Chuck’s Tour Diary

7/14, 15/07

Unfortunately, we won’t get to explore Belgrade very much on this trip. We’re here today to do the show, then leave tomorrow. Rose Lane, Lynn and Carol did go out for a short spin while I got some exercise.

You could see the stage from our hotel….which was located in a big park. I decided on running in that direction as it looked like there wouldn’t be much traffic around the area. So after some stretching I took off, running right past the gate that leads into the venue and the stage. Running past that for a while I ran into some fans that asked for a couple of signatures and pictures….they were nice and didn’t want to disturb me and I didn’t mind taking a short break to do it. They were from Holland and had come to a few shows already. I ran on and soon came to a river….there are two main rivers in Belgrade…the Danube and the Sava. They come together in the middle of the city. I don’t know which one was on, but I enjoyed running alongside it for a good 20 minutes or so before turning back towards the hotel. When I got about to the gate where the gig was, I felt another sharp cramp in my left calf…just as I had a couple of weeks before in Barcelona. Damn, strained it again. I stopped quickly and tried to walk it off and stretch it out….and it did improve, but there was no doubt that I’d re-injured it and would have to lay off of it for a while.

I limped back to the hotel which fortunately wasn’t that far and cleaned up to get ready to go to the gig.
At the show was the normal routine…and I knew that Mick wouldn’t want to be terribly adventurous with the set list, so I drew up a selection that I felt he would agree with, and he did. All of these current places are going to have to be pretty “tame” on the presentations as we’ve either never or rarely played in them, and Mick wants familiar songs and ones that folks can sing along to. Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Warsaw, St. Petersburg….but I think he’ll get a bit tired of doing the same ‘ol thing soon and maybe I can get at least a “Monkey Man” or “Sway” in somewhere. But likely that won’t change much until we get to the Scandinavian countries where we played last year. I personally hate playing such similar lists every night and hope I can get him to open up some…we’ll see.
Anyway, we were pleased that we had such a great crowd to play to….they were ready to rock and there were a lot of them. I believe it must have been close to 45,000. We went on to a wonderful reception, and Mick did very well with the Serbian language and communicating with the audience. The show was smooth and fun, even if it didn’t contain any bold moves. No doubt the crowd was pleased…and it was a joy to play in this part of the world where we’ve never played before. One funny thing did happen during “Can’t Always Get What You Want”. Keith started the song and Lisa immediately looked over at me and said…“Is that the right key?!!” I quickly checked and found that it wasn’t….we always do it in “C”, but Keith was playing it in “B”. Lisa has perfect pitch and had heard the difference straight away, thank heaven! The mishap wasn’t Keith’s fault….he had been handed a guitar with the capo (a small device that clamps on the strings of the guitar and that can be moved around to allow for playing more easily in different keys and for other purposes) in the wrong place….a half step down from where it was supposed to be. I quickly hollered at Ronnie….“…he’s playing it in B!! in B!!”…and also told some of our stage crew to go tell Darryl the same. We all adjusted without much problem…but it did keep us on our toes to have to play the song in a key we’ve never done before!

Back at the hotel Lynn and Carol came down for a short time…but Rosie and I had to deal with the packing thing, so we didn’t make it a long hang. Soon we were off to bed.
We woke up about 11am on Sunday….and I knew I wouldn’t be running today. My calf felt a little better, but was telling me not to try anything that would pressure it. I thought about going to the gym to push some weights around, but felt a bit tired and decided to make it an easy day. We piddled and puttered for a little while….but being bored after a bit we decided to at least go out and walk some. I had noticed a sign that said something like “gallery” in Serbian not far from the hotel and suggested we go see if there was anything to it. But as soon as we got outside, the heat hit us pretty hard. We did indeed walk there, but it turned out to be nothing…and what little stores where there were all closed. So we walked back the Hyatt and peered in a few of the shops that were on the lower level of the lobby for a few minutes before paying our bill and going back to the room to wait for the leave.

Here we go to another new place for us…Bucharest. Lynn and Carol were coming there and my pal Quint Davis would join us. Quint puts on the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival every year….as well as other events and festivals. like the Essence Festival in New Orleans that takes place in the Super Dome in early July. Quint is great people and was mostly responsible for me playing at Jazz Fest earlier this year before this tour started. He had finished up all his duties and wanted to come on a vacation all on his own and had contacted me to ask if it would work for him to come see a few shows. Of course I encouraged him to do so, and he’s going to come here in Bucharest, in Budapest and in Brno. He had actually arrived on Saturday, so he had a little time to acclimate. Lynn and Carol had flights that arrived after we did, so we figured that we wouldn’t see them until later, after dinner.
We arrived and after a short run through customs, were in our bus to drive to the Plaza Athane Hilton hotel, pulling up to the front door about 8pm. We had lost an hour in the travel. We got our keys and packet of info from Karen Gault, our travel person and went up to the 5th floor to find our room, 536. We were not very impressed…it was a small room with no division between the tiny sitting area and tiny bedroom. It did have a little balcony which would help the situation a bit. I called Quint to let him know we were there and to see if he was up for dinner, which he was. He said he had a little something for us and asked if he could come over to pass it on, and I told him to come on by. It was great to see him, and he gave us a couple of special jackets from Jazz Fest which was very kind of him to do. We sat and talked for a while…he told me that he had been here a couple of times before….once back in ‘71 when he was tour manager for Duke Ellington and once with BB King. He had some good stories on both. He told me that with Duke, they did 44 shows across Europe in 42 days….wow, now that is touring! He said that he questioned such a rigorous schedule to one of the band members, asking why they didn’t want an occasional day off and was told “…no, man….when we’re playing gigs we work two hours a night….but if we have a day off, Duke will rehearse us for six hours!”. He also told me that Duke had a piano in every hotel room he stayed in and would stay up late after almost every show composing. He also told me that Ellington would always have a lot of Coca-Colas in his room with sugar and lemon…and would load up a glass of Coke with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a whole lemon. Great to hear these kinds of things about such an Icon.

We arranged for dinner at a place called Casa Doina which was a nice spot with lots of outdoor seating, about a 10 minute drive from the hotel. The food was good and the wine very palatable, and the service friendly and attentive. I enjoyed listening to Quint tell us of some more of his experiences….especially some trips he had made to Africa in recent times to a tiny country called Bernin, which is the “cradle of voodoo”. He had become interested in tracing the culture of voodoo that exists in New Orleans and had found that it had comes from this place through Haiti. He recounted some very interesting stories of meeting with Kings and Shamans from there…and of witnessing some ceremonies that must have been very graphic to see.

After dinner we called for a cab to take us back to the Hilton and had a drink in our room with Lynn and Carol who were also coming back from dinner. Quint and I made plans to do a short guided tour of Bucharest for the next day as it would be off for us, and the girls decided to go out together on their own. With that in place we all said goodnight.

7/16, 17/07

I decided to check out the gym today and push some weights around…my calf still smarting, I didn’t want to run. I called Quint around noon, figuring that he would still have some jet lag and would be sleeping late. I was right, and the timing of the call was good…I told him I was going down for a little workout and he said he would check in to the guided tour. Rose Lane had heard from Lynn and Carol who had already gone out with Lori Cohl. Rosie made arrangements to meet all of them at a Square near the old town and headed out the door as I was going to the gym. Quint found me there and said that he had arranged a tour about 2:30 for three hours…it would be semi-private, with only one other person going….and we would have a driver and a van, and an English speaking guide. We went downstairs at the appointed time and met our tour guide Michael, who spoke perfect English with a British accent (as well as four other languages!) and our tour companion…a fellow named Nick from Athens, Greece…who also spoke English…not as well as Michael, and as he spoke quickly with a heavy accent, it was sometimes difficult to understand him. But he was a nice guy and a pleasant traveling companion.
As we walked out the door we were accosted by a barrage of press and fans. The press folks stuck cameras and microphones in our faces asked where we were going. I guess they had recognized me, which is a fairly rare thing…they usually only know the faces of the four Principals…but they followed us to the van asking where we were going and what we were up to. I answered that we were going to “….explore your wonderful city” and when asked what that meant, told them “….I want to learn more about the history of Bucharest and to see what it’s like”. Apparently they showed that clip on the news, as several folks told me they saw it that evening.

We loaded up in the van and drove on….first to the incredible “Palace of the People”….now the House of Parliament for Romania. This amazing building was started back in 1984 under the repressive regime of Nicolae Ceausecu, the last dictator of Romania. He built it with as much Romanian resource as possible…and never lived to see it finished as he was executed on Christmas Day of 1989. More on him later…
Ceacusecu no doubt built this to be a “statement”. It is the second largest building in the world next to the Pentagon. It contains more than 4 million square feet of the most beautiful marble…some of it extremely rare pink marble…only found in two places…Italy and Romania. We visited about 10 or 12 rooms…all totally breathtaking. The hallways were also stunning….wide with extreme vaulted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, golden threaded curtains, beautiful specially made carpets and so on. It is now not only used for the two houses of Parliament…the House of Deputies and the Senate, but also for special receptions, meetings, concerts and other “occasions of State”. We only visited three of the fifteen floors, but it was enough for us all to be very impressed. Here is a quick bio on Ceacusecu:

Ceausescu, Nicolae
…born in 1918 early became active in the Romanian Communist movement and was arrested as a revolutionary; he spent the late 1930s and early 40s in prison, where he became acquainted with the future first secretary of the Romanian Communist party, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. Escaping in 1944, Ceausescu held a variety of posts within Communist party and government ranks after the Communist takeover in 1948. He soon became a member of the party’s central committee and then, in 1955, a member of the politburo. Upon Gheorghiu-Dej’s death in March, 1965, he was chosen first secretary of the central committee of the Communist party and in December, 1967 he assumed the office of president of the state council, or head of state. As supreme leader, he continued his mentor’s policy of nationalism and independence from the USSR within the context of Marxism-Leninism. He promoted closer relations with the People’s Republic of China and with the West, as well as industrial and agricultural development. His domestic rule, however, was marked by frequently disastrous economic schemes and became increasingly repressive and corrupt. In December, 1989, a popular uprising, joined by the army, led to the arrest and execution of him and his wife, Elena.

