By troypatrickfarrell

Episode 3

Yo…SLUDGE!!!…. Back again for episode 3… I know this took too long..and the tour will be over before this probably gets posted… in fact, expect a couple of more after the dust settles… Anyway, I was banking on the CC Banana Diary (from Dingbatz New Jersey) to make up for this missing Diary…. but I suck..so let’s move on….

I first want to say… thanks to all of the Sludgeaholics who emailed and commented on the little diaries I’ve done on this tour… I was apprehensive to the idea of throwing myself in the fire.. but you fuckers rule, and the comments, good or bad, have for the most part been very cool… even the bad ones… but, you still get a jagoff who’s fat and lame on the message board slaggin..but that’s what this is all about… I appreciate all the other’s who’ve gone to bat for me while I’ve been without an internet connection… I hope that this has been at least in one way or another a worthy read…. now, put away your tissues, and let’s move on….

We have a lot of shows to go over… so I’ll be brief and show the lighter side of this rock n roll show, since the reality of this is already known…..

Miami Beach, FL Mar 7th Senor Frogs

This place is like an El Torito, (think Mexican Restaurant that upgraded from Karaoke to Live music), or something, but they set up tables as a stage and have rock bands. At 1st glance, you’d think you’d be on the phone to the agent right away, but this place really rocks. Tramp’s White Lion (TWL from now on) was asked to cut our 2 hour set to just an hour because of Spring Breakers, attention spans being short etc. We gave it a go, and after the 1st few songs we could tell they were there for us and not the female mud wrestling (which never happened to my disappointment).

Before we went on, Enuff Znuff did their typical kick ass set. During their set, some guy who was already way ahead of us on having a good time puked on one of my drum cases.

Who’s got a straw?

I can’t tell, but could that be Gerber baby food?.. or possibly refried beans?….

TWL went on to do our 1st cut set on this whole tour and it worked perfect. The promoter knew his club and made a good call, and after our set, I could really see the place empty out. Maybe they got a clue there would be no mud wrestling tonight, who knows…..Another great thing about Miami is that we would be there one more day. It’s amazing living in LA thinking the most beautiful people are there, but Miami Beach has something to say about that…everyone there is beautiful, even the cab drivers…We even met a girl who shall remain nameless, but not forgotten, (we’ll call her “Heather”) who sat on our kitchen table cowboy style (legs spread) to leave us finding a wet spot on her jeans…she wasn’t naked or being hit on…I couldn’t figure this out..….she said she didn’t pee herself…so go figure…..

Thanks to Tony who took us out to another bar until 5 am to finish what we started. I met some girl that couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful she was, and how she was a such an asset to society, blah, blah blah. I knew it was time to go to bed at this point…I hope she’s busy solving world hunger or something….

Miami Beach Part 2, Purdy Lounge 3/8

This date was with the same promoter and this again was actually not even an El Torito, it was really a small lounge that we really didn’t belong in, but hey, we were in Miami Beach. It’s weird knowing after time that some nights we played glorified taverns and other times 1000 seat “sold out” theaters. Anyway, we originally had this as an off date and Tony from the night before picked this tour up for his Tuesday promotion. Enuff Znuff didn’t get paid, and we were shorted our guarantee…but hey, it’s Miami Beach.

Tramp started his day at like 8 a.m. or some shit, I don’t know how he does it. The other question is how our guitarist Jamie Law hadn’t ended his day past 8 a.m. still in his stage clothes from the night before. Tramp got to have a field day with him as Jamie was drunk in Miami the morning after a show in your sweaty ass stage clothes, that didn’t really fly too well.

I was awakened to some crazed valet guy because the bus was still in front of Senor Frogs and he’s pounding on the bus like a mad man. He was rational in the end by offering to not have the bus towed (sarcasm mode OFF) if we gave him 100.00. What a jagoff…

This is at noon, and Tramp has already gotten some more ink, hit the post office and bought some gifts to send back.

Tramp on the Go @ 8 a.m.

I’m just waking up….We checked out the tattoo parlor and Claus (our bassist, my bro) decided to get some ink too.

Claus and our tattoo artist….

My Evil Whatever

Since I got the tat right @ the sleeve..the artist recommended a tank top or something. I didn’t have one so Mike Tramp was cool enough to let me borrow his. His Jean Vest just didn’t work for me, unless I was in the Village People or something. For the record, (the what?) this shirt looks great on Tramp, I just can’t pull it off, but in order to protect the integrity of the ink, I took this faggy picture….but it’s cool, say what you want, I’ve got the nuts to let all of you brutal bastards see this…if you don’t slag me on the msg boards..you’re all big fat pussies…..

