It’s been a busy few weeks! I was contacted by the media rep of Nikki Sixx the afternoon after Motley Crue received their star on Hollywood Blvd. She invited me to come to see Nikki give a speech and write a check for $35,000.00 to the Convenant House - a shelter for homeless kids in crisis located at 1325 North Western Avenue in Hollywood. I couldn’t turn that down, so that Friday night I went to the shelter, where Nikki spoke to a small group of media, residents and staff of the Convenent House about his concerns for kids on the street. Nikki shared many personal details of his life on the streets, and stated that it was now time for him to give back to society. He revealed that he now has five children, including a teenager that is a handful for him. Many of the kids that live on the streets of Los Angeles are runaways, some are abandoned, and the shelter gives them a place to call home. It is equipped with a medical clinic, as many of the residents have tuberculosis, drug problems, some are prostitutes and are HIV positive. They share rooms there, giving them a place to sleep and shower. It is a lifesaver for all of them, and with Nikki’s very generous donation, the kids can now learn to play music. In fact one of the residents gave us a demonstration of his very impressive bass playing abilities. To this young man’s surprise, Nikki told him he just may call for a lesson sometime! The Convenent House has a big gala every year, and has many celebrity donors including Whoopi Goldberg. The shelter phone number is (323) 461-3131. If you are a youth in crisis, or know of one, please call!

I have been seeing a lot of the Rainbow lately - as Sander Ronden, a splendid young chap from Holland that ThundHerstruck and I met at The Big Ball last summer in Wrexham North Wales decided to come for a visit. Our first stop after LAX was at the headquarters of Freedom Studios, where we found Thomas LeBlanc, the founder, busy editing away as usual. Thomas is the guy to go to if you want a very professional DVD done of your band. He does an amazing job of shooting, editing, and all his cameras are state of the art high definition Sony video cameras, and the final product will blow you away. His very satisfied clients include Pat Travers, Joe Lynn Turner, Heaven and Earth, James Kottack, Xpeld, Full House, and probably every tribute band in the L.A. area. His prices are very reasonable, and you can call for a free quote- (818) 363-7332. Yesterday Cocker the Rocker of Skelmersdale, England showed up, and our plans for tonight are to go to McMurphy’s in Old Town Pasadena to see Bonfire - who will be playing at the Big Ball 3 - Highway to Wrecks Em’ this August. If you are planning a European vacation this summer, you should include a stop in Wrexham on August 4th 5th & 6th and go to the World’s Largest AC/DC festival. It is a lot of fun, and this year’s event is also featuring an acoustic jam, music workshops, & DJs. There is on site accommodation, (dorm rooms) and a campsite. For more information, go to www.acdcconvention.co.uk and check it out!

Last Friday was the debut of Mad Circle at Rude Dogs in Covina, followed by Triple Threat, a project made up of a few members of FullHouse and the bass player from Electric Funeral, Vic Armente. These guys are good - lots of metal!! An all night party in my kitchen wrapped up this evening, (sorry neighbors!).

Last night we caught Cheap Trick’s show at the new Key Club at Casino Morongo out in Cabazon. That was pretty cool, except they screwed up my photo pass, (which I had made arrangements for a week in advance), so I didn’t get to take that many photos, but the place is nice, and casinos are always a lot of fun. Wednesday night it was the Roxy, where I finally got to see Rhino Bucket. I love Rhino Bucket! The singer Georg was in top form, their guitarist, Brian Forsythe, formerly of KIX, was amazing. They are heavily influenced by AC/DC (Simon Wright used to be their drummer!) and their sound is brilliant. I play the CD Georg gave me last year all the time - “Rhinobucket - The Official Bootleg”. Grab it if you can, it’s really really good. We went all the way out to the LightHouse Café in Hermosa Beach later that same night to see Infinity, Stu Simone’s Journey tribute band. I was really glad we went to that. This is a really nice place located right on the Hermosa Beach pier, cold, but rocking. Infinity really nails the entire Journey catalogue. Their shows are always a lot of fun too, and Stu demonstrated the keytar he is known for. Drummer Gary Ponder is always a delight, and August Zadra is the bomb. Scott Richards on bass, and Rick Snyder as Steve Perry is incredible on the vocals.

Tomorrow night the three of us Big Ballers, me, Cocker and Sander will most definitely be at Parkers, to see ThundHerstruck play a 2 hour set. Then sadly my two friends will be headed home next week. The UK invasion will cease. Bummer. Allrighty then, I think that’s about it, so rock on everybody, see you next issue!!