Living Outside the Law

July 28th Evan played the First Midwest Bank Center in Tinley Park, IL which is just south of Chicago. We started out our day by waking up early afternoon and hitting up Little Mexico in Crawfordsville. Nothing but refried beans and cheese could have propelled us north for the day.

The drive wasn't too bad, pretty straight forward up 65 North and across 80. The amphitheater was right off the exit so minimal fussing. I did, however, get pulled over by an Indiana police officer when we were leaving. That was the first time since I was 16 that I got pulled over. At first I thought there was no way that those red and blue lights were aimed at me. So I drove on for almost another 1/2 mile before pulling over into the shoulder.

I did NOT take this picture

The first thing the officer said to me was, "Thanks for pulling over so quickly". Sarcasm, great. Anyone that knows me, knows that I don't understand the social etiquette of sarcasm. I refer to my disease as 'sarcasm impaired'. I constantly ask myself questions like, "Was that a joke?", "Is he being serious?", "Am I expected to laugh?", "Should I be offended?" So naturally, I just starred blankly into the officers face. He was smiling but was he trying to be funny? I had no idea what was going on, I was sober but I felt drugged by the interaction.

I was going 65 mph in West Lafayette through a speed trap maze. The area quickly changed from 65 mph to 55 mph and then down to 45 mph and again to 30 mph, back up to 45 mph, down to 30 mph again, wait . .  wait . . now it's 55 mph. I was constantly pumping the pedals to readjust. The officer was hiding under a bridge at the top of a hill so when I came up over the crest he caught me cooling down from my 65 mph and turned on his lights before my car cleared the front of his vehicle.

This one reminds me of Chuck

He gave me a verbal warning and explained the speed traps I would yet encounter. It felt like he was doing me a favor by outlining the road to come ahead as if he was the good guy trying to help me out so I didn't get caught by the bad cops hiding out on the road ahead. I thanked him for his 'warning'. He hadn't stopped smiling throughout the entire interaction. Was he making fun of me? Or was that smile genuine, was he a guardian angel or a weirdo? The entire interaction was lost on me but at least I didn't get a ticket.

We arrived to the venue and ate some dinner before Evan performed. I watched from side stage as he opened with "Indiana". Vivian came out and they played their Robert Johnson cover before Evan closed out the show with "Woodpecker". Evan went out to sign CDs and I went to the car to get onto the computer. It was a typical day at work with no surprises! We left at our usually time and drove back to Indiana to get some sleep.

Highlights from the Break

I thought I would share a few of my favorite moments during our break from July 5th to July 27th: 

I booked the reception hall for our wedding at McCormick's Creek - Indiana State Park.
I actually got a lot of work done for the wedding during the break so I am happy about that.
Evan and I will be married on May 27th, 2012!

This is the cabin in Indiana that we stayed at for most of the break. I love how secluded it is.
We did a lot of fishing, swimming and drinking beer! 

We took a trip to Nashville, TN to listen to some music and eat some great BBQ.
Evan also took some time to write a new song with a couple of songwriters. 

While in Nashville, we visited the replica of the Parthenon. It is the only TO SCALE replica.

This is the inside of the Parthenon and there stands the Goddess Athena. She is a replica of the
statue that use to stand outside of the original Parthenon. 

We went to Birdy's in Indianapolis to see Rachel Platten & Caleb Hawley play - friends of ours from
New York City. It was a great show!

No this lion is not dead! He is sleeping in the hot sun of Indiana. Evan and I visited the
Exotic Feline Rescue center. It's only 10 miles from the cabin. Geez, I hope those fences will hold!

This lioness was chunky! Literally inches from her massive claws. The shelter is for abused
and neglected exotic felines. They provide permanent homes for all 210 of their kitties. 

This is my baby lion, Abbey Road. She loves to chew on sticks. The best part of the
break was being able to spend so much time with our puppy. 

Evan got to go fishing a lot during the break which was a highlight for him. I got to eat
all the yummy fish he caught when we had a fish fry. That was the highlight for me!

