Living Victims

I know I need to write about the show at Blossom in Cleveland and the Minnesota State Fair but I am going to jump ahead and talk about the tragedy at Kansas City. Evan and I drove into Missouri Saturday, August 27th around 10AM and reached Catherine’s doorsteps at noon. Our friend Chuck flew in from Boston to his sisters place on Emmanuel Clever Boulevard Thursday night and waited our arrival.

We were greeted by Chuck, his sister Catherine and her husband Eric along with 20 sausage links, a dozen strips of bacon, a dozen pancakes, a dozen scrambled eggs, a giant bowl of mixed berries sprinkled with sugar and a pitcher of coffee. Lula, their lab mix finished off the remains of the feast and laid down to take a nap. It felt like a homecoming.

After a shower we all jumped in the car and took a tour of the city. We ended up at 18th & Vine, an American jazz museum. There was live jazz playing in honor of Charlie Parker’s legacy. We took a quick look around and decided to move on to Arthur Bryant’s to have some authentic Kansas City BBQ. I don’t think any of us were even hungry but we ordered liberally and stuffed our already full stomachs.

We headed to the Sprint Music Center, a glass sphere right in the middle of the city. The indoor arena was packed by the time Evan had hit the stage. He started his performance with "Indiana", then played "Woodpecker", invited Vivian out on stage to play their Bill Withers tune and ended the set with "40 Nights", a song he hadn’t played yet on this tour. Evan’s emotional performance was well received as the arena shook with clapping.

After Def Leppard finished their set we headed across the street to a bar called the Flying Saucer. We had a few drinks and caught up with our friends. When the bar closed at 2 AM we headed back to Catherine’s for bed. We parked the Ford with our trailer on the corner of Warwick and 46th Street just across from Catherine’s apartment complex. It was a nice neighborhood, a beautiful park with children’s equipment on one side and tall Victorian buildings all around.

I am plagued with irony looking back now to the conversation Catherine and I had as we left the car under a street lamp. She wondered if I would be comfortable leaving the car parked on the street, I had laughed and commented on the apparent wealth of the area. We left the trailer alone at 2:30 AM and I slept well without a worry.

The next morning we woke up around 11 AM and decided to head out to the Blue Bird for breakfast. A friend from Evan’s childhood, Nick lived in the area and had joined us the night before for Evan’s show and again met us for breakfast. After we finished eating Nick invited us to walk down into his neighborhood to show us the house he was renovating in exchange for rent. When finished, the house is to be a community center for local artists to gather.

We walked up the hill passing a Buddhist monastery and stopped in an abandoned field to look down onto the hustle and bustle of the city below. I remember taking a deep breathe and feeling at home. The sweat from the walk was refreshing, the good friends warming. I wanted to stay in Kansas City but it was time to move on to the next city. We needed to be in Denver, CO the following night.

We said our good byes and walked back to the trailer to discover the lock had been cut from the door. It felt like a dream as I opened the back to find all of Evan’s instruments, amplifier, porch board base, guitar stand, pedal board, harmonicas, straps, picks . . . everything was gone. I closed the doors again in disbelief and opened it again, an action we had performed a million times this summer. Like magic I thought our possessions might reappear and that we might laugh at the good trick.

The reality started to sink in that everything was gone. Evan and I fell to our knees and grabbed our heads. The tears ran as we screamed out to no one. We continuously asked questions without an answer to satisfy the pain we were experiencing. How did this happen? Who would do this? Did anyone see what happened? When did this happen? What do we do? What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO?!?!?!

It took several minutes, which felt like a lifetime for us to take action. I sent Evan to ask the people sitting in the park if they had seen anything. I called the police and then the production team then in Colorado. I received instructions to drive on to Colorado, that the guitar techs Jeff and Wolfie were going to get some equipment so that the show could go on. Then I called the insurance company and filed a claim for the lost property.

As our emotions settled we held each other in comfort. We were thankful that no one was hurt and agreed that things can be replaced but a feeling of violation remained. Evan and I don't have an apartment or a house so our home is/was the trailer attached to the back of our car. To know that someone entered our home and violated it still stung. The action was more upsetting in reflection than the absence of our material possessions. I cried that day for both our pain and the thieves pain, only people who have experience abuse, neglect, hunger and fear could have carried out these actions. 

We arrived in Colorado the next day to find the crew and bands of Heart and Def Leppard extremely empathetic to our situation. Wolfie and Jeff, guitar techs had run out the day before and rented equipment for Evan and everyone was offering help in any way they could. Our spirits were lifted by the love that surrounded us. I am very thankful to be a part of this touring family :)  

Evan plays Darien Lake, NY outside of Buffalo. The
storm just subsided in time for his 7:25 PM entrance.

