Update from Watt

[jeremiah]

Just got this from Watt

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please check this link for a story from the local paper here in halmstad, sweden:
http://www.hallandsposten.se/dagenshp/artikel.asp?a=83290

I don’t think they mentioned anything about the other car that blew by us. they think we just lost control by hitting the center divider when trying to pass. that was not the case

let me type you some facts about what happened: yesterday at about ten of six (pm), in falconburg, sweden, travelling south on the e06 highway towards malmo, our van lost control when we had to avoid someone coming into the fast lane and going by us like a bullet as were trying to pass another
vehicle. we cut right, back into our lane but too sharp, started to swerve, then overcorrected left, bringing us up on two wheels and landing us on our side (my side), then skidded to a stop after hitting a center divider cable. it seemed like the whole thing took an hour but it was probably less than a minute or two. I was belted in and was unhurt.

the driver (noel, the soundman) had scrapes on the side of his abdomen. the tour boss, david, was sitting in the bench seat in front of me and got a deep wound in his knee (like my bike one last summer) from the window glass breaking as we skidded along (my window remained intact). george was in the front passenger seat and was belted in and only hurt his wrist, bracing against the dash
during the crash. j was hurt the most. he was sitting in the back row of the van w/me but on the other side and went flying inside the van and landed above me (I saw him fly in front of me as I held my knees and braced myself) when we were on our side. he asked if I was alright and then said "my back" and I told him not to move. the ambulance was there in minutes, they popped out the front windshield and got him out that way. I just saw him at the hospital here in halmstad (the next big town that has a hospital w/a brand
new emergency room) and he’s in pain if he tries to stand up but is in good spirits, saw him take his first steps since the wreck w/a walker.

he’s got two cracked upper vertebrae but no spinal injuries which is great.
we’re so fucking lucky, all the way around. last night he was in much pain but things are getting better. he’s gonna try to fly home in a couple of days. of course, the rest of the tour is cut (all the german gigs). I’m still in my oslo clothes, I never got a chance to change. I can’t tell you how scary the whole fucking nightmare was but am so grateful things
weren’t so much worse. only me and george were wearing seatbelts (and it was a rare thing for him to do). you don’t know how many times I advised these guys about that. I
hope I don’t sound like I’m armchair quarterbacking this, in reality, I’m just so glad things aren’t worse. george and noel went to the police station just now in falconberg to get the stuff from the van. noel feels terrible but really, it was that asshole in the other
car that got this going. also, he jammed past us never stopped and just blasted away. what a dick. the other swedish people were so nice to us though – we had help immediately. everyone speaks great english here too.
I’m at a hotel in helmstad now, typing you this email on the ‘puter they have here for guests.

it was so scary and made me shake but I’m feeling a little stronger now.
we’re by the sea and I saw two neat sailing ships, old ones made of oak than are being rennovated. even the sailor on board who’s doing work on it heard of the wreck we had. he was a nice man and we talked much about
bass and boats. helped my mind calm. great niceness from him.

love and bass from watt

p.s. have tour diaries but can’t post them ’til I get to nyc (soon, maybe tomorrow or the next day)

[toontje]

What a relief to hear everyone is alright. This reminds me a lot of the Metallica accident, which had a very less fortunate ending (their bass player, and briliant musician, Cliff Burton died in the accident).
Hope J recovers soon, and gets some strenght out of his fans.

p.s: thanks Mike for the warning, In the future I’ll try more putting my safety belt on in the car, and especially my the one of my six year old daughter!

<FONT>[ June 18, 2001 02:03 PM: Message mutated 2 times, lastly by toontje ]</font>

[trensidoh]

i really hope they´ll find that hell-driver asshole. still can´t believe people behaving like this. gives me INSANE madness. [img]images/smiles/converted/mad.gif[/img]

[martinrio]

it`s a pity not seeing you in germany and i`ve Thought about going to groningen. but first of all i`m glad the accident wasn`t that bad. i hope you`llbe better soon.
we were almost on the way to the Bochum concert, when we heard the news about the accident. we were sad and worried and were happy to find out noe that nothing severe happened.
now we are sittin at home listening to the "more light"-album, drinking a beer. we wish you all the best
martin and mark [img]images/smiles/converted/cool.gif[/img]

[sinatore]

thanks to watt for the accident story told with some humour. glad J is resting and everyone made it through. i’m a lucky one that got to see the guys play twice in a row and I heard those wonderful songs roar. ya.

[djm409]

I guess I lucked out in being able to see the band in Charlotte a few months ago. I’m sure they’ll be over there again sometime in the future. Too bad J won’t be able to play any golf for a while. I wonder what J shoots and if anyone else from the band plays. Maybe J or Mike will see this and respond. Glad to hear everyone’s doing better.

[OSCAR]

So glad to hear that everybody involved is on the mend. Take it easy & best wishes to all for a quick recovery.
PS. Leeds show was a blinder!

[amansfield]

I saw J & the Fog here in Omaha a month or so ago (My son got an autograph from Mike & J). I have been a fan since Green Mind & J has had a tremendous effect on how I play music. I am very concerned about the accident & hope everything is OK with all of the band members. A back injury is nothing to play around with.

Wishing everyone well….

[LAWN]

ey there.. i wanted to say i was shocked when i heard the news about the accident. we supported the guys about a week earlier in Eindhoven (check our site -sig- for pictures) and we had a great time. talked backstage, ironically about the dangers of travelling on tour.. then this happens. J, Mike, the others, i hope you are o.k. these days, and i hope we’ll meet again, cause we had a great time in Eindhoven and Groningen (Vera!).

cheers, the guys from LAWN [img]images/smiles/converted/cool.gif[/img]

[jeremiah]

Hey LAWN – Very nice pics! Thanks for sharing them [img]images/smiles/converted/smile.gif[/img]

[LAWN]

you’re very welcome. it was def. a good night for all of us. i have some pics of j’s gear (he had a lot of stuff, i played on his part of the stage and kinda felt ‘built in’ between his amps and stuff). i’ll put those pics on later.

besides j. i must admit mike watt was waay cool and an amazing bassplayer!! [img]images/smiles/converted/smile.gif[/img]

[LAWN]

btw, do you perhaps know how to reach one of the guys through email or so?

just wondering… [img]images/smiles/converted/smile.gif[/img]

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