October 18, 2005 Las Vegas... Other than a steady bout of homesickness, the tour has been practically perfect.  The U.S. leg got a turbo charge of rock with Cheap Trick on the dates for the first 5 weeks.  Brother Cane played several shows with CT throughout the 90's and the guys always made me feel welcome.  They were aware of our songs on the radio and had good things to say about them (that's not withstanding Rick Nielsen's comment last month that "the silence at the end of the song was the best part about Brother Cane"... cheeky bastard!).  Robin Zander may very literally be the greatest rock singer of all time, in the "singer's singer" kind of way.  Shall we debate it?  Well, there's the usual cast of candidates that are all deserving: Tyler, Cornell, Paul Rodgers, Plant, John Waite (piss off if you think I'm being partial).  There's simply a power in his delivery that was "on" every single night, and you can tell he has intent in every line he sings.  I vote Zander.  If Rick Neilsen threw one guitar pick at me, he threw 5,467.  What a slam to stand in his guitar world every night with my old friend Jim Survis and get a punk reminder of why we should all be doing this to begin with: because doing anything else would suck... a lot!  Cheap Trick are my heroes, my influence, and my friends.

My wife is currently counceling me with this, but I am addicted to golf.  I don't mean like, I enjoy it or want to play often.  I'm addicted.  Like crack.  Like sex.  Like Oreo cookies.  I'm going to now share the full scope of my addiction with you so that you might send donations to the Damon Johnson Charity Fund for the "Golf or Death" Recovery Foundation.  Since starting the live dates in Newcastle, Australia in early June, we have played golf, as of today, 57 times.  FIFTY SEVEN rounds of golf.  That's more than I've played in the last 8 years combined.  And, of course, it would have never happened without Alice Cooper giving me a job.  So I'd like to take this time to say, "Thank you. Thank you, Alice Cooper... for feeding the monster. For providing me with crack on a daily basis."  And I have to give a golf shout out to my boys Ryan Roxie and Chuck Garric who are easily as big of junkies as I am.

Lastly, my son Marshall came on the road with me for 5 days, and it was one of the best weeks of my life.  Imagine you're 14 years old and this is your itinerary: flight to Chicago for Alice Cooper show in Joliet (pick up at the airport by the lovely Pat McCarthy and family), golf the next morning, poker on the bus ride to Indy, 2nd AC show, golf on Friday morning, Eric Singer and Friends gig that night, golf on Saturday morning, go with friends to an 8-band rock show that night, fly to Vegas on Sunday, dinner party thrown by VH-1 for their "Fairway to Heaven" and meet and hang out with NFL great Eddie George, all of Queensryche, all of Hootie, all of Alter Bridge, Brett Scallions, Carson Daly, Meatloaf, Adrian Young from No Doubt, and (the capper) get a kiss and a photo with VH-1's Rachel Perry.  'Nuff said.  I am the über-coolest dad on the planet...

dj

August 3, 2005...Hamburg, Germany.  A lay-over here on our monster drive to Norway, and the obligatory visit to the Reeperbahn...

Shows in Frieburg, Wuppertal, Tilburg (Netherlands), Berlin, Emsdetten, and Bremerhaven; Germany rocks as only they can.  Played a variety of venues on this run and was surprised at the number of fans that would attend 3 or more shows.  Germany feels very comfortable; kind of like playing the Midwest at home (you know... Emsdetten is Dayton, Ohio).  Our one Italian date was in Torino and found great golf before we headlined the Chico Bum Festival on the outskirts of town (great food and better vino!).

Much love for Spain... rabid fans, beautiful architecture.  Valencia, Cuidad Real (a Burger King!!), Barcelona (shopping w/ Eric Singer... thanks for the jacket, bro), and Pamplona (Roxy and I walked the "Running of the Bulls"). Alice is held in high regard everywhere, but nowhere more so than Spain.  We "brought it" every night, and the fans returned it (yes Lynda, I promise to work on my Spanish).

