MICHAEL MONROE, former frontman for HANOI ROCKS, has issued the following update:

"Hey, hey, whaddaya say! Back home now (in Finland). I must say it was great to be 'back in the New York groove' for a couple of weeks. I just love that city, no matter how much it has changed over the years. I think we made a bit of a splash over there, we certainly had some good times.

Playing at the John Varvatos store (ex-CBGB's) was pretty special and fun. Quite a few friends showed up, like Debbie Harry, Mick Rock, Arturo Vega, Bobby Steele, etc., lots of nice people I hadn't seen for a long time. The show was cool, we played about 45 minutes and added 'Kick Out The Jams' to the encore for Mr. Varvatos, as he's a Detroit guy, very much into the MC5.

The place still has a certain vibe, due to its history, that will probably never go away. Apart from THE RAMONES, I was especially feeling the Stiv Bators/DEAD BOYS vibe. Some of Stiv's ashes were scattered on the CBGB's stage (as his wish) and he used to do some wild shows there back in the days, bleeding amongst other things. Funnily enough, I managed to split my head open on the monitor above me (about the third time I hit it), so I did some bleeding of my own - in the spirit of Stiv Bators and Iggy Pop.

The Highline Ballroom gig was nice too and we had a pretty good turn out, considering it was Sunday and Mother's Day. It's a great venue with a nice size stage and all. We got together with the band almost daily and came up with some really cool material. In other words, we're moving right along in the right direction. I did a couple of interviews, like Eddie Trunk's radio show and Red Eye w/Greg Gutfield on the Fox News Channel with Ginger.

I walked around my old neighbourhood on East 3rd street and other places with tons of memories coming back. I really did enjoy living there for all those 10 years or so. I went to meet Little Steven a couple of times at a studio where he was producing a Danish band called THE BREAKERS. Once again, we talked about how the DEMOLITION 23 album has to be re-released. Maybe this time it'll actually happen, now that we're out there playing those songs live and stuff. Steven's just so busy all the time. Let's hope we can get it together soon. I'm trying my best.

As I said, I still love New York and it was a great visit. Thanks to everyone who came to the shows, the audiences were great and we really had a blast. See you next time!

Thank goodness, summer is finally here. Let's all enjoy it!

Love, peace and sunshine,

Michael"