Friday, 1/23/14 – On our way to the first gig of the tour!
Actually, we’ve been on our way for some time. We flew in on Monday night – Cyn
drove me to the Saline Library, and Sue and Mike took me from there to the
airport. Mike was actually driving, which was terrifying – for one thing, he
wasn’t wearing his glasses, so he’s half blind, and for another, he’s a bundle
of nerves; talking on the phone while weaving around, cursing other drivers.
Sue was amused, I was just scared.
Met Johnny “Bee” Badanjek at the airport – more on him
later – and we all had a long, punishing flight (well, actually two). The
first, to Amsterdam had engine trouble that kept us on the ground for 2 hours!
Then, another 7 in the air, of course. The next flight to Dusseldorph was not
so bad, a couple of hours if that. We were met by Henny Houben, our old friend,
who greeted us with his usual super friendship and hospitality. We went to his
new house and were greeted by his old Jack Russell terrier Yoppi – still alive
and kicking since my last tour with Mike some 12 years ago! We ate and got some
much-needed sleep – indeed, I slept around 12 hours.
The
next day, Johnny, Henny and I went out shopping. I wound up buying a spare bass
– a Precision Bass copy, made in China by SX and sold in a nice funky Dutch
music store. I’d resisted buying 2 basses, but Mike had managed to make me
paranoid about not having a spare onstage, so I caved in. And hey, it’s a
pretty nice little bass for $170, complete with a travel bag. (Editor’s Note –
after the tour Mike actually bought this bass from me and left it stashed at
Henny’s house, just in case it’s needed at future gigs. It was nice of him to
do that, but you know, that’s the way he rolls.)
Johnny’s
needs were a bit more complicated. I was just getting to know him at the time,
but I already knew he was a hilarious raconteur and a gifted musician. He’s
also VERY concerned about a healthy diet, which for him requires some
specialized items. He has to have beet juice (“It’s a vasil dialator!), some organic
oatmeal, soy yoghurt, a bag of tumeric and some decaf green tea. We were, after
a little time, able to score everything except the tea, which I thought was
pretty good. Later in the tour we were to wish that he’d stocked up a little
more on all these items, which are NOT easily available in Europe while rushing
about from gig to gig! We then went to a few shops to find him reading glasses
– he’d left his on the plane – we couldn’t find anything up to his specs
(sorry), but ended up compromising on a basic pair.
Next
day was supposed to be our travel day, but things went wrong. We drove, with
our Tour Manager Tanya (more on her later as well), first to one city to visit
Manni, our former Tour Manager who’s now doing the booking for Mike. It was
great to see him!! He’s living in the very interesting house he grew up in – a
strange, rambling place covered with Manni’s extensive rock memorabilia from
his decades in the business. We had tea with him, his girlfriend and an
associate, Tanya worked with him on various paperwork we needed, and then we
had to go.
The Helltown Blues Band, with Todd Perkins, Tour Manager Tanya Williams, Michael Katon, and Johnny "Bee" Badanjek. And coffee.
By
now it was getting late, and raining. We hit very bad rush hour traffic, but
finally made it to “The Gates To Hell!!” This is a Rock & Roll equipment
rental place of some considerable size that we’d negotiated with for the bass
amp and the drum kit. A quick check of everything, some more inevitable
paperwork and into the van it all went.
But
by now it looked like our plan to catch the ferry to England was gonna be
impossible! Tanya conferred rather frantically with Manny over the phone, and
they decided on the course of action we’d have to follow – drive the miles back
to Henny’s, catch a couple of hours sleep if possible, then get up at 3 A.M.,
drive to Calais in France, take the ferry there, and thence to Newcastle!
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