Diamond Head would like to help Dave Mustaine and all of the Megadeth guys for a fantastic 22 date sold out European Tour.

Starting in Ireland at the Dublin Ambassador this was Diamond Head's first ever gig in Ireland, we had heard that the Irish crowds were good, but they were far crazier than we were expecting. This got us off to a flying start giving us all the confidence we needed to play to new audiences. Dave Mustaine came into our dressing room after the gig and welcomed us all to the tour. He said 'If there is anything you need, we will arrange for it.' and made us all feel that this was going to be an exceptional tour.

We stayed in a cheap hostel, eight of us to one room and drove to Belfast and our hotel in County Antrim where we enjoyed a good meal and a shower before heading off to the famous Ulster Hall, a big 2000 capacity venue. We had a long sound check and played to a brilliant crowd. We even got a mosh pit going. We all thought it would be hard to beat that. We had the same catering as Megadeth, so that evening I had a fabulous chicken fillet with sun dried tomatoes, ricotta cheese and covered in ementhal cheese sauce served with whole grain rice, baby boiled potatoes and a medley of vegetables, oh and a heavenly ginger cake and custard to follow.

We were all amazed to see lifelong Diamond Head superfan Mike Lace turn up in his wheelchair. Good on you!.

3rd Feb - Caught the ferry from Belfast to Stranrahr, smooth crossing unlike the Hollyhead to Dublin which was very rough and we all felt sick. Changed the set slightly and went down a storm at the Glasgow Academy. On Dave's suggestion, all of Diamond Head went on stage with Megadeth to sing backing vocals on the song 'Back In The Day'. This was something we did for the rest of the tour. We were nervous at first but got into it, especially Eddie who would often do something crazy and at one gig, Dave could not sing for laughing.


4th Feb - It took our driver / drum tech Andy Bailey under five hours to whisk us from a Glasgow Travelodge to the Birmingham Academy. We are still not used to arriving at the gig and seeing a long queue waiting to get in. We are more used to the gig being empty until we are virtually due to go on. We are more anxious here, being our hometown gig, and we have friends and family on the guestlist. My fiancee Rachel brings her two children to the soundcheck and they get to meet Dave Mustaine who happens to be sitting out front at the lighting desk. A lot of these gigs start quite early. At this gig Diamond Head were on at 6.45 and off at 7.30. Megadeth were on 8.00 until 10.00 so a few people said they had missed our show or arrived halfway through.

5th Feb - We were glad to get the Birmingham gig out of the way without mishap so we were much more relaxed at Nottingham Rock City, also this is the only venue on the whole tour that Diamond Head have played before, so we felt more comfortable. Dave had suggested we start our show with just the intro to Am I Evil, then go into It's Electric and do all of Am I Evil at the end. So we tried it tonight and it worked brilliantly, so stayed like that for the rest of the tour. Also we dropped Truckin' from the set. We played really well tonight.


6th - Day off

7th - I swapped our eight seater minibus for a seventeen seater because the eight seater was too crowded with eight of us plus six guitars and all of our luggage. Mick Payton, Diamond Head's photographer joined us on our trip now, so that made nine. Manchester was a very good gig but we had a problem when people wanted to buy the new cd from the merchandise stall and we were told that they were all sold, so two of our crew got them off the van and sold them outside. We ended up doing this most nights and signing the cds. This way we sold loads.


8th - Nick 'Schumaker' Tart drove us to the famous London Astoria, nowhere to park, so dropped off the gear then Andy and Steve took the van to check in at our hotel in Barking, which looked about 10 miles on the map, but in London traffic, took them two and half hours and the just got back in time for the gig. Band played great, sound was great both on and off stage. Crowd was great. Sucess! We were obviously anxious about London and we stormed it, caught the tube back to the Formula 1 hotel and because it is a code number instead of a key, Eddie and Nick managed to lock themselves out of their room and had to spend the night in Mick Payton's room.

9th - Tried to get up and away for 10.00 so we could do a radio interview with Malcolm Dome at Total Rock. Anyway, got lost and missed the show so did it with Jerry Ewing instead at about 12.30. Played two tracks from 'All Will Be Revealed' and everyone thought they sounded great. Another great reaction from the London crowd and very pleased with our performance. Hooked up with some old friends like Shaun Fulton, Ritch Battersby and Dave Ling and even Merv Goldsworthy. They all said it sounded great. Around midnight all our bags and guitars were moved to the front of the Astoria, where we loaded it all onto the tourbus for Europe and met our new driver Rob. Everyone grabbed their bunk bed and we set off through London for Dover and the ferry.


10th - When I woke, we were at the Hof - Ter Lo in Antwerp. Outside the building. It rained all day, so stayed indoors all day hanging around catering. We are really getting to know Megadeth's crew now, TJ, Willy, Red, Sean, Shaggy, Suzie, Bruce, Peter, Bob and Lance. All great guys who offered every assistance. I for one was not used to the headline band and all their crew being so nice. Mick videoed this gig and we watched it later on his new laptop.


11th - 013, Tildburg - A great venue with a much bigger PA than last night. Very good sound. At most of these European gigs we would park the bus outside the hall and stay inside all day using the showers/ dressing room / catering. Everyone would warm up before the gig including vocals, and eat after our show.

12th - Day off. Rob drove us to a truck stop outside of Hamburg and all 10 of us went for a great meal and a drink. It rained all day so not much to do.


13th - Arrived at 4.00pm because Rob had slept through his alarm clock, so Hamburg to Copenhagen took longer. Managed to eat lunch, soundchecked then played a great gig to 1500 crazy Danes. Sold a lot of cds after. A lot of people were using their mobile phones to take pictures of the band members with themselves.

