Max Judo Tour Diary

Max Judo in the USA July 2007 - Episode 3 - Uptown Fun, The Hills, and Fred’s

Monday morning traffic! Figuring on getting from Huntington Beach to Century City, in one hour, we decided to leave Chez Josh (hotel), at 9am, for our 11am meeting with Austrade.
The Wandering Dodge served us well for the morning run – the carpool lane traffic traveling at a solid 55mph, compared to six other lanes of single car users, traveling at 30mph (Yanks think they’re smart!). After having the van searched by the National Guard, we were allowed to park, and then made our way up to Austrade, USA! (You know you’re close to “home soil” when the walls are graced with photo’s of Jack-Boot Johnny and Bubbles The Clown Downer.)

Tony George, our “Man in LA”, was nothing but helpful, and has given us the guidance we need, to establish our sound on the international scene. Tony also gave us direction to the “Hollywood” sign, as we thought that would be good photo opportunity. After about half an hour of luxury homes (how many Bentley’s can one guy have? – we saw a house with three!), we came through the famous, but seedier side of LA, complete with Mann’s Chinese Theatre, where all movies premiere, and the Walk of Fame hand prints are. Sharp left at this point, takes you uphill, to the sign, but the dodge wasn’t having any of that – until four Aussies pushed her up the hills! (It should be pointed out that the temperature on this particular day was over 30, and about the middle of the day) After some searching, we found the perfect spot for the shots. If as many of you as possible can contact us, and request the hand-holding ass shots – they’re a real treat!
By the time we got back down to Downtown LA, the Dodge had given it up – and we pulled off the freeway, with the front half of the van smoking like crazy. Just our luck to break down in front of the Holiday Inn – after a few rounds of drinks, the tow truck arrived, and we headed to North Hollywood, to pick up a rental.
By this time, we were heading home in peak hour traffic, and really looked forward to Fred’s taco’s and beer, by the pier that night. After a quick feast, we were off to the US Premiere of Bra Boys - more on that in the next installment.

Tune in for the next installment, over the coming days.

Max Judo in the USA July 2007 - Episode 2

After attending previews, premiers, after-parties, and a quick jaunt to Century City (more on this in later postings), it was time for the lads to show their form, at the OC Tavern. Having been down the night before, to meet Mike, the manager, who was only too keen to have the band wasted on Cinnamon Schnapps, we checked out the room, had a chat to the sound tech, who had experience with Xavier Rudd, and the like, so we knew the sound quality would be great.
We arrived at OC, to find the place packed, about 250 patrons, having dinner, and Blue Moon lager – a local drop Shanga fell in love with. The lads from Re-form, a Florida-based rock/punk/rap/reggae band had just arrived in what looked like Scooby-Doo’s Mystery Machine, with a horse float in-tow, stacked high with equipment. These guys knew how to do “Road Trips”.

A local band, Medici, opened the night, with some laid-back sounds. After a short break, Re-form ripped it up with a full 50-minute set of their blend. Finally, the moment had arrived – the lads jumped up, and gave the OC-crowd a taste of Aussie rock – and they loved it. All 200+ packed the room, and were moovin and swaying to the unique Max Judo sounds.

Lucas broke out his new didge (Key of F – fast, bouncy, and crowd-pleasing), Shanga decide to showcase “Gretsch”, his latest acquision (not to be confused with actually playing it – you don’t want to rush these things!) Brendan had new toys, in the form of cymbals, and he and Graham kept the rhythm tight.

With a solid Brazilian female contingency, to add spice to the dance-floor, the night was a run-away success, with the band finally catching some food at Denny’s, after packing up the ever-lane-wandering 1984 Dodge Ram, and making the run up the 406 in good time (half an hour on a five lane freeway, at this time of night, compared to 3 hours for the same trip, during the day). Denny’s served the finest in American Fat, with a touch of High Fructose Corn Syrup, to guarantee carcinogenic satisfaction. As we dined with the early breakfast crowd, around 3.30am, we realized that this was the start of bigger things for Max Judo.

Max Judo in the USA July 2007 - Episode 1

Well we are now in the U.S. and have finally shrug off the effects of jet lag thanks to a few surfs at Huntington Pier. We will keep updating our diary daily to keep you all informed of our travels and tales...
After the thirteen hour flight from Brisbane to LA, we arrived at LAX and were greeted by our LA agent and tour manager who provided us with our own Dodge Ram van with fold up deck chairs in the back.
Pulling out of the carpark, we ran into Hamish and Andy from Rove Live who were on their way to shoot 2 live shows. We asked them where they were staying and Hamish's quick response was "on Jessica Alba's lounge!"

Our days have been filled with several media and film premieres which included an acoustic performance before the U.S. premiere of the movie "Bra Boys" and meeting the original members of Dogtown and ZBoys at the Huntington Surf and Film Festival (big thanks to Leslie and Dave).
We went for tour up to LA and Hollywood where we took many photos that we will be on site very soon. The Hollywood Hills were not kind to our trusty Dodge Van however and saw the boys having to push the old beast up the hills on many occasions. The final straw for the old girl was back on the LA Freeway when she decided enough was enough and filled the cabin with smoke. We then had to arrange a tow back to Huntington and a new hire car was delivered.