The crowd was a bit soaked but they clapped
and cheered on Evan!

A rainbow settled in after the storm.

In Wooster the day after the Buffalo show at the
Hungarian Pastry shop. Just eating some kiflis and having
some coffee! Yum, I love Hungarians :) 

Our old alma mater, the College of Wooster. This is the new
athletic center which should be finished in January. We stopped
by to watch some football practice on the new turf field.  

Tony won a free t-shirt at the show in Cleveland. It says,
"Someone thinks I'm a VIP". Well that someone wasn't the
security guards lol!

My sister, Natalie and her boyfriend Tony backstage.
Tony was so excited to have Evan sign one of his CDs!

When in Buffalo . . .

After the Kentucky State Fair on Friday night we got back into the car and drove an hour north before getting a hotel for the night. The state fairs with their semi-permanent stages combined with thunderstorm season were the cause of 5 deaths in Indiana on August 13th. Then less than a week later, another festival stage fell in Belgium killing 5 people and injuring over 140 others. I have become a part of the backstage family on this tour and as I think of the lives lost in lighting and production of these two tragedies, I am reminded of the many faces I have grown to know in the Heart/Def crew. I would be deeply saddened if we lost a member of our team and am reminded that the show does not and should not always go on.

We looked to the skies on Sunday, August 21st when we arrived in Buffalo. A storm was blowing in with 40 mph winds. The stage Evan was performing on was 30 miles outside of Buffalo in Darien Lake, NY. The stage was made up of moveable rafters and a large white tent covered the seated portion of the amphitheater. Not a permanent stage, I looked up to the peak of the tent and saw the shadow of a snake like creature wriggling in the wind. I wondered if it was an essential cable that had broken but didn't stay around to test the threshold of the stage materials. Evan and I sat in the car and sipped hot tea while the storm broke overhead.

The rain came down with fiery and washed clean all the bugs from our windshield. Thirty minutes passed and took with it the heavy clouds. The sky turned a bright pink as a double rainbow arched over the stage. It was safe to come out of the car! Evan performed to a soaked crowd which was much smaller than anticipated. We scouted out the merchandise booth but no one had moved from their seats in light of the weather so without a crowd for Evan to sign CDs, we hit the road.

Earlier that day we had done a little buffalo wing taste test. We first visited "Anchor Bar" the founders of the buffalo chicken wing. The restaurant was situated in a strange part of town. Abandoned buildings and windowless churches surrounded the area but the parking lot at Anchor's was so full they needed parking attendants to redirect drivers. As we entered the restaurant an Indian family was taking a group picture in front of the building and we caught a whiff of a conversation behind us from a family that traveled many miles and were complaining of cramped leg muscles.

Evan and I choose a spot at the bar for lunch. The room decor was cluttered with old license plates, sports memorabilia, and actual motorcycles which balanced on beams along the perimeter of the room. Our waiter/bartender, John was a Buffalo native and proud of it. Loud spoken and witty, he made no excuse for his love of the New York Yankees as he wore a team shirt and cap. We ordered up a few beers and 10 hot wings. It would be our first meal of the day!

Anchor Bar's wings were fried with no breading and exhibited a dry quality to the meat which some people prefer. The sauce was not very hot in spice but definitely had flavors of habanero and cayenne. The sauce was a bit watery and sparse but flavorful. Evan and I both commented on the tastes rolling around in our mouth and decided that this was a great representation of the first buffalo wing ever created and were satisfied.

From Anchor Bar we ventured onto Duff's, the other well known wing spot in Buffalo. Out of the 3 Duff locations in Buffalo, we choose the one next to our hotel so the surrounding area was much more commercial. On the inside, Duff's had a cleaner presentation in their decor than Anchor with minimal wall clutter leaving the light stained wood exposed. Again, we sat at the bar and ordered a beer and 10 medium/hot wings as all the waiters shirts, the menu and signs on the wall warned us that Duff's hot wings were very VERY hot.

Duff's wings were fried with no breading but the outside skin was crispy while the meat inside was tender and juicy. The sauce drenched the wing making it slippery to hold and filling your mouth with the taste of franks red hot and butter. Not so spicy after all. It was a thicker sauce as well, something that is more common in the recreation of the buffalo wing outside of Buffalo. The Duff's wing is the incarnation of the modern wing and more my style. Both wings were great but different.

With our only sustenance for the day being chicken wings and beer, we decided to eat some raw vegetables for dinner. That night I had a stomach ache with no surprise but slept sound feeling like I accomplished a great feat gaining an experience in exchange for a bit of pain.