From there we moved on to visit several other important buildings, squares and palaces in the city…such as the Elefterie Church, their Arch de Triomphe, Revolution Square, Charles DeGaulle Square, the quarters and neighborhood that Ceausescu and his family lived in and the like. Michael was very informative in his narration, and we all enjoyed the tour. We were brought back to the hotel after the three hours and dropped off at the front door where the fans and press were still hanging out.
At the hotel we met back up with the girls and made plans for dinner. It was kind of funny, as we had inquired about a restaurant the first night we were there and told it was fully booked…so I asked about that restaurant again and we booked a table there for all of us. However, I made the mistake of telling the cab driver to go to the restaurant we had been to the first night, Casa Doina. Duh! But as we were all there together and they had a table available, we decided just to stay and eat there. It wound up being a good choice again…and one fun bonus was the “roving Romanian band” that came by our table to entertain us. Made up of a stand up bass player, violinist, accordion player and a pan flutist, they were really good. They played us three or four tunes….and I was most impressed by the pan flutist…this cat was wailing!

The dinner was good and we all enjoyed each other’s company. Back at the hotel we hung out in our room for a bit before all going to bed.

The 17th was show day. Quint and I went down about 4:30 to the gig. I introduced him around the camp so all would know him…even getting audiences with Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie. Quint had helped set up some events for them a few years ago when the 60 Minutes show did a piece on the band. It was done in part in New Orleans, and Quint had set up a thing for Mick and Charlie to attend a “Second Line” parade. They all remembered him and were gracious in their greetings to him. We killed time in the Rattlesnake and also went to have a look at the stadium. It is quite an old one…and would be totally filled up that evening for the show. Lynn and Carol came later with Rose Lane and we hung out in the RI together for a while before I had to get ready and play.
Again the set list was pretty standard, but the band played well and the crowd was amazing. We met back in our room for some wine and conversation before calling it a night. Lynn and Carol would be going back home the next day, but Quint would stay and meet us in Budapest. We’d all had great fun together and we hated to see Lynn and Carol leave…but we knew we’d see them after the tour back in Georgia. We said goodbye to them as they had an early flight, and said our goodnights.

7/8

Today is Ashley’s 25th birthday! Happy birthday, daughter! I hated that she had to travel back to the States, but due to her commitments to her studies for Med School, there wasn’t much choice in the matter. We had all celebrated together the previous week in Rome, so at least it wasn’t too bad. I had told her that I remembered my 25th birthday as being a landmark for me. More so than birthdays 20 or 21 were. I related it as being a quarter century old. Anyway, she had a good time with all of us and had arrived safely (if a bit worn out) back in Boston. Of course we thought about her all day….
Rose Lane and I settled up our bill for the week (ouch!) and met up with the rest of the gang for the travel to Budva. We love going to new places, and all of us were talking about it. I don’t think that any of our Entourage had ever been there. It was a fairly easy flight, and when we got close we were all looking out the windows of the plane to the grounds below. It looked quite interesting and beautiful…with the sea shore providing a dramatic meeting with the Black Mountains (the translation of Montenegro means Black Mountains). This Country has only declared it’s independence in recent times…less than a year ago. It was part of the former Yugoslavia, and after that had become Serbia-Montenegro for a while until breaking off on it’s own. A bit of research turned up the following (for more on Budva, go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budva)

The Republic of Montenegro is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south, and borders Croatia on the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina on the northwest, Serbia on the northeast and Albania on the southeast. Its de facto capitol and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinie is designated as Prijestonica, the old royal capital or seat of the throne.
De facto independent since the late Middle Ages, and an internationally recognized country from 1878 until 1918, Montenegro was later a part of various incarnations of Yugoslavia, and the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. Based on the results of the referendum held on May 21, 2006, Montenegro declared independence on June 3, 2006. On June 28, 2006, it became the 192nd member state of the United Nations, and on May 11, 2007, the 47th member state of the Council of Europe.
In 1918, Montenegro became part of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia. In 1946, Yugoslavia was organized as a federal state consisting of six republics, one of which was Montenegro. Between June 1991 and March 1992, four of the republics-Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia-declared their independence. In April 1992, Montenegro joined Serbia in forming a new, smaller Yugoslavia. In 2003, Yugoslavia adopted a new constitution and changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro.
Montenegro covers 5,333 square miles (13,812 square kilometers) and has about 650,000 people. Montenegro’s name in Serbo-Croatian, the republic’s language, is Crna Gora, which means black mountain. The capital and largest city is PODGORICA (formerly Titograd).
A president heads Montenegro’s government. A 125-member assembly, led by a prime minister, makes the republic’s laws. The prime minister is usually the leader of the party that controls the assembly. The voters elect the president and the assembly members to 4-year terms. The Montenegrin Democratic Party of Socialists (formerly the Montenegrin League of Communists) is the republic’s chief political party.
About 68 percent of the people of Montenegro are Montenegrins, a people closely related to the Serbs. Like the Serbs, the Montenegrins speak Serbian, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet, and, traditionally, have belonged to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Minority groups in Montenegro include Albanians, Muslim Slavs, and Serbs.
Children in Montenegro are required to attend school from the ages of 7 to 15. Montenegro has a university in Podgorica.
Montenegro’s urban population began to grow in the 1950’s, as people moved to the cities to seek jobs. Between 1953 and 1981, the percentage of city dwellers rose from 14 to about 50 percent.
Mountains cover most of Montenegro, and thick forests grow over much of the republic. A narrow strip of land lies along the Adriatic Sea.
Most of Montenegro has cold, snowy winters. Summers are warm in the valleys but cool in the mountains. The coast has a mild climate.
Economy. When Montenegro was part of the larger Yugoslavia, it had one of the weakest economies of the six republics. For many years, a poor network of roads and railroads held back economic development. But the opening in 1976 of a railroad line between Bar, Montenegro’s major seaport, and Belgrade, Yugoslavia’s capital, improved the transportation system and helped the economy somewhat.
Montenegro has large deposits of bauxite, coal, and lead. Factories manufacture aluminum, cement, iron and steel, and paper. The most important crops are corn, olives, potatoes, tobacco, and wheat. Farmers also grow cherries, figs, grapes, peaches, pears, and plums, and raise cattle, hogs, and sheep.
Tourism is a major source of income for Montenegro. Many vacationers come to Montenegro’s coast to enjoy the warm climate and scenic beaches. People who fish, hike, hunt, and ski also visit the mountains.
Montenegro has airports in Berane, Podgorica, and Tivat. The leading daily newspaper is Pobjeda.

History:

Present-day Montenegro became part of the Roman Empire in about 11 B.C. Slavs settled in the region in the 600’s. It became part of Serbia in the late 1100’s. The Ottoman Empire, based in modern-day Turkey, defeated the Serbs in the Battle of Kosovo Polje in 1389. Local nobles ruled Montenegro on behalf of the Ottomans until 1516, when Serbian Orthodox bishops of the monastery at Cetinje began to rule part of it. By the late 1700’s, their rule extended to all of Montenegro. In 1852, Montenegro’s ruler took the title of prince, and the position of bishop became a separate office.
In 1878, the Congress of Berlin, a meeting of European leaders, formally recognized Montenegro as independent. The congress granted new lands to Montenegro, about doubling its size (see BERLIN, CONGRESS OF). Prince Nicholas took the throne in 1860 and declared himself king in 1910.
In the early 1900’s, a movement to unite Serbs and other Slavic peoples gathered strength in the region. In 1918, townspeople deposed the king, and Montenegro became part of the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. But rural villagers organized militias to resist incorporation into the kingdom. Their resistance continued until the mid-1920’s.
During World War II (1939-1945), Italian and then German troops occupied parts of Montenegro. A resistance movement led by a group of Communists called Partisans fought the Italian and German troops. By 1945, the Communists had gained control of all of Yugoslavia. In 1946, Montenegro became one of the six republics of Yugoslavia.
In 1990, Montenegro held its first multiparty elections. Between June 1991 and March 1992, four Yugoslav republics-Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina-declared their independence. In April 1992, Serbia and Montenegro formed a new Yugoslavia.
In 2000, many people in Montenegro began pressing for independence from Serbia, which held most of the power in Yugoslavia. In response, the leaders of the two republics announced plans in 2002 to create a new constitution and to rename the country Serbia and Montenegro. In 2003, the plans were approved, and Yugoslavia adopted the new name.

We landed and bussed into the city, enjoying the sights of the Adriatic Sea and the mountains on the way. We also passed by our stage, which was being set up on Jaz Beach. We were staying at the Splendid hotel, which was right on the beach. Our room overlooked the big pool that the hotel offered, as well as offering an incredible view of the huge cove of the Sea where we were situated. By the time we got there and settled in it was early evening…and while we could have gone out for dinner, we opted to stay in and eat in the hotel. But before we got that far we went to have a cocktail out on the terrace that overlooked the whole scene. One thing that struck us right away was how reasonably priced the drinks and food were here…a very pleasant change from the norm. We sipped our drinks and soaked up the breathtaking views that surrounded us….all of which helped us unwind from the previous week of activity with family and friends. We enjoyed our “decompression” and finally made our way to the restaurant. At first we tried the restaurant at the top of the hotel, which was supposedly the best one in the place…but quickly decided it wasn’t for us. There was a piano player (…not a very good one…) playing quite loudly in the place, and while we had called to make a reservation for a window table, we were told we couldn’t have one. So we passed on that and went to another restaurant in a lower floor that was a huge buffet. While it wasn’t what I would call fantastic, it fit the bill better than the other one and we enjoyed having lots of choices.
After that we went to our room and chilled further. One nice thing was that we found there was more English speaking TV here than we’ve had in any other city in Europe so far! I don’t know why, but we certainly enjoyed it. There was even an episode of CSI (which had become a favorite of ours back in the States) on…oh yeah! After some channel surfing we turned in.

