Nicko Talks about Bruce Air and Ozzy
Here's the latest Nicko diary on the current tour. This time it's spoiler-free, as nothing is revealed for those not wanting to learn about the set before going to the gig.Read on:
10/06/2005 Nicko - Brighton, Bruce Air, Wristbands...
At home in London
Time: 2:20pm
Well, well, well,
It’s a wonderful day here in London.
I’m feeling a wee bit under the weather today.
Got a feeling I’m coming down with something.
I’ll pop out to the chemist in a while and pick up some meds for it.
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
A lot has happened over the last few days I can tell you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lets see, on Monday after Bruce, Rod and myself were dropped off in London, Rod and I made our way back to Brighton. When we arrived we dropped our bags off and decided to go have lunch. When we arrived at the chippy we were undecided whether to have fish and chips or a nice bit of pasta with a healthy salad.
We thought, sod it; lets toss a coin to decide. Rod spun a twenty pence piece and as he did that we called heads for the chippy and tails for the pasta. Well, it turned up heads. So off to the front door of the chippy then, when we got there I said, “Best out of three then”.
Rod thought about it for a while and then we both decided that the chippy was not such a good idea. Instead, we headed over the road to the Italian restaurant. We had a great meal and spoke about low cholesterol diets and what not. Had a great time.
After lunch we went back to the flat where I went to me bed and caught up on some zeessss. Rod was busy catching up on some work. He woke me at around 5pm and I went next door to see the children. Ben and Jake gave me a very special home made Birthday card which was very sweet. Thank you boys!!!
Laura and Tom were also home so I got to see all of the family. Cathy, Rod's missus, was very busy getting end of term exam stuff together for Tom and Ben. I went upstairs with Jake to his brother, Ben’s room, where they have a small Premier club kit. Jake is a fine up and coming drummer with a fire to learn and an uncanny knack to pick things up really quickly. He’s like a sponge when it comes to learning. We made a wee lesson together and then it was time for Rod and I to leave. Well done Jake, Keep it up me young china.
Rod and I were off to the Brighton academy of music for an evening with some of the students. We had a 6:30pm kick off and basically it was a fellowship evening of Q and A.
Rod was amazing. I have known him for a long time. I’m always fascinated with his story and history in the business, as were the students in that room. Rod was asked a lot of questions relating to the business in general and it was great to listen again to how he got started, and about his incredible rise to being one of the leading figures in the music industry. The evening ended up with yours truly having a jam with some of the guys from the academy. We jammed NOB. Very fine it was, I can tell you.
After the session, Rod, Kevin, his wife, Sarah, and I went to have a lovely ruby murray. It was very, very nice. After a wonderful meal and great company, Rod and I said our farewells and walked home from the restaurant.
Rod's home is on the sea front so it was a very pleasant walk home. Problem was we were walking on the bicycle path and nearly got, on a couple of occasions, run over by a couple of guys riding their bikes. Rod said that when he rides on the paths he gets really annoyed when pedestrians are walking on it. Didn’t make any difference though, we carried on walking on it anyway TEEHEE!!!!!
We got back at a little after 11pm. I went straight to me pit and had a restful night.
Rod awoke me at 7:30am and I was ready and out the front door by ten to eight...
Well, boys and girls, Tuesday the 7th was a very special day for us. It was the day we were travelling over to Iceland for our show on Bruce Air flight AU666 out of Gatwick.
Rod and I arrived at a little before 9am and we went straight to check in. After picking up our boarding passes we made our way through security and went in search of a bacon buttie...
We found one at a pit stop and I have to say it was a bit pony and trap. But hey, it filled a hole.
The flight was due to leave on time at 9:45am. We made our way to the gate and met with the rest of the passengers. It was great to see so many smiling faces and to take pictures with a few folks before we boarded. I did however have a wee panic, as I hadn’t seen me friend Doug Giles yet. He had flown over from Florida with his wife Marie. They were going on holiday to Europe after Doug’s return from Iceland. I asked at the check in if he had shown up but alas no Doug Giles. We have a William Giles said the flight attendant but I said that that must be a different Giles. Well, you can imagine how surprised I was when upon boarding there’s me mate. Blow me down. I said to him that I had put out an all points bulletin for him and was very concerned that he would be left behind. Well, my first name is William he said. My family though call me by my middle name. Well then that was a relief I can tell you.
We got under way by 10am and I sat with Bruce, Chocks away then, Dickinson, Captain John, Justin and myself. I had a spot of lunch and then made me way into the cabin. I said hello to all the folks except the last few rows of seats right at the back. My apologies to all of you that didn’t get an autograph but I’ll try to make it up somehow.
