June 30
My exhibition at the Proud Gallery is opening tonight
- I honestly don't know if I'm looking forward to it...
I've had to take down all my pictures of HIM as people
have been stealing them and using them on websites before
the band has even used them. My pictures are my copyright
- if you want to use them for something ASK!
June 27
I've spent today captioning and signing photos - Bayeux,
my lab, have done great prints. The captions needed
sorting out - the gallery managed to put Scott and Lemmy
instead of Scott and daughter Lucy...
June 25
Up at 4am, 8am flight home - sold out and Boston airport
is a pain for security. Heard Glastonbury is a mud bath
- serves you right for going...
June 24
Up at dawn, off to Boston for Oasis. Get to the airport,
see someone who looks familiar - it's Mike Tramp, enroute
from Melbourne and looking very youthful. I haven't
seen him in two years. He's off to the Bang Your Head
Festival, wherever that is...
Fly with Oasis's PR, Terry Hall. Very nice to deal
with and very efficient, her only down side is she's
a chain-smoker - panicking as she can't smoke a few
hundred on the way.
Arrive midday in Boston. Staying at the Ritz Carlton
where I always stay when doing Aerosmith except no John
Bionelli to go out with. Very deja vu... Go wandering
along Newbury Street for the afternoon. Early evening
take a cab out to the Tweeter Centre - thirty miles
out in the woods of Mansfield. Terry has gone on ahead
and it's nice to go on a trip where everything is sorted
out. I normally have to do it myself - hence my reputation
for being difficult.
Jet are opening. A lot like Humble Pie. They're trying
to look like bohemian rock stars - they look more like
Irish farmers with teeth missing. Don't they have dentists
in Australia? Still, quite like them...
June 23
Spent today in a hell of my own making, looking for
negs to make prints for the Proud Gallery exhibition.
The gallery wants the usual rock n' roll cliches - I'm
trying to pick something different and that people would
like to see...
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Here is cover from Guitar
featuring Audioslave |
June 22
BA have delayed my flight and changed the plane to
Titan Airlines, which strangely is better than BA. Get
home and panic when I realise my Proud Gallery opening
is next week and I've made no prints. They need them
on Friday...
I was going to have a night in but speak to Rick Fagen,
"Brusque Colonial" type person... 'Come on,
you've got to come to the show!'
Brixton Academy, see the band, give them some prints
of my photo of them with Jimmy Page. Timmy (bass player)
surprises me by telling me he's been mountain-biking
to Boxhill everyday (this is out past where I live)...
Shoot half the show on stage - then off to Tesco
to do midnight shopping... |
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June 21
The longest day of the year. Lots of idiots swarming
to Stonehenge - sorry, I mean druids... I'm off to Newcastle
for the Crue.
Fly up late afternoon - sunny, get a nice view of the
coast line coming in to land. The accent up here is
rather strong - the cab driver wants sixty poooonds
fiffty like. At least that's what I think he says -
it's six pounds fifty.
Anyway, Newcastle Arena has a small cramped backstage
for it's size - no space. Hang out with Tommy Lee in
Tommyland (not as exotic as it sounds, it's his dressing
room). Tom is on the wine and the Jager - he wants me
to join in, 'Come on, you can do it, fuckin' Rooooooooss
etc...' I'd messed up some film, shot it twice. So I
have Ozzy live and Tommy double-exposed together. Tom
loves it, and wants prints... Shoot him getting ready,
in-between pints of wine. Go through photos with Nikki.
He's more focused, listening to Jeff Beck and trying
to convert his rather bored son Gunner into liking Blow
By Blow...
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Shoot them going on with my fave colour background
- white - they do nothing I want them to, which
is infuriating. I would like to strangle them... |
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Good show - spend the second half of the show
with Tommy onstage. |
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In-between playing he's telling me what to shoot.
Get nice pictures of Nikki dripping blood... |
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A band photo session after. Tommy will only do
it if they can lie on the floor, so we shoot with
me and the band flat on the ground... |
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They are off to Spain - Tommy's going clubbing in Ibiza.
I'm off to bed. It's midnight and the sky is still bright
blue...
June 19
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Arrive Luton at 1am. Took pictures of the northern
lights - saw them at around the same time a week
ago, but I had film with me this time... |
Hotter today. Sit in the garden. Speak to Nikki Sixx
for an hour - Nikki wants me to be interviewed for his
book The Heroin Diaries.' We swap old stories. He enjoys
knowing how awful and selfish he was... His son Gunner
(who's fourteen) is going to play with them tonight
at Wembley.
