A SAD DAY INDEED

Now I'm a GIANT's fan but i must be honest, my heart was saddened by the news of Sean Taylor's untimely death. Unfortunately I have been around a lot of death to young men lately. I will write on that later. I havent addressed Kanye's Mom either. My thoughts and prayers go to all of them. well there's another passing that caught me off guard as well. if you know me, you know i was affected. click here to find out who i am talking about.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/features/5333218.html

JAPAN TOUR - DAY FOUR

Okay so I knew after last night’s show I would need to get some serious rest and drink a lot of fluids to be able to do 2 more shows today. Our lobby call time was 4PM. I slept all the way up to 3PM and only woke up because the phone rang. Well it was much needed sleep so I was quite happy. So the first show was like all of the first shows… Very reserved and quiet. Anthony came offstage exhausted by the lack of energy. Don’t get me wrong he still rocked it, but had to carry himself thru it. This is our last night here so we really want to make it special. Nothing really unusual during my first set. It was nice, and the crowd enjoyed it.
In between sets we went to the dressing room to eat our final dinner in Japan. The staff has been so nice and supportive towards us. Very accommodating, which in all honesty is very rare for us. So lets talk about our dear friend, Yukkyyy. She was the young lady who was friends with D Mo from Frank McComb’s board. She also is the one who brought us the majority of the Gatorade we drank. (Note. The staff also brought us two boxes as well, which we were very thankful for as well.) So of course her money is no good with us. She is on the list for each show and can have what ever cd she wants. We really enjoyed her, eventhough she barely knew any English. But she hung with us and we worked it out. Thanks Yukkyyy!
So during our dinner I was dared by a fellow band member who will go nameles (But lets say he needs sticks to play his instument. Opps that must have slipped.) to lay the microphone down during Softest Lips, then run and dive on it as if it was a woman. The dare was enough, but what he offered with it could not be refused. But I will keep that in house. Well during our second set, we enter Softest Lips. The band is tense with anticipation. Will he or won’t he, they constantly ask themselves and one another. Well I ever so slowly lay the mic to the ground as if she is the most beautiful fine round thing in the world. I walk to the other side of the stage. (Mind you I have on a white jacket. Okay lets continue.) I get in a football stance. After a slight pause I take off, and then dive to the ground next to my beautiful Shure 58 Microphone. The crowd is silent with surprise, and so is the band. You hear a couple of gasp from the audience, and then we continue with the song. Hahahahaha.. Boy I wish that was on YouTube.
The rest of the show was great. The crowd had it popping and when we went into Rock With You, they were just as crazy as the night before. Well I thank everyone for coming and thank the staff for their support, Anthony and I take our final bows and I head straight for the bathroom. Let me tell you, that is where I am immediately after every show. Do you ever notice how much I drink onstage. Well to my surprise one of the staff member, a cool cat nickname, Yo came and got me to say the crowd was requesting an encore. Word? In Japan? Sure enough as I walked closer to the doors I could hear them chanting my name, and boy did that feel good. So we got up there and did two more songs for them, thanked them once again, and that was the night. I had a great time here and truly can’t wait to come back.
Well guess what? It’s Sunday so I have plans tonight. We are 15 hours ahead of the states, so football will be coming on around 3AM. Yes I will be staying up all night watching bootleg football on Ian’s computer. Besides we have a 14 hour flight tomorrow. Why sleep now?

JAPAN TOUR - DAY THREE

Hmmmm… How do I say this best? Sometimes it sucks being the singer. I woke up with every intention to go and see Japan today, but when I opened my blinds and saw that it was raining… Well no sightseeing for the kid. I can’t afford to get sick with 4 shows left to go. So the guys went on with out me. I was fine. I ordered room service and watch Japanese TV. Our call time was 6pm, so of course everyone comes down to the lobby sporting their new sneakers they picked up today. Chicken fat… Not like I need another pair of sneakers though, but it would have been nice to see Japan.
Well for everything I missed during the day I made up for on stage. My voice was in top condition and I was focused on showing that to everyone who came to these two shows. I actually have a cough that is bothering me but people would only notice it when I talk. I can fight it off while singing. The body is an amazing thing. Way to go God… You did a great job making us. While we are on the subject of stage coughs, most people have no idea how much I burp onstage. Sometime in the middle of verses. Hahahahaha… Yeh, I guess I drink so much before and during the show that it has to come out somehow.
So the first show goes without a hitch. We still didn’t do Rock With You, but decided to do it in the second show. The crowd for the first show is once again very reserved, but we push the energy and tempos anyway. The band’s favorite song to play now is “Right Or Wrong.” They worked on it really hard in rehearsal before the tour and its sounding incredible now. Rashid has been murdering the solo section. The band has done a great job with their solos, but Shid’s is the show stopper. So everything was routine until the second show. First thing we noticed was how crowded the second show was. When we got off the elevator you could feel it was a different energy. Anthony definitely enjoyed the crowd response. It doesn’t compare to anything we experience in London or DC, but it feels just as good to receive a response from the crowd. Also there were three black couples in the crowd. Wow didn’t expect to see that.
My set was going great. I looked at my watch during the solos to see how we were doing on time. We were fine, so I looked over at the band to see if they want to do Rock With You. They were more than ready. Would you believe we had the crowd standing and dancing? And when we went into Beat It all hell broke loose. Hahahahaha… It was a great night. Made up for any sneakers and historic sites I may have missed earlier. It was fun meeting everyone after the show. A lot of them spoke English, and the band enjoyed that. We stayed a long time, and I probably spoke to every last person, even the ones who couldn’t speak a lick of English. Met the black couples as well. One couple was there because of the military, another had I believe a construction company, and last couple was there celebrating their wedding anniversary. They were from Philly and DC, and moved out here to take a job as a school counselor if I remember correctly. After everyone left they were still sitting there enjoying drinks and each other, so I talked with them for quite some time. We shared a good and inspiring convoe and then parted ways. The world and the paths we take thru them are so amazing. There’s so much out there, and we all have individual purposes. Its always good to be reminded of that.