October 31, 2001
Happy Halloween everybody!

I have some exciting news that is unfortunately for the Dutch fans only.  Remember the Gelredome show from January 2001?  Venice and De Kast co-headlined a huge stadium concert, backed by an 80-piece orchestra.  Months later, highlights of the show were broadcast on television, but with a running time of only 90 minutes, with commercials.  Well, ProActs has just released a videotape containing the entire 2 1/2 hour unedited concert, featuring Venice's entire performance.  It can be ordered here.

Unfortunately, the tape is in PAL format, and there are no current plans to release an NTSC US-television-compatible version.  Sorry.

October 25, 2001
I ran across this review last night, which is extremely complimentary to Venice and to this website.  Check it out, and after you've done that, take a look at the rest of the site, which is also pretty cool.  Homepage is here.


October 19, 2001
Venice is still deep in writing mode.  They recently spent a week up at Hideaway Hill in Vista for an intense writing session that allowed them to finish three or four new songs, and get the ball rolling on many others.  February or March is still the projected release date for the next album.

I'm getting a lot of e-mail asking when the next shows will be.  Currently, the guys only have the two gigs booked: The house concert and the cruise.  There will be Christmas shows in December, but when and where has not yet been finalized.  Nor is any trip to Holland currently being planned.  The focus is on writing and recording right now, not on touring.  I promise you, the moment I hear anything, I'll post it on the Tour Dates page.  While I do love hearing from each and every one of you, asking me about this privately will not get you the information any faster.

In the meantime, here are some new video clips to tide you over.  First up, Venice's appearances on two episodes of the Dutch television series "Paradiso Live."  One episode was a tribute to the Beach Boys (which featured Venice's medley), and the other celebrated music from films by Quintin Tarantino (which allowed Venice to play "Stuck In the Middle With You").

Second, a very funny appearance on the Dutch program "De Staatsloterij," where Venice lip synches "Poor You, Poor Me, Poor Love."  The album version of the song is very different from the way they play it live, and you can see the band appreciating the absurdity of the situation every time two of the members catch each other's eye and try not to burst out laughing.  Watch Michael during the first part of the song, he cracks me up every time I see it.  Plus, a nice interview by Mark, making a rare appearance as band spokesperson.