Kevin Quirion – Order Of Ennead – Icons Of Evil Tour Journal

Kevin and Scott of Order Of Ennead just sent us this tour journal to check out… We figured we would share it. Enjoy!

Day 1 Travel day. Oh the joys of waiting at airports they are endless and not worth mentioning.

Day 2 Had the day to walk around Amsterdamn before the bus picked us up. Met up with Dave Kinkade (drummer supreme) and checked out some coffee shops and walked around the red light district. Good times. Caught up with the Vital guys roaming around the same section of town, who knew? Took a picture with Darth Vader, the Netherlands version. He's slightly thinner and has an accent, probably blonde hair too. Around 6pm we went back to the airport to meet up with Massive Music and the guys in Tribulation.

Day 3 Julet, Belgium @ Maison De Tous. Got to the venue around noon. Its in the shadow of an average sized church. Nice venue, has a gym type of feel to it. Checked out Tribulation and Sludge also. Sludge showed up a couple hours before they were suppose to go on. Their singer works in a hospital and told us a story about a sex change he witnessed. Female to male. I told him I want a different story every night they are on the bill. Night ended at 3am when the club finally told everyone to leave.

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Day 4 Groningen, Netherlands @ Vera. Before the show we walked around the city. Its like a mini-Amsterdamn. Its pretty nice. Good show and another good show in the Netherlands. After the show Scott and I walked down the street and got a Doner. Its a Turkish thing thats pretty much everyone here. Sliced meat right in front of you. Good stuff.

Day 5 Essen, Germany @ Turok. Ulik, the bass player from Sludge bought Scott and myself hamburger action today. Show went well and even met some people that saw us in January in Bochum. They started a chant for us "Book Again". That was cool. There was an after party following the show until 6am. Man was that a mistake. All I will say is some people were drunk, some were bloody and the entire tour almost got thrown out of the club. Having 4 bands with near endless beer on tour is probably not a good idea.

Day 6 Amersfort, Netherlands @ De Kelder. Hung out with Dave Kinkade, drummer for Borknagar, today and his girlfriend Sophie. They took us to Burger King and after seeing Indian food on the menu again I was happy. Show went well eventhough it was an early show. We went on around 5 because it was a Sunday. Bus driver showed off his great driving skills tonight by backing up the bus and trailer. Feel safe with him driving every night.

Day 7 and 8. Days off near Fort Boyard, France. No shows booked for two days so we hung around southern France for two days. The bus parked about 3 miles from the center of town. There was food close by, but it was expensive. Had pizza everyday that was actually very good. Bought the guys in Tribulation crepes. A must in my opinion for anyone visiting France. Everyone got drunk for two days and some enjoyed very fresh oysters.

Day 9 Nantes, France @ Le Ferrailleur. Cool venue right on the water. Scott and I walked to a nearby church. We also saw a very large mechanical elephant that you could ride. Strange. Its been very hot the last couple of days and everyone's getting sunburnt. Show was especially good tonight. Great response for all of the bands and just a great time. Stage was very hot tonight though. I didn't even see an airconditioning duct in the place. It was killer. Good night though.

Day 10 Durango, Spain @ Platerunia. Got to town early and walked around by myself and then later with Eric from Vital and then again with the drummer and bass player of Sludge. Nice town. Spain is beautiful with its architecture and atmospher. Sound of stage was awesome tonight and we were told it sounded great from the crowd also. The crowd is another story though. Just week. They just stood there and golf clapped most of the night, even for Vital which is crazy. Just a very inactive crowd, but the promoter says the crowds have been like that lately. Off to Madrid manana.

Day 11 Madrid, Spain @ Ritmos & Compas. We had to walk over 100 yards to load in the gear today. Awesome. Did I mention it was up a small hill also? I got to shave today so that was something. Found a great guitar shop right down the street from the venue that everyone loved. It had everything you could imagine. Some were trying the Laboga heads that Hate Eternal raves about. The show was KILLER. Great response. When we started playing The Culling a slight cheer erupted. It was great, especially after the crowd in Durango was so cold.

