February 7th, 1999
Lyon, France

Howdy, Folks. Let me see if I can piece together the last few days here. In my last entry I mentioned all the snow we had been seeing. I asked one of the locals about it in Munich that night and he told me that he hasn't seen it snow like that since he was a kid. He was about my age, so I'm guessing that we were seeing a rare amount of snowfall. The next night, Sunday, we were in Stuttgart at the Longhorn. We had played this venue before once, and when I decided to do a stage-dive the crowd parted and I hit the pavement hard. It wasn't the first time I'd done so and it probably won't be the last, but I remember limping the while rest of that tour, so this time around I decided not to tempt fate. My knee has been kinda fucked up anyways. I twisted it as I jumped off the drum riser or something. In the heat of the moment you don't even feel it happen. It is just a nuisance really. After Stuttgart, We played in Zurich. Again it was a venue we had played before, except this time the crowd was bigger and way more energetic. After our fist song Dexter asked, "So where were you guys last time?" It was our best Swiss show yet. It was also Ron's birthday, so afterwards the Sprung Monkey guys and Fitzjoy took him out for drinks. Tuesday, the 2nd, was a day off, so Ron, Fitz, and I took our bus to St. Moritz for some snowboarding. We had been planning on it since before we left on tour. It was going to be a birthday celebration for Ron and me, but unfortunately I decided that I should let my knee have the day off. It was beautiful there though and I did walk through town a little. Ron and Fitzjoy were stoked to be able to board for the day. We were also joined by our photographer friend Geoff, and our promoter friend Lars, who stoked us out with some Burton demos. Many thanks, Lars!

We've spent the last three days in Italy playing the biggest shows of this tour. The first of these shows was in Rome and it was our first time ever there. I wish I would have been able to see more of the city. Greg and Dexter flew in on their day off and were able to see a little bit of it. Greg said that the colosseum and the Sisteen Chapel were highlights for him. I only saw the inside of the venue. Great show though; Italian crowds always rule and they were only going to get better. The second Italian show was in Bologna on my birthday. I thought about celebrating by getting naked on stage, but decided against it when I couldn't get a hold of my wife to ask for permission. She really hates when I strip on stage but is willing to tolerate it as long as I let her know ahead of time. Another time perhaps! Our last show in Milan was the biggest show we're going to have on this tour at just over 8000 people in the audience. But more important than size is attitude ( there is a joke here somewhere, but I really mean it ). I will play in Milan any fucking day, the crowds there are the enthusiastic in we've ever played to.

I've been given a lot of demos on this tour, some of which I think deserve mention. If I don't mention your band here it means that I lost your tape, never got it, didn't listen to it, or it just plain sucked. Here are some of the better ones: Borderlands (Germany, I think), Mixtwitch (Ire.), Aqua Lung (Ire., signed to an Irish label?), Ex-Cathedra (Scot.), Ruckuss and Fruit Cocktail (Eng.). The tape I'm listening to most is by a group called The Go. It is Jack Grisham's (The Joykiller/TSOL) new band. Playing guitar on it is our own Chris "Pretty Fly" Higgins. Also playing on it are Angry John from Down By Law, Frank Agnew from everything, and Mr. Brett from Bad Religion. I truly hope this gets released because it rules!

Later,
Noodles