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Ken Mary is the latest victim of the new Government lack of workers issue that is plaguing us all. Flotsam and Jetsam posted the following message to announce to fans that they will be missing the Metal Frenzy Festival:
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM will be unable to perform at [Germany’s] Metal Frenzy Festival on June 10. Our drummer, Ken Mary, was pulled off of our flight to Europe for having a passport that expires in 72 days. Although it is a valid passport, to enter the EU requires 90 days to be left on the passport before traveling there. This is a technicality that none of us were aware of. For the remaining dates, we will complete the tour with our long time friend and remarkable drummer Marco Prij from the band DISTILLATOR.”
Earlier today (June 10th) Ken took to Facebook (www.facebook.com/kenmary1) to post the following, more detailed account oof todays events.
HOUSTON… WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!
First off, I want to apologize to all my friends and fans that were looking forward to seeing me with Flotsam and Jetsam at the festivals in the EU. You learn something new everyday, and I just learned something new. Thanks to all of you that have reached out with well wishes and concern. For an update, please read on for more info.
When is a valid passport not a valid passport? When the country you’re flying to says it’s not a valid passport.
Many of you have seen the Blabbermouth article regarding my inability to get into the EU for the current Flotsam tour.
It turns out I had 72 days left on my passport, and I would have left the EU on June 20th, a full two months before my passport expired. Apparently the 18-day difference is enough to keep me out of the EU. (They require 90 days. Rules are rules, ya know.)
AirFrance (I symbolically turn my head here and fake spit) decides to pull me from the flight, but the agent assures me to “just go to the office on Wilshire Blvd, they’ll get you a new passport and we’ll have you on a flight later today or tomorrow.” I have traveled the world for many years and many times, and have (fortunately) never run into this particular issue, nor ever heard of it. But, OK, I’ll play. I’ll go and get my passport renewed as the band continues on to Paris.
So far so bad. But wait… it gets… way worse!
The passport office closes at 3pm, and stops seeing appointments at 11am, which is the only way you can actually GET your passport renewed. So I stay overnight in LA near the airport, Uber first thing at 6:45am to arrive miles away at the Wilshire Blvd Passport office at 7am. I’m willing to wait in line as long as it takes only to find out you must have an appointment or they will not even let you into the building. If you don’t have an immediate family member dying or in the hospital in the EU, you do not have an “emergency.” (Metal festivals, months of planning, other band members, booking agents and thousands of fans are just not an “emergency.” Well, I guess it’s all in your perspective, right? It’s an emergency to me.)
To top it off, to make an appointment you must do it through one phone number nationwide. No website appointments, no in person set up, no “travel emergency window.” When you call that number, you get a recording that says, “Due to a high volume of calls, we cannot take your call. Please call back at a later time.” So I call the independent 24 hour passport services in LA. Three of them. Because of the huge number of new travelers, a “24 hour passport” now takes until June 27th due to the government’s backlog of people who now want to travel after the pandemic. I didn’t even ask the price since it wouldn’t work.
Knowing I cannot get anything done in LA, I fly back to Phoenix thinking perhaps the passport office in Tucson may help me. Uh, no . . . you call that same phone number and have to have an appointment. Is it an emergency? If you answer “no” to “do you have a family member in a hospital overseas” you are not an emergency. However, you CAN make an appointment for AUGUST. Fortunately, though, (sarcasm inserted here) the 24 hour passport services in Phoenix can get you a passport in 4 business days for $3,000.00. That means I would get my passport (if all went well) next Wednesday, fly out on Thursday, arrive on Friday and be there for . . . wait for it . . . the LAST DAY OF THE RUN OF SHOWS.
Happy Festivus!!! I love bureaucracy! Let’s have more of it!!
My best wishes to my band mates and Marco from Distillator, who has graciously agreed to fill in for me. I hope all goes very well. I miss you all and miss being there terribly. The song that keeps running through my head is by Bad Company: “It’s all part, of my rock and roll fantasy . . .” Yep.
And yes, there is plenty of blame to go around. “You should have known” people have written. I guess they never heard “you don’t know what you don’t know.” How about the airlines, when you book a flight to the EU, ask what the expiration date is on your passport to make sure you’re compliant? Just a thought. If they had said that two months ago when we booked the flights, this wouldn’t have happened. Rules are rules, ya know.
About Ken Mary:
Ken Mary is an American musician who has worked as a drummer, producer, engineer, singer, record executive and writer on over thirty-five albums that combined have sold over five million copies worldwide. He has worked in genres from heavy rock to choral music. Mary is best known for his work with notable acts such as Accept, Fifth Angel, Chastain, TKO, Impellitteri, House of Lords, Bonfire and Alice Cooper, and is currently the drummer of Flotsam and Jetsam.