Living all caught up

So let's see, that catches us up to about Sunday night, August 14th. We are almost there!

We had to get from Iowa on Monday morning to Michigan by Wednesday. We did a large portion of the driving on Monday and stopped in Indiana for the night to be with our puppy dog. Leaving early Tuesday morning, we arrived in Ohio to my grandmother's place in time for her famous spaghetti. This isn't a canned sauce, prep time equals 24 hours! Trust me, it's worth the effort.

My mom and sister met us over at my grandma's and surprised me with a belated birthday party since I was far from home for my birthday on July 29th. Evan was a good sport when the home videos came out! We bribed him with cake before we popped in footage of my 3rd and 5th birthday parties. My grandparents bought a camcorder when I was 2 years old and have videos from that year up to my graduation from college. It was nice to be back home even if it was just for one night.

The next morning we hit the road for Detroit, MI where we picked up a friend from our college days, Andy. From there, we traveled another 30 minutes northwest to Clarkstown, MI to the DTE Energy Music Theater. Evan was feeling good when we arrived, ready to get out on the stage. He started at 7:25 PM giving himself an extra 5 minutes to extend his set. That night he played "Indiana", followed by "Woodpecker", brought out Vivian for "Use Me" by Bill Withers and finished up the set with "The Giving Tree". The emotion in Evan's performance told me he was satisfied with a job well done even before we met up again backstage.

We had Thursday off so we spent an extra day in Detroit with Andy. We started off our free day with a trip to a local BBQ joint, "Slows". The pulled pork was tender, the chicken wings were smokey, the baked beans were spicy and mac and cheese was thick! From there we went to Hittsville to visit the Mowtown Museum. We walked the halls of the house where Mowtown records started, changing the music world forever! As we stood in studio A, we reflected on the voices that echoed in those walls before our time. The tour guide had us join together to sing "My Girl" by the Temptations while reenacting the famous Temptation walk. Instant time warp!

After such a moment we needed to go to a local brewery called "Dragon Mead". That makes sense, right? Evan is proud of his viking heritage and takes any opportunity to live the lifestyle by drinking mead and eating large hunks of meat (see Iowa State Fair). Dragon Mead sounded irresistible. We sat for a couple of hours at the bar and waited for the rain and rush hour traffic to diffuse before heading back to Andy's apartment.

Now here we are! Friday night in Louisville, playing the Kentucky State Fair. The venue was an indoor arena which meant the spot light treatment. I wrote about this before, the attitude changes when the house lights dim and that one single spot light hits the stage. It is empowering and the artists grow under that light. Evan repeated the set from Detroit with one minor change, he covered "Come in my Kitchen" with Vivian instead of the Bill Withers tune. He was beaming with pride and received a thundering applause.

We are about to take off with the hope of getting halfway to PA tonight. The show tomorrow is outside of Pittsburgh and any mileage we can shave off tonight makes for an easier drive on Saturday. Vroooommmmm!!!

Living in the Mounds

Evan performing at the Iowa State Fair. We had great seats!

"I got something in my boot!" Evan takes a seat on the curb to
empty out his shoe.

They had deep fried butter at the fair! Yikes, sounds dangerous.

Do you see the Viking resemblance? 

Amber and Evan enjoy an enormous turkey leg. 

Ann Wilson asked the crowd if they tried the deep fried butter
but a silently guilty crowd left Ann to believe the delicacy was
merely a myth! So we ate this deep fried butter for you Ann!!
It does exist, the heartburn we experienced was very real indeed.

As we made our way back to the car, Def Leppard finished out
their set which was followed by a firework show. We were so close
to them, the ash covered our windshield. 

Sunday we went into downtown Des Moines and had lunch at
another respected brewery, Court Avenue Brewing Co. Now this is
what I call a flight! 

West End Architectural Salvage & Coffee Shop in Des Moines
is awesome! They have the most interesting treasures and good chai lattes.

Industrial design chandeliers on the second floor.  

Art in the park, this horse is made out of tree branches.

Des Moines is french for 'of mounds'. A perfect description of
the land which isn't elevated at any one point enough to be
considered a hill but is not flat like Ohio or Indiana. 

This piece reminded me of The Lord of the Rings, The
Return of the King. Nerd alert! 

Charles is taking a dip to cool off. The water was very clean
and refreshing. Des Moines is really very beautiful.

I know this picture is blurry but I had to share it. We played
Buck Hunter at the El Bait Shop which had the most extensive
beer collection we have seen yet on tour! 

Back to Life!

