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WELCOME TO ONE OF THE WEB'S LONGEST RUNNING BLOGS
Bassist Tony Levin has been sharing his road experiences here since 1996 (which sounds fairly recent,
but in the Internet world, it isn't. Even the terms weblog and blog were coined in 1997 and 1999.)
We have over 400 archived tour pages on the site (with about 6,800 photos) and we're happy to have had 4 million visits.
April 3, Mexicali, Mexico
Here for the Baja Prog Festival - tomorrow will be our show with Stick Men and The Crimson ProjeKCt.
April 2, Kingston
Lots going on. There's a second page of the current Stick Men tour - including some wild shots I took on my free
afternoon in New York.
We're headed to Mexicali, Mexico tomorrow, to play at the Baja Prog Festival, along with Adrian Belew and his band - as The Crimson ProjeKCt.
And Stick Men are getting some confirmed bookings for July / August, including Chicago, Detroit, and the MazFest, in New York State. They'll all be below on this page, as they're
confirmed.
Also, the Stick Men DEEP album has a special edition CD/DVD package coming out on April 16th. It includes 5.1 mix, hour long video of the band in concert and on the road, and a Spanish and an
Italian version of the one vocal on the record, Crack in the Sky, along with the regular CD. That can now be pre-ordered over on Papabear store (link is here at the right.)
More soon, including some pictures from Baja Prog.
LIVE SHOWS COMING UP:
with THE CRIMSON PROJEKCT
in MEXICO
April 4 Baja Prog Fest, Mexicali
with STICK MEN
DEEP N. AMERICA TOUR (part 2)
July 31 Chicago / Martyrs
Aug 1 Detroit / The Magic Bag
Aug 2 Niagra Falls/ The Bears Den
Aug 3 Roscoe, NY / MAZFEST
with PETER GABRIEL
BACK TO FRONT Europe 2013 Tour
Sept 28 Herning / Jyske Bank Arena
Sept 30 Amsterdam / Ziggo Dome
Oct 1 Brussels / Forest National
Oct 3 Vienna / Stadthalle
Oct 5 Zagreb / Arena Zagreb
Oct 7 Milano / Forum
Oct 8 Geneva / Arena Geneva
Oct 10 Prague / 02 Arena
Oct 11 Leipzig / Arena Leipzig
Oct 13 Stuttgart / Schleyerhalle
Oct 16 Dusseldorf / ISS Dome
Oct 18 Hamburg / 02 Arena
Oct 18 Berlin / 02 Arena
Oct 21 London / 02 Arena
Oct 22 London / 02 Arena
Oct 24 Glasgow / Hydro
Oct 25 Manchester / MCR Arena
RECENT TOUR PAGES:
Here is a little list of this past year's new pages. (all tour pages are in the Archives linked
at page top - there are a lot more than these!)
U.S. 3 of a Perfect Pair Music Camp
U.S. Crimson ProjeKct / Dream Theater Summer 2012
Russia, England Stick Men early Summer 2012
South America: Stick Men Spring 2012
U.S. & Canada: Two of a Perfect Trio Tour
Big Indian, NY State: Summer Music Camp
Russia: Stick Men August Shows
Europe: Stick Men April Tour
Argentina, Brazil: Stick Men March Tour
Europe: L'Image October Tour
New Zealand: G-TARanaki Festival
Europe: Stick Men July Tour
Japan: Stick Men June Tour
U.S: Stick Men May Tour
Europe: HoBoLeMa April Europe Tour
RECENT RELEASES PLAYED ON:
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BOOKS I'M READING:
My reading habits have changed since I started using Kindle on the road (well, now an iPad) to read books. I can store a lot of good ones for future reading, and best of
all, I don't run out in the middle of a tour.
But it's also nudged me into reading many books simultaneously. Seems to work for me, since my interests are science,
history, and junk adventures -- sometimes (like on a 14 hour plane trip) I need a break from the science... or even from the sci-fi.
I'll rate my enjoyment of the books as one to five stars, regardless of whether I've finished them. And, if they're all rated high, it's because I no longer stick with
books I'm not liking, so they're not going to appear here.
The hope is, maybe I will turn some visitors onto books they might like. If you then dislike the book... well, sorry.
The Last Policeman by Ben Winters ***
Good premise - not bad.
Devil in the Dollhouse by Richard Kadrey ****
Just a short story, part of the Sandman Slim series - dark, funny, and great, like all of them. Can't wait for the next full one.
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel *****
Lot of reading here, but if you get into it you don't want it to end. Historical fiction, written in a
fascinating grammatical way that took me awhile to get used to - third person present tense, but it's like you're inside the mind of Thomas Cromwell,
experiencing this wild period in Henry VIII's reign from his perspective. You'll want to start with Wolf Hall, the first. Don't know if there will be a third, but if so, I'm afraid
our Thomas will get the axe himself!
