8/23/98 ~ San Diego, CA

Always a treat to come back to Southern California, Monday found us flying in to San Diego and driving over to Chula Vista, where the night's show was being held at a new outdoor ampitheater. The weather was just about perfect, and some of the crew had a chance for some R'n'R at the water park across the street earlier in the day. As most of us would be going straight home after the show, we didn't have a hotel booked and came straight to the venue, arriving much earlier than we usually would. I went directly to the stage and did my "chores", like tuning the pedal steel guitar and putting my reeds on my saxes. I was hoping to try out a new preamp for my acoustic guitar, but Fergy couldn't get the old one to come out, even though it was suppoused to be "easy" and a matter of two small tabs to push in allowing the assembly to slip out! Fergy, Rick and I all gave it a go and decided to wait 'til we could phone up the company who made the guitar and see if they had any tips... Being somewhat of a "local" show for the many So. Cal. residents in the band, we all had friends and family visiting, and it was nice to see lots of familiar faces. Bernie Taupin came down, and we had a chance to catch up a little on what each other had going on. Frank, Elton's lawyer was also on hand and I was quite suprised to see him, as he lives in England! The weather at showtime was still really nice and a little breezy, but the breeze turned into a bit of a problem when it shifted directions and started blowing from across the nearby land fill bringing some horrible odors with it! We all were kind of looking around to see if something was burning, or what that strange smell could be... The crowd was a nice one, and security allowed the fans who wanted to rush the stage come up and groove out with the band up front. I enjoyed the folk in front of me, and the number of times that Fergy had to replenish my pick supply attested to how much fun I was having with the crowd. After the show I had planned to stay in the area with an old friend from college, and so he parked his car in the back where all the limos, vans and cars were lined up to make a speedy exit, which we call a "runner". We all ran off stage into our respective rides and flew out of the ampitheater with the motorcycle police giving an escort. If we were to delay leaving even for a couple of minutes, we could be in hours of traffic getting out of the venue - I heard on the radio the next day that some folks got so fed up with the traffic that they just ended up sleeping in their cars! Probably a few more lanes leaving the venue would be in order... After two days off in LA we will have two shows at the Pond in Anaheim. As these are the closest shows to LA on this leg of the tour, they will also be heavily attended by guests and family members, so I will be looking forward to that!
 
 
 

After our show in San Diego, we had a couple days off. Since most of the band lives in LA, they all left immediately after the show for the 2 hr drive up to LA. I stayed behind and visited a friend from college, and we drove up the next morning to have lunch with some other college friends who had come down from North of the city. Being even more of a "hometown" gig than San Diego was, all of the band members as well as Elton had lots of guests and family attending the show, and the backstage vibe was very busy. I used to live in Anaheim myself, and it was kind of luxurious to be driven from my home down to Anaheim for the show in a Mercedes with a driver. Due to some mix up with the guest passes, most of my friends were kept from coming back to visit until almost 7:15, which left me only 15 minutes or so to catch up with old friends. John Page, head of the Fender Custom Shop attended with his wife, and it was nice to be able to host him for the evening to return the kindness he has extended with great instruments and service from the Custom Shop. Also among my guests were three musicians that I used to work with at Disneyland for many years, so it was quite the old home week. The way the backstage was setup, Elton's dressing room was way on the opposite side of the venue, so I didn't really see him or his guests much before the show, but did say a quick hello to David Furnish and Bernie Taupin while we were making our way to the stage for the show. Southern California has always been pretty crazy about Elton, and Anaheim's audience was no exception. An old friend (and major EJ fanJ)started the rush to the stage during the very first song, and soon she was joined by lots of fans who were really into the music, making the show energy just rocket out of control even in the first few songs! I had so much fun with the crowd, and like last January at the Forum, I was really proud of the hometown crowd. Elton and the rest of the band felt the energy too, and we all put on an excellent show. The sound to my ears was a little echo-y, but that was just due to the acoustics in the venue itself, and Clive was satisfied with the mix so I'm sure it was good for the audience as well.
 