Day 12 Murcia, Spain @ Nave8. A bunch of people are hungover today. What a shock! As soon as we stopped at the venue I went walking. Not much to see since the venue is in an industrial area. I did find a Burger King and the almight Mountain Dew today and I even took a nice shower. Man you appreciate some strange things on the road. Updating a tour blog for instance. John and I played a game of foozeball with the Swedes. I would recommend not doing that. We got slaughtered. Oh well, soccer isn't our sport in the US anyway. Later that night we played the again when they were drunk and that didn't go well either. They were high and might until the Swiss came into the picture. Patrick and Makro from Sludge destroyed the Swedes and won the coveted world cup.

Day 13 Barcelona, Spain @ Mephisto. Got to the city early and Marko from Sludge/Samael was going to show us around. We started with 19 of us going into the city. Markro did the whole tour guide thing, it was really nice of him. He's originally from Spain and now lives in Switzerland. Barcelona is a great city and I want to go back for sure. Saw the Columbus monument and were all of the shops are located. John Li, myself and Sergie from Sludge went to Segrada Familia after the others wanted to go back to the bus. Well this was worth the entire day. Its a church they've been building for over a hundred years and they aren't even close yet to being finished. Its grand and totally over the top. After that we had McDonalds. I know, but sometimes you want something your familiar with so screw off. Oh yeah, the crowd was very weak and barely responded. Just like the Durango crowd. So every other show in Spain is good.

Day 14 Marseille, France @ Le Local 013. At first we couldn't find the club. There is no sign on the building and its an industrial park. Its one of these venues you pull up to and say "What the hell is this place?" Then later you play the show and its killer. Walked around a bit and not a thing to see here. We are miles away from the city. Great show though and all were drunk and taking pictures with all of the beautiful French ladies.

Day 15 Milan, Italy @ Musicdrome. This place use to be called Transylvania Live and I heard about it the last tour. Scott, our bass player lived around here years ago also. Not much to do in this section of town and its raining. Posters advertise Cradle Of Filth playing the next night and this show was originally suppose to be in Turin so we aren't sure how the turnout will be. There weren't many people at the show, but the ones who were there were really into it so that helps get us pumped up. After load out, which was in the rain, a soccer game busts out in the venue with a half empty water bottle. Soon after they ask us to leave, ironic?

Day 16 Prattlern, Switzerland Z7. This venue is killer. Multiple showers, bathrooms with toilet paper, great food and enough for everyone, great sound on stage and we get to play the show with the mighty Sameal. We did two weeks with them this past January and they are a great live band and we really get along with these guys very well. Its also Sludges last day on the tour who we've really had a great time getting to know. We met up with some friends who take us into Basel, the city about 15 minutes away and check it out. I didn't expect much, but at Vorph from Samael told me it was one of his favorite Swiss cities, I got interested. It didn't disappoint. It was very interesting. Later the show went fantastic and then most of the bands watched Samael. Some had never seen them and Scott and myself have been talking them up all tour. They were awesome as usual and it was really nice to see them again. It was just a great day all together and I forgot to mention this place has a washer and dryer. That should say it all. End of the night we say our goodbyes to Sludge and take a huge tour photo on the stage. We'll be in touch with these guys for sure.

Day 17 Bologna, Italy @ Sottotetto. Another of those industrial park venues that we aren't sure how the turnout will be. Really in the middle of nowhere. I take out my guitar early and work on some arrangement for future albums. When we start playing there is no one around and then all of a sudden about 100 people are around. After the first couple of songs I ask where the hell they all came from. It ended up being a really good show and they have a hot shower for afterwards. That always makes the experience better. Owner of the club liked us a lot and all things were great in the world.

