Greetings and salutations to all of our friends out there in the internet world!

It's January 1st, and after the long tour and the Christmas shows here in California, and all the shopping and giving and recieving of the Holiday season, Michael and I are finally getting a chance to just relax with our families.  We're in Vista, California, up at the Hideaway Hill house where we usually come to write and demo new songs.  But this trip is all about just hanging out with the wives and kids and celebrating the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007.  Luckily for us, we're having some classic Vista weather...cloudless, sunny skies, chilly nights and mornings, but warm, summery days for swimming and relaxing etc.  The perfect end of a year that's been very busy and rewarding.

2006 started with us writing, rehearsing and arranging all the songs for the new album that would eventually be called "Amsterdam."  We had a great time making demos of all the new stuff, and having Nick Bult fly out to LA from Holland to join us.

Next it was two weeks in May, recording the album in a church in Amsterdam.  Such an amazing experience, working all together with not only the great musicians, but the audio team that recorded us, and the label that supported it all.  One big team working together.  Overall, we're really happy with the results, and "Amsterdam" is an album we can always play proudly and look back on as a great experience.  There were times when we really felt like one of those bands we used to read about growing up.  Artists from the 60's or 70's that got to travel somewhere and record a cool album.

The summer was full of doing the usual Summer things at home, mixed with gearing up for the big record release, which meant artwork for the album and planning shows for the big tour in the fall.  The release party at the Paradiso in Amsterdam was a blast.  It had been way too long since we'd done a big show in Holland, and we could feel the audience wanting a great show as much as we did.  So cool to do a bunch of the new songs with the full band that had recorded the album in May.  There is really no place like the Paradiso.  The energy and support we felt from the crowd was exactly what we'd hoped it would be and more.  A perfect way to get ready for a big tour.

Suddenly it was fall, and there we were on a KLM plane, leaving LA to go to the Netherlands for 9 weeks of touring and promotion.  It's always a bit daunting to leave home for such a long time, and for Michael and I it can be especially tough, of course, to be leaving the wives and kids for so long.  But the other side of the coin is that we feel so fortunate to be starting a brand new theater tour with a new album to promote.

We started off with some pre-tour rehearsals with the band.  We had a new drummer joining us for the first time, Martijn Bosman.  In Holland he is the drummer of a very succesful Dutch band called Kane.  Kind of a Bon Jovi meets U2.  He turned out to be not only a powerful, great drummer that brought a lot to our show, but a good guy that could hang with all the backstage jokes and songs in the van.  (We've been saying for years that we should record all of the songs we sing offstage -- a huge repertoire of funny with the majority of the songs being written by the genius, Mark Harris.  He's even written some Dutch ones.  I think if we ever did get around to recording it all, it would be the first Venice album with a parental warning sticker on it.  I feel honored to have had one written about me, although I can't say the title in polite company.  Good song, though.)

The tour began, and it was suddenly a whirlwind of shows and old friends and new songs.  There is nothing like the feeling of having a bunch of new songs and watching an audience slowly learning the words over the course of the tour.  It's the ultimate compliment and validation.  One of the things that keeps us inspired.  So much work and fun and time. 35 theater shows in 9 weeks, plus some extra shows as well.  One acoustic show at our hotel lobby on Mark Harris' birthday.  Another at Ilse DeLange's fan club show.  Along the way we changed the setlist around a lot, depending on the reaction we got from the songs, or how the band felt about playing the tunes.  Really felt good to dust off some old ones like "Very Real" and "Never Coming Back." And it was nice to see new ones become instant favorites with the crowds.  "Weight Has Been Lifted," "Rewind," "We're OK," "One More Song."  Plus, there is nothing more rewarding than when we do "The Family Tree" and the audience sings the whole last chorus together.

