First Day in Melbourne, Australia

No time for a nap at the hotel, just grab a shower and head downstairs to meet some of the guys for lunch. We walk a few blocks to Japantown/Chinatown, but by then we'd decided to just wait and eat catering at the venue in a bit. Adam and I grab a couple of pieces of sushi to go cuz it's still gonna be a couple of hours before we get over there.

Arrive at the venue around 1:30. Catering doesn't look too interesting, so Darren and I go to the nearest chip shop and get some really good fish and chips.

Spent the rest of the afternoon working at the gig. Called my buddy Shabba, the dude who's out with Daughtry. They've got a gig about 7 blocks from the hotel, so I'm gonna go see him and catch the show later.

Back at the hotel a little after 6. Hook up with Dennis in the lobby at 7 and we head out to the Daughtry gig. A bunch of other people were gonna go, too, but everyone's beat and heading to bed by that time. No way I'm crashing this early – if I go to bed now, I'll be up by 1 or 2am and I just ain't having it.

So it's just me and Dennis. We jump a cab and get there in no time. I wanted to walk, but we didn't have solid directions. Turns out I had been within a block of the place this morning when I was walking around with the guys.

It was good to see Shabba. He and Dennis had never met, but they had one thing in common – they've both been using the same travel agent for years – Debra Copelan.

Shabba ushered us into the VIP area upstairs where the local Sony reps were entertaining some radio & retail folks. And of course they had a tab going at the bar. Now that's what I call a good time – free entertainment and an open bar.

We hung out with Shabba for about an hour before he had to get to work. In addition to being Daughtry's tour manager, he's also the Front of House Engineer. Got to hang a few minutes with Rock, one of the guitar techs, too. I've known him for about 8 years and he's married to a lovely young lady named Sooner Routhier, who is an LD. I worked with Sooner last year on the All-American Rejects tour and will be with her again on Rage Against The Machine, starting in January.

We watched the entire show (including the opening act, who were pretty good) from the VIP area. After the show went down, we spent a few more minutes with Shabba before heading back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Oh, yeah, thanks for the beers, Sony!