Saturday was spent resting up and trying to get energized for the night's show. This time I was joined by family and friends for the ride down to Anaheim, and we made the trip in a beautiful dark purple metallic limo. The traffic was not as busy being a Saturday, and the trip down was very quick. Again we all had many guests, and I hosted a lot of friends as well as business associates Daryl Jamison from SWR amps (the amps that Davey and I use for our acoustic guitars), Fred Stuart (a master builder at the Fender Custom Shop) and James Jensen (head of Solid Air Records, who puts out Crop Circles). James also brought the Zambonis, famous for making the machine that smoothes out the ice for hockey games! I made a point to go over to Elton's dressing room and reception area to say hello to a few people, and was introduced to some folks from the South Park show, and saw Elizabeth Hurley and husband Hugh Grant too. Many other guests were attending, but only one got up and sang with Elton - Jim Carrey! We in the band were all suprised when Elton introduced "Rocket Man", as the first duet between himself and Jim Carrey, who came out onstage wearing one of Elton's red leather Versace jackets with gold letters on it. The crowd went mad as he came out, and cheered wildly for each line he sang. After the vocal part was over, he sat next to Elton on the piano bench and banged out a few low notes with his head on the keyboard. Elton, the band and the crowd all got a big laugh out of that, and Jim was obviously very thrilled and excited to have gotten to sing with Elton on one of his biggest hit songs. The rest of the set went really well, and again the So. Cal. audience did me proud. Between encores sometimes we change into our street clothes to make a quick exit, as to avoid he traffic leaving the venue. This night I didn't have quite enough time to change, and was horrified to hear the opening notes of "Saturday Night's Alright" while still making my way to the stage partially dressed! I had to play the last encore with my shirt unbuttoned, and Elton had a little laugh at my panicked expression. Apparently a few people in the audience didn't mind, but I would've been more comfortable had I planned to go out onstage showing skin rather than just because of the circumstances - just goes to show you never can tell, as Chuck Berry once said in a song...
 

We had one day off after the Anaheim shows to recuperate, then it was an early flight over to Denver for a show there. If you've ever flown to Denver, you'll know that the landings there can be pretty bumpy, and our landing was no exception. I had been up the night before with a touch of food poisoning or flu, I'm not sure which, and the added turbulence of the landing was causing me to look with just a little concern for a barf bag - but fortunately I didn't need it in the end. The airport is so far from downtown that people joke about it being in Kansas, and there was also lots of traffic due to a big football game in town, so getting to the hotel and the venue took more time and planning than usual. The venue was another "shed", or partially covered seating with a lawn section in the back Almost every city in the country has one now, and of course Summer is the time when many shows are put on there. We arrived a little later than normal, and due to an early curfew (the venue is very near some condos) and an earlier-than-normal start time, we barely had time to eat, do last minute checks on the gear, change and perform! Elton came into our dressing room and was glad to be away from all the extra guests and bustle of the So. Cal. shows, and jokingly chided me for being late onstage for the last encore in Anaheim. We quickly took the stage and got into the show, and the audience started coming to life - not as quickly as the Anaheim crowds, but not bad either. There had been a possible forcast for rain, but the weather held throughout the whole show and our audience stayed dry. I for one felt the extra difficulty of breathing in enough air to hold out long vocal notes and sax parts, due to the "thinner" air in the high altitude of Denver. I could tell Elton was having a little trouble with it too, although he didn't complain and put on his usual great show. After the strenuous weekend, a flight to Denver and the show in the high altitude I think we are all looking forward to a few days off. And again, most of the band will have the chance to go home and spend a little time with our families - a precious thing while in the middle of a long touring season.
 
