Get up early again and work out.  Meet Phil and go for a stroll and a Starbucks.  Rehearsing today with the new sound and stage set up.  There's a new lighting rig on this tour, much bigger and more moving lights so it'll be something new to learn and work with.  The rehearsal place is an old industrial building as it's the only place local that's large enough to accommodate the full stage and light set up.  Problem is that there's no air conditioning so everyone is sweating like a hooker in church on Sunday.   We get there early afternoon and the crew are still setting up and checking equipment etc.  I never realized that Nashville could be so humid, I mean it was like being back in South Texas, well over a hundred inside alone.  Kudos to everyone though, nobody whined or made a fuss and everyone just got right on with it all.  The guys started running through the set and sounded slick.  They really didn't need to be going through it to be honest but they had to run through to ensure that the new lighting and video set up was in synch with the music etc.  There was no actual stage per se, just the stage edges and runway taped out on the floor so everything was shot pretty much from eye level.  Got some great candids and close ups of everyone, just walking right up to them.  Joe and Viv had very active middle fingers for some reason......."One more song" I think is what they were trying to tell me..

Up early today and get a quick workout in.  Beautiful day in Nashville, hot and dry.  Get all my gear ready and together and head down to the venue with the guys mid morning for rehearsals for todays show closer with Taylor Swift.  Get situated backstage, the guys have a huge dressing room and social area backstage with lots of light which makes the reportage stuff much easier to do.  Have a mooch around and see the crew setting up and getting sound ready.  They're only doing one song at the end of the show but it's a full on production as usual.  Everyone's draggin butt a little from the international flight but are just getting on with it all. 

 Taylor arrives and is feeling a little tired but perks up when she and the band do the run through and doesn't sound any different than usual.  Run around and try to get as many different shots as possible so I can get an idea of the lighting for he dress rehearsal etc.  Phils new Jackson "Dread" guitar really is very luminescent and reall pops when the light has been on it.  Head back to the dressing room and shoot the guys hanging out and chit chatting.  Joe is outside in the fitting room with the stylist picking out what to wear and tells me to bugger off...Heheh.. So nice!  Phil, Viv and Sav are always willing victims and Rick's disappeared as usual.

Shoot the dress rehearsal later, all goes well and the stage looks great.  Joe and Taylor don't miss a beat and are on cue with everything.  Head out later with the Lepps video master Beswick as they hit the red carpet.  It rained earlier and now is as humid as it could possibly be.  Betty Swollocks is with us tonight on the red carpet.  Shoot the guys on the red carpet as they make their way along and are interviewed by various networks.  There are big fans blowing on our side and Beswick and I take turns wussing out in front of them to try and cool down...it's like being back in Texas.

Get some more shots in the dressing room as everyone is re touched for hair and make up.  Viv kindly gets out his one finger puppet show for yours truly...he's such a humanitarian and cares deeply.  I'm so lucky!   Doc McGhee stops in to see the guys and stays a while to chat and hang out and then a little later the lovely Alison Krauss comes by the dressing room to say hello.  Phil tells me that she's a big Def Leppard fan which is really cool.  See my mates Chuck and Rich from Toby Keiths band.  Have a good catch up with those guys.  Just standing around we see Kid Rock, Randy Jackson comes over and says hi, Keith Urban and a plethora of other big country folks I don't know the names of.  Was good seeing Ted Nugent though, hadn't seen him in a while.

The performance goes off without a problem and goes down well as it closes the awards show.   Later on we do a group photo of Taylor and the Lepps in the dressing room.  Some of the press photographers come in to get their shots and are falling over each other like the paparazzi and just trampling over anything that's on the floor in the way including each others camera bags....  Talk about no courtesy, very disappointing.  Get my shots when they're all done and then down tools and have an ale or two until it's time later to head back to the hotel.  Looking forward to my bed tonight.