The Crue at Wembley Pavilion, which is a giant
tent in the middle of the construction site that
will be the new Wembley Stadium. It is hot in here,
very hot... Go into Tommyland and shoot Tommy with
his Joker-style makeup. |
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Nikki introduces me to his son. Mick Mars has
drawn a French beard on his face and talks to me
in very bad French. 'Do I look French?' he asks...
Shoot the three of them going to the stage, notice
there's no Vince. |
The stage is really high, I climb on the PA to
shoot right in front of Nikki. After about thirty
minutes Jack Carson (the tour manager) tells me
I have to shoot from the crowd. Vince is throwing
a wobbler, he doesn't know why... During the break
go back to see what's going on. Jack now tells
me Vince has banned me, 'You weren't cleared with
him.' He looks peplexed. I am meant to shoot the
second half next to Tommy - no, Vince won't let
me. Jack asks me to stay and shoot the band as
they come off. OK, I figure, I'm already here.
Jack comes back. 'Can you shoot the first encore
with Gunner but only that?' OK... |
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The band come off, no Vince... Nikki is pissed off.
'Where is he?' Jack tells him Vince won't do it. I won't
print what Nikki says...
Off home, Nikki rings. 'Sorry, come to Newcastle I'll
sort all out...'
June 18
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Even hotter... Off to Nijmegen, Holland with
Black Sabbath. Fly with the band and Jimmy Page,
who's come along for a day out (a bit like going
to the seaside, except that you go to Holland on
a private jet). I have a Thai single for Hand Of
Doom. It has a picture of the band except Ozzy
been cut out. I show it to Ozzy, 'It's an omen'
he shouts... We land and drive across countryside
for an hour. Arrive at a small village, drive through
the high street, turn left into a field and presto,
60,000 people... The artist area is nice, all the
bands together in the same place with the stages
just in front of you. Good to hang out without
getting harassed. |
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Go with Jimmy to watch Velvet Revolver. The sun
is coming down directly on the stage, everybody
is being cooked. Slash looks surprised to see us.
Off then to say hello to Chris Cornell. Introduce
him to JP - five minutes later the rest of Audioslave
arrive. 'This is Jimmy' says Chris,' He's an old
friend...' |
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See Lemmy - tell him I found a photo I took of
him and Link Wray from 1977. He's looking a bit
frail, or maybe it's the heat. Shoot a few photos,
'Not my best hair day' he groans. A rather youthful
Aryan comes up. Achtung, it's Rudolf Schenker,
looking younger than most of the acts - he's got
to be mid-fifties... He goes to see Wilf (who managed
Michael Schenker in UFO). Wilf's not wearing his
glasses. 'Hello Wilf, I have not seen you since
1977.' Wilf looks puzzled. 'I saw you in Phoenix
last year.' I'm standing behind Rudolf waving,
Wilf thinks it's Michael... |
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Shoot Scott Weiland and his two children watching
Audioslave - shoot Audioslave mostly from over
Tom Morello's amp. |
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I speak to Rammstein's PA Birgit to arrange for Jimmy
and Tony Iommi to watch them on stage. Being German
they have a lot of rules. While talking to Rudolf, Rammstein's
security arrives. 'It is ok to come on the stage but
none of you can have cameras, you will be ejected'.
'Fine,' I say, 'I'll make sure Jimmy and Tony don't
take photos - it's not our fault you lost the war and
had to live with the Russians for the last fifty years,
mein herr'. Rudolf is laughing (he has a good sense
of humour for a German ). 'Can Rammstein watch Black
Sabbath on stage.' 'Yes, but don't bring any cameras.
Rules are rules...'
In fact every band is watching Black Sabbath.
Tony plays in a leather jacket. 'I like to sweat.'
Strange shooting them in daylight. All in black
and being cooked by the sun. The best way to describe
it, it is like going to the beach and sunbathing
with your clothes on. |
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Watch a bit of Rammstein with John Bionelli. He has
now found the new Kiss, the Eastern block version.
Drive back to the airport over the bumpiest road ever.
'What's he doing driving over a field with the handbrake
on?' says Bill Ward...
June 17
England's having a heatwave. It is, as the Crue would
say, 'RED HOT'... Leave at 3.30pm to drive to Birmingham
NEC to shoot Motley Crue. This is a journey that takes
one and a half hours, today in Friday traffic it takes
four - I HATE TRAVELLING IN ENGLAND.
Anyway, shoot the band and midget and girls as they
go on. They are of course as obnoxious as ever - moaning
away, this lot have not changed... Great show to shoot,
a real dirty rock 'n roll show. The stage is a dirty
big top tent. Lots of smoke, lots of bombs, plus you
forget how dangerous they are...
