Sorum's launch of his new line - Sorum Et Noche. Yeah, you heard correctly .... Matt has entered the world of couture in a big way, and last night was his launch party at Les Deux. The clothes are amazing (I already have my order in!) and I wish him and Max huge success. Also last night, the new episode of Lost, which a couple of you commented on. Creepy - you are 100% right.... FINALLY an action packed hour on the island, complete with the illustrious polar bear!! Hooray for the return of the bear. A tent full of dope, a truck full of guns, and a sweat lodge ..... hmm ..... Locke is turning into a bit of a bad guy. I LIKE it!!

The Circus Diablo Viper Room show was great. The day was a little hectic, with a lot of stuff going on, so I was already a little frazzled when I walked onto the stage around midnight. The terrible monitor mix I had in my ears didnt help matters, but it did feel great to launch into Rollercoaster with everyone. We struggled with some shitty onstage sound problems, and without sounding too cheesy, the audience were the ones responsible for turning it into a great show!! Loud and vocal in their appreciation, it made us not worry about what we were battling up there, and instead, made us have a great time. I LOVE when a gig ends up like that ..... I thought it was gonna be terrible, but thanks to a great turn out, we all had a blast. More Diablo news as soon as I get it. And by the way - the B+W shot from the last post that a couple of you liked was taken by my wife Jennifer. Hot, AND takes a good picture!!!!

OK - Lets embrace this one time, before I answer some questions. And trust me, I'll do this only once. I don't really care what's gone on elsewhere on the net. I have yet to see any name calling, IP address posting, or even mildly offensive posting going on here. Of course, there are people on here that I consider part of my online family. You KNOW who you are - you've been here since the start. And I have your backs. BUT - so far, all I have seen is people anticipating and jumping the gun. You all HAVE to realize that if someone wants to lurk around and cause trouble, they will!! You can create a new identity every five minutes on here if you want to ..... I cannot stop that from going on. So I URGE you to stop posting, commenting, and discussing about stuff that hasn't happened here yet.

MetalMayhem - GREAT question! I do actually hang with the guys as much as possible. Duffy and I go back years, and live close, so its always time for a coffee and a chat. Ricky now lives pretty close, and comes over to mine quite a bit, or we go out to a show or something at night. Brett and Jeremy are based out of town, but both are part of the hang when we are in the same city together.

Peebs - Yeah, I was hoping for a V-Blog too!! Unfortunately, the footage from the Viper was rubbish!! Sound was awful and the visuals were too shaky. What I intend to do is a V-Blog from the Camp Freddy OC show on Friday, and I'll edit in a little of the Diablo footage, just visually, so you can get a bit of the vibe.

WendyBird - Saw you snapping away at the show!! I'm getting enquiries about how good your pics are .... check your email - I've forwarded it on to you!! Well done. I would LOVE to think that this blog could help someone get on in their chosen field. I'll do what I can for anyone. Check out the pics in this post - ALL taken by Wendy ...... lets have some respect, people!!!!

Kate - I dont know very much about the venue or the show on friday. But its in one of the smaller rooms at the Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Just come down, hang out, and see who shows up. I figure you'll get in.

Ozmerica - I LOVE that you put up a pic of the burlesque girls for UC!! Saw you at the show - hope you had a good time. I was a little preoccupied that night, and didnt do the 'hang out' like I usually do ..... but we all have shit going on sometimes. Good to see you there, and thanks for posting a few pics.

Ylais - I can imagine that Dave took it further again on the webcast!!! Yep, again, I apologize for no V-Blog .... I tried, but it was not to be. And one of these fine days, we will make it over to the UK side, I promise!!!

Mary - When I'm on the road, I try not to eat anywhere!! I get skinny when I'm out there ..... its mainly hotel food - room service - plus food on the bus. But certain cities HAVE to be 'eat out at a restaurant' .... Boston, NYC, Chicago ..... I have my regular haunts in a few places.

Scott - Thank you mate. I will be giving Dexter a little look/see when I can. Always happy to receive a good TV Tip!!!

Merc - No dates in Northern Cali at all I'm afraid. We just did a Frisco show, and it will probably be a while before we get up there again.

Silky - Yep. Thats what books do around here ..... gather dust by the bed!! I mean, I LOVE reading, but just cant find the time too often. Even the last Harry Potter book, (which I LOVE) is still not finished. I hang my head in literary shame!!!

