December 13, 2001
I've just posted the Q&A from this year's cruise.  Thanks to Bonnie Harris for providing the tape!  Listen to that over here.


December 12, 2001
To clear up any possible confusion, both standing and sitting areas will be available at next Saturday's Christmas show at Vynyl.  Word is, seating will be up front, and the standing area will be on a raised floor behind that.


December 6, 2001
I've gotten a couple of e-mails from people informing me that Ticketmaster doesn't have the Vynyl show on sale yet, and that the club isn't answering their phone.  I've looked into it, and here are the answers:  The show goes on sale tomorrow, so Ticketmaster won't know anything until then.  And the club's main line is down for repair through the end of the week, but until then, you can direct your questions to (323) 856-0110.


December 5, 2001
The LA Christmas show is finally confirmed!  See Tour Dates page for details.  The venue is standing room, but I've been assured that there will be seats available for those who need them.


November 4, 2001 - Update 5:30pm
As many of you know, I recorded both house concert shows last night.  The band is allowing me to post highlights, as long as they don't include the three new songs.  Which I absolutely agree with, because the first time you guys hear these songs, for the full effect, it should be either live or on the forthcoming album.

But as small compensation, the sound quality of the songs I am posting is really, really good.  I recorded it on DAT, and used two uni-directional Senheizer microphones, which are some of the best you can buy.  I situated them perfectly with a boom stand on the right side, and an extended mic stand on top of the fireplace on the left, both about six feet off the ground pointing towards the performance area, with lots of distance between them for nice stereo separation.  Finally, the MP3 transfer is 192kbps.  I'm sure those of you who understand what I just wrote are falling all over yourselves with admiration and awe.  And the rest of you are thinking I'm some kind of boring loser techno geek.  The scary thing is that you could both be right...

Anyway, it's over here.


November 4, 2001
Venice debuted three brand new songs at last night's house concert.  "Sun Inside" and "Father Time," both sung by Kipp, and "Think Again," sung by Mark.


November 1, 2001
Just a quick reminder to all the people attending Venice's house concert, that those shows are happening this weekend, November 3rd, the day after tomorrow.  Not next weekend, as had originally been announced.  Please make sure it's correct in your calendar.

I've also been hearing that yesterday's news report is inaccurate, and that the De Kast Gelredome videotape is actually a complilation of their 2000 and 2001 shows, and that nothing new has been added from Venice's set beyond what was broadcast on television.  Obviously, it's difficult for me to verify anything from this side of the world, but as soon as I hear anything official, I will of course post it immediately.


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.


September 18, 2001
Sorry for the late post.  I was trapped in Florida with all the airports closed and no way to come home.

What can I possibly say that hasn't already been said?  The New York tragedy is unimaginable, as is the suffering of the friends and families of those who were taken.  I pray that we don't have to go through worse in order to make it better.  Now more than ever, we need great music to sooth and to calm, because rational decisions are never made in anger.

Back to local matters, both of Venice's House Concert shows are now sold out, but Russ and Julie are compiling a waiting list in case of cancellations.  Send them an e-mail if you'd like to be added to that list.


September 5, 2001 - 5:00pm
I'm gonna switch to Russ and Julie's notification, because they phrased it much better than I did:

September 5, 2001 - 10:15am
ALERT - A sudden scheduling conflict is forcing us to move the date of the House Concert.  It will probably still be in early November, but I won't know for certain for a couple of hours.  I just found out about this five minutes ago, and wanted to post the news immediately, even though I don't yet have anything more to tell you, because I want to give the out-of-towners as much notice as possible, to stop you from purchasing non-refundable airline tickets, if it's hopefully not too late.

I apologize for the inconvenience, and promise to update you the minute I hear anything.


September 4, 2001 - Update - 1:00pm
I just talked to Russ.  There's still room at both shows, though the late show is fairly close to selling out.  If you haven't gotten your RSVPs in, you still have time...

