OK, since we can't update the site, but a bunch of the bases have Internet access, so we can start updating you guys here... here is the EJ USO Tour Diary!!!
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 mikeyjake
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EJ USO Tour Diary |
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Posts: 323 05/04/04 06:56:10 |
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mikeyjake |
Meeting at the Airport | #1 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/04/04 07:01:02 |
The band, plus our trustworthy roadie Andrew, meet at JFK airport on the outskirts of NYC at 6pm. Dano, the USO tour manager, is there to greet us.
Turns out we're flying Malev, the official Hungarian airline. A little scary. We'll be flying into Budapest, and then taking a shorter flight to Pristina, near the US Base Bondsteel in Kosovo. But the good news is... they let us in to the Swiss Air Business Class Lounge. Well, all of us except Andrew. So we make sure to grab some Milano cookies and Oreos for him before we leave. The flight leaves at 8pm. The trip is decent, the food stinks, and we wake up in Budapest. After some customs hopping, we're on our way to Pristina. We arrive at Pristina airport (which is what they call the shed next to the landing strip). We're greeted by 6 US troops with M-16s, including "Moose" and "Bear". All have Southern accents. They tell us that their military vehicles will be escorting us to the camp, as it is too dangerous to drive the vans alone... |
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mikeyjake |
On Base in Kosovo | #2 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/04/04 07:09:28 |
OK, we made it sound a little melodramatic.. .but its all true.
We can't go anywhere off base without military escort. Just like Bon Jovi. Once we get to Camp Bondsteel (and through the obstacle course called the front gate), it starts to feel a lot like summer camp. Great vibe, everyone is happy to see us, and we quickly make many new friends in the dining hall. And, the facilities are surprisingly good... massages, rec halls, movie rentals. Hell, if you forget that you're in a combat zone, you might think you were at a camp in North Carolina. Locals staff food and services, but otherwise, its all folks from Kentucky, Michigan, Alaska, etc. Out in the hills about an hour from Pristina (the capital), and most buildings look like camp bumks, except for the rec hall and PX and a few other huge tin "tents". They've got movie rentals, free popcorn, pool tables, video game rooms, internet cafes, pizza parlors, a burger king, and more stuff than my colleges. Oh, and of course, $20 Thai massages!!! The first show is at nearby Camp Monteith, a short drive away. The base only has about 300 people, but we have almost a third of them out at the beginning of the set. Through the smoke machines, we notice more and more people leaving the show. Were we that bad? Apparently not... turns out some fires were started in town by rioters, and they had to send in the troops. We were rocking during a military action! |
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Rusty Eve |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #3 | ||
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Posts: 65 05/04/04 07:42:53 |
Hey, great diary!
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mikeyjake |
Blackhawks and Night Vision Goggles | #4 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/05/04 03:02:36 |
and there's more...
We get to tour the chopper hangers and see the blackhawks and 58, and climb in to a few of 'em. We also find out that we'll be flying them to shows in Bosnia. Oh, and we can't forget the crew. John from England leads a team from a German sound company. We have a tractor trailer of equipment being taken base to base, and a 4 man crew just for sound and lights. We rock the outdoor stage and get a few sing-alongs going. Mike breaks all but one of his strings, of course. At least he has roadies to help put on new ones. The band gets awarded certificates and medals after the show. Of course, every show has to be followed up with some near beer (its a dry camp). Next day, we fly out to Vienna, Austria to spend the night at the Hilton Danube. We head into town for some liters of beer. The short story is... bratworst, good, wiener schnitzel, not so good. But the beds at the Hilton are great.... |
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mikeyjake |
Sarajevo | #5 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/06/04 02:14:01 |
We fly into Sarajevo the next morning. A very pretty town in the green hills, except for the bulletholes and mortar damage in just about every building.
Apparently, some of the prettiest hills are covered with mines. We learn about the Sarajevo Rose, which is where they spill red plastic in the ground wherever a child was killed. Camp Butmir is only minutes away from the airport, right next to the old Olympic Village. This base is a UN base, so its only 15% US soliders... the rest are mix from 10+ other countries. No gig tonite... But there is a Burger King and a Popeyes and a Baskin Robbins on base. Plus, many of the other nationalities have their equivalents. There is even a "German Pub" with Becks for less than a Euro and Hefaveissens similarly cheap. Of course, we have the Germans there to help us get drunk. |
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Rusty Eve |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #6 | ||
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Posts: 65 05/06/04 17:18:05 |
Well, I never went to summer camp. And I've never seen a land mine. But I have heard/seen guns and bullet holes. The red wax thing sounds pretty creepy. And here I am worried about my cholesterol level.
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mikeyjake |
Meeting the General | #7 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/07/04 02:30:08 |
Well, we play Camp Butmir the next night, and its the Italians who seem to love us most...
