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Team Lee Italia
mercoledì 27 aprile 2011
venerdì 22 aprile 2011
American Tour Diary: Blog 5 - St Louis to Meramec Caves
Fri 11th March 2011
Location: St Louis, Missouri
Arrive in St Louis around 4pm and head to our hotel to freshen up. My Tour Manager Keef decides not to have a shave. After his speeding warning this morning I have noticed a slight change in him. This inconsequential brush with the law, combined with a throwaway comment made by a shop assistant that he looks a little like Ryan Reynolds seems to have gone to his head a little and he has been walking around all day with a swagger and confidence not too dissimilar to that of James Bond. I have a feeling we will hear more from him later in the tour.
Tonight we play Cicero’s. Sound check is uneventful. For the first time in the tour though one thing is becoming apparent - night after night of relentless gigs and shenanigans are finally catching up with us. We are due onstage at 10pm, and by 9pm, unbeknownst to the fans inside the venue we have crawled off to the car park and all fallen asleep inside the tour van. Fifty - five minutes later and we are rudely awoken by the intrusively banal alarm tone of my iPhone. I have a handprint on my face where I fell asleep and I am due onstage in five minutes. As you can probably tell, I am extremely particular about my pre-show preparations.
The gig itself goes surprisingly well. I Debut new song “I Don’t Believe You, Alison” and chat with fans afterwards, saying hello to everyone who has made the journey to Missouri. 11.38pm and we resume our horizontal positions back inside the tour van in the parking lot.
Sat 12th March 2011
Location: St Louis, Missouri
Spend the day walking around St. Louis and take a trip to the famous St. Louis arch. It’s absolutely huge and well worth a visit. Have the evening off so decide to embrace American culture to it’s fullest and go ten-pin bowling. Can’t remember who won..
Sun 13th March 2011
Location: St Louis, Missouri to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Long, long, long drive to Oklahoma City from St Louis. Along the way we keep seeing a billboard for Meramec Caves. This doesn’t appear too interesting at first as none of us have ever heard of it before, but by the fourteenth signpost we are becoming more than a little intrigued. “Come visit the amazing Meramec Caves! You will not be disappointed!”, “Meramec Caves – Jessie James world famous hideout!”, “Meramec Caves – You have to see it to believe it!”. After seeing these advertisements for the best part of two hours, by the time we reach the exit we feel like no trip to the USA would actually be complete without visiting these caves and it is a done deal. We are now extremely excited that we were fortunate enough to pass by one of the wonders of the world completely by accident and pull into the parking lot with camera’s at the ready.
We each part with 20 bucks and approach the caves wide eyed under the close supervision of our group’s tour guide Amanda. Amanda is wearing a tight khaki safari outfit with a little scarf reminiscent of something I used to wear in the boy scouts. She also has a whistle around her neck. I wonder what use the whistle could possibly be down here. Surely a torch would be more effective?
It is an eerie feeling descending into caves as old as the Earth, and anticipation is high as we wonder out loud what secrets they may hold. The first thing we are shown is a large 20ft pendulum that was installed by a bunch of school kids in the 1960s. Notable because there are only two like it in the world. And also because it doesn’t work. Not a great start but I am still excited because Jessie James allegedly used this place as his hideout, and I like cowboys. I am sure that this little exhibit must just be an appetite wetter and tension builder for the history steeped goodies to come. Next stop in our 6 billion year old cavern is a tiny little hole next to a concrete walkway, which was allegedly used as part of a TV program 10 years ago. A married couple apparently spent a week here in a tent and were filmed doing so, or something. It’s awesome stuff, and Amanda sounds particularly proud as she regales her script with monotone robotic expressiveness.
Next we enter the Jessie James cave. This will justify the $20 entry fee, I am sure of it. We enter the room and Amanda flicks a light switch. In front of us and cordoned off by a security rope is a cardboard cutout of Jessie James and his equally famous brother Frank holding a shovel. Jessie’s leg is falling off slightly and they both have shocked expressions on their faces. Perhaps they too cannot believe we have just paid $20 for this. Amanda begins, “Jessie James and his brother were once chased into this cave by a band of lawmen in the 1870s. They promptly escaped by diving into one of its many underground streams and swimming to their safety. I can tell some of you are very excited so I will pause for ten minutes so you can all pose for photographs and savor this part of the tour...”
I look around. It’s a cave. A very dark cave. With a shabby cardboard cutout about 3ft tall illuminated by a light bulb hanging directly above it. We are standing on a manmade concrete walkway. I wonder just how authentic this tour actually is. Did Jessie James actually stand 3 feet tall with a partially severed left leg? Why did he need to carry a big shovel into a cave when he was on the run trying to escape from the police? I feel slightly duped. Even more depressing is the fact that people are actually posing for pictures. I turn to Keef to make a joke out of the situation but he is no longer next to me. Instead he is now standing in line behind a bunch of school children patiently waiting his turn to take a picture. I guess like the school children, he too wants to remember this day forever.
After another hour or so of misery, we are lead into the largest cave of them all for our finale. Amanda tells us that this final cavern is called “The Theatre”. This raises my hopes slightly. Could it be that by sheer fluke of nature this cave actually resembles some kind of Shakespearian stage, surrounded and curtained by a glittering array of stalactites? Close, but no, it is actually named thus on account of it’s square concreted area, plastic seating and littering of metallic handrails. It even has wheelchair access. So nice to see such history remaining unchanged for so many millions of years and preserved in it’s natural state.
We take our seats. In front of us hang a multitude of stalactites about 50ft high and 30ft wide. They are impressive. Apparently they grow about a cm every 100 years. A bit like Orlando Bloom’s facial hair. Amanda takes her place on a podium with a switchboard in front of her. “So this is now the moment y’all been waiting for. Our world famous audio visual light display…” I consider pyrotechnics for a brief second, and then curse myself for being an idiot. Pyrotechnics would actually be quite cool, and somehow I doubt Disney feel very threatened by what we are about to witness. She presses play on her iPod Nano and “God Bless America” begins to fill the “auditorium”, then with a large clink she flicks a light switch and a gigantic red beam illuminates the stalactites.