Up early, a quick workout and make sure everything is packed properly. The drivers come by and pick us up and we head off to the airport.  Security has a field day with my camera bag full of lenses, camera bodies and accessories.  Why do they always ask questions like....."Are you a photographer?"  I'm serious....  I just looked at her and smiled.  Unfortunately the return flight is also American Airlines or "Abuse Airways" as I like to call them. By some miracle the flight departs on time and we head back Stateside.  Am reading "Keith Moon Stole My Lipstick" by Judith Wills, a naive country girl who lands a job at a pop magazine in the Swinging 60's and meets all kinds of minor and major music stars of the time.  Pretty good read so far. 

Get up after a couple of hours into the flight and go for a stroll around the plane to stretch my legs.  Go to the back of the plane to get another scotch and find Pilgrim there chatting away to the air crew and getting free drinks.....swine!  I've been paying for mine!   We connect in Chicago and head onto Nashville where we're picked up and taken to the hotel...  Get a bite to eat in the bar and have a drink then call it a night.

Last day of Download and the Lepps are headlining.  Get checked out of the hotel in Brum and onto the band bus down to the festival.  Another roastingly hot day.  I mean come on, it's England and a festival.....it's supposed to be peeing it down and cold.  Get situated backstage and start taking some candids of the band and crew.  Have a wander around the backstage area and see a bunch of friends.  Nick Bowcott turns up to see Sav and Phil, always good seeing Nick, just a good genuine bloke.   See Jerry Horton and the rest of the Papa Roach guys, Jacoby is his usual sarky self and is full of beans.  Am talking to Doug Aldrich and we see Brian Wheat so we take a photo together just so Doug and I aren't mixed up anymore.  Black Stone Cherry are tearing up the place tday with their unique brand of Southern rock and I catch the boys finishing off an interview.   It's always fun being around these lads, they've gotten quite the following in the UK too.  Brian May comes in to Download to see Joe and the boys and hang backstage and seems like a very humble and down to earth guy talking to everyone in the Def Lep camp. Meet  Dusty Hill from ZZ Top and we talk a while about back home in Texas and other things, lovely guy.   The rest of the afternoon unfolds kind of like this seeing friends and meeting new people, shooting candids of the band backstage etc. Before we know it the guys are getting ready to go on.

Head off to the rear of the stage and shoot the guys heading towards it from the dreesing rooms.  Up front there are 80,000 very excited fans chanting for them... Quite the noise.  Grab a few shots as they prepare to go on and then head down to the pit where there are dozens of photographers down there waiting...  Actually I've never seen so many photographers in a pit at one time but they seemed to be very good and courteous towards each other which made the experience considerably nicer.  After three songs everyone in the pit disappeared and I got on with things without having to worry about bumping into anyone.  With the Donnington crowd you never know but I didn't see one bottle or projectile head towards the stage which was a most pleasing thing.   The guys roll through the set and never seem to change pace from full throttle until Joe gives a very touching speech about Rick Allen and the accident that changed his life.  it was 23 years ago since Def Leppard last played Donnington and that concert was Ricks first since losing his arm.  It was very memorable and you could clearly see that both Rick and much of the audience were very touched by Joes words. 

Shot most of the remainder of the show from the stage sides and behind Rick on his riser.  Tried to stay out of view as much as possible and one of the funniest moments was me blindly sticking my camera over the monitors on stage right to take wide angle shots, Viv obviously saw this, came up to the camera lens and started giving me the finger...  Of course I didn't realize until later which made it even funnier..   Finished the show by going out on stage with the guys and getting a group shot with the huge audience behind.

Quick bite of dinner for everyone and a couple of sly Mars Bars for me and then we're on the bus down the road to the hotel in London for a morning flight to Nashville. 

Dear god, did I just get only two and a half hours sleep?!  We get to Dublin and check in through the Aer Lingus VIP security, very nice especially since everyone is only almost half awake and it's only a few of us.  Get to Birmingham quickly and check in to the hotel for a few hours rest before leaving for Castle Donington for the Download festival.    Download is a mess, a well organized one but a mess and to throw the English completely off their game it's blazingly hot and sunny.....for England anywhere, lot's of lobsters trotting around with their shirts off.   The bus drops us off and a shuttle takes us to the backstage area where Man Raze are going to be playing later that afternoon.   Simon and Paul are there and raring to go.  Go and get some lunch at the catering area and bump into my old mate Corey Taylor who's headlining with Slipknot that night.  He looked fit and lean like he'd been working out but then again, thrashing around every night in Slipknot like he does will keep you that way.  Also see the lovely Cristina from Lacuna coil who gives me a big squeeze and we catch up a while.