Next day, a Blackhawk chopper takes us to Clark, a base of 30 people for a meet and greet, and then takes us to Camp Eagle in Tuzla, which is mostly American and looks even more like summer camp. The crew follows in their own sleeper bus, along with our "in case" bus, in case, I don't know, the chopper crashes. Then the 18 wheeler comes with all the equipment. Here we also get to meet the Colonel and the General. Hell, I can't remember their names, just the Colonel and General part. The cool thing is, the General had two computers, with a piece of white paper over each reading "SECRET" in big letters. I'm glad to see that our military uses top flight security technology that can be bought at Staples for 5 cents (plus 50 cents for the Sharpie). We rock Eagle base, but not before getting more massages They fly us back to Sarajevo in the choppers, now using night vision goggles. ** no, this is not a joke. ** They have the moon to fly by, but there are no lights on the ground. So, besides the two pilots, we have two crew members hanging out the side windows (yes, they are open) to watch the terrain below and make sure we don't crash. We get back to Butmir, in time for some Burger King and Internet. We all go crazy with "hey, I'm in Bosnia" IMs to our friends... |
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mikeyjake |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #8 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/07/04 08:12:28 |
There was a typo in the last message... the camp name is BUTMIR. Sorry bout that guys...
We awake in Sarajevo and take our tour bus to the airport... the tech crew actually has their own bus, and the equipment travels in an 18 wheeler. Were like ZZ Top. We fly to Vienna... well, we try to. The flightis delayed due to wind and we spend 5 hours on the tarmac. We get into Vienna with just enough time for Bratwurst and bed. Good thing that Incubus is also staying at the hotel... |
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mikeyjake |
We Fly Business Class, Incubus Takes the Bus | #9 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/09/04 07:42:34 |
DanO the tour manager thinks Incubus is Anthrax, but thats ok. We fly to Denmark, and then to Iceland. Best plane we´´ve been on yet, and the blonde is starting to show.
Maybe 10 people in a business class supposed to hold 30, so we party with the flight attendants, who get rewarded with Evil Jake stickers. We arrive in Rejkavik and it looks a lot like if Ikea furnished the Brady house... Outside looks like... well, Mars... |
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mikeyjake |
Iceland | #10 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/09/04 07:44:44 |
The base is right near the airport, and even has its own High School (which, unfortunately, has its prom the same night as our gig... no joke).
We spend the first night in the base´´s bar... and I could have sworn we were in New Jersey when we were inside. Cheap bad beer, free popcorn, and many crew cuts. But no guns... apparently there hasn´´t been anything more than a catfight in Iceland in 500 years. Andrew is very happy with the base´´s DVD rental selection... |
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Rusty Eve |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #11 | ||
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Posts: 65 05/10/04 16:05:06 |
Now you've done it! You've dissed New Jersey!
Note to self: never wear Evil Jake t-shirt in New Jersey.  |
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mikeyjake |
Midnight Sun | #12 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/11/04 05:24:30 |
We spend the day in Rejkavik, which looks a lot like a Lego town. The nights are like 3 hours long this time of year, so the parties are pretty good.
Only thing is, everything is VERY expensive. The local Subway charges $7-9 for a sandwich. We get back to base for soundcheck, and meet one of the Platters (no joke). He's doing sound for us. We rock the gig of course. All the married women tell Mike they love him. Women line up (literally) for David. And Dawn has a fan club of her own. Then we sneak off base to hit the local bars in Keflavik. Its sunny at 3 am, which is even weirder when you're drunk. Then our taxi drives through a sandwich shop. We fall asleep with the XMen DVD on making weird noises, and half eaten smashed pepperoni sandwiches (they smashed 'em, not us) on the bed. We wake up hung over, and head to the Blue Lagoon. Its a HUGE natural spa (water in Iceland from the ground is very hot) and we spend a few hours in speedos there. They even give you mud to put on your face. We go straight to the airport and find Jason Biggs getting on the same plane to Boston as us... |
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Rusty Eve |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #13 | ||
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Posts: 65 05/14/04 17:33:13 |
Oh! So you're all back in US by now?
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mikeyjake |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #14 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/14/04 17:34:24 |
yup, we is here
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Rusty Eve |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #15 | ||
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Posts: 65 05/14/04 17:37:05 |
'Tis a good thing!
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mikeyjake |
Jason Biggs | #16 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/18/04 16:46:41 |
Well, nothing much happens after Jason Biggs. He's supposedly in Iceland filming a movie set in Greenland. OK, I'm not going to comment on that.
Oh yeah, apparently the duty free in the airport in Iceland is like the most popular store in the country. And it, as well as the rest of the entire airport, look like the Brady Bunch house furnished by Ikea. |
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mikeyjake |
Boston and Home... | #17 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/18/04 16:47:45 |
Crappy thing is our Boston stopover (no Iceland-NY direct flights that day). And there isn't a business class lounge for us to steal things from!!!
There isn't even business class on the Boston-NY shuttle. What's with that? |
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Rusty Eve |
WHAT?! | #18 | ||
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Posts: 65 05/19/04 05:20:47 |
Don't those people know you're rock stars?! Shameful!
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mikeyjake |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #19 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/19/04 07:15:11 |
Yeah, WTF??!!?!?
BTW, we're editing the above entries, adding more detail as we have time... |
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mikeyjake |
Re: EJ USO Tour Diary | #20 | ||
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Posts: 323 05/25/04 19:23:27 |
Paul has a New Jersey shirt, BTW...
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