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DIAMOND HEAD FRONTMAN REVEALS HIS SECRET WEAPON ON EVE OF TOUR

Diamond Head frontman, Rasmus Bom Andersen, has arrived in England after a marathon trek from Australia and despite the jetlag, he’s totally geared up for another long haul flight tomorrow when Diamond Head take off for San Francisco to commence the biggest North American tour in their illustrious history.

Rasmus told us upon disembarking his flight: “Yes! It’s my first Stateside tour with Diamond Head and it’s a big one. Lots of gigs and hard work, but it will be a great experience and I get to see many parts of the US that I haven’t seen before.

“The sixteen gig stint is daunting and you just got to take it one show at a time and sometimes duck out of notes and at times be a bit efficient with the performances. Brian always tells me that my view of a ‘Rasmus at 100% performance’ way surpasses the average listener’s expectations so I should and could dial it back once in a while, but that is easier said than done.

“What do I like to do for prep? Well… physical conditioning is very important as a singer so I try to get enough cardio exercise before going on tour. I’m always singing so unless I need to do a very different style of singing for a long period of time I don’t usually do any excessive vocal training before a tour.

“My secret weapon, or weapon of choice, to keep the chords clear is spicy ginger tea, healthy food and lots of sleep. The number one killer for singers is not enough sleep so that’s a priority while on tour. We’ll see how this one pans out!”

Guitarist Andy ‘Abbz’ Abberley’s place in the Diamond Head legacy is well and truly secured having been in the band for over ten years now, and his appetite for the live shows is there for all to see when he’s up on stage. Andy told us:

“From the very first shows we did in America back in 2011, I was really taken aback by the sheer joy that Diamond Head gave to the audiences. We attract a wide variety of people, from the folks that have stuck with the band through thin and thin, ex-pats who continue to wear their (now washed out and maybe a little errrm ‘snug’ fitting) 1984 tour t-shirts with a mixture of pride and honour to the kids who maybe want to see for themselves what Lars Ulrich has been championing for the past thirty years.

Hella Rock Festival

“They make me feel so humble when you talk to them and find out that they have maybe travelled 200/300 miles, which let’s face it, as a round trip is 400/600 miles. That’s commitment in my book and I cannot thank everyone who has supported the band enough, not just in the US but all over.

diamond head

“There was a long forgotten blog that I had written, I think maybe on the Europe/UK tour and at one US show someone quoted a line from it. It sort of brought it home to me how much these folks love Diamond Head and were so, so pleased we had finally toured North America. They all wanna buy you a drink which is so flattering but highly impractical as we have to play with all our faculties [laughs].

“They scrutinize your guitars and amps which to both Brian and myself is really interesting as we are both guitar geeks.”

And to reinforce Andy’s words, we know of fans who are flying over to the US for the three California gigs and several ex-pats now resident in the States have also been in touch to say they are attending.

And true to form, some fans have had t-shirts printed with ‘Coffin Dodgers Tour’ printed on them with the three gig dates on the back. You’ll be seeing pictures of them later this month.

First diary entry from the States coming soon…


“Diamond Head were my favourite band, and I landed at Heathrow Airport and I went down to Woolwich Odeon, it was called, which was sort of a baby Odeon; it was about the size of this room we’re in here. And there they were — DIAMOND HEAD.”
Lars Ulrich – Metallica


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