Iced Earth

ICED EARTH drummer Brent Smedley has posted another update:

"We had an off day in Stockholm, Sweden, with a gig the next day at a place called Tyrol.

"I am happy to report that my sickness is all but gone, unfortunately some of the other guys seem to have taken ill. It is kind of hard not to pass things around when we all travel on the same bus.

"The next day we played the gig in Stockholm.

"Tyrol is located in a very scenic part of town, which is right on the water and also right beside a carnival area. Some of the locals said that it is very active in the summer time.

"I was able to get some nice pictures of some magnificent statues and architecture.

"There were fans at the gig from the moment we arrived, which was very early in the day, until the moment we left, which was, of course, very late. One group in particular appeared to be a mother and her sons and another a pair of brothers, with this show being the younger brother's very first concert...you've got to love that. The venue was rather peculiar as well, with scenes of the countryside painted on all the walls, including behind the stage. We were told that they just started having metal shows here and it is easy to believe.

"The following day we played in Copenhagen, Denmark. We played a place called Pumphuset. It has very small stage with even smaller dressing rooms. There was another one-handed shower here (oh, the glamour of it all). The crowd here was amazing. It was a packed house and the heat onstage was intense…you could feel the flow of molten metal (I think I lost five pounds this night). It was an awesome show, with the crowd still screaming for more even after a three-song encore.

"With this show we are officially half way through the tour. We have five more headlining shows in Europe and then we head to the UK for 11 shows in support of HEAVEN AND HELL."