Trip to Manchester

July 2nd, 2010

Back in July 2010, I was listening got a radio station 99.3 cfox, they had a contest called "I'm with the band" anyways, when you heard a song from the artist call in and your name goes in the draw. The artist was Slash. They played "Back from Cali"' as soon as I heard the beginning riff I was on the phone. And I got through. Thought... Sweet. Never thought much about it, and carried on my day.

A couple days later I got a call, aparently I won. Got off the phone, and started calling my friends to see if anyone wanted to go to England... Everyone I called said yes... Of course they would, who wouldn't? But 95% of my friends didn't have passports at the time... Murrr

So I found out my friend name Szymon had a passport and gave him a call, Boom... Was all set. The Fox gave me $600.00 dollars spending money. Gave half to Szymon for coming along. Yeah, I'm a pretty generous guy. Anyways, we were set to leave in two days time, July 1st.

Arrived at the airport on time, plane was delayed for an hour, then another hour, then another hour... Three hours had passed, and they called the cancellation. Fuck!

They gave us taxi vouchers, and a phone number to call for reservations through Delta Airlines, and told us to come back tomorrow. Hopped I'm a cab and went home. The next morning I got on the phone and pleaded my case to the people on the other end.

Got us a flight to Salt Lake City UT, then from Salt Lake City to Paris, France. Paris to Manchester. Middle of the might flights and shit, I can't sleep for shit on airplanes. So yeah, took off from Vancouver in the afternoon on the 2nd and arrived in Manchester on the 3rd about 4 hours before the show was to start. Was so tired when we got to our hotel, decided to maybe take a aftermoom nap so I was well rested for the show. Gave a call to the front office for a wake up call, (cell phone didn't work so the usual alarm clock was out of commission) fell asleep... Show started at 8 but we had a meet and greet yeah... Was suppose to meet Slash, anyway, fucking front desk persom forgot to call us at our desired wake up time... Ran out the door, caught a cab... Was too late for the meet and greet... Fuck sakes right?

Did all could to get backstage, had a phone number of the tour manager, figured I could call them, explain my case. Asked the doorman if they had a phone... Nope. Who fuck doesn't have a cell phone? Asked if the Manchester Academy had a phone... Nope. What kind of a venue doesn't have a phone? Seen a pay phone down the road, ran to it and... No dial tone. Yup, got the fuck around again. Classic, plane broke, front desk lady, no phones... Yup. Fucking right...

But we did make it in time to watch the show, opening act was The Virgin Mary's, they were pretty good. The venue was about the same size as commodore ballroom... 1500 people max. Slash feat. Myles Kennedy with Todd Kearns, Bobby Schneck, and Brent Fitz hit the stage playing songs from his two solo albums. Also songs from Guns n' Roses, Alterbridge, and Velvet Revolver. After the show we took a cab back to our hotel room, there was a bar in the lobby so I had a couple pints. Went u to the room and went to sleep.

Woke up, got a cab back to Manchester International Airport. Got on a plane, flew to NYC's JFK International Airport. Good times JFK om July 4th took us 3.5 hours to go from the gate we landed at to the gate we left at. Almost didn't make it, had to get bumped in line at check In cause we were running late. Got to our plane, flew to Minneapolis MN, had another 3 hour layover there, walked around the terminal and are burger, and drank another beer. Took another flight to Vancouver International. Fell asleep half way home, woke up flying over burnaby. Touched down, went home. Forgot to mention, that they recorded the show live, and mixed it on the fly and pressed it and released it after the show. I bought two CD's, gave one to my brother. Below is the set list.

 Ghost (from Slash)
 Mean Bone (from Ain't Life Grand)
 Nightrain (from Appetite for Destruction)
 Dirty Little Thing (from Contraband)
 Back from Cali (from Slash)
 Beggars & Hangers-on (from It's Five O'Clock Somewhere)
 Civil War (from Use Your Illusion II)
 Rocket Queen (from Appetite for Destruction)
 Fall to Pieces (from Contraband)
 Sucker Train Blues (from Contraband)
 Nothing to Say (from Slash)
 Starlight (from Slash)
 Watch This (from Slash)
 Godfather
 Sweet Child o' Mine (from Appetite for Destruction)
 Rise Today (Alter Bridge cover)
 Slither (from Contraband)
 Communication Breakdown
 Paradise City (from Appetite for Destruction)