Which brings me to Monte Carlo, Monaco.  Proper adjectives?  Still can't find them... am tired of trying.  We check in the afternoon before the show, and Calico parades us all down to the beach.  Was it the perfect water, the topless billionaire's wives, or Chuck's hot new Euro-Speedo that quickened the pulse more?  Hmmm... if I showed you pictures, I'd have to kill you (okay, here's one for the hell of it).  Understand that there is probably no way in this lifetime that I could afford to bring my family here for a 3 day vacation, much less two weeks, which only added to the surreal vibe.  A suggestion to go to the Sea Lounge that night found Eric, Chuck, Ryan and I talking our way through the front door ("Invitation only?  We're with Alice Cooper... we were told no dress code... no tables?  What's happening here?).  We get inside to find the whole place is rented out by some European modeling agency; complete with runway, three clothing changes, body paint, fireworks, Prince Albert's heir, and "100 Euro per 7 pieces" sushi plates ("Toto, we're not in Geraldine anymore").  After a couple of the most expensive Jack and Coke's of my life, I retired.  Shocker of the visit?  Greens fees for 18 holes at the Monte Carlo Country Club were $45 (my game this tour has been very consistent: good front nine, rough back nine, another score of 92... and Alice, please stop telling people that I'm a 12-handicap).  And then there was our show.  My head hurts simply trying to put this into words.  All tables and chairs, black tie/tuxedo mandatory dress code, posh posh posh snot.  We were ready for crickets between every song (which is unfortunately what the opening act, a keyboard/cello trio, was literally met with).  And then we blew the roof off...

It was as if these people had "seen this sort of thing on television", but you could tell they had never, ever, EVER attended a real rock concert in their lives, much less the crush of an Alice Cooper and Band performance.  We were "all attitude" from the first note... and the place went ballistic!  The full-kimono-clad beauty and her Japanese family that were seated just off my side of the stage (there were bets backstage they would leave before the third song) were on their feet the entire show and acted like I was Elvis Presley.  Everytime I leaned toward them with my guitar, they hyperventilated and threw rose petals (are you laughing yet? I'm not making this up).  There was a giant runway that covered the entire front of the stage, so we could get right in the faces of the go-zillionaires (one insisted that I stand on his table mid-solo, much to my oblige).  You must understand that the "next heaviest" act to play Monte Carlo this entire summer is Joe Cocker... are you paying attention?  Do you understand what I am saying?  It was unforgettable.  And how about when our crew member/Quasimoto actor Pat holds up Alice's head after the guillotine and spits blood?  You guessed it kids, right into the front row onto this billionaire heir in his early 20's and his solid white tuxedo!  We almost threw up laughing.  And they treated our hurtling guitar picks like they were Mediterranean beach front property.  The entire stage was covered in rose petals at shows end. They never once let up and the reviews afterwards were all monstrously positive... almost conquering.  "Do you guys want to come back every six months?" You bet your ass... Talk about "a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there"?  I could damn well live there, if only Coop would put me on $300K a year retainer.  I love Monte Carlo.

Shout outs to Ingo and Drum-Boo in Germany, Robert Mills in Spain, and the Cooper's extended family in Monaco (especially Mel and Emma).

dj

Torino, Italy: Fully into it now... Lisbon, Paris, Montreux, Linz, Freiburg, Berlin.  The show in Paris might have been the best that I've ever experienced with Alice and the band.  All the shows have been great, especially the fans, but Paris was rabid.  The audience actually drowned out the p.a. several times.  Went with Eric, Chuck, and Cali earlier in the day to the Lourve and searched for signs of the Illuminatti (everyone is reading Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code...if you haven't read them, then you have no idea what I'm talking about).  In Montreux, we filmed for an upcoming DVD, and the intial footage looks great.  Went for memorable runs around Lake Geneva there as well as a good one in Wuppertal, Germany.  Berlin was great last night (found a Starbucks in the afternoon!) and then we had the long drive to Torino.  Came upon the road crew and their broken down bus early in the afternoon, so we scooped them up onto ours.  Alice was trying to set up golf when we arrived, but Torino seems to have the least amount of English speaking hotel staff that we've come across (can you say, "Tiger Woods"?).  Wrestling with real homesickness... everything about the touring is great, but 9 weeks is just too long.  Everyone agrees...

dj

Somewhere over the Indian Ocean... July 6.  Well, you can check the first three weeks of the tour off the list.  To a room, every show in Australia was great.  Being the new guy in the AC Band, everyone I met was a new fan for me.  My buddy Mike Dryer printed up these great cards before I left the States, so I've got hundreds of them to hand out to anyone I see after the show; they have a couple of cool photos and the websites on them (hence the traffic on the guestbook).  And was always pleased to run into the rare Brother Cane fan.  Is funny to see the look on Alice Cooper fans when they put it together who BC was and that I fronted the band (lots of people know "Got No Shame" and "And Fools Shine On"... one guy even brought an old Billboard showing our 8 week reign at the top of the rock charts in '96).

