2004 CRYPTOPSY TOUR UPDATE

By way of introduction, my name is Jake Disman, and I am currently the sound guy on tour with Cryptopsy.

It’s great to be back out on the road, especially with these guys. As any of you who have met the band know, they are a great bunch of guys, and a lot of fun to hang with.

Every time I get home from a tour, lots of people ask me how the tour went, who were the openers, etc. A lot of general questions are easily answered with a funny story or two, but I get frustrated when good questions are asked about specific shows, or places, and I can’t answer them, because the memories get kinda blurred, and I mix up shows, or places, or whatever.

So I’ve decided to start a sort of journal of this tour. On one hand I will finally have a record of some of the more interesting events that I’ll be able to pass along to my kids, and on the other, I have a unique perspective that may be amusing while I’m writing about what “really” happens on tour.

In this space, I would love to be able to thank all of the people that made this possible for me to be here, but Flo is yelling at me to get going. So I’ll keep it at one for now. I would like to thank Noel Peters, of Inertia Entertainment, and Club Rockit. I’d guess there are a few people who know both Noel, and myself and think I must be on something (including Noel, if he reads this)! I can assure you that I’m not. To try to avoid any questions about Noel and I (I won’t answer them anyways), I’ll just say this to make it short, if not sweet… I broke his trust, and lost a friend. All I’m saying is that I may never have met Cryptopsy, and had some of the best times of my life if it were not for Noel.

Enough of that… I will write blurbs at least every couple of days about how things are going.

‘Till then,
Jake.

CANADA 2004

Sept 07 - Barrie - The Foundation Nightclub
Day one of the Western Canadian leg of "The Return Of Lord Worm" tour. Two hours after the soundcheck was "supposed to happen", and I'm wondering if my boys are gonna make it in time to play before the 11pm cerfew Barrie puts on "All-Ages" shows. The delay in arriving gave me a chance to think back to all the madness that has gone on since early July.

I remember being a little nervous as I got off the train from Toronto (my homebase) in downtown Montreal to meet up with Flo. I was just about to meet Lord Worm for the first time. I'd heard some "interesting" stories about him, but you never know until you see it in person. The last tour that I did with these guys was "The Pain Cometh" North America, and Mike DiSalvo was still the vocalist at the time. I had a feeling things were going to be very different.

Flo took me to the local (rehearsal room), and L.W. and I were briefly introduced, but in the shuffle of packing gear, any conversation was put on hold. After all, we had to get to Sept-Iles, and that was 14 hours or so away. I thought I'd wait 'till the van got going. To my surprise, as soon as
we were ready to leave, Eric Galy (Galy Records) jumped in to the van and was introduced to me as the Merch guy! I'd enjoyed working with Galy before, so that was a good start. I turned to try to talk to L.W., but he was already asleep.

When we stopped for our first meal break, I saw L.W. standing by the entrance to the truck stop, and thought it might be a good time to really introduce myself. I walked up to say hello, and noticed that he was pulling large bugs off the bay window and eating them. Thinking quickly, I offered
some ketchup, and we've gotten along great since.

The show in Sept-Iles was great. I forgot how much fun it was to mix the insanity they call Cryptopsy, especially outdoors, on a large sound system! The guys went on right before Mononc Serge playing with Anonymous. Most of the 2000 or so fans went nuts from the first note of the set, and stayed
nuts 'till the very end. I love Quebec!

The next weekend we did a show at the Funhaus in Toronto. It was so hot the walls were dripping with sweat, and I thought Flo might go to the hospital with heat exhaustion, but all was well in the end.

The following weekend started in Sherbrooke, and once again the Quebec fans did not let us down. Their energy, added to the bands energy was amazing to watch from the soundboard. We had to leave right after the gig was over, to do the long haul to Halifax.

Once in Halifax, we pulled up to "The Forum", and were a little concerned, due to the P.A. not being set up, and the promoter being so new. We had nothing to fear, as both the P.A. and the show overall were great, and all the kids in Halifax will be talking about that show for some time.

Finally Cryptopsy pulled up in the R.V. in Barrie, just in time to load-in, right onto the stage, and do a blistering set. I almost had time to meet Miguel, who is filling in for John (very well, I should add) for this tour. It was the perfect way to start off the new tour. Thanks to the guys from ignitionlive.net for a great job with this show.

