It’s the last night of the gig, and we are all in good spirits. The shows have gone over well. The band is sounding good, and I am meeting some of the best people.

We have two shows tonight. The first show was great, with a full house. JT is killing the music and the rest of the band is on from the first note. The audience is rocking and grooving right along with us. It is such a rush to look out and see people so into what you do. I am truly blessed, and lucky.

It is the second show that we want to re-visit here. At this show we have people really hyped. I have notice the Japanese people to be very polite and friendly. Very seldom do they scream stuff out at concerts, but things are a changing. We have a rowdy crowd tonight. This is right where I live. From the first note the audience is right with us. They urging us on to new heights, and we are trying responding. Everyone has raised the game. I am not feeling like Michael Jordan, I cannot miss. JT is just wearing the organ out. We are locked in a musical vortex and it is crazy good. The audience is up and dancing. I have never seen a Japanese audience respond like this.  At the end of the night, we come down to say thanks and to get a celebratory drink. And the audience has not moved. We are in shock. What a great way to end a great week.

People are asking for pictures and autographs, now I am used to that being with Bruce. But this is not Bruce, this is a band whose two most famous members have no new recordings out. We meet one guy who has waiting for Bruce to come to Japan for 20 years . He has a few of our CDs with him. Such a nice guy. One woman had gone on the internet and found photos of each band member. She then made a photo and had us autograph it. It was crazy! So many people just wanted to tell us that the music was funky. And it was.

Afterward, we found an English Pub in an area called “Shinjuku”, This area seems to never shut down. I had a feeling that you could find whatever you wanted in this area. In fact, I was approached by a brother who wanted to show me the club to hang in( I don’t think so). We got home at 3 AM and the place was going strong. A nice time here in Japan, I look forward to the next trip to the far east.

And now we are looking at a long ride home….:-)

I will see you soon,

JV

As I leave the building, once again it has rained. This turns Tokyo into a big sauna. I am not 3 blocks into my walk and I am sweating like a 2 dollar hooker on 50 cent night:-) It is really bad, but I don’t want to turn around. I want to see this damn city.

I walk further, and now the water is running from my bald head like a flash flood in Arizona. It is so hot that there people standing on the streets handing out travel packets of tissue. I am now about 3 miles into my walk and ready to pass out. My clothes are soaking wet, it might have been my imagination but, it seems as if the locals are all dry as a bone. And looking at me as if I am Godzilla. It is crazy humid here, and I am a wet mess.

I would flag down a taxi if I could, but I am concerned about the soaking his seats;-) After all, I am a very thoughtful person.

I finally get to the area where all of the action is. But, I am now way too tired and hot and sweaty to care about any action. I just want a cold beer and a ride back to the hotel. The beer part was easy, it’s the ride back that will be a problem. And it’s all my fault, I know better than to leave a perfectly good hotel. There was nothing at all wrong with my room? I can see the city from the 29th floor:-)

I find an nice little Sushi bar, the ones with the belt that goes around in a circle.(I love these things). The last time I was here, the Sushi bar was crowed. One of my friends tells the host that I am Mike Tyson, and they give us seats at the bar. All of the chefs are speaking to me in Japanese and the only thing that I understand is Mike Tyson. My friend Ron keeps asking me, the champ, to say a few words to the people. I of course, try to give them my best Mike impression. I think we fooled everyone because, we did not get kicked out.:-)

But back to now, I am eating as much Sushi as I can get in my mouth, and drinking beer like a broke ass pirate.

It is now time for me to get back to the hotel. I have a buzz and a full gullet, I cannot speak the language. I would not be able to tell them where I was staying anyway. I cannot remember the name of the hotel (what a joke I am). The only thing left to do is walk back:-( This not going to be any fun.