 

After a few days off at home, we gathered in Chicago the night before the show. Davey and I had an appointment to tape an appearance on Jim Turano's radio show for airing on AM lOOO on Sunday at 4:00 pm. Davey's tech Rick Salazar had our guitars delivered to the hotel for us, as the radio station was located directly across the street. We taped an interview with Jim as well as performing three songs from our CD Crop Circles. The hour long taping went really well and seemed over before we knew it. The venue was quite a ways out of town, so we were driven out there on bus, which we will be travelling on for the shorter distances on the rest of this US leg. On the hour plus drive we watched the first half of "Slingblade", leaving the second half for the after-show drive to Indianapolis. The noise from the crowd as the lights went down for the start of the show was deafening, a good sign for the upcoming show. Due to the size of the crowd and the partial roof over the audience, the sound of their clapping and screaming was somewhat amplified, giving us all onstage a great feeling at the end of each song. Even though the weather was pretty muggy and the mosquitos were vicious (I got bitten through my shirt!), the enthusiasm of the crowd propelled us on to a great show. One fan even jumped onstage and bowed down to Elton's feet like a knight bowing to the queen! Obviously Chicago is very fond of Elton, and we will all look forward to the next chance to play there.
 

After Chicago's show we all got on the bus for a three hour drive to Indianapolis. On the bus we watched the second half of 'SlingBlade' and also a Chris Rock comedy - video, which was hysterical. Before we knew it we were at the hotel and checked in for a good night's sleep. The next day was spent sleeping in, having a great lunch with frineds at the Palomino restaurant, and doing a little shopping. Again the venue was a little ways out of town, actually in another town called Noblesville. We were warned that there would likely be alot of bugs out there, but they weren't really too bad for the show. We seemed to have settled into a groove with the setlist - we have played the same one now for a few shows. Elton decided to move "Teenage Idol" earlier in the show, and it seems to be going over better there. The audience was a little conservative at first, but got more into the show as it went on. By "Simple Life" they were really rocking out, and I had a great time with the folks in front of my side of the stage. I think I went through a record number of picks, as Fergy had to refill my pick holder on my mic stand four times! I gave my camera to Tony "Smithy" Smith, Guy's tech during the show and he got some nice shots - thanks Smithy! A couple of the band decided to ride the bus up to Toronto after the show, but most of us chose to spend the night in Indianapolis and fly up to Toronto for a day off before Monday night's show there. Toronto is one of my favorite cities, so I am looking forward to spending a little time there.
 

9/l/98 ~ Toronto

We were scheduled on a direct flight from Indianapolis to Toronto, but when we checked in we found out that the plane was having some mechanical difficulties with one of it's flaps and we chose to take a different flight that routed us through Pittsburgh, arriving in Toronto around 7:00 pm. Toronto is one of my favorite cities, and I was a bit disapponted to have so little time there. After checking in to the hotel Bob, Guy, Clive, Jack and I went out for an Italian meal near the hotel. We were suprised to find Elton and David dining there too with some of David's family who live in the area. The food and atmosphere were excellent, and we all had a nice evening, with Clive sharing some funny stories about his early days as sound mixer for Elton. The next day was show day, and I had a chance to go out in the morning and visit my favorite boot shop in Toronto, Master John's. I have bought many different pairs of boots there over the years, and ordered a custom-made pair of Beatle-style boots made of a ribbed black suede with medium heels and high sides with zippers. They really do a great job there, and I have been wearing a pair of their boots onstage with Elton for the past three years! As we would again be driving after the show to Buffalo, we checked out of the hotel early and went to the venue. We took advantage of the extra time there to go over some songs that Elton may want to add to the set for the European leg of the tour. Two are favorites of mine that I haven't played with Elton yet, "Nikita" and "Healing Hands". Others are "I'm Still Standing", "Sacrifice", and "Believe". The catering was excellent, with so many good choices we all ended up eating way too much. My guests for the show were NEC/Packard Bell marketing manager Marty Herzog, who has been emailing me about a possible endorsemant deal with their computers. I recently bought a desktop system of theirs, and am quite impressed with it. I also had visited with some of David Furnish's family members, who were out in large numbers for the show. The weather couldn't have been better for the show, and occasionally we could see some Canadian geese fly across the field seating area during the first part of the show while it was still light. I for one didn't miss the bugs that have been at the shows lately! The crowd was very reserved at the start of the show, and stayed that way for so long that I was afraid they would never get going! Eventually they did start getting up on their feet and coming down to the stage. By "Crocodile Rock" the crowd was really getting with it, and stayed pumped for the rest of the show. Smithy again took some photos for me, as did Fergy. Many people were wondering if Elton would say or sing anything special for the anniversary of Princess Diana's death, but as I imagined, he did not include anything about it in the concert, prefering to keep the evening a celebratory evening of fun, entertainment and music.
 
