Well... here we are in Tokyo at Nikki san's house near the Tokyo dome. The trip from Tassie was a bit long as usual. Left Tassie at 1930 (7:30pm) and had an overnight stay in Sydney with only a couple hours of sleep, then the 0700 flight to Gold Coast. A couple of hours in the airport then the 8 hour flight to Narita.
Got into Narita at about 1900 (7pm) and flew through customs with no hassles. Picked up the shuttle bus to the hotel and got to the gig at the Barge Inn with time to spare.
The gig was good. People kept showing up and we had a relatively good time being we had no sleep for a couple of days!
Got the train to Ueno station this morning and Nikki picked us up and drove us to his place.
Gig at Club Outbreak tonight.... sound check at 1600 and play at 1940.
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Had a cruising sort of a day.... We went to an art gallery in 29 Palms where a girl we met last night had a studio. A really cool spot with other artists who have studios there also. A stained glass artist, a sculptor and an art school all on Indian territory. There was an Indian burial ground right next door. Children were buried there. I walked in then walked right out. I didn't like the feeling at all. Very strange I must say. I never felt like that before. When I got out I felt better. Having dinner with the bro and sis-in law tonight and taking it easy......
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Played the Joshua Tree Saloon again. Two bands played on the night and were very good. Jump Doug Jump and Universal Trap. We started the night off and after the bands played we had a great jam and made more new friends! Paul played guitar with two other acts and played till closing time with Ted Quinn (host of the night) and an excellent musician. We feel like locals now and have been accepted as such. Sold more CD's yay!! Help "pay for petrol"....... especially after losing so much the night before! Lovin the desert.....
Reply
Played at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace. Very cool place in the mountains in Pioneer Town. Pioneer town was built by the movie studios to film Gene Autry movies and is still standing. So as we are driving through the hills in the middle of nowhere we are going where the hell is this place and all of a sudden there we were! all of these cars parked around the place and when we walked in the place was full of people. They had great food and cheap beer (Red Stripe Jamaican $2.00). There were a few acts on the night and we played second while there was a full house. Got a great response and we stayed most of the night.
On the way home we thought we had a major problem. We were driving home when all of a sudden the car stopped running. Luckily it stopped just before a petrol station. I had 1/2 tank of petrol before I left the gig but the gauge was reading empty. The petrol station was closed but you can get petrol with a credit card with no one there. I finally got some petrol into the tank and the car started. When I looked down I saw a puddle of petrol start to form. When I looked under the car petrol was pissing out from somewhere. I had Jo turn off the car and looked underneath. Got Russell up at 12:00am from a sleep to help out because I didn't know what I was going to do. The leak stopped so I thought it must have been a loose hose. I jacked up the car and found a hose had come off the fuel filter. Just then a guy pulled into the station to make a phone call from a public phone. He had a screwdriver so I was able to get the hose tightened. Just then Russ arrived but the problem was fixed........we drove back home with no problems. It's always a fun experience....
Reply
More of the same emailin, except for Rochester this time.... gigs....gigs....gigs....
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Emailin' workin' day....... Sent emails to TV and radio stations in the San Louis Obispo area.....
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Getting a bit slack at the blog.... been really busy.
Last night we checked in at Motel 6. Always a decent clean room with internet, TV, A/C and a good shower with normally a good bed. Queen bed this time wasn't that great though. We found this humungus sandwitch at Von's supermarket that was the size of a whole Vienna loaf with about a pound of meat for $5.99 and had that for lunch and dinner. Watched a bit of telly and went to sleep. Got up, checked out at noon and walked around Katella St. for awhile to soak up some sun and get a bit of exercise before driving to Santa Ana to play at Malones.
Not a bad drive to Santa Ana. Google maps is our friend. Always good directions and gives pretty good estimates on how long the drive will be.
When we got to Santa Ana we cruised around a bit looking for something to eat. Found this mobile Mexican food van parked on the curb. All the menus were in Spanish. The owner was really cool and told us about all the dishes. Jo got some chicken street tacos and I got a special taco that was famous in those there parts and it was excellent. All for just $7.00. We found our way to Malone's and hung out there till we had to play. It's a pretty big venue with two stages, nice sound system and anything a band could want including a competent sound man.