At least I remember how to get back, that would so bad. I am off and walking. again the water starts running, again people are avoiding me as if I am a walking, talking nightmare. I think that I have lost 10 pounds on my walk (good, I am doing it again tomorrow). To make a long story even longer. It takes me an hour to get back to my hotel. I jump into the shower as if I am Tarzan of the jungle. I have a tan on the top of my head (did I mention no hat) Yeah, I am very bright. The whole two tone look does not play well on me:-) I am so thirsty that I drink a tall bottle of water, and then head to hotel bar for three 12 dollar beers.

It was an expensive walk.;-)

See ya soon

JV

I am in Japan playing a gig at a great sounding club. It is named after the famous club in New York, The Cotton Club. JT Thomas is also on this gig, he recommended me to the artist Buzz Feiten. Buzz is legendary in guitar and music circles. He is an amazing talent, and I am honored to be on this gig. There is also a great saxophonist, Brandon Fields, on drums is a great young drummer Jason Smith. This is a fun show to play, and I have been excited about playing this gig for a few months.

But, first we have to get to Japan. This is an 11 hour plane trip from L.A., and I am tempted to upgrade my seat from coach to economy plus on United. In fact, it is something I will do for the return.

I have been to Japan on more than one occasion, and with each trip I am amazed with the kindness. I also find that everyone working around us to make this a good gig, are so prepared for whatever we want or need. It is really something to experience.

We are met at the airport by our first contact from the C.C., his name is Rene. I don’t ever remember meeting a Japanese guy who’s name is Rene.. I am sure he can’t remember meeting a black guy name Jervonny either.:-) I just hate it when after a long plane ride , there is a long car ride.. After 11 hours, we now have a 2 hour car ride.. Yikes! Will this trip ever end?

Now, some of you know how much I like Sushi, and if you don’t know, let me tell you that I really like Sushi;-) I can eat it every day, and I have. In the van on the way to the hotel, Rene is taking food orders. The venue will feed us between shows. I made one of the dumbest choices ever before leaving the States. In making choices with the wisdom of a wise and learned person, I decide to use this trip to start a fast. (Did I mention how much I love Sushi?). What was I thinking? I love Sushi, I am in Japan, but, I am not gonna eat any Sushi while I am here in Japan, the Sushi capital of the world. What an idiot, and I really believed that this is going to work.

Well my friends, let me tell you how long this plan lasted. Exactly 2 hours after we checked into the hotel. Yes, two hours later I am sitting at a Sushi bar eating more raw fish that a whale. I do believe that the manager wanted to have me evicted by the cops Rice and fish was flying from my jaws like tree bark from a chain saw:-0
I fully intended to use this trip as an excuse to do some maintenance on my body, and I have not had a beer or a soda since Monday (as I am writing this it is Thursday here). That in itself is a huge accomplishment, I am a Cola junkie. But, come on man! Sushi is all around me. It is everywhere I turn. I am totally disappointed in not being able to hold out (not really ) . I am in heaven here.

I also had a moment where I went out today for a walk. It is so beautiful here, and the ride to the gig goes by a 100+ year old emperor’s palace. The gounds are breathtaking. But, the humidity is OFF THE CHAIN! I walked for about 30 minutes and was soaked from head to toe. When I got back to my room, it looked as if I had taken a swim. I love heat, I moved to Tucson for the heat. I have never in my life had a problem with heat but, Damn! This is a whole new level of heat. I think just of sweating. I don’t think that I have ever been here at this time of year.. I don’t remember feeling this kind of heat during my previous trips.

Some of you might be interested in how the first two shows went? Or maybe not? We are doing 2 shows a night for 4 nights this week. The audiences are very well versed in music here. They were small for the first two shows but, mighty. It seems that they know Buzz’s material, and they are grooving along with us. It was nice to play in front of an audience that knows more about the music than me. I must admit that I really didn’t have a real sense of who Buzz is, in terms of his pedigree. But, the mighty CC crowd sure knows the music. Everyone on stage is sounding and playing great. JT sounds amazing in this jazz setting , and he even has a moment where he is playing solo piano. Very impressive indeed JT.