Living Back at the Beginning

WE'RE BACK! Back on the road again! July 27th was our first show back since the July 5th show when we were given the tragic news that Joe Elliot's father was dying. Joe returned to the UK and his father died 2 days later. The first show back was in my home state, Ohio at the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati.

I was a bit nervous that the time off would make the return to the road bittersweet. I decided to not over think or over analyze my feelings and just hit the road. To my surprise, I was very happy to see the production guys and the band members again! It felt good to see others and to be seen. Also, going through the routine of driving, sound checking, breakdown and collecting Evan's paycheck gave me a sense of purpose.

Don't get me wrong, the time off was great but the only thing that got me out of bed during the break was the planning of our evening meal. Sleeping and eating, swimming and drinking beer is great but when that is your only objective for the day you can easily feel unfulfilled. Humans are clearly beings meant to use their hands and head to act on the world around them.

It was hot and humid! The amphitheater was right on the bank of the Ohio River which made the air smell swampy. My dad had made plans to see the show that night. He brought with him a friend from Wooster and swung by Dayton to pick up his older sister Becky. Evan and I waited for them in Lebos, a bar down the road from the venue. My dad tried to sneak up behind us when he arrived and was disappointment when we turned around to greet him. He wiggled with excitement for the night ahead.

We had a few drinks and shared stories before heading over to the Riverbend Music Center. I was a bit nervous for Evan's performance, as was he. The first show back after the break felt almost like we were back at the beginning of the tour again. I worried that the jitters would tie Evan's fingers up in knots.

Evan opened with his song "Woodpecker" and the sweat began to pour. The heat was stagnant and the crowd was swelling. Vivian Campbell stepped out on stage and helped Evan play the Robert Johnson cover "Come in my kitchen". A great performance that was well received by the growing audience. Evan closed his set with "The Giving Tree" and I sat back in satisfaction. It had been a great opening show, no need for the anxiety.

Heart started up their set with quite a few changes. Nancy fractured her left wrist so she was wearing a brace and it caused her to lightly finger her guitar. The band had hired a guitarist to help Nancy with her parts so the stage looked a bit crowded with the new, male addition. The set list was completely different! They started off with a Led Zeppelin cover, "Rock & Roll" and then went into "Magic Man". Oops, Craig's guitar wasn't receiving power. OH! And there went Ben's drum stick, flying into the crowd. The band worked at wearing in the changes to the show with a bit discomfort and uncertainty.

Ann's voice sailed above the imperfections and captivated everyone. I was probably the only one that really noticed the missed measure or the fumbling guitar intro but that's what happens when you watch the same show over 2 dozen times; the ear can more easily pick up on the differences. (Sigh) It's good to be back! It feels like home to watch the performances and so intimately know the run of the show.

TOUR CHANGE - the official word is now out!

Now that it's official, I can fill you all in on what has been going on! On July 5th at the show in Milwaukee, WI we got word that Joe Elliot's father was on his death bed. Joe is the lead singer for Def Leppard and he had decided to fly home to England (another piece of trivia, Def Leppard is a British band) to be with his father in his final days. Unfortunately, Joe's father died within the week. Our hearts go out to him and his family.

Without the lead singer for the band, the tour had to be suspended but we just got the official word that we are starting back up on July 27th in Cincinnati, OH! Below is the revised tour schedule:

Jul 27 - Cincinnati, OH (Riverbend Music Center)

Jul 28 - Chicago, IL (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)

Jul 30 - Wantagh, NY (Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre)

Jul 31 -  Bristow, VA (Jiffy Lube Live)

Aug 2 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Saratoga Performing Arts Center)

Aug 3 - Holmdel, NJ (PNC Bank Arts Center)

Aug 6 - Dallas, TX (Gexa Energy Pavilion)

Aug 10 - St. Louis, MO (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)

Aug 12 - Indianapolis, IN (Verizon Wireless Music Center)