Gotta go - need to meet up with the crew for tomorrows Camp Freddy show, and go through a bunch of flightcases to see whats in them. One thing that happens when you become a professional musician, is that you seem to end up paying money for a storage unit to hold all your very valuable " ....... er....... whats in that case? A power adapter and some old magazines .....? ....... why are we keeping it? ....." - yeah, you get the idea. I have tons of flightcases that havent been opened in years, or have nothing in them, or contain a bunch of useless cords and cables! So today is sort out day. A lot of fun for an obsessive compulsive like me!! Oh, and by the way, I resumed my journal over at www.modernguitars.com - havent posted in a while there, but I am back in full effect, and they are doing an audio conversation with me soon, that will be up on their site. I'll let you know when that goes up. Have fun, ignore the bullshit, and try being nice to someone WITHOUT telling them. It works.

Peace

Billy

(CLOSED)

Posted by vivelerock at 08:02 AM | Comments (46)

October 16, 2006

BLUE MONDAY

So Saturday night seemed to be a success. Its hard for me to judge, because I didn't really hang before or after the show, so I'm not sure how the vibe in the club was ..... but I know the Viper Room was totally packed, and I heard a lot of cheering!!! For us, it was loud, frenetic and hot!!! I sang a good show, and felt pleased ith my performance - I love that club. Its so intimate and the sound is always so good. After the show, I was outta there double quick time, hung out by my car with a few friends doing that whole 'dissect the show' thing for a while, and then home. Got to sleep about 3.00am, and slept for most of Sunday. And now I am back to normal on a grey, overcast monday morning in Los Angeles. (You could, perhaps, refer to it as a 'Blue Monday!!!!")

I am back to the whole Cardio/Pilates thing, so I have a couple of hours in the gym today, a few errands, and a nice dinner to attend tonight. The video from Saturdays show wasn't great, so I am afraid no V-Blog from that, but we always have the upcoming Freddy show this Friday. Dave covered CFR by himself this week (and did a fantastic job - the Podcast is now up for everyone to hear) but I will be back with him this coming weekend. Looking forward to that. Questions will be answered midweek ....... and as always, be nice, be safe, behave!!.

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 07:38 AM | Comments (64)

October 13, 2006

DIABLO AT THE VIPER

Tomorrow night. Midnight. The Viper Room on Sunset Blvd. Be there. Thats it - not much more to say!!! No, I'm just messing about, I have a LOT more to say as usual! But I do advise being at The Viper tomorrow night if you can. The bill is OWL (which is Chris Wyse's band - Chris is the current bass player of The Cult, as well as sometime Camp Freddy guest as well) and POETS AND PORNSTARS (100% rock and roll, people!!) with CIRCUS DIABLO hitting the stage at the witching hour (that'll be 12, midnight for those that are confused!!) Should be a lot of fun. I know that Dave will be doing CFR tomorrow, and it looks like I will be doing a phoner from the venue to give a few tickets away, because the soundcheck is bang in the middle of the radio show. I was intending to do both, but that doesnt look likely now. Either way, listen to CFR and win a ticket to tomorrows rock and roll extravaganza at The Viper!!!

Lets get to some questions. And welcome to all the new posters, emailers, lurkers and bloggers that seem to have found their way over here. We welcome you all to the Morrison family and hope you stay.

Lisa - I know its getting a little much for me when my body shuts down and I fall asleep in the middle of a conversation! You get the point - I just keep going till I physically cant anymore. Not the healthiest solution, but then again, neither is living in an earthquake zone, but I do that too!!

Silky - No, Dave has yet to convince me 100% on Nip/Tuck, but I will probably listen to him WAY too late and be digging the series four years from now! So I make a commitment right here and now, that when I am done with The Sopranos, I will begin the whole Nip/Tuck adventure. And I dont sing in the shower, but my favorite Cult track has to be either The Witch or Nirvana. Both put a huge grin on my face, and both were my favorites to play live.

Alec - How you doing my friend? Hang in there - we have ALL been through that shit..... and I promise you that its this kind of experience that counts when you are writing songs, being creative, and trying to make your mark. You will grow and gain strength, I promise.

Hj - Spotted!! Outside Tower Video? You are correct .... the place is going out of business, so I am stocking up on all the box sets I never got around to buying - ALIEN, BATMAN, X-MEN, EXORCIST ..... nice and cheap!! And why dont you lot start petitioning the other members of Camp Freddy for a public show ...... I'm down if we are all down!!! Its about time, I agree.

Samy - Whats shakin in Italy??!!! Glad you are around here and yes, I am 100% into the new series of LOST. I feel like some answers are due, and I also feel we are gonna get some this season. Either way, I am there each week, glued to the screen!!!! And Jenny? I feel your pain!! Petition the BBC or ITV or whoever ..... and DONT read the spoilers on the web!!

