rickie lee here,
the other half of our radio show got the flu, so hope to be able to do that next year.
meantime, wishing everyone, from south america, Europe, Africa, the Pacific Islands, the lochs and the Keys, (yes i just made that up) under the southern cross and up by the northern lights, a safe and calm week of christmas and new years gathering.
thank you for a good year and a great tour, finally got our band, feeling good about my crew, and the band, Wyatt, Joel, and Rob.
now back to Europe!
And... stay away from internet poker.
rlj
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Wednesday, December 2, 2009
last night we did Conan... last stop of the european run. We started on London, met the new crew, played for some old FFtP fans and had a good show, then went to Belgium and .. heck where did we go? Anyway it took a couple shows to find our identity as a trio. In Spain i resolved some vague images and pulled us together, or rather pulled my energy together, and our shows really improved.
I loved Bilbao, but i did not get to spend much time there. it seemed to be an elegant city, a river, very clean, lots of european and even american city elements, with the Spanish language, and this was one of a few shows that seemed to be entirely male. I looked out at the audience and they were all men, except for the waitresses and a few women, but i mean, ten maybe...at most. That was interesting.
I loved Barcelona this time and have never been able to get a feel for the city - always like the Bikini club but this time i got the city, and took lots of flip video. in fact i think it just arrived, so i went out walking. someone, in other times, i have felt lonelier somehow, or more isolated, i was not interested in walking. But this tour i was out and about, sitting in cafes and walking by rivers.
Christian was the promoter rep, we rode with us on the bus, he was a cool guy. We had this amazing dinner down in town by Morocco. i forget names, i just remember dinners and walks to the gig.
We traversed Spain, driving all the way to the bottom from Belgium, then back up to Madrid, and then back down and then left and right, it was alot of driving and playing, with only two days of driving and not playing, and i mean driving 1800 miles in two days... that kind of thing . I had to fly to Paris on their day off for a tv show. Then flew back and finished Spain...
Then we made it to France, to Nantes, Paris, two town that start with an R and both of them great shows. But you have to understand, we drive up at two, load in and play, then we sleep and leave at six in the morning. Not much time to remember the name. But one thing happened, but the end of the tour the venues were twice as big, and they were sold out. The tv and the record are striking a chord, and it is manifesting. Fabrice was the tour rep there, and I liked him alot. He used to work on the street barking for the bourlesque houses. He has the kind of feeling that is no nonsense, yet accomadating, I like these promoter reps. they are like the secret police. they have some secret power they do not show but you can just tell its there.
Our bus drivers were Clauss and Jorge, and we had two because the drives were long and the laws in Europe require the drivers to pull over every eight or nine hours for another eight or nine hours, so the only way we could get to our gigs was to have two drivers. Good call on tour managers part. This is the first time I have been able to sleep on a bus. I slept for hours and hours, the sound of the road, and the nice litte crew, maybe knowing the drivers were not driving all night, I dont know, but the bus was ok for me this time. Watched fight club three or four times, not many movies on the bus, watched all the Capra films. Thats kind of cool driving through Europe watching Frank Capra.
My tour manager was a real find, he did a great job and kept a cool demenour all the time. British of course. He lives on a farm and has a goat.
So the tv show last night was great, and Conan told me he bought an old Martin...... was asking me about my Taylor. He is a very very nice man.
And.... now i am heading home for a few days before we go out on our week on the east coast run. I hope to see all the fans out there in Boston. I will be brining Joel Guzman, Wasserman and young Wyatt Stone, 19 year old UCLA student.
should be fun. see you there
I loved Bilbao, but i did not get to spend much time there. it seemed to be an elegant city, a river, very clean, lots of european and even american city elements, with the Spanish language, and this was one of a few shows that seemed to be entirely male. I looked out at the audience and they were all men, except for the waitresses and a few women, but i mean, ten maybe...at most. That was interesting.
I loved Barcelona this time and have never been able to get a feel for the city - always like the Bikini club but this time i got the city, and took lots of flip video. in fact i think it just arrived, so i went out walking. someone, in other times, i have felt lonelier somehow, or more isolated, i was not interested in walking. But this tour i was out and about, sitting in cafes and walking by rivers.
Christian was the promoter rep, we rode with us on the bus, he was a cool guy. We had this amazing dinner down in town by Morocco. i forget names, i just remember dinners and walks to the gig.
We traversed Spain, driving all the way to the bottom from Belgium, then back up to Madrid, and then back down and then left and right, it was alot of driving and playing, with only two days of driving and not playing, and i mean driving 1800 miles in two days... that kind of thing . I had to fly to Paris on their day off for a tv show. Then flew back and finished Spain...
Then we made it to France, to Nantes, Paris, two town that start with an R and both of them great shows. But you have to understand, we drive up at two, load in and play, then we sleep and leave at six in the morning. Not much time to remember the name. But one thing happened, but the end of the tour the venues were twice as big, and they were sold out. The tv and the record are striking a chord, and it is manifesting. Fabrice was the tour rep there, and I liked him alot. He used to work on the street barking for the bourlesque houses. He has the kind of feeling that is no nonsense, yet accomadating, I like these promoter reps. they are like the secret police. they have some secret power they do not show but you can just tell its there.
Our bus drivers were Clauss and Jorge, and we had two because the drives were long and the laws in Europe require the drivers to pull over every eight or nine hours for another eight or nine hours, so the only way we could get to our gigs was to have two drivers. Good call on tour managers part. This is the first time I have been able to sleep on a bus. I slept for hours and hours, the sound of the road, and the nice litte crew, maybe knowing the drivers were not driving all night, I dont know, but the bus was ok for me this time. Watched fight club three or four times, not many movies on the bus, watched all the Capra films. Thats kind of cool driving through Europe watching Frank Capra.
My tour manager was a real find, he did a great job and kept a cool demenour all the time. British of course. He lives on a farm and has a goat.
So the tv show last night was great, and Conan told me he bought an old Martin...... was asking me about my Taylor. He is a very very nice man.
And.... now i am heading home for a few days before we go out on our week on the east coast run. I hope to see all the fans out there in Boston. I will be brining Joel Guzman, Wasserman and young Wyatt Stone, 19 year old UCLA student.
should be fun. see you there
