You take the bad with the good...

It’s been quite the adventurous tour! First, I came to Norway for two festivals, Trandalblues and Skånevik Rock. On the second day, our 3rd flight in Norway to get us to the Skånevik Festival was canceled to due to heavy fog. We were still about 10 hours away by car because you can only drive so fast on the mountain roads. Not knowing what else to do we got on the bus that the airline was offering to all passengers who's flight in that direction had been canceled. After about 2 hours into the trip, the bus the driver stopped to buy everyone pizza! Can you even fathom this happening in the US when a flight is canceled because of weather? Anyway, as we were enjoying the pizza, we received a call from the promoter asking to speak to our driver. We were then informed that in about 2 more hours we would be met along the road by a private helicopter to ensure that the band and I made it to the festival on time for our set! All of a sudden I felt like Roberta Plant!

Flying over the mountainous fjords of Norway in a tiny helicopter is indeed a life changing experience.

We landed on a giant football field just in front of the festival tent and there were throngs cheering as we got out. Now that's arriving in style.

We had a great show that night playing just before Twisted Sister, who put on one hell of a rock show. Dee Snyder also gave me quite an awesome shout out from the stage and then we hung out with them all after the show. The whole Twisted Sister Crew is a bunch of super cool grounded dudes. Dee is a sweetheart and damn is he in great shape!

Later that night, I got violently ill and puked my guts out for hours! No, not alcohol related, as I wisely passed on all the free jugs of Jägermeister being passed around.

I figured it must have been something I ate. Fortunately, the next day was a day off in paradise! Upon waking, I felt well enough so I decided that a swim in the icy waters of the fjord would do me some good. After the initial shock of cold my body adjusted and it was just what I needed. I swam and floated and backstroked…ahh. Then I decided I'd better head back to shore before hypothermia set in. Just as I was nearing the shallow water I was enveloped by what felt like a massive bed of seaweed. It wrapped around my entire upper body from my neck to my waist. I started to brush it away when suddenly the most intense burning sensation began to cover my entire body. Holy f**k was it intense! Feeling near faint from the pain, I forced myself to swim faster to shore and as I hit the beach I cried out loud to some nearby Norwegian friends and strangers. It turns out I had been stung by a Lion’s Mane jellyfish, which is one of the largest species of jellyfish in the world.

Well I'll be damned, or burned for that matter, because I felt like I was Dante’s girlfriend on a hot date with my entire body burning for 9 hours straight!

All I could do was lie in bed sweating and burning…and intermittently sipping a little of the fine red wine that Twisted Sister had left behind. All I could think was how I had made such fun of those evangelical preachers who pounded on about the lake of fire with the gnashing of teeth when I was growing up to scare us young folk away from the depravity and sin of music and masturbation.

Maybe god is trying to tell me something right now? Anyway, I recovered somehow during a 14-hour travel day to Barcelona and two days later I was right as rain! Now it was time to enjoy one of my favorite European cities. I’ve been to Barcelona twice in winter and spring and loved it, but summer is a whole other deal. Hot, crowded, noisy and the people who work in the city are all so burned out on tourists and don't mind letting you know it! Maybe the custom of tipping should be adopted across Europe, in general? Talk amongst yourselves.

Well, after fighting through the hot, noisy streets at 8pm in search of my first real meal in days, we landed at a highly recommended tapas joint near Las Ramblas called Taller Tapas. Within 30 seconds of sitting down, I turned to get my purse, which I had just hung from the corner of my chair inches between Jon and I at the narrow bar, and it was gone! I felt nothing, I saw nothing and it seems no one else did either. The management and police, who just happened to be right outside, all pretty much shrugged it off saying, "Welcome to Barcelona."

I have to give it up for the stealth and speed with which this thief operated. What a Ninja! Hopefully, he used the money to feed hungry kids or a stray dog. Doubtful, but it hurts less to think of it that way. I just wish the thief had left my prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses behind! I would have taken him to the bank and given him more cash to get those back! Now, I'm penniless AND blind. Fortunately, that's a temporary situation for me and it could always be worse, right? The good news is we had a GREAT time on Thursday night playing our first show in Spain at La Festival Cultura Inquieta, just outside of Madrid. What an amazing setting and crowd. The Spaniards are a passionate breed of audience! They’re all heart and they all sing along so beautifully!!

Tonight, we rocked the crowd at San Javier Jazz Festival and tomorrow we have one more show in Bejar, Spain followed by 3 days off in Madrid then on to our final festival of this tour in Burg Hurzberg, Germany, where I have a bona fide stalker waiting for me. Stay tuned. After Germany, it’ll be time to come home and then hit some long awaited shows out West in the USA!

In summation, helicopters, food poising, jellyfish stings, sangria bien con los chicos de la banda and a helluva time playing music for great people all over the world. In the words of Charles Martin, “You take the bad with the good. Rise up through it. Live in the midst of it. It's the bad that lets you know how good the good really is. Don't let the bad leave you thinking like there ain't any good. There is, and lots of it, too. ” Love, Dana