PACK YOUR BAGS AND GRAB YOUR PASSPORTS, STUDENTS!! WE ARE GOING ON THE MONSTERS OF ROCK ON THE RUINS OF THE EVIL EMPIRE TOUR!!!

After the Moscow Peace Festival, Russia was tasting its first bite of freedom. Our booking agent was contacted by a promoter in Moscow, who wanted to bring Sepultura there for a tour. I could not contain my excitement! I was heading to my roots!! We would be the first international act to tour the newly freed countries, which had broken off from the former USSR. History was about to be made!

Sepultura

Sepultura

We were in store for an adventure, for sure! We would receive all expenses paid and zillions of Rubles, which had no value at the time. We did it for the fans. For 10 glorious days we would explore and for 4 shows, the Russian fans would feel like fans all over the world. The pit, seeing the band live, hearing the songs that lured out from ancient boom boxes, to be able to buy official merchandise...all the things we all take for granted in the free world. These were miracles to the Russian audience!

We travelled by train, which was an adventure of its own! Little tiny fold down bunks and a itty bitty table. The gear nested in every nook and cranny that didn't have limbs in it. Freezing cold tundra flew past outside the frozen windows! The train stopped at all the little villages; a people mover. Birch trees endlessly stood, tall white, chopsticks. The little wooden homes had gardens full of cabbage and beet plants, with animal shelters connected to the home...sharing the warmth of the fire with all living things.

We travelled to St. Petersburg, Riga, Latvia, Vilnius, Lithuania, and ended in Moscow. The war had just gotten over in Lithuania and people were standing in bread lines and digging in garbage bins of hotels to retrieve coffee grounds, and any scraps available and inviting. There was no heat in the city because the power station had been destroyed. We had armed guards outside our doors to stop any thieves or dark intentioned characters. The crew went to the bread line and one of them bought 10 Hershey bars for $10 and gave them to the crew and band, who were nearby. The women's faces consisted of astonishment and shock, seeing someone spend so much moola on chocolate bars! They had barely scraped up the 30 cents needed for a loaf of bread. Throughout the tour, we were all generous with the Rubles and gave them all away, to elderly people, mother's, gypsies and to churches.

We had a bit of trouble in Riga, which is a beautiful city on the Baltic Sea. One of the crew picked up a girl in the restaurant at night. He felt sorry for her and spent the night making her laugh. When he woke up in the morning, he wasn't laughing at all! His wallet and all his money from the entire tour had disappeared! He called the police, who informed him the girl was most likely part of an organized crime ring. All the while, the Little Miss stood and smiled...Palm's up!! The kicker was when the officer said that the guys may want to move to another room because there was a good chance they would have snipers attacking them, because they had reported the incident. We were happy to head out of Dodge!

Moscow is always inviting and interesting! Giant buildings all Ghostbuster-ed out! Lenin's Tomb, the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral...everywhere you look there is a monumental view of the coolest architecture you can envision! The shopping is glorious and plentiful! We have been there scores of times now and see something new every time we return!

Max and Me in front of Lenin's tomb..

...overlooking St. Basil's Cathedral

My family lives in Omsk, Siberia. My beloved little Aunt Natasha was sentenced to 10 years in the gulag for making a casual statement.."Russia should replace Stalin, like Germany did to Hitler and the country may improve." The KGB got wind of it from a narcing 'friend' and zap...off to prison she went. The ride paid for by Mr. Stalin himself. She said she built the road across Siberia, while living on bread and water. Her Mother and sisters, and brothers searched for her for years , until the Red Cross finally located her. When she as released from prison, she was given a small apartment and was never allowed to move away again. So......we went to her! Yes, we packed up the kids and a friend, Mark Corona, and headed to the wilds of Siberia!! It was an experience that we all treasure. We had many conversations and great Russian cuisine around that little table in her living room!

Aunt Natasha's apt.

We will be heading to St. Petersburg and Moscow in March and we are all excited as can be! One of my Grandmother's Uncles was recently blessed with the title of a Saint and I will hopefully walk through the Holy Door of the Cathedral and wipe tears from my eyes. He was murdered with a group of priests, all in the same location, and President Putin has built a Cathedral on the exact spot. It will be a trip I will never forget! This is what roots are....






Class dismissed....

THAT KID WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING!!!!!

The '80's and 90's were spawning Metal like a hospital nursery! The German fans were out in full force, having discovered the love and intensity of Metal long before the wave hit many other countries! Why, it took over 25 years for the fans to discover jean jackets with patches on them! In these blooming years of thrash Metal, the Germans already had the fever and it was going strong! Fans would line up to party hours before the shows, swarm the merch tables and mosh like motherf#@$ers till the last guitar riff was long past a memory! The beer was flowing and I must admit, quite a few of them only heard the music in their passed out fantasies!

Motorhead was one of the bands the mighty Deutschland was infected with! Every year, they did a series of Christmas Metal Fests during the week of Christmas, and rocked the house down! My bands were a favorite flavor on these shows, and I looked forward to them with as much excitement as the fans fighting for the front row. Starting with Sacred Reich in the late '80's, and moving on to Sepultura, after I began managing them, we built a friendship with the band, the crew, and many other openers. I became friends with Phil Campbell during the Sacred dates, and he would let me sit in his area on the side of the stage...you can imagine how I loved that...what better view!!