On my travels through the plane I got to meet so many lovely people. Thank you all for a most memorable journey. I would like to say a special thank you to Cathar. She gave me a most splendid poem that she had written for me. I would like to share it with you all. I remember that she also wrote one for my birthday last year.
NICKO’S GOLF BALL
A fine summer evening, a breeze in the air
We see on a golf course our drummer fair
He lays down his golf ball and takes a big swing
What a jolly good shot, how far flies the thing!
His eyes follow after and notice the fall
He crosses the lawn to again strike the ball
It seems that his ball went into the hedges
Hmm, no, it’s not there he only gets scratches
He turns up each leaf, be it large or just small
But still he’s unlucky, no sight of his ball.
He gropes in the grass, peeks behind a large tree
Scans all the bushes, but his ball he can’t see.
Silently cursing, he climbs on a wall
But fuck my old boots, he can’t find his ball.
In despair he goes poking out in the lake
After all it’s his golf ball that is here at stake.
All dripping wet he decides to crawl
Into the berries to find that damn ball.
Nick scratches his head and looks all around
To the left and the right, no ball can be found
To his dismay, he can’t really recall
Whereto exactly he shot that ‘Kin ball.
Nightfall comes quickly, first dusk and then dawn
Moat people are sleeping, but Nick scans the lawn
He searches through summer he searches through fall
The search is in vain; he can’t find his ball!
At last, all exhausted, he falls to his knees
He’s ready to give up, when guess what he sees?
He stares in amazement and cries; “Bless my soul!”
Now would you believe it, the ball’s in the hole!!!!
What a great present thank you Cathar. You are the best!!!!!
I also have to make my apologies for not being on the return flight. I had a press conference to attend at four in the afternoon the next day and so I stayed overnight in Iceland so that I could get some rest after the show. I’ll explain in a bit.
Well, the gig was great. The Iceland audience were fantastic. We played really well considering we were using our B rig. I had me Eddie kit and the rest of the guys used their second set of equipment.We hit the stage at 9pm and blazed through the set. Great crowd, and a brilliant reception. Thank you to all you guys and girls for a most splendid evening.
The next day we left the hotel at 10am, the airport was a 10-minute drive away. We boarded the plane and arrived back into London a little after 2pm. I had a car meet me and drop me at my place before going on to the Dorchester Hotel.
I had a press conference to attend at 4pm.
It was to release the 21 Century Leaders Charity.
Ozzy Osborne, Slash, Scott Ian, others and myself are part of this wonderful Charity. We have all made a message of hope that has been put onto a wristband and is sold with the proceeds going to our chosen charities. We have a press release on the home page so you all can catch up on what it is about.
I hope and pray that you all will get involved by supporting this great charity.
Well, I met with Ozzy before the photo session and he was in great spirits. Lost a bunch of weight and looking far to good for a geezer 3 years older than me. I was so happy to see him.
It’s been nearly 20 years since we last saw one another. We had a chat about the old days and then went and had a bunch of smudges taken. After that we did a mini press meet.
Charlotte Di Vita is the backbone of the charity and she is an amazing woman as is the whole team. Thanks to Nicole and Will. She and I only the Thursday before had the idea to do an interview together with Ozzy to release the wristbands.
They are officially on sale from Today (Friday 10th June) at the Download festival. I met a wonderful lady named Suzy Kay who works with the charity Water Aid. We talked for a while about how to approach funding for sanitary aid, toilets and fresh running water. This is where 50% of my raised monies will go. She was so nice. Thank you Suzy.
It was a great day. I was a wee bit tired from the gig the night before and the journey but it was worth it.
Well, it’s getting past me bed time so I’m going to go know. THANK YOU all again. For a great trip, hope to see you all again on Bruce air sometime in the future. To all that helped Charlotte and myself with the launch THANK YOU ALL so very much.
God Bless you all
Stay safe and well
Love
Nicko
Source: IronMaiden.com
5 Comments
nice, nico is so cool..have any of you seen the wristbands??are they cool??
QUOTE(Brage the Beast @ Jun 13 2005, 08:32 AM)
nice, nico is so cool..have any of you seen the wristbands??are they cool??
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I haven't seen them.
there was a pick at the topic about the wristbands, wasn't there ?
btw: damn lucky children 
Wristbands:
http://forum.maidenfans.com/index.php?showtopic=8771
Cheers
Dave Ling loved the show too: http://www.daveling.co.uk/diary.htm