It's a V Thing...

TIME FLIES when you're touring... We've already spent a month long tour in Europe, stopped by Russia, spent a quick week of shows in the states and am writing from the end of our week here in Japan!!

Forgive me for this blog is going to be long and completely out of order!

I'm going to start with our random show in vegas... mainly because it was more like a vacation for me and because my amazing boyfriend got to come out and play!

It's pretty hard to get to him tear himself away from his academy, but he had the time to train in Vegas and even teach a class, so we were both working!

We stayed at the Palms in Vegas and performed at club Rain. I don't know how many clubs are in Vegas, but the fire/lights/fog/etc made it really interesting! Our dressing rooms were upstairs too, so we go to view the whole club over head, I love that.

Ryron arrive a day before I did, but I went arrived a day earlier than the Rih-entourage. I figured if I was going to have a show in Vegas and a day off right before, I might as well extend my trip! So Ryron and I went to go see a Cirque show, Mystere, at Treasure Island. When I wasn't blown away by the amazing acrobatic tricks and performances, I was laughing hysterically. I truly recommend this show to anyone who has a limited time in Vegas and wants to see an amazing show.

After my day off, the crew showed up and it was back to work...We were doing a private corporate event for some large company (tmobile i think, but not sure). Rachael and I had to hustle to get our boyfriends in... Luckily Nelson, Rih's bodyguard, took care of us.

We were basically dancing on a stage the size of a bed. California King, but still... the stage floor was uneven, but we made it work. The crowd had no idea who was going to be performing (the company surprises them), so it wasn't our usual crowd of crazed fans who bought tickets the second they were released. Just another day on the job I suppose.

But really, neither of us can call what we do work... especially with these pictures, no one would believe us anyhow.


I'll do the Japan recap next, since it's the freshest in my mind... then we'll dive into the past!
Kevin made me laugh the other day when I heard him talking to his girlfriend about what we were doing and then said, "Hey, isn't it cool that I'm talking to you from the future?!" I had to use it... I stole it and butchered it... but it made me laugh because Japan is 16 hours ahead of LA, so when we would call home, we would joke that we were talking to them from the future... and that it looks promising. Might be dorky to some of you, but I got a full day of entertainment from it!

Now, we arrived in Tokyo after a significantly long day at LAX where our flight had been delayed... for almost 4 plus hours. It happens... but after arriving in Japan and a decent nights rest, Rachael and I found ourselves wandering the busy city to come across a working temple.

Usually you see very touristy ones that are lined goods, but this one was hidden up a staircase of beautiful red banners and red painted with merchants attempting to sell authentic bamboo poles with Japanese writing on it.

We stumbled upon this staircase by mere luck, being attracted to the bright red sitting against a green hillside. We just wanted to take pictures of it... but once we followed the staircase up, we were int he midst of Japanese natives enjoying this temple. We were enthralled with everything about it and went camera happy (living up to the American tourist stereotype!) The temple was beautiful and it made me feel complete that I came to Japan and got to see that!

Our shows here went great... the first broadcasted from a large arena performing along side other artists like Ne-yo, Keisha Cole, Sean Kingston, Kanye West, NERD... and the second in a small venue to where we could easily see the back row. I love the Japanese, but they are so accustomed to being conservative, that it's hard for them to break that sometimes during shows. Unless they're in the front row, then they scream a lot... and we totally feed off of that for energy! I learned how to play the card game spades... with a few self-acclaimed masters. This definitely helped pass the time during the long days before our shows.

My Japan adventure is coming to an end, seeing as I fly home in less than 12 hours... but I still have yet to go visit my friend Kenji at Universal Studios out here in Osaka, so I will definitely have more fun pictures from that extravaganza!


This last European tour was filled with ferry rides! Some were better than others, but they are huge ferry's that our tour buses and semi's full of gear load onto to cross the bodies of water between these Northern/Eastern European countries. We were on ferry's anywhere between 40 minutes to 12 plus hours! Luckily for that long one, we got cabins that I heard were similar to rooms on a cruise ship. (I've never been on a cruise, so I cannot back up that information.) All I can show you is a picture of how large our ferry could be.