This particular year, on a Sep run, we were in some beastly German city, and it happened to be Lemmy's birthday and I recall, it was the first day of the short tour. Andreas had broken his arm in a jet ski accident and the band hired a friend, Silvio Golfetti, from Korzus, to fill in. He had a super warm smile, was a kickass riffer and even looked a bit like Andreas. We were all grateful that Andreas had survived the accident, since it had broken his upper arm in quite deep water! The band did not want to cancel the run, and moved quickly to find someone up to the job.

Silvio from Korzus and Iggor

After short discussion in the backstage, Max asked me to ask Motorhead if he could sing Orgasmatron with Lemmy, that night, in honor of Lemmy's birthday. I made my way to someone...a crew member, a tour manager? Short time later, I got a big "No!" "Lemmy says Max sings with his throat and not from deep in his soul." Yeah, we were shocked, intimidated a bit, but soon, after a few vodkas, the Brazilians got a wee bit angry. The anger turned into pranking and soon, all sorts of remedies were being suggested, by the Seps. With big smiles, they decided to strip down with only a sock on their dangles, and march on the stage during Orgasmatron. This was not something I highly recommended, let me tell you, Students!!

The set was steaming hot! Max stage dived, rocked like a cyclone in a toy store, and the venue began blistering up, I was secretly hoping they would change their minds before Motorhead hit the stage, but no, the boozing, the atmosphere and the laughter got stronger by the minute!

Iggor drumming

Max crowd surfing

after crowd surfing

Iggor's drum kit kicked over

The crowd spat fire and looked like a tumbleweed hurricane as the mighty Motorhead hit the stage!! The Richter Scale went rocketing off the graph that night, somewhere in Germany!! And low and behold, during Orgasmatron, there they went, prancing like drunken sailors, spilling onto the stage. I saw the mortified look of Lemmy, as the shock set in! There was Max, only shirtless, but drunk as a pirate, sloshing his screwdriver right into Phil Campbell's pedalboard! Oh shite, this was gonna get my ass in trouble! Their crew did the best they could to lasso the Seps and clean the mess to avoid technical difficulties, but the knife had been sunk deep!

Motorhead

Motorhead

Dressing room fun

About to go on stage!

Immediately after their set, I was summoned to Lemmy's dressing room. There was hell to pay! I was impressed by the size of the cake!! A giant, two layer frosted beauty, in all its glory was waiting for him. He was a gentleman and offered me a huge slice before he sent me to walk the plank. It was creamy and delicious and made my whipping much sweeter! "That kid will never amount to anything! He can't control his alcohol! He has no respect for others!" I nodded, frosting slithering down my throat. I agreed to do the best I could to make sure Max acted with a bit more couth from then on! Lemmy was pissed, but a gentleman, for sure!

Someone mentioned to Lemmy previously, that my Mother had attended the Nurnberg Trials, had actually walked the hall of the jail cells where the violators were confined, had even peaked into Goerring's cell and miraculously survived a concentration camp. Lemmy was really interested in German WW2 history and invited me to visit historic locations in Nurnberg with him, and I was excited to go. But....at the last minute, this kid came to me and asked me to stay and spend the day with him. You know who I chose.....

Have a blessed New Year, my dear Students!!!

Class dismissed.......

AUSTRALIA OR BUST!!!!

With all the hoopla regarding the cancellation of Soundwave, I thought I would brighten things up a bit and also clarify....contrary to reports, Killer Be Killed is not owed moola from their performance last year and we WERE paid amazingly fast. I have heard this isn't the case with many other acts, but I like to keep my nose to myself and cannot comment on other band's business. Max and I absolutely love the Australian music scene, having gone there since the wild days of the early 1990's. The vivacious fans, the fervor of Metal in the veins of the bush lands, it all adds up to a great experience!

Soulfly

Mikey and Max

From Soundwave, to Sidewaves, to Big Day Out, to Gigantour, to headline shows, i have planned many tours across the Land Down Under. Sepultura was quite famous for a riot in Perth, permanently causing the total destruction and closure of a venue! Ah, yes, the lovable Aussies. They are maniacs for merch; they are loyal to bands and actually BUY cds, and they patiently wait in line at in stores to meet their musical heroes-always buying a cd to get signed and never pulling the Whine out of their mouth! A band's dream! My next dream is to roll across the country with my Maximum Cavalera Tour! One day, hopefully in 2016!

Igor and Christina

Me, Igor, and Max

Max and Zyon

Once, we took 23 people with us--band, crew, children, nanny, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends all in tow! We dined on alligator cooked by yours truly and blew the crap out of digiridos, all for fun! One night, we were awaken by Mary Poppins ,er Joey Nugent, our son's nanny, saying that Zyon had slept walked out of the hotel room and was nowhere to be found! Running to the lobby, the smiling receptionist pointed to the bar and behold... Zyon was walking in circles slapping the dead finger as he prowled, unknowingly! Thank God he never wandered out of the hotel!