 
 

 
During the bus ride from Toronto to Buffalo, Bob and I spent our time trying to figure out how to transfer info from my laptop to his using our infared ports. We were close to getting it when we got to the hotel and had to give up for now. I think I need to upgrade to Windows 98 before it will work. Spent most of the day answering fan, personal and business emails. It is astounding how much time that can eat up in a day. Lots of things to arrange - possible instore appearances for Davey and I in Hartford and New York, press interviews and photo sessions to promote Crop Circles, our CNN taping, etc. Add this to the day to day business of running a record label, keeping things together at home and trying to keep up with friends and families lives, and it is easy to see that there is not enough hours in the day. Davey and I went over to the venue later than the rest of the guys, but got there in plenty of time to have some great food in the catering room, and for me to visit with photographer Randi Anglin, who had come out to get some live shots of Davey and I for use by the record company as promotional items. He also did a few shots of me before the show for a series he is working on called "Master's Hands". I wasn't able to talk to him after the show, but it looked like he got some good shots. As always, I could tell we were back in America just by the sound of the crowd as we hit the stage. I say it over and over, but the U.S. crowds just seem to know how to rock more than in any other country, even Canada - which is suprising, due to the fact that Toronto and Buffalo are so close together, yet the vibe of the crowd was so different. The security guards vainly tried to get people back to their seats before "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", but it was useless. As soon as they got some people away from the front, more replaced them. There was one girl with Elton's face tatooed on her back who almost lost it when he paused to sign her CD cover - she was in tears many times during the show. There was also a little guy of about l0 or so that looked so much like our monitor man Alan, that we were cracking up during the show. Poor John Mahon was having some equipment problems, and we were all waiting for him to start "Simple Life", but eventually had to start without him. That is such a frustrating thing, when the gear goes wrong and you have to be the one holding up the show. Fortunately our techs are so on it that situations like that don't happen often. All in all it was a great show though, and nice to be indoors again - no bugs, and better sound and lights! Again we will scatter for the next few days off - Jack, Davey and I will go home, Guy to Atlanta to work on "Elaborate Lives" (the new title for "Aida "), and the rest of the band on the bus to Bristow, VA for a couple days off before the next show.
 
 
 