What happens next we are utterly dumbfounded by. The ensuing display of human talent and dedication I am confident will live with each one of us till the end of our days. It had crossed my mind that we would be watching a computerized light display timed to coincide with the aforementioned song, but we are thrown completely off guard when Amanda lurches forward into action and begins to flick light switches at will to coincide with the changing music. Slowly at first she caresses each switch with her fingers throwing a different shade of light onto the spikes in front of us, each switch making an extremely audible clunk like the triggering of a sample on a drum machine. Gradually though she begins to pick up the pace, flicking the switches right then left, moving up to two hands, faster and faster with pure effortlessness. It is beautiful, like watching Fred Astaire skip from toe to toe at the height of his career, or witnessing Van Gogh gently dabbing the finishing touches to his Sunflowers.
“CLUNK! CLICK! CLICK! CLUNK!” The sounds of the switchboard are now so loud that they are drowning out the music. Amanda’s hands are now a complete blur and her face a sweaty mass of concentration, tongue aggressively poking out of her mouth to one side. The stalactites shimmer as they are swathed in heavenly gleams of jumping light. It seems possible that smoke will emanate from Amanda’s fingers at any second, as we each continue to stare in disbelief at the rainbow strobe lighted Fantasia-esque display flashing in front of us. Timed to complete perfection, it is truly magical.
An old man in front of us begins to shake vigorously. At first I fear some kind of epilepsy attack, but as he stands to his feet it becomes apparent that he is actually clapping and cheering as loud as he can. The people around him jump to their feet whooping and hollering, and before we know it we are on our feet too, mouths slightly open in amazement. It was awesome. It was our Meramec moment, and once again America does not disappoint us. We wait our turn to congratulate Amanda on our way out of the theatre and ask her if she will sign our programs. She obliges us, though our time with her is brief as she tends to other fans and then quickly disappears back into her dressing room, probably to compose herself for her next performance/tour. My US tour has reached a new peak. Meramec Caves. Next week we head to SxSW Festival in Austin. It has a tough act to follow. LMD.
Location: St Louis, Missouri
Arrive in St Louis around 4pm and head to our hotel to freshen up. My Tour Manager Keef decides not to have a shave. After his speeding warning this morning I have noticed a slight change in him. This inconsequential brush with the law, combined with a throwaway comment made by a shop assistant that he looks a little like Ryan Reynolds seems to have gone to his head a little and he has been walking around all day with a swagger and confidence not too dissimilar to that of James Bond. I have a feeling we will hear more from him later in the tour.
Tonight we play Cicero’s. Sound check is uneventful. For the first time in the tour though one thing is becoming apparent - night after night of relentless gigs and shenanigans are finally catching up with us. We are due onstage at 10pm, and by 9pm, unbeknownst to the fans inside the venue we have crawled off to the car park and all fallen asleep inside the tour van. Fifty - five minutes later and we are rudely awoken by the intrusively banal alarm tone of my iPhone. I have a handprint on my face where I fell asleep and I am due onstage in five minutes. As you can probably tell, I am extremely particular about my pre-show preparations.
The gig itself goes surprisingly well. I Debut new song “I Don’t Believe You, Alison” and chat with fans afterwards, saying hello to everyone who has made the journey to Missouri. 11.38pm and we resume our horizontal positions back inside the tour van in the parking lot.
Sat 12th March 2011
Location: St Louis, Missouri
Spend the day walking around St. Louis and take a trip to the famous St. Louis arch. It’s absolutely huge and well worth a visit. Have the evening off so decide to embrace American culture to it’s fullest and go ten-pin bowling. Can’t remember who won..
Sun 13th March 2011
Location: St Louis, Missouri to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Long, long, long drive to Oklahoma City from St Louis. Along the way we keep seeing a billboard for Meramec Caves. This doesn’t appear too interesting at first as none of us have ever heard of it before, but by the fourteenth signpost we are becoming more than a little intrigued. “Come visit the amazing Meramec Caves! You will not be disappointed!”, “Meramec Caves – Jessie James world famous hideout!”, “Meramec Caves – You have to see it to believe it!”. After seeing these advertisements for the best part of two hours, by the time we reach the exit we feel like no trip to the USA would actually be complete without visiting these caves and it is a done deal. We are now extremely excited that we were fortunate enough to pass by one of the wonders of the world completely by accident and pull into the parking lot with camera’s at the ready.
We each part with 20 bucks and approach the caves wide eyed under the close supervision of our group’s tour guide Amanda. Amanda is wearing a tight khaki safari outfit with a little scarf reminiscent of something I used to wear in the boy scouts. She also has a whistle around her neck. I wonder what use the whistle could possibly be down here. Surely a torch would be more effective?
It is an eerie feeling descending into caves as old as the Earth, and anticipation is high as we wonder out loud what secrets they may hold. The first thing we are shown is a large 20ft pendulum that was installed by a bunch of school kids in the 1960s. Notable because there are only two like it in the world. And also because it doesn’t work. Not a great start but I am still excited because Jessie James allegedly used this place as his hideout, and I like cowboys. I am sure that this little exhibit must just be an appetite wetter and tension builder for the history steeped goodies to come. Next stop in our 6 billion year old cavern is a tiny little hole next to a concrete walkway, which was allegedly used as part of a TV program 10 years ago. A married couple apparently spent a week here in a tent and were filmed doing so, or something. It’s awesome stuff, and Amanda sounds particularly proud as she regales her script with monotone robotic expressiveness.