7/9

We woke up to a beautiful and sunny day, and made coffee, sipping it out on our balcony. After a time we decided to go down to the pool to catch some rays. We staked out a couple of lounge chairs and sat there soaking up the sun and the surroundings. Eventually we went to the outside restaurant which was situated right next to the beach. Again we were amazed at how reasonable the prices were…a club sandwich was only 5 Euros…we were used to seeing the same fare for 20, and this was a very pleasant change! After lunch we walked along the boardwalk, just taking in the scene. It was like being on vacation for a minute…really nice…and maybe one day we can come back for a real vacation!

After a few hours of this it was time to get ready to go to the gig. There had been some concern about the ticket sales…at first it looked like it might be a very slow night. But eventually we wound up with 35,000 people there…wow~! The set list was mostly familiar songs as per Mick’s request…and it worked great. Good fun to play in a new and different place and to have it all go so well. We did have one guest…our friend Gary Giller and his fiance, Lauren Fine, were there. They were taking a two week vacation together ….sort of a pre-wedding getaway…and had been close by the general area, and decided to come to Budva for the show. It was great to see them, and they seemed to enjoy the experience. I was able to get them back for a little impromptu rehearsal which made it even more special for them.
After the show we had to pack up….tomorrow we head out to Barcelona. Too bad, as we would love to stay here one more day to explore more of the area…but hey, that’s Rock ‘n Roll for ya!

7/10, 11, 12

Before our departure to Barcelona I had time to go for a nice run along the long boardwalk that parallels the beach. It was a little hot, but I didn’t really mind. I also managed just a bit more pool time before having lunch with Rosie and then meeting everyone to fly to Spain. This would be our second trip to Barcelona on this tour. This time we will be playing a unique situation…a private party for Deutchebank in a place called the Museo Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. We don’t do many of these private things, but I was very happy to go back to Barcelona…love the place, and of course Amy, Steve and Miles would be waiting on us there. Again we stayed at the Hotel Arts, right on the beach.

We arrived around 7pm and our hotel advance person, Karen had arranged for the Bransfords to have a room right next to ours, which was convenient for all of us. They were in their room as we entered ours, and so we all hung out together straight away. They had enjoyed their previous two days in the city….seeing some sights and such. After a time I made arrangements for us to go to dinner at the Cangrejo Loco, where I had dined the last time we were here with my friends John Malloy and Mike Massey. I had enjoyed that, and as it was close to the hotel it was an easy place to get to. After some drinks in the bar we walked over to the Marina where the restaurant is and had a nice meal together. Miles was a bit active and Steve had to walk him around a couple of times, but we all had fun together and the food and wine was as good as it was before.
We retired to our quarters after the meal, and all went down for some rest.
The next day was off for us, so we had it all to ourselves. Amy and Steve wanted to go out and explore some more, so Rose Lane and I kept Miles while they did. I went for a run along the beach as I’d done several times before here. The kids got back after a while and kept Miles for his nap, and I went down to the pool to get my dose of sun. Keith, Ronnie and some of the Wood family were hanging out at the pool bar, and I spoke to them for a while. This gig was in part arranged by Jaimie Wood, one of Ronnie’s sons. Not only was Jaimie there, but also Tyrone and Jessie, their other two boys. They all work for Ronnie in one capacity or another…Jaimie taking on the management position.
The rest of the day went by quickly….and it was dinner time before we knew it. We had received a couple of recommendations for a place called Botafumeiro, which is known for it’s excellent seafood. We got a baby sitter for Miles so we could have an adult night and headed over there about 9. It proved to be a great place…and we all grooved on the meal, the service, the atmosphere and the company. On the way there and back we passed by the famous Sagrada Familia, the incredible Gaudi church that is still under construction after 100 years. Rose Lane and I have been there twice before…and while we didn’t go to it this time, just driving by and seeing it from the outside gave us a great appreciation of this amazing structure.

The 12th was show day for us. Mick had told me that the band was contracted to do just 75 minutes, so I started working on a set list for that length. I knew he’d want to do mostly known songs, so it was an easy one to draw up. There would be no “B” stage, and there would be only about 750 people attending. Quite an unusual gig, but it would be nice to have a change. Before leaving for the show I got in my dose of outdoors….doing a walk-run along the beach again. Rose Lane wanted to pass on the show, and Amy and Steve wanted to come to the sound check with Miles, but would also pass on the performance. The three of them rode with me down to the venue, which was a beautiful old historic building. Tents had been set up for a “backstage” area….so we went first to my dressing room and then to the Rattlesnake to have a bite to eat. The food was especially good this evening…but as I’m trying desperately to keep my promise to myself to drop a few pounds, I only indulged in some fish and vegetables. We played with Miles a bit, letting him explore some but having to keep a close eye on him so he wouldn’t hurt himself or get in the way. Soon we all went to the stage to do the sound check. This is the first sound check of the tour….even though I’ve pushed to get some in before now, it just hasn’t happened. But we didn’t use it to go over any different songs…only to adjust to the small room for the sound. I figured that it would be loud for the room, and it was. For the life of me I can’t understand why this band has such a dependence on volume…but there is no fighting it. I guess it could have been worse, and while in my opinion we were over-amping the place, it perhaps wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.
We only went through maybe 3 tunes, then sent back to the tents. Amy, Steve and Miles stayed a little longer, but we soon arranged for a van to take them back. Showtime came, and we went to see if we could rock all these bankers….and rock them we did. I halfway expected a somewhat “stayed” audience, but was pleasantly surprised that they were all very enthusiastic throughout the gig, dancing, singing along and really enjoying themselves. It was fun to be in a different setting, and we all enjoyed ourselves as much as the audience enjoyed the experience.
We didn’t start until close to 11pm, so we didn’t get back to the hotel until quite late. Rose Lane was asleep and I had to wake her up to get in the room as I didn’t have a key. The Bransfords had all gone to bed, so I was up on my own for a while. I had to pack up my bags, then sat and watched the tube a bit with a glass of wine before slipping into the bed where Rosie was already in dreamland.

7/13

The kids had a very reasonable flight time for their journey back home…1pm. That meant they didn’t have to leave the hotel until about 10:30. But we were still asleep when they rang the doorbell at 10. We wanted to see them one more time before we all left. So we had a short but fun morning together. Soon we gave them goodbye hugs…knowing that it would be a good two months at least before we’d see them again. They headed out and Rose Lane and I made the bags ready for pickup for our trip to Belgrade.
We had some time to kill after that, so we went to lunch at a place on the Marina. We had some light fare and went get our carry on items and meet the group to head to the airport.
The flight was a little over two hours, and we arrived about 7pm. Our friends Lynn Lavery and Carol Davidsen were coming to be with us for a few days, and we saw them as we got off the elevator on the 7th floor of the Hyatt Regency where we were staying. There was a club lounge for us on the floor, which would make it convenient for everyone. We stashed our bags in the room and went to see Lynn and Carol in the lounge…hanging out there for an hour or so before going downstairs for dinner. They had made friends with one of the fellows that was working in the lounge…a nice young man named Markos. Markos spoke excellent English which he had learned going to University in Missouri. We talked for a while with a couple of cocktails before going to dinner. Tim Ries joined us at our table and we had a nice time together talking and dining. Poor Tim had thrown his back out a few days before…and Rose Lane and I had been helping him carry his horns and hand luggage to and from busses, airports and hotels. He was getting a little better, but still obviously suffering.
Afterwards we went to our room and listened to some music and talked some more, making good use of some wine that I’d brought with us….finally separating a little after midnight, all going off to bed.

7/1-5

We left El Ejido still feeling emotional from the events of the last couple of days. But this would begin a five day break that no doubt we all needed. We boarded up on our Blue Line plane and made the flight to Rome where we would meet up with our family. Amy, Steve and Miles were coming in from Atlanta to meet us, and Ashley was flying there from Boston. I had arranged a van to pick them all up as they landed within an hour of each other this morning. We wouldn’t get there until late afternoon, but I couldn’t resist calling them before we left Spain to make sure they got in ok. They would be staying at the Marriott hotel, a half a block away from where we would be staying…at the Westin Excelsior. I got a very sleepy Amy on the phone when I called…and told her that I just wanted confirmation they were there and to go back to sleep. We landed a little earlier than we thought we would, and when we got to the Excelsior it wasn’t long before our phone rang with Ashley on the other end saying that they were all in the lobby and were on the way up. Of course a grand reunion followed shortly…they all looked great…none too worse for wear from their flights having caught naps. Miles gave us a big smile and seemed to be genuinely happy to see his grandparents. Hugs were passed around the room and we all felt relieved and excited to be together.
We were fortunate to have been given a really great room at the Excelsior. It was on the 6th floor, the top of the hotel….and had not only a lovely and spacious sitting room and bedroom, but a wrap around outside balcony that offered beautiful views of the city. We could barely see the dome of the Vatican, but it could be seen…and below us was the Via Vennetta…one of the main streets with lots of restaurants and shops. We sat for a while just catching up on things and watching Miles explore the room. He’s quite advanced for his 17 months…walking strongly and increasing his vocabulary some. He’s incredibly energetic and inquisitive, which makes for a constant watch on the boy…he knows how to open cabinets, doors, closets and so forth, and is wanting to explore everything in sight. He’s good natured and fun to be with, but can get frustrated sometimes (as all children that age do…) when he doesn’t get his way. But he’s usually smiling and happy, and is learning so fast!