For the out-of-towners headed in for this event, Russ advises that the closest place to stay is The Renaissance Hotel in Agoura Hills (which is owned by Marriott).  They have a special $79.00 "Come Out and Play" Fall rate.  There are only 22 rooms available at this price, so you need to call about that quickly.  The phone number is 1-800-933-3970.  Remember, ask for the Agoura Hills Renaissance location, and the "Come Out and Play Fall Rate."


September 4, 2001 - Noon
Okay, I promised you a special announcement, and here it is!

On Saturday, November 10th, Venice will be performing two shows as part of Russ and Julie Paris' House Concert series in Oak Park, California.  No backing musicians, just the four Lennons, performing in Russ and Julie's Living Room to an intimate audience of only 100 guests.

The shows will take place at 6:00pm and 8:30pm.  Admission is $20 per person, and reservations are required.  Those without reservations will be turned away.  Each show will be one set only, approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes long.  Doors open 20 minutes prior to showtime.

Oak Park is in southeastern Ventura County, just a mile over the L.A. County line in the Agoura Hills/Westlake Village/Thousand Oaks area, 45 minutes northwest of Santa Monica.

If you're interested in attending this show, you must RSVP immediately.  Wait an hour, and you'll probably find it sold out.  Space is extremely limited, so in order to accommodate as many Venice fans as possible, each attendee may RSVP for one show only, with a maximum of 2 people per reservation.

To RSVP, e-mail Russ and Julie at houseconcerts@jrp-graphics.com.  Please specify your preference for early or late show, and provide your guest's name as well as your own.

Ready...  Set...  GO!!!


August 29, 2001
Many incorrect lyrics on the Lyrics Pages have been corrected.  (You know, the "Garage Demos" songs that didn't come with lyrics, so I'd hadto guess.)  Thanks to Annie Smid and Kipp Lennon.


August 26, 2001
Just a quick note to let you know that nothing's happening.  Goodnight!  And don't forget to tip your waitresses!

No, seriously, nothing's going on.  Why are you still reading this?

Alright, here's the scoop.  Venice currently has no shows scheduled between now and the cruise in November.  That could change, so do keep checking the Tour Dates page, but for the time being, the plan is to focus their energies on writing and recording new songs, instead of putting on shows.  If all goes according to plan, they'll put out a new album in February or March of next year.

In the meantime, to reward those of you who check back regularly, I do have something very cool for you.  Venice fan Raymond Hallatu and his family have recorded a great version of "The Family Tree," string section and all, and get this -- it's in Indonesian!  How awesome is that?  Check that out over here, right underneath Pat Lennon playing in his Cajamas.  (And hey, if you haven't perused the contents of this page before, do yourself a favor and check out some of the other goodies stored here.)


July 22, 2001
Download this!  Download it now!


July 14, 2001
Houseofblues.com is currently offering a free on-demand broadcast from teen country artists Marshall Dyllon.  About 16 minutes into the show, they perform an acoustic version of their cover of Venice's "So Bad."  They say some nice things about the song in their intro, and it's fun to hear teenage girls screaming at the romanticism of the lyrics.  It would have been nice if they'd mentioned Venice, but I guess you can't have everything.  Anyway, check that out here.


July 13, 2001
Just stumbled across this quick but informative interview over at Rock Report.  Check it out.


July 8, 2001
Got something cool from Kipp, courtesy of Marius Suiker.  Check it out at the top of the page here.


July 6, 2001
Tomorrow, this webpage turns three years old.  And boy, in three years, we've sure come a long way!  Back when we started, this site was nothing but text, pictures, audio files, video files...  You know what?  Never mind.  But I do want to thank all the fans who have helped make this webpage "The #1 Venice Site With This Specific Name and URL!"  I couldn't have done it without you.