Next we enter the Jessie James cave. This will justify the $20 entry fee, I am sure of it. We enter the room and Amanda flicks a light switch. In front of us and cordoned off by a security rope is a cardboard cutout of Jessie James and his equally famous brother Frank holding a shovel. Jessie’s leg is falling off slightly and they both have shocked expressions on their faces. Perhaps they too cannot believe we have just paid $20 for this. Amanda begins, “Jessie James and his brother were once chased into this cave by a band of lawmen in the 1870s. They promptly escaped by diving into one of its many underground streams and swimming to their safety. I can tell some of you are very excited so I will pause for ten minutes so you can all pose for photographs and savor this part of the tour...”
I look around. It’s a cave. A very dark cave. With a shabby cardboard cutout about 3ft tall illuminated by a light bulb hanging directly above it. We are standing on a manmade concrete walkway. I wonder just how authentic this tour actually is. Did Jessie James actually stand 3 feet tall with a partially severed left leg? Why did he need to carry a big shovel into a cave when he was on the run trying to escape from the police? I feel slightly duped. Even more depressing is the fact that people are actually posing for pictures. I turn to Keef to make a joke out of the situation but he is no longer next to me. Instead he is now standing in line behind a bunch of school children patiently waiting his turn to take a picture. I guess like the school children, he too wants to remember this day forever.
After another hour or so of misery, we are lead into the largest cave of them all for our finale. Amanda tells us that this final cavern is called “The Theatre”. This raises my hopes slightly. Could it be that by sheer fluke of nature this cave actually resembles some kind of Shakespearian stage, surrounded and curtained by a glittering array of stalactites? Close, but no, it is actually named thus on account of it’s square concreted area, plastic seating and littering of metallic handrails. It even has wheelchair access. So nice to see such history remaining unchanged for so many millions of years and preserved in it’s natural state.
We take our seats. In front of us hang a multitude of stalactites about 50ft high and 30ft wide. They are impressive. Apparently they grow about a cm every 100 years. A bit like Orlando Bloom’s facial hair. Amanda takes her place on a podium with a switchboard in front of her. “So this is now the moment y’all been waiting for. Our world famous audio visual light display…” I consider pyrotechnics for a brief second, and then curse myself for being an idiot. Pyrotechnics would actually be quite cool, and somehow I doubt Disney feel very threatened by what we are about to witness. She presses play on her iPod Nano and “God Bless America” begins to fill the “auditorium”, then with a large clink she flicks a light switch and a gigantic red beam illuminates the stalactites.
What happens next we are utterly dumbfounded by. The ensuing display of human talent and dedication I am confident will live with each one of us till the end of our days. It had crossed my mind that we would be watching a computerized light display timed to coincide with the aforementioned song, but we are thrown completely off guard when Amanda lurches forward into action and begins to flick light switches at will to coincide with the changing music. Slowly at first she caresses each switch with her fingers throwing a different shade of light onto the spikes in front of us, each switch making an extremely audible clunk like the triggering of a sample on a drum machine. Gradually though she begins to pick up the pace, flicking the switches right then left, moving up to two hands, faster and faster with pure effortlessness. It is beautiful, like watching Fred Astaire skip from toe to toe at the height of his career, or witnessing Van Gogh gently dabbing the finishing touches to his Sunflowers.
“CLUNK! CLICK! CLICK! CLUNK!” The sounds of the switchboard are now so loud that they are drowning out the music. Amanda’s hands are now a complete blur and her face a sweaty mass of concentration, tongue aggressively poking out of her mouth to one side. The stalactites shimmer as they are swathed in heavenly gleams of jumping light. It seems possible that smoke will emanate from Amanda’s fingers at any second, as we each continue to stare in disbelief at the rainbow strobe lighted Fantasia-esque display flashing in front of us. Timed to complete perfection, it is truly magical.
An old man in front of us begins to shake vigorously. At first I fear some kind of epilepsy attack, but as he stands to his feet it becomes apparent that he is actually clapping and cheering as loud as he can. The people around him jump to their feet whooping and hollering, and before we know it we are on our feet too, mouths slightly open in amazement. It was awesome. It was our Meramec moment, and once again America does not disappoint us. We wait our turn to congratulate Amanda on our way out of the theatre and ask her if she will sign our programs. She obliges us, though our time with her is brief as she tends to other fans and then quickly disappears back into her dressing room, probably to compose herself for her next performance/tour. My US tour has reached a new peak. Meramec Caves. Next week we head to SxSW Festival in Austin. It has a tough act to follow. LMD.
Thanks Lee for giving us the details of your US Tour!
mercoledì 20 aprile 2011
I VAMPIRI DI “TWILIGHT” INVADONO NAPOLI
Dal 10 al 12 giugno gli attori del cast della saga-cult incontrano i fan italiani.