I never really go out while we are on tour, for multiple reasons which I will spare boring you with, but Helsinki, Finland seemed to be the night of choice to celebrate our hard work. We all gathered post show and hopped in a huge van taxi (we're ten people deep with band and dancers alone) . We went to a club that allowed smoking inside. Despite the obvious discomfort of lung cancer slow building up in my system, it was quite an eventful evening! We got to watch some Finish people bust a move on the dance floor... I was really hoping to be able to capture some video, because I really thought a few of these people were going to hurt themselves, but the alcohol probably saved them...and provoked them. Either way, it was comedy. I'll be honest to say that I just sat in our comfortable velvet line seats they roped off for us (as 'VIP's' haha) eating the watermelon and watching an ancient Victoria's Secret Fashion show that was on repeat on the huge flat screen above our area. I saw it in it's entirety at least three times through... it was after the third time that I proceeded to the dance floor... and not soon after, called it a night.

Backstage time and before shows we are constantly having fun. Most of us are pretty camera happy (none as bad in the sickness as myself) but at least we'll have great memories to talk about later. The dancers in general come off stage pretty winded... not that we're out of shape, but every audience is different and can sometimes pull things out of you that you didn't even know was possible. Backstage Rachael and I are constantly laughing with the boys about things they did by accident or on purpose to mess with us on stage. We've done everything from hit/run into each other, messed up someone else's choreography, taking the boys hats, the boys grabbing our ankles when we're supposed to be kicking, hiding backstage when Rihanna is looking for us... One time Rihanna threw off one of the boys chairs during a number where we all needed one and he was left speechless, free styling to attempt to figure out what to do next. The list goes on. We definitely maintain the quality of the show, we just find innovative ways to throw each other off.

Other than that, our shows were going great. We played pranks that the audience probably didn't know whether we were being serious or not.

For instance, during our performance of shut up and drive, we run out with chairs and create a make-shift automobile on stage for Rih to dance around. While this was happening, one of our crewThe bond between the band, dancers, and Rihanna was definitely solidifying itself into a truly organic and natural performance. Sometimes we would be so engaged in each other on stage, we worried that the audience wasn't included... mainly because we guys thought it would be funny to walk out in a large fluorescent yellow jacket acting as a law enforcement and handed Rihanna a "parking ticket" ... she was singing while trying to read and all of us were cracking up. There was no way for the audience to know what that paper he handed her said, but we all definitely found it funny. Our group is definitely not one to hold back on the pranks... here is a video Kevmo (our keyboardist) created and edited as a gift from all of us to Rih...




I'd like to introduce you to our bus life... performing on stage is easy to see and understand...and forgive me if I've dwelled on this in a previously blog, but stick 14 people on a bus together... all who have different sleeping/waking times, preferences in temperature (you'd be surprised at how big a deal this gets to be), cleaning habits, noise level control on both themselves and their electronics, respect for other peoples space or property... the list is endless. Real world has NOTHING on what could be capture on this tour bus. Then throw in the dynamic that we range in age from as young as 20 to the middle to late thirties... and have both estrogen and testosterone battling at all times. Despite all odds against us, we've still come out alive! So here are some photos from our bus... Our bus was the best one yet in Europe equipped with 14 bunks upstairs, a small seating area up front upstairs and a large lounge with a decent size flat screen in the back. Downstairs was our kitchen, bathroom and dining table. It also had two quasi couches (even though the size would fool you otherwise) that faced each other and two flat screen tvs above each. The driver had his own "private quarters" as he called it, up in front right behind the driver seat where a bed folded down for him as well as a DVD collection to keep him sane from having to drive with us! ;) Lucky for the boys, this trip Rihanna decided to have quite a few girls nights, where the female dancers and background singers went onto her bus for the overnight drives and had our moving version of a slumber party. I would go into detail, but our production manager probably wouldn't appreciate me telling the embarrassing story of him! haha... This one you'll have to hear in person, be sure to prompt me if you're interested.

I have a bit of empathy for these bus drivers... they have to clean up after us (which is not necessarily in their job description), work crazy hours being kept awake by our loudness when it's their time to sleep (hehe sorry!), and have to endure some crazy driving conditions. There were quite a few nights where we were woken up in our bunks being slammed from one side to the other, thinking we were going to tip over.