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ****
If you love video gaming, 80's geek tech and tv culture, then this is the wet dream book of all time for you. Futurist fiction that moves along like a video game itself.
A lot of the references were lost on me, but I enjoyed the Rush influence (and In Your Eyes was there too). Main thing is it's a cool story, well written, and kept me engaged thru
bumpy van rides and noisy backstage dressing rooms.
The Knight by Gene Wolfe ***
Fantasy, which is kind of nice when riding in planes and bumpy vans with distractions. This one, the first of a series, is quite entertaining,
so I guess I'll continue in the series. There's something odd about the way the adventure keeps unfolding, never resolving... kind of
like a shaggy dog joke, that makes it less than ideal, but it's working for me.
Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey ***
Nice future sci fi - Refreshingly surprising plot twists, even if the characters are a bit blockish. Reads like a movie, so there's a decent chance you could wait and
see it in a theater!
The Battle of Midway by Craig L. Symonds ***
I wanted to fill in the cracks, having become interested in that period of history. Well written, and gives you the whole picture.
How to Succeed in Evil by Patrick E. McLean ***
Funny, original.
The Hunger Games: (and Catching Fire, Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins ***
Not bad... why is it that young adult books are sometimes the most fun reads?
And I had to check out the movie, of course, in case it was as good as the book. Not bad, but not great at all. Jiggly camera technique made me want to walk out.
Will books someday include jiggly camera elements? "She ran through the forest, clutching her bow, while she and the whole forest jiggled up and down, making you the
reader a bit nauseous. Then she stopped to rest, but everything continued to jiggle and twitch."
The Giver: by Lois Lowry ***
Nice - short.
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie ****
Might have been higher rated, but it's looooong... Glad my iPad doesn't tell me how many pages!
Kluge: the Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind by Gary Marcus ****
Great stuff about why our brains don't work better. And I thought it was just me!
Six Frigates: the Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by Ian W. Toll *****
Loved every page.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman ****
Fun.
How Pleasure Works: the New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom ****
Great stuff to know.
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman *****
I yellowed more highlites on this book than any I've read -- hope I get to look them over some day!
Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan *****
No apologies, I love the Takeshi Kovacs series. Killer in the future, who doesn't mind getting killed, just has his mind unit transferred, and comes back
in a different body (which, ouch,
is uncomfortable!) When at a Ray Kurzweil lecture, I had to smile as he and the great Martine Rothblatt explained that exactly that option will await us all in the
future. Back up your mind before going to bed - why not!
Pacific crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific by Ian W. Toll ****
Guess I have to read everything he's written now.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard ****
Whew, made me feel better about my road trip. I was thinking mine was gnarly!
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt *****
Sometimes I have to reach for a title without a colon in it! This one was a great find.
Sandman Slim: A Novel by Richard Kadrey *****
Okay, I like killer dead people with rock n roll sensibility. And the whole series is great - dark, fun, funny - perfect for back of a band van.
The Troubled Man by Henning Mankell ***
Hooked on Wallender, like many others. But in this one, jeesh, at 60 he's going senile... well, it's a unique way to end a series.
I have to share that years back I was reading one of this series, while on my first trip to S. Africa. And the story took Wallender there too, from Sweden, as I was
reading it on the plane. Then, we were invited with Peter Gabriel to an event with Nelson Mandela, at a winery, and on the bus trip there I read about... the murderer heading to a
S. African winery to assissinate Mandela. It was spooky. (Wallender saved the day though.) (Our gala was peaceful too.)
Worth Dying For by Lee Child *****
Well, maybe this time I am just a little embarassed that I love all the Reacher series and await the new ones. Yeah, he's huge and unbeatable and
always knows what time it is... so why are people always messing with him?? But they're written so well, that you love the ride. (Years ago I got one before boarding
my flight ... realized half way through that I'd already read it. And still finished it, loving every minute.)
My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse *****
You guessed it, when I first got the device, I downloaded some inexpensive old classic stuff I'd already read, so as to have something on hand if
I run out of new releases. But, once again, re-reading Bertie and Jeeves is more fun than 9/10ths of the new books.
The Track of Sand (Inspector Montalbano) by Andrea Camilleri *****
Some writers, you just keep looking for their next release -- with the Montalbano series, they're already written, but only translated from Italian when
the publishers feel kindly to us.
Xenocide by Orson Scott Card ****
I still have some to go in the Ender series, so, book me that New Zealand gig, I've got plenty to read on the plane!
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