I love Australia.  Was almost like being at home in the states, except for driving on the left side and they've got kangaroos instead of squirrels.  No shit, we played golf at an amazing course called Joonalup before flying out this morning, and on one hole I counted as many as 14 (see photo).  And make no mistake about it, the golf ROCKED!  Am at the crappy stage where after shooting a great round, I'll go out the next day and feel like I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing.  But I am unwavering in my quest... to break 80 on this tour.  It WILL happen! (best score in Aussie: 88.  Fave courses: Terrey Hills in Sydney and Joonalup in Perth).

Everyone has asked what was the best show: and the winner is... Melbourne!  And Sydney... and Perth (first night)... and Adelaide... okay, so it's hard to say.  But know this: the Alice Cooper band and crew are kicking ass and taking names on a nightly basis!  The show is starting to be second nature, so we're really starting to dig in and blow people's heads off.  My only regret was not going to see Bon Scott's gravesite in Perth with Chuck and Chris (another photo coming).  But I know I'll be back, and next time we'll go and bring the acoustic and sing "Ride On" until we cry our eyes out...

Oh yeah... the other one-off I did with Eric, Ryan, and Chuck was a smash as well.  This time in Melbourne, and another big yell to everyone that came and was patient enough for our flight to get in (because of a massive storm, our flight was 2 hours late leaving the Gold Coast... we were lucky to get out of town at all).  The set list was close to the same, as was the energy from the crowd.  We're gonna try a put a couple of "Eric Singer and Friends" shows together in the states, but the schedule will have to allow for it.

Australian shout-outs: Gary Petterson, Peter and Emma and Ross, Aaron, Andrew, Don in Sydney, Billy Thorpe and band (what the hell, no "Children Of the Sun"???), and Master Paul for putting together the awesome "E.S. and Friends" shows (Will see you again soon, my friend!)...

dj

June 29, 2005 Brisbane, Australia: (Happy Birthday, Heather! I love you...) Sydney was magnificent.  Is everything I've heard from friends that have been there before.  We were there for four days and stayed at the Intercontinental, which is a mere two blocks from the Sydney Opera House.  Both shows at the Enmore Theatre were sold out and the band continues to get truly fine tuned (FYI: We'll be filming a DVD in Switzerland in mid July, so we obviously want to be sharp).

The debut of "Eric Singer and Friends" was a massive success.  We sold out the 400 seat Annandel Hotel (where Jet got their record deal and The Vines started both tours).  The Kiss fans were out in full force and we blasted through 75 minutes of great stuff.  Eric, Chuck, Ryan and I shared lead vocal duties.  The set list: Strutter, California Man (Cheap Trick), No More Mr. Nice Guy, Come On and Love Me, She, Born to Raise Hell (Motorhead), Nothin' to Lose, Fox On the Run, 20th Century Boy (T-Rex), Cherry Bomb (featuring Calico on lead vocals!!!), Sweet Emotion, Jailbreak, Highway to Hell, Surrender, School's Out, Black Diamond, I Love It Loud, Rock and Roll All Night.  We enjoyed a large crowd as well at the merch booth afterwards, and I was blown away to meet a couple that drove 4 hours to come to the show just to have me sign all three Brother Cane discs.  The guy was screaming out BC lyrics during the set and cracking me up... it was very flattering.  The other gig in Melbourne looks to be great as well.

