11/5/98 ~ Ghent, Belgium

After our nearly two weeks off, most of the band met up at the airport for a long flight to London, then a bus to another teminal to catch a flight to Brussels, then a long bus ride to Ghent due to the traffic on the motorway all in all a long journey! The next day we got together in Davey's hotel room for a vocal rehearsal, then headed over to the venue (a big, cold place) for a full band rehearsal. We had lots of new additions to the set to run through: "Hercules", "Better Off Dead", "Nikita", "House", "Believe", "Made In England", "Live Like Horses", "Burn Down The Mission", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" and "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding". Suprisingly after rehearsing with Elton in the afternoon of the show day, all of the songs except "Believe" ended up in the evening's setlist. As it has been cold and rainy in Ghent, I have not really ventured out of the hotel except for the rehearsals. The venue was setup with seating around the sides and back, and standing only on the floor section. The crowd was very different from what we had been used to in the U.S. - they enjoyed the music, but were much quieter and more reserved, listening politely as opposed to really rocking with us. "Nikita" went over particularly well, and they did get going at the end of the set for "The Bitch Is Back" and "Saturday Night's Alright". By the end of the set we were all pretty happy with the way that the new songs went, but were ready for some changes in the order to make for a better build and flow to the show. The "Regheads" in the crowd were thrilled to hear so many different songs from the last couple tours, as many of them come to multiple shows. Tomorrow we will have a two hour drive over to Rotterdam, Holland for our next show.
 
 

Our first show of the tour over, we got in the bus the next morning for a short drive to Rotterdam, only a couple hours away. By the time we got there it was mid-afternoon and overcast with slight rain - not too inviting for exploring a city! Fergy and I had planned to go see Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt, as it was a night off, but had been given wrong information and found out the show was r~ the previuos night. We ended up seeing "Saving Private Ryan" instead at a local cinema. I had wanted to see it for a long time, but never had the chance. As I watched it, I felt quite aware of being American and watching the film in another country. As with all Speilberg movies, it really personalised the horrors of war, both physically and .. psychologically. The next day was a show day, and I had a breakfast meeting with the local distributor for the Hellecaster's CDs, Vincent from Bertis Distribution, one of the largest in the Netherlands and actually in the world. We had a great time talking about music and culture, and also getting some new ideas for marketing not only the Hellecaster's CDs, but my forthcoming solo CD 'Emotional Savant'. Later I had a lunch meeting with Mary and Peter Honcoop, who run a website for the Dutch gipsy group The Rosenberq Trio. We have a common interest in the gipsy swing style of music, and shared information about the scene around the world. With the internet making it possible to contact people of similar interests around the world, it is indeed making the world much smaller. The show in Rotterdam was in a big building called the Ahoy, where most large concerts are held in Rotterdam. This time there was seating on the floor section, as well as the sides. This made for a more "listening" type of audience, and I didn't feel like they really got rocking until the very end. Many of us had technical problems during the show, which made it hard to concentrate at times on entertaining. Fergy had accidently hit a switch which made my saxophone about l0 times louder than usual. I was trying to tell him this, and keep playing at the same time. Clive didn't know this had happened, so when I played my part it was blasting out of the PA system, shocking him and I'm sure some of the more astute listeners! Later on Elton accidently skipped "Live Like Horses", which I play the pedal steel on. A few songs later Elton realised he had skipped it, and decided to play it later in the show. I looked back at Fergy in a panic to get the pedal steel back out on stage, and he sheepishly told me that it was already torn down and put away! I had to attempt to play the pedal steel part on a guitar, which I had never done before in front of thousands of people! I made a couple mistakes, but got through it anyway. Bob Birch and I had been joking before about doing a heavy metal version of "Circle of Life", with pyrotechniques blasting after the line about the sun. To our suprise as we played the normal version for the opening of the show, when that line came in the song a very loud crash was heard throughout the whole venue! No one knew what it was, and we were all looking around at each other mouthing "What was that?!" Very strange indeed... All in all it was one of those shows which lots of things go on that the audience has no idea about, and we all have a good laugh about it later. This was the first show after which we would leave with Elton on the plane very quickly after the show, as the band would be travelling in his plane for the next couple weeks and basing out of Nice, France. In order to change quickly enough out of our stage clothes and get to the plane for takeoff before curfew, a set of Nike running clothes were set out for each of us to put on before the last encore. Apparently we must have looked like a rap band, all decked out in sports attire complete with the big sneakers, and Elton was having a chuckle at us as we played "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me". After the song was done, we rushed into a bus, which drove very quickly to a small airport about 20 minutes away. Elton was already in the plane, and we piled in and took off for Nice. It is a very nice jet, with 12 seats plus a long couch to accomodate the band plus Elton's assistants - about 11 people in all. During the flight we were served some nice finger food, plus drinks, sandwiches, sushi or pizza if we liked. Soon we landed in Nice, and were taken in a van to the airport terminal where we got our bags and loaded them into another bus to take us to our new hotel where we would be for the next couple weeks. Normally I would get into my hotel room and set up the computer to write the daily report, but this was an especially long day, and so very tired was I that I went right to sleep!
 