Day 18 Day Off in Hauzenberg, Germany @ Burger Park for the Walpurgus Metalfest. The only band that is playing the fest is Vital Remains. Tribulation and OOE got added to the tour late and therefore didn't get on the bill. Well this sucks since there are about 2000 people at the fest. Really irritating and the line-up for the first day of the fest wasn't very interesting. Second day had Vader, Sinister and Enthroned which would have been fine, but we were there the first day only. Vader did show up early though and we got to hang out with them. We me them this past January and they are great guys. I asked Peter about the new album and their deal with Nuclear Blast. They should get a good push from their new label. The day ended up being rather sucky, but at least we got free food and admission to the fest.

Day 19 Vienna, Austria @ Escape Metalcorner. When we first headed to Vienna I was excited because its a great city with plenty of history to it, especially with classical music. Well the part of town the club is in was far from that I was really disappointed. Its were the brothels and graffiti litter the buildings. Great. I decide to take a nap and Kaish and Eric from Vital Remains tell me how they walked twenty minutes in the other direction and saw some awesome sites. So John Li and myself get to it. Its John's 20th birthday today also. We start walking and about 20 minutes later its what I though Vienna would be. Great museums and buildings everywhere. We walked for about 2 hours and took pics of everything. Along with Barcelona this is the best city to walk around so far. I bought John McDonalds for his birthday and when we get back to the venue we go on just over an hour later. Glad we headed back when we did or we would have missed the show. Very small stage today, but the people are into it. The stage was so small I kept hitting my guitar head on something and knocking it out of tune and Scott had a PA amp right by his head. John almost knocked me in the head a couple of times too with his guitar. Another hot shower makes this day rule.

Day 20 Nova Gorica, Slovenia @ Mostovna. Walked around the city with Jacob from Tribulation and John today. Got some Italian ice cream. Venue is right acroos the street from the old iron curtain. Nice view of the mountains. Venue outside. Show went well, but I wasn't into much tonight. Monotony of the road setting in, but everyone liked the show. Did an interview afterwards with someone I did one for on-line months ago. Some women hanging around backstage. What does that mean?

Day 21 Day off in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Promoter was nice and let us stay at the club for our day off. Walked down to the river, got some food at a restaurant. Not much to do here, but nice setting with the mountains in the background. Showers and use of the kitchen a plus. Needed a day off.

Day 22 Budapest, Hungary @ Durer Kert. Best catering of the tour today. Walked across the street to a replica castle in the park also with a bunch of guys. Lord Of The Rings references abound. Saw Heroes Park and it was pretty impresive. Tribulation and Vital head back for soundcheck that never happens. John and I walk around for hours and see the awesesome Parliment building right on the water. Talked to two Hungarian guys all night about the country, economy, their currency and a bunch of interesting topics. This was my least favorite show though. Only two lights in the venue and they are flashing the entire set. Couldn't see a thing and I broke a string. Steve did a drum solo while waiting and the crowd liked it. For Vital they told them not to mess with the lights. Really horrible when you can't see a thing on stage. Made the most of it though.

Day 23 Cluj Napoca, Romania @ Irish Music Pub. We are in Transylvannia. Walked around the city and its not very inviting. Scott and I got stared at A LOT. Went to McDonalds and a security guard pretty much followed us around. I don't know what he thought we'd do? Show was pretty killer though. Needed a good one, after what I considered two sub-par shows on my part. Eventhough Romania is part of the EU they still have a border check and this one just consisted of checking passports. Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria all still have their own currency. Good luck trying to change most of these back in EU and the US. Really cool venue too. All made of brick and had a bomb shelter feel to it. Diabolical from Sweden was also on the bill tonight and will be tomorrow also. Nice to see a different band here and there.

Day 24 Bucharest, Romania @ Studio Martin. Walked around the city and it wasn't what I expected. I was hoping for more like Vienna, but it wasn't. More inviting then Cluj though, but still seem suspicious of us walking around. Interesting venue. The stage is layered with the drums two steps up from the vocal area and the guitar and bass sections one step up. Theres also metal bars in front of the stage. Felt like Iron Maiden on stage with all of the jumping around I was doing. When you touch John's pedal and the metal bars you get shocked also. Found that out the hard way. Lighting is wierd here too. Lights all over the ceiling. Think this is more of a disco then place for bands, but it sounded killer and we had a great show. Some kids in the front made it all worth it.