In other news, thanks to Esther Martensen, we now have an English translation of this article.  It's pretty nice.  Here's what it says:

Also, I've been told that the two episodes of "ParadisoLive" that feature Venice performances will air on August 2nd and August 9th.  So if you live in the Netherlands, be sure and look for that.


July 5, 2001
So this is pretty cool.  Anyone have any idea what it says?


July 3, 2001
Well, I've cross-checked everything, fixed up all the partial files and the ones that didn't upload to the server the first time through, and I'm ready to declare that the entire site is finally online.  So if anyone runs into a broken link, please contact me at matt@venicecentral.com and I will fix it right away.

The guys are currently enjoying another successful Netherlands tour, where they've been performing a brand new song, entitled "Not Down Anymore."  And Pat Lennon has been wowing the crowds by stepping out of the shadows to perform a solo acoustic piece.  Way to go Pat!

On June 13th, I told you about "ParadisoLive," a television show that Venice performed on.  Video clips of their rehearsal and interview can be found here.  (Click on the first two orange links: "Backbeach verslag 1: de surfspecial" and "Backbeach verslag 2: de Tarantino special.")  The full live performances will air on Holland television soon.  (I've heard early August.)


June 25, 2001
Hey, we're back!  Did you miss us?

In case anyone hasn't noticed, Venice Central has been down for about a week and a half.  The issues have all been server-based, and I won't bore you with the technical details.  What is relevant is the fact that the site has moved to a new location.  This won't change any of your bookmarks, because this new location carries the venicecentral.com domain name.  The very fact that you're looking at this page right now means that that automatic re-routing has already kicked in, without you having to do anything differently.  But here's the issue: The site is made up of nearly 2 gigs worth of Venice material, and all that stuff needs to be uploaded to this fresh, virgin server.

So I've been uploading files to this new machine 24 hours a day since Friday afternoon.  So far, I've gotten all the pages and pictures up, but I'm only midway through the audio and video files.  That's going to take a few days, so please be patient, and if a link doesn't work, try it again later and you should have better luck.  When the entire site is operational again, I'll let you know here on the news page.


June 14, 2001
I just got an e-mail from Dann Gillen, part-time drummer for Venice drummer and full-time drummer for Pine Mountain Logs.  He's produced an album for his friend Scott Reeves.  (If the name sounds familiar, he plays Ryan McNeil on "The Young and the Restless.")  Dann plays drums and acoustic guitar on the album, and special guests include such Venice luminaries as Michael Lennon, Mark Harris, and Alexis Sklarevski.  Also, Mike Finnigan, the Hammond B3 expert from "Spin Art" and CSN fame, plays keyboards.  The album will be released sometime next month from 3G Records.  Once it's out, you can purchase it from Scott's webpage, right over here.


June 13, 2001
Attention all Dutch fans!  Next week, June 19 and 20, Venice will be taping two performances in the Netherlands for a music television show called "Paradiso Live," which airs on the first Thursday of every month.  It's taped on the beach.

June 19th is a surf music special.  Venice will perform "Surf's Up" by the Beach Boys, accompanied by the New Groove Orchestra, which is reportedly a Hip-House Big Band.  Also at this show, they'll perform their Beach Boys medley, and one Venice song.

On June 20th, they'll perform on a completely separate episode of the same show, which will pay tribute to music of Quentin Tarantino movies.  On this day, they'll perform only one song, "Stuck In the Middle With You," which was featured in "Pulp Fiction."

200 seats in front of the stage are being given away to anyone who goes to the show's webpage and requests them.  That page is here.  If you can't get seats (I believe the 19th is already filled up), don't worry.  The shows are outside, and anyone walking by is welcome to stand behind the seated area and watch the show for free.


June 9, 2001
Wow, a whole month without updates!  Sorry about that, but nothing much has been happening.  I've updated the Tour Dates page as new shows have been added, but that's about it.

