8/22/97
From the Road - Chapter 16
Dear Breadheads:
After the "West Coast Leisure tour" and a couple of weeks
of r&r, we headed out into combat conditions for the other
half of our U.S. tour. Well, I'm happy to say we just got
back from, what I like to call, our "Planes, Trains, and Rollercoasters"
tour about a week ago. We had to reacquaint ourselves with
tight travel schedules, hard beds, fast food, bumpy vans,
the normal amount of sleep deprivation and a few surprises
along the way.
Let's
start with Cincinnati (the Rollercoasters come later). We
performed at The Music Hall. It's a great old theatre that
I've played many times with Linda Ronstadt and Dan Fogelberg.
Everything went really well, considering it was the first
show of the tour.
Next,
was Merrillville, Indiana at the Star Plaza. This theatre
was newer but no less familiar. I've played there many times
as well and it also had great acoustics, just like The Music
Hall in Cincinnati. Since the hotel and, more important, the
BAR were connected to the venue, you can imagine how wild
and raucous the audience was that night.
Then it was on to another major metropolis, Jackson, New Jersey.
Now, Jackson is about the same distance from Newark as Merrillville
is from Chicago, about a one hour drive. What's in Jackson?
Six Flags Great Adventure and that's where the Rollercoaster
comes in. In fact it usually came around during the ballads,
complete with death screams from the adrenalised passengers.
A bit disconcerting to say the least but Se la Vie!
Pompano
Beach, Florida was our next stop for a few days off. Unfortunately,
our concert was cancelled so we had a little more time to
relax than we had anticipated. In the morning we sat in the
sun and ate while watching the thunder clouds roll in. In
the afternoon we sat in the cabana bar and drank while watching
the daily thunder shower roll through. In the evening we sat
in the restaurant and ate and drank 'til it was time to roll
ourselves up to our rooms. Exciting, huh?
Now it was time to get back to reality and head on down to
Peachtree City, Georgia. The venue was in a beautiful new
amphitheater. It was a great concert for a great audience
and there was no Rollercoaster ride. Although there was a
light rainshower, it didn't seem to dampen the spirits of
those attending and it was a full house.
Next
on our itinerary, was Six Flags over Texas. August in Texas!!
It was like living in the world's largest Sauna. So, we played
a little and sweat alot to an enthusiastic but also hot and
sweaty audience. Oh yes! the Rollercoaster ride was back and
strategically placed right behind the stage. Again, complete
with adrenalised death screams and rail noise!
From
Texas, we went up to St. Louis, Missouri to play at The Old
Glory Amphitheater which is also a Six Flags venue. Ya! You
guessed it! There was another Rollercoaster ride strategically
placed at the entrance to the amphitheater. By now, we were
getting used to the Rollercoasters. What we didn't count on
was the steam engine ride that was also strategically placed
right behind the stage and the engineer never missed a chance
to blast us with his whistle as he came by.
Our final concert was in Kansas City at the Starlight Amphitheater.
After our day off, which included filling up on ribs at Gates
barbeque (no relation to David) and a few pints of Guinness
at O'Dowd's Irish pub, we were ready for our show the next
day. I can't remember how many times I've played at the Starlight
but it's still one of my favorite venues. It was a beautiful
night and the K.C. audience was fantastic. And best of all,
there were no Rollercoasters or Steam engines. :-D
The
best from Botts!
