December 29, 2004
Despite the fact that Venice's new CD "Pacific Standard Time" won't be officially released in America for a few months, there are a limited number of copies on sale now at our very own Venice Store.  There will also be a few on sale at Venice's upcoming California shows.  Get 'em while they last!


December 27, 2004
Just added a Michael Lennon interview from December 22, on Optimaal FM with Seebe Janssens.  You can listen to that over here.

Hope everyone's having a fantastic holiday!


December 17, 2004
Kipp asked me to share this picture of a storefront in Hoogezand:

December 12, 2004
Mark Lennon has asked me to share this link with you, so everyone can see who co-wrote "Don't Worry Worry" with him.


December 10, 2004
Exciting news!  On Thursday, December 16th, 18.00h til 19.00h, Venice will perform a few songs from their new album "Pacific Standard Time" acoustically at the biggest CD Store in the country, Media Markt (Binnenwegplein 50-52 in Rotterdam).  The short performance will be followed by a signing session, and then they'll head off to their sold-out show at the Rotterdam theatre, Oude Luxor.  If you live in the area, try to make it down!


November 28, 2004
Just to clarify, Venice's new CD, "Pacific Standard Time" is not yet available in America, and Venice Store does not currently have any copies on sale.  We hope to start selling it in early 2005, so watch this page, and Venice Store itself, for that announcement!


November 27, 2004
I've got bad news to report.  As you might have noticed on www.brabanthallen.nl, tomorrow night's show at Brabanthallen in Hertogenbosch has been cancelled.  I'm sorry this confirmation comes at such a late hour, but we waited to hear from the venue, because even though they'd informed us earlier this week that they'd cancelled this show, Venice has been trying to make things work so as not to cancel another show on the tour.  Finally the venue decided to stick with their original cancellation request.  Please call the venue if you have any questions, because we're still a bit in the dark about why they did this.

But here's some good news:  Venice's new CD, "Pacific Standard Time," has entered the midweek of Holland's Mega Album Charts' Top 100 at # 34!

Finally, I've added a couple of recent radio broadcasts, one of which contains full acoustic versions of three of the new songs.  If you haven't gotten the CD yet, you should definitely check this out!  And if you do have the CD, check it out anyway, because the performances and the sound quality are great!  Those are here.  Thanks to John Bruil and Mattijs Loor for helping me out with these.


November 24, 2004
Great news!  Venice's new CD, "Pacific Standard Time," is the Album of the Week at Radio 1 in the Netherlands!  Congrats, guys!!!


November 23, 2004
Here's Venice's new bio.  If the PDF file won't open for you, you'll need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader.  You can download it for free over here.

Lyrics to all the new songs are posted here.

Now that "Pacific Standard Time" has been officially released in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, please share your opinions about it over here on the Venice Talk forum.  And if you catch any of the shows on Venice's current tour, please tell us all about it over here.  Don't be shy, we're all friends here.


November 12, 2004
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present for your listening pleasure, audio clips.

Coming soon, lyrics and the new bio!


November 11, 2004
Michael Lennon just posted a very nice note on Venice Talk, that I thought I would reprint here for all to read:

Want to reply to Michael personally?  You can do that here.

In other news, all you Dutch fans should keep an eye out for the following promotional appearances:

November 13 - Tros Muziekcafé.  Interview + 3 tot 4 nummers live (radio)
November 22 - Vara Televisie Pa Paul live-optreden:  Everybody’s Opium + Interview
November 26 - TV Gelderland

November 7, 2004
Bad news from management:

November 2, 2004
To celebrate the fact that Venice's new CD, "Pacific Standard Time," will be released in the Benelux two weeks from today, I thought you might like another little taste of the album.  So I've put a teaser together.  Check this out!  (Left-click to listen, right-click to download.)


October 25, 2004
A show has been added at the Park Schouwburg in Hoorn on November 22nd.  See the tour dates page for more details.