The guys are busy writing new songs.  Maybe five or six of them are about 75-80% done.  If all goes well, they may be ready to debut something during their upcoming Holland tour.  (Keep an eye on the Community Mailing List, and you're sure to hear about it the night it happens.)  January/February 2002 is the projected release date for the next album.

John Vester, on the other hand, has over 20 songs recorded for his new album, and he and Michael Lennon (who's producing) are well into the mixing stage.  As I've mentioned before, all members of Venice have co-written songs with John for this project, and they sing backup and play on many of his tracks.  "The Mermaid Song" and "Unbreakable Heart" will probably both be featured on this album.  These two songs were originally recorded by Venice for their "Spin Art" album, but were left off when the label limited them to 13 tracks.  John's album should be released in the next few months.  When it is, I'll let you know how to get it.

Oh, and if anyone out there is still looking for Venice's debut, self-titled CD, I see five of them on sale, under $8, at Half.com.  Better move quickly if you want to claim one.  Please, in the spirit of fairness, don't buy more than one, and if you already have one, wait a couple of days to give the others a first chance.  Thanks!


May 9, 2001
Venice's April 27 Galaxy show has now been archived at Sonicfish.com.  So if you missed the broadcast, or part of the broadcast, or want to watch it again, you can check it out here.  Be sure and watch Tim Moyer's set too!

The Tour Dates Page now lists the schedule for Venice's upcoming Netherlands tour.  Thanks to John and Tineke Bruil for providing each venue's URLs.


May 2, 2001
On Shea Seger's upcoming debut album, "The May Street Project," she sings a version of the song "Always."  Now, bear in mind, this is not a cover of a Venice song, because Venice didn't write it in the first place.  Technically, Venice's version was already a cover.  But it's interesting to hear how another artist interprets the same work, so check out an audio clip here.


April 25, 2001
Friday's cybercast is looking better and better.  Syb Van Der Ploeg, lead singer of De Kast, is in Los Angeles, and he'll join Venice onstage for at least one song at this show.  Spread the word, this is going to be very cool.


April 24, 2001
A reminder, Venice's show this Friday night at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana is going to be cybercast live over the internet. In order to view it, you're going to need to have the latest version of Windows Media Player. If you don't have this free program installed on your computer, download it by going here. (And yes, despite the name, it is available for both IBM and Mac.)  If you do have the program already, you'll still need to make sure you're running the newest update. Do the following right now: Load up the program, click on "Help" at the top of the window, and then select "Check For Player Upgrades…" You'll want to download and install everything it tells you you need. Just keep hitting "Next," and it'll do all the work for you. After you've done that, you should be ready to connect to the live stream, no problem.

I don't have exact start times for each of the bands performing on Friday, but I can make an educated guess, because I've been to enough of these shows to work out the pattern. If I was a gambling man, I'd put money on the first act performing from 8:15pm to 8:45pm, the second act performing from 9:15pm to 10:00pm, and then Venice going on from 10:30pm to 12:45am. Don't hold it against me if this is wrong, but it should be pretty close.

Keep in mind, the above projected schedule is in Pacific Standard Time. If you live in a different time zone, you'll have to calculate the difference yourself. (I can tell you that Holland is 9 hours ahead, so if Venice goes on Friday night at 10:30pm, in Holland that would be Saturday morning at 7:30am.)

I believe that Tim Moyer is the second act, immediately preceding Venice. If you've never heard his music, do yourself a favor and tune in early enough to catch his set. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.

And lastly, the link. On Friday night, head over to this very page, and then click right here. Whoosh!!!


April 18, 2001
If any of you are going to miss next week's show at the Galaxy (Friday, April 27) because you're -- oh, I don't know -- out of the country or something, I have good news for you.  Sonicfish.com will broadcast the show live as it's happening.  Watch this page for more details as they become available.  (This is the same site that ran the Galaxy Theatre cybercast back in February.  If you haven't checked that archived concert out yet, what are you waiting for?  It's right here.)


