Boulder Life

From Kansas City we headed to Englewood, CO to play the Comfort Dental Amphitheater in the Denver area. I was excited to see Colorado since so many people have told me that Evan and I are the type of people that would love living in the Boulder/Denver area. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I wanted to know if it would be love at first site.

The day was a bit difficult emotionally because of the night before in Kansas City and this being the first show without any of Evan’s instruments. We must have told our story of being robbed over a dozen times but each person that heard it gave us words of encouragement. By the end of the evening Evan and I were so full of love it seemed like the violations against us were a distance memory.

Without any of his own instruments, Evan played Vivian Campbell’s gold top Gibson and a Dobro guitar that Jeff (one of the guitar techs for Heart) picked up on loan for Evan the day before. Evan cut his set short and played only three songs that night in light of the emotional dealings in Missouri. He started his set with “Woodpecker” on the Gibson, then invited Vivian out to play their Robert Johnson cover on the Dobro and finished the set with “The Giving Tree” on the Gibson.

Before playing his last song, Evan told the Denver audience about the thievery in Kansas City and dedicated his set to the crew of Heart and Def Leppard along with the band members. He gave a special thanks to Jeff, Dave (Wolfie), and Jason for all their help in recovering equipment for him so the show could go on. The audience shared in Evan’s grief as he belted out his pain in “The Giving Tree”. Music was the perfect therapy for working out those lingering emotions from the day.

That night we stayed at a friend’s house and awoke the next morning determined to have some fun. We drove an hour to Boulder, CO and walked the quaint streets; we window-shopped, listened to live music and drank non-Starbucks coffee. It was fairly quiet except for the sound of children playing in the water which was shooting up out of the pavement. After we felt satisfied with our stroll we decided to get back in the car and drive up into the mountains less than 5 minutes away.

The drive up was beautiful! The mountains were covered with greenery and a clear water stream flowed down the opaque boulders which ran parallel to the winding road. There was a bike path on the other side of the stream with happy joggers and exhausted bikers climbing the hills with us. We had found a place to park the car and dip our toes in the water. It was amazing that this rugged, natural beauty was this close to the artsy downtown of Boulder. I feel in love, a place I definitely would like to visit again at the very least.

I wanted to stay another night but we had to leave and drive on to Salt Lake City for a show on Wednesday, August 31st at the USANA Amphitheater. Boulder life might just be the next step, we will see! 

Life before Kansas

After the Blossom show we needed to travel over 11 hours to reach St. Paul, MN for the Minnesota State Fair on Friday, August 26th. Evan and I decided since we had a day off before the show that we would find a campground and put up our tent for the night. We chose to stay at Devil’s Lake right outside of Baraboo, WI. It is a large state park that sees tourist from all over for its expansive beauty. Thankfully we stayed on a Thursday night because their over 200 camp sites were already booked for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Evan decided that since we had some time before nightfall that he wanted to cook a gourmet meal over the campfire. It's one of the things we miss about being stationary, cooking! We headed to the nearest grocery store and picked up all our ingredients. The finished product was a prosciutto wrapped pork chop stuffed with cilantro, Uncle Ben’s brown rice, black bean and corn, with a handmade grilled pineapple, avocado, cilantro, purple onion and lime chutney. Everything had that great smoky flavor from being cooked over an open fire.

The cooking experience at the campground made me realize I could live like a gypsy with grace and poise. No need to be ashamed of living on the road out of the back of our car. In fact, I dare say that some might be jealous of our lifestyle. Well there are ups and downs living this way but that night was definitely a high for us.

The next morning we showered and packed up which took awhile. We arrived at the Minnesota State Fair around 4 PM and met the owners from the Porch Board Base Company. They had driven several hours to bring Evan a new porch board base (which was stolen a few days later in Kansas City, unfortunately) since Evan’s was covered in duck tape. His old one still worked, it was just beaten up from the tour and they wanted to bring Evan a pretty new one.

That night we headed south to Kansas City. I had wanted to drive through the night because our friend Chuck had flown in on Thursday to his sister’s apartment to see us and I didn’t want the long drive from St. Paul to Kansas City to take up most of the daylight hours. I didn’t get as far as I wanted to, I needed to pull over and sleep around 3 AM but the next morning we arrived before noon in Kansas City.

The account of the Kansas City visit was an earlier entry so for the account of ‘what happened next’ see the entry “Living Victim”.

Living Blossom

So I know I jumped ahead to the Kansas City show but I would like to go back and talk about the Blossom show in the Cleveland, OH area because I spent some time in my hometown of Wooster and have fond memories of my visit.

We had played Buffalo, NY on that Sunday, August 21st and stayed in a hotel in the area that night. The next morning we woke up and leisurely ate breakfast before we drove to my mother’s house in Wooster. We arrived in time for dinner Monday night and went to bed after a few rounds of video games with my sister.

The next morning we needed to be in Cleveland by 8 AM because I had gotten a television spot for Evan on WKYC-TV, NBC’s channel 3 News for Ohio. I had been working on press for Evan pretty heavily when we were stationary in Nashville and as a result had a lot of interviews lined up for Evan in the month of August.

We were greeted by the producer of the show and escorted upstairs to set up. I had never been in a television studio before but I assume the setup was normal. There were 4 different areas built up around the perimeter of the room; a lounge area, a kitchen area, a stage area, and what looked like a small audience section with about 10 chairs. In the middle of the room were the 3 cameras and a handful of people helping with the production of the show.

Evan set up his amplifier and porch board base before running through a few songs. I watched from the production booth down the hall and shook with anticipation. The hosts, Mike and Andrea introduced Evan before going to a commercial break. The camera panned to Evan as he played his song “40 Nights” and cut to commercial after he sang the lines, “No I won’t pray, to a killing God”.

The anticipation was killing me, I was so nervous for the next segment where he would play an entire song and then be asked to join the hosts on the couch for an interview. Evan played his song “Latitude” and answered the questions in a relaxed manner. A rush came over me as the segment ended, his first television appearance had gone wonderfully!

We drove back to Wooster a little before noon and met my mother and my sister for lunch at Broken Rocks in the downtown. We then walked the streets and stopped in many of the unique shops before settling in the Hungarian coffee and pastry shop. Evan and I parted ways with my family and spent a few hours on the College of Wooster campus, our alma mater and where we first met.

I remember breathing the air and feeling revived, drinking the water from the tap and tasting home. I don’t think I could settle down in Wooster but from this tour around the United States I have developed a respect for my hometown. It is beautiful and clean, the downtown is thriving and the campus is tranquil with its mango tree grove, limestone archways and modern art sculptures between the academic buildings. It felt safe and familiar which is what home should be.

Wednesday, August 24th was the show at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls just outside of Cleveland. The outdoor amphitheater is a large wooden structure built for orchestra acoustics and is surrounded by a large national park. My father, sister and her boyfriend Tony all came to the show to support Evan. I also greeted a photographer and radio host from Maximum Threshold who did a piece on Evan before the show. And to our surprise a friend of ours from college, Justin attended the show. We were very busy!

That night we started our drive to the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul, MN. It was a long drive and driving back to Wooster for the night would have added an extra 2 hours to the trip so we decided to get a hotel in Toledo. Even though the couple of days in Ohio were busy I felt revived by the familiarity of it all.

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!!!