South America 2010 - tour blog

[jarmo]

The show in Buenos Aires was the most intense one I've seen.

Personally I have mixed feelings about it. I loved the energy, but on the other hand the shit throwing just kinda ruined part of that enjoyment.... But the band played on and gave the fans a full show.

Some songs were performed for the first time on this tour. Don't Cry and Out Ta Get Me haven't been played before on this leg.

After the show, I went back to the hotel and had an hour to pack, shower and check out. Then off to the airport and the flight to Lima.

Fell asleep on the plane, woke up in time for the landing and after a somewhat crazy ride to the hotel, I arrived at my hotel around noon.

Went out sightseeing by foot with some friends. Walked around the old town. It seems like every driver here is in love with the horn in their cars. They honk all the time... 

Went to the La Iglesia de San Francisco and its underground catacombs...

[jarmo]

March 24

Spent the day by the ocean in Miraflores. Had some lunch and drinks there.

Came back to the hotel just in time for dinner and drinks.



Ate a bunch of local foods and drank Pisco Sours....

[jarmo]

March 25

Went to show and spent most of the day observing a guitar tech.

March 26

After the show, I went back to the hotel and managed to sleep for about two hours before the lobby call and flight to Caracas.

The flight's departure was delayed and instead of waking up in time for landing, I woke up as we were told to leave the plane.

The technical issue was fixed and we could leave Lima a few hours later than planned.

Arrived in Caracas at night. Ate at the hotel and since the Internet didn't work, I just went to bed earlier...


March 27

Woke up and had breakfast outside. Which feels weird since it's only March.... March is supposed to be cold! 

[jarmo]

Watched the Caracas show with the Shot Girls.

Then afterward, back to hotel, shower and pack before it was time to catch a van to the airport.

Fell asleep in the van for a few minutes. Managed to stay awake at the airport and fell asleep for an hour or so on the flight to Bogota.

Spent most of the time here just catching up on sleep.

[jarmo]

Bogota show started off "normal". Then came the rain....

Axl was wearing a yellow rain coat at one point while kicking up water from the puddles on stage. Dj was sliding across the stage.

The rain didn't seem to bother the crowd though. Nice!

All in all, a great evening in Bogota made a little bit more special by the rain.


Back to the hotel, complete with doggies outside, a nap and time to go to Quito.

The plane we flew down here on looked like it might've been from the 70s...

As usual, there were GN'R fans at the airport.

Arrived in Quito and went out to dinner. Plan on catching up on some sleep before tomorrow's show....



/jarmo

[jarmo]

Great crowd in Quito.
It looked like it might rain during the show, but the rain waited until load out.


The day after the show, I went on a little trip to the equator.

Had a nice day out before heading back to the hotel for check out.

Headed for the airport and our chartered flight to Rio de Janeiro.

All passengers on this flight were either band or crew, but the flight crew still made all announcements in English and Spanish just like any other flight down here.

Managed to fall asleep for a few hours before landing in Rio de Janeiro this morning.....

[jarmo]

Spent the day off in Rio de Janeiro sightseeing.

Went to Corcovado and it was cloudy... The clouds just kept rolling by, blocking the statue and the view of the city.

In addition to that, the statue is covered in scaffolding.

After the Corcovado experience, I walked up and down Avenida Atlantica... Ended the evening with a nice dinner and a Caipirinha.

[jarmo]

Show day in Rio. Went to the venue and it started to rain.

Fortunately it didn't rain during the show...

It's always nice to hear the crowd sing along to the new songs during show. I still get surprised by it.



After the show, back to hotel, nap and time to leave for Panama.

We were on a chartered flight from Rio de Janeiro to Panama City. Managed to catch up on some sleep before we landed here.



The day off was spent sightseeing and shopping.

Went to the Miraflores Visitors center at the Panama Canal.

[jarmo]

The show in Panama was weird. The band was playing great, but part of the crowd didn't really seem into it...


The day after the show, I flew to Costa Rica.

As soon as our van left the airport, we were pulled over. The cops removed the license plates from our van and we were allowed to continue.

We all know by now what happened that night. The show was canceled due to the stage being unsafe. Very unfortunate for all the thousands of fans who were looking forward to the show. But safety has to come first.

Had a nice dinner and went to bed early instead of seeing the show...

The next morning, I had a flight to Nicaragua and then on to El Salvador. Arrived here in the afternoon and went out to have lunch.

Had some local "fast food" called Pupusas.


Later on I went out to a bar with some friends and Bumblefoot. Had a beer and then dinner at a nearby restaurant/bar.

Went to bed and the wedding at the hotel was still going on....

[jarmo]

April 11

Went to the venue and hung out.

It was an interesting set up. The dressing rooms were all the way up the stairs (where the seats are) and obviously the stage was down on the pitch.

The show itself was pretty amazing. Great crowd!

Got back to the hotel around 5am and had breakfast at 10. Then I heard we're not leaving for Costa Rica as I thought.

I went out and took a look at San Salvador.





After the short tour, I ended up by the pool. Drinks and food in the sun. Not bad.

[jarmo]

San Juan, Puerto Rico



Arrived late last night. Flew all day from San Salvador via Miami.

Left the hotel at 11am and arrived in Puerto Rico after midnight local time.

Spent the afternoon today walking around in the Old Town. Nice sunny day, perfect for sightseeing.





Last day of the tour for me, flying home tomorrow.

Back to cold Sweden. At least the snow has melted by now....

[jarmo]

So I leave Puerto Rico and land in Washington, DC only to find out my flight has been cancelled due to the volcanic ash cloud originating from Iceland.

That was on the 15th, it's now the 19th and I'm still in the USA.

But I get to see parts of the USA that I haven't seen before so it's not all bad... Went to Arlington on Saturday.



Planning on going into DC one of these days.

[jarmo]

After spending a week in Virginia/DC, I arrived in (cold) Sweden yesterday.

It was one hell of a tour and experience to be part of.

Thanks to everybody who made it possible, and everybody who made it the experience it was.




/jarmo