It's been almost two weeks since I've posted a blog update and a whole lot has happened. We finished off Canada by ending in Vancouver. That last show was played just one or two days after I had received the news that one of my music heroes, Peter Steele of Type O Negative, had passed away due to heart failure. I dedicated the last song of the set to his memory, and to my surprise, most people seemed unfamiliar with the man. The guy is certainly one of the reasons that bands like HIM and Dommin even exist in their current form. I got the opportunity to write a short piece about him that I am hoping is used in Kerrang Magazine.

Canada went much better than expected, especially performing as a trio which made me feel a bit like I was alone on stage...quite intimidating. But the reactions from people who had never heard of Dommin and the things we were told after the set were much the same. This helped reassure me that I could hold the stage on my own, but I still prefer not to. I also hate using tracks. But as we made our way down the coast into more familiar territory, we were playing cities that we have now played close to 4 or 5 times; and it showed. From Seattle to Portland to San Francisco, The Domminites were out in full support and made their voices heard. It was quite nice to start hearing the lyrics being sung back at me just under my own voice. I am looking forward to our headlining shows where I can really trust that the entirety of the audience is able to sing along with me. Those are really special moments.

We eventually made our way home. It was a pretty rough stretch on the voice. Because we had some extra performances to play when everyone else on the tour had a day off, we were going on 9 days straight with no rest. But we managed. Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Diego all feel like home. And why shouldn't they? Most of us were able to sleep in our own beds, use our own showers and see family and close friends. In most ways it is nice. In other ways, it adds a whole new level of stress and anxiety because there are so many people you are trying to cater to and take care of, but familiarity goes a long way. The weird thing was that being home felt a bit like staying at a very familiar hotel. With the schedule being what it is, we were literally only home to sleep. We would get in at about 3 A.M. and have to be on our way to the venue by noon the next day. Anaheim was the first city we hit in our home town, and I made sure to take the opportunity to visit Disneyland while I was there. It is literally in the same complex as the House of Blues venue so it couldn't be more convenient. It was nice to come back and visit after not being home since January. We then hit San Diego. This is probably one of my favorite cities to be in but we were literally down for the show and then back up to our homes. Los Angeles was next. Though Anaheim is technically closer to all of us, Los Angeles felt like the big hometown show and probably the biggest show of the tour. The Wiltern was a sold out, 2300 person capacity venue. Management, label reps, agents, lawyers, press, photographers, promoters, families, friends, acquaintances as well as the packed in crowd were all there. With the largest stage on the tour comparable to an arena-sized stage, we were able to really move around and make the most of the space we've been deprived of throughout the majority of the tour. Once again, I could hear the voices just beneath my own. :-) The hometown show was a success.

We were then off to Las Vegas, which is always a good time, and then to two cities we have never played before: Salt Lake City and Denver. Salt Lake City, or technically Magna, UT, was a good show but a little odd with the day light beaming in from the sky lights and large side windows. It pretty much made our lighting useless until near the end of our set when the sun started to set. And Denver was actually quite a nice surprise. For never having played the city before, we had some fans there that knew our music backward and forward. The stage in Denver was so small I was worried that I might fall over into the crowd. We weren't able to use our backdrop and I was told that New York is going to be even smaller. My only regret for these two shows was that we were sold out of our CDs. My hope is that people are intrigued enough to look us up and don't forget about us not having taken the CD home with them that night.

It's really crazy that this tour is drawing to a close already. There are only about 9 shows left. When we left home in January, it was a long way to May. Now, it seems like it's ending faster than expected. It's almost surreal. Then we do about 4 headlining shows in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit and Chicago to get us back home. We've got some new video blogs that are on the way. They will be posted in the premium area of our site first before everyone else can view them. The other guys in the band are also becoming more active on Dommin.Com as well. We've been enjoying watching the gradual growth of the site. We're off to Dallas, Texas and to commence the last leg of this tour. We have a lot to anticipate over the next 10 days. Houston, Atlanta, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Atlantic City and New York City, here we come.