Also arriving in Rome were our good friends Herren and Susan Hickingbotham. We had talked about them coming to see us in Europe, and Rome fit the bill for them. Of course we were really grateful that they could come when our family was there so we could all enjoy some fun together. They had come in a little later…but we got them on the phone while we were all hanging out in our room. Unfortunately they had had a problem with their luggage….two of Susan’s suitcases had not made it. They had traced one of them down and were told they should have it the next day, but the other one seemed to be lost. They had to deal with that for a while before they could get up with us. We suggested that they join us for dinner if they could…and indeed a short time later we all went out together to a place called Giovanni’s not far from the hotel. We ran into Tim Ries on the way…and he had all his family with him…wife Stacey, 11 year old daughter Josia and their twin daughters Elliana and Isabella who are about 3, I believe. They were headed to the same restaurant, but decided to change as they wanted to dine outside and Giovanni’s only offered indoor seating. We stayed with the place, and enjoyed our time together eating some good Italian fare accompanied by some nice Chianti and Chardonnay wines. Afterwards we all gathered back in our room at the Excelsior and drank some more wine that Rose Lane and I had brought with us, and enjoyed the night views of the city from our balcony, talking until about 1am or so before breaking up and heading to bed.

Over the next few days we all had a blast….the first day we mostly chilled out….taking our time getting up and eventually going out for walks in the area. The Spanish Steps weren’t far from our hotel and we walked around there for a bit….and went to the famous fountain of La Trevi….Miles slept through a good bit of it, being wheeled around in his stroller….we had fun taking pictures of him in various settings totally knocked out…“Miles sleeps through Rome”! In the evening we had drinks at a bar next door to our hotel called Doney….which became our “watering hole” for the week….then it was out to dinner with all of us again to a place called Tuscano…again having a great time and good food.

The next day we hired a van for all of us and went to the main sights….the Coliseum, the Forum, Circus Maximus, the Capitolini and other historic places. We had gelato in a nice outdoor cafe near the Coliseum and visited one of the important churches called ?? afterwards. We had a nice driver named Adrian…Miles again took naps during most of the sight-seeing, and did well through it all. The following day we all went to the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica and Cistine Chapel. Herren had hired a guide to take us though….a nice lady named Martina. She was very knowledgeable and was herself an artist…a sculptor…and therefore had a unique understanding of all the art throughout the amazing grounds, museums and other interior spaces. Rose Lane and I had been through it all before, but it was as impressive and as beautiful this time. I was especially taken with St. Peter’s…it’s such a breathtaking place, and of course Michelangelo’s Pieta is an amazing and moving piece to see in the mist of the Basilica. Eventually we made our way back to the hotel for our evening routine…but Herren and Susan wanted to have a night to themselves, so we went out with just us family.
Of course we all fitted in some shopping into the scenario in the days we were there….but really didn’t do much “damage”. The dollar to the Euro is very weak…making everything extremely expensive…and also, since the world is so “Global” these days, we didn’t see much that we couldn’t find back home. Still we did find some small things for presents and for ourselves….and we had a good time looking around.

One evening we had a fun time when we decided not to make a reservation and just walk around until we found something that looked interesting and inviting. We were after a casual place, outdoors…nothing fancy. We passed by several possibilities until we came to a place called La bruschette e….. We were “pulled in” by the proprietor who had seen us walking by and commented on Miles. He was a funny man…genuinely nice and Miles seemed to take to him. He sang to Miles…the old song about “There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea….” and a couple of other little ditties. He kept us all entertained….I asked him his name and he gave it as Bonnafacio (good face). It made for a very special evening…and the food was quite good, too.

Rose Lane and I baby-sat on occasion for Miles…and of course we both loved that. We had a crib put in our room so he could stay overnight which he did a couple of times. When he got bored I would put him in the stroller and wheel him around the hotel, visiting the Tour Office or take him around the lobby and try to find him something to look at and occupy his mind. I’d bump into some of the folks in our group, and they would “oodle” over him… he made an impression on all of our Entourage.
So all in all, we had some wonderful quality time with all of us…Ashley seemed to truly enjoy it as did Steve and Amy….and Susan and Herren.

7/6, 7

On the 6th it was time to go back to work. We played the Olympic Stadium…which had been built since our last show in Rome which was back in 1990. At that time we played some other stadium, which I can’t remember the name of. Anyway, it’s been a long time…but I did make a point to go back and look at what we did last year when we played in Milan, so I could make sure I varied the set list some from that. Mick agreed to what I had drawn up and we had it printed… so I went to spend time with the family and the Hickingbothams in the Rattlesnake.

Also coming as guests of ours was some new friends that Rose Lane had met in Florence during her “art retreat” experience. She had bought a painting from an artist that she had seen works of at a restaurant in Florence, a fellow named Dejan Bogdanovic.
Rose Lane had invited him to come to the show in Rome, and he accepted. Dejan had brought his girlfriend Anina with him. Rose Lane had gone out to lunch with them in the afternoon while I did some work on my computer…so I met the two of them for the first time back stage. Very nice people, and they seemed very excited to be there. We all hung out there for a while and eventually I took Herren, Susan and the kids back to the backstage area to say hello to the guys in the band. We made the rounds, having fun showing Miles off to everybody. Amy had dressed him up like Ronnie….even trying to fluff up his hair like his…and of course this made for special fun.
It was good to get back on the stage after our break…everyone seemed to have a re-newed feeling and the band played well with strong grooves being laid down throughout the night. Good to be back in the swing of things!
After the show we all (including Dejan and Anina) gathered in our room and enjoyed some wine and each other’s company for a couple of hours. Dejan had brought a photo of many of his paintings…including the one that Rose Lane and bought called “The Passion”. I was most impressed, and look forward to getting the real thing. She had bought it as an anniversary present to both of us, and it fit the occasion perfectly!

The next night was another off night for us…the last one we would all have together in Rome. Having seen most of the sights, we all sort of split up and did our own things during the day. One special thing that was happening in the afternoon was that we were to see a screening of “Shine A Light”, the Martin Scorsese directed film on the Stones….most of which was shot at the two Beacon Theater shows we did last year in New York. It was being screened in a relatively small theater with limited seating. I had cleared it with Michael Cohl for all of our family to go to it, but Amy and Rose Lane said they would stay back and look after Miles while the three of us…Steve, Ashley and I…went to it. Steve Bing, who produced the film was in town as was Scorsese and much of his “team”. Also there was Bob Clearmountain, the audio engineer for the film and who has mixed several of the Stones last CD and DVD releases. So the three of us went down together…along with a few other members of our group. We all arrived at different times at the theater, and we had time to chat and mingle before the screening. I was really pleased to be able to introduce Scorsese to Steve….as Steve is a PhD student in visual arts and is already teaching a couple of courses at Emory University and Georgia State, and he is actually teaching some of Scorsese’s work.
Finally all of us were there and we settled into our seats to watch. While I can’t divulge all here, I can say that we were highly entertained by it….and I think they did a great job in mixing some archival footage with present day footage….and in all the brilliant camera work of the performance. They also cleverly used some good humor throughout the piece. It was also quite interesting to see us at work….we never get to that except for when we watch one of the DVDs like Four Flicks or Biggest Bang. And then not like seeing it in this way…on a big screen and so well shot. Lots of fun and we all really enjoyed it….as I think the general public will when it’s released…which I think will be some time in late September.
After that we made our plans for our final dinner together with all of us. The concierge at our hotel suggested a place called Chippolini which was not a long walk from the Excelsior. We did have some trouble finding it, because the concierge had said to turn left at a street where he should have said right…no matter, we got slightly lost but found it ok. It was pretty late when we finally got there, but we enjoyed our final meal together and lingered on to talk and relax, recounting our experiences in Rome. Then we all went back to our room to celebrate just a little more before saying good night. Herren and Susan were staying on one more day in Rome….Ashley was heading back to Boston. She has completed several courses that qualify her to enroll in Med School and had to get back to deal with final tests and other related dealings. Amy and Steve would travel on to Barcelona where they would meet back up with us in a couple of days. Rose Lane and I would fly with the band to Budva, Montenegro. It had been a fantastic week…full of fun, great experiences and making wonderful memories!

6/27

I love Madrid. We always enjoy the city…the people are nice, the restaurants good, the museums and shops fun. It was here when Mick lost his voice last year, causing us to have to cancel all of our shows in Spain. We were all very disappointed….Mick more than anyone, I’m sure. There were of course quite a lot of disappointed and perhaps disenchanted fans as well, and we all wanted to make things up as best we could this time. Barcelona had gone well for us, and we would put out our best here in Madrid and in El Ejido.
Rose Lane and I arrived in our room at the Westin Palace, one of our favorite hotels. This time we had a small balcony off of our bedroom, so there would be a little space to catch some rays and enjoy the street scene below us. After decompressing for a while we checked with the concierge about dinner. We wanted to go to La Trusche, one of our favs that is in the Plaza Santa Domingo. The concierge said that they don’t take reservations and that it would likely be crowded. So we made reservations at another place, but decided we’d go to La Trusche first to check it out. It was indeed crowded, but we stuck it out, waiting for about 15 minutes or so for a table. We enjoyed some of the usual dishes we order….the pan fried trout with little bits of bacon scattered over the fish, some pedron peppers, some spinach, some of the Iberic ham and a couple of other small plates.
Lulu Gonzales, Michael Cohl’s personal assistant on this tour used to live in Madrid and worked with some Flamenco troupes. She had arranged for all of us a special presentation in a bar of one of the hotels in the Santa Anna Square that would feature a famous dancer named Sarah Barris (ck spelling). So after finishing up our dinner we made our way up to the hotel and found the bar that she had arranged. It was very crowded in there, and I saw only a few of our entourage there…mostly staff folks. We ordered a couple of glasses of wine and hung out for a good 45 minutes or so by which time more of our folks had showed…including Keith, Ronnie and more of our musicians. It had become even more crowded by then, and there was quite a lot of smoking going on, and with all the folks in the room it had warmed up considerably as well. So it wasn’t the most comfortable of situations by the time the presentation started, plus many of the other people there (that seemed to be mostly locals) were pressing up to the front, obscuring our view of the spot where the performers were…which was not a proper stage and not elevated. Anyway, they finally began and I did my best to enjoy it…what little I could see looked very fun and they were all obviously very talented. The two guitarists were flailing away, playing with fire and fury, and the singers were vocalizing with passion, the troupe clapping in that fantastic syncopated rhythm and the dancers stomping their heels in a heated pace on the wooden floor. Occasional shouts of approval came out from the various troupe members. I would have really enjoyed it except for the crowded smoky conditions…and the fact that most of the locals there were talking loudly, making it difficult to really hear as we’d have liked. We stayed for a while, but finally gave it up. A shame, as it could have really been a great evening if not for the unnecessary distractions. But it was so nice of Lulu to put it all together, and we certainly had a great appreciation of the talented performers.
It was a relief to get out into the square where it was open and cool….and the air much improved over that in the bar. We strolled back to the hotel and sipped some wine before putting our heads on the pillows.