There were too many shows to remember them all specifically, but a few things come to mind.  Some towns we'd never been to before and some old favorites.  The beautiful new theater in Rotterdam, the amazing crowds, sing-along/party shows we always have in Groningen and Enschede, the funny, crazy energetic show in Den Haag (where some American woman walked up to Pat and tried to talk with him while he was standing in his spotlight at the edge of the stage playing the beginning of "One Quiet Day."  Pat couldn'r really hear her because he was wearing his ear monitors, but she just kept yapping and waving her arms until finally Michael yelled, "Hey!!  We're doing a show here!!!"  Later, during that same song, Mark Harris had his whole bass rig, the amp and speaker, fall off of his riser and sever the power line to the whole stage!!  Martijn played the drums while we got the audience to clap and sing along until our mighty crew patched things up enough to continue).

And the continuing adventures of doing a "Meet & Greet," night after night, after every show.  Many times people ask if we get tired of that part, but the truth is, it's one of the most rewarding things about touring.  Sure, the crazy schedule can be exhausting sometimes, and I won't pretend we don't feel occasionally like it would be nice to head back to the hotel right after the show, but going out to the lobby and hearing the Thank You's and stories first hand, meeting the people of all ages that are into what we do, it's an amazing part of what we get to do and we wouldn't trade it for anything.

So many things go into the making of our tours...  We have a crew of hardworking guys that show up to each town in the big rig hours before we do and get the job done night after night with no applause (except from us occasionally).  A road manager, Joost, who drove us (two to four hours of driving every night), babysat us and put up with all our jokes.  For a few shows we had a substitute keyboardist named Jasper Westerhof who learned our whole set very quickly so he could fill in for Nick whenever Nick had a show with Marco Borsato (kind of the Springsteen meets Garth Brooks of the Netherlands).  Jasper handled the job perfectly and was a great hang, even when we would add a new song to the setlist at the last minute.  Marius and Carolla Suiker using up most of their allotted holiday time to travel with us and set up and sell the merchandise year after year.  Management and label folks setting up TV appearances and radio shows.  And, of course, a band of talented guys that all want to do a better show than the last one, and laugh about everything.  What more could we ask for? (Okay, well, we could ask for a hit album and worldwide fame and fortune, but we could still get there from here.  And here ain't bad.)

So, all of this and much more, yet still somehow it all went by surprisingly fast.  It seemed to go from our 5th show to our 35th in the blink of an eye.  So many laughs and memories.  To all the 30,000 plus people who came to see us and keep the Venice travelling party going, we say thank you.

So, it was goodbye to our friends and fans in Holland for now, and home for reunions with loved ones and Christmas shows in southern California.  We always look forward to these shows a lot, and these ones were particularly special for me because my 26-year-old son, Charlie (who I gave up for adoption when I was 20 and only just met two years ago... check out the October 22, 2006 news entry for details of that whole saga) opened for us with a short acoustic set.  (He's a great singer songwriter and has been his whole life...Gee, where did he get that?)  Michael's and my kids even sang one song with him...a real Holiday spirit kind of gig, as you can imagine.

So now it's the end of a great year, and we feel fortunate and happy and hopeful for the new year.  Special thanks go out to our internet crew headed by Matt Levitz and Amber Guerra, for working so hard all year keeping the "internet Venetians" well informed and even entertained.  And also a big thanks to our wives and kids here at home, for hanging in there for us and keeping the home fires burning.

Lots of projects to look forward to in the coming year, including, hopefully, a US release of the "Amsterdam" album and maybe even some US touring.  Writing for a future album.  Plus, of course, lots of shows, and possibly some special releases along the way as well.

So, dear friends, a heartfelt thanks to all of you for hanging in there with us and supporting what we do through yet another year.  We appreciate you more than you can ever know.

Here's to helping the Earth much more!
Here's to ending this stupid war!
Here's to us, 'cause we're still here!
Hope to see you soon!  Happy New Year!

Kipp Lennon (on behalf of Michael, Mark and Pat Lennon)