I am having a good time here, and will update the trip in a few days. In the meantime, I am trying to wrap my head around the return plane ride home. I know it is only Thursday, and we don’t leave until Sunday, but damn 11 hours. Whatever happened to my Super powers of transporting. There must be green Kryptonite in the area But for now, there is Sushi calling me again

See ya soon!

JV

We played the first show of the tour tonight in Atlanta. This was a new venue for The Noisemakers.. We were at the Botanical Gardens.. It’s a nice cozy place with lawn seating. I love playing places like this. The audience is very close and you can feel the energy of every single person.

Like you, we have been waiting for this show for a long time. We had three days of rehearsals and, we were all really hyped up to have these shows on the books. I can only speak for me, but I was biting at the bit to get on stage and play. I think we were all ready to get the first show under out belts.

Our first show was supposed to be in Memphis but, that show got cancelled the day I was supposed to fly to Memphis. It was like someone pulled the rug out from under me.. I had to wait another 3 days before the show in Atlanta. This was such a bummer!!!

I was so worked up that I went to the gym at midnight Thursday to work out just to be able to fall asleep. And did the same on Friday morning. I clearly had too much energy going on. The clock moved so slow while waiting to do soundcheck.

It is finally show time. Bruce is leading us to the stage. Can I say this. You all know that I am not a person with any type of bug. So when Peter, our road manager told me that to get to the stage, I had to walk past three sinks of crickets To say that it took every ounce of will power I had to make it past those damn things. Why do they need all of those crickets? Why??? My skin is crawling now, and it is 2 AM. Yikes! Damn

As we take the stage I am reminded of how much I love to play this music. We get a nice ovation, and we are off.

Now, it’s been a while since the band has played together.

And, you never know what and how you will react to certain songs. So, when we first start, the whole band is in the “hope I don’t screw up”, mode. We started the set with “White Wheel Limo”. I cannot remember if we have ever opened a regular show with White Wheel…

We were back.. Sonny sounded great, Bruce was singing and playing his buns off. Bobby played great. JT was in the pocket and Doug played some great solos. I was just trying to keep up

The highlight of the night for me was young Nick Emory. Yes, Sonny’s youngest son sat in with us. He was great.. Nick picked a Michael Jackson song “Never Can Say Goodbye”, to sing. I wish you all were there to understand how talented this young man is.

The best part of Nick sitting in was (I don’t know is many of you saw this) but, on the 3rd verse, Nick turned around and signaled for the band to come down. It so great, I did not think that I was gonna be able to finish the song..

And, at the end of the night when the band took a bow, Nick was right there on the front line. What a great night, we are now on our way to the Biltmore… Yes! The legend itself…. We are gonna rock the house so, be there or, be square..

I look forward to see most of you the rest of the year.

Peace

JV

I watched R.S. grow into a wonderful and talented person. Always quick to smile. We were always welcomed into his world. I will miss his thirst for life and music.

RIP young prince.

You will live on in my heart.

My friend and brother,

R.S. Hornsby

Of course, Bruce was biting at the bit to have Bill play, and Bill was called on stage on the first band song. Bill plays his butt off, and Bruce always enjoys when we have a special guest. Once again, you guys are requesting a lot of great songs. This night it seemed like almost every request was from the Spirit Trail CD. We also did China Doll. We don’t do this song enough for me, it was great tonight, and Bill tore it up. We also had a funny incident where someone ask Bruce to introduce the band. In typical Bruce style, he introduced all of us with our funny nicknames and the region where we are from. When Bruce got to me, he mentioned that I was from Detroit, but now live in Los Angeles. We joked that Motown the record label is no longer there (the record label), not the city. Well, a fan with a little too much happy juice, thought Bruce was insulting the city of Detroit and, got a little upset. He was last seen, being dragged out of the theatre by his wife I love it! We are rebels! Bruce would never insult anyone. So, dude! Chill out! I won’t let anyone talk bad about Detroit, unless it’s me. My folks are still there and, that makes it okay for me to do it. What happened to Peace and Love

The show was great. Let me just say, it’s also really cool seeing young people at our shows having a good time. When I say young, I mean 13, 14 year olds or younger. I met a cool little dude tonight, his name is Teague. I hope the spelling is right. But, little man was sitting on stage the whole set having a ball. That is the kind of fan I dig. I made him an honorary brother. We came up with a secret hand shake and everything.