14th - Encountered bad snow on the way to Norway. Once we got there through this big tunnel, the snow cleared and Norway was cold but quite sunny. The wether report had chance to sit and talk to Dave over a late lunch. He says there are a lot of positive comments on the Megadeth website about Diamond Head. Karl is not well, we can tell his power is down, but it is still a great gig. Left straight after signing for Sweden.

15th - There is a lot of snow in Stockholm. We trudge through it from the bus into the gig. It's a very modern building like a University. We are in a large basketball arena. Karl is worse today, so Megadeth's tour manager calls for a Doctor who gives Karl antibiotics for his chest infection. Nick, Eddie and Mills get lost in Stockholm and spend about 60 euros in a taxi trying to find their way back to the gig. They were late for soundcheck, but the gig was excellent.

16th - day off. We got the ferry from Sweden to Denmark, then another from Denmark to Germany. I stayed in my bunk the whole time. Nick woke up and tried to get out of the ferry car park, but it was locked so he came back to the coach which was now also locked so climbed in through the window thinking the ferry was going to sink and he would be trapped. Took over twenty hours to get to Holland. Didn't sit down to a meal until 10.00pm. Karl and I have noticed how much Eddie has come out of his shell after living for years under oppression. His performance every night has been outstanding.

17th - Hardenburg was the smallest gig on the tour. Megadeth's family arrived at this gig. Most of the band's wives and kids, so there was quite a crowd in Catering. Dave let me have a go on his ESP flying V and said that he would send me one. Brilliant! Our guitar tech Simon Parker turned out to be a real gem. He is a friend of Mills and I have met him only once at JBs so I had no idea if he could cut it, but he was totally on the case and full of enthusiasm.

18th - My first time in Luxembourg. We had to park the bus on the other side of the street opposite the gig. To get to Megadeth's dressing room, you had to go through ours which was full of numbered coat hangers so we found Hanger 18 and left it in Megadeth's foom with a note saying we had found Hangar 18. This was another of my favourite gigs, the crowd were well into it.

19th - More snow here in Cologne. We had to carry our guitars and bags across a main road in the snow. Good crowd again. Spotted a few Wacken shirts. Karl is still coughing and bringing stuff up. He stops in bed on the coach until the soundcheck. We do one song then he goes back to bed before the gig, and straight to bed after the show. People ask where Karl is during the signing, trying to get all 5 autographs. Someone asks Nick how he has managed to stay so young looking after all these years!

20th - We travelled through snow all the way to Munich. The promoter came on the coach with us. He needed a lift from Cologne. There is a playstation in the back of the bus in the lounge area and Eddie would often stay up until 4.00am playing football and shouting all manner of insults at the players on the screen, including 'Spainfish'. I am feeling tired now. I have paced myself well and have managed not to come down with the flu or anything which is good because a lot of people seem to be coughing or sneezing on the bus.


21st - Alcatraz, Milan - My first time in Italy. Massive gig with hundreds of lights. It sold out 2500. We have a problem in the soundcheck because the local PA crew can only provide two separate monitor sends for us, so Karl does without a monitor and it doesn't sound great. But the gig itself is great. One of the best crowds, they are very loud. One guy down the front has made a Diamond Head banner.Nick's wife, sister and friend are here to see us. They chose a good one.


22nd - Day Off - woke about 8.00 because I could tell the coach was driving very slowly through heavy snow in the South of France, but it eventually cleared up and the sun came out around midday. The coach stopperd for the day in Montpelier. We all walked into the town and found a restaurant with a waitress that could speak English. It's very cold, so after a brief walk around we went back to the coach to keep warm. Watched a film and had a pizza (not very rock and roll is it).

23rd - Barcelona - Went into catering for breakfast and met Robert Mills, the promoter who had done Diamond Head before when we toured supporting Black Sabbath in 1983. I took the metro to La Rambla to see the living statues. In our soundcheck Glenn and James from Megadeth had a jam with Karl. Great fun. Not had a bad gig yet. This is such a great tour. It's been so long since I played to sold out crowds every night. One guy had a copy of the repressing of Lightning To The Nations in 180gm vinyl for me to sign. I had not seen it before.

24th - Bergera - This place is in the middle of nowhere. We have trouble finding it. Breakfast is three large trays containing cold chips, cold eggs and cold bacon which is left there all day. Megadeth don't soundcheck, but their crew spend all afternoon setting up, and can't run the PA until 3.00pm. We get 30 mins. Megadeth's dressing room is tiny and covered in graffiti. Ours is a space in catering. Dave says that we can share their dressing room, which is very kind, but I decline.

25th - Madrid - our photographer Mick Payton turns up unexpectedly, so Nick Eddie and I follow him to his hotel room to use his shower. The Macumba is a big night club that turns into a disco after we are finished. Karl's wife Sheila has flown out for this one. As this is our last gig with Megadeth, we say our goodbyes and Thank Yous and several of Megadeth's crew get pictures with us and seem genuinely pleased to have had us on tour with them.


26th - Granada - Wake around 11.00am. We are parked by the gig. This is an indoor festival. At 1.00pm the promoter's assistant knocks on our bus and asks if we want to go on at 3.30pm instead of the planned 4.30 am because Rage are stuck at the Airport. So we say yes - much better than waiting all day and night. We swing into action and have two hours to get ready, the band on before us, Nsiferum, have loads of problems with the PA power cutting out and we hope this doesn't happen during our set. In the change over, the crew run around fixing things, and when we go on, all is perfect. Hoorah! It's a great gig to finish on, and after we can eat drink and be merry. A perfect end to a perfect tour.