Sept 08 - Sudbury - The Elm Tree
I finally got to see the new merch. I can believe there is almost as much merch as there is gear. There really is something for everyone this time around. The girly shirts, and matching g-string underwear is the perfect gift for my next ex-wife! I didn't hesitate to grab one of the new tour shirts for myself, I mean the retro 3/4 length sleeves rock!

Bloodshoteye did a great job getting the fans going, and once Cryptopsy started, the intensity went through the roof! While setting up his video camera, Flo told me that he was likely going to do a drum solo that show... and it floored me! I didn't know 'till then that Flo intends to tape most of the shows from his perspective to include in his upcoming drum instructional video.

I think that Gord (the promoter) was pleasantly surprised to see Cryptopsy really hanging out with the fans after the show. This is nothing new for me, as I've never seen the guys be anything but awesome to their fans for years.

Sept 10 - Thunder Bay - The Appollo Nightclub
Great food, great kids, great show, (great casino), most girls ever, 'nuff said.

Sept 11 - Winnipeg - The Zoo Nightclub
STEAKS!!!! (thanks Cory). Crazy kids moshing on broken glass! Girls participating in Lord Worm's Communion! Every night I see something that I wasn't expecting. I sure wasn't expecting a dominatrix to sit on my lap for half the show, but this is an all ages board, so I'll leave it at that. This was also the first show I did sound for Bloodshoteye, and I could finally hear what they could really sound like, and I now know that earlier soundguys didn't do them justice. This was the highest attendance for Cryptopsy in Winnipeg so far! Another great show all around.

Sept 12 - Brandon - The Elks Hall
What a pleasant surprise... a town with maybe 500 kids, and 150 of them showed, and kicked major ass! It may have been hard to see the band, but the set was one of the best they have played so far this tour. With this being a last minute booking, we were happy with the outcome. One opener even shredded on Maidens' "The Trooper". Cool.

Sept 13 - Saskatoon - The Roxy on Broadway
Anyone who has been on a Canadian tour knows this club as "The Wash and Slosh", a combination bar/laundromat, where musicians, and crew could help make life smell better while doing soundcheck!

Unfortunately the laundry machines are now gone, but the crazy Saskatoon kids are thankfully as nuts as I remembered them to be! This was the fourth of five gigs in a row, and Cryptopsy didn't let up at all, most notably was Flo's drum solo going almost 7 minutes. If anyone should be tired, it's him. He just feeds off the energy of crowd, and there was plenty of that. 'Nuff said.

Sept 14 - Regina - Exchange
At long last, Meatlocker Seven has overcome vehicle breakdowns, the flu (sort of), and other bad luck to be able to join us and Bloodshoteye for most of the rest of the tour. Bram was still too sick to sing, but the boys shredded an instrumental set that inspired calls for an encore, but there wasn't time.
The audience really started flying around for Bloodshot's set, and managed to save just enough energy to fully lose it for their first Lord Worm Experience since '95.

Thanks go out to Roman and his lovely girlfriend (whose name escapes me right now), for always looking out for us in Regina. Personal shout to Jim, and not Amy (no offence Jim)!

Sept 15 - DAY OFF! Fuck it... Next!

Sept 16 - Calgary - The Underground
Ignoring some P.A. difficulties, the intensity was over the top! I guessed the crowd at around 175 insane headbangers, who didn't let up for an instant, barely stopping to breath (and I'm only guessing that)!

We have a buddy named Derek in Calgay who goes so far out his way to make our stay better, you wouldn't believe it. You also wouldn't believe how much we dig him for it. There will be clips of the video footage that Derek taped of all three Alberta shows some time soon. Thanks Derek, see ya soon.

Sept 17 - Edmonton - The Starlight Room
Holy Fu..... I mean HOLY FUCK! What a great place to play or see a show! The promoter, Brian, packed the place, and it's a really big room, and then gave me all the tools I needed to make this show one of the best sounding Cryptopsy shows I've mixed, so hat's off to him for sure! I'm so happy that we are going back next Saturday to do an allages show at the same beautiful place. 'Nuff said.