April 17, 2001
Okay, got the English translation of the Gitaar Plus Magazine article.  Thanks to Esther Martensen for doing this!  It's over here.


April 15, 2001
Two new articles for you today.  First up, courtesy of Cris Tortolano, we have Mark Lennon explaining the origin of the "Spin Art" concept in House and Garden Magazine.  Why, you ask?  I have no idea, but here it is anyway.

Also, Gitaar Plus Magazine features Venice as their cover story this month, and they were nice enough to send me a copy to post.  The pictures are great, but all the text is in Dutch, so I have no idea what it says.  Would somebody like to e-mail me an English translation, so I can include it on these pages?  Much appreciated!  The article, spread across five pages, is here.


April 1, 2001
Great news for Venice fans who haven't yet had the opportunity to experience the music of John Vester.  John's entire first album, "My Heart Is In Your Hands," is now downloadable from MP3.com!  Now, if your initial reaction is an ethical dilemna about downloading an album instead of purchasing it, you can rest easy, because John gets paid for every track that's downloaded from the site.  So go ahead and grab this album, even if you have it already.  Download every song 20 times, delete them, and then download them again!  And tell all your friends to do the same.

I've given John's credentials before, but for the benefit of the newcomers, I'll do it again.  John is a singer/songwriter who works with Venice a lot.  He wrote "We're Still Here," he wrote the lyrics to "The Family Tree" and "When I Get Over You," and he collaborated on several other "Spin Art" songs.  Chances are, if you like Venice, you'll like John's solo work as well.  And hey, it costs you nothing to find out!

John is currently finishing up his second album, which is being produced by Michael Lennon and features songwriting and vocal contributions by all the members of Venice.  When that album becomes available, you'll read about it here.  In the meantime, go download the first one!  It's right over here!

In other news, I've upgraded the DSL versions of the five "Live At the Mayfair" video clips, so the video and audio are now much better.  Check those out here.  In the coming months, I hope to upgrade many of the video clips in this way.  Anyone have any preference on what you'd like to see upgraded next?  E-mail me at matt@venicecentral.com.


March 30, 2001
I'm not sure how this one slipped under the radar, but while surfing around the net last night, I stumbled across a video interview that Venicedid in Germany while touring with Styx.  You can find that here.  Click over on the right, where it says "Play."  Then to view the file full screen, right-click on the picture and choose "Zoom" / "Full Screen."


March 29, 2001
I just added a couple of new video clips from recent television appearances in Holland.  Venice performs "Landslide" on Na Elven, over here, and "One Quiet Day" on RTL Live, over here.  The clips labeled DSL are very high quality, and I recommend watching them on Full Screen Mode.  If your connection speed is too slow, simply download them, and then they'll play just fine off of your hard drive.  A HUGE thank you to John and Tineke Bruil for work above and beyond the call of duty, getting me these files in a timely manner, and then being very patient while I performed inhumane experiments on them, damaging them beyond repair, and then asking, "Hey, could you re-send those files?"  And then more or less doing it again.

I also added Venice's appearance on Rebecca Radio from a few weeks ago.  This audio had been available on the station's webpage (linked on the March 19 news entry, below), but the one now posted on Venice Central has much better sound quality.  That's here.  Thanks Rene!


March 25, 2001
I'd heard that the guys in the band Hanson are big Venice fans, so when I interviewed them a couple of hours ago in Hollywood, I brought the subject up.  Turns out they are, and they were happy to talk about it.  Check that out here.


March 19, 2001
Venice appeared on Rebecca Radio in Holland this morning, and pictures and audio from that appearance (including acoustic performances of "End of the World" and the Beach Boys Medley) can be found on the station's site, over here.


March 18, 2001
Kipp Lennon's February phone interview on Achterhoek FM, previously downloadable from the Achterhoek webpage, is now available here on Venice Central.  If you haven't listened to this one yet, go do it here.  The best part is when they talk about this site and VVTG.  Now who could have put them up to that?