The NEC is packed. I've never seen it this full. During
the part where Tommy gets the girls to show their titties
he films me and insists I show mine. 'Fucking Ross...
etc.'
They come off filthy. Nikki wants to shoot more, so
get a good session of them at their disgusting best.
'Don't forget WE'RE MOTLEY CRUE AND WE THINK HEAVY METAL
RULES HERE TONIGHT ' - it really did...
June 16
Mojo awards at the Porchester Baths. Shoot before the
show, Paul Weller is a fine human - good to see him.
Shoot him with Ray Davies. Shane McGowan is in nevernever
land but charming with it - I wish I could shoot him
every day. Kazuyo is in love, she looks at him like
a lustful thirteen year old girl... Slash arrives and
I use him as a catalyst to get everyone to pose - let's
face it, everyone wants their picture with Slash. Anton
Corbin is here to present Jim Marshall, I get my picture
taken with the two of them being as I am a mere teenager.
Sit with Jimmy Page and Slash during the show. Jimmy
presents and surprises Roy Harper - once Roy starts
talking he doesn't stop. His speech is about three
hours long... Oliver Halfin enjoys himself but doesn't
know who anyone is, apart from my table companions
and Bez and Shaun Ryder who give it plenty of 'Foooking
this and fooooking that...'
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Shoot all the posed photos afterwards. Robert
Wyatt is charming and gracious, it is an honour
to take his picture. Paul Weller asked me to do
one with him. Jeff Beck wants a photo with Sinead
O'Connor. Madness are messing around so I send
Kazuyo to threaten Suggs - he's scared of her,
the band want to hire her to work for them. Everybody
wants to take a picture with Jimmy, of course (he
puts up with it very well). Paul Weller, rather
pissed, comes to say goodbye - he's very happy. |
Finish off the evening shooting Siouxie Sioux and Budgie
- he is one of the most charming people I've ever met.
The only odd one of the night was The Edge (rather boring
guitarist of U2). He was very nice but only wanted to
do a couple of frames and everyone around him was wiping
his arse, saying 'Are you OK with this??' and 'Are you
sure???' Amazing, it's like he's never done this before.
June 15
Just did an interview this
morning to go with my exhibition at the Proud Gallery.
It was for Photography Monthly. The opening question
'How did I get my lucky break?' - 'Lucky break??'
Fucking cheek - I hate that question. What do people
think happened? I just turned up one day and got loads
of work - I had to work very hard, just like everybody
else in the business...
Went to the Blink Gallery opening for Jim Marshall's
photo exhibition. Met up with Jimmy Page, Wilf
Wright and rock'n roll John Bionelli. I've known
Jim since the dawn of man (well, when I started).
It was a photographer's event. Everyone I started
out with was there - Kevin Cummins, Jill Furmanofsky,
Michael Putland, Ray Stevenson, Anton Corbin,
Gered Mankovitz, and a lot of photographers I
was too young to know. And the now very professional
Scarlet Page who took this photo of Jim and I.
Here's one I took of Jimmy and Jim as well...
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John thinks I should do an Aerosmith exhibition in Boston.
We'll see...
June 14
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Found Metallion magazine from Japan from 1986.
It has an interview with Lars - he is asked:
Most important thing: A DAY WITH ROSS HALFIN
Person you admire most: ROSS HALFIN
Philosophy of life: TO MARRY ROSS HALFIN
Unrealizable ambition: TO BE ROSS HALFIN
Ideal day: A DAY IN BED WITH ROSS HALFIN |
You see he did love me once...
Also found Burrn from October 1984 with an interview
with me - can't read it, its in Japanese. |
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The venue reminds me of being in Poland, very dull
and a lot of nothing.
Fly home at 1am. To the north of the plane the sky
is bright and alight. Bill Ward points out it's the
northern lights over Scandinavia. Want to shoot it but
the films I need are in the hold...
June 13
Another nice day again, summer must be here in the
south - I'm starting to sound like a weather forecaster...
Got a text from Nikki Sixx. He wants to know if I want
to come on tour with the Crue and shoot a few sessions.
'Are you in ?' he asks - I'm in.
Spend the day with HIM shooting in a studio.
Must have shot eighty rolls of film... Ville
Valo was a pleasure to work with. Eaaaaaaaasy.
Only downside is he's a chain smoker. |
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I asked him how much he smoked a day - a hundred...
