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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/25/14



 Actually a shot from the Meisenfrei show...I didn't get pictures from Barcelona!

Monday, 2/25/14 – Rock Sound - We’re in Barcelona!! We drove ALL day yesterday, through the Netherlands, Belgium, part of Germany, and most of France. It’s a really long way. Stopped at an Ibis Budget hotel and got decent rooms and crashed hard. I remember we were all pretty goofy from the drive, and everything that Mike said seemed really funny. I didn’t bother the folks at the desk to get into the Internet or anything, just crawled into my room and slept. Had a good breakfast (most of these are buffet style, and there was plenty of food), and somehow an orange got into my pocket for lunch, which wasn’t really a bad thing. Road survival tactics.


 The Autobahn.

More driving all through the day and we were in Spain. I think I’ve said it before, but Spain is beautiful…the north here has a mountain range, the Pyrenees I believe? And it looks to me much like Montana does in the Rockies, except with olive groves and the occasional castle up on the hill. This tour has been so busy, but I’ve seen amazing stuff from my little nest in the back of the tourbus. Perhaps another trip will afford us more time to sightsee the country more.


 The remarkable Johnny Bee Badanjek.

In fact, we got to Barcelona and were already in a hurry to get to the club…my dreams of seeing the city and the fabled Gaudi architecture bit the dust, again! Frustrating to say the least. But negotiating the winding narrow streets to the Rock Sound was very difficult, and poor Tanya was cursing them in very creative ways. She’s sick again, as we all are actually, but right now I think she and Mike may have it the worst. I really thought we’d left this horrible cold behind us in England and I was appalled when it suddenly reappeared! But we are tough, and we’ll make it through.
Got to the venue…a difficult load-in, and a very small club with an even smaller stage.  People were packed in though, which made it fun. I was pumped up with antihistamines (Alka-Seltzer Cold Plus, actually…if that company wants to give me an endorsement deal they should call me), and the actually performance is a pretty hazy memory, although folks seemed to like us! Many people showed up at the stage after the show with old vinyl for both Mike and Bee to sign! Old Katon albums, which I’d never even seen in that medium, and for Bee, old Rockets, Edgar Winter, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels…even an old Montrose record. Amazing fandom!
Manni Kusters and Tanya Williams.
 
No parking for the bus at the hotel!! Tanya insisted on dropping us off and parking blocks away at the oversize lot, then walking back unaccompanied…we all objected, but she can be very forceful. I know she’s tough, but I was worried. Plus, she’s pretty ill and it’s raining now. But she did it and got back fine, proving once again that she is the hardest working woman in show business. Wound up sharing a hotel room with Mike again…I was too sick to hear him snore.

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