 

The following morning after arriving into Nice was beautiful weather - sun streaming in the French doors which opened out to a patio with an ocean view; just lovely. I sat in bed,answering emails on the computer and enjoying the warm weather. We had been told we would leave at 4:00 to go to the plane, but the time had changed and I hadn't gotten the message that was in front of my door, as I hadn't left my room! At 3:00 I got a call saying that we were leaving in 15 minutes, so I had to huslte to get ready and try not to forget anything in my rush down to the van. Being late is one thing that is not tolerated in this organisation at all! I did make it on time, although I was the last one there. Back to the airport we went, and got onto the plane to wait for Elton's arrival. Again we were served drinks and snacks by our very hospitable crew as we waited. Soon we took off and had a very short flight to Geneva for the evening's show. We were again picked up by a van that took us to the venue, literally next door to the airport! This show was a benefit to sponsor a Swiss campaign against drug abuse among kids, and Elton was to be honored at a dinner after the show. With the airport curfews and the ceremony after the show, the timing of the show had to be a strict 2 hours. As our normal set lasts well over two hours, a new "cut down" set was handed out for this show. The venue was very narrow and wide, with the floor as standing only. The crowd on the floor was mostly young people, and they were very enthusiastic and spurred us on during the show, making for a very fun time for all. The shorter set actually worked better than normal for pacing and song selection, so we may be using that list with a few songs added back in as the basis for the rest of the tour. After the show we were taken back to the airport to wait for Elton, who had to appear at this dinner function where he would receive an award, and donate some items for the charitable cause. While we waited a very nice dinner was set up for us at the airport, and we snacked while waiting for Elton to arrive. As soon as he was on his way, we got back into the plane and headed back to Nice to enjoy a Sunday off. I plan to visit the huge flower market in the "old town" section near our hotel, and have a coffee in an outdoor cafe - very relaxing, and very "French"!
 
 

