ARCH ENEMY Frontwoman Issues U.S Tour, LOUDPARK 07 Recap

ARCH ENEMY frontwoman Angela Gossow has issued the following recap of the band's U.S. tour and appearance at the Loudpark 07 festival in Japan:

"The Black Tyranny tour has been a wild, dangerous, exhausting and also enjoyable ride for all of us! A lot of strong shows and we had a great time — with our fans and the awesome guys from MACHINE HEAD, THROWDOWN and SANCTITY. Great tour!

"The last show in L.A. show was insane, fantastic crowd, hung out with Kerry and lovely Aisha King, Allen Steelgrave from ESP, did an interview with Metal Sanaz for her MySpace thing, and bumped into so many other people — it's all a blur now. Too much too handle. Oh yeah, I jumped on stage and screamed on 'Davidian' with MACHINE HEAD too. Fun!

"In L.A. we also got rid of our psycho bus driver who could have killed us all with his relentless speeding and emotional outbreaks behind the wheel. He made us fear for our lives and that doesn't make you sleep too well on a bus…

"Luckily we did the 15-hour drive from L.A. to Vancouver with our new driver who was refreshingly sweet, helpful and reliable. We played three headline shows in Canada on our own, no rest for the wicked!

"We did a signing session at Scrape Records before the show and picked up some CDs and DVDs afterwards. Thanks to JJ and his crew from Scrape Records for taking care of us and being such nice people!! I love independent metal stores like these… Keeping the metal spirit alive!

"Vancouver rocked our socks off. Packed and sweaty — that's how we love it! I am very sorry for not hanging out after this show, but I was soaked in sweat and it's freezing cold in Canada already. Coming all the way from L.A. was a bit of a shock to the system and catching a cold is quite likely then. We also had another long drive ahead of us to Edmonton the next day.

"I found it rather amusing having a female fan knocking on our bus before the show, pointing out that she hadn't met me yet (I didn't know she had booked an exclusive meeting with me?!) and asking why we arrived so late. I don't think she was aware of our touring and driving schedule. We literally fell out of the bus for sound check, checked into a dayroom for showers and just made it back in time to play the show — which was sold out and well worth the long ride!! This also goes for Calgary — a sold out venue, full of screaming kids and so hot and sweaty, that my shirt was literally dripping with sweat. I tossed it away (offstage!). No point throwing this into my laundry bag.

"Right after the show we packed our gear to be shipped back to the USA and Europe, tried to repack our travel bags, jumped into the shower and then made our way at 4am the same morning to the airport. We had to catch a 6.30 am flight to L.A./San Francisco, where we boarded another plane in the afternoon to Japan, Narita airport. I had a bit of a breakdown and cried a little due to exhaustion. It's tough when you don't sleep for days and travel instead. All the security checks and custom stops kinda make you feel like a criminal on top of it. And I have never managed to sleep sitting upright in seat. It makes me feel claustrophobic and my back and neck hurts
all the way.

"We got to Japan the 19th of October at 7pm and by 10 pm I crashed into my wonderful, fluffy, NOT rocking hotel bed and fell into a 12-hour coma. The best sleep I had for the past 6 weeks!

"We actually had a day OFF and some of us went to see HEAVEN AND HELL at the Loudpark festival. Mr. Ronnie James Dio is on fire and so is the rest of this legendary line-up! Absolutely amazing and no metal fan is allowed to miss it! Travel and spend all your live savings if you have to — just make sure you catch them live!!!"

"Our big day was October the 21st. Being a co-headliner for such a huge festival is mind-blowing. It comes with a price though: A dozen of interviews, IDs and three signing sessions later (with a mass hysteria unfolding when we tried to leave) we hit the stage at 7.35pm (exactly on the second, this is Japan!). I heard 8,000 people singing along with the lyrics, the melodies and the guitar solos. An ocean of arms in the air. ARCH ENEMY chants in between songs. If that would have been the last hour of my life — I would have died a happy woman!

"Right after the show we picked four songs from the recorded live footage that will air on MTV Japan later this month.

"The next day we headlined Loudpark Osaka 07 (great show as well!),other bands on the bill were SAXON and ANDRE MATOS.

"I love riding the bullet train watching the beautiful Japanese landscape and their towering cities fly by.

"Japan has always treated us with respect and love.

"A big thank you to the Creative Man crew...especially 'Magic' and Layli — these girls are the best!

"I am looking forward to coming back in the spring 2008 for a full headline tour!

"Domo Arigato, Japan!"

"Lobby call was at 7am this morning, to catch our flight to Bejing! We have just checked into the hotel and everybody in band and crew is taking it easy. So excited about tomorrow! We will play 'Revolution Begins' of course, ha-ha. According to the promoter, we are the first extreme metal band to play here. This is crazy.

"After tomorrow we will fly out to Australia to team up with the 'Black Crusade' tour in beautiful Perth, Australia!"

Check out photos of ARCH ENEMY's performance at Loudpark at this location.