Now, you too can become an honorary brother. We have plenty of spots open What does it take, you ask? All it requires is to memorize the hand shake Come on, you can do it. Just drop me a note, letting me know that you want to join. Yeah! I can hear all of you now He must be crazy! Lady’s can join too Same requirements, the hand shake. I’ll give you sometime to think about it

Anyway, enough of that. We are on our way to Lowell, MA.

Get ready yall!!! Here Come The Noisemakers!!!!

Comin at ya, like stink on fish!!!

The stage no longer circles and they have curtained off a third of the seats(bummer), But the audience is still right on top of you, and this makes for a very intimate setting.

Westbury’s audience have always been fun and lively. This was no exception. This was also the second night that Bruce had a chance to invite the lady stage dance. This is usually a great time for all. But, I think the security at Westbury did not dig our dance night. I think the stage was not strong enough to support the mighty dancers of Westbury.

With each night the band is getting tighter, and a little more adventurous. We were taking baby steps in the beginning, and now we are running like Carl Lewis. Hold on everyone, we are going drive this car until the wheels fall off!!

Later,

Remember, “I am Ironman”

The place was nice but, not for me. Remember! NO NATURE!!!!!

We played the show at theatre where I made my singing debut. I know some of you remember that show. It was displayed on a web site (shame on you Si). This is a nice place to see a show.

Bruce is playing songs from the request that you guys are giving us before the show, and that is making for fun nights. One of the things that we also notice. The audience is getting real slick with the request. We are not getting a lot or request for the “hits”. We are getting more request for songs that maybe were not radio hits but, are hits with the real fan. Thanks for that. As you know, Bruce loves to play off of the path, and because of your request, he is happy to oblige.

Once again this is a great show and the small but mighty Hampton Beach audience seem to enjoy every moment.

Thanks for the love yall!!

Later,

Remember, “I am Ironman”

Well here we go again. Thanks for asking about the diary. What would a Bruce tour be without me telling lies;-)

Let’s start with the flight from L.A. to Buffalo with a short stop in Chicago (or so we thought). I knew it was not going to be a fun travel day. Before I departed for the airport I got a call from Peter our tour manager telling me that my original flight leaving Burbank airport (a 15 minute ride from my house by the way) is cancelled. And we are now flying out of LAX (30 minutes). But, JT come to my house and scoops me up for the airport in good spirits. We check in on American with just a slight problem. Because JT name is John Thomas, there are always security issues with his check in. But, nothing major , and we are on to the gate. At the gate we find that our flight to Chicago is going to leave L.A. almost one hour late (there goes our connecting flight). I am not worried because, this is Chicago after all, there must be a million flights to Buffalo right? Wrong! We get to Chicago and American has booked us on a flight that does not leave until the next morning. Now, I’m okay with this, but not JT. He wants to get in tonight, and ask American to check other airlines. American finds us a flight on United leaving within the hour, and book us on that flight. Then they call down and get out bags moved to the United. At this point a little bell starts going off in my head. I don’t really want to mess with the bags. But, JT says it all is well. Check this out. As soon as we start walking to the gate where our United flight is, JT looks at a monitor and sees that our new flight is now cancelled(Yikes!!). What the hell? We also notice that there is an earlier United flight leaving for Buffalo in 10 minutes. But if we are going to make this flight we have to run like hell for what seem like 4 miles. Of course by the time we get to the gate, the flight is gone. And now we have to go back to United to get a new flight (remember, our luggage is headed to a United flight that no longer exist). And on top of all of this JT is now starting to go to a dark place. We get back to the ticket counter and explain our situation ( Oh! Did I mention that the United flight was not even going to Buffalo, JT had got us a flight to Rochester, NY) We need to go to Buffalo, JT!) The person at the ticket counter finds us a flight to Buffalo, leaving in the morning. (we were already on that flight). And now we need a hotel room. Did you know that the Airlines will not get you a room anymore. They get you a discount I don’t like flying anymore.