October 23, 2004
A lot of people have been asking why the Den Haag show was cancelled.  You deserve an explanation, so here it is:

The band is thrilled to be about to embark on one of their most successful Netherlands tours yet.  With the new album coming out and a brand new show, it's going to be a great tour.  Every single concert for a month and a half is either sold out or close to selling out.  Except one.  The Den Haag show scheduled for November 25 was the one slow seller out of the entire tour.  And it's easy to see why.  Jackson Browne is performing in Den Haag on the 24th and 25th.  It's no secret that most Venice fans are also Jackson Browne fans, and faced with twenty two different opportunities to see Venice on this tour, and only two chances to see Jackson (who rarely travels to the Netherlands), it makes perfect sense that most fans would choose to attend one of Jackson's shows and then also see Venice on another night.  That's what I would do.  And so tickets for this Den Haag Venice show, on the 25th, hadn't sold nearly as well as the others.  Many attempts were made to try and reschedule this show, but no available date could be found that would work for the band, the venue and the promoters.  And so the show was cancelled.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.


October 22, 2004
Unfortunately, Venice's November 25 show in Den Hagg has been cancelled.  Refunds can be obtained from the point of purchase.


October 21, 2004
So how's everybody doing?  Kids okay?  Still working at the same place?  That pain in your wrist ever go away?  Good, good, glad to hear it.  Me?  Doing great, thanks for asking.  Oh, hey, you know, now that I think of it, anyone wanna hear the new single?  Head to the welcome page and enjoy the Markness.  (And be ready to click on the word "PLAY" when it appears.)  Thanks to Martijn for setting this up!


September 26, 2004
Congratulations to Geoff and Astrid, who just got engaged a few minutes ago on Venice Talk.  You can offer your own well wishes over here.

September 19, 2004
Mark Lennon posted an album update on Venice Talk this morning, and I thought I would reprint it here:

If you'd like to say hello to Mark, he'll be running a booth at the Abbot Kinney street fair in Venice Beach next Sunday, September 26th, selling his artwork and his handpainted clothing.  No, Venice will not be performing (as many people have e-mailed me to ask).


September 16, 2004
Ever thought about learning how to play the bass guitar?  Want to learn from the best?  Venice virtuoso Mark Harris is looking for students to tutor privately, both in LA and in Holland, as his touring schedule with the band determines his availability.  If you're interested, e-mail me at matt@venicecentral.com and I'll put you in touch with him.  Serious inquiries only, please!


September 15, 2004
A quick note from Venice's U.S. keyboardist, Chris Horvath:

September 3, 2004
I haven't updated the news page in a while, so I thought I'd pop in and say hello.  Hello!

Okay, album update.  Believe it or not, Venice is well along into recording it.  They taped demos in their home studio as part of the writing process, and then just like they did with the last CD, "Welcome to the Rest of Your Life," they've decided to keep a lot of those tracks for the final product.  Last weekend they went into a bigger studio to record Matt Laug's drum tracks onto four songs.  The album is definitely on schedule to come out next month, in time for their big Holland tour.  Michael Lennon is back in the producer's chair, and the engineer is Robbie Jacobs.  The guys are all very excited about the new material, and Michael told me it's the most fun he's ever had working on an album.

And now, John Vester news.  John is preparing for his first ever tour of Austin, Texas.  Tour dates are posted on the tour dates page (of all places!), and schedule permitting, Mark Lennon is hoping to join him as a backup singer.  So if you live in that area, or know someone who does, please spread the word!

John is also thrilled to report, "Right before Venice left for Holland---we had an explosion of new songs---over the last 2 weeks---I co-wrote 4 new songs w/the guys (2 w/just Michael)---for their upcoming release---(soon!....)---they recorded all 4---& I really like all 4...."  John sure does love working with these guys!  And dashes!


August 5, 2004
There's been a lot of gossip and rumors and questions going around, and while the band is not ready to make a full official announcement, I can at least confirm that Venice and Sony Records have indeed parted ways.  This move was amicable, and was initiated by Venice, and they're extremely happy about this positive new direction.  They were not "dropped."  There are big plans being set into motion that I can't discuss yet, but have no fear, the album will be released on schedule, and the tour will follow.  Watch this page for further news as events develop.