Monday in Nice there is a special antique flea market that fills the town square near our hotel, so Jack and I went there to have a look, and were overwhelmed by how much great stuff was there for sale, all antique Art Deco lamps, beautiful glass pieces from makers Lalique and Sabino, old lace linens, minerals and jewelry, books, cameras - you name it, they were all there. It took most of the morning to even make it through all the boothes, but I found a really beautiful and unusual bowl that I bought as a birthday gift for Bob Halley, Elton's personal assistant. It was made of blue butterfly wings under a curved glass top, made in the 40's in Paris. We left mid-afternoon again to get the jet to take us all to Zurich. On the plane we had a little birthday celebration for Bob, and enjoyed the short flight to Zurich. Due to concerns about making it back to the airport before curfew, the shorter set from the previous night was to be used again. During the show, which again had standing only on the floor section, Elton added a couple songs - "The One" and "House", which were not on the list. As we neared the end of the set, we realised that we would not make our plane unless a couple songs were cut out to make up the time of the added songs, so we had to cut "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" - which was too bad, as I really enjoy those songs! When the final notes of the second encore("Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me ") rang through the building, we were rushed into two vans and a Mercedes to drive to a different airport about 45 minutes away, as the Zurich airport had refused to honor their previous grant of a later than usual departure. The ride was a little scary, we were travelling in a convoy quite quickly down the highway and there was just the slightest rain coming down. We were all watching the time closely, as it looked like we might even be too late for this takeoff time, as we wouldn't be allowed to take off any later than 11:30. It was tight, but we did make it just in time to make our curfew, and some of us needed a glass of wine to unwind after the stress of the evening. I had a feeling that we would make it okay, and was not too stressed out, but some of the other guys certainly were!
 
 

After our hectic travel day to and from Zurich, we were all a little tired, and I just spent the next morning in my room until it was time to go to the airport. We joked around at how many modes of travel we use in one day and came with this list of our "movements" - 2 elevators, van to airport, walk through airport, van to plane, wait on plane for EJ, fly to gig city, van to venue, tune up, eat, change clothes, play, change clothes again, van back to airport and plane, fly to Nice, van from plane to terminal, walk through terminal, van to hotel, 2 elevators back to room! Every day we do this - no wonder we are all getting kind of tired! Glamorous sounding, isn't it? Stuttgart's audience was all seated, and a very much "listening" audience, especially since the security was very strict! The contingent from the Hercules fan club were constantly reprimanded for standing and dancing during the show. The was one elderly man in the front row, however, that was rocking out seriously for the whole show! When I first saw someone that age in the front row, I thought that he would be bothered by the loud volume of the music, but I couldn't be more wrong - he loved it and was clapping and was one of the first to rush the stage at the very end of the show, when the security finally let people stand up and dance! I was worried to hear that Fergy was having some serious health problems, and would be going to the hospital immediately after the show. I encouraged him to go ahead and go, not wait 'til after the show, and he agreed to do that Pete Mills (Jack 's drum tech) took over for Fergy and Tony Smith (Guy's tech) kept an eye on Jack as well as Guy. Pete did a great job getting me all the right instruments, with the proper wireless routing, etc., and had some help from sound techs Tom Fohlinger and "Eek" who work over on my side of the stage during the show. I must say, I was very impressed at how the crew pulled together to help each other out in the clutch, and I feel we are very lucky to have such quality people in our support team - certainly one of the best, if not the best tech crew that there is on this business! Again we had to hurry back to the airport to take off before curfew, but this time it was not so far away, and we were less stressed about it than the day before! Tomorrow is a day off, but we have heard it is a national holiday in France (similar to Veteran 's Day in the U.S. ), and all the shops will be closed, so it will be just a long walk for me I guess! No shopping - good for my wallet...
 