We were first to play out of about five bands. Had a great gig and set the pace for the rest of the evening. My old drummer from a band I had in Hollywood in the 80's showed up with his wife. What a great surprise it was to see them. Oscar and Paula. After the gig we were invited to stay the night with them. So.... we started to follow them home. They live in Pomona. When we were on the freeway some dick cut in the middle of Oscar and me just as he turned off to another freeway! Ahhhhhh.... shit... we didn't exchange phone numbers!! How dumb was that? I think we were so excited to see one another after all these years we didn't think to do so..... Luckily we were on the right freeway to go back to 29 Palms to stay with my brother for a few more nights. We'll see Oscar and Paula on April 7. He is playing with a band and invited us to come along.
Reply
Got up really early today and drove to Anaheim to play at the Anaheim Market. It was 91 degrees and it was HOT! It took us 2.5 hours to get there with no problems. Gotta love Google Maps! We played at 1:00pm till 2:00pm. Appreciative crowd for a Thursday afternoon. After us there was a karaoke guy who played from 2:00 till 7:00. He was giving away free tickets to a Quiet Riot concert at some speedway. Told us he was going to give us two. Valued at 100.00 each! We'll see.....
After we finished we drove to Santa Ana to check into a Motel 6. After a bit of relaxing we made some posters at the local Office Max and went to Malone's to hang up the posters and check out the club. Really nice club. Great PA with sound man and two stages with continuous music. After we left we went to some big shopping centers to placard cars with fliers for the gig and went back to hotel. More on tomorrow, tomorrow.
Reply
Played at the Joshua Tree Saloon tonight in Joshua Tree. Excellent host (Ted Quinn) and a great crowd. Sold some CD's and made some new friends. Ted does a radio show and he was really impressed with our performance and is going to play our CD on his show on Sundays. Cool...... Interesting thing about Joshua Tree is that the tree that grows there (Joshua Tree)is the only place it grows. Only in that small area of the desert and one other place on the way to Las Vegas from 29 Palms. That's it! Driving on the right is a bit weird after all this time driving on the left. Getting it down though.
Reply
Went to a casino with Russ and Kathy called Fantasy Springs in Indio. All the casino's are owned by the Indians. We had free rooms and free all you can eat dinner buffet. We also won some money. Doubled our investment! Great room with an excellent view of desert and mountains. Yummy food, great iced tea and coffee and lots of it.
Reply
The Sign / Blog
Tokyo Tour 2011/Kansai Music Conference
Well... here we are in Tokyo at Nikki san's house near the Tokyo dome. The trip from Tassie was a bit long as usual. Left Tassie at 1930 (7:30pm) and had an overnight stay in Sydney with only a couple hours of sleep, then the 0700 flight to Gold Coast. A couple of hours in the airport then the 8 hour flight to Narita. Got into Narita at about 1900 (7pm) and flew through customs with no hassles. Picked up the shuttle bus to the hotel and got to the gig at the Barge Inn with time to spare. The gig was good. People kept showing up and we had a relatively good time being we had no sleep for a couple of days! Got the train to Ueno station this morning and Nikki picked us up and drove us to his place. Gig at Club Outbreak tonight.... sound check at 1600 and play at 1940.
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 - Wednesday, April 6
Had a cruising sort of a day.... We went to an art gallery in 29 Palms where a girl we met last night had a studio. A really cool spot with other artists who have studios there also. A stained glass artist, a sculptor and an art school all on Indian territory. There was an Indian burial ground right next door. Children were buried there. I walked in then walked right out. I didn't like the feeling at all. Very strange I must say. I never felt like that before. When I got out I felt better. Having dinner with the bro and sis-in law tonight and taking it easy......
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 - Tuesday, April 5
Played the Joshua Tree Saloon again. Two bands played on the night and were very good. Jump Doug Jump and Universal Trap. We started the night off and after the bands played we had a great jam and made more new friends! Paul played guitar with two other acts and played till closing time with Ted Quinn (host of the night) and an excellent musician. We feel like locals now and have been accepted as such. Sold more CD's yay!! Help "pay for petrol"....... especially after losing so much the night before! Lovin the desert.....