6/28

Show day at Calderon Stadium. But before I put my mind on the music, I went out for a nice run in the beautiful Parque de Madrid which is just about a six block walk from the Palace. It was a nice sunny day and after stretching out I started my jog. This is one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever seen, and every time I go to it I’m amazed. It’s very big, well kept with several outstanding gardens…especially the large rose garden. There are plenty of paths and roads throughout it, making for multiple choices of ways to go. Some of the roads are very wide, some narrow….there are nice shaded places as well as open sunny areas. It’s really a joy to be in. I was having a really wonderful time, soaking up the sun in my jaunt…until about 35 minutes in when I felt a cramp in my left calf. I thought about trying to just slow down and press on…but decided to stop and feel it out. I’m glad I did…as it turned out to be a bit more than a cramp. It wasn’t all that bad, but I could feel that I’d sprained it slightly. I stopped and stretched it out a little, then walked the rest of the way back to the hotel.
After resting a bit out on our nice little patio for a while, I cleaned up and we decided to go out for a bit, taking a cab out to a shopping area that we’d been to before last year. We walked around for a couple of hours, but wound up not making any purchases. Still, it was nice to be out and about for a while. Back at the hotel we made ready to go to the gig.
I put together a set list that I thought the Spanish fans would appreciate, with a good many familiar songs. Mick was not feeling his best and was a little worried about his voice, so I had to avoid tunes that might put a strain on him. For one thing, that meant taking out “I’ll Go Crazy” and putting in “Night Time Is The Right Time”, which we haven’t played yet on this run. I did get in Monkey Man and Sway in there, so there were a few “oddities” in the mix.
The show chugged right along, and Mick made it through fine. It’s hard not to notice that the ticket sales have been a little off here in Spain…I’m sure that’s mostly due to the fact that we had cancelled all the ones last year and people were somewhat skeptical about whether we’d actually play this time around. Plus no doubt some were upset at having made major plans to come from other cities to see us, only to be disappointed. But we still had what I would say was strong attendance, and the fans that did come this time were wonderfully enthusiastic and heard a great show.
Rosie and I had to pack up our bags when we arrived back at the hotel after the gig…as we were leaving the next day for El Ejido. So we dealt with that and were pretty tired afterward and hit the hay.

6/29, 30

Back in travel mode…but before we left we went out for lunch at a place about halfway to the Square. We had noticed this place several times before when we’ve been in Madrid, but it’s always been closed for some reason. Rosie had suggested we give it one more go, and it was open this time. It’s called La Rincon de Cruz Blanca. It was really a great place, and the food was excellent. Rose Lane tried the gazpacho which came with all the trimmings, and I had an egg dish….which I would describe as scrambled eggs with several items spilled in during the cooking process…including mushrooms, asparagus, sausage and some other items. I forget what they call this, but it’s really delicious. They also served us those wonderful Spanish olives….it made for a nice final meal in Madrid.
Then we were off to a place we’ve never been before….El Ejido. We didn’t know much about it, so I looked it up on the Internet. It’s in the Southern part of Spain very close to the coast of the Mediterranean, near Almeria. We flew into Almeria and drove from there about 45 minutes to El Ejido. Along the way we were quite surprised at the terrain. We could see the coastline as we drove along the very rocky, mountainous and desert-like surroundings. This is obviously a real growth area of the Country. There were lots of cranes and new construction going on along the way. There were some very dramatic bridges that crossed from mountain to mountain, and all around were these huge structures with white plastic tops on them. They were everywhere, going on for miles and miles. We soon found out that they are more or less like greenhouses, and that they grow vegetables in them. This is a very dry area, so they had to be fed by drilled wells. There was some speculation about if they were hydroponics or used soil in the process of growing the plants, but I never found out for sure. Most of them were empty, so I guess it was not the season for their use.
As we drove up the mountains, we had several view of the large city of Almeria down below us. I was surprised at how large it was, and again, at all the construction there and all around us. We finally arrived at the hotel, the Barceló Envia Hotel Wellnes and Golf. It is actually in Almeria, but way up in the mountains and on the fringe of the city. We went to our room, which had a nice large outdoor patio that offered nice views of the mountains and valleys, and hung out for a while. Bobby Keys had the room next to us, and had been flying his new small remote control helicopter. The wind had caught it and it was stuck up on the roof above his patio. One of our security guys, Erik Hausch, had come up to help him sort it out. They eventually had to call for a ladder to climb up and retrieve it. Above us and a couple of doors down was Scott Jones and his girlfriend Sheila. We waived to them and they signaled for us to come up to visit them, so we did. We all decided to go to dinner at the hotel restaurant and made our way down after an hour or so. The meal was ok but not stellar….but the company and conversation was good. We finally finished up and said our goodnights, heading up for sleep.

On the morning of the 30th when we woke up, I read the sad news in our newsletter that a member of our European “steel crew” (these are the crew that sets up the scaffolding of our staging) had been killed in a tragic accident during the taking down of the stage in Madrid. His name was Benno Goldewijk from Holland. Also killed was one of the local workers in Madrid, and two others had been injured. This is the kind of news that we never want to hear, but unfortunately it was true. None of us in the Entourage really know most of these guys….they work around our schedule, and we rarely see them. But still they are part of our “family”, and it was incredibly sad and painful to hear of this. There were no further details of the accident in the newsletter…just that Benno and the local worker had died and the other two injured.
Rose Lane and I followed our usual morning routine, talking about how terrible this was and how in all these years we’ve never had something like this happen. We eventually went out for some lunch, and at the designated time met everyone else for the bus ride to El Ejido to do the show. There was a grim feeling all day….and when we talked to some of the other crew folks we could feel the pain and heaviness of loss that they all had. One of the guys in the catering crew, a nice young man named Dan, had known Benno and had become friends with him. He described him to me….a smallish fellow with lots of tattoos and a shaved head…and I could sort of remember seeing him amongst the crew a couple of times when we had finished a show and we were walking to our vans….and the steel crew guys were waiting to start taking down the stage. Dan told me he as a really great guy, very “up” all the time….and I had a flash of seeing him that way. As we went through the early part of our routine backstage, Rose Lane and I went to the Rattlesnake to get a bite to eat. Soon we noticed that many of the crew guys were coming in to the RI….as well as members of our Entourage. It became obvious that there was a meeting of everyone that would soon occur, and that was confirmed after asking around. The room filled up and it wasn’t long before Mick, Keith, Ronnie, Charlie and Michael Cohl came in…..and stood alongside Opie SKJERSETH, our Production Manager. Mick spoke first, greeting everyone and expressing on behalf of the band how sad we all were to hear of the tragedy. He eloquently talked about how hard he knew it was for everyone to carry on under the circumstances, and that he wanted everyone to know that as a family we all share the pain and sorrow of the loss. He also expressed that if anyone felt the need to talk about the situation, that the doors were open to everyone to seek counseling either from within or outside our organization. Keith also spoke…but it was difficult to understand what he was saying as he spoke very quietly….still, it was obvious that he was expressing his sorrow and his appreciation of all those that work in our crew. Michael Cohl also said a few words of condolence. Finally Opie spoke, and could not totally contain the emotion he felt…having to pause to catch himself from breaking down. His words and obvious heart felt emotions were something that carried through the entire room…and it became a very deep emotional moment for all of us. As a Family, we all felt the grief of this terrible loss.
It is indeed difficult to carry on at a time like this….but this is what we do, and no doubt Benno (and I know that goes for all of us) would want the show to go on.
Go on it did, and it was in my opinion the best performance of the tour so far. I believe we were all playing for Benno and the others….I know I was.

6/22

Now we head to San Sebastian. I had wanted to do another run and lay in the sun some…but time got away from me. I wanted to send a box of things back home (it’s amazing how your suitcases swell in a month’s time!) and had to deal with that. It took longer than I thought it would to get done, and I only had time to pay my bill and get ready for the leave. The usual procedure ensued…bus to airport, airport to airport, bus to hotel. We actually landed in France near the Spanish border…I think it had something to do with our plane and landing permits. So we had about a 40 minute drive to get to San Sebastian. I love this town…we stayed here once before when we played in Bilbao. It has a wonderful historic nature…beautiful architecture and in a lovely setting. It’s way up north of Spain, near the French border on the Bay of Biscay. This is Basque country. Our hotel, the Maria Christina, fits right in to that description and my room was nice and large, with a balcony that looks out onto the River Urumea that flows into the Bay. I sat out there for a while after we arrived, just taking in the scene and relaxing. I went out for a short walk after that…just enjoying the nice flavor of the old streets and buildings…eventually walking along the seaside and back tot he hotel. The phone rang and it was Scott Jones inviting me to dinner, and I accepted. Again it was the three of us…Scott, Sheila and me. Rose Lane was supposed to meet me here…but unfortunately she had encountered a problem in Florence with her connection flight. There were apparently some strong winds at the Florence airport, which has a relatively short runway…and the authorities had shut down all flights coming in and out. Luckily, one of her new friends that had attended the painting retreat already had a room at a hotel there….the Ritz…and Rosie was able to get a room there as well. She said she would work on a flight to Lisbon, our next city, as it wouldn’t work for her to try and get to San Sebastian.
We decided not to go out of the hotel for dinner. there was a nice Vietnamese place in the Maria Christina called Saigon, and we dined there. Very nice, and a pleasant change to have some Asian type food. Back in my room I was settling in for the evening when Bobby Keys called me. His room was just a couple of doors down, so I went down to hang with him for a while. Bobby’s hobby is flying powered model airplanes and helicopters….and he has a neat computer program with flight simulators that let you “fly” all kinds of different aircraft. Darryl Jones showed up shortly, and we all had fun flying “Bobby’s planes”. It’s certainly not as easy as it may seem, and I kept crashing all over the place…which made for lots of laughs. We enjoyed that for an hour or so, and then I retired to my room.