ROMA - Dopo il successo dell’edizione romana del 2010, torna la Twilight Ita Con 2, la prima convention italiana dedicata alla saga vampiresca di “Twilight”. In attesa dell’uscita al cinema dell’ultimo capitolo, gli attori del cast sbarcano a Napoli per incontrare i fan dal 10 al 12 giugno 2011 all’Hotel Futura.Il “weekend al sangue”, organizzato dall’associazione culturale Fantasy Events (http://www.fantasyevents.it/), coinvolgerà il pubblico del bestseller letterario di Stephenie Meyer in una serie di eventi imperdibili con gli attori e altri ospiti legati all’universo fantasy. I primi cinque ospiti internazionali che hanno confermato la presenza all’evento sono: - Peter Facinelli (interpreta il capofamiglia Carlisle Cullen nella saga vampiresca, che Forbes ha decretato come il personaggio di fiction più ricco dopo Paperon De’ Paperoni), protagonista della serie tv “Nurse Jackie” e marito di Jennie Garth, alias Kelly di “Beverly Hills, 90210; - Charlie Bewley (alias Demetri, uno dei vampiri a guardia dei Volturi), giovane talento inglese già amato dal pubblico italiano fin dalle riprese di “New Moon” a Montepulciano);- Bill Tangradi (dà il volto a Randall, un vampiro nomade alleato dei Cullen), già visto nell’horror “Murder Party”;- Guri Weinberg (Stefan, un vampiro del clan rumeno) ha lavorato in “Munich”, pellicola plurinominata agli Oscar; - Casey LeBow (la vampira Kate del clan dei Denali), prossimamente in “Skateland” con la collega di “Twilight” Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen). Gli attori incontreranno i fan durante il welcome cocktail, il ballo a tema vampiresco (il Twilighters Ball) e i numerosi appuntamenti della convention che comprendono: panel, sessioni di autografi e foto e “meet & greet”. Nel fitto programma sono inclusi anche: karaoke night, gara di cosplay, incontri tra i fanclub e concerti. Gli ospiti musicali internazionali sono Lee MacDougall (in uscita a breve con il primo cd, in collaborazione con il produttore Jim Lowe, dopo aver aperto concerti di artisti del calibro di Bob Dylan e Paolo Nutini) e Tom Bertram (artista emergente inglese). A chiudere l’evento ci penseranno le Yavanna, il trio che ha incantato il pubblico italiano di “X-Factor”. Un’altra saga fantasy sta conquistando il mercato mondiale, uscita in Italia per Mondadori con il titolo di “Shadowhunters” (per 28 settimane nella classifica dei bestseller del New York Times) e ha attualmente un film in produzione. L’autrice americana, Cassandra Clare, incontrerà il pubblico italiano proprio durante la Twi Ita Con 2.Fantasy Events attualmente supporta anche la Croce Rossa giapponese aderendo a Fandom4Tsunami (http://fandomfightstsunami.blogspot.com/) e Twihards for Japan (http://www.edwardsmeadow.com/twihardsforjapan.html). L’associazione ha donato all’asta delle due iniziative le foto autografate degli attori presenti alla Twi Ita Con del 2010: Gil Birmingham, Daniel Cudmore, Alex Meraz e Justin Chon.Per partecipare alla convention i fan possono collegarsi al sito http://www.fantasyevents.it/ anche attraverso i telefonini touch e devono munirsi di una delle cinque tipologie di pass (i posti sono 500), che permettono l’accesso ad appuntamenti esclusivi dell’evento. Attualmente hanno dato la propria adesione fan provenienti dai seguenti Paesi: Francia, Germania, Inghilterra, Danimarca, Svizzera, Grecia e Russia.
Per ulteriori informazioni, accediti, foto e video della prima edizione dell’evento o richieste di interviste, i giornalisti interessati possono contattare il nostro ufficio stampa all’indirizzo email: press@fantasyevents.it.
Clicca qui per lo spot della Convention: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HOg21atsek
LA SAGA DI TWILIGHT
La saga ha venduto oltre 120 milioni di copie, con diritti di traduzione in quasi 50 Paesi. Il primo libro, Twilight, è stato scritto da Stephenie Meyer nel 2006. In Italia Fazi Editore ha venduto 4 milioni di copie della saga che comprende 4 romanzi: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse e Breaking Dawn. Il 21 aprile esce anche in Italia “La guida ufficiale illustrata alla saga di Twilight”, che racconta curiosità e dettagli inediti sul fenomeno letterario vampiresco del momento. Nel 2008 il bestseller è diventato un film, distribuito nella Penisola da Eagle Pictures assieme ai due sequel, New Moon (girato in parte a Montepulciano) ed Eclipse. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” sarà infine raccontato in due pellicole, in uscita il 18 novembre 2011 e il 16 novembre 2012. Le riprese, tra il Canada e il Brasile, sono terminate da pochi giorni. I film sono particolarmente attesi perché racconteranno il matrimonio tra il vampiro Edward e l’umana Bella, la loro prima notte di nozze, la gravidanza travagliata della prima figlia e la grande battaglia finale con i Volturi, la dinastia regale vampiresca che ha sede a Volterra, in Italia.Il film “Twilight” ha incassato oltre 392 milioni di dollari nel mondo (a fronte di un budget di 37 milioni), “New Moon” ha superato i 700 milioni, mentre “Eclipse” ha quasi sfiorato i 700 milioni e ha vinto il premio del pubblico come “Miglior DVD” agli “Italian DVD & Blu-Ray Awards 2010”, assegnati il 18 aprile 2011 a Roma. La saga ha consacrato nello star system i due protagonisti Robert Pattinson (il vampiro Edward) e Kristen Stewart (la sua amata umana, Bella) che la classifica 2010 di Forbes ha inserito tra le 100 celebrità più influenti di Hollywood: l’attore inglese si posiziona al 50° posto mentre la collega conquista il 66°.