One night in particular, we were driving to Prague through a huge blizzard... we all had definitely woken up quite a few times through the night to the sideways jolts, but it wasn't until we reached the Prague venue that we had heard what happened. Apparently two of our semi-trucks got deeply involved in over an one HUNDRED and EIGHTY car pile up. People were driving faster than was safe and simply could not stop in time causing one of the largest vehicular pile ups in Prague. There were many deaths, but luckily our truck drivers remained unharmed. Not the same could be said about our gear truck... another semi lost control and L-shaped while the back end aimed right for the cabin our truck driver, who seeing it coming, jumped out the passenger side onto the mountain side snow. The road stretched for over three miles of cars just mangled and pushed into each other. To add burden to the truckers mind, apart from just surviving this ordeal, these two trucks were carrying our ENTIRE stage set, backdrop, lights, and wardrobe for the band/dancers AND Rihanna. We obviously found alternative gear and found a way to get our wardrobe in time, but it was definitely a day of high-intensity.

Last but not least on the European tour, we found ourselves in Moscow, Russia.

Traveling to Russia was brilliant... we chartered a private jet out of Germany. The seats, service, and ease were truly needed at this point on the tour... and pretty much our only option consider our performance schedule. We were tired considering we just did a show the night before and had a 4am lobby call to head to the airport.

The drive to the hotel from the airport was long... with no help from Moscow's traffic. But the sites were a culture shock. Russia looked like a larger than life miniature golf course, minus the green and throw in some overcast weather. Their buildings are colorful pieces of artwork that bring an essence of royalty. Although, it also has the worn down look of a miniature golf course's ornamental constructs.

Our hotel... The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow. If I can recommend anywhere to stay while in Moscow, this would be at the TOP of my list... heck, anywhere to stay ever, the Ritz-Carlton is supreme in service, free wireless internet (unheard of in Europe, so this was a treat), cleanliness, and the ROOM! Wow, the room was brilliant. I had a jacuzzi tub AND a separate shower that felt like I was standing under Niagara falls... it had one of those shower heads that came straight out of the ceiling the diameter of a basketball and shot straight down! Brilliance!
Not to mention the tile-like floor of the bathroom was heated. The bed was large, tall and heavenly! They had a large glass bottle of candy tasting water. I know you're probably thinking, wow, Vic is super exaggerating or just easily impressed... and while I'm known for both... I can guarantee you there is not much room for exaggeration. I mean, honestly, the water from the bath felt like it was laced with some amazing cocoa butter or something because I cannot remember the last time my skin and hair felt that soft! These pictures don't even do this place justice.

Anyhow, on to the performance... we performed at an Olympic size arena that I heard was larger than the Super dome. The audience was interesting... the front middle section, which is usually reserved for the rowdiest standing fans they can find, was a red carpeted roped off area of seated rich people. It was very obvious that these were the people with money. Past the wings, off to the sides of the stage were the standing fans who yelled with excitement. Our middle area was near silent until Kevin ran into the crowd with his wireless keyboard to get them off their feet! The crowd seemed to be never-ending in a building that went so high, none of us could even see the last person on the top level in the back row. It was huge.

The European tour ended successfully and we all made it home alive... but we barely made it home at all... The four dancers had a 6:30am flight back to LAX from Russia via Germany. We arrive at the airport about a quarter to 5 and proceed through one screening to a check-in counter. None of us had tickets in our hand, because we're used to having electronic tickets. The man at the counter told us that we didn't have electronic tickets, that we were booked on the flight but should have paper tickets in hand. We all look at each other confused, then to our dance captain to see if she received them, and she knew nothing of the situation. Luckily, I had a phone that worked internationally, because otherwise, we would not have been able to call our production manager who had our paper tickets and didn't tell us. We call him, waking him up and told him our situation. He rushed himself awake and jumped in the first cab he could find and took the 40 minute drive to our airport to get us those tickets. After a month of being away from home, we almost got stranded in Moscow. We laugh about it now, but we were kind of scared. I love being in the states... I appreciate it now more than ever before.