6/23, 24

I had a nice sleep…awaking about 10am. I piddled around for a bit…and decided to go for a run outside. I had noticed a stretch of land on the opposite side of the river that was like a park…with no traffic. So I made my way over there and jogged for a good 45 minutes. I wound up getting a little lost…and ironically wound up at the gig site, the Aneota stadium. I thought about trying to find one of our folks there, but of course I didn’t have my pass with me…so I decided to just press on and try to figure out where I was. Eventually I did have to ask a security guy for directions, and it didn’t take me long to get my bearings back and find my way back to the hotel. There I decided to look into doing my laundry….it had been piling up and I knew I needed to deal with it. Our hotel info sheet had a place listed that was only three blocks away. First I called the concierge to see if a bellman might take it over there for me and drop it off (the sheet said they did a “wash and fold” service)….but they wouldn’t do that…so I went to do it on my own. The directions they gave me weren’t quite right, and although when I finally found the place I realized how close it was, it took me a good 20 minutes of walking around to locate it.. It seemed there was no one around to leave it with, and it was a small place with only about 4 washing machines and 2 driers all of which were in use. So I abandoned that idea for a while, going back to the hotel. I checked back in an hour or so, and there were machines available, so I dove in. The first machine I tried was a larger one, and required more coins than I had….so I went to a place next door to get change. They didn’t have any, and I tried a news stand across the street. A nice lady there helped me out and went back with some more funds. But then I realized I still wouldn’t have enough for the drier…so I went to one of the smaller machines which meant I had to cram in my threads, but it was half the cost of the bigger machine. After putting in a few coins I realized that this machine’s temperature selections were broken. Nice. So I had to re-arrange it all into yet another machine. Finally I got things going and went to a little small bar down the street to have a sandwich while my stuff was in the cycle. That killed some time, and when I went back I didn’t have to wait too long to get the clothes out and put them in the drier. Finally I got it all done…folded up my threads and headed back to the hotel. Ah, clean clothes!
By then it was almost time to leave for the gig, and I made myself ready and met the others down in the lobby.
In Spain the shows tend to start later than usual, and this was no exception. We hit the stage a little after 10pm, playing past midnight. The crowd was great….and again that fantastic Latin spirit got us going….making for a great time for all. I was pretty beat afterwards, and didn’t bother to go down to the lobby. Plus, as our plane has been overloaded with too much baggage, we were asked if some of us would be willing to pack and send bags ahead by truck to Lisbon. I volunteered and stayed up long enough to pack up and put them outside my door…and had no trouble getting to dreamland.
Next day it was a bit cloudy and I decided not to run outside…but did go down to the gym and did the treadmill and some weights for a while before preparing to leave for Lisbon. We left in the early afternoon, about 2:30. Again we drove across the border to an airport in France and took off from there….arriving in Lisbon at the hotel about 6.

Rose Lane had sorted out her situation, but would not arrive until tomorrow, on the 25th. We arrived at the Ritz (a Four Seasons Hotel) and I settled in to a nice two room suite. It was Sunday and most of the stores were closed, but I didn’t want to just sit there, so I went out for a walk. We were in sort of a strange area…not many shops around…but there was a park nearby, so I went there and strolled around for a while.
Tim Ries had arranged for a number of us to go to a Fado House for a dinner and some music. Last year when we played Porto, I did a recording session for Tim that included a Fado singer named Anna Moura. She is an amazing talent, and we had recorded “No Expectations” and “Brown Sugar” with her and three of her musicians….two guitarists and an acoustic bassist…as well as some other musicians he had invited. Fado is a particular style of Portuguese music….and if you’re not familiar, it’s worth checking into. I love the beautiful romantic nature of the songs, the musicianship and the singing. Very moving. So these “Fado Houses” are usually fairly small places that serve dinner….and usually present three or four Fado singers. This place was called “Casa De Linhares”, and was located in a very old section of the city that had survived the famous 1755 earthquake in Lisbon. The entrance was down a short flight of stone stairs in a little street known as the “Arch De Jesus”. That was the largest and most devastating earthquake in European history, destroying most of the city and killing some 60,000 people. But some parts of the city survived it, and this was one. It must have been built around the 15th or 16th century, I’d guess. They had done a good job of renovating it but keeping it much like it was hundreds of years ago. Nice long tables with white tablecloths, candles, elegant but not stiff…very comfortable.
At these places you may start with a drink or two, have an appetizer, then the musicians and a singer come out and perform maybe three songs…and the lights come back up and you have a main course. Then again the lights go down and another signer comes on for a few more songs…and so on. Tim had invited all of us, and much to my surprise, Mick, Keith and Ronnie had accepted and had tables there. A good many of the rest of us attended as well, and I’d say we must have had twenty five or more in our group. It took a while for all of us to get there, and so the whole thing was delayed 45 minutes or so. But finally we began…and it was an amazing night. Mick first sat at the end of the table, right where the performers were to do their thing. But he didn’t want to be too “obvious”, and after the first course of food was served and the music was about to begin, he sat next to me a few chairs down the table. The first singer came on…a lady that I would guess was in her mid 505’s or so. She was ok, but sang slightly off pitch a few times. The musicians (the same ones we had recorded with last year on Tim’s sessions) were excellent, though. After she finished, Mick and I conversed a little about her singing and the playing, agreeing about the pitch problem she had and the proficiency of the playing. After a short break, Anna Moura came out. Wow, was she amazing! She captivated the entire room from the very beginning…no pitch problems here…and she sang with such wonderful passion, beautiful dynamics and amazing phrasing in her slightly smokey contra-alto. Everyone was sort of stunned…it was truly moving. Tim’s family were all there…his wife Stacy and his three daughters. His oldest daughter, Joss, who is about 13 years old or so and is also a talented musician and singer, was invited up by Anna to sing with her on “No Expectations”. It took some convincing to get her up there, but after the room applauded and begged her to come up, she did….and did a marvelous job. Not an easy thing for a young teenage girl to do, and I really admired her for her talent and poise for the two verses she sang. We all just loved it, and it made for a fantastic night out together. Keith and Ronnie were impressed with the guitar playing…and of course for Anna’s presentation. After that there was a bit more food and another couple of singers…but it was no doubt Anna’s night to shine, and shine she did.
I left a little before the whole thing wound up…but wanted to exit quietly and before it got too complicated. I figured that getting a taxi might not be so easy when so many would be leaving at once…and of course the Principals all had their vans and drivers there, which can slow things down. It was a good thing to do, as it still took me ten minutes to get a cab…but finally I did and made it back to the hotel. A fun and exciting evening…and I was grateful to have had the experience.

6/25

Nice day in Lisbon…I took my time with the same ‘ol routine, and we gathered in the lobby to go to the show about 4:30. I went down a little early to do check emails for a second time (wireless internet is free in the lobby here, but they charge 20 Euros a day to get it in the room). Rose Lane was coming in…her flight landed a little after 3, and I was hoping to catch her before we left the hotel. Indeed, I did…she came in just as we were leaving. So great to see my long legged good lookin’ better three quarters again! She was beaming from her trip, but I could tell she was a little tired from all the travel. She chose not to come to the show and to take a day off and just relax.
At the gig it was the usual thing…except that in doing the set list Mick suggested we invite Anna Moura to perform “No Expectations” with us. I was very pleased at this, and we put it on the list. I went to find Tim to see when she might be arriving…he was able to get her on a cell phone and told her of the invitation. Not long afterwards she arrived, and I brought her, Tim and her two guitarists to Mick’s room for a run through. The only concern was the key….we do it in E, and she had recorded it in B. Even through it was quite low for her to sing, she was able to re-phrase it and make it work. Her guitarist George was helpful in encouraging her and suggesting some phrasing. We worked out the arrangement and made plans to do a full rehearsal with the rest of the band later. After that, I messed around in the Rattlesnake for a bit until we all gathered in Keith’s room for the run through. That went fine, and we were set.