ROMA - Dopo il successo dell’edizione romana del 2010, torna la Twilight Ita Con 2, la prima convention italiana dedicata alla saga vampiresca di “Twilight”. In attesa dell’uscita al cinema dell’ultimo capitolo, gli attori del cast sbarcano a Napoli per incontrare i fan dal 10 al 12 giugno 2011 all’Hotel Futura.Il “weekend al sangue”, organizzato dall’associazione culturale Fantasy Events (http://www.fantasyevents.it/), coinvolgerà il pubblico del bestseller letterario di Stephenie Meyer in una serie di eventi imperdibili con gli attori e altri ospiti legati all’universo fantasy. I primi cinque ospiti internazionali che hanno confermato la presenza all’evento sono: - Peter Facinelli (interpreta il capofamiglia Carlisle Cullen nella saga vampiresca, che Forbes ha decretato come il personaggio di fiction più ricco dopo Paperon De’ Paperoni), protagonista della serie tv “Nurse Jackie” e marito di Jennie Garth, alias Kelly di “Beverly Hills, 90210; - Charlie Bewley (alias Demetri, uno dei vampiri a guardia dei Volturi), giovane talento inglese già amato dal pubblico italiano fin dalle riprese di “New Moon” a Montepulciano);- Bill Tangradi (dà il volto a Randall, un vampiro nomade alleato dei Cullen), già visto nell’horror “Murder Party”;- Guri Weinberg (Stefan, un vampiro del clan rumeno) ha lavorato in “Munich”, pellicola plurinominata agli Oscar; - Casey LeBow (la vampira Kate del clan dei Denali), prossimamente in “Skateland” con la collega di “Twilight” Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen). Gli attori incontreranno i fan durante il welcome cocktail, il ballo a tema vampiresco (il Twilighters Ball) e i numerosi appuntamenti della convention che comprendono: panel, sessioni di autografi e foto e “meet & greet”. Nel fitto programma sono inclusi anche: karaoke night, gara di cosplay, incontri tra i fanclub e concerti. Gli ospiti musicali internazionali sono Lee MacDougall (in uscita a breve con il primo cd, in collaborazione con il produttore Jim Lowe, dopo aver aperto concerti di artisti del calibro di Bob Dylan e Paolo Nutini) e Tom Bertram (artista emergente inglese). A chiudere l’evento ci penseranno le Yavanna, il trio che ha incantato il pubblico italiano di “X-Factor”. Un’altra saga fantasy sta conquistando il mercato mondiale, uscita in Italia per Mondadori con il titolo di “Shadowhunters” (per 28 settimane nella classifica dei bestseller del New York Times) e ha attualmente un film in produzione. L’autrice americana, Cassandra Clare, incontrerà il pubblico italiano proprio durante la Twi Ita Con 2.Fantasy Events attualmente supporta anche la Croce Rossa giapponese aderendo a Fandom4Tsunami (http://fandomfightstsunami.blogspot.com/) e Twihards for Japan (http://www.edwardsmeadow.com/twihardsforjapan.html). L’associazione ha donato all’asta delle due iniziative le foto autografate degli attori presenti alla Twi Ita Con del 2010: Gil Birmingham, Daniel Cudmore, Alex Meraz e Justin Chon.Per partecipare alla convention i fan possono collegarsi al sito http://www.fantasyevents.it/ anche attraverso i telefonini touch e devono munirsi di una delle cinque tipologie di pass (i posti sono 500), che permettono l’accesso ad appuntamenti esclusivi dell’evento. Attualmente hanno dato la propria adesione fan provenienti dai seguenti Paesi: Francia, Germania, Inghilterra, Danimarca, Svizzera, Grecia e Russia.
Per ulteriori informazioni, accediti, foto e video della prima edizione dell’evento o richieste di interviste, i giornalisti interessati possono contattare il nostro ufficio stampa all’indirizzo email: press@fantasyevents.it.
Clicca qui per lo spot della Convention: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HOg21atsek
LA SAGA DI TWILIGHT
La saga ha venduto oltre 120 milioni di copie, con diritti di traduzione in quasi 50 Paesi. Il primo libro, Twilight, è stato scritto da Stephenie Meyer nel 2006. In Italia Fazi Editore ha venduto 4 milioni di copie della saga che comprende 4 romanzi: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse e Breaking Dawn. Il 21 aprile esce anche in Italia “La guida ufficiale illustrata alla saga di Twilight”, che racconta curiosità e dettagli inediti sul fenomeno letterario vampiresco del momento. Nel 2008 il bestseller è diventato un film, distribuito nella Penisola da Eagle Pictures assieme ai due sequel, New Moon (girato in parte a Montepulciano) ed Eclipse. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” sarà infine raccontato in due pellicole, in uscita il 18 novembre 2011 e il 16 novembre 2012. Le riprese, tra il Canada e il Brasile, sono terminate da pochi giorni. I film sono particolarmente attesi perché racconteranno il matrimonio tra il vampiro Edward e l’umana Bella, la loro prima notte di nozze, la gravidanza travagliata della prima figlia e la grande battaglia finale con i Volturi, la dinastia regale vampiresca che ha sede a Volterra, in Italia.Il film “Twilight” ha incassato oltre 392 milioni di dollari nel mondo (a fronte di un budget di 37 milioni), “New Moon” ha superato i 700 milioni, mentre “Eclipse” ha quasi sfiorato i 700 milioni e ha vinto il premio del pubblico come “Miglior DVD” agli “Italian DVD & Blu-Ray Awards 2010”, assegnati il 18 aprile 2011 a Roma. La saga ha consacrato nello star system i due protagonisti Robert Pattinson (il vampiro Edward) e Kristen Stewart (la sua amata umana, Bella) che la classifica 2010 di Forbes ha inserito tra le 100 celebrità più influenti di Hollywood: l’attore inglese si posiziona al 50° posto mentre la collega conquista il 66°.
lunedì 18 aprile 2011
Hai una domanda per Lee MacDougall? Dillo a Noi!!!
Lee MacDougall sarà uno degli ospiti musicali della Twilight ItaCon2 di Napoli che si terrà dal 10 al 12 Giugno 2011.
In occasione del concerto di Lee, che avrà luogo sabato 11 Giugno, e grazie alla collaborazione con RadioEffeDue (la Radio ufficiale dell'evento) vi diamo la possibilità di diventare parte interattiva dell'intervista che realizzeremo con il talentuoso menestrello Britannico.
Fateci pervenire le domande che vorreste porre a Lee mandando un' e-mail a:
Le più interessanti saranno parte integrante dell'intervista!!!
TOCCA A VOI!!!!!!!!!!!
Per acquistare i biglietti del concerto di Lee, click here!
---------------------------------------------------
Lee MacDougall will be one of the guests at the next Twilight Ita Con settled in Naples from the 10th to the 12th of June, 2011.
Thanks to the co operation with Radio Effe Due (the official radio of the event) there will be the chance to be part of the interview that will be arranged in the day of his concert, June the 11th, 2011, that will take place in the convention.
Thanks to the co operation with Radio Effe Due (the official radio of the event) there will be the chance to be part of the interview that will be arranged in the day of his concert, June the 11th, 2011, that will take place in the convention.