Last report I told you that Fergy had to go to the hospital. First of all, let me say thanks to all of you who sent in letters expressing concern for him. I will certainly pass on your concern to him. He is doing much better now, thanks, but will still be in the hospital for a few days. Without going into much detail, he was misdiagnosed with a pain he had been having, and it turned out to be something worse which needed immediate attention, as opposed to rest and pampering to the painful area. He is being well looked after, and his sense of humor is well intact, a good indication of being on the mend. Because of Fergy's absence, the crew has had to kind of all do extra work during the show to cover for him, so none of them have been able to take many photos during the show. For quite awhile now, Tony "Smithy" Smith (Guy's keyboard tech) has been shooting photos for me during the show, but he is now watching over both Jack and Guy while Pete Mills takes care of me, leaving him no time to take any photos. The night before the Lyon concert, Elton invited the band and a few other employees up to his house (villa, actually) for dinner. It is a beautiful house, full of art glass that Elton has collected from all around the world, and all very modern. The grounds were also stunning, with lots of flowers and manicured garden all around, but as it was night time not much of this was able to be seen. The dinner itself was excellent, fresh-made lobster ravioli and ceasar salad. Before dinner, Elton toasted us and thanked us for a good year of touring, and for our support during the difficult time he had thoughout the firing of longtime manager John Reid and the ensuing stress of that. It was a very warm, friendly "family-like" atmosphere, as a dinner at Elton's normally is. I remembered well the venue in Lyon when we arrived. We had played there in '95 on the 'Made In England' tour, and at that show I had a new guitar delivered to me. This was a custom ordered guitar built by Maurice Dupont from Cognac, and was designed after a classic French guitar, the Selmer Maccaferri from the 1930's. I have loved that guitar and used it alot since then, most recently for my gipsy jazz set at the Acoustic Guitar festival in San Rafael last August. The venue is huge, and was blocked off at one end for the concert. Again, there was seating on the sides and in back, but not on the floor - standing only there. I was so pleased with the response of the French crowd - they were fantastic! Very warm and friendly, almost as demonstrative as the crowds are in the U.S.! The show itself went well, no problems, really. Elton has been changing the order of the encores lately' and at the end of the show when we are madly changing clothes for the rush to the airport, our techs are scrambling to be prepared for whichever song might be next! I don't mind - it kind of adds to the excitement of the whole moment for me. Next is a day off, then to Italy for our first show there in 7 years.
 

Nothing much happenned on our day off, at least not for me. I was pretty tired from all the rushng around and the shows, so I just rested most of the day in my room. Plus, the sun went down in the early afternoon, making the temperature just too cold to be inviting to walk around in. We left a little later than usual, as tonight's show started an hour later than usual, at 9:00. When we landed at the airport, we were still about 20 minutes away from the venue in Pesaro, so a police escort had been arranged for us to get past the considerable traffic. Once we arrived at the venue, we still had plenty of time to wait around for the show. I went to the stage to do my nightly chores, which normally include putting the reed on my sax (or saxes, depending on the setlist) and tuning my pedal steel, if it is needed for the show. Recently, the two songs that I would play pedal steel on were dropped from the list ("Live Like Horses" and "Burn Down The Mission"), but I had a feeling that we should have the pedal steel out and ready, just in case Elton decided to add "Live Like Horses" to the show, seeing as he did a duet with Pavarotti on it. Later I asked Davey about it, and he checked with Elton, who said he would do it the next night in Milan. Well, during the show I got a message passed from Davey that he did want to do "..Horses" and I was glad I listened to my intuition and left the pedal steel out, ready to go! The venue was set up again with the floor section as standing, and I saw people taking their positions at the front of the stage as early as 7:00 - two hours before the show even started. I felt sorry for them, that they would have to be standing like that for a good 5 hours or so, not to mention the time they probably stood outside in line to get into the venue. I do realise that people go through a lot to be able to even come to a show, much less to have a good vantage point from which to watch the show, and I give them the best show possible for their efforts, as does Elton and the rest of the band. Sometimes it is a little overwhelming to be a part of something that people cherish so much. I do appreciate it all, and would love to personally thank everyone for giving me such great, positive energy from out there in the audience, and through all of your kind words in the emails, too! Audience-wise, the Italians were much like the French - also very warm and receptive, showing their emotions and appreciation readily. This is so much more fun for us than when the crowd just sits there - even if they are listening intently, I for one prefer the feedback of a "party crowd"! After the show we again had a police escort back to the airport, and quickly were back in our "home away from home", the charming hotel on the coast in Nice. Tired, but thankful for another successful day of the tour. Ciao for now...
 
