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Diary: November 17 2007 Antwerp

Hello Everyone,

It has been a while since my last entry. I missed all of you and thought it was time for to catch up. Bruce and the guys are doing great and we look forward to seeing many of you in 2008. I am in Europe for 11 days with the Pointer Sisters. I have a great story for ya! (

The Pointers did not bring a band to Europe,, instead we hired most of the guys from 2 years ago when we were here with Natalia. I really like the guys and they can play. So things should have gone smooth but, come on( We are talking about my life. We were going to have 2 rehearsals with the band. The first day of rehearsal was great. The only new guy from 2 years ago was the drummer, but he sounded great and I had a great time working with him. I went back to my hotel bar after the rehearsal and had a few beers. In Belgium they have this great beer ‘Duvel’, the alcohol content for this beer is 8.5 Yikes! I was celebrating how great the band sounded and how easy the day went. “I should have waited”.

Now we are at the second day of rehearsals. As soon as I stepped into the rehearsal hall, I knew something was wrong. Most of guys in the band were standing in a circle speaking into their cell phones. Of course I did not understand a word that was said until one the guys pulls me to the side and says, “we do not have a drummer for today’s rehearsal”. Steven goes on to tell me that ‘Herman’ (drummer dude)( had a seizure this morning and broke two ribs, Ouch! And he is at the doctors trying to find out if he can play the show tomorrow, if not we need to find another drummer :-(

This is a small country and, unlike Los Angeles where drummers are growing on trees( We are having a hard time finding one that can make it to the rehearsal on short notice, and make the gig the next day. There is nothing we can do but wait until someone returns a phone call.
After what seemed like 2 or 3 hours we received a call from one of the drummers saying that he could not make the rehearsal but could finish the week which includes shows in, Amsterdam, Paris, London and Dublin. But that still leaves the first night in Antwerp without a drummer.

Our band consist of 1 guitar player, 2 keyboard players, me on bass, two background singers and a mystery drummer at this point and, the clock was ticking :(

Our guitar player Tom came to am ask if he could try to play the show on drums. He goes on to say that we could hire another guy to play guitar if his playing worked out. We had noting to lose at this point and I jumped at Tom’s suggestion.

I told Tom to pick a song to play and we would give it a try. I said, “Make it easy on yourself”. Tom picked one of the hardest songs in the book to play, ‘Dare Me’. As Tom sat on the drums, I was praying to every God I could think of( I even made a few Gods up right there on the spot. I made up a drum god, a cymbal God, a drum stick god.:-) Tom counted the song off…..1.2.3.4. and we were off!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys know that I am stalling right now don’t you.. I could have gone with the story, but I am trying to build expectations. Is it working? Well! Is it?;-) Okay, don’t get mad, I’m ready to finish the story now.

Where was I? Oh! So, Tom counts the song off and we start playing. He was great( Yippeee!!!!! This guy played his buns off! I was so happy I could have spit! I know, yuck!! The drum Gods came through. We had our drummer for the show. All we right with the world( Tom then called on our friend Lenny to play guitar. I love these two guys. Not only are they great musicians but, great people also.
We had a great rehearsal.

The night of the show was magical. When I came here 2 years ago I was a stranger in an unfamiliar city. This time I was at home. I saw so many friends and people I consider friends.
There is a point in the show when the band plays a song and the lady’s go off stage to do a wardrobe change. When we are in the states I just play bass, there is a guitar player who sings, and a drummer that does all of the introductions. All I do is play bass. But here in Europe I am the band leader and this means the I’ve got to sing the band song! YIKES!!!! I forgot about this. I think that I am more nervous than anyone. This is the real deal. I want to quit and give all of the money back :(

Alas, it is too late. (you know that you like the alas part. I was trying to add a little culture to this entry).

The show starts and Tom is killing the drums. I find out that his dad is in the audience just to see him play drums. It was Tom’s first show ever on drums and it is with The Pointer Sisters in front of 5,000 people. (I love this dude). Lenny the guitar player is great, Tom S. and Steven are playing great and the two lady’s singing background, Nina and Chantel sound wonderful. Now it is my turn to step up. The song starts and I am in the spotlight. This is where I belong. Elvis is back baby!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m a ‘Hunka, Hunk of Burning Love!!:-) My mouth opens and the sounds that come out are barely human( I don’t think anyone will buy tickets to see me sing anytime soon. But, my energy was good(

For the last song of the night we were joined on stage by our dear friend Natalia. I have to say that she is one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world. And that girl can SANG!:-) It was great seeing her and having all that energy that she brings to the stage. After the show we talked and laughed. Come on to LA girl!

The show was great and Tom really did come to the rescue. So this gig was a perfect example of the good and bad of being am musician. You never know what will happen from gig to gig.

It is now Sunday afternoon and we are on a train to Amsterdam. The country is so beautiful. We saw someone riding one of those high stepping stallions and a lot of cows and sheep. I don’ know if could live in the country again, but it really is beautiful here. I think this is going to be the best part of the trip for me. We are catching 2 more trains, one to Paris and one to London. This is a really good thing about being a musician on the road.

Okay! I’ve talked enough about me, now you talk about me( Take care and I will right again after the Amsterdam show. This is where we will have a new drummer. Hip! Hip! Hooray!:-)

A-riva-der-chee Yall!
I’m learning the language!