Also, here's a nice Venice tribute page with a ton of great pictures from the Gelredome show.


March 17, 2001
Last Wednesday, Venice made their second appearance on Radio 538, where they performed acoustic versions of "Bleeding," "The End of the World" and their R&B-styled "Landslide."  You can check that out here.  Thanks to Herman van Empel and Hans Hillen for getting the recording to me so quickly!

Also this week, Venice acted as house band to many Dutch artists, as well as playing many of their own songs, at the grand opening of the Heineken Music Hall.  You can view video clips of that show on the Music Hall webpage.

Finally, view or download a promo for the Mega Intiem special here.  Thanks to John and Tineke Bruil for this.


March 7, 2001
In case you missed Venice's fantastic show at the Galaxy last month, it is now being archived at Sonicfish.com.  Check it out here.  Keep in mind, you must have the latest version of Windows Media Player installed on your computer to make this video file play.  You can download that over here.

I also just added some California tour dates to (where else?) the Tour Dates Page.


February 24, 2001
During the Venice - De Kast broadcast on Dutch television tonight, a commercial aired advertising an upcoming Venice concert release on DVD. I got some e-mails about it, so I contacted Michael Lennon, because it was the first I'd heard of it.  Surprisingly enough, this was the first Michael had heard of it as well.  So we did some research, and learned that it is the Atak show, recorded in June.  In response, Michael has asked me to pass along the following statement:

So there you go.  There are tentative plans to release an official live album and video sometime this year, so please be patient, and don't waste your money on this low-quality unauthorized release.


February 20, 2001
Gerrit Arendsen of Holland's Achterhoek FM sends word that De Kast's newest album, "Met Andere Ogen," featuring Venice on two songs, has just gone gold.  Which is particularly impressive when you consider that the album is in Dutch, which limits its consumer appeal considerably outside of Dutch speaking territories.

In the meantime, De Kast and Venice's Gelredome Stadium concert from January, where both bands were backed by an 80-piece orchestra, is set to air on Netherland television.  Again, according to Gerrit (here in America, I have no way to confirm this), it will be broadcast four days from now, February 24th, on RTL 5 at 10:00pm.  Personally, I'd love to get a copy of this.  I can't guarantee that I can put it online, because of copyrite issues, but I'd love to have it for my personal collection.  If somebody in Holland could send me a stereo VHS copy, I'd be eternally appreciative.  Contact me at matt@venicecentral.com.  And don't worry about the Pal format, I have access to a converter.  Thanks in advance!


February 12, 2001
A gem from Michael Lennon's private collection, you can now listen to Venice's Beach Boys medley, a capella version.  It's over here.

Next, the great and talented (and only a drummer could handle both at once) Dann Gillen, whom Dutch fans know from his work drumming with Venice on both "Twee Metre Sessies" specials, will be joining the band on their Netherlands tour next month.

And finally, Venice's lighting designer Marty Carrillo became a father last Friday (on his own birthday!)  Many pictures of his beautiful newborn daughter Cory Ann Carrillo can be found here.  You can send your congratulations directly to Marty at arttheelf@aol.com.


February 4, 2001
This Sunday, February 11, Venice is headlining an AIDS benefit at the El Rey Theatre in Hollywood.  They'll be doing a full set, and tickets are only $10.  It's going to be a fantastic show, and hey, it's a good cause too!  To order tickets, phone (877) 411-2437.


January 29, 2001
Okay, I've had this posted on the Tour Dates page for a couple of weeks, but it probably merits a news item, especially now that it's been officially confirmed.  This Friday's Venice concert at the Galaxy Theatre will be cybercast over the internet.  You can view it here.  (Look on the left side of the page where it says: "Click here to view the show.")  The gig is scheduled to begin at 8:00pm, but in concert terms that probably means closer to 8:30pm.  And then there are two opening acts, so Venice probably won't start until around 10:00pm or 10:30pm.  (Holland fans, add 9 hours.  Friday at 8:00pm here is Saturday at 5:00am for you.)