I know it has been over two weeks since I have submitted an entry on the blog but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. Life happened and it kept me away from sharing my thoughts but now I am back! So let's see, what have you missed?

August 3rd, we were in Holmdel, NJ and Evan played the PNC Bank Arts Center. It was a good show, I spent the evening with Evan's booking agency and management teams. We shared a few drinks and started right into the stories. I told the one about Dubai, if you don't know it you should. I felt good, full of love and laughter. That constitutes a good show from my perspective. Evan felt good as well with his performance and how could he have not surrounded by such a supportive crowd?

After NJ, we went straight to Nashville, TN. We didn't have another show until St. Louis on August 10th and Evan likes to keep busy so he took the opportunity to co-write with another singer/songwriter. It wasn't a great trip, it left a sour taste in our mouth. In fact, I know for at least me it tainted Nashville all together, I don't think we will be back there again for some time. 

After saying fair well to Nashville we found a brew pub near the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis. Occasionally, when we arrive early to town we waste some time in a respected brewery. Evan is very fond of beer and being that we are both home brewers we like to try different beers to get ideas for future endeavors of our own. We ended up at the Schlafly brewery where we were introduced to a delicious raspberry coffee stout and a spicy cinnamon pumpkin ale. 

I honestly don't remember how the show went over in St. Louis but I remember the long drive back to Evan's parents cabin because we were tired. But we made it through the back roads safely and spent the next day in the familiar southern Indiana sun. Friday, August 12th was Evan's homecoming show in Noblesville, IN at the 3rd Verizon Wireless venue of the tour.

I think Evan was a little disappointed with his performance. He had a few technical difficulties and an out of tune string. In actuality, the hiccups that night were minor and probably went unnoticed by the crowd but were magnified in Evan's mind since it was his homecoming. I understood his frustration and shared with him some wisdom that my mother imparted on me when I was growing up, "Expectations lead to disappointment". It is a mantra that fits into the practice of mindfulness. 

The tour went to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, IA the next night. The long drive ahead kept us from staying the night in Indiana. I grabbed the wheel around 10 PM and dialed my sisters number. We talked until 4 AM and I was reminded of how much I missed my family. I love my sister very much, she is a person that can always make me laugh even in the graves times. Her honesty can set me back on my feet when I feel like I am dragging. She is my rock :)

I could have driven all night, I was filled with energy but I knew it would be a difficult day if I didn't get some rest. I pulled off at the nearest exit when I finally made it to Iowa's state boarder and to my surprise ended up at the world's largest truck stop! It was lit up like an amusement park and the semi tractors stretched for a mile. I climbed in the back of the car and pulled a pillow over my face to block out all the twinkling lights. I returned to that feeling of being a part of the whole and slept soundly. 

The next morning we finished out the drive to Des Moines and met up with some friends of ours, Amber and Charles. They had flown in from NYC to see the show and enjoy the fair. Charles grew up in Iowa so we met over at his step father's farm for lunch. They had picked a feast for us from their garden. We sat out on the porch with a Keystone in hand, the smell of grilling wafting around us and watched the puffy clouds float over the rolling mounds of corn and soy beans. I exhale even now in remembrance of the calm that settled in.

The four of us left the comfort of the open space for the crowded state fair. I have lots of fun pictures to share of our time in Iowa! 

Living Invigorated

It was a rough drive to Bristow, VA the following day after the late night we had. Evan and I took turns driving and sleeping in the back of our Ford Escape. We arrived at the Jiffy Lube Live amphitheater at our usual time around 4 PM wearing the same clothes we had on the night before. The hot stagnate air amplified our dehydrated state.

If Jones Beach was the worst venue we have played on the tour, than Bristow was the best show. Because Pennsylvania has strict alcohol laws, the venue did not permit tailgating. The parking lot was swarming with local police who were helping patrons find their way to the main gates. Alcohol was served inside the venue so there were thousands of people in their seats with a beer in hand by the time Evan hit the stage. It was the largest and warmest crowd Evan has played to yet.

I didn't mention in my last entry that during the Jones Beach show the representatives working the venue (standing 'guard' at the VIP gate) were nasty old men. They weren't offensive in appearance it was their attitudes that were less than gracious, much less. In fact, I got into a little tiff with one of the men who refused to allow us to walk through the right side of the venue to get backstage. He insisted we walk the entire length of the breezeway and then back through. When I asked for an explanation as to why my ALL ACCESS pass did not permit me to walk through the right side of the venue he gave none. He only repeated himself, each time with more annoyance and anger. I finally gave up reasoning with him and walked the length of the venue as directed.