We rocked Brisbane last night in our biggest arena so far, and the guillotine did not crash into my pedalboard like the night before (haha).  Want to give my tech, Chris Leahy, a big shout out.  He's one of the very best in the biz and is pulling triple duty with all my new gear and dealing with the show props as well.  Great golf: The Lakes Golf Club and Terrey Hills, both in Sydney (Thanks for the help, Dan!)...

dj

June 21, Newcastle, New South Wales...The first show is finally in the books (thought it would never get here).  Everyone rocked and the new songs went over great.  My guitar sound was a little underwhelming due to the power difference here vs. the States, but was certainly no fault of my new gear (100 watt Krank amp and new ESP guitars).  Roxie, Chuck and Eric rocked ass and Coop sounded as great as ever.  Calico might very well steal the show from us all this year (die Paris Hilton...you gotta see the show to get what I mean).  Driving to Syndey this morning for a day off then two shows there.  Coop says there's some monster course we're playing tomorrow (he shot even par yesterday ... I think I hate him).  A shout out to Sam Frost in Phoenix for the mega-lesson on my swing (am sticking to the plan, Sam...no more shots to the right!!)  Gotta buy laundry detergent and toothpaste...

dj

Phoenix.  Got here on Saturday and started rehearsals immediately.  Great to see the band and crew.  Lots of new surprises with Alice's production this tour, and I've been sworn to secrecy for the time being (that's b.s., but you know what's up).  But I can tell you that the guillotine is making a comeback.  Am stoked about my new Gibson custom shop Les Paul.  It's pearly white, which will look bad ass with the show, and sounds awesome.  Is extra cool getting to play with Eric Singer for the first time.  He's got an impressive resume and has a fat music vocabulary; am sure we'll be listening to some Trapeze and Thin Lizzy on the road this year.  Have already played a round of golf with Alice and my extra best friend, Dr. Jeff.  Alice shot a 71; I shot a... well, let's just say I had a great time (mantra: "remember the good shots, forget the bad ones").  Lynda and Gabe arrived yesterday and we went with everyone to Cooperstown for the first time.  GW was a total rockstar and stole all the attention (even from Alice).  Am out the door to the music store to get a keyboard to use on some of the songs from "Welcome To My Nightmare" that will be in the show (I know Mom, you always told me the piano lessons would come in handy one day)...

dj

We're in the home stretch now.  L.A. and Phoenix held lots of extra activities: Gabe and LJ were at both L.A. shows, saw my sister and her gorgeous family, had lunch with the mega-talented Buck Johnson, spent 3 days with the McKenna's in Phoenix (nice 78 on Monday, Dockie! Glad that you, The Coop, and I could play), and super cool Rance Newland took awesome photos in Anaheim and at the Greek Theatre.  After some time with my golf "swing coach" [Dr. Jeff], my game has returned and I posted a 92 on Monday and a 90 today in Konocti (and you ask "what did Alice Cooper shoot?" 69!!!!! Cheeky bastard!!!).  After taking a severe ass-whippin' from the band and Calico in my first four weeks of poker, your hero has mounted a smokin' comeback and is only $7.50 in the red.  But the king of this run has totally been Ryan Roxie ("Isn't that a daisy?").  The last seven weeks have been stupendous, and I'm ready to get back to B'ham, The Welfare, and Double Dragon for a while.  Want to send out tons of love to Alice, Ryan, Chuck, Tommy (Pindu!), Cali, Brian "It's gonna be great" Nelson, Famous Toby Mamis, Chris "Angus" Leahy, Cesare, "C" Mac, Randy, Bostic, Bassett, "Come On" Pat, "Flossin' " Trini, Mike Kennedy, and the snake.

dj

All the Canadian dates have completely rocked!  Have finally fallen into the groove of the live show and am able to have a lot more fun performing without having to think so much about the arrangements to the songs.  The band is pistol tight and there truly has not been one show that was less than stellar.  Still running into lots of Brother Cane fans, as well as several folks from EMI Canada that used to work our records up here (if only BC could have gotten the support from the suits at Virgin U.S. that we did in Canada).  And LOTS of golf!  Shot an 84 the other day, which ties my best score ever.  Ryan, Chuck and I are playing almost every other day, and have been able to play with the Coop several times as well.  If only I could draw the ball like he does...

dj

Foxwoods, CT: Happy Birthday, GW!  One month old today!  Looking forward to seeing you and "my baby's mama" in Windsor next week.  One statement for everyone: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SOFTBALL, BABY!!  Have played two games with the Cooperstown Nightmares since the tour started, and we're 1-1.  Suffered a loss to the crew from the casino yesterday.  Yours truly went 0 for 4 at the plate (got good wood everytime, but straight to someone), but kicked ass defensively.  Even though A.C. couldn't make it yesterday, our team is loaded with talent.  Chuck and Ryan are obsessed, which is as it should be!  Calico took "one for the team" yesterday when she got whacked on the ankle by a line drive from Cesare while base running.  Speaking of rock, we play three gigs in a row this weekend, which I'm stoked about.  Oh yeah... getting my ass kicked at poker on the bus rides!  The Coop spanked me hard Wednesday night ("yeah Damon, I'd go in on a 26 or 27 anytime").  Vengeance will be mine, boss...