Send you questions for Lee: leemacdougall.italia@gmail.com
sabato 16 aprile 2011
venerdì 15 aprile 2011
mercoledì 13 aprile 2011
martedì 12 aprile 2011
sabato 9 aprile 2011
*EXCLUSIVE* Here NEW Pics from 'Elbo Room' in San Francisco
In order Kathy, Lee, Sheri & Erma Jo Kirk Hewett.
Again, thanks girls so much for sharing with us these great photos!
American Tour Diary: Blog 4 - Memphis to St Louis
Tues 8th March 2011
Location: Memphis, Tennessee – Nashville, Tennessee
Up at 7am for a morning television slot on Memphis’s “Live at 9” show. Try to cover our obvious lack of sleep by muscling in on some of the make-up being applied via shovel to our hosts, but to our vanity’s dismay they are reluctant to share. Bleary eyed we are sandwiched between a political debate and a garden plant study and we give a short interview before performing “Joanna” and “FallingInLoveForTheLastTime”. It feels funny doing a gig at 9 in the morning and we are all a bit delirious after only a few hours’ kip, but it seems to go pretty well. My phone vibrates for the next few hours from friends and family back in Old Blighty who have been watching the online streams.
We only have a few hours in Memphis before we have to leave for Nashville, so we only have time to make one touristy visit. It’s an easy decision to make, Graceland – the home of Elvis Aaron Presley. Elvis has always been a massive influence on me, and I pretty much believe he possessed the greatest voice I’ve ever heard. We are somewhat expectant of an anti-climax but fortunately Elvis doesn’t disappoint. Any dude that carpets his walls with green shag pile and has a mirrored ceiling is awesome in my book. And although he pretty much had the worst taste in home décor I’ve ever seen – it is exactly what we all wanted to see. We sample the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, suffer mild heart attacks, and after sending my Mum and Dad a postcard, we leave satisfied.
Drive three hours through Tennessee to Nashville, and hit the town as soon as we arrive. None of us have ever been to Nashville before and we are literally blown away by how cool it is. Broadway is just bar after bar of classic music spilling out onto the streets and walking along the sidewalk is like skipping through tracks on your iPod every five and a half seconds. After several drinks in several bars all hosting some of the most amazing musicians we have ever seen, we settle on the famous “Tootsie’s”. It’s possibly the smallest, sweatiest and most cramped bar in all of Nashville, but the atmosphere is electric. My only real memory is that of losing my passport, and after drunkenly accusing every long-haired Nashvillian I could find, I produced it from my trouser pocket ten minutes later. Not sure when or how we got home, but I do know we had a bloody good time.
Wed 9th March 2011
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Sleep in. Late. Walk back into Broadway for a photo session. It’s funny seeing the scene of last night’s crimes in broad daylight. It’s 3pm and I expect all to be quiet, but still the music continues. Nashville really lives up to its reputation.
Tonight we play at Third and Lindsley. It’s a brilliant crowd and once again we are overawed by everyone’s enthusiasm and receive many more amazing gifts and words of support. It’s a great gig, possibly inspired by the free shots of bourbon that keep being delivered to the stage. It would seem America has found our weakness! Again it is great putting faces to so many names of friends and followers from Twitter and Facebook and after an hour and a half of signing CDs and posters and posing for photographs, another awesome Nashville band take to the stage. We’re all having a great night and so we stay in the venue and hang out with some of the lovely ladies who have come to see us and enjoy another brilliant night of drinks and music.
Thurs 10th March 2011
Location: Nashville, Tennessee – Louisville, Kentucky
Getting surprisingly good at handling the hangovers that this tour is throwing at us. We make the four-hour morning drive to rain-soaked Louisville in good time. Or so we think. Later we learn that we crossed a time zone en-route and we spend our first couple of hours in Louisville living an hour into the future. The weather is Baltic and Robbie breaks out his Russian head attire once more. Looks like we’re gonna have to wait until Texas before we can continue the suntans we started yesterday.
After a stroll around town we head to the impressive WFPK radio station offices for an interview with DJ Laura. As well as playing “She” and “Joanna”, we film performances of “Stay” and “This Is My Story” in the gigantic live room. We later learn it is quite a popular show that seemingly everyone in Louisville has listened to whilst at work during the day. Louisville is a really cool looking place, with lots of quirky little shops reminiscent to us of Atlanta. We spend a good hour in the Guitar Emporium where I let it be known which instruments I want for my birthday, though somehow I have a feeling the boys will instead present me a Kazoo they have fashioned out of some toilet paper and a comb.
The gig itself takes place at Zanzabar, a 50s retro Americana looking venue that makes us feel very welcome. I slip into our green room which is actually a house that we have been given the keys to, and I do an interview with Noelle from the Sandbar website. She is extremely alluring and I actually find myself hoping that it is true what they say about the effects of the English accent. Three minutes in and I am already impersonating Prince Charles. The support act is Justin Lewis, a dude with a voice that belies his age and well worth checking out. The night ends well with another appreciative crowd and more drinks and music into the early hours. I didn’t know too much about Kentucky, but I’m already looking forward to coming back. George Clooney was born here too, and luckily for us the guys not all of the guys look like him.
Fri 11th March 2011
Location: Louisville, Kentucky – St Louis, Missouri
Hit the road to St Louis. To say we are looking a little rough is like saying Charlie Sheen is only mildly fond of the occasional beer. Ten minutes onto the freeway and Keef eyes the Five O in his rear view mirror, lights blazing. Surely the cops aren’t flashing us? Keef speeds up to overtake the car alongside us in the next lane, thinking the cops are maybe just wanting to get past. However this only seems to piss them off even more. We pull over and await our fait. As the officer approaches our van I look around me. Empty beer and whiskey bottles litter the floor, there is underwear strewn across the backseat and we are clearly wearing yesterday’s clothes. This doesn’t bode well.
