It was another BIG show on tour, with Adelaide not letting us down! Another full house! We hit Fowler's Live - the metal venue in Adelaide so I've been told. It was a cool room that has previously hosted Psycroptic and Nile, so both Dave and George felt at home from the get go.
The day’s proceedings was always going to be a tight as we flew into Adelaide from Brisbane a bit later than the other states. Thanks to the great prep work that the Allans Music + Billy Hyde crew put in, we completed set up and soundcheck in record time, and even had time to spare.
Dave and George put on a mind blowing show with the highlight being the double drum jam at the end! This was only the second night the boys had treated the audience to the jam and it went off! The other bonus tonight was having the lovely Melissa Donato taking some amazing photos. Stay tuned for these to be uploaded shortly. If you're ever chasing a photographer, especially for live music, you can email her at melissadonato@bigpond.com
Thanks to all the crew from the Gawler Place and Waymouth St stores for everything they did tonight. A special thanks to Dave and Ryan from Waymouth St who teched for George and Dave.
Last stop > sunny Perth (my hometown!)
- Sam Riseborough (Tour Manager)
If we thought that it couldn't get any better, we were TOTALLY wrong! Holy cow! Last night at The Globe in Brisbane was MASSIVE! It was packed!
The Globe is a classic room - an old movie theatre. Raked carpeted floor, a mega cinema screen, killer sound system and a unique cool vibe. A lot of The Globe staff are volunteers and were so happy to help with absolutely anything.
Having a screen behind the players was fantastic. It was SO big that George's shoe was 6ft long up on the screen! Perfect for everyone wanting to get an eagle eye close up on George's flyin' feet - which are so damn fast they need to be seen to be believed.
Dave made his entrance on stage to a deafening roar from the crowd, then George tore through a blistering set before the boys had their first live jam together! Wow! That was totally awesome and the crowd loved it.
John Griffin from the Allans Music + Billy Hyde Barry Parade store had to pull out his toolbox tonight. George's fan stopped working just as he went on and it was HOT on stage. A couple of cable ties and a heap of gaffa ensured the fan was back in A1 condition and Kollias was cool as ice!
TOUR DATES & TIX
Next stop, Radelaide! Let's see if they can out-do the Bris-Vegas crew!
- Sam Riseborough (Tour Manager)
After the Melbourne clinic, I realised that my camera was busted and in need of some urgent repair before the Sydney show. So just before soundcheck, thanks to Google maps on my iPhone, I tracked down a camera repair store. I showed the repair guy the problem and he said he could fix it but...it would take two weeks! I freaked! He said, "When do you need it?" I replied, "Oh, in about 6 hours." The repair guy looked at me and laughed! I explained to him that the mighty George Kollias was in town and he said that he would stay back for me to do the job and the camera would be ready by 8:30pm!
We knew we were in for a killer night when we rocked up for soundcheck. The Basement has an amazing vibe and the NSW Allans Music + Billy Hyde staff did a superb job prepping everything before we arrived. It was so loud at soundcheck that Damo from AMBH Drumcraft decided that it would be best to hand out earplugs to punters at the door!
Wow! What a show! The room was packed! Dave Haley went on stage to a HUGE reaction from the crowd and performed a killer one hour set to open the show. Of course, Kollias was up next and began to stun the crowd from the get go. He was simply frightening...and yep, ULTRA FAST!
It's 8:30pm and George is on stage cooking up a metal blast beat feast, so I decide to dash out to the camera repair store to pick up my camera, race back and start taking some clinic shots! It was crazy! The camera worked perfectly.
The crowd at The Basement was killer! Really responsive and very much stoked to be there. Once again, there was stacks of questions asked of both Dave and George and the guys spent over an hour signing autographs and posing for photos.
Messrs. Kollias and Haley had an incredible time and want to come back to Sydney soon.
Alright! Off to Brissie! Let's see if we'll need ear plugs again! :)
- Sam Riseborough (Tour Manager)
After 20 plus hours of flying to Australia from his native land of Greece, George Kollias blew the roof off the Kaleide Theatre in metal Melbourne last night > first stop on his national drum clinic tour with Psycroptic's Dave Haley.
Local Melbourne blaster, Dave Haley kicked off the show with a brand spankin' new Psycroptic track as well as a couple of classics, displaying jaw-dropping foot speed and killer drum arrangements. Haley then opened up to the enthusiastic audience for questions and was stoked to have about a dozen questions asked.
Then it was time for the man everyone was waiting for...Mr. George Kollias. George launched into 'Kafir', then the blast-beat monster track, 'Treasures of Nemesis'. Kollias shared his techniques, shot out some quick-fire tips and had an amazing time with the audience. After the clinic, George posed for photos with his fans and made sure everyone received an autograph! Very cool!
Last night's clinic was sold out! The boys are really pumped about the rest of the tour and they're surely going to be some of the best clinics you will ever see! Sydney blasts tonight!
TOUR DATES & TIX
See ya on the road!
- Sam Riseborough (Tour Manager)