Day 25 Sophia, Bulgaria @ The Blue Box. Walked around the city and its ok. Not much of the old architecture that I enjoy. Scott loved it because everything is in Russian. They had a symphony playing at noon and then another metal show at seven and then our show at nine. All in the same venue and you had to leave and pay for each event. Pretty strange really. We find out during Tribulations set that this will be the last show. Both of the Croatia shows got canceled. Most of us are ready to go home anyway, but cancellations suck. During Tribulations set I went out and did some vocals with them. Its a part that goes "From the seed of Belial, he rises. Nosferatu, the vampire". Our set was killer. One of the best shows of the tour and the crowd was really into it. During Conferring With Demons I almost passed out during the long vocal part. I held it out longer then usual and with the heat and the lights and the short breathe the room was going black, but I recovered and it was awesome. No one pranked us, which usually happens the last show, but we were all kind of bummed it was going to be our last and with suck short notice. During Vital's set we all the bands went up during "Hammer The Nails" and the crowd went crazy. After the show about 50 people wanted pics and autographs. Some of the kids even wanted us to come back and headline. Hopefully in the future.

Day 26 Driving. Eventhough yesterday was the last night we still need to get to the airport in Croatia for Tribulation and Vienna for OOE and Vital. We drive to the Bulgarian border and have to show our passports to leave the country. Then entering Serbia we have to do the same. Well they aren't part of the EU and it shows. It took about 2 hours and they didn't want to let us in at first because of the swine flu. So they took, just the Americans, off the bus to be looked over by a doctor. Well we all joked later that none of us even thought the guy was a doctor. He had a white lab coat on and just handed us papers about the swine flu. Pretty much a joke. The landscape of this country is beautiful and Scott and myself stay up for a couple hours checking it out.

Day 27 Driving. We leave Serbia and enter Croatia. Border is a little smoother because Croatia wants to become part of the EU and they have a lot of coastline therefore a lot more money. Nice lookig country, but we are just driving through. We drop off Tribulation and Oscar the soundguy from Holland at the airport. We had a great time with these guys and will miss them immensely. They tried teaching me Swedish, but I remember none of it. At one point I'd open up a Swedish dictionary and try to pronounce the word and they would laugh at how bad it was. Sometimes though couldn't even understand what word I was saying. It got even better when John Li would right down some Mandaran. Leaving Croatia the border patrol was a dick. Michael, one of the Polish crew guys, has an old passport from when he was 16 so the guy takes it and questions him. Just a douche. Getting into Slovenia is easy. They are part of the EU so its like, "Hey welcome back to being treated like a person again". We get dropped off in Vienna with the Vital guys and say bye to Massive Music.

Day 28 Vienna Sightseeing. Well I had a mission today. I was going into town to see the city and if someone wanted to come along then lets go. It ended up being myslef, John, Scott and Kaishe from Vital. Well we had a great time. Saw everything. Museuem with old armore, ancient instruments and Roman remains. The Paliament, many statues of Goethe(he wrote Faust) and Mozart. John and I went to the Sigmund Fraud museum. Since John studies psychology it was cool for him eventhough he prefers Jung. We had a really fun and exhausting day. Ended with a nice Doner Kabob, which are awesome and really all over Europe.

Day 29 Travel day. Got dropped off at the airport. Said by to Vital. We toured 9 weeks this year already and 7 of them were with these guys so we all bounded well and wish to do more shows with them in the future. OOE flew from Vienna to London to Washington. We had 12 hour layover in Dulles and it sucked. The customs was the fastest I've ever been through though. We all slept on chairs just waiting for our flight.

Day 30 Finally make it home. See my fiancee and puppy. Then I start working on this blog. Sergie from Sludge got some good footage of us and we might be able to use some of it for a DVD. We'll see. We had a great time on this tour. Thanks to Tony and Vital Remains, Tribulation, Sludge and Massive Music. We hope to do a lot more shows in the future. Thanks to all the fans that came out and supported us too. You guys make it all worth it.