Roy, Max, Squasha, and Me

Paul, Andrew, Igor and Me

Besides friends who are/were promoters, AJ, Squasha, Gavin, Adrian Bohm and others through our 20+ years of tours, our dearest buds are the famous twins, Paul and Andrew Haug. They were 15 years old when we met them and they have grown with us, as our children have grown up with them! Many visits to the Melbourne Zoo were made into memories because of their friendship. We have known each other through happy times and the worst of times. They have never lost their humor or their youth! Some of you may know them from their band, Contrive!

One of the worst experiences happened to Incite! They were in their infancy when we toured there and they weren't very experienced at the time, when misfortune became their shadow! I checked everyone in for the flight to the US and as you can imagine, we were all looking forward to being home! As we approached the passport checkpoint, Luis Marrufo, the bass player reached for his passport, only to find that some slight of hand pickpocketer had swiped it from his jacket!! You can imagine his shock and my pissed-off-ness when we both realized we would have to leave him on the Big Island until he got a replacement passport! That was not a good thing!

Max

One thing you can always be assured of is the fact that we will always return! Morfing from one band to another, bringing a son or daughter or several, we cannot resist the lure of the succulent Harry's pies, the curves of the Opera House, the changing lights of the bridge and the bungi jump on the Gold Coast! The screams of the fans and the poofy-ness of the koala bears will beckon us back, many, many years to come!





Class dismissed......

TRIBE, LET US WELCOME THE SOON TO BE MRS. CAVALERA!!!

Next week, on my Father's (RIP) birthday, our son, Richie, will tie the knot with his squeeze, Shonda Mackey! Not only will we be gaining a daughter from another Mother, but the Tribe will have a new Mrs. Cavalera in our tight circle.

I met Shonda when Richie introduced her to us some time ago. When he told us she was a fetish model, I admit, I raised an eyebrow! We never had a clue that she would be marrying him one day. We could see from the start that she was very much in love with Richie. She is a hard worker and a beautiful person, inside and out. She has proven herself to be loyal, and protective of us all. In our family, privacy is very important and treasured. It is also rare. Shonda slid right in with us and has never let us down. We have seen her evolve into a serious model, part time actress and now, a wife to or son.

Poster ad from the boulevard in Huntington Beach

When Thomas Mignone was looking for a Medusa who would allow a snake to slither on her body, Shonda donned her body suit and made friends with the serpent. Voila! Snakes of Jehovah gave us the smack down! Thomas said he had never shot anyone the camera loved more!

Mr. and Mrs. Richie Cavalera and son, Sawyer

Richie and Sawyer

So next week, Tribe, let us welcome another woman in the family tree of ancestry of the Cavalera family... Mrs. Richie Cavalera!!! You know how we do it!

Class dismissed......

CALL THE POLICE! WE HAVE BEEN ROBBED!!!!

In 2004, we did the craziest tour that we had ever done! It started out all cool...lots of shows, Soulfly headlining and the kids in tow. We some of the kid's friends with us, too.....Bryan, Eddie, and Joey, the boy's nanny. With the band, crew, kids and friends, we needed a giant bus! We found this bus in Sweden. It was the biggest band bus in the world, exquisitely furnished on the inside! A double decker, of course, but it also had 2 bedrooms and living room lounges upstairs.

Igor and Max in our bus lounge

Tour dates

Roxanne and Moses

The upstairs was cut in half with a wall, which divided the upstairs into the family room and the bushwhacker's room. Each had bunks for everyone and a spacious living area with poofy black leather couches and a kickass entertainment area. We really loved that damn bus! By the end of the tour, the bus had so many mechanical failures we were arriving up to 5 hours late for festivals!! But, dear Students, that is another blog...

Bryan

Roxanne

One night in Italy, about 4:30am, I was awaken by a phone call from our friend in America, Tess (RIP) Krimbell. As I chatted away in my bunk, I got up to make sure that the kids had all gotten to their bunks, and not fallen asleep to a video game. Walking to the front of our area, I peaked down the staircase and was shocked to see the door wide open and Bryan's backpack laying near the door, with a hundred dollar bill sticking out of it!!

I walked downstairs, still yapping to Tess, and looked around for Bryan. We were parked at a truckstop in Italy, and as I expected, everyone was snuggled in their bunks. I gasped when I got to the kitchen are. It was the room we kept all of our laptops, phones charging, cameras, etc. It was bare!!! Not a device anywhere!!! Fear washed over me as I realized that we were being robbed. Was whoever behind me, or hiding in a corner? Was I about to be grabbed and silenced? WTF was going on?

I ran upstairs and woke the driver and everyone up. Shock turned into anger. This had never happened before! We contacted the police promptly. They arrived and it seemed that this had been happening in Italy many times. In fact, they said we were "lucky!" they told us that a gang from Northern Africa had been pulling similar heists. They went by the gang name "Amerikans." We were lucky because usually they pumped some narcotic gas into the bus to knock everyone out and many times, the people neared to where the gas came into the bus, died. I guess in that respect, we were blessed! What an experience...one I hope is never repeated!!!

Christian

Yuha, getting the f%#@ outa Dodge!

Class dismissed....