Fort Wayne Indiana:
Fresh off the Thanksgiving break we headed to FW the afternoon of the show. On the way from the plane to the gig Tom and Joe were reminiscing about how many times they played at this particular venue. It's weird because for them walking into an old venue like the Memorial Coliseum must be like walking through he halls of your old high school for you and me. It turned out to be a great show and a great crowd and the debut of Andrew WK.
Andrew WK hit the stage and the place was like, What the F*&K! Who is this guy? But, by the end of the set he got the crowd on his side. He has been doing that in every city. I have a feeling he is going to go over well in Detroit. I hear he's a nice guy and signs autographs and talks to fans at a T-shirt booth after his show. You can also find him by the side of the stage with the rest of his band checking out Aerosmith every night.
Memphis: Memphis is one of my favorite cities. We always have a ball in Memphis and this trip was no different. I mentioned a while back that at the Sacramento show Elvis's old tour manager and friend Joe Esposito came to the show with his family and chatted with the guys for a little bit before the show. Well, Joe Perry invited Joe Esposito to come out to Memphis and hang out for a few days. Well, he did and Joe P. and I went to Graceland the day after the show for a private tour. As you guys might have heard the story that Joe was at Graceland the day Big E died and he tried to revive the King but to no avail. It was pretty eerie walking through the house with a guy that lived there for a period of time. It was the 10th visit to Graceland between us it this was by far the most informative tour we have taken of the old shack.
Earlier in the day we hit Cozy Corner Ribs for a "lite" lunch before the tour. If you’re in the area check them out. Try the cornish game hen.
This is another weird thing that happened in Memphis. I was walking out of the hotel with Steven and Kripa (Steven's Assistant) that same day of the Graceland tour. It was around midnight and we were just out for a stroll. We turned the corner on Beale street and you could hear this blues music coming from BB King's Blues Club. As we get closer you can see and hear the band playing in the window. I said wow these guys sound great and Steven said yeah and the guy in the middle looks a little like Brad Whitford. Well, as you guessed it! It was Brad and he had been going down to that same club and jamming with The BB King All Stars for 3 nights in a row. We stood by the window and caught the last song before closing. Brad is slippery and you never know where he will end up in any given town.
Wichita is another place where the band hit in the early years of touring. The place was packed and the people were nuts and had a ball. After the gig we went straight to Denver.
Denver is a really cool city. On Saturday they had "the Festival of lights." It was a parade that went right by our hotel. It kept the band pretty much confined to the hotel until things quieted down. After that Joey, Steven and their security guard Donnie went to the movies. (Sorry, slow news day guys).
I just heard that the movie Brad is in called, "This Thing of Ours" is slated to be released nationwide in the early part of the year. Brad has a small but powerful part of a wise guy who ends up on the wrong side of a bottle. I'm told it's a kind of new age mafia movie that stars James Caan, Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore, Good Fella Frank "Go get your F'N Shinebox" Vincent and Pat Cooper. Joe Perry contributes a couple of instrumentals to the soundtrack as does Vindaloo Music's main man Mike Verge who penned the tune "Connected" for the flick.
Next week I'll fill you in on the Billboard Awards and Detroit Rock City.
--John B
