Greg Smith / News

12/11/01
The tour of Australia and Europe were a blast. Not only was it great to be in those countries, I I got to know some really great and talented people from bands that were playing on the bill with us. From the guys in Paul Rodgers band surfing in Australia, to partying with the guys from Ratt (every night) in Europe, to exchanging Rainbow stories with Ronnie Dio and Jimmy Bain, to jamming with Brian May at Wembley! All that and hanging out with Kangaroos and Koalas. Also got to see some friends & former bandmates during the tour of the U.K. Pretty F*ckin cool!!
See ya,
Greg

3/16/01
Yeah, Yeah, I know.. It's been a LONG time since my last update!! Been busy, I moved.. Bla, bla, bla.. Well, as most of you already know, the U.S. tour went really well. We all had a blast, the shows went great and the crowds were awesome. We're gearing up for a tour of Australia, Scandinavia and the U.K. once again. It'll be great to see the U.K. fans (and many friends) once again as they were great! There are a few changes in the Cooper lineup for 2001. Eric Singer is no longer with us. He is back playing with "Kiss". We all wish him well and will miss his unique brand of insanity on the road! Also Pete Friesen is no longer the guitarist sharing stage right with me. He is working on an original project in which he plans to dedicate all his time to. We wish him the best of luck. Their replacements will be:

Ben Townsend - Drums (Pete's Townsend's nephew)
Eric Dover - Guitar
Should be a great tour and I'm anxious to get started. Rehearsals start April 6th in L.A.

P.S. I'll try to update more once the tour starts!
See ya,
Greg
8/4/00
Well, Just got home from the last show in Moscow. Red Square was really a sight to see!! Growing up in a generation where the Cold War was a serious reality, I never thought I'd be standing in Red Square. The Russian people were very friendly and BIG music fans. Just goes to show you, people are people everywhere, it's the politicians that screw things up!! I must have signed 20 Rainbow albums for fans who knew I was playing with Alice. Bulgaria was also a very interesting and beautiful place. They gave us the Royal treatment over there. They had parties, and dinners, nights out at the local clubs (where we got up and jammed). Great experience. The U.K. dates went really well and got to see some good friends who live over there. All shows sold out, and the filming of the Hammersmith show for DVD went off without a hitch. Some of the BEST Indian food I've ever had in Wales! The U.S. dates start late August, so see ya there!
See ya,
Greg

7/10/00
Sitting here in Wales. Got the night off.. WOO HOO!! This tour has been pretty hard work so far. Waking up pretty achy every day.. Long Drives, and lots of shows in a row. Band is however, still kicking ass and the crowds have been really great.. Been through most of Germany so far and thank God they're still Rock-n-Roll lovers over there. Played 2 shows in Austria and met Arnold Schwarzenegger in Graz. He was staying at the same hotel as us.. Pretty cool.. Got to see some old friends from my Rainbow days. Thanks for coming!! Looking forward to these UK dates.. All of our UK dates are sold out and we'll be recording and filming our London show for a DVD and possible live album. From here we go back to Germany for a few dates, then Bulgaria, and the last show is in Moscow. I'll try to update again as soon as possible, but unfortunately, Internet access is sometimes a problem over here.
See ya,
Greg

6/14/00
Hello Everyone! I am in Lithuania right now. Things are going really well. Band is kicking ass! Tonight will be our 4th show of the tour. 1st one in Sweden went really well. We headlined an outdoor festival with about 20,000 people. Also playing were Dio, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Saxon among other bands. Next show was in St. Petersburg, Russia. What a trip that was! We had a small amount of time to do some sightseeing and buy souveniers. We played the new arena there. Very nice and modern arena. The people were great and it was hard to believe that such a short time ago these nice people were considered our enemies. Next stop was Tallin, Estonia. WOW!! What a surprise! A GREAT old city. Plenty of sights. 500 year old buildings, Castles, old churches. Beautiful! Would definitely go back there just to hang out. We will see what Lithuania is like tonight! Sort of grey looking here. Sort of what you'd expect Communist Russia to look like. Next stop is Czech Republic. I know that will be great. I'll update again in the next few days.
See ya,
Greg

greg@gsmith.com