Jeff's Brazilian adventures, by Jeff himself:
I'll start with 1st apologizing to everyone Down Under for having to cancel the Oz dates, an opportunity arose to get my new album closer to completion & since its been 2 years in the making, I have to jump on every opportunity to lock down the indivduals involved with its creation. I am bummed about not making it out this time but not only will we readdress it at a later date, we'll more than likely add more dates which is more enticing for me in the end anyway!
Viva Brazil! Back to South America, always a great time hanging with my brothers in the band Tempestt, a local Sao Paulo band I've known for nearly 6 years now. These guys were my band during my 1st trip & shows to Brazil, since then they have played in or opened every show I've done here since. They just released their debut album this year called Bring 'Em On & I was invited to duet with their singer BJ on a tune called Insanity Desire, slamming song, slamming album! So this trip was really more of a promotion for them, for their new album, & I was asked to help add to the attraction of the live dates as well as videotape some of the shows for a possible DVD feature.
Lets start with the misery! I left LA at noon on Wed Oct 17 with the expectation of landing at 8am the next morning Sao Paulo local time...um, not the case. Got to Miami on time then we were notified the connection was delayed 2 hours, bummer but it happens. About 10 minutes into boarding time, we're informed the flight I'd delayed yet another 2 hours, now leaving at 3am. Again, annoyance but thanks to my travel habits of having every electronic gadget known to man with a few magazines thrown in, I got by with the down time. We finally board & by 3:30AM, we're off for Brazil....or so we thought! 2 1/2 hours into the flight, we're awoken by the pilot saying we have a problem with the fuel pump & we're heading back to Miami where we'll have to swap planes...WTF! By the time we eventually left Miami, I had been awake about 26 hours, nice start to the trip!
As I was so late in arriving that night, we had no chance to rehearse, as well, the 1st gig on the following evening was not a Tempestt gig, it was more a cover gig with me & the guys doing disco, funk & pop covers, something outside the box for the alternative side to my fans
We called the show Caipiroska Nights, which anyone wh doesn't know what a caipiroska is, it is a Brazilian drink made of lime, sugar, vodka & ice...also happens to be my favorite cocktail of all time as well as the only thing I drink in South America! The little club was at capacity & we jammed for nealy 2 hours which thankfully I got through without falling asleep before midnight!
Sat we had the day off so the guys arranged an afternoon of basketball at a huge 'Central Park' type park in the city. From there, my good friend & promoter of every show I've done in Sao Paulo since 2002 arranged tickets for my 1st live soccer game ever. Personally I get nothing from the game but I admit to watching the World Cup & always find myself rooting for Brazil so I was fascinated in attending the game for the local team Palmeiras. Holy shit, what a rush it was! The crowd, the energy, the pace of the game, it far exceeded my expectations & I'm glad I got to see my 1st soccer match in this setting, amazing!
Sunday, we flew off to a small city called Joinville (pronounced more like 'yo-inn-villy') for the next gig. The venue was quite big, great sound system but the thing that got me most was how many young people were in attendance. I thought we were at a Franz Ferdinand show or something, teens everywhere but all wearing Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Guns N Roses wear, amazing to see this music has been passed down yet again to kids younger than my own son. Overall it was pretty mixed in ages but still great to see the turnout so rounded.
We had the next night off & enjoyed yet another 'churrascaria' which basically is Brazilian BBQ translated. The concept behind these places is MEAT, & LOTS of it! The restaurant usually has a huge salad bar area which also has things like sushi, rice, beans, potatoes, etc., which u load of as much as u want as often as u want. Then seated at your table, waiters come to your plate with skewers of different steaks, ribs, chicken, sausage, everything in your meat fantasy
They keep it coming until u literally have to tell them n more...I've been in a meat coma quite a few times this trip, haha, sounds gross but when you're there, its Heaven!