 

On Sunday we left earlier than usual so that Elton could do some shopping at the Versace headquarters, which is located in Milan. They are not normally open on a Sunday, but being that Elton is likely their best costumer, they opened specially just for him. Davey, Billy, John M. and myself, along with EJ's hairdresser Ron and his tennis coach Chris took the opportunity to first go see the Duomo (awe-inspiring) then out for an early dinner in a great restaurant called Garibaldi's - Italian food, of course!They normally don't serve that early either, but opened up specially for us, which was very nice. They didn't even give us menus, but just brought out a great assortment of food for us, specially chosen to be light, as they knew we had to perform in a few hours. We all had a wonderful time, and the food was matched in quality by the service - our waiter made us feel right at home! We then drove to the venue to get ready for the show. While preparing my instruments, I noticed a fan in the front row holding a cover from a vinyl copy of my first LP, After You 've Gone, which is a rare thing, as it came out when vinyl was being phased out. After readying my instruments for the show, I went down to sign the cover for her, and found out that she had brought me a "golden turkey", as a gift! It is actually a turkey-shaped cake, and she had brought it so I (and the other Americans in our crew) could have some "turkey" for Thanksgiving, as we would be away from the U.S. for that holiday - quite a nice gesture! The show started an hour later than usual, but the crowd was well up for it, and we all were having a great time performing. Before singing "Live Like Horses", Elton dedicated it to Gianni Versace, and proceeded to sing a very emotionally-charged version which gave me chills even as I played the pedal steel. It was one of those "moments" that will stay with me for a long time. Towards the end of the show, Elton changed his mind about the order of the songs a bit, which got a little confusing for me (and the techs too), and I lost my concentration a little, making a few small mistakes. I didn't know it at the time, but this would prove to be a sign of things to come in the next few minutes. I changed clothes before the first encore, then just waited by my station after the song was over, expecting the usual second encore. I started to panic when it took Elton a lot longer than usual to come back onstage, and thought maybe I had gotten left behind and there would be no second encore that night! Fortunately, he did come back out, and we played the second encore of "Great Balls Of Fire". Then I mistakenly went off on my side of the stage instead of the usual other side, thinking that our vehicles would be there and I would meet the others coming across the backstage to the cars. I was wrong and didn't see anyone, so I panicked and ran to the other side only to see none of the band there either! Sue saw me and hurriedly pushed me towards a door where I saw the vans, and the last one was leaving as I opened the door! Fortunately the driver stopped, and I quickly got in! If I had been two seconds later, I would have been left behind for the two days off without any clean clothes, contact lens solution, glasses, toiletries, etc.! We sped to the airport with a police escort to avoid the after gig traffic and therefore make the departure time before curfew. When we got to the jet, I was drinking my usual cranberry/grapefruit juice and spilled it all over the floor of the jet and my pants and shoes! Then a few minutes later I knocked a bottle of water over and got my pants and jacket all wet! To make matters worse, I bumped my head getting into the van that would take us to our hotel in Nice. Then, the final insult was when I hit my head again on a sharp corner of a decorative pillar in the lobby of the hotel! I could not wait to get to my room and get in bed, afraid of what might happen next! I surely needed two days off like I may never have before. So much for my glamorous image!
 