After a few days at home, Jack and I met at the airport to fly to DC for the evening's show. Unfortunately there were no direct flights, and due to the volume of people flying and the severe understaffing of U.S. Airlines, we nearly didn't get on our flight. Although we had advance tix, no seats had been assigned to us, and the flight was oversold. Luckily we were able to get on the flight, but were not allowed to take our carry-on bags with us, as the plane was alreday full! Nearly the same thing happened in our connecting airport, but we bypassed the regular ticket agents and went directly to the special services desk for some help, which we got. As you can imagine, U.S. Airlines is not one of my favorites at the moment! A quick drive over to the hotel, just in time to have lunch with some friends who had come in for the show, and a brief meeting with some new friends who are working on some promotional ideas for helping get the word out about Crop Circles, George Pappas and his family. As the venue was about an hour away from the hotel, we left mid afternoon to assure no traffic problems would make us late for the show. As we got out of the bus we could hear Elton onstage testing his voice out, and we went straight to the stage to see if he wanted to run anything with the full band, which he didn't. We ran over "Made In England", which may be added back to the set for the next leg. My friends were coming over to the show early to visit a bit during dinner time, and I had promised to sign a few pictures for folks at the backstage door, so it was quite busy before showtime. The weather was just perfect, and Frank Presland, Elton's lawyer couldn't get over how nice the "shed" type setup was for an outdoor summer concert. He is from England, and even the nicest days over there don't really compare to a good Summer evening, weather-wise, in the U.S. We hit the stage and started up "Circle Of Life", and the crowd was very excited for the show to start. However, either the security was especially tight or the crowd was just laid back, but it took until nearly the very end of the show for the crowd to come down front to the stage. When the crowd is just sitting for a long time, not dancing or up on their feet, it just doesn't get the energy going like when the crowd is really rockin'. When they finally got up towards the end of the show I could tell that we had gotten them, but it took some work! The sound was good onstage, and from what I heard is was good out in front also. The crowd was very entertaining, however, with some very cute kids and nice looking girls down front - also a guy who wore oversized sunglasses throughout the whole show! One girl with a broken leg even managed to wheel her wheelchair down to the front and get up on one leg to shake Elton's hand. Everyone in the band and staff and crew seem to be doing well and enjoying themselves, and it is always a pleasure to have Frank, Connie Hillman and EJ's agent Howard Rose out with us too. Tomorrow it is over to Merriweather Post Pavillion for another show. Reminds me of the first time I played there, in 1985 with Dan Fogelberg. Boy, time sure seems to slip by quickly...
 
 
 

As Elton spent the night after the show in the same hotel as us, he arranged for a traditional English Sunday lunch to be served for all the band, DC, Howard Rose, Bob Halley, Paul Davies and Frank Presland. It was really good food, and nice to have a "family-style" sit down meal out on the road. As we were driving after the night's show to Columbus, we checked out of the hotel early and headed out to the venue. When we pulled up to the venue, we heard Elton running through "Blue Eyes", which he wanted to add to the set tonight. After running it through with the band a couple times, we started playing "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". It sounded so good that Elton decided to add it to the set for the next show, in Columbus. We also tried "Better Off Dead", which may be added for the European tour. There were some Secret Service men around the backstage, and I found out that Tipper Gore and some of her family members were attending the show. She was bopping all through the set, right in front of my spot on stage. Guy's family also came to the show, as he is from the area originally. The weather was pretty humid and hot by showtime, and I was jealous of Davey, with his fan down by his microphone base, keeping him cool with a constant breeze. I asked Fergy to get me one for the rest of the outside shows. The crowd was more animated than the Bristow crowd, but still took awhile to get on their feet and dance. Elton was playing and singing quite well, and Clive said that we sounded really good in the house as well. There were lots of familiar faces out in the crowd - Regheads, friends and even Stephan Heimbacher, the editor of the European EJ fanzine Hercules. Everybody was singing along really loud during "Crocodile Rock" and the vibe became like a big party. Jack is getting a lot more comfortable with the songs, and is really laying into the drums, setting down some great grooves for us all to play off of. After the show we drove to Columbus, quite a long drive, for two days off before our show there. I want to say thanks to everyone for being so patient with the problems we've been having with accessability from AOL, et al - we'll be getting it fixed up soon.
 
