I will be winging my way to the land of amazing chocolate and gorgeous wrist watches in April with Billy Idol for an evening of unplugged intimacy. We will be playing an acoustic show in Zermatt on April 15th. The details are below. And keep your eyes on this site this week for some pics taken today. I will explain more when I post them in a couple of days.

Zermatt Unplugged, Zermatt, Switzerland. 13-17 April

The name is misleading – with Billy Idol on the bill, this certainly isn’t all about acoustic folk songs. This will be the fourth year the classic mountain resort has ended the season with a festival, and the acts booked to play keep getting bigger. Gigs take place in a big marquee or various clubs. Tickets: Are sold to the individual concerts – tickets to Billy Idol are 78CHF (£49). Numerous operators have packages to Zermatt, or see the tourist board website for hotels. Fly to Zurich and take the train direct to the resort (three hours, 15 minutes).

The first wave of Billy Idol rehearsals finished yesterday and I have to tell you it's been a lot of fun. Learning all the songs that everyone loves, and playing them with Billy and Steve feels really good. And the band sounds killer - twin guitars of Steve and I, with Jeremy Colson behind the kit, and Billy's long time bass player and keyboard players, Steve McGrath and Derek Sherinian. Now we do a thing or two as a band (best for me not to go into detail on that) and then we reconvene for some acoustic rehearsals. I'm looking forward to getting over to Europe in June and July and then doing North America in August. And of course, it's been all the excuse I needed to build a new guitar rig! Still based around Marshall JCM series heads and vintage 30 cabs, I am having a nice neat rack built to house all the Boss pedals and wireless units etc and running it through a Radial 7 switcher. It all looks very flash, with lights and knobs and switches and cables......we'll see if it actually works nearer the time!

And prototype Les Paul number 2 is winging it's way to me any day now for approval. The first prototype (with the messed up cream and black Union Jack paint job) is now my main guitar for the Idol tour. But we made a decision that the paintjob would not be on the production run (too complicated and would push the retail price up way too high) so now the wonderful folks at Gibson USA are preparing a second prototype exactly as the retail model will be. I get it, play it, approve it.....and start planning the release. Kind of freaking me out that it's actually happening, but I'm rolling with it. They sent me artwork for the case the other day and it looks really fucking cool!!

Thats it. Gotta get into the day. But I want to update the site more, so consider this a Friday morning check in, before the weekend and some H.F.C.C. motorcycle riding. See ya next week.

Billy

I am happy to finally be able to tell you that I will be touring in 2010 with Billy Idol. I joined the line up at the beginning of the year and have been deep in rehearsals for a few weeks now. The twin guitars of Steve Stevens and myself sound amazing on the Idol material and I am excited to get out there and start playing shows. My friend Jeremy Colson is behind the kit and the astute among you will remember that I have worked with Jeremy before in Circus Diablo. The official press release is below, along with the European Tour Dates. American and Canadian dates will be announced soon. Expect some choice V-Blogs, Tweets and general fun stuff from me throughout the tour. And keep your browsers here for more details and news direct from the camp

BILLY IDOL will debut a new powerhouse band when he hits the road this summer with performances at major music festivals throughout Europe, with North American dates set to follow. In addition to his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens, Stephen McGrath on bass and Derek Sherinian on keyboards, IDOL will be joined on this trek by acclaimed guitarist Billy Morrison and drummer Jeremy Colson. Morrison, one of the founders of Camp Freddy and front man for Circus Diablo, has previously played in The Cult, Stimulator, Doheny and Into a Circle, while Colson (Morrison’s collaborator in Circus Diablo) is known for his work with Steve Vai, with whom he’s worked since 2002.

The 2010 Summer Tour will kick off with a pair of shows in Russia (Moscow on June 5 and St. Petersburg on June 7), to be followed with a performance at the Malmo Sweden Rock Festival and his second appearance at the Download Festival at Donington Park in his native U.K.

EUROPEAN DATES SUMMER 2010
Sat 6/5  Moscow, Russia   SCCH Russia
Mon 6/7  St. Petersburg, Russia   Ice Hall
Wed 6/9  Helsinki, Finland   Ice Hall
Sat 6/11  Malmo, Sweden   Sweden Rock Festival
Sun 6/13  Donington Park, UK   Download Festival
Wed 6/16  Nr Nurenburg, Germany   Arbenburg, Burg
Fri 6/18  Athens, Greece   Karaiski Stadium
Sun 6/20  Skopje, Macedonia   Skopsko Lizgaliste
Mon 6/21  Belgrade, Serbia   Belgrade Arena
Tue 6/22  Zagreb, Croatia   T Music Festival
Thu 6/24  Ljubjiana, Slovenia   Hala Tivoli
Fri 6/25  Vienna, Austria   Danube Island
Sun 6/27  Prague, Czech Republic   Sasazu
Tue 6/29  Ravensburg, Germany   Oberschubenhalle
Thu 7/1  Sopron, Hungary   Volt Festival
Sat 7/3  Germany   TBA
Sun 7/4  Bremen, Germany   Freeload Festival
Thu 7/8  Bonn, Germany   Museumplatz
Fri 7/9  Huttweil, Switzerland   Rocksound Festival
Sun 7/11  Weert, Holland   Bospop Festival

Camp Freddy will be playing a set at the Global Green pre-Oscar party in Los Angeles on Wednesday March 3rd. The party will be held at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood. We will have a couple of friends with us as usual. There is a discounted $30 ticket available by entering the code CAMPFREDDY or if you CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE CAMP FREDDY DISCOUNT TICKET LINK. That's all the details I have right now. I will also be able to give you my touring plans for 2010 next week. That's it from me. More news as it happens.
Billy