Mr. Policeman taps on the glass and gestures Keef to wind down the window. I whisper to him just to be cool and agree with whatever he says. Keef winds down the window, and then to my and Rob’s dismay, he actually grins the words “What seems to be the problem officer?” I fear we are now doomed. Mr. Policeman looks inside the van and raises a hairy eyebrow. “License please.” Keef fumbles around inside his jacket and hands over his photo ID complete with dodgy early 90s crew cut and Burberry football hooligan expression. “Where you boys headed in such a hurry?” the lawman inquires slowly and suspiciously. I spy the gun attached to his waist. It is big. I assume it fires real bullets and stuff. Keef lets out a nervous laugh and says “Oh it’s cool we’re musicians on our way to a show.” I put my head in my hands. Musicians = drugs = some form of search. Hopefully not the erotic variety.
I reach for the glove box thinking perhaps I can salvage the situation by offering him a complimentary CD, but quickly retract my arm as Mr. Policeman’s hand twitches over his gun. “Keep your hands where I can see them Sir.” He bellows now looking irritated. He removes his shades and takes another long hard look inside the van. “Any idea how fast you were going young man?” he says to my perspiring compatriot. “Errr…” in desperation Keef actually looks towards Richard our GPS device, in the hope that he might actually come to life and help us smooth talk our way out of the situation. But Richard remains silent. Probably doing his Pilates or something. “Well I thought I was inside the limit, maybe I was going a couple over, but not much,” Keef says back in his bestest, poshest accent of the Queen. “Well you were doing 76 miles an hour, and this is a 65 zone…” I stare out of the window ahead. To rub salt into the wound, there is actually a 75 zone sign about 30 feet in front of us. There is a pause and a silence. “Hold on a moment please.” Mr. Policeman walks back to his car and we see him pick up the radio. Robbie wants to take his photograph so that we can document the occasion in the tour photo album. Although I think this is a really cool idea I tell him that it is probably not a very cool idea.
Unfamiliar with the US legal system we start to panic a little. Keef thinks he may still actually be drunk from the night before. Its 11.08am and he says he remembers still having a Southern Comfort in his hand at 5. Awesome time to break that one to us Keef. No driver = end of tour. However I am now more concerned about the amount of drugs we have on us, and when I say drugs, I mean Paracetemol and Advil. My dear mother was so concerned that we may suffer from headaches and stomach upsets whilst on this trip, that she packed me with enough pills to open my own CVS. To me, it is overbearing parent. To the outside world, it is extremely suspicious. In my sleep deprived, paranoid state I actually consider emptying the pills out of my window. Oh yeah, cos that wouldn’t look suspicious now would it?
Once more Mr. Policeman grows larger in the rear view mirror. “Ok. I’m gonna cut you guys a break. Watch your speed.” Amazingly, he hands over a written warning and turns to head back to his car. I sense Keef about to open his mouth to say something witty and quickly jab him in the ribs. I start to feel like some kind of higher power is now actually guiding us through this epic journey, protecting us from the many perils and obstacles thrown in front of us, so that we may remain unscathed and can successfully complete our task. I think I need more sleep. The tour is back on. St Louis, clean clothes and a shower, here we come… LMD
Location: Memphis, Tennessee – Nashville, Tennessee
Up at 7am for a morning television slot on Memphis’s “Live at 9” show. Try to cover our obvious lack of sleep by muscling in on some of the make-up being applied via shovel to our hosts, but to our vanity’s dismay they are reluctant to share. Bleary eyed we are sandwiched between a political debate and a garden plant study and we give a short interview before performing “Joanna” and “FallingInLoveForTheLastTime”. It feels funny doing a gig at 9 in the morning and we are all a bit delirious after only a few hours’ kip, but it seems to go pretty well. My phone vibrates for the next few hours from friends and family back in Old Blighty who have been watching the online streams.
We only have a few hours in Memphis before we have to leave for Nashville, so we only have time to make one touristy visit. It’s an easy decision to make, Graceland – the home of Elvis Aaron Presley. Elvis has always been a massive influence on me, and I pretty much believe he possessed the greatest voice I’ve ever heard. We are somewhat expectant of an anti-climax but fortunately Elvis doesn’t disappoint. Any dude that carpets his walls with green shag pile and has a mirrored ceiling is awesome in my book. And although he pretty much had the worst taste in home décor I’ve ever seen – it is exactly what we all wanted to see. We sample the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, suffer mild heart attacks, and after sending my Mum and Dad a postcard, we leave satisfied.
Drive three hours through Tennessee to Nashville, and hit the town as soon as we arrive. None of us have ever been to Nashville before and we are literally blown away by how cool it is. Broadway is just bar after bar of classic music spilling out onto the streets and walking along the sidewalk is like skipping through tracks on your iPod every five and a half seconds. After several drinks in several bars all hosting some of the most amazing musicians we have ever seen, we settle on the famous “Tootsie’s”. It’s possibly the smallest, sweatiest and most cramped bar in all of Nashville, but the atmosphere is electric. My only real memory is that of losing my passport, and after drunkenly accusing every long-haired Nashvillian I could find, I produced it from my trouser pocket ten minutes later. Not sure when or how we got home, but I do know we had a bloody good time.
Wed 9th March 2011
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Sleep in. Late. Walk back into Broadway for a photo session. It’s funny seeing the scene of last night’s crimes in broad daylight. It’s 3pm and I expect all to be quiet, but still the music continues. Nashville really lives up to its reputation.
Tonight we play at Third and Lindsley. It’s a brilliant crowd and once again we are overawed by everyone’s enthusiasm and receive many more amazing gifts and words of support. It’s a great gig, possibly inspired by the free shots of bourbon that keep being delivered to the stage. It would seem America has found our weakness! Again it is great putting faces to so many names of friends and followers from Twitter and Facebook and after an hour and a half of signing CDs and posters and posing for photographs, another awesome Nashville band take to the stage. We’re all having a great night and so we stay in the venue and hang out with some of the lovely ladies who have come to see us and enjoy another brilliant night of drinks and music.
