November 20th is a date marked in thick red marker pen in my diary as it marks the release date of Journey to the Centre of the Earth fan-pack by Future Publishing who have done an absolutely magnificent job and it has reminded me of the excitement that I used to feel when you held a new vinyl record in your hand back in the 70s when you could put it on and read the cover information and in fact, it was an event. I can hardly believe that they have produced such an amazing 132 pages of information, photos, stories and contributions to go with the album and I thank them all at Future for what they have done.
The final mastering was done at Abbey Road with the famous Steve Rooke and as I write this GORR a pressing plant near Bath is pumping copies out ready to be attached to the fan pack.
On November 7th we have a private play-back session for all those involved with the album plus some other invited people who will be involved in the future with concerts and other events.
All the equipment is about to be shipped to South America ready for our shows down there with the English Rock Ensemble and 2 shows with orchestra and choir in Buenos Aires with Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
The dates and details of these events are as follows:
November 20 - Porto Alegre - Teatro Bourbon (BAND SHOW)
November 21 - Sao Paulo - Teatro Bradesco (BAND SHOW)
November 23 - Santiago - Teatro Caopolican (BAND SHOW)
November 25 - Rosario - Teatro El Circulo (BAND SHOW)
November 29 - Buenos Aires - Teatro Gran Rex (BAND & ORCHESTRA SHOW) - Journey to the Centre of the Earth
November 30 - Buenos Aires - Teatro Gran Rex (BAND & ORCHESTRA SHOW) - The Six Wives of Henry VIII
There is going to be an additional show on the 19th, but as yet we do not have full details of the theatre, but will have in a day or so and it will appear on the site as soon as we are given the information.
November does seem to be taken up mostly with publicity and interviews for Journey, plus final preparations for South America, but there’s still time to slot in the Classic Rock Awards at the Roundhouse in London on the 13th where I am presenting an award to........ah, can’t tell you....because even the recipient doesn’t know yet!!
On the weekend of the 3rd and 4th I’m going to be joining Roger Dean at his exhibition in Sussex at Trading Boundaries and that is going to be a great deal of fun. I’ll be playing as well as answering questions with Roger about all sorts of stuff, including YES I’m guessing as he played such a pivotal part in all we did.
Whilst on the subject of Roger, after the fan-pack of Journey has run its course, it will then get another release with a label yet to be decided, (pleased to say there’s a choice at the moment), and it will have a specially designed cover by Roger, so the tradition continues.
The December GORR will have full reports from South America plus loads of information about what’s happening that month, and the January GORR will indeed have another batch of my pretty useless predictions for 2013!
Enjoy November...see you next month!
Cheers,
Rick