USA
Oct/Nov 2005
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| Friday
4th November
After
a Flight to Oakland - home of the mighty
Raiders and Tower of Power horns - we
arrive at Berkely for a gig at the Freight
and Salvage Coffee house – a stalwart
gig on the U.S. acoustic music scene since
Gerry Garcia was thin. Berkely was the
epicentre of U.S counter-culture during
the 1960’s and is still a vibrant
community and a pretty funky place so
out of reverence for this we decide to
perform tonight’s show naked –
Alasdair’s bubble dance is coming
along beautifully. |
Well
hello ladies/laddies
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| Saturday
5th November
The
California Technical Institute (Caltech)
is one of the most prestigious universities
in the United States and the Beckman auditorium
therein is a grand venue and as our U.S.
agent, Mitch Greenhill, is here we opt
to do tonight’s concert fully clothed.
I am from Los Angeles so this is a sort
of home gig for me so my folks are here
as are my school pals Brian and Terry
with whom I played in band during my youth
until I left America during the 1980’s.
Brian is still a great drummer playing
in numerous ensembles throughout Los Angeles,
perhaps most notably, Saccharine Trust
(www.saccharinetrust.com)
and after the show we adjourn to his house
for a few beers and a laugh.
Sunday
6th November
Today
is a matinee in Ojai – a beautiful
town situated in a valley just northeast
of Ventura. Tom and Becky Lowe organise
a great series of music here for many
years and it has been a great gig for
us for some time and today is no different.
An early finish means we can grab a couple
of pints in Dargan’s pub on main
street in Ventura before heading off to
my parent’s house in Oxnard for
a few drams.
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Jagerbombs:
the elixir of youth |
Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7th -
9th November
After
a sterling breakfast at my folk’s
house, we begin our epic journey to
Wisconsin (lashings and lashings of
Bloody Mary mix for Rob) and four days
in Sheboygan on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Sheboygan is famous for Bratwurst, fresh-water
surfing, Kohler sinks, and jager bombs
– a local delicacy comprised of
jagermeister and red bull. We are here
for a concert, itself part of an educational
program which introduces different music/cultures
to school children in the area. As such
we are working mornings and afternoons
thus leaving the happy hour portion
of the day free for our cultural perusal
of the area. The John Michael Kohler
Arts Center (http://jmkac.org/)
itself is a fantastic building housing
some remarkable exhibits, the largest
of which is the house of the Rhinestone
cowboy. This is a real person from Mississippi
who personified the character in the
Glen Campbell (?) song, sewing rhinestones
into everything he owned including his
teeth, car, and house which currently
stands in the arts center here in Sheboygan,
Wisconsin. There are also many great
paintings, sculptures and crafts not
to mention the state-of- the- art theatre,
which is our venue for the next few
days.
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One
of these educational concerts is outside
of Sheboygan at Lincoln High School
In Manitowoc; the oldest high school in
Wisconsin. There is an active arts program
at this school and as such the students
are accustomed to visiting groups such
as ours and the reception is particularly
good. The teacher even moved the state
exams to accommodate our visit so hooray
for Lincoln.
After a hard days educating, it’s
off to George Michael’s bar –
Absolutely no relation to the English
singer we are informed – and a mystery
tour with Hondo the fresh-water surfer
who shows us around the arsenal of Sheboygan
jager bombaderias. Our week in Sheboygan
is a great success largely due to Jill,
Ann, and Doug at the arts center.
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| Friday
11th November
A Derry man, a Leodhasach
and a Jew walk into a pub in Milwaukee,
drink a modicum of vermouth and even less
cranberry juice with a bucket of gin and
a have a grand if short night off. Sounds
like a bad joke but this is serious business
folks. While we were conducting our own
martini tasting in the Hi-Hat bar in Milwaukee,
one could sense Rob across town drinking
even more Bloody Mary mix – though
on land this tends to be a constituent
of the bloody Mary herself. (Rob would
never drink and fly: Dutch Navy rules.)
The result of these events
is that while Whizzo and the ginonites
were turning into Palestinian belly dancers,
Mr Rob Van Sante is most definitely metamorphosing
from the Dutch Yorkshireman we all know
and love into B.A. Baracus through his
persistent ingestion of Mr. And Mrs. T’s
Bloody Mary mix. Our legal team would
like to point out that we are in no way
claiming that any particular Bloody Mary
mix is in any way a brand leader in mutation
either physical or mental. Indeed our
legal team wholly pities the fool who
believes that any member of the extended
T family is in any way a mutation; however,
it is undeniable that they are neither
Dutch nor Yorkshiremen and herein lies
our quandry. Whatever the case, the new
improved Rob” kicks ass fool!”
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"I
pity the fool who wires their keyboards
up backwards!" |
cue
triumphant music.
fool.
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Saturday,
12th November.
Tonight we play the Old
Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.
This is our second concert with Jim Malcolm
and turns out to be a stormer and luckily
Michael (Shaheen, of http://www.pelicanpublishing.com)
records the gig for due to technical difficulties,
the first five minutes turn into an impromptu
comedy routine while Mr.V builds a demolition
device out of an old Trabant – we
were in luck as they are hardly a dime
a dozen in Chicago – some double
sided sticky tape, an empty bleach bottle
and a couple of Kalashnikov assault rifles
with which he defeats the gremlins who
had malevolently run down the battery
in Sean’s octaver. Luckily no Gremlins
were hurt in the ensuing battle.
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| Sunday,
13th November
Today
is a matinee in Marshall Michigan so we
have to leave quite early as we are crossing
into a later time zone. This is a great
show in the local Middle school and We
are joined by Scott McClellan who plays
a few tunes on the pipes with us. Scott
is a great piper based near Kalamazoo
who not only plays and teaches extensively
in the area but also composes tunes and
runs the Battlefield band fan web site
(http://www.mcclellanweb.com/bfb/)
. After the show we consume great jugs
of beer in the copper pot and another
colonial bar whose name escapes me.
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Monday 14th November
The
Night Town is a jazz club in Cleveland
Heights, just down the street from my
Father’s high school. My Uncle Eddie
and Aunt Eileen are at the show as are
my cousins so there is a bit of a wedding
vibe about the whole event and it is great
to see them and Jim Wadsworth who puts
on the show.
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Buckfast
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Cleveland
is home to the Rock and Roll hall of
fame so it is perhaps no surprise that
the young woman at our hotel reception
mis-hears Alan’s name upon its
presentation: He says “Alan”,
she hears “Howlin’”.
She probably books in more “Howlin’s”
than “Alans” in this paradise
of Rock and Roll debauchery.
“Howlin’ Weed and
Buckfast Zydeco – Live. One Nite
Only!”
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Howlin'
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| Tuesday
15th November
Today is a bit of an epic
day for the B team so we fortify ourselves
at Corky and Lenny’s Deli with Eddie
and Eileen before we head off for Detroit
and a flight to Seattle. Kenny at the
Deli gives us all plenty of Ramallach
to send us on our way. This is a seven
hour drive and Admiral Van Sante navigates
us expertly through the rain-soaked, death-metal
fields of the Midwest en route to the
eventual pot of tomato-based- juice Nirvana
at the end of the rainbow.
Wednesday 16th
November
We
have played the Alladin Theatre in Portland,
Oregon many times and as always, the crowd
is superb. After the show we pay a visit
to our old pal Michael who runs the Alberta
Street Public House located at 1036 NE
Alberta st. Michael not only sells fine
beer and food, but also puts on all kinds
of live music and even films. In a previous
life this bar was called the Love Train
and Michael still has the original sign
and jukebox overflowing with top-class
soul music from bygone days. This is a
class establishment.
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| Thursday
17th November
Tonight
the boys have a night off in Portland
and they refuse to tell me to what they
have got up – yoga perhaps.
I make my way to Port Angeles to see my
Family.
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I
say, your crabs are coming along beautifully |
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