In contrast, Bristow had some of the nicest people I have ever met working the venue. The local production, especially, had the sweetest disposition out of all the people I have worked with. One of my main responsibilities is to collect Evan's paycheck from each venue so during the course of the night I have to locate the local production office and politely ask to be paid. I am very professional in my manner but internally talking about money makes me uncomfortable so I make these interactions short.

However, Peter the local production manager for the Bristow venue was the nicest guy. He asked me three times to thank Evan for opening for Heart and gushed about how great he sounded. Conversation was light and we giggled over the oversized decor in his office; foot long calculator, foot long t.v. remote, 3' pen, 3' eraser, soup bowl sized thumb tacks on the wall. He was a man that clearly loved laughter. Just as the giggles tampered off, the paperwork I needed to sign came sliding through a mail slot in the wall behind his head which caused another surge of laughter. It was a change of atmosphere that was refreshing, Peter truly revived my spirit from the night in Long Island.

After Evan finished his set we went into the crowd to catch up with his friend Rick and his wife Kristen. We stayed with them that night along with their two bulldogs, Bacon and Lloyd. A good nights rest followed by a day off was the perfect medicine to get us over the disappointment filled hangovers we were sporting earlier that day.

Living with the weather

We drove through a horrendous storm in Pennsylvania. We made plans to
have dinner for my birthday in Harrisburgh, PA before traveling on the next
day to Long Island for the Jones Beach show. 

Same storm, hail was coming down and visibility was very poor but we survived!

Sunset in PA.

Jones Beach venue; 11,800 capacity. It is built on the water and when night
fell there were tons of crabs and fish jumping on the surface of the water
just left of the stage!

Jones Beach pier, midday. It was hot but the wind coming
off the water was nice.

Us :)

Living without Expectations (starting now)

I feel a bit groggy and I have started to get wrinkles in the corners of my eyes. Maybe turning 26 on Friday prompted the aging over night or maybe it was the 4 AM bedtime after the Jones Beach show. I'm not a person that worries about wrinkles. I look forward to the days when I will look older than 16, maybe people will start treating me like an adult then.

Last night was the Jones Beach show at the Nikon Amphitheater on Long Island. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed. Evan and I both talked for days about that show. We mainly worried over the number of people that would be interested in compensated tickets. There were all of the industry people; Evan's band members, producer, booking agent, management, etc. And then there were our friends that we wanted to see again. We tried to be responsible and choose 10 people to comp that made the most sense for Evan professionally.

The clock was ticking as we slowly made our way through Brooklyn traffic. I was panicked that we would be late to the show and anxious that the airbags would deploy at any moment as we fought back against the New York Drivers. As the day passed, so did the people we invited to the show. Everyone was bailing on us! In trepidation, we sent out text messages inviting anyone that could make it to the show free tickets. 

It should be noted that the NY Driver, if you have never encountered one, maintains an offense game when operating a vehicle. I can't be sure about their exact psyche so I will guess. The New Yorker desperately clutches to the illusion that by arriving 3 seconds ahead of all other vehicles to wait at a red light that they have an advantage. What ever it is they crave, (wealth, intelligence, popularity, beauty) speed apparently is the key to unlocking this desire. Therefore, the faster one is the sooner one will arrive at said objective. This not only works when a New Yorker is in a vehicle, this same principle can be applied to getting on the subway, hailing a cab, bicycling and even walking. The whole population of 8 million New Yorkers are constantly pushing to get onto an arriving train, standing farther into the road than the person next to them to hail a cab, or screaming out for people to 'get their heads out of their asses' while running down pedestrians on a bicycle. The concept of 'dog-eat-dog world' has never been truer than in New York. 

We arrived to the Nikon Jones Beach theatre with enough time for Evan to sound check. Our guest list consisted of our friends Brett, Dave and Foster. Quite the understatement from the tormented weeks over the guest list. We also discovered that since the theater is in a State Park, it is a dry venue. Therefore, most of the audience stayed in the parking lot to drink in their cars instead of sitting in their seats promptly at 7:30 PM. The 11,000 seats occupied less than 1,000 butts when Evan hit the stage.  

It was a disappointment, the entire feel of the venue was not what I had expected. The lack of alcohol meant patrons weren't motivated to leave their cars and when they found their seats, there wasn't the temptation of buying a beer to get them back up again. Evan stood out by the merchandise table to sign CDs after his show but there were only a handful of people in the entire breezeway. I guess the takeaway from this experience is when you have expectations it is easy to be disappointed.

We left around 9:30 PM and headed north to stay with our friend Brett. We filled our disappointment with good beer and whiskey and defiantly stayed up late listening to records. Ultimately, it was nice to be back in our old stomping grounds of Westchester.