After our show in Milan, we had two days off to rest up. In Nice's old town area I did some shopping in the antique market, which is held weekly. Lots of great things to see, and I bought a few too. On the second day, Jack, John M. and I took a long walk, looking for a museum that had an exhibit of ancient musical instruments, but when we got there we found out it was the wrong museum! We went in anyway, and saw some beautiful and disturbing paintings, some by Dufy, and some by a very dark and mysterious-styled painter named Gustav Adolph Mossa. After looking through the museum, we continued to walk around for quite awhile - Nice is a very large city, especially on foot! We stopped by FNAC, the French equivalent of Tower Records, and picked up a few new CDs to listen to - The Manic Street Preachers (great British rock band), Oasis's new B-sides collection, Bob Dylan's 1966 concert and Jimmy Rosenberg's (Dutch Django-styled prodigy) new solo disc. Upon returning to the hotel, we had some dinner and tried to see the meteor shower, but it was too light in the sky from the city. The flight the next day to Frankfurt was beautiful with the snow covering the Alps below looking like an other-worldly painting. It was very cold when we arrived in Frankfurt -nearly freezing. The company that provides all our transportion from the airports to the venues is owned by a medical doctor, Kai, and he was on hand backstage to give us Vitamin B-12 shots as a preventive measure against the possibility of catcing the flu during this cold weather. I was also quite happy to see Fergy back with us, who was moving pretty slow, but doing better enough to be back with us. The inside of the venue looked like a giant church, and had two tiers of seating all the way around the building. When we started to perform, it felt like we were playing in a church - the audience was all seated very politely, and not really clapping too much. I could see the Hercules contingent up on their feet trying to get the audience into it, but everyone else just sat there, and I thought we would be in for a long, boring show. Then a couple girls came up front and just stood there. They were joined by a couple more, then a steady stream of people staring pouring down to the front, and before we knew it the whole place was up on their feet, rocking like crazy! It was the most amazing transformation for a show that I had ever seen. There were some guys on the balcony over on my side just goin' nuts, and really giving me some great feedback, and two sisters that we had met in Ghent threw Davey and I teddy bears onstage! Normally just Elton gets these sorts of gifts, so this was kind of fun. Another girl in the front had many signs that she would wave during the songs, saying "Hercules", "Davey", "Reg", "Fox", etc. I would have to say that along with the Berlin show last Spring (in the rain) this is the best show we have ever done in Germany by far! After the show I was careful to go off the correct side of the stage, and made sure I was in the van - no repeat of the last show's aftertravel bumbling for me!
 

Today found us again flying over the Alps, and they were even more breathtaking than the day before. It was one of our longer flights to Cologne, about 90 minutes or so. Elton and some of the band took naps, and it was so quiet during the flight that Elton asked if everyone was OK after he woke up. I think we are all just a little tired from over a year of constant touring, as you too would be! It was again quite cold when we arrived at the venue in Cologne - a very beautiful and interesting new arena. We all went to the stage to check our gear, and I found a problem with my pedalboard that Fergy quickly fixed after opening it up! It is really great to have him back. We had lots of time to hang out before the show, and Elton spent quite a bit of time on our dressing room, just talking and cutting up. There are not many people in the world that are funnier than him when he gets going, and is in the right mood. The audience was eerily silent as we took the stage, and remained pretty reserved for most of the show. They stood every once in a while, and listened very intently for the most part. Some people finally ventured down front, and eventually more joined them, but it was much tamer that the crowd in Frankfurt the night before. I did recognise a number of Regheads in the front, and as always appreciated their support. Elton stuck right with the setlist - no suprises tonight, except for a couple of technical glitches towards the end of the show for Fergy and I. After the show we rushed out to the airport, again with a police escort, and got back onto the jet for the ride back to Nice. Davey and I discussed the possibility of doing some Crop Circles shows together during our time off, and already have one scheduled for the 29th of January in L.A. as part of the NAMM show (the largest musical instrument trade show in the world). Acoustic Guitar magazine is sponsoring a show at the historic Biltmore Hotel, and they have invited us to be a part of that, which should be a really nice show. We may do a couple other small shows around the So. Cal. area as well. When we finally got back to the hotel, I was waiting for an elevator when I heard a faint cry coming from inside: "We're trapped in here!". I listened closer and heard it was Guy's voice, and I could also hear Bob and Clive as well. The hotel has two tiny elevators, and the three of them were stuck in one that stopped about 2 feet shy of the top, so the outer door wouldn't open. They weren't panicking, but kept a good sense of humor about it and soon the night clerk arrived with a special tool to get the door to open up. We all had a good laugh about that, and headed off to our rooms for some much needed rest.
 