Aug 13 - Des Moines, IA (Iowa State Fair)

Aug 16 - Toronto, CANADA (Molson Canadian Amphitheatre)

Aug 17 - Detroit, MI (DTE Energy Music Theatre)

Aug 19 - Louisville, KY (Kentucky State Fair - Main Stage)

Aug 20 - Pittsburgh, PA (First Niagara Pavilion)

Aug 21 - Buffalo, NY (Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)

Aug 24 - Cleveland, OH (Blossom Music Center)

Aug 26 - St. Paul, MN (Minnesota State Fair)

Aug 27 - Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center)

Aug 29 - Denver, CO (Comfort Dental Amphitheatre)

Aug 31 - Salt Lake City, UT (USANA Amphitheatre)

Sep 2 - Albuquerque, NM (The Pavilion)

Sep 3 - Phoenix, AZ (Cricket Wireless Pavilion)

Sep 4 - Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand Garden Arena)

Sep 7 - Los Angeles, CA (Gibson Amphitheatre)

Sep 9 - San Francisco, CA (Shoreline Amphitheatre)

Sep 11 - Sacramento, CA (Sleep Train Amphitheatre)

Sep 14 - Portland, OR (Sleep Country Amphitheater)

Sep 15 - Seattle, WA (White River Amphitheatre)

Sep 20 - Tulsa, OK (BOK Center)

Sep 22 - New Orleans, LA (New Orleans Arena)

Sep 23 - Houston, TX (Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion)

Sep 24 - San Antonio, TX (AT&T Center)

Important things to note: (1) The Texas, Louisanna and Oklahoma dates have changed to the end of September (2) the tour has been extended to September to Saturday, September 24th when originally it was to end on the 15th of that month (3) Heart will not be performing at the Dallas show in August so we may not attend that show, I will keep all posted (4) the tour remains the same from August 10th to September 15th as previously scheduled so if you were interested in shows within that date range you are in the clear!

So what have we been doing during this break, you may ask? We have been staying in the backwoods of southern Indiana in a cabin that belongs to Evan's parents. There is no internet or television out there so we have been swimming, fishing, canoeing and in general resting. Believe it or not, Evan and I are both itching to get back on the road!

Living in the sweet smell

**This entry was created for July 3rd**

The next day after the Mohegan Sun show we had to drive to Hershey, PA. And it's true what they say about Hershey, it does smell like chocolate. Evan had a show there in the football stadium next to the Hershey Amusement Park. Again, it was a much different venue than we had been doing at the beginning of the tour. An outdoor stage without the shelter of an amphitheater means the sound easily gets lost in an open space. For the audience it’s great because it's not too loud but the artists on stage have trouble hearing them selves.

Evan played his set opening with “Indiana” and then brought up Vivian to play their cover of Robert Johnson’s “Come on in my kitchen”. Evan finished up with “Woodpecker” and I brought Evan’s Uncle Jeff, Aunt Barbara and cousin Jake up to the side stage. We were staying with them while we were in the area. We just happened to get a wink and a wave from Ann Wilson as she went on stage to perform. It’s a quick change over from Evan to Heart with only 5 minutes between.

We stayed and listened to most of the Heart set from the restricted area right of stage. The volume was tolerable at that distance; the acoustics of a football field are to send the sound up and out. Evan took off through the crowd to get to the merchandise booth to sign CDs. He didn’t make it very far before a group stopped him to chat. Five minutes would pass and he would move towards the back of the stadium again. There in front of him less than10 feet was another group that wanted to chat. It took Evan almost a full hour to walk the length of that football field. 

I hadn’t been feeling well so after the 30-minute break between Heart and Def Leppard’s performance I was ready to go back to Jeff and Barbara's house. There was something going on with my stomach, probably the combination of eating what we can find near the road and sitting all day. Evan was happy to rest up, he was exhausted from talking to so many people (not complaining about that!).