Terri - Besides Dave? (Cos you KNOW he cracks me up every time!!) .... hmm ..... I think that it would be a toss up between Robbie Williams (when he's on form, Rob is one funny guy!!) and our drummer, Jeremy. Jeremy will have you holding your sides with laughter in 20 secs ..... ALL DAY LONG!!! Learning how to play Paradise City with Ronnie Wood from The Stones could also be classed as fun in my world!!!

SugarTaste - I have no idea where that guitar went - I did all that metalwork with Colin, and have a few pics from when we were doing it, but none of the 100% finished thing. I do know it sold for a lot of money, and that I am proud that I was able to help.

Sophie - Welcome to the fold ..... and yes you are right. I completely spaced on Channel 5 in the UK. Although it had just started when I left. And again, I agree with you - its about time we got some of this Gig Action happening in the UK!!! Maybe 2007. Keep it here to find out.

Paul - I would hope that everything in my life would stay unchanged. I have a wonderful life, and no amount of 'spotlight' should change that. And I truly dont have a 'top three blags' for getting into shows. I either used to sneak in through the exit or walk through the front door, trying to look like I owned the place!! Thats it. Start a band - then you'll get in to a lot of places!!!

Leroy - the man you refer to as 'Paul' on the Leno show is, in fact, Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick. He wrote that song that we are playing .... and the cereal box guitar was custom made for him.

Max London - I moved to LA in 2000 after many years of coming back and forth between LA and London. Made the Stimulator album here, would always come here on vacation (I was never one for two weeks on the Costa Del Sol!!) and spent a few years getting loaded here before that. The Green Card? ...... lets just say that two years of paperwork, questions, meetings, lawyers, more paperwork ..... and tens of thousands of dollars make it a less than pleasurable experience!!!

Ylais - My whole DJ thing is that I actually play rock music. You know, stuff with guitars!! I dont play all that dance shit - and thats what makes it fun for me. ACDC, through U2 and Jesus Jones, to Jet and The Darkness. I spin the rock and roll, people!! Oh yeah - and HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!! Lets hear it for Lisa everyone!!!

Matt S - I have no idea whats happening tomorrow, let alone next friday!!! But I can tell you that the DJ will NOT be me!!! And that Dolly Parton will NOT be performing with us.

Cecillia - Thank you for your kind words. We had an absolute blast in Frisco, and it ranks as one of the top five Freddy shows in our books!!! Love Frisco - we'll be back anytime you want us.

Spencer - THAT is funny!!! So funny in fact that I wanna repeat it right here. This is what Spencer commented after my description of the Tenderloin district. ....... "So, you lot pulled off a huge rock show.... AND.... The 95 pounder pulled out three rocks! Haha"

Jezzi - We all play nice here, and I wanna keep it that way. But a blog is a blog, and that means freedom of speech. You'll go crazy trying to control faceless people on the other side of the globe!! So it is what it is - but either way it gets a LOT of traffic over there!!! Me? I'm happy with our small slice of the web.

Jay - your wish is my command. See the pics below - all taken from the INTO A CIRCLE days. I wasn't a well person back then. Being on tour and having the band lock me in a house in Aberdeen, Scotland, to stop me from flying down to London at 3am to score some drugs was a dubious sign that maybe I should get some help!!!! But alls well that ends well. Here I am in LA, living the life, and the singer of INTO A CIRCLE, Bee, now has a fantastically successful life in Asia - playing guitar with the band FUTON, as well as a career as a DJ. I have been in touch with Bee recently and I wanna give props and respect to him for being a stand up guy, and having the balls to do with his life what HE wants to do, and not what other people want. THAT is how we should ALL be living. CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT BEE's BAND, FUTON.

Thats kinda it from me. Last night I saw an amazing performance by Debbie Harry. She did an acoustic set at a T-Mobile party in Beverly Hills, and did all the Blondie hits up close and personal. She still has an amazing voice, and that 'certain something' that REAL stars have. She was electric. And tonight, the LEPPARD!!! hit the town. Def Leppard at The Hollywood Bowl. Check out the new album of covers - its REALLY good. I will be up there later, pouring sugar over anyone that will stand still, and looking for the rock of ages!!!! If you havent yet realized, I am starting to build Morrison TV over on YouTube, so hit the You Tube button at the top of this page and subscribe. Once I hit a decent amount of subscribers, I will start to produce original content that will ONLY be available over there, so spread the word and lets hit the YouTube/Morrison TV thing with a vengence. See you all after the madness of the Diablo show this weekend. Back on Sunday.

Peace

Billy

(CLOSED)

Posted by vivelerock at 09:09 AM | Comments (33)

October 10, 2006

CATCHING UP WITH REALITY