Peter steps in and we get a nice room 10 minutes from the Chicago airport. Our flight leaves at 8 AM and we get to Buffalo at 10. But of course, there is no luggage. And even better. No one knows where our luggage is.

United tells us to check with American, American wants to blame United. I just want some clean panties Everyone assures us that the bags will be here in Buffalo today.

It is now time for soundcheck and there are no bags. I can’t shave, my socks are starting to walk by themselves. And I don’t even want to tell you what my underwear is doing(after all, this is a family site ). I’m gonna make this story short. Because there is so much more to it. Our bags went to Rochester, and then was sent to Buffalo on US Air (a 3rd airline), where they were then sent to our hotel and put in a closet by the bellman(despite the fact that we informed the staff that we were expecting luggage) where they sat until I ask the bellman if any bags had been delivered. I had already went out a mall and bought socks, toiletries and underwear. And also went to the airport searching for the luggage. It was at the hotel sitting in a closet (perfect!!!)

And now to the show!

We played a pretty funky club in Buffalo. It was mostly standing room only. It has been a while since we played a real show and everyone in the band was a little nervous. We have played a few private events but, it is not the same.

I spent most of the morning trying to remember the songs. We have a master set list that is approaching 140 songs or more. And with no rehearsals, we are going to play a tour. (I guess Bruce has a lot of confidence in us!)

But, we were excited about being back together.

From the first note. The band was on. We came out slamming. It is so great hearing Bobby, JT, Sonny, Doug and of course Bruce. We played with so much passion and energy. The good thing about being off for so long is that we all came back with a fresh approach to the music. Bruce was of course, Bruce! He work the songs and the band into what ever shape he was hearing and feeling. We played that first show for 2 hours and 45 minutes. As we left the stage all of us were surprised that the show was so long.

On the bus it was all smiles and huggs. We are excited abut the next day.

The only bummer in all of this. My brother Si Twining is not here to see and hear us this year. We miss his spirit and his smile.

But, it is great seeing a lot of our friends and family. Thanks for welcoming us back. The mighty Buffalo audience was great. Smiles, dancing and a lot of request. The Noisemakers are back!!!!!

Peace!

This is a beautiful city. Right on the lake or ocean or river. I don’t know what is next to, but it is nice. This is our second night and we are ready. I spent the whole day practicing the music in my room. I don’t want to be the one making mistakes. The venue is an open air amphitheatre, in a semi circle and wood. I love wooden stages (they always make the bass sound bigger).

We hit the stage full of energy, and playfulness. It’s really funny. After the first show where we all were a little nervous, this one is a complete turn-a-round. We are now feeling a lot more confident in each other and we are ready to strut our stuff.

Bruce is on his game and we hit the stage with a hump in our groove(that is hood speak for grooving ). Once again, the crowd is on our side. They gave us some great request and seemed to follow every little twist and turn. We are also doing 3 new songs from Bruce’s upcoming record. The songs are, Black Rats, Continental Drift and Cyclone. They are fun to play and we are trying to find our stride with them. I think you will like them.

The band is playing better than ever and we are loving this time together. I am really diggin Sonny and Bobby’s playing.

I hope those of you who are attending these shows, are having as much fun as I am.

Peace from the Thunder Down Under!!