Y.M.C. Gay…

Purdy Lounge ended up being okay, and it was a bummer leaving all of our friends we had for a short 2 days….

Charlotte, NC Amos’ Southend 3/9

This was a nice venue to get to since we felt we were on a bit of a field trip in Miami. We were back in our element. This night was recorded and you can see the video and audio snip of “Lady of the Valley” at http://miketramp.com/video/Amos-Lady.mov

Current Photos of Both Tramp’s White Lion and EZN

Jacksonville, NC Planet Rock 3/10

My day started off with some laundry and finding out that my Tour Diary is stale, which may be true… but Mr. Tramp was kind enough to provide me with the fact that he christened the bus on this run with the 1st Bus Bomb of the tour. For those that don’t know, a Bus Bomb consists of lining the toilet with a bag one might get from the Super Market (plastic preferred). You do your business, then wrap it up and toss it… Mike’s only mistake might be that he didn’t toss it out the door, he tossed it in the trash, but since his shit don’t stink… no one even knew… until he bragged about it…

More Successful Promotion… the club later changed it to “Enuff Znuff”

Jacksonville, NC is a military town, and this was our slowest night of all due to many being deployed to fight this current “war” a week earlier. The venue was cool, very dead stage sound, but that’s always good for the Front of House sound.

Enuff Znuff had some low end weird shit from what I remembered, but still, they walk on, kick ass, and walk off…Below is a pic of Monaco, myself, and Claus after their show.

No Caption Necessary, it’s just Rock N Roll.

After the show, we met a guy from a tattoo place..and he opened up his store @ 4am to get us some ink. Eric (Z’nuff’s drummer), Claus, Tramp, and I got some more ink. He not only opened up his store after hours, he also didn’t charge us…(That isn’t always good, I’ll get to that next Episode..)

(From top: Clause, Me, and Eric)

Springfield, VA Jaxx 3/11

Tramp and I did Jaxx in 01, and Jay (promoter) is a pure rock n roll fan. He really supports this sometimes seemingly lost cause, but this night was not a lost cause, almost sold out. This venue is a gold mine, truly amazing staff, sound, vibe and the kitchen kicks ass. This is really where this Tour turned a different corner. We copped a vibe which seems to have carried on for some time.

“Tramp, you take the case off the drum like you remove panties from a chick.”

Tramp and I loading in gear for JAXX

Joey Rega, (FOH) was happy to see a brand new Midas Board. That to some might mean nothing, but when your FOH guy (the guy that runs the PA, them big speakers that either suck or swallow) is happy, you guys and the band can be happy.

Joey Rega (sound man for us, znuff, cheap trick, etc) and new Midas Board

We closed the bar down tonight and they were very generous to us… we also managed to do a 4 camera shoot… so I can say I stunk in 4 different camera angels…

Chip and the New Donnie Vie?

Tramp say “fuck it, I’ll play drums too.”

White Marsh, MD The House of Rock 3/12

We pulled into the House of Rock early…this took over for the now defunct Thunderdome in Baltimore. A very new venue, pro staff from top to bottom. Great service, killer crowd. At this point we’ve seen nothing but near sell outs from Miami on up.

Tramp’s girl from the message board from www.miketramp.com showed up with a friend and 4 pounds of Italian food. It wasn’t spaghetti, and not lasagna, but something in between. We ate this for a couple of days and it ruled everytime. I even got my special Peanut Butter Tasty Cakes. Thx Staci! This would be the 1st of a few nights with Staci and her friend. She’s been there from 2001, and I still remember her meal from the last time she cooked, it’s that amazing…and when you’re on the road, and you don’t know if you’re getting a meal buyout (say 10 to 15 bucks to eat @ Arby’s) or the kitchen mean (which means bar/grill food), a real meal means more than you could know. Thx Staci!

No real exciting pix from this night… it was just great….thx House of Rock (which reminds me of School of Rock)……….. thx for the Sludge love on this run…I have 2 more to go..and although the tour will be over… it won’t miss a beat….

We love the sludgers and Metal Sludge…..see you not soon enuff…..

Santa Ana Galaxy TONIGHT, Malibu Inn Sunday!~!

love troy…………….