As we made our way out to our car and trailer I caught a glimpse of a woman jumping up and down, frantically waving her arms. She was standing at the truck entrance to the backstage area. This is the area where the 10 tour buses and 10 semi-tractor trailers park to unload. I couldn’t believe this woman was so excited and clearly screaming out for Evan’s attention. I thought in this situation it was best to keep our heads down and continue to walk but it turned out it was one of our friends from NYC, Chelsea. 

Chelsea just happened to be visiting her Uncle in Hershey. She told us that she had heard Heart playing from her Uncles balcony and knowing Evan was on tour with them but not knowing our exact tour schedule, she ran over to the stadium to say ‘hi’. Much better ending to that story than if it was a crazed fan, I would need to figure into our budget a bodyguard and I know we don’t have the wiggle room for it.

We left Uncle Jeff, Aunt Barbara and Jake at the show and went back to their place to relax. A cold beer and Star Wars on the Spike channel was the ending of our night. We had to get up at 6 AM the next morning to start our trip to Wisconsin. Evan had a show there on July 5th and we wanted to get to Crawfordsville, IN in time to enjoy some of the 4th of July holiday with family. It was a long trip so we needed to rest up.  

Thanks again Jeff and Barbara for your hospitality and the delicious care package. Miss you already!

Living the Native Way

Mohegan Sun in CT

Sorry, I know I am still very behind in blog entries but I will catch up! So let's go back to Saturday, July 2nd when Evan played at the Mohegan Sun indoor arena in CT. I did a little homework and found out that the Mohegan Sun casino is the second largest in the United States. Construction of the casino began in 1992 by a group called the Trading Cove Associates with a goal of helping the Mohegan tribe financially. The TCA also provided the tribe with attorneys and advisors to assist them in gaining official recognition as a people. In 1994 the federal government gave the Mohegan's tribal sovereignty and they were able to open the casino. Today 95% of the gross revenue from the casino goes directly to the Mohegan tribe and 5% goes back to the Trading Cove Associates.

The theme of the casino is 'native american' but I feel like that is a contradiction in itself. I am sure the rugged lifestyle of living in teepees, wearing animal skins for protection and whittling weapons from tree branches was never meant to be a decorative theme for anything. To explain the layout of the casino, it is divided into 3 main regions defined as the Casino of the Sky, Casino of the Earth and Casino of the Wind. These regions are divided again into themed areas for playing slot machines, shopping, or eating; The Wolf Den, Earth Promotions, Indian Summer Entrance, etc.

The decor consists of an elaborate waterfall wall, animal skins stretched in front of twinkling lights, turtle shell carpet, a gigantic faux rock mountain and of course pictures of wolves everywhere. It was a disgusting reduction of the Indian culture. Would you take the precious traditions of your heritage and sell them to Disney to turn into an amusement park? I wouldn't, it would make me sick to watch people ride the "Mongol Massacre" roller coaster screaming out in laughter naively neglecting the important history behind the Mongol invasion of Europe. The metaphor might be a stretch but looking at wooden Mohegan artifacts pasted on a wall of simmering gold flakes while a Kasha song plays in the background felt wrong.

We had decided to gamble for a bit of the afternoon since we had arrived early to the venue. I am not a gambler. I once played a slot machine on a cruise ship for 15 minutes. It had eaten my $20 and I did not want to feed it again. That was the whole of my gambling past. But since we were there in one of the largest casinos we decided to give it a try.

Evan and I had set a limit of $40 for the afternoon and started at the slot machines. I had put $10 into a traditional looking, 3 wheeled slot machine and pulled down on the lever about 80 times before I was completely out of money. Evan then wondered over to a poker machine and put in $20. After 5 minutes he cashed out, I don't know if we completely understood how to operate the machine or else it was just kicking our ass in poker.

Evan dared me to be adventurous and try one of the electronic slot machines. They have different rules, instead of wagering for a maximum of 3 lines you can wager up to 30 lines and increase your biding amount. It was very confusing but I choose a machine that featured a native american and a wolf (clearly the most appropriate choice). I sat down, pressed multiple buttons and before I knew it I won $20! I had now idea what I did which meant I definitely couldn't replicate that luck so I immediately cashed out and moved on to another machine.