The show went quite well…again, that incredible Latin passion from the audience was evident from the start. The song with Anna went ok, but not as well as I’d hoped. For one thing, she missed her cue to get out on stage in time to start the second verse….and Mick had to cover it. That caused the arrangement to get a little off track…but not so bad that it created any big problem…we rolled with it. I thought that the crowd may have reacted more to her…but maybe they didn’t know her so well. Anyway, they were appreciative of her…and since she sang one verse in Portuguese, that was well received by the fans. The rest of the show went fine.
Back at the hotel I found Rose Lane asleep on the sofa in our sitting room. So I quietly changed out of my stage clothes and took them back to the wardrobe room to Isobel. About a half hour later she roused up and we talked for an hour or so…her telling me about her Italian experience and me catching her up on things out here. One bummer was that her computer had messed up on her while she was away, so we’ll need to sort out how to deal with that. It’s getting next to impossible to live our lives without our Macs! We finally called it a night and fell asleep. (AND THAT’S WHY THE POSTS ARE SO LATE….NO COMPUTER)

6/26

Today is our 34th Anniversary! Wow…hard to believe we’ve been together almost three and a half decades, but here we are! It was a day off for us here, so that worked to our advantage. We took our time, enjoying our nice room and balcony taking in some sun, until we were ready to go out for some food. We headed out for a late lunch about 1:30….to a place at the top of the park called Linha de Agua. It had a nice round shallow man made pond…with a fountain in the middle, making for a nice view. We went through a buffet kind of line….and were happy to see that they offered collard greens and black eye peas! Of course we both loaded up on that. We’ve noticed before that Portugal has some similar foods that we have in the South…especially the greens. We’ve seen them growing in gardens there. Anyway, we sat outside and enjoyed our lunch…along with some nice sangria. Then made it back to the hotel and decided to go out for a bit, just exploring. We took a cab to an area called Baixa where there were some shops. We enjoyed getting out and walking around…and I wound up buying some items for my new Canon G7 camera…a leather case and a 2 gig card for it. Other than that we didn’t do much damage…but seeing the area was pleasant…we’re getting a bit burnt out on hotels, I suppose. Later we stopped and had a coffee before heading back.
I had checked with the concierge about a special place for dinner, as we were hoping to have a nice night together. She suggested a place called A Trevessa, which serves typical Portuguese fare in a very pleasant atmosphere. On the way there we spoke with our cab driver…a very nice young fellow named Pedro. I commented to him about the similarities in food between this country and our part of the South, and he was interested in that. I found out that they call the black eye peas something that translates into “friar peas”. He laughed a bit as he said he like the band the Black Eye Peas and never understood what that meant until recently when a friend had explained it to him.
At A Trevessa we were treated to the best meal we’ve had in a long, long time. Really outstanding. In typical “fajuada” style, they just start bringing you food. We had small plates of pedron peppers, fried cheese, blood sausage, eggs with porcini mushrooms, fish soup and a couple of other things along the way. All just amazing. For the main course we both had John Dory fish. The wine was a Portuguese chardonnay…and perfectly complimented all the various dishes. Since it was a special occasion we both ordered dessert…me a white chocolate moose and Rose Lane had a sort of chocolate gateau with vanilla ice cream. Oh yeah. We met the proprietor of the place, a nice guy named Antonio. We told him about our anniversary and that we were with the Stones, and enjoyed conversing with him for a while. He shared with us that Sting had recently been to the place (within a year or so, I gathered) and had returned four nights in a row. No wonder….it really was fantastic. Nice way to celebrate!
We capped off the night with some champagne that I had been saving…and were grateful to have had such a good day!

Date: Friday, June 22, 2007 10:22 AM Topic:
6/18 Ah, one of these wonderful “hit and run” shows today. It makes for a very trying and long day, but it’s no doubt best to get to Barcelona as soon as possible. After sending the bags on their way, I putzed around the room and did emails and such until time to check out and get on the bus with the rest of the gang. Then we made our way to the airport, through security (even though we have a private plane, we have to do the usual screening process…and it’s a drag. After that ordeal, we finally got off the ground and made the one hour flight to Lyon….then the half hour bus ride to the gig. It’s been since 1982 since we’ve played here…which was really surprising to me, but that’s what the records show. I barely remember that ‘82 show….that was my first tour with the band. It’s too bad that we can’t stay a night so we could try some of the famous “Lyonase” cooking…but of course being in Barcelona right on the beach for the upcoming two days off is an excellent idea! I did the set list with Mick, and then went to see about my guests. Along with Rose, Bill had brought his niece Alice Kate and her boyfriend ?? with him. ?? is a talented young violin player, and he gave me his CD to listen to. I also saw John and Mike there and sat with them a while. Keith wanted to run over a couple of songs…“You Got The Silver” was one…and we got that in for the night for the first time on this leg. Finally it was Showtime….and we hit the stage feeling more confident having the other five shows under our belt. It turned out to be the best one so far. Then we had the rest of the travel to do…on the bus to the plane, on to Barcelona and finally to the great Arts Hotel there. Of course we were some tired puppies when we finally got to our rooms at about 3am…and I powered down my engines for the night.

6/19, 20 Now we’re talking! Beautiful Barcelona on the beach and a sunny day to boot. We’re staying at the Arts hotel…a great place right on the beach. It has a fantastic pool and rest area…as well as an outdoor restaurant all on the second floor. The view from my window up on the 29th floor offers the sites of the Marina next door, the pool area, and a long shot of the beach. There are usually sailboats and other vessels floating out in the Mediterranean. Beautiful! I made it a point to get to the gym soon after my wake up routine. It’s a fairly small facility there, but with good equipment and it wasn’t very crowded. I’ve continued to try and do more cardio in the workout and did about 45 minutes of walking and running on the treadmill before pushing some weights. Afterwards I inquired about a massage, and arranged for one at 7 that evening. Then I put together a small bag with my iPod, headphones, a couple of books, sunglasses and made my way down to the fab pool they have there. Man, was it great to just chill and listen to some Bill Evans and soak up the rays! I took a break to have a light lunch and then laid out for another hour or so, loving every second. Finally came the massage…which erased all the travel and any other stress that was hanging on. At some point during the day I had a call from Scott Jones, who had come over to catch some shows. Scott is great people, and has always been very kind to support our scholarship fund at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. I’ve mentioned him several times before in this diary. He brought his girlfriend Shelia with him, and they invited me to dinner. He had made reservations at a place just outside the hotel, and we went down about 9:30. It was nice, if not amazing. I had a pizza with anchovies and a salad, trying not to overdo it. I’ve made a promise to myself to try and drop a few pounds. All that good food in the Rattlesnake and the nice restaurants have been taking their toll. We had good conversation and afterwards hung out in Scott’s room for a little while, and about 2am I called it and went to bed. Another glorious day off with the sun shining…today I decided to run outside, along the promenade that parallels the beach. I used to run quite a lot in the “old days”, and it feels good to get back into it…especially when you have such a great setting to do it in. I walked/ran for an hour and did a quick hit in the gym. Back in the room I had some communications with Christian Raupach about my solo tour…we had been successful in confirming all the musicians for the dates we need a band…so that was great. Now the challenge is finding a day we can all rehearse…but we’re working on that. I also had some things to deal with back home with the “destruction” phase of our renovation. It seems to be coming along…and I suppose it’s a good thing not to have to see all of the mess…but still part of me wants to see it first hand. Bobby and Skoots have continued to send me photos though…and that helps. I had also promised John and Mike (they are coming to their third show here, then head back to the States) that I’d make a dinner reservation for us for tonight, and took care of that. Then of course it was back down to the pool for more R&R. After another dose of sun I cleaned up and got ready to meet the guys. The concierge had recommended a place on the Marina called Cangrejo Loco. It was the last of several restaurants out towards the end of the Marina. Great choice….we had some Iberian ham to start (much like country ham back home, but not so salty) and some fried calamari. The waiter had suggested we all have sea bream…and brought the fresh catch to our table to show us. We agreed, and the presentation was done baked with spices and then de-boned and served with some vegetables. Oh yeah. We chose a good Spanish chardonnay to go along with it. After dinner we walked back to the Arts where they hopped a cab back to their hotel. I went up and channel surfed for a while and read some of The Alchemist before nodding out. 6/21 I think this will be the third time we’ve played at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona. After my morning routine (which of course included some more pool time!) and the usual communications via email and phone, I got ready to go to the gig. We didn’t leave until 5:30, so I could take my time, and did. We all met down front and loaded up in vans to get to the stadium. It’s in a very beautiful setting, up high on a hill that overlooks the city. This would be the first show that we started in darkness. The sun has been setting around 9:30 pm or so in general here in Europe, and our sets have been starting around 8:30, so the first hour is in late evening light. But here in Spain things usually go later overall, and our set didn’t start until 10pm. But before the show, I went to see John and Mike at the Rattlesnake…this would be their last show before heading back home. I had told them that I’d try to walk them around backstage…and found an opportunity to do so. I was able to get photos of them with Ronnie, Keith, Charlie, and me and Darryl…which pleased them no end. Then we did a little rehearsal in Keith’s room…Mick had wanted to do Streets Of Love this night, as apparently it got a good bit of radio play here, and we all needed to go over it. It sounded fine, and we all broke up into our respective dressing rooms. But as we were leaving, we sang “Happy Birthday” to Bill Richards, who is Keith’s step dad. Bill was married to Keith’s mom Doris for many years…and Doris just passed away not long before this tour started. Keith was sweet to make sure that Bill stayed close to the family….and has had him out a couple of times on this leg. The first time was for Isle Of Wight, and now here in Barcelona. We all had fun singing to him, and I accompanied on the piano. Then it was time to hit the stage….another strong show…and that wonderful Latin spirit came through from the Spanish fans. It’s soooo much fun to play to these audiences…they really lift you up and make it a special event. We all celebrated in the van on the way back to the hotel… I thought about going down to the bar, but it was late and I needed to pack. I did have a couple of glasses of wine from a bottle that I had in the fridge in my room…and sipped them as I packed. I put all my bags out for morning pickup and put it between the sheets.

6/11

The usual routine applied, and we left Brockenhurst (after one more lunch at the Rose and Crown) about 3:30, getting us in to Frankfurt in the early evening. We’re staying at a different place than we have in the past…at the The Villa Kennedy on Kennedyallee. Actually, it’s been a long time since we’ve played in Frankfurt….last time was back in 1990 on Steel Wheels. But we have stayed here to work other cities….like Hockenheim. It’s quite a nice hotel…only a year or two old. We killed some time in our room, and Christian Raupach, who is organizing my solo run, had called me to discuss a number of details, one of which was to set up a rehearsal for me the next day. Tim Ries had agreed to come with me to check out Christian’s own band, Shilly Shally. We made the plans, and he said he would have his wife, Andrea, pick us up about 3.
With that taken care of, we eventually strolled down to the bar for a cocktail. There we saw Guardie, one of our security guys, and sat with him for a while talking and sipping. The bar manager was kind enough to recommend a restaurant and booked it for us. We invited Guardie to go with us, but he declined as he had other plans. The restaurant was called Dorade, and as the name implies, it specializes in fish dishes. It was a relatively short walk from the hotel, about 10 minutes. We walked along the Main river and found the place easily. It was not crowded at all, and the hostess gave us our choice of seats. We chose a nice spot and looked over the menu. Our hostess was really nice…and spoke with a strange accent I couldn’t quite figure out. I asked her name, and she told me Yelka…and when I inquired where she was from, it was Croatia. I asked if this was her restaurant, and she said it was. After some chit chat, I asked her what she recommended, and she answered with the namesake of the place, Dorade. So both Rose Lane and I ordered it, and she was right. It was delicious, as was the Greek Chardonnay that she recommended called Tepobaeiaeioy. But don’t ask me to pronounce it!
After dinner we talked some more to her, telling her about us. She was thrilled to have one of the band there, and I signed a couple of things for her and another one of the personnel, a nice fellow named Stephanos. Great place, and I hope we get to go back there again…maybe during my solo tour in September.