I hate smoking. He did look good though. |
June 12
Another sunny day in the south. Like the sad
train spotter I am I'm off to Brighton, not for
the sea and sand - it's the record fair. Wilf,
Peter Makowski and I spend the day looking for
records. I find the first Def Leppard single with
my photos on and no credit, plus a Japanese Lord
Sutch single with Jimmy Page that was so expensive
I'm not gonna say how much... Drive home to London,
see black clouds in the sky, Bazza rings (he's
still at Donington). 'What time did you get to
bed?' I ask, 'I think there were people having
breakfast and children running around' he groans. |
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Spend the evening clearing out magazines from
my garage. Find the first two issues of Kerrang.
Here they are before they go in the bin. |
June 11
A nice sunny Saturday morning. Unfortunately
I have to go to Donington. Now I'm not moaning
but it is a pain when you have to work. Full
of DRUNK people who should go away or know better...
As I drive north the sky is getting greyer. Miraculously,
as I arrive the sun comes out - you see, always
bring the weather with you. It's Barry "Bazza" Drinkwater's
50th birthday, he's come for the weekend to go
crazy. Everyone I know is so old now... |
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Mrs Osbourne arrives at the same time. 'Lets
go for a walk and look at the stage,' she says.
Off we go to get stopped all the way by exactly
the people I just talked about. Mr Osbourne has
the good sense to lock himself in his trailer until
show time. Tony Iommi asks me to shoot photos of
his friends (Tony has a lot). Bill Ward (who I'd
done some Sabbath prints for) gives me a used pair
of his drum sticks autographed and dated - a kind
man. |
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The stage is miles away from the artist area
- you have to take a shuttle bus. On the way back
Slash arrives and is mobbed, he handles it rather
well. See a head look out from some corrugated
fencing - it's Scott Weiland. Go over say hello
and make him do some photos. His hair is now jet
black instead of bright red. Duff asks me 'Where
were you, weren't you coming to Belfast?' - Slash
forgot to ring me until he was at the airport. |
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Go with my chums - Wilf and rock n' roll John
Bionelli - to watch a bit of HIM (a Finnish band)...
After a drive back around the race track, notice
a Spitfire aeroplane with a wing missing - didn't
know our Euro chums the Germans were here today
(Donington was originally a World War II tank
testing ground). |
Shoot Velvet Revolver. Slash and Dave Krusner
argue over who's wearing which Black Sabbath t-shirt
on stage. Matt has a pair of jeans with Sabbath
embroidered on them. Scott looks great, like a
World War II tank commander (hint - not on our
side). Go to the stage with them and shoot the
show from Slash's backline. Have a really good
time, start enjoying myself. The only downer to
their show is playing a cover of Wish You Were
Here by Pink Floyd. Scott trys to get the crowd
to sing along, not one of 60,000 knows a word of
it. They come off, Slash comes over, 'What happened?''Try
doing a song they know, it's a Black Sabbath audience...'
They go back and it's Mr. Brownstone - great show... |
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Black Sabbath, what can I say, they have won
before they've played a note. Spend the show with
Sharon and Jack shooting the crowd. Get out just
at the end of Children of the Grave. My phone rings,
it's Bazza 'I'm in the bar, where are you!??' Heading
south... |
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June 10th
Fly home with the band on Ozzy's jet in the early
hours of the morning - Ozzy pees ten times - 'I'm going
to become a plumber the way I'm going' he says. Fly
into Luton airport, get to bed at 3.30am.
Wake up to find Nikki Sixx has been looking at
my website, he's sent me an email. 'Why don't
you shoot us in London??? Backstage too... P.S.
You're gay for what you wrote - about me always
talking about myself - Not true - I talk about
my dick too...' |
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Donington starts today so here's a few pictures
of the Crue from 1991. |
June 9th
A pleasant summers day - fly back to Germany
for more Black Sabbath. After spending an hour
and a half in lovely rush hour traffic we eventually
get to the venue. With a couple of hours to kill
I decide to go looking for the Ruhr dam made famous
in the excellent film The Dambusters. Ask
a few of the locals for directions and find myself
being greeted by blank stares... |
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It seems our Euro chums are suffering from
a bad case of amnesia as none of them claim to
have heard of it. I give up on this
historical pursuit. Never
mind, Ozzy throws a few gallons of water
over the audience at the Westfalenhalle just
to make amends. |
June 6th
I now have a bad knee and
a bad back plus a cold and a headache from yesterday...
I've also had several millon phone calls from people
to get them into Black Sabbath's warm-up show in
Aylesbury
tonight - still, Peter Makowski has got me some Thai
Who singles.
Drive to Aylesbury late afternoon with a posse of Black
Sabbath fans - it is scenic and very picturesque if
you like roadworks and gazing at the backs of other
cars...