 

Following Thursday's show in Cologne, we had a day off in Nice. Most of the day was spent sleeping in, as we had arrived back very late the night before. I did venture out to see a small museum in the "old town" section of Nice, the Palais L'Escaris. It was very beautiful inside, and featured an exhibit of antique violins and cellos. Later that evening Davey, Jack, Billy, Bob Halley and Baz Marshall (Elton 's transportation coordinator) had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel called La Petite Maison. As Davey had made friends with the staff during earlier visits, they treated us like kings and brought us out an amazing dessert tray, complete with sparklers, lowered lights and EJ music blaring from the speakers! We were knocked out and will surely visit there again when in Nice. Saturday afternoon we resumed our normal routine, leaving the hotel mid-afternoon for the airport, and a 90 minute flight to Erfurt, in former East Germany. We had been warned about the weather there, and it was about 28 degrees when we landed, with snow and ice on the ground. It is somewhat shocking, when earlier in the day in Nice it had been sunny, although a little on the chilly side. There were some problems with the electrical power, so we had to wait awhile to soundcheck, as the gear onstage had no electicity running to it. The crew worked it out with just enough time for Clive to get the PA set for the evening's show, as he has to adjust the overall tone of the PA system, tailoring it to each different hall and it's accompaning characteristics. The cheer that arose when the lights went out was a sign of good things to come, and we started the show off to a huge standing-room only crowd that was roaring its approval. Throughout the show the crowd was very responsive, giving Elton a huge ovation after "Rocket Man", so much so that he jumped up and stood on the piano stool to receive the applause! I was suprised myself at the crowd, as I am used to German audiences being a little more tame, but these guys (and girls) rocked! Elton was singing really well, and Clive told us after the show that it was the best show musically of the tour, so far. That is really nice, when Elton, the band and Clive all feel the same about a show. Usually, everyone has a different view of the evening's show. On the jet back to Nice the vibe was very good, and Davey, Elton and I had some fun when the two of them started reminiscing - telling some hilarious stories about the early days of their touring together. That's one of my favorite things; when musicians that have known each other for a long time start with the stories - it's usually hysterical. Tomorrow will be our last day off in Nice, so I plan to climb the many steps up the the viewing platform near the Chateau here, one thing I have just got to do before I leave this beautiful city.
 
 

My last day off in Nice was spent hiking up the many stairs to get to the top of the chateau which sits above our hotel. It is an old site with ruins of a cathedral, gardens, a waterfall and great views of Nice on both sides. Being a sunny day, the vibe was really pleasant, and this was something I had wanted to do ever since we arrived in Nice, so I'm glad that I finally did it. I also took a long walk down to the center of town to the FNAC store to buy some CDs for Fergy's birthday, but being a Sunday they were closed! For dinner, Davey, John M., Billy, Jack, Baz and I had planned to take Bob Halley out as our guest, for setting up such a nice hotel for us and making it possible for us to travel on the jet with Elton. Elton's butler, Laurent, suggested a retaurant in nearby Monte Carlo that he knew to be good. We had a very pleasant 45 minute drive up the coast to Monte Carlo, and had a wonderful meal at the Cafe Sass, where Princess Stephanie of Monaco was dining at the next table! We told Laurent if it was good enough for royalty, it was good enough for us. Monday morning came around too quickly, and it was time to pack up and leave our "home away from home" in Nice for the last time, as after the evening's show we would be flying to London for our next shows in the UK. Another great view of the Alps, and this time we were joined by Elton's partner David Furnish on the jet. Elton took a nap on the way to Hannover, and David and I spent the flight catching up with each other, as we hadn't seen one another in a long time. He has been busy running Rocket Pictures, and is close to having the company's first film in production. When we landed in Hannover it was 28 degrees, with snow and ice covering the ground. It was quite a long trip to the venue by car -nearly an hour due to traffic even though we again had a police escort. When we arrived at the venue, it seemed cold and imposing, and Elton wasn't too keen on it, but after the show started the sound was so good and the audience so attentive that he (and the rest of us) couldn't help but have a great time. The band played and sang really well, and it was a joy to have such good acoustics on stage. "Bennie and the Jets" was left out of the set, but I didn't mind as the set seemed to have a better flow, moving right into the one-two punch of "Bitch" and "Saturday.." to get the crowd rockin' and up on their feet. After the show was done we rushed back to the airport, and had a fairly short flight over to London, then got our visas stamped and headed into London, about one hour away. We will stay at a hotel that we all know well, so it will feel good be in another "familiar" place and have a knowledge of the neighborhood, etc. It is also very cold here in London, so those of you in sunny places, count your blessings!
 