Later on it's time to get the show going and there's a really great crowd there to see the guys.  I spend the whole set down in the pit shooting and although the stage was a tad high I still managed to get some good shots.  Lots of photographers in the pit for the first three songs.  I always try to be courteous and duck to avoid blocking someone elses lens as a professional courtesy but there's always one or two that have the manners of a goat in there and just get right in front of what you're doing..  Taking the high road is always best though.  Anyway, the band played tight and loud and got a great respsonse from what Phil said was their largest audience so far.

We bailed out of the festival about an hour after the set and headed back to the hotel in Birmingham.  Got a shower and went over some photos then headed out for an Indian with Phil and Jean who like me were almost falling face down in dinner from tiredness.  The food was well worth staying up for though.  If you're ever in Birmingham then try the Blue Mango Indian restaurant.....top class nosh!

Wake up on another time zone yet again so I get up and head out for a walk around Dublin.  Grab some breakfast and a Starbucks and have a poke around some of the stores in the Temple Bar area.  What strikes me more than anything is that some many of the the folks working in the stores seem to be from Eastern Europe, Dublin sure has changed a lot in that respect but I guess everything can't stay the same when you become part of the EU.   The Euro sure seems to have jacked the price of everything up here.   Stop off and see the Phil Lynott memorial bronze statue.  Lovely tribute and I was quite surprised that it was still relatively unscathed.

Get bored at the hotel so I hightailed it down to the venue and had some lunch and a good mooch around.  Went out to see some friends outside in the lines who had been lined up since earlier in the day.  A few of the fans had brought their Sparkle Tour books for me to sign which was really nice to be asked to do so.   Saw my old mate Mike from school in England and his lovely wife who I'd gotten set up for the show.  Hadn't seen them in a few years so it was good to have them here.

Saw Brian Wheat from Tesla outside the dressing rooms and chatted for a while.  Nice guy, was quite funny as he'd been talking to me a while and he thought that I was Doug Aldrich from Whitesnake....just as he said that the elevator opened and out comes Doug....."no, THAT's Doug"!  Thought that was pretty funny and so did Doug.  Spent most of the pre show just shooting reportage of the Lepps getting ready warming up.  Larry Mullen stopped by with his son to say hello to the guys and spent part of the show watching from behind Rick's kit.  Great show played to a full venue and the crowd was really revved up.  It had been the first Lepp gig in Dublin for quite some years. 

Ended up afterwards bringing my mate Mike and his wife backstage to hang out and we caught up a while.  My friend Elaine and her daughter brought me a bag FULL of lovely Mars Bars to help me along on my journey which was just lovely.  Notsure what the count is so far but I've scoffed a lot of 'em.  I have it written down somewhere...Ended up getting back to the hotel pretty late which wasn't that great as I had a 6am flight to Birmingham. Had a Mars Bar and went to bed.

We move into Dublin and check into a the hotel overlooking the Liffey.  Head on down to the O2 Arena for sound check day and get situated backstage at the venue.  Have a wander around as the crews are setting up the stage and sound and take some stills and video.  Later on the guys do a great sound check and sound on top form.   They still have the thrust platform that extends from the main stage so I go out on that and shoot the guys soundchecking.  Joe is absent though as he's over in London at the Mojo awards having fun with Mott the Hoople.  See the Whitesnake boys backstage who as usual are in top form.  Haven't seen Timothy Drury since we hung out in LA in January so we get caught up. 

We head back to the hotel later and everyone goes their own way for a while.  Decide just to sit down in the bar and edit some photos. My friends Tiara and Ger who I've known for ages come by and have a drink, a real pleasure seeing those guys.  Finish off the evening having a Guinness with Beswick, Pilgrim, Reb Beach and Uriah before calling it a night.

Woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a moose...  Had a great nights sleep but felt disoriented still from the time difference.  Uploaded yesterdays shoot pics to my hard drive and edited a little and went out for a walk in the cold morning air.  So nice to be in the quiet Irish countryside needing a jacket to keep warm when it's back in the 90's back home in Texas.  Phil stopped by later to pick up Jean and I and we went for a workout which did just the trick of getting me back into the swing of things. 

Headed into Dublin later that afternoon down to the Academy 2 venue where the Man Raze gig was going to be.  Got a hold of Doug Aldrich from Whitesnake and invited him and the guys out to the gig.  Scotty and Ronan were there setting up the gear and sound.  We dropped off our stuff and went out into Dublin to grb a bite to eat and get a coffee.  Did soundcheck photos, tiny tiny stage with about five forward facing lights and a few backlights.  Hard to work with but it's always fun shooting like this seeing what you can get out of it.  The gig went really well and filled up nicely with a great mix of locals, dedicated Lepp fans from the UK and various members of Whitesnake, Journey and our lovely Def Leppard crew.  The guys played tight and the sound was great for such a small place.

It wasn't really much of a challenge getting some sleep last night after all the fun and frivolities of the last couple of days.  After waking semi early, breakfast and a couple of Mars Bars just to pep me up rehearsals began at Joes Garage studio.  Was just a quick  run through as most of the rehearsals had gone on before I arrived in Dublin but the guys sounded great and ready to go and were just ironing out a few last parts of the set list and run through of songs.  Everyone was in good spirits and the band sounded great as they ran through the set.  Just walked around the room shooting with a wide angle lens as they played.  I did keep sneaking off to the kitchen to steal chocolate biscuits though...  After the run through I managed to corral the guys and get them outside to do a quick shoot together on the grounds at Joes.  Getting all of the guys together when they're not playing is a little like herding kittens.

After a relatively short amount of time doing that Phil and I got in his little rental car and ran into Dublin to pick up some rental lights as we decided to move the Man Raze photo shoot to today as the weather was so nice.  The rental place was privately owned and was located in a residential part of Dublin..  Phil thought he was still in the Aston Martin instead of a Nissan and pulled some slick moves in traffic but we survived, picked up the equipment and headed back to the remote cottages that he Simon and Cookie were staying at.  Got set up and shot the guys in various parts around the cottages.  Really beautiful part of the Irish countryside and the weather was perfect.  Kept the guys entertained with some mucky limericks and sheep innuendo as there were tons of the fluffy buggers being nosey and looking over the stone walls watching us do the shoot.  Got some great shots and shared many a laugh with the guys, ended up finishing off the shoot down a spooky wooded country lane in total darkness, used only strobes on this one and it lit the trees just great.  A very full and good day in all, Simon Laffy took me back  where I promptly launched my jet lagged self into bed.

Got into London Heathrow at about 11:30am, absolutely knackered and disorientated.  Hate Heathrow, it's too big and you feel like cattle mooing around with people in your way.  The English staff here never seem to smile and there's just a negative vibe about it.  Get through immigration quickly only to find that my luggage isn't on the carousel.  Talk to the lady at the American Airlines place and get spoken down to by what could only be described as a School Mistress who tells me quite matter of factly that I may not see my luggage for a couple of days.  Oh, and I now have thirty minutes to clear through security two terminals away and get my flight to Dublin....  I think on the run to terminal one I muttered every bloody swear word I knew and made some up as well.   Make the flight and see Mike, Def Leps day to day manager getting on after just getting in from the States.  He looks knackered too.  By this time I've been awake 29 hours straight.  Get into Dublin and clear immigration and wait with Mike downstairs to get his luggage and low and behold I see one of my three bags going round and then the other two....seems they got them over on another flight. 

Malvin picked up up at the airport and headed over to Joes house where the band had just finished up rehearsing.  See the bands techs...... fab fellas and get something to eat.  Ended up just wanting to get a shower and relax a while before hitting the hay early..... ROUGH, ROUGH ROUGH couple of days.  Fly anyone but American Airlines folks, they couldn't organize a piss up in a brewery!