July 20, 2004
Venice has added a third McCabe's acoustic show.  Sunday, August 8, at 7:00pm.  If you haven't gotten tickets yet, get 'em now!  Saturday's late show is already sold out, and Saturday's early show is close to sold out.  This is a rare chance to see Venice in a tiny, intimate setting.  And they'll definitely be debuting a lot of new songs, so you won't want to miss that.

Speaking of which, Kipp says the songwriting is really flowing, and they're very excited about the new music.  His enthusiasm is infectious, and personally, I can't wait to hear it.

Oh, one last piece of news before I catch my train to Comic-Con...  Sunday, October 3, "Jammin' in the Canyon."  Outside, on the baseball field at Canyon Charter Elementary School.  Hosted by actor Don Cheadle.  Many different artists (TBA) performing throughout the afternoon and early evening, culminating in the headlining event, Venice with David Crosby!  It's a benefit for arts in school, so it's a great cause.  Be there!

Okay, I don't actually have ticket information yet.  But mark your calendars, book your plane tickets, etc.


July 5, 2004
Hey look, it's a note from Michael!

July 1, 2004
John Vester's new CD, "Things I Wish I Would Have Said," is available now.  Venice's Michael Lennon co-produced the CD with John, and members of Venice sing and perform on almost every track.  Audio clips and ordering information can be found here.  All three John Vester CDs can be purchased using Paypal over on JohnVester.com.


June 11, 2004
Coming soon to Venice Store, Pine Mountain Logs t-shirts, and ladies' ribbed tank tops.  These new items will also be on sale at the Belly Up show.


June 4, 2004
A new DVD will be released in Holland on June 15th:

This DVD is in the Pal format, so if you're in America and have it imported, it will not play on your television unless your DVD player is manufactured to do NTSC/Pal conversions.  There is a chance it will play on your computer, depending on the region restrictions.

May 22. 2004
Here's another update from Mark Lennon:

Also, for those of you not on Venice's local mailing list, here's the postcard that went out advertising the Canyon Club show.  Kipp was obviously in a very silly mood when he wrote it.

May 11, 2004
Well, the auctions I listed a couple of days ago for tickets for Friday's show are over.  But something new has just come up.  Special seats in the first two rows and passes to a meet-and-greet with Jackson Browne after the concert, are selling on Ebay for $1035 per ticket.  The price is set for "Buy It Now," so there is no bidding involved, just a straight purchase.  Remember, these are for charity, and are therefore a tax write-off.  Check those out over here.


May 9, 2004
Well, they say there's no such thing as a sold out show.  I don't know who "they" are, but obviously they're already holding tickets to Friday's show, because if they weren't, I'm not so sure they'd be saying that.  This Jackson Browne/Venice benefit concert is about as sold out as a show could possibly be.  I've gotten a lot of e-mail from fans, and from friends, asking for my help getting them in, but there's been nothing I could do for them.  Until now.  Turns out the idiom holds some truth after all.  I found two pairs of tickets on sale at Ebay.  Bidders will probably wind up paying a bit above face value for them, but it's money well spent for this special night of music.  You can participate in those auctions over here and over here.  Good luck!


May 8, 2004
A note from Mark Lennon:

May 7, 2004
After far too long of a delay (sorry about that), the German-language section of Venice Talk is now up and running, right over here.  We'd like to invite all our German friends to come and join our ever-growing community.  Drop by and say hello!


May 6, 2004
Dates and venues for John Vester's Holland tour are now posted on the Tour Dates page.  John's brand new CD, "Things I Wish I Could Have Said," will be on sale at these shows.


April 28, 2004
Venice has just announced that their new single in Germany is "One Word."  It will be released to radio and stores this week.  Here's hoping that one word turns out to be "hit!"  (Yes, I used to write radio shows for a living.  Can you tell?)