dj

East Brunswick, NJ: The first show was over the top kick ass!  Everything I had hoped for and more; highlights were playing the opening riff to "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and watching the crowd blow up, opening "Sick Things" on my guitar effects and seeing Alice out of the corner of my eye come down the ramp with the snake, and playing acoustic on "Only Women Bleed".  The band KILLS!  Great crew and good people all around.  Had the night off on Saturday and went with Alice as he made a surprise appearance with Cheap Trick in New York for a Miller beer "50 years of Rock and Roll" party (they played "I'm Eighteen").  The Strokes and Velvet Revolver played as well.  Cool ending of the show: Julian and Nick from the Strokes coming out to play`"Sedated" by the Ramones with VR, then Rick Neilsen and Robin Zander sitting in for "Surrender" as the closer.  I DO NOT dig having days off.  Back to work tomorrow night...

dj

Atlantic City, NJ: My head hurts.  A blur of a last two weeks with Gabriel coming and the Alice Cooper tour falling in my lap.  GWJ is beautiful and I am proud of him beyond expression (ditto to you, LJ).  GREAT songs this Cooper stuff: "Under My Wheels" and "Billion Dollar Babies" are two of the best rock songs ever written.  The band is incredible, and Ryan, Chuck, and Tommy C. (from Nugent's band) have been super great and patient while I have "rush rehearsed" to get a grip on 21 songs.  Funny moment from rehearsals: I was telling the guys about the Welfare and how much it rocks.  Told Tommy that we play some Foo Fighters stuff like "All My Life," and he said, "Let's play that at rehearsal today."  So we started out with it, and got to the first chorus and the door to our room opened: In walks Dave Grohl!!!  We all cracked up, and Grohl said he's never heard anyone even attempt to cover that song.  Surreal.  Looking forward to the first A.C. gig tomorrow night...

dj

Exhausted, but tan.  Great weekend in Ft. Walton.  The band killed every night, especially Friday and Saturday.  Great crowds all around and good to see our boys Woofy and Adam (GOLF GOLF GOLF!!).  Sarah and Satchel (both future rock stars) rocked out with us and Marshall is officially the world's greatest guitar tech.  K.J. for President!!!

dj

Seems like three months instead of one since the last Welfare shows...we rocked at the Supper Club and Off the Wagon this weekend.  John Brandt is the greatest bar owner in the history of bars; and that's a FACT!  There were lots of kids in Auburn this weekend even though it's only summer school.  Billy and Allen and I had a couple of rehearsals last week to work up some more covers (a little boredom was creeping in with the old list), and all the new stuff rocked. We sounded even better at Off the Wagon the next night (how many times a night can we play "Show Me How to Live"???).  Thanks to Rambo for the enthusiasm and to the Impact Audio boys for the crushing sound.  GOLF ALERT...GOLF ALERT!!!  Mr. Keith Hiett hosted the Welfare boys to a round at Indian Pines in Auburn on Saturday, along with his son Chris (who out-drove us all...ALL DAY!).  Was hot as hell, but a blast none the less.  Thanks to Keith, his wife Debbie, and kids Chris and Nicole for the hamburgers and golf lessons.

dj

Had two good gigs with John this weekend.  The JW band is gelling nicely, especially for not being able to play many shows in a row.  Was cool talking with Huey Lewis in Wisconsin on Friday.  He used to be in a band called Clover and they opened for Thin Lizzy in the late 70's (Little known fact: That's Huey himself playing harmonica on Thin Lizzy: Live and Dangerous on a song called "Baby Drives Me Crazy"...he was impressed that I knew that).  Also cool to see the Allman Brothers play a few songs as well.  Warren is still my hero.  They sounded incredible.  Thanks for all the birthday greetings from everyone.  My family went in together and bought me a Regal Dobro for a gift...you KNOW it's gonna turn up on some recording very soon.
Time for a haircut...

dj