 

After our show in Hannover, we flew into London for two days off. I spent the days shopping and visiting with friends, and had a meeting with Davey and his old friend Kiki Dee about the possibility of some musical projects together. Davey's son Tam and his uncle Joe Partridge (who played in the 70 's with both Kiki and Elton) were in town, and it was great to visit with the two of them. Tam's band has been forced to change their name from Jaguar to Carson, due to some legalities, but their second single will be released soon and the band is starting to build a following in the UK. On Thursday we took a tour bus up North to Sheffield, about a three-hour drive. When we arrived at the venue it was planned to have a rehearsal with Elton to go over "Made In England" and "Sacrifice", to be added to the set that night, but when we got onstage Elton had changed his mind and chosen not to add the songs, and instead played us two tracks from the new South Park CD that were quite funny. Davey had warned us that the audiences in Sheffiled were notoriously staid, and at the start of the show it seemed as though the crowd would live up to that reputation. The show built very slowly, but by the very end of the show the crowd finally got up on their feet. Elton was very pleased at the turnaround, and we felt like it had been hard work, but well worth the effort!
 
 

We drove over to Manchester following the Sheffield show and checked in to our hotel there, a fairly short two hour drive. The following afternoon I had setup a lunch meeting with a group of my friends from the Liverpool/Manchester area at a gourmet "California style" restaurant called Mash and Air, and we all had a great time visiting and enjoyed the fine cuisine there. That is one of the great things about touring is the chance to see friends from time to time. The afternoon went really quickly, and soon it was time to head over to the venue. When we arrived it was straight to the stage for a run through of "Sacrifice", which would be added to the set tonight with a special guest vocalist from the area, Gary Barlowe. Gary was formerly in a very popular UK group called Take That, and is also a great songwriter. He and Elton treaded verses, and harmonised together on the chorus, blending their voices really well. It gave the song an added kick, and I was looking forward to playing it for the audience later. After soundcheck it was time for my own "meet and greet", as I had nearly 16 guests just myself! Graham Webb, who owns a big hair products company came out with his family, all the friends that I had eaten lunch with, plus Dave Glover (artist relations with Fender UK) and his Mom. Dave had a special gift for me from Fender - a fiesta-red Hank Marvin model Stratocaster, complete with "cut-down" tremolo arm. It is a beautiful-looking guitar, with a great feeling neck and quite nice tone as well. He also brought some copies of the Fender Frontline magazine, for which I was the cover story. He had done the interview a couple months before, and the issue also incuded a great review of the Crop Circles CD too. With so many guests there, I was kind of excited for the show to get started. We could tell immediately that this crowd would be much warmer than the night before. The last time we were supposed to play in Manchester was last Summer with Billy Joel, and that show got cancelled last minute due to Billy losing his voice. The Mancunians showed their appreciation of this make-up show with lots of heartfelt applause from the get go. Elton's voice was a little hoarse, but he warmed up as the show went on. The crowd really went nuts when Elton introduced local boy Gary Barlowe. He sang really well, and it was really a special version of the song. The show just went up from there, and we all were happy to have done such a good show for the folks in Manchester who have been so patient! We all got back onto the bus to drive back down to London, and were on the motorway when we hit some really bad traffic. Seems as though there was a bad accident, and all the traffic was diverted off the motorway onto very small country roads! There was one road that it didn't seem like the bus would really fit between all the trees and hedges on either side, but eventually we did make it back onto the motorway after stopping for some directions from a local!