The MAN, Michael Katon, in his customary Shotgun traveling spot.
Thursday, 1/30/14 – Riding through the wet and fog (well,
it IS England in winter) towards Chiselhurst to The Beaverwood!! Really, I
couldn’t make up these names. It’s a British thing. Tanya, our intrepid Tour
Manager, is as usual doing a fantastic job getting us through all this. She’s
ultra-competent and a lot of fun to travel with, we’re really fortunate to have
someone like her.
Tanya attempts a little-known German driving technique.
A good gig at the Robin 2 in Wolverhampton (there you go
again, UK!), a large venue where we were treated very well (although, as with
all other UK gigs so far, no load-in assistants). Interesting…over 10 years ago
I played at the original Robin. I noticed on a poster there back then that the
next week, Jack Bruce would be playing. Of course, I was impressed! I mean, you
know, Jack Bruce. Flash forward to now, at the Robin 2, and I’m looking at the
posters, and I see playing next week…Jack Bruce!! Coincidence? I think not. I
think Jack must be stalking us.
I try, every time I’m on a tour like this, to develop a
part of my playing that I want to further, to improve the music and keep things
exciting and fresh. One thing I was working on before we went out was my
pickstyle playing…I played for years with a pick early on, but haven’t done it
as much recently. And much of Mike’s music lends itself to that technique…he
writes and records all his bass parts that way, so it’s part of the sound. And
it’s appropriate for this aggressive style, both in tone and also for playing
certain idiosyncratic rhythms; things just fall better playing that way. I’ll
ditch the pick for the more Bluesy numbers or when I’m channeling (ahem) Jack
Bruce, but I’m using one for a majority of the songs.
I think this is the Robin 2. Hard to tell from this shot!!
Johnny Bee has finally got some food to his specs, so he
was pretty happy. Bee is a sweet guy, crazy as a loon in the best possible way,
a fantastic drummer with a wealth of stories from his extensive and impressive
life as a Rock musician (I mean, just his recording credits alone – Alice
Cooper, Edgar Winter, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, Dr. John, The Rockets,
Montrose, Nils Lofgren…and that’s just for starters…) but he’s very sensitive about
his dietary needs! He has some very pronounced opinions on what he wants in the
way of food, and he’s worried about keeping healthy if he can’t get some rather specialized items. I
can understand, it’s difficult eating right on the road, but I tend to just try
to make the best choices from what’s available. I know Bee is used to a more
high-end touring lifestyle though, and he’s a little older than us (though not
by much!) and I’m a little worried about whether he’ll be OK on this rather rugged trip. I guess he's seen lots worse though! We’ve all been
challenged with sleep-deprivation and, indeed, with some occasionally inedible
meals. So far, so good, though…we’re holding steady. And having some fun doing it, too!! Really, I think it's gonna be all right.
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