6/12

I went to the gym after the morning routine….after the Thai massage in Brockenhurst…and trying the stretching exercises that Torje Eike had shown me, my neck and shoulder have been doing much better. But I’m still taking it pretty easy…and doing a bit more cardio than I have been in the past. It’s good to change up the routine some.
Andrea was there at 3, but Tim was running a little late…he was dealing with some issues related to his next CD, which will be Volume 2 of his “Rolling Stones Project”. He’s working on how to market it…and is discussing options with several record companies in different countries. Anyway, he joined us about a half our later and we drove to ?? to meet with Christian and his band. Andrea told us a little bit about the surroundings as we drove…we went through some nice forests on the way…and we arrived at the rehearsal space in short order.
We didn’t have a lot of time…so when we arrived, we got right to it. As we walked in to the rehearsal room, we could hear the band playing my tune “Pagan Pig dance”. So we started with that one after some quick introductions were made. We went through about six or so tunes in the ninety or so minutes that we had to rehearse, and all the guys were working hard to learn the songs. Christian has a fine band, and we ultimately decided that we would use Shilly Shally on the grand finale of the tour, at a club called , Sinkkasten in Frankfurt.
Andrea drove us back to the hotel afterwards. We had a dinner that she had arranged at a place called ??. We invited Tim to attend, but he already had other plans. So when we returned to the hotel, I went up to refresh myself and get Rose Lane while Andrea waited for us downstairs. Christian came in shortly after, and we all walked to the restaurant from the hotel together. At the restaurant we met Konnie Keller, who is an executive at the HR1 Radio Station in Frankfurt. I’ve done an interview there a few years back, and we plan on doing a one hour special during my “Green Leaves and Blue Notes” tour. Konnie was kind enough to join us for dinner so we could discuss some of the particulars of the program. The food at ?? was excellent…and we all enjoyed each other’s company and had a very good discussion about the tour. One bonus of the night was the great piano player in the restaurant. His name was Eugene…his card did not have a last name on it…. and during dinner I kept an “ear” on him. He would occasionally jump into a boogie…and I recognized several of the tunes he was playing…amongst them, “Honky Tonk Train Blues” by Meade Lux Lewis. He was rockin’ it hard….and finally I couldn’t help myself and had to go over and sit in with him. He was very gracious and seemed to enjoy the “intrusion”. When he took a break, we called him over and introduced ourselves around. Really sweet cat, and a hellova player.
We wound up the evening….with Konnie going on her own way and the four of us walking back to the Kennedy. There we said our goodnights to Christian and Andrea and turned in.

6/13

The Commerzbank Stadium is a nice facility…but not made for music, I’m afraid. After our morning routine, we left for the venue around 3pm. I went to write up the set list…and seeing some of our crew, they immediately gave us the word about the poor acoustics of the place. I finally walked out to check it out myself….and could tell that we were in for a challenge as far as the sound goes. It’s covered stadium, and there was a full 7 second delay after striking a note or hitting a beat on a drum. Ouch…a nightmare for us to deal with.
Christian and his friends came back to the Rattlesnake, and I went to meet them and talk for a bit before the show. We had a good chat, and I was pleased to meet ?? who may wind up distributing my CDs in Germany. After that and all the other regular preparation, we took the stage around 8:45 or so. To be honest, it was a nightmare from the beginning. Not only was the sound absolutely horrible in the place, but the volume was very loud for some reason…making it a total “wash”. I could barely tell what I was playing all night…much less hear the other musicians with any distinction. We all struggled though it…and while we all did our best, there was just no way to make the place sound like we would all like. Nevertheless, we managed to put on a pretty decent Rock Show under the circumstances…but I have to admit that I was grateful after the last note was played and we headed back to our hotel. There has only been a handful of other venues throughout my career that I thought were as bad as this to play in….and you just have to focus as best you can and deal with it…but it’s not a pleasant experience, that’s for sure.
Rosie and I wound down with a few glasses of wind and called it a night.

ON TO PARIS

6/14, 15

Time to move on…and we are traveling to Paris today. It’s always fun to go there…such a wonderful city, full of life and electricity…great food, great shopping, great sites and fun people. We were split into two hotels due to the fact that there was so much going on….conventions, art shows, music events, plays and more. The city was really booked up and buzzing. Rose Lane and I were to stay at the George V (….a Four Seasons Hotel for the last 10 years or so), which is where we all usually stay. The other half of the Stones entourage would be staying at Fouquet’s, about a block away. I love the George V….and we had a very different and wonderful suite this time. We always have a nice room there, but this one was really special, being a two story affair. Downstairs was a sitting room with a dining table, TV and bathroom…and access to a really nice private patio. There was a hallway with a staircase that took you to the upstairs area….where there was an office and a bedroom with a generous bathroom arrangement, and another patio. Nice digs.
We settled in, grateful for the space…and after getting things in order, we went out to find something to eat. We didn’t even bother with making a reservation or checking with the Concierge…we just walked out and knew we’d find something close by. We walked out and to the right of the George V…and stopped at an Asian restaurant where we had a cocktail. We considered dinner there, but decided we wanted to walk around a bit more…and found ourselves on Rue Marbouf…a little avenue that we’ve been down before that has several nice restaurants on it. We decided to try a new place, which was a small Italian bistro called ??. It didn’t quite “rock our world”, but it was ok and we enjoyed being in a new place. We were both pretty tired from the travel and went back to the hotel to crash.
The next day we sort of chilled out. We did go out for a bit to the Monoprix (a sort of grocery/hardware/department store on the Champs) to get a few items Rose Lane wanted for her trip to Italy. It rained in the process, and we had to wait a while for it to subside. Rosie wanted to do some other shopping, so I took the bags we had back to the hotel and waited on her there. In the evening we went out to dinner at a place the concierge had recommended called Chez Andre. There we met a nice American couple named Al and Joyce Sommer. Al has a company called Del West that makes precision parts for Formula One racing cars. They live in Montreux, Switzerland. We had a nice talk with them as we enjoyed our meal (quite a good one). We talked about the Montreux Jazz Festival which is coming up soon….and they were kind enough to invite us to come there someday. Always fun to meet new folks! That wrapped up the day….and back at the hotel Rose Lane went through her bags to re-pack for her trip to Italy where she will be on a painting retreat in Tuscany with Val Carson put together by Il Chiostro (www.ilchiostro.com). She wanted to leave a bag with me and just take one with her. I surfed the tube while she packed, and after that we put our heads on the pillows.

6/16

Rosie had to leave the hotel about 9:45….so we had put in for a wake up call at 8:45. She got ready and zipped up her bags, and I saw her off down in the lobby. Gonna miss that girl….but this is a unique and wonderful opportunity for her, and I know she’ll love it. I went to the gym for a bit and killed time until we left for the show. The last Paris show we did was one of the best of the tour…it was just a couple of days after Mick’s birthday back in July of last year. I wanted this to be a good one, too…and wrote up a set list that I felt the fans would appreciate and that would be fun for us. The end result was:

Start Me Up
Let’s Spend The Night Together
Rough Justice
All Down The Line
She Was Hot
Waiting On A Friend
Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
I’ll Go Crazy
Tumblin’ Dice
Happy
I Just Wanna Hold You
It’s Only Rock And Roll
It’s All Over Now
You Got Me Rocking
Honky Tonk Woman
Sympathy
Satisfaction
Brown Sugar
JJ Flash

I had a few friends coming to the show. Bill Holmes (who has some forestland not to far from our place in Georgia) and his friend Rose; and John Malloy and his pal Mike Massey, both of whom are Charlane clients as well as big Stones fans. I went to see them in the Rattlesnake for a while….chatting with them only for a short time as the RI was really overcrowded with so many folks. Paris is always a “biggie” for Mick, and he had lots of guests…but so did Ronnie and Charlie…and Keith had a goodly number too. It made for a tough scene to socialize with all the folks elbow to elbow…but all had a great time. Matt Clifford was one of Mick’s guests…and it was great to see him for a minute.
The show turned out well….if not as good as the one a year ago. Still, Stade De France was sufficiently rocked, and the reviews the next day were all very positive.

6/17

Our final off day in Paris. I had invited Bill Holmes to come to dinner with me, so after killing time with my usual routine in the first part of the day, I had the concierge make us a reservation at a place called Restaurant Drouant, which came with a high recommendation from him. I met Bill there at 9. It was really good to be able to have some one-on-one time with my friend. Bill and I have gone to some field trials together, and once ran our dogs on horseback together up in South Dakota several summers ago. Now he’s spending time in Viet Nam, of all places, trying to start up some businesses there. We had a wonderful time catching up on our lives, and the impressive food and wine made it even better. We both had a special pork dish…a typical country kind of pork that is a little fatty, but with a very crispy skin on it. Excellent. We shared a nice Chablis Gran Cru, and all was well with the world. We shared a cab back to the George V, and then he went on from there to his hotel, not far away. We said our “bon swoirs” and i went up to do my packing for the next day’s travel to Lyon and Barcelona. The time in Paris flew by, and I was a little disappointed not to have gotten out more….but nevertheless, any time in Paris is a good time!