Peter Makowski is with me. He hasn't seen Tony Iommi
in twenty five years - and is tearful as well as being
deaf. I ask Geezer if he recognizes Peter - 'No'
Go through photos for the tour book with Sharon
and Ozzy before the show. Slash, Duff and Dave arrive
jetlagged and still
freezing from Germany where they'd played on Sunday
- Slash tells me he's been told off for smoking by
Bill Ward (he should move to Bhutan - he'd go
to jail).
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Enjoy the show - a nice low stage, easy to
shoot - Ozzy starts singing the White Cliffs Of
Dover at the beginning of Black Sabbath... |
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Get lost going home - I hate the North of England.
June 5th
I breakfast with Ben Mitchell and William Luft.
Ben asks 'how were your mates yesterday'? 'Which
ones?' I enquire, 'I have many.' 'The murderer,
wife beater, geriatric and junkie.' 'Who?' 'The
Crue' he says...
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Spend the morning enjoying the gloom and sights
of Cologne. I am particularly impressed by the
cathedral and its splendid new roof, made necessary
by a visit from the RAF in 1944. My dear old dad
may even have been responsible for this particular
bit of urban redevelopment... |
Flying home on Luftwaffe we are delayed four
hours as a result of the plane being, in
their words, broken, or kaput as they say
in Commando comics. Finally arrive over London
at 5pm. The pilot seems to be carrying out manoeuvres
that his forefathers weren't able to accomplish
without being shot at by the RAF. Still,
get some good pictures flying along the Thames...
Home again and knackered. Feel like I've been
to Australia and back. |
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June 4th
Wake up to a nice, sunny, warm English day. Put
on my shorts and head off to FREEZING COLD Germany.
Arrive midday to gloom, rain and near arctic conditions. No
wonder no one likes it here... Before I forget,
I'm in Cologne or Köln as the locals would say.
Drive to the Nurburgring (ancient German race track)
where Niki Lauda cooked half his head. We drive for
what seems like hours through the boring German countryside.
I start to wonder what it must have been like for p.o.w's
trying to make their way home after escaping the clutches
of the evil Third Reich... Enough of my Boys Own fantasies...
The backstage area is full of people I know...
Bazza, and Richard Carter, who has jumped ship from
Audioslave to Black Sabbath. Bazza is forlorn
and tells me he'd got up at 5am, rushed to Heathrow
and discovered he'd left his passport at the psychiatric
home he lives in. After going to get it back he erroneously
boards a plane to Frankfurt which is a mere 5 hour drive
to the venue. Bazza is completely out of it, eyeballs
rolling 'I'm on it' he announces to anyone who will
listen.
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Notice a shadowy figure
lurking outside a portacabin door. It's Mick Mars. I
go over, say hello, see Nikki - 'Heeeyyy, come
in, are you gonna shoot us'? Spend the next
hour hanging out with The Crue. Tommy offers me
shots of Jaeger and pints of white wine. Nikki
is now chain-smoking which is strange. Shoot
a load of black and white of them in their dressing
rooms. Go and shoot them live. I become obsessed
with watching Mick Mars. He is like Nosferatu
floating around the stage. |
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| They play Red Hot, Live Wire and a great
Kickstart My Heart. Unfortunately my old
mates play through icy monsoon conditions. This
is no fucking fun...
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| Later I slip over outside and cut open half my
knee - go and sulk backstage. |
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See Shirley Manson and the Oxford educated
members of Slayer. |
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Time to go and hang out with
the Maiden, the real reason I'm here. The
weather is now getting WORSE, and I'm not joking. They
go on at 10pm and play most of the first four
albums. These are the most miserable
conditions I've ever shot in. All the pyro is
being blown off stage along with the sound, smoke
and the band's hair (what there is of it)...
Still, they are great. WHERE EAGLES DARE
- the audience loved it. |
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June 2
I am still crippled - ugh, can't move. Slash has been
in touch, so I may go to Europe to shoot Velver Revolver.
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Here's a photo of me taken a couple of days ago
- if only Joe Perry looked as good... |
The new Mojo issue with the Foo Fighters... |
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June 1
I've put my back out. I can't bend down, feel geriatric
- have to go to see my osteopath in Finchley. I haven't
been here for many years - it was full of people like
my dad and George Bodnar (my very ex-friend).
I'm coming out the tube when someone shouts my name
- it's Gerry Laffy, who used to be in Girl but is now
a rich and successful artist.
After having my back cracked in various places limp
south again on the train...
Sort out my Black Sabbath photos. I'm quite pleased
with them. Found some nice sunset photos over Iran.
I'll post them up.
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