Thurs 10th March 2011
Location: Nashville, Tennessee – Louisville, Kentucky
Getting surprisingly good at handling the hangovers that this tour is throwing at us. We make the four-hour morning drive to rain-soaked Louisville in good time. Or so we think. Later we learn that we crossed a time zone en-route and we spend our first couple of hours in Louisville living an hour into the future. The weather is Baltic and Robbie breaks out his Russian head attire once more. Looks like we’re gonna have to wait until Texas before we can continue the suntans we started yesterday.
After a stroll around town we head to the impressive WFPK radio station offices for an interview with DJ Laura. As well as playing “She” and “Joanna”, we film performances of “Stay” and “This Is My Story” in the gigantic live room. We later learn it is quite a popular show that seemingly everyone in Louisville has listened to whilst at work during the day. Louisville is a really cool looking place, with lots of quirky little shops reminiscent to us of Atlanta. We spend a good hour in the Guitar Emporium where I let it be known which instruments I want for my birthday, though somehow I have a feeling the boys will instead present me a Kazoo they have fashioned out of some toilet paper and a comb.
The gig itself takes place at Zanzabar, a 50s retro Americana looking venue that makes us feel very welcome. I slip into our green room which is actually a house that we have been given the keys to, and I do an interview with Noelle from the Sandbar website. She is extremely alluring and I actually find myself hoping that it is true what they say about the effects of the English accent. Three minutes in and I am already impersonating Prince Charles. The support act is Justin Lewis, a dude with a voice that belies his age and well worth checking out. The night ends well with another appreciative crowd and more drinks and music into the early hours. I didn’t know too much about Kentucky, but I’m already looking forward to coming back. George Clooney was born here too, and luckily for us the guys not all of the guys look like him.
Fri 11th March 2011
Location: Louisville, Kentucky – St Louis, Missouri
Hit the road to St Louis. To say we are looking a little rough is like saying Charlie Sheen is only mildly fond of the occasional beer. Ten minutes onto the freeway and Keef eyes the Five O in his rear view mirror, lights blazing. Surely the cops aren’t flashing us? Keef speeds up to overtake the car alongside us in the next lane, thinking the cops are maybe just wanting to get past. However this only seems to piss them off even more. We pull over and await our fait. As the officer approaches our van I look around me. Empty beer and whiskey bottles litter the floor, there is underwear strewn across the backseat and we are clearly wearing yesterday’s clothes. This doesn’t bode well.
Mr. Policeman taps on the glass and gestures Keef to wind down the window. I whisper to him just to be cool and agree with whatever he says. Keef winds down the window, and then to my and Rob’s dismay, he actually grins the words “What seems to be the problem officer?” I fear we are now doomed. Mr. Policeman looks inside the van and raises a hairy eyebrow. “License please.” Keef fumbles around inside his jacket and hands over his photo ID complete with dodgy early 90s crew cut and Burberry football hooligan expression. “Where you boys headed in such a hurry?” the lawman inquires slowly and suspiciously. I spy the gun attached to his waist. It is big. I assume it fires real bullets and stuff. Keef lets out a nervous laugh and says “Oh it’s cool we’re musicians on our way to a show.” I put my head in my hands. Musicians = drugs = some form of search. Hopefully not the erotic variety.
I reach for the glove box thinking perhaps I can salvage the situation by offering him a complimentary CD, but quickly retract my arm as Mr. Policeman’s hand twitches over his gun. “Keep your hands where I can see them Sir.” He bellows now looking irritated. He removes his shades and takes another long hard look inside the van. “Any idea how fast you were going young man?” he says to my perspiring compatriot. “Errr…” in desperation Keef actually looks towards Richard our GPS device, in the hope that he might actually come to life and help us smooth talk our way out of the situation. But Richard remains silent. Probably doing his Pilates or something. “Well I thought I was inside the limit, maybe I was going a couple over, but not much,” Keef says back in his bestest, poshest accent of the Queen. “Well you were doing 76 miles an hour, and this is a 65 zone…” I stare out of the window ahead. To rub salt into the wound, there is actually a 75 zone sign about 30 feet in front of us. There is a pause and a silence. “Hold on a moment please.” Mr. Policeman walks back to his car and we see him pick up the radio. Robbie wants to take his photograph so that we can document the occasion in the tour photo album. Although I think this is a really cool idea I tell him that it is probably not a very cool idea.
Unfamiliar with the US legal system we start to panic a little. Keef thinks he may still actually be drunk from the night before. Its 11.08am and he says he remembers still having a Southern Comfort in his hand at 5. Awesome time to break that one to us Keef. No driver = end of tour. However I am now more concerned about the amount of drugs we have on us, and when I say drugs, I mean Paracetemol and Advil. My dear mother was so concerned that we may suffer from headaches and stomach upsets whilst on this trip, that she packed me with enough pills to open my own CVS. To me, it is overbearing parent. To the outside world, it is extremely suspicious. In my sleep deprived, paranoid state I actually consider emptying the pills out of my window. Oh yeah, cos that wouldn’t look suspicious now would it?
Once more Mr. Policeman grows larger in the rear view mirror. “Ok. I’m gonna cut you guys a break. Watch your speed.” Amazingly, he hands over a written warning and turns to head back to his car. I sense Keef about to open his mouth to say something witty and quickly jab him in the ribs. I start to feel like some kind of higher power is now actually guiding us through this epic journey, protecting us from the many perils and obstacles thrown in front of us, so that we may remain unscathed and can successfully complete our task. I think I need more sleep. The tour is back on. St Louis, clean clothes and a shower, here we come… LMD
Thanks Lee for giving us the details of your US Tour!
giovedì 7 aprile 2011
sabato 2 aprile 2011
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