Evan had been told to try our luck at blackjack on one of the automated machines. We decided to play at the bar because they will serve you free drinks for up to 30 minutes as long as you continue to gamble while you sit there. I had a margarita and Evan and a beer and we watched our little pot of money grow and deplete in small waves for an hour until Evan started losing hard. We were down to $8 and Evan decided to gamble it all on the last hand. To our surprise we won and had over $40 to play with! I begged Evan to cash out but he had been bitten by the bug, he wanted to see if we could win more.

Just at that time, I turned around to see two house security men standing behind us watching Evan play. I wondered if the large win (relatively speaking) had triggered this response or if it was coincident. I again urged Evan to cash out and he did with our final wins at $30.05. We played $30 and left with a 5 cents profit. Not losing any money, I guess it had been worth it to spend the afternoon gambling although I wouldn't go out of my way to do it again.

Mohegan Sun Arena

It was time for Evan to get to work so we entered the arena. This was the first indoor venue that Evan had played on the tour. This meant that he got his very own light production. Normally Evan plays during the day when the sun is still out and lighting is not necessary but indoors he would be playing in the dark if it weren't for at least a spotlight.

Lighting definitely gives the performance a completely different feel. Evan played the same set, opening with "Woodpecker", then the Robert Johnson cover with Vivian and ended with "The Giving Tree". The bright light shone on Evan and commanded everyone's attention. I felt as if the lights empowered him, making his performance more emotional/intense.

We left the venue and made plans to sleep at the nearest truck stop. We fell asleep to an episode of The Office cramped in the back of our Ford. Ah, young luxury :)

DISCLAIMER: Evan wanted me to mention that the casino is a great resource for the Mohegan tribe and he worries that my statements above might be too harsh. I apologize if I offended anyone, despite what some might think I do like Native Americans and have the utmost respect for their culture. I only want the best for them since the original settlers of what we now call the USA treated them so poorly. I just don't know if a casino is the best way to smooth things over after a genocide. 

Living in Beantown

Left to right: Pete, Charles, Evan

June 30th & July 1st, we had back-to-back gigs so after the Scranton show we had to travel to Mansfield, MA which was about 30 miles outside of Boston. We were looking forward to this show because one of our friends from college, Charles was attending and then we had the next day off to spend with him. Charles was also bringing with him one of his roommates, Pete who just happened to be Evan's graphic artist for his second album "South".

That night Evan played a new set. He started with "Woodpecker" and then asked Vivian to join him on stage. The two covered the song "Come on in my Kitchen" by Robert Johnson. Vivian took a solo while Evan played the resonator. It went over well and was followed by loud hoots and hollers. Evan finished the set with "The Giving Tree" and received overwhelming support at the end of the song, the masses clapped as Evan sang a cappella.

Vivian playing a solo during
Def Leppard's show

After we watched the Heart set and half of the Def Leppard set we decided to jet back to Boston and watch a musical group in a club called The Bee Hive. The Robbie Gil band was a favorite of Evan's back in NYC and featured Evan's guitarist Greg Mayo and one of our dear friends, Brian Killeen, on the bass. We made it in time for their third set, the last set of the night. We all screamed out for an encore but it was 1:38 AM and the manager of the restaurant denied them. However, that didn't stop us from screaming and so after 15 minutes of listening to us the manager agreed that Robbie Gil and his band could play one more song.

It was a late night. We arrived back to Charles' apartment and finally hit the pillows around 3 AM. In this situation I would have liked to sleep-in, but Evan gets antsy. When the sun comes up, Evan rises and at most, I can convince him to stay under the covers until 8:30 AM. Therefore, I was sleepy all day on Friday which made it difficult to complete even the simplest tasks.