Sept 18 - Lethbridge - Vibes
A smaller club with a growing reputation for doing it up right. All I can say is that if you are in a band, and you don't do Lethbridge (and then hang out at Hotwheels' house for the afterparty), then you are missing out. Thanks Paul (Hotwheels), and (I hope I get his brother's name right) Rob for a great time.


Sept 20 - Prince George - Rollerdome
As the name suggests, the show was in a roller-skating rink. When we got there, I was really sure that if there was not a large number of people at the show, that it was going to sound like a roller-skating rink. I have no idea how they did it, but more than 450 kids (lots of really cute girls included) piled
into this place, and went nuts beyond anything I could have imagined.

I know that it must sound like all I'm doing is hyping the shows, but really guys, you gotta see it to believe it. And do it soon, a lot of the merch items are selling out!

Sept 21 - Vancouver - The Brickyard
This is one of those shows that I have to separate into two parts. Outside the venue, and inside the venue. Right when we pulled up to the venue, things looked a little sketchy. Nothing to do with the show, just the neighbourhood. There was this "war vet" in a wheelchair he stole from Vancouver General Hospital smoking crack outside the R.V., and he was one of the more normal
people on the block!

Then Goddess, the promoter of the show, came on the R.V. with some of the best lasagne I have ever had, and the day took a turn for the better. We got our stuff loaded into the venue, but we were unable to do a soundcheck, due to the small size of the stage. But the room had a decent P.A., and some really good gear, so I wasn't worried about it.

The set Cryptopsy pulled off was one of the tightest, and fastest yet. This may have something to do with the 1 am cerfew, but I'm not sure. Thanks to Dennis from Cradle to Grave for letting us park outside of his place in White Rock B.C.'Nuff said.

Sept 22 - Victoria - The Upstairs Cabaret
WOW. This beautiful club, with a view of Victoria Harbour, had an awesome sound system brought in for the show, and the board that they gave me to mix on was that same one that I mixed on at Edgefest in 2002 in front of 50000 people! Not bad for a room that can hold 250 people max! Some how they managed to squeeze 260 in to the place, and I was in constant danger of the audience knocking the mixing board on top of me while they went nuts for all three bands.

Because it was the last day for both Bloodshoteye, and Meatlocker Seven, I mixed all of the bands, just to make sure that their last show on the tour was one of the best. Everyone had a great set, and even though Bram from Meatlocker had to quit early, the hometown crowd was very impressed.

But once again Cryptopsy tore shit up, with a brutal set that had everyone ready to tear the roof off of the place.

Just as a side note, this was the anniversary of my dad passing away, and everyone from all the bands really helped me get through okay. I love you guys. Professor Miroslav Disman. R.I.P. I miss you dad.

Sept 23 - Kamloops - Day Off
Drank, puked, drank some more... 'Nuff said.

Sept 24 - Jasper - Day Off
See yesterday.

Sept 25 - Edmonton - Starlight Room (Again!)
Yay!! Back at one of the best clubs in Canada! Just go back to the last entry for Edmonton and read it again, 'cause the only difference was some younger faces in the crowd, and the merch boxes are a lot lighter, and easier to carry up the stairs! Thanks again Brian for everything!

Sept 26 - Winnipeg - The Royal Albert
Okay. This was the last show for this leg of the tour, and to everyone who thinks I'm just fluffing up the shows, I have one thing to say... BLOW ME. (And read on)

This show didn't quit meet the standard set by all of the others this tour. As a matter of fact, I'll say that for me, the beginning of this show sucked complete shit! Everything was blowing up, you couldn't hear anything, and I felt really bad for the people that paid to be there.

And then the voice of God spoke. Actually it was Flo, but I'm sure that most of you agree that is pretty close... and it said "Guys, this sounds like complete shit, but let's give my guy (me) 10 minutes to find the problem and we'll go from there." ! Thank Flo, I mean God, I mean... whatever...

I found the problem, and in less than 10 minutes, Cryptopsy was back to beating down the doors to hell, where they belong, and I was back to mixing a proper show, and these things sometimes happen. Thankfully not very often.

That's it, that's all, as Eric would say, for this leg of the tour anyways 'Nuff said.

Jake.