Next day we were off to Buenos Aires. Argentina. The day started off with a bang in that BJ, the singer of Tempestt, forgot his passport. I guess he just thought we're within South America & he'd be fine with his drivers license but no go, he had to fly back to Sao Paolo & meet us later in the evening for the gig. Then we had our own misery upon arriving, half the gear got left in Paraguay during the connection flight so no singer, no gear upon arrival into BA.
From the second we got to the cars the 'promoter' set up for us, I knew this was going further downhill. We barely got all of us & the gear into these beat up, demoliton derby cars that were to take us to the hotel. Tempestt's manager Rick & the guitarist Gustavo stayed behind at the airport to wait for the gear to come in on the next flight as well as BJ would be arriving shortly thereafter. We went on to the hotel which the 'promoter' proceeded to explain was booked based on the entire city being sold out, the place we dragged our tired selves into was pretty much an old, dirty hostel. Now I'm no snob, I'm a guest here & can pretty much suck it up to not always have the Sheratons & Hiltons of the world but this was simply intolerable! The shower was gross, there was no air or fan in the hot box room, the floors were filthy, everything about it just made me cringe, I couldn't foresee 2 days there. I have a good friend there in BA which I called about this problem & within 3 minutes he called back with info of a 3 Star hotel in the city which would be more than accomodating. Upon being dropped off there, the floodgates opeded about this promoter, the people they've screwed over financially (all friends/peers in the rock world) & even the fact that our original rooms booked were canceled because they owed too many people money....great! I don't like slagging people, I don't like talking badly about anyone but this company, Sounds & Jams, have been getting away with this too long, I hope I can be influential in ending their tenure of stealing money from bands they book.
Back to the 1st show...BJ & the gear finally arrived, gig went on a bit late but we pulled it together in the end. The next night was more the same, absolute miscommunication, everything running late, all the while the promoter hid as they knew I was on a warpath (not so much for my own reasons but because a dear friend who recently toured there was screwed out of thousands & I think they knew I was about to represent!) but the gig was great in the end. For the most part, there was such a bad taste left about our 2 days there, we just wanted to get back to Brazil. We left with nearly everything that was due, I believe the guys were shorted a few hundred bucks that were 'promised would be sent' & of course, my room wasn't paid!
We had a long day of travel into the city Curitiba & literally arrived 2 hours before the gig...until we realized the gig wouldn't start until about 1am! I think I finally went to bed at 5am that night because of the lateness behind that start, great gig though.
Next day started with an in store autograph signing again & then off to the airport for flights back to Sao Paulo. This night wasn't a Tempestt gig, this was my bud Carlos's annual Hard N Heavy Party, an annual event he throws every year to celebrate the anniversary of his successful record store Animal Records. I've played it twice already in the past 5 years, this year I was a guest & judge for his Heavy Metal bikini contest that occurs between the 2 bands (dont get too excited, these 'chicks' were mocked more than admired, talk about 'yikes'). This years bands were Glenn Hughes & Pink Cream 69. I've known Glenn about 12 years now & was slated to sing a song with him which we threw down the Deep Purple classic 'Burn'. It was another very late night & I was happy with the successful turnout overall of the tour. Heading home the next day, my black cloud of luck kicked back in as it started the trip...we got slammed with traffic en route to the airport due to a horrid accident & got to the airport after the allotted time of checking into an international flight! After all the stress, detours & rushing, I would be stuck another night here, which is where I am now wrapping up this blog. My new flight leaves in 9 hours & we will be sure to not miss this one, this boy needs a break, the throat needs a rest, the body needs detoxing of all the meat & vodka & its time to recharge for the next adventure, the UK run!
JSS
PS - Condolences go out to Dean, Lula, saddened I couldn't attend services for the loss of their newborn Trevor Jeffrey, RIP
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Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:25 am
I know.........I hate the quiet...........wake up everyone!!!! Anyone in Brazil have any pics or answers or ANYTHING....we need something to keep us going here! Come on peeps!!!! 