At Sam Adams Brewery

Evan wanted to go to the Sam Adams brewery so the three of us (Charles, me and Evan) hit the streets of Boston for the afternoon. We took the tour through the brewery and enjoyed their free sample room. I had attended the brewery and took the tour before on my 21st birthday. The tour was the same as I remembered except our tour guide used the phrase "never-the-less" similar to the way people use "um" to fill the silence between sentences. It was distracting and in my tired state made me giggle as I mocked him throughout the brewery.

That night I had wanted to go out and get seafood (bitten by the bug after Coopers) but instead we all came up with a plan to grill out in Charles' backyard. We made a trip to Trader Joe's and bought all of our supplies and extended an invitation to friends in the neighborhood to join. It was a nice night of beers and burgers, laughing and gossip. We decided to finish out the evening with a movie. Charles hadn't watched any of the Harry Potter films so we started him out with the first, The Sorcerer's Stone but after 20 minutes we all feel asleep on the couch. It was nice to visit Boston, Charles we miss you!

Living in the Electric City

I am sorry it has been 5 days since my last entry. I have finally accepted my new way of life and therefore less eager to analyze it. Although, as I sit here trying to recount the last week on the road I do find it very difficult to place events with their proper place and time. For that reason, I am going to try harder to write daily even if there isn't much to tell.

The cover of the
Coopers Seafood menu

Going back to Wednesday, June 28th Evan played in Scranton, PA at the Toyota Pavilion. I was excited to spend the night in Scranton because my favorite television show, "The Office" is based there. To satisfy the geek in me, we got a hotel and made plans to eat at Cooper's Seafood, a restaurant filmed in the television show and talked about in several episodes, after the show. We brought "The Office" DVDs on the road with us (I am a bit obsessed with the show, alright!) and agreed to watch all the episodes that featured the restaurant that night before bed.

Pre-approved by Evan to represent his 'diva day' 

Before we got to the venue, Evan was having one of his 'diva days', as I call them. These are days when Evan's ego is deflated so he tries to pump himself back up which sounds reasonable enough except it usually means he needs to remove himself from any outside responsibilities and focus on himself. I know he doesn't mean to pass the burdens of life onto me but it is these days that I must pick up the slack. Therefore, I was doing most of the driving and navigating.

He had been feeling particularly bad about his showmanship at the last few shows so to rectify this Evan decided to practice more often. He also wanted to learn more about his new on stage partner, Vivian Campbell who has played every show with Evan since the first collaboration in Virginia Beach. As I drove to Scranton, PA Evan laid among the backseat pillows and watched YouTube videos, strummed his guitar with ferocity and occasionally fished for a compliment.

Vivian and Evan playing
at Toyota Pavilion, PA

The Toyota Pavilion was set in a ski resort which made it nice that we would be surrounded by woods on the top of a mountain, it gave the night a different feel. For the set, Evan opened with "Woodpecker" then welcomed Vivian onto the stage and played the Bill Withers cover and finished his set with "Latitude". With the collaboration Evan only has time to play 3 songs instead of 4 as he used to.

That night after Evan's portion of the concert, I was introduced to the Def Leppard fan,Theresa. She told me that she was following the tour for 12 shows. Evan had met Theresa in NYC when she attended one of his Headless Horsemen shows at Arlene's Grocery. She said she wanted to get a sneak preview of the opening act for the summer tour. After sharing stories of the road with a fellow 'roadie' who could sympathize with us Evan and I headed out for our night in Scranton.

I was so gitty, I am sure Evan couldn't stand it! I couldn't stop wiggling in the car and constantly snapping pictures out the open car window. "LOOK! There is the electric city sign from that episode in The Office when . . . " or "OH oh oh oh! Over there, it's the bar they used to go to after work!", I was enjoying myself. When we got to Coopers I ordered 1.5 pounds of sweet meat snow crab legs and lost my table manners while devouring them. To top off the evening, we watched the Office episodes featuring the Coopers restaurant as I planned. It was a nice night and one of my favorite nights so far on the road.