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Diary: November 23 2007 : Dublin, Ireland

Well, Well, Well,

We are finally going to a place that is new for me. I have never been to Ireland before. I am really excited about seeing this island country.

There is one big monster in the room that no one wants to talk about. We are all wondering what is going to happen with the lady’s? The plan is to go to Ireland and get a second opinion. We are hoping that with the cancellation of London and an off day before the show in Dublin. That things will work out. I just want someone to let me know one way or the other. I am going to use this opportunity to be a tourist in Dublin!

But of course this trip needs a little drama. It would not be right to have everything go smoothly. I know what you are thinking. You think that the voice drama is what I am talking about. Well, Nope!!!!!!!!! That is not the drama part of this whole trip.

When flying anywhere in the USA, you are allowed 2 checked bags and 2 carry on. Well not in London. If you are connecting to a flight or flying out of London’s airports. You are allowed 1 carryon, I repeat. You are allowed only 1 carry on. Now this means that even if your flight from the USA has allowed you to carry on two bags and you are connecting in London to another flight. You will have to check 1 of your carry on bags. And with that now 3rd bag comes a charge of 100 pounds. Which is $206.00! “Holy Snikees!”

Let’s take a look at this from my stand point( I checked 1 clothing bag and my guitar. I carried on a small bag, which carried the music for the Pointer show and, my laptop computer. And I was the one with the least amount of bags to re-check. Can I tell you that, the person at the counter for Aer Lingus, which is the airline that we took to Dublin. The poor dude was catching hell. I’ve never seen anything like it.

We were in some amazing places for shopping and every woman in our traveling party took full advantage of it. There were many new pieces of luggage bought just for the soul purpose of having some place to pack the many new purchases. We are on a 10 day tour and from the look of our luggage, you would have thought that we were gone for ten years( Hey! I’m not being mean, it’s just what it was. I don’t know how much it cost every one else, but going both ways cost me $600.00 Ouch!!!!!!!!! Damn you Scooby Steve!

Dublin is a beautiful place. I love the way that they did not tear down older buildings and put up new malls. Instead, they used the buildings that were already there and, turned them into shops and stores. The people are some of the friendliest you will ever meet. Now, it was way too cold for my taste but, very nice indeed.

Our hotel was great and right in the middle of downtown, so that gave me all the time in the world to walk around.

One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done in my lifetime, and I had to laugh at my self for doing it. I went in search of lunch and found this great little restaurant called “South Street”. The food was off the chain! The only thing wrong was. Here I am in Dublin eating Italian food. I should have sampled the food from Ireland. But, alas, I am a creature of habit!  Sorry Ireland, I will eat the local food my next time in.

Nothing exciting happened on our day off. At 9 AM the next morning my phone rings. It is our tour manager telling me that the doctor in Dublin had advised the lady’s not to do the show. I was told to let everyone in the band know that we were canceling the show. This meant that the guys in the band from Belgium could go home a day earlier. So I let everyone know. I also had to tell the crew guys so that they would not start the long process of loading all of the gear into the club that we were suppose to perform in. I did that also.

I get a call from the tour manager at 9:25 AM, telling me that the lady’s were going to try to do the show. Yikes!! I’ve got to call the guys back and let them know to not change their tickets. To late!!! They had changed the tickets and had to change them back. ( I know that had to be very frustrating) I apologize fellows. It was frustrating for me. I then had to catch the crew guys, and did so just before they were about to change the time ferry time. Kurt and Hugo were driving the equipment in a van and had to take the ferry from London to Dublin. They were just about to pay for the ticket change. (Again, I apologize).

Everyone started calling me and asking if I thought that we would really do a show. How would I know. People were asking if I had talked to the lady’s, which I had not. I was just like everyone else. I would see what they had when everyone else did.

The plan is for the band to do a sound check without the lady’s to give their voices more time to rest. I could only hope that it would be enough.

Our show started at 9 PM, the lady’s came in the door at 8:30. On the way to their dressing room they, had to pass the bands. This is would be the test. What would they sound like when saying hello? We were all looking at the door as if Santa Claus was about to walk in. And then it came. Hello! Hello! Hello! Each voice sounding as strong as the next. We were going to do a show. Yes! The club that we performed in was a smaller version of the one in Amsterdam. But, just like that one. It was packed and loud. The lady’s hit the stage like Loins on the prowl for Bambi( (don’t get mad, it’s a joke).

They attacked every song as if nothing was wrong and we had a great show. What a great way to end a tour.

After the show the lady’s went straight from the stage to a car and back to their rooms. I am on a different flight and did not have a chance to let them know how proud I was.

I want to give a shout out to the band. Tom Salisbury on piano, Tom Lodewijckx on guitar and drums, Eric Belios on drums and Steven Cornillie on key, And last but not least! Leendert Haaksma on guitar.

These are five of the best musicians in the world, I am not kidding. You guys made my job so easy. Take care of yourselves and I hope to work with you again, and I hope it is soon.

I also have to say hello to my boy Si. What up brother? (that’s slang for “how are you mate’) Si was suppose to come to the show and hang. But, sometimes life gets in the way. I hope to see you soon Si. And I hope you all enjoyed touring with The Pointer Sisters. If you read all of these new diaries, the you were on tour with us. And I hope you had a good time.

Take care and Happy Holidays,

Get up off of that thang :-)
JV