Rehearsing Devil songs in Sydney (Rocko)

Well, well, well! Haven't we been busy little Devils.... Greetings, G'day, hello and "how ya doin'" from Rocko. I haven't had a chance to write here in the guest book for quite some time, but we finally had an actual day off here in Sydney, Australia after finishing the first 2 of 3 shows. So what did I do on my day off? Of course I went to the empty stadium and scrubbed the floor of our mammoth stage. After storing it for 7 months and then getting enough rain to frighten even Noah with his ark, it was a bit dirty to say the least, so I went over to the Telstra Stadium by myself to scrub it down. I didn't want any help from the rest of the crew, as they deserved a clear day off. I also had devilish motives for my solo venture, I wanted to rehearse my vocals. So I took my iPod full of Devil songs with my custom made Ultimate Ears in-ear monitors (...which absolutely are the best!!!) and went and sang very loudly to 74,000 empty seats (....and 12 very puzzled security police guarding the gear) while I scrubbed the stage on my hands and knees. I believe on the night in Hawaii I will sing standing up, as it would be hard to play my guitars in that "pony position". The security folks thought I was out of my mind, and of course they were right! It's just that when I am working on the U2 show, I am so busy I cannot afford to let my mind wander from my duties as stage manager. It is a full time gig that requires my full attention, but it pays off in spades when we have U2 shows as good as the ones we have under our collective belts. Last nights' was the best so far, first of all because it didn't rain!!!! The band was in fine form and surprised the crowd (and us!!!) by playing some rare gems they haven't played on the Vertigo tour before. But today was my day, so I got the stage clean and sang for a good 4 hours, or roughly going over our Rocko and the Devils set 8 times. It felt pretty damn good!!!! Bring on Honolulu baby, I'm ready!!!!! Brent, Jim and Scott are still working the final 6 shows of the Journey/Def Leppard tour, so they are busy little devils as well, however they will rehearse in Nashville together with Larry one last time before they hop on a plane to Hawaii. We hope to rehearse as a band in Honolulu before the show, but after playing a private show for the Def Leppard and Journey band and crew members last October 24th in Grand Rapids at a very cool club called "The Intersection", I can safely say WE ARE ALL READY!!!! I really miss the Devils, and it is strange being on the opposite side of the planet from them, but I feel with them in spirit, and thanks to worldwide cell phone/Internet technology - I can wake them up in the middle of the night when it is 17 hours later for me!!!! I will write to you again soon - as time allows, but with a little prodding..... maybe the rest of the Devils will check in here in the guest book...................

Love - Rocko


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