 
 

 
After a couple short days off at home, I flew up to Columbus for the night's show. As we would be driving after the show, I just hung out in DC's room at the hotel until it was time to go to the venue. I guess Fall is truly upon us, as the weather was just beautiful - low humidity, cool breezes, high fluffy clouds - quite nice. As it was planned to add "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy" to the set, we had a soundcheck/rehearsal to go over it with Elton. Davey is using my acoustic guitar stand so that he can play both acoustic and electric guitar on it, and I am playing the mandolin. We got it sounding really nice in rehearsal, and I looked forward to playing it that night. After soundcheck the weather was so nice that I ate dinner out on a patio with a good friend who came down from Youngstown for the show. It got a little chilly by showtime, and Sue put out a jacket and longeleeved shirt if we felt the need for more clothes I opted for the shirt, which had a mandarin collar and fit pretty well. The audience of course was pretty primed for the start of the show, and it kicked off with a bang. The sound of the venue itself was kind of strange, and we all had to concentrate extra hard on our timing as a unit. Most of the time that just comes naturally, but sometimes the acousics of a venue can play tricks on our ears, causing us to play out of time just slightly. That in itself makes for a more difficult show, but I don't think the audience noticed - they were just having a great time. We didn't play "Captain Fantastic.." quite as well in the show as we had in rehearsal, and it didn't seem to go over really well, except for the full-on Regheads, who of course loved it. Hopefully Elton will give it another couple tries, but it may get dropped quickly. The rest of the show went well. A couple times when I came up short with a "pick throw", the intended recipient climbed up onstage to retrieve the pick! I was a little concerned that I might get some grief from security about that, but fortunately the audience members got right back down offstage as soon as they got their picks. After the show we ran straight to the bus to head to Madison, my birthplace. It was a long ride, and Bob and Clive both helped me work on some photos on the computer for artwork for my upcoming solo CD, Emotional Savant. They are both whizzes working with digital images, and came up with some cool effects. After a while the bumpiness of the bus made it too tedious to keep working on the computer, so we sat back and watched "Nick at Nite" from the satellite TV until we rolled into Madison in the wee hours of the morning...
 
 
 

 
I spent most of our day off resting and recovering from the overnight drive, and answering a mountain of emails. I was happy to be able to visit in the evening with some old friends now living in Madison. It is always a treat to be and eat in a home while out on the road, as hotels and restaurants can get old after awhile. We again checked out early from the hotel, as we would be driving overnight again. As we all arrived early at the venue, we took advantage of the chance to go over another song which may be added to the set in Europe, "Better Off Dead", another song from the Captain Fantastic album. We also ran through "Captain Fantastic.." again, and it will stay in the set, at least for now. Due to curfew reasons the show had to start a half hour earlier, so I rushed though dinner to get ready for the show. I didn't really know what to expect from the audience, but when we hit the stage the roar from the crowd was so loud that I had a hard time hearing the tempo of the opening song! I was proud of my birth state, and the energy level just kept getting higher and higher during the show. "Captian Fantastic.." went a lot better tonight than last night, and it seemed to be received better too. The venue was rather new and setup in the round. It is the first time in a while that we have played in the round, and I had fun playing to the folks in back of the stage. After the band intros, Elton introduced his piano tech Dale Sticha who is from Madison. The crowd really let Dale know that they were proud of their home town boy, and it was fun to see Dale in the spotlight. The crowd was so fun and enjoyable to play for that I was sorry we had to finish the set and leave - even after three hours of high energy performance, but we had to go and get on the bus for the night's drive to Cleveland. During the drive we watched an old documentary of Elton from 1974 that a "Reghead" had brought to the show for me. It was really fun and interesting to see how much Davey, Elton, Bernie, Nigel and John Reid had changed over the years. After the video was done we spent awhile discussing the situation of the President's court papers being made public, which to me does nothing of any benefit to anyone. We stopped at a Truck Stop for some gas, and when I went in to the convenience store to check out the snacks and souvenirs I saw an old Desert Rose Band cassette of our second CD Running. I bought it, and we gave a listen to it in the bus. It still sounded pretty good to me after all these years, and it brought back a lot of memories. I hadn't realised that we had three number one singles off that CD, and one more top ten single - not bad out of ten songs! After listening to the tape, it was time to hit the bunk for a few hours sleep before checking into the hotel in the morning - one of my least favorite things about being on the road is walking through the hotel lobby half asleep when there is a lobby full of people who are all rested and ready to start the day!