Finally, one year after being awarded the grand prize at the Emergenza Festival, more specifically, a tour in the United States in conjunction with Ernie Ball - Music Man, on July 7th MUNSHY set off for Los Angeles. After a long and tiring journey, including many delays, check-points, lost and thankfully found baggage, the French band arrives in America for their first night at a luxurious hotel on the famous Sunset Boulevard. The hotel has the atmosphere of the Wild West, with a saloon, a mechanical bull in the middle of the hall, and TV screens of every size imaginable. The French band’s tour (4 concerts are scheduled, along with a load of fun and travelling between one concert and the next) starts off in Pomona, a suburb of the L.A. metropolis. After a relaxing afternoon on the beach near Malibu, the concert in the evening on the 8th of July kicks off their interaction with the American public, who are obviously amazed. Heavy metal accents combined with trip-hop sounds draw the crowd in. This concert isn’t one of MUNSHY’S best performances, but still the intensity of their music really comes through. Following this, the group plays in Ventura, San Diego, and then again in L.A. at Long Beach. And the band really evolves during the course of these concerts. The technical crew also needs a little breaking-in to put out their best. In Ventura it is still mostly the band’s incredible force that attracts the audience, but in San Diego, armed with a new and improved set-list, the French band really give it all they have got, and this pulls the crowd in and gets them involved right from the beginning. And at the end of the concert they sign their first autographs and even sell a few CDs. Between the various concerts, the group spends their time watching the other band’s concerts, looking at the stands, playing soccer, eating, and drinking. And there is even a jaunt down to Mexico….But most of all – a few members of the band spend their time trying to interview as many American spectators as possible to put together a video for their website. It is really the last concert, the one in Long Beach, that shows off MUNSHY’S quality and potential in a whirlwind of sounds that gets the public going right away. At this concert the French group’s determination also pays off with the best run as far as the technical aspects go. A number of new fans crowd around our new heroes to buy their demo CDs until they are all sold out. In the end, they are a roaring success. And so this brief American adventure draws to a close. We say our farewells to the technical crew, who are also disappointed to have to say goodbye so soon, just as we were getting into high gear. Ahh, nostalgia has already hit. Our story comes to a close….magical.