To view the show, you'll need Windows Media Player installed.  (Sorry Macintosh users, I had nothing to do with it, and I feel your pain.)  If you don't have this program, or you think you may have an older version, download it here.

This should be a particularly great concert, because Mark Harris will be playing bass, and Scott Crago will be playing drums.  This is the band lineup (minus one) that recorded the first album and the two "Garage Demos," and they haven't played a full show in America in this configuration since around 1995.  So expect a lot of nostalgia, and a lot of older songs.

Be sure and catch this performance live, because it will not be archived.

In other news, I've just received word that the Santa Barbara show is sold out.


January 25, 2001
The tour dates listed on the postcards Venice sent out this week are incorrect.  The correct dates are as follows:

For addresses, phone numbers, and links to each venue's website, head to our Tour Dates page.


January 19, 2001
A couple of people have sent me audio clips of "Jelle," which I reported about yesterday (see below).  Here's a six second audio clip containing just the line about Venice.  Yes, I know that's a very short snippet, but for those of us in America, the rest of it is unintelligible anyway.

January 18, 2001
This hilarious piece of news comes from our friend Rene Steenbergen of Rebecca Radio in Holland.  He reports that a Dutch group calling themselves Slimme Schemer Featuring Tido has released a song called "Jelle."  It's a spoof of Eminem's "Stan," and it tells the story of a fan writing a letter to Syb from De Kast.  One of its lyrics is, "Ik heb een grote poster van je hoofd boven mijn bed.  En die muziek die je maakte met Venice heb ik op een bandje.  Ik vind het vet!"  English translation: "I have a poster of your head next to my bed.  And I have that music you made with Venice on a tape.  I think it's phat!"  Now we know they've truly made it over there.  Showing up in somebody else's parody is the only true barometer, I think.

Anyone have this song on tape?  I'd love to get a clip onto the page.......


January 11, 2001
Venice's singing is featured prominently on two different tracks on De Kast's new album.  Audio clips are here.


January 8, 2001
Lots of cool stuff for you today.

First and foremost, our friend Rene Steenbergen of Rebecca Radio interviewed Kipp Lennon backstage at the Podium Hardenberg last night.  And two days before that, the entire band appeared on "Evers Staat Op" on Radio 538 and played "Name That Tune" with listeners, in addition to a few of their own tunes.  You can listen to both over here.  Thanks to Rene for his interview, and to Herman van Empel for "Evers Staat Op."

Next, we have a nice long interview with Michael Lennon and Syb from De Kast, as it was published in De Kast's fanzine.  That's here.  Thanks again to Rene Steenbergen for this one as well.

A couple of reviews of the Gelredome stadium show from Arnhem are here and here.  Courtesy of Marius Suiker, Tineke en John, Seebe Janssens and Esther Martensen.

De Kast's official webpage offers many great photos of Venice's stadium performance.  That's here.

Finally, if you haven't visited Venice's Dutch site lately, go check it out.  It's grown considerably since its debut was first announced on this page.  Even if you can't speak the language, there's still quite a bit to look at.


January 5, 2001
Venice made the front page this morning in the Venlo newspaper, De Limburger Voorpagina.  Check it out here.  Thanks to Marius Suiker for sending this in!


January 4, 2001
Word from Egroups has it that Venice will be making an appearance tomorrow morning on the Dutch radio program "Evers Staat Op."  The show runs from 6am to 9am, and Venice is scheduled at approx. 7am.  Here in America, we can listen in through the internet.  Go here, then on the left, under "Live radio Nederland," click on the second entry, "Radio 538 (realplayer)."  Pacific Standard Time is 9 hours behind, so 7am tomorrow morning in Holland will be 10pm tonight in California.  Hope all this info is correct......  (Thanks Yanni!)