April 22, 2004
A few pieces of news from Venice collaborator and frequent co-writer John Vester.  John's new CD, "Things I Wish I Would Have Said," is finished and mastered and will be released in May or June.  Just like John's last album, this was produced by Venice's Michael Lennon, and members of Venice play and sing on various tracks.

On Saturday, May 15 (the day after the Jackson Browne / Venice show), John will perform a short set at 3:30pm at the Venice Carnevale in Venice Beach, California.  Mark and Michael Lennon are tentatively scheduled to perform with him at this show.  Attendance is free.  So if you come into town for the benefit concert the night before, you'll want to stick around and check this out as well.

Then in early June, John will do a quick tour of the Netherlands.  Look for tour dates to be posted soon, on John's section of the Tour Dates page at Venice Central, and also at JohnVester.com.


April 21, 2004
Venice's cybercast has been archived, so if you missed it, you can now check it out anytime you want, minus the first song, "Carry On," which for some reason was not made part of the file.  The remaining 90 minutes are over here.  Setlist is as follows:

The Weight (The Band)
Down on the Corner (Credence Clearwater Revival)
With a Little Help from my Friends (Joe Cocker)
Sing a Simple Song (Sly and the Family Stone)
Reeling in the Years (Steely Dan)
Ohio (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Scarsborough Fair (traditional, also Simon & Garfunkle)
Piece of my Heart (Janis Joplin)
What's Going On (Marvin Gaye)
All Right Now (Free)
If I Were You
Sweet Aloha
The Family Tree
The End of the World
One Quiet Day
Think Again
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)


April 17, 2004
Despite the fact that Fabchannel.com claims that Venice's webcast will begin promptly at 8pm Holland time (11am Pacific Standard Time) on Tuesday, April 20th, the band actually has to wait until after the movie "Festival Express" finishes, before their live set can begin.  So the starttime will actually be at approximately 9:20pm Holland time (12:20pm Pacific Standard Time).  Follow the link by clicking on the logo below.

Also, remember that tickets for the Jackson Browne / Venice benefit show on May 14 at Santa Monica High School will go on sale this Monday, April 19th.  Only 500 tickets will go on sale for this 1000 seat room (the rest go to VIPs), so be sure and get yours quickly.  Tickets can only be purchased by phone by calling (310) 452-1394.  I have confirmed that this is the correct phone number, but don't bother calling it before Monday morning, because nobody will pick up.  I don't know what time tickets will go on sale yet, but I'm trying to find that out.  If I hear anything, I will post it here.  If I don't, then I suppose 10am seems like a fairly educated guess.


April 13, 2004
On Tuesday, April 20, 2004, exactly one week from today, Venice's entire Festival Express set will be cybercast live on the internet.  Fans all over the world can tune in here:

(Click on the box!)

You will be required to register on their site before you're granted access to either the live feeds or the archives.  So you might want to take care of that in advance, rather than discovering this time-consuming step right when the show is starting.  Just try to access any of their archived concerts, and the registration option will pop up.


April 2, 2004
In case anyone missed this year's April Fools Day joke, I replaced the picture on the site's main page with the following:

Exciting New DVD now on sale at Venice Store!

It's kind of a shame it was just a gag.  I don't know about you guys, but I sure would've bought one.


March 24, 2004 - 10:15pm update
If you haven't read the news from earlier today, scroll down and read that first.

Michael Lennon has confirmed "Think Again's" airplay chart position in Spain.  This week, "Think Again" is #8!

As for those two Spanish commercials that started it all, I've just posted them.  Check 'em out here.


March 24, 2004
A couple of exciting pieces of news today.  First off, the band has just written two new songs!  Kipp says that one of them is a soft ballad, and the other grooves along with sort of a "Bad Timing Song" meets "Road to Where You Are" feel.  The hope is to have it ready for a fall release.