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 - Monday, April 4
Played at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace. Very cool place in the mountains in Pioneer Town. Pioneer town was built by the movie studios to film Gene Autry movies and is still standing. So as we are driving through the hills in the middle of nowhere we are going where the hell is this place and all of a sudden there we were! all of these cars parked around the place and when we walked in the place was full of people. They had great food and cheap beer (Red Stripe Jamaican $2.00). There were a few acts on the night and we played second while there was a full house. Got a great response and we stayed most of the night. On the way home we thought we had a major problem. We were driving home when all of a sudden the car stopped running. Luckily it stopped just before a petrol station. I had 1/2 tank of petrol before I left the gig but the gauge was reading empty. The petrol station was closed but you can get petrol with a credit card with no one there. I finally got some petrol into the tank and the car started. When I looked down I saw a puddle of petrol start to form. When I looked under the car petrol was pissing out from somewhere. I had Jo turn off the car and looked underneath. Got Russell up at 12:00am from a sleep to help out because I didn't know what I was going to do. The leak stopped so I thought it must have been a loose hose. I jacked up the car and found a hose had come off the fuel filter. Just then a guy pulled into the station to make a phone call from a public phone. He had a screwdriver so I was able to get the hose tightened. Just then Russ arrived but the problem was fixed........we drove back home with no problems. It's always a fun experience....
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 - Sunday, April 3
More of the same emailin, except for Rochester this time.... gigs....gigs....gigs....
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 - Saturday, April 2
Emailin' workin' day....... Sent emails to TV and radio stations in the San Louis Obispo area.....
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 - Friday, April 1
Getting a bit slack at the blog.... been really busy. Last night we checked in at Motel 6. Always a decent clean room with internet, TV, A/C and a good shower with normally a good bed. Queen bed this time wasn't that great though. We found this humungus sandwitch at Von's supermarket that was the size of a whole Vienna loaf with about a pound of meat for $5.99 and had that for lunch and dinner. Watched a bit of telly and went to sleep. Got up, checked out at noon and walked around Katella St. for awhile to soak up some sun and get a bit of exercise before driving to Santa Ana to play at Malones. Not a bad drive to Santa Ana. Google maps is our friend. Always good directions and gives pretty good estimates on how long the drive will be. When we got to Santa Ana we cruised around a bit looking for something to eat. Found this mobile Mexican food van parked on the curb. All the menus were in Spanish. The owner was really cool and told us about all the dishes. Jo got some chicken street tacos and I got a special taco that was famous in those there parts and it was excellent. All for just $7.00. We found our way to Malone's and hung out there till we had to play. It's a pretty big venue with two stages, nice sound system and anything a band could want including a competent sound man. We were first to play out of about five bands. Had a great gig and set the pace for the rest of the evening. My old drummer from a band I had in Hollywood in the 80's showed up with his wife. What a great surprise it was to see them. Oscar and Paula. After the gig we were invited to stay the night with them. So.... we started to follow them home. They live in Pomona. When we were on the freeway some dick cut in the middle of Oscar and me just as he turned off to another freeway! Ahhhhhh.... shit... we didn't exchange phone numbers!! How dumb was that? I think we were so excited to see one another after all these years we didn't think to do so..... Luckily we were on the right freeway to go back to 29 Palms to stay with my brother for a few more nights. We'll see Oscar and Paula on April 7. He is playing with a band and invited us to come along.
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 Thursday, March 31
Got up really early today and drove to Anaheim to play at the Anaheim Market. It was 91 degrees and it was HOT! It took us 2.5 hours to get there with no problems. Gotta love Google Maps! We played at 1:00pm till 2:00pm. Appreciative crowd for a Thursday afternoon. After us there was a karaoke guy who played from 2:00 till 7:00. He was giving away free tickets to a Quiet Riot concert at some speedway. Told us he was going to give us two. Valued at 100.00 each! We'll see..... After we finished we drove to Santa Ana to check into a Motel 6. After a bit of relaxing we made some posters at the local Office Max and went to Malone's to hang up the posters and check out the club. Really nice club. Great PA with sound man and two stages with continuous music. After we left we went to some big shopping centers to placard cars with fliers for the gig and went back to hotel. More on tomorrow, tomorrow.
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 Tuesday, March 29
Played at the Joshua Tree Saloon tonight in Joshua Tree. Excellent host (Ted Quinn) and a great crowd. Sold some CD's and made some new friends. Ted does a radio show and he was really impressed with our performance and is going to play our CD on his show on Sundays. Cool...... Interesting thing about Joshua Tree is that the tree that grows there (Joshua Tree)is the only place it grows. Only in that small area of the desert and one other place on the way to Las Vegas from 29 Palms. That's it! Driving on the right is a bit weird after all this time driving on the left. Getting it down though.
Reply
Pay for Petrol Tour 2011 Monday, March 28
Went to a casino with Russ and Kathy called Fantasy Springs in Indio. All the casino's are owned by the Indians. We had free rooms and free all you can eat dinner buffet. We also won some money. Doubled our investment! Great room with an excellent view of desert and mountains. Yummy food, great iced tea and coffee and lots of it.
Reply