December 27, 2003
As a late Christmas gift for all of you, Venice Central is thrilled to offer you the second show from "Viva Las Venice," taped on December 9, 2003.  This was the all-request show, where most of the set consisted of songs that you've probably never heard live before, and several that you've never heard before at all.  Because the band only had about a half hour of rehearsal time to get all these songs ready (and in many cases, teach them to the rhythm section who was hearing them for the first time), the show was very raw, and there were mistakes all over the place.  No matter, it was a tremendous amount of fun, and filled with surprises and a joyous spirit.

For those of you who couldn't join us at the annual fan event, this is a little taste of what you missed.  Hopefully you can all come along next year!

Check that out over here.



December 18, 2003
Great news for Dutch fans:  Venice's concert DVD, "Venice Live at the Royal Carre Theatre," is out and shipping.  If you pre-ordered one, you should receive it today or tomorrow.

Bad news for American fans:  The DVDs were not finished in time to ship to America, so they will not be on sale at the Christmas shows, and Venice Store will not be able to start selling them online in time for them to be holiday gifts.  The American version will go on sale exclusively at Venice Store here at Venice Central in a week or two, as soon as the discs arrive.  Watch this news page for an announcement.

In the meantime, here's some good news for the American fans:  Venice Store is now selling t-shirts and hats!  So go buy some!


December 16, 2003
This Thursday morning, December 18, to promote their appearance that night at the Belly Up, Venice will perform on San Diego television station KUSI (channel 9), on their morning news show.  There will be teases for the band's appearance at 8am, 8:25am and 8:40am, and then at 8:45am the band will perform one song live.  Try to catch it if you can!


December 11, 2003
I have two things for you today.  First, lead guitarist Michael Lennon has asked me to post this for all of you:

To all the fans and all involved in the Venice organization, I want to thank you for an incredible year.  This past weekend on the "Viva Las Vegas" Venice land cruise has reminded me why, after 25 years, I am still doing this.

Looking back on this year, it feels like we have taken some giant steps up the ladder of success.  Early in the year we received the "Edison Award" (Dutch Grammy) for the best international artist, beating out Cold Play and U2.  We also made our first Music Video of "Blue Paint," which was conceived, written and directed by our very own Mark Lennon.  This video ended up on a DVD along with "Making Blue Paint," which was put together by the very capable and generous Matt Levitz.  In July, we got to tour Germany opening for the Beach Boys.  Although the original lineup, with the exception of Mike Love, was missing, just hearing those songs reminded me of the impact that a song can have on me and the rest of the world.  Hearing a crowd of Germans singing, "Well east coast girls are hip, I really dig those styles they wear....." is a pretty mind blowing experience.

In September, thanks to the hard work and expertise of Michael Johnson, we FINALLY opened the official Venice Store on the internet, allowing immediate purchasing and shipping of Venice CD's, t-shirts, hats and soon to come, the 5.1 surround sound concert DVD, "Live at the Royal Carre Theater."  No more waiting for me to go to the P.O. Box and search out your order.  Check it out if you haven't already.

In October, we headed back to Europe for our very first headlining club tour of the major cities in Germany, followed by an amazing theater tour in Holland which touched on 20 cities, exposing us to a whole new mass of music lovers.  Many of these people owned two different Venice albums but had never seen the band live.  The live concert DVD was recorded during this same tour as well as the first real Venice documentary including interviews with me and the boys.  Towards the end of the theater tour we jammed down to Switzerland to showcase for Sony, and also did a day of radio promotion.  Hoping to develop that territory and Germany more next year.

A big part of this year's success is due to the new relationship with our manager Marcel Albers.  He has really helped in taking Venice to the next level.  Always looking ahead.

We are truly blessed to have such great people involved in our career and our personal lives.  This includes the great musicians, hard working crews, and of course our supportive and understanding families.  All of these people give so much for so little in return.

Anyway, just wanted to post a little thank you to all you music lovers for your continued support and let you know that your loyalty to the Venice cause is paying off.  Hang in there with us and we'll ride this roller coaster together.

Looking forward to 2004!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Michael Lennon - Venice

And second, for those of you who weren't able to join us in Las Vegas, I've posted the audio from Tuesday's Q&A with the band.  You can enjoy that over here.


December 5, 2003

There is it, folks, the official cover of Venice's brand new concert DVD, "Venice Live at the Royal Carre Theatre."  The exact release date still isn't set, but it will be in the very near future.  Copies are being pressed at this very moment.  I haven't seen the show yet myself, but I have heard that the 5.1 stereo sound is excellent.  Track listing is as follows:

1. Intro
2. We're Still Here
3. Hideaway Hill
4. Circle of Life
5. The Only Love I Had
6. Road To Where You Are
7. Starting Here Again
8. Precious Stone
9. Sweet Aloha
10. Welcome to the Rest of Your Life
11. Family Tree
12. Stuck in The Middle With You
13. Always
14. Baby’s Calling
15. Most of Us
16. End of the World
17. World Upon My Back
18. The Man You Think I Am
19. Think Again
20. If I Were You
21. One Quiet Day

Bonus Tracks:
1. Adobe Hacienda
2. Scarborough Faire

So as you can see, it is the set list of the Dutch theater tour that the band just completed, with "Most of Us" and "World Upon My Back" added for good measure.

And here's the best news of all:  The DVD will be released in the Pal format internationally, and in NTSC here in the states!  So everyone will be able to purchase a copy they can play.

Watch this page for an official release date, as soon as it's announced.


December 3, 2003
Well, I promised you an update, though this isn't exactly what I had in mind.  Here's a note from Pat:

Sorry Matt-

I received some bad information.  The show on Wednesday does not feature me.  The show I worked on was Designer's Challenge and will probably not air until February.  I'll keep you posted when I find out more.

Sorry about that.

~~Pat

Oops!  Okay, so go unset your VCRs.  Unless, of course, you're into the "Extreme Makeover" craze that's sweeping the nation.  When I receive details about Pat's real broadcast, you'll read about it here.


December 2, 2003
Pat Lennon would like me to inform the American fans that you can check out his woodworking on "Extreme Makeover," a television show airing tomorrow night (Wednesday, December 3) on ABC at 10:00pm PST.  I've asked him for a more complete viewing guide to which featured pieces are his, so check back here before airtime and hopefully I'll have that posted.

In other news, I've been told that Venice is getting ready to start writing new songs again after the first of the year.  Does this mean we can expect a new album in 2004?  Not necessarily.  The songwriting process tends to takes them a while, and they're literally right at the beginning stage.  But it does mean that there's a pretty good chance we'll start hearing new material at the shows sometime in the first part of the year.

Finally, Friday night's Santa Barbara show is now completely sold out.  Showtime is promptly at 8:00pm, so if you have tickets, don't be late.

As a parting thought, I'm currently being innundated by a spam e-mail advertising a product called "The Colon Cleaner."  Is everybody getting this e-mail, or is God maybe trying to tell me something?