The other piece of news is something I mentioned briefly on Venice Talk last week, but I now have enough details to actually put a story together.  In the last few months, "Think Again" and "Not Down Anymore" have been featured in television commercials in Spain.  They've gotten such a great reaction, that Sony publishing decided to release Venice's CD in that country.  National Radio picked up "Think Again" as the single and put it into heavy rotation, and then many other stations in the country followed suit and added it as well.

So, to all our new friends in Spain who are just now discovering Venice for the first time, welcome to the rest of your life!


March 22, 2004
A quick note from management:

March 15, 2004  (8:40am)
I just got word that Avion, the new band featuring Venice drummer Jamie Wollam (and Tories singer Steve Bertrand), will be on the Mark and Brian radio show in 20 minutes. That's 9am, Pacific Standard Time. So if you get the show in your area, check Jamie out.

Also, be sure and pick up their new CD, which will be released on March 23. And if you're in LA, head to their album release party at the Roxy in Hollywood on March 25.

The band's webpage is here.


February 22, 2004
For those of you who are still undecided about whether to purchase Venice's new concert DVD, I've created a sampler reel, so you can get a feel for what it looks and sounds like.  (Obviously the quality in both departments is considerably lessened so that it can be streamed, but it's good enough to give you a general idea.)  Check that out over here.


February 16, 2004
New tour dates have been added to the Tour Dates page.  Remember back on January 23, when Venice performed in Rotterdam, Holland, after the movie premiere of the film "Festival Express?"  Half of their 90 minute set consisted of cover songs from the 1970s, and the other half was made up of Venice songs. Apparently, they were so well received, that they've now been invited to tour with the movie.  So from mid-April to early May, they'll perform after the film at many concert halls and upscale movie palaces throughout Holland.  And then right in the middle of that schedule, they'll headline three club shows in Germany, supported by Dutch singer/songwriter Kirsten.


February 14, 2004
The American version of Venice's concert DVD is now on sale at Venice Store.  So what are you waiting for?  Go buy one for yourself, and then several extras to hand out to all your friends!

In other news, the Pine Mountain Logs show at the Belly Up Tavern is now officially confirmed.

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!


January 31, 2004
Normally, I never post tour dates until they've been personally confirmed by Michael Lennon.  However, Michael's currently out of town and unreachable, so I'd like to state for the record that the following information is unconfirmed and unofficial.  However, having said that, you might be interested to know that the Belly Up Tavern's webpage and local San Diego newspapers are both reporting that the Pine Mountain Logs will be playing there on Friday, February 27th.  So I'd say there's a fairly good chance that this rumor is true.

But if it isn't, remember, you didn't hear it from me.....


January 27, 2004
When Melissa Etheridge releases her new album "Lucky" on February 10th, be sure and pick up a copy, so you can clearly hear Kipp Lennon singing backup on the song "Mercy."

Bernie Barlow, Melissa Etheridge, Kipp Lennon

January 18, 2004
Those of you who frequent Venice Talk got the big scoop yesterday when Frits Tuijn posted news of an intimate acoustic Venice concert taking place in Holland later this week, with room for only 180 people to attend.  I hadn't been able to confirm the show with Michael Lennon until just now.  Yes, it's real, and if you want to go, then you'd better move fast and make your reservation.  The information is posted here.


January 8, 2004
I just picked up a voice mail from Pat Lennon.  (I must have been in the other room.  Sorry, Pat!)  He tells me he was just informed that his episode of "Designer's Challenge" will air tonight.  Pat is featured on this episode as a carpenter, not as a musician.

Pat was upset that he wasn't given much notice to let the Venice fans know about it, but hopefully most of you will read this posting in time.  It's on a cable channel called HGTV, and Pat was told that it's on at 9:30pm tonight.  However, my satellite guide says it's on at 10:30pm.  So just to be safe, I recommend that you guys check your local listing.  Or else try the channel at 9:30pm, and if it isn't on, come back in an hour.

And if you miss it tonight, Pat says it will be rerun at 3:30pm this Sunday the 11th.  Which, again, might mean 4:30pm, so please check your guide.


January 6, 2004
A quick note from Venice's management: