>>COSMO'S NORTH AMERICAN DIARY - WEEK 4



DAY 22- Saturday, February 15, 2003

SHOW IN LAS VEGAS


Mandalay Bay. Great gig. Too bad we didn't have a day off here in Vegas. I rolled off the bus and headed into the gig.

Mandalay Bay is your normal arena type gig- big and roomy. The rig was already up, and I had to hurry to focus my lights before it went up to trim. Also, catering is in the employee cafeteria here, which is miles away. I decided to skip breakfast and have an early lunch later.

Today was the day we got our new carpenter- John. Now, John is quite a character. John has been friends with the Scorpions for a long time now, and he works for other bands in varying degrees. John is a lovable guy, he just has this tendency to, let's just say, embellish a lot. He is actually quite the storyteller, however, on some occasions, let's just say that some of his stories kinda get a little long winded. In any case, John was a welcome addition to the crew, as we desperately needed another hand out here.

A very good friend of mine, who I'll call "Beerman," lives in Sacramento, and was coming to Vegas to visit and watch the show. He turned up shortly after lunch- it was great to see him. He knows a few other guys on the crew, so they all greeted him as well. He was going to stay with us through San Jose and go home from there. It was great to see him. After I focused and programmed, we took a few photos out by the buses, and of the marquee outside.

Las Vegas is the home of the USAF Thunderbirds, and I know several of the guys on the team. Unfortunately, they were out of town doing a show somewhere in the country, but I did have another friend from the Air Force coming down, Rooster. These guys in the Air Force are just the best people I know, it is always a pleasure when they can come down to the show.

Also, since we were so close to Los Angeles, there were many "stars" coming down tonight. Since the Universal Amphitheater shows were sold out, this show ended up taking the overflow. And what overflow. All of the sudden, the Guest List was growing by leaps and bounds. The amount of passes was over the top. Everybody started panicking because of the amount of requests still coming in. Even my phone started ring with people I didn't even know! Friends of a friends' cousin's neighbor whose father once met David Coverdale in 1983 at some party. ? Yes? And you want what? Anyway, the guest list was closed, which was fine with me. I felt sorry for the Production having to deal with this, because at this point, every band member was calling in with the latest editions. Vince Neil was coming. Kevin Dubrow was coming. Our guest list read like a who's who of 80's hair bands.

See, another little trick is that many guests come to Vegas to get a laminate, and then turn up at the show in Hollywood expecting to gain entrance. What they don't know is that we have new passes made up for the show in Hollywood. Won't they be surprised.

After dinner, I was walking backstage and somebody came running and grabbed me- it was Vince Neil. I had worked with him and Motley Crue back in 98 and 99. It was good to see him. We caught up on things, Vince was his usual crazy self. He told me about a new project that he was working on, the details of which I can't divulge right now, but it sounds interesting, to say the least. I am sure we will hear about it soon.

The show was quite good, a great crowd on a Saturday night. I think two-thirds of the audience were from LA. During the Scorpions show, we had a surprise guest with Vince Neil coming up and singing "Hurricane" with the band. The audience loved it, of course.

After the show, the backstage was crammed with the usual amount of LA Liggers, packed to the hilt. I loaded my gear up and got out of the way. I headed upstairs to the casino with Beerman and watched the gamblers and had a couple of beers. I am not a gambler, but enjoy watching.

Beerman and I headed back to the gig and got on the bus for the ride to Bakersfield. One more show and then a day off. I was looking forward to that.




DAY 23 - Sunday, February 16, 2003

SHOW IN BAKERSFIELD


We played a rather new arena that I have never been to before. Ticket sales here were a bit lackluster, which was a drag considering we were so close to LA. I mean, we're even closer to LA than we were in Vegas last night, but I guess Bakersfield just doesn't rate like Las Vegas does.

Today was rather uneventful, I think everybody is a bit tired, as the show in Vegas took a lot out of everybody, plus this is the third show of three-in-a-row. I think it is also depressing that we are selling so badly here.

I have a few friends here, a couple of girls I have known for a very long time. They are sweet as can be and it had been a while since I had seen them. Yvonne and Deanna. I met them years ago on another tour I was working on and we have stayed in touch ever since. As a matter of fact, Yvonne ended up marrying a close friend that I introduced to her back in 99 on Motley Crue. They arrived a little early so we could catch up. It was good to see them both. Also, Deanna's 70-something Mother wants to come to the show- apparently, she's a huge Whitesnake fan. I said bring her on! She'll have a blast.

I do what I call a "Tour Newsletter" on nearly every tour that I do, and this one is no different. I try to come up with a catchy name for it, and then I write articles about different things, usually about things that are happening on the tour. Sometimes I embellish quite a bit to make it interesting, but as the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction. I also write a guide for days off, what to do, where to eat, the local malls and so on. The crew seem to enjoy it, and it is usually rather informative. I decided to call this tours newsletter "ANTI-VENOM." I'll let you figure it out.

In any case, I finally had some time to get it going and today was the release of the first issue. After load in and focus, I spent the rest of the day writing it. I then printed it out and sent it off to Kinko's to get copies. After the show, I put several copies on each bus for the reading pleasure of the bands and crews.

Despite the low attendance, the arena looked good and the fans were great, even for a Sunday night in Bakersfield. Deanna's Mother had a great time, but she left after the Whitesnake show. Then again, that's why she came in the first place! Load out progressed rapidly as everyone wanted to get to their day off in San Jose. I distributed copies of the newsletter to all the buses. Afterwards, we had a few beers on the bus and I visited with Yvonne and Deanna. I walked Deanna to her car and said goodbye. Her and Yvonne were contemplating coming to the show in LA this weekend.

I jumped back on the bus and we headed off to a well-needed day of sleep.




DAY 24 -Monday, February 17, 2003

DAY OFF IN SAN JOSE


I got out of my bunk and greeted this beautiful Northern California day. We were parked on the street and I could not see the hotel. We were parked in front of the "Tech Museum," which, oddly enough, was one of the places I had put into the Anti-Venom as a good place to visit.

Our driver had left a map in the front of the bus- it seems that this was the closest we could get to the hotel and park. It was only a block and a half away. I gathered my luggage and checked in to the hotel.

We are staying right downtown San Jose. I have always liked this city, especially the fact that so many computer companies, like Adobe, have their headquarters located here. The city feels so "cutting edge," yet retains this comfortable "neighborhood" feel. I did my usual, unpacked, checked my email, showered and headed to the mall. I was in need of a few things, so Attaboy and I met in the lobby and left.

Tomorrow was my birthday. I usually go out and have lobster on my birthday, but since we were doing a gig, I thought I would go out here and find a lobster for dinner. Attaboy, Dan, Finn and I met in the lobby and I asked the concierge the best place to go for lobster. He recommended a restaurant called "Scott's Seafood," so we strolled over there to check it out. Unfortunately, they didn't have whole lobster, the closest thing they had was lobster ravioli. Uh-uh. Not for me. We just decided to walk around downtown San Jose, as there were tons of restaurants around. Unfortunately, no seafood restaurants. I knew of a sushi place, but, being Monday, it was closed. I settled on a place called "Gordonbiersch," which is a great brewpub. This actually sounded good to me. We sat at the bar, drank beers and ate good home-style food. The guys bought me dinner for my birthday. It was nice ending to a wonderful day off. We all headed back to the hotel, singing Ramones songs as we walked down the street.




DAY 25- Tuesday, February 18, 2003

SHOW IN SAN JOSE
MY BIRTHDAY


I woke up, feeling pretty good considering how much beer I drank. I lay in bed for a few minutes, then it dawned on me- hell, it was my birthday today! I smiled to myself, it was nice to have made it another year.

I got up, got ready and caught the bus to the gig. It was a very short ride to the venue, the HP Pavilion. The San Jose Shark hockey team plays here, I like this venue.

Load in was progressing rather well. The day went pretty normally. I had managed to keep it quiet that it was my birthday. I was always looking over my shoulder for God knows what. But I was ever fearful that somebody was up to something.

Fortunately, I made it through the day without being attacked by a pie or something worse- much worse. I was worried over nothing.

I went to my console to start the show, and there was a wrapped gift sitting there. It was from Finn. I opened it- it was a Ramones Live CD. Perfect!

The highpoint of the day was during the Scorpions show- Klaus started saying something about friends and family, suddenly, I knew where this was going- he was talking about me and then he announced that it was my birthday, and they started playing "Happy Birthday to You," the Scorpions and 8,000 fans in the audience…it was quite overwhelming to say the least. I cannot begin to describe to you the wonderful fuzzy feeling I had inside- but at the same time, I wanted to crawl under my console and hide. As I said, it was quite overwhelming, and touching. Simply put, it was incredible. A moment in my life I will never forget. Fortunately, only a moment, however. The show continued, and you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

After the show, the Scorps had a cake for me in the Dressing Room, where they once again sang Happy Birthday to me, although a little more intimate. We drank champagne and had a blast. As I said, a birthday that I will never forget.




DAY 26- Wednesday, February 19, 2003

SHOW IN SACRAMENTO


I woke up at 8 AM. I couldn't sleep, but I lay there nodding on and off for another hour or so. I finally got up and made my way into the venue. It was raining.

I felt pretty good when I first got up, but as I actually woke up, I started feeling lousy. Not really a hangover, I just felt like crap, and tired. I made my way to catering and had some coffee. I was really dragging ass. I proceeded with load in, just wanting to get back to my bunk and sleep some more. I ate lunch and felt better, just weary. After the rig was up to trim, … after lunch, I focused, then made my way back to the bus and crawled into my bunk around 2:30 PM.

I slept well, and felt much better. I crawled out of my rack at 5:00 PM and headed into the gig for a shower. Finally, I was back to normal. I met up with Mike and finally got to meet his new girlfriend, Laurie. I was suitably impressed. We went to catering and had a bite to eat, and then I headed to dimmers and had my spot meeting.

Today was Doug Aldrich's birthday, and Maddie, his tech, had bought a Fender Squire Telecaster for him and had everybody on the crew sign it. It was a wonderful gift. Maddie had everyone gather shortly before 7 PM and he presented it to him. Doug was obviously moved. It was a cool moment. I was glad to be a part of it. We have so many cool people out here on this tour. Doug is a phenomenal guitar player, but more than that, he is just a wonderful sweet and caring person. His wife is also a living doll. They are the perfect couple. I treasure their friendship, and feel privileged to know them.

The show was great tonight. I had gotten over my hangover and was my usual self again. Beerman is quite the wine connoisseur and always brings me a few bottles of wine, a couple to drink and a couple to bring home for the "cellar." We drank a wonderful bottle after the show, and then him and Laurie were off. We had a day off tomorrow in Phoenix, where several close friends live, and I was going to a barbecue. It was a long drive, so I opened another bottle of red to help me sleep.




DAY 27- Thursday, February 20, 2003

DAY OFF IN PHOENIX


I got up around 12:30 PM Phoenix time. I made my way to the front lounge; Achim was there, of course, working on his computer. We said good morning. I asked him how far to go- he said about 2 and a half hours. I knew I should've flown, but it was good to catch up on my sleep.

I sat for a few minutes contemplating what I should do. I called Sherrie to let he know when we would be there. I made several calls to friends and some business. I then pulled out the computer and started catching up on the diary.

We arrived at the hotel about 3 PM. The day was shot, but I was looking forward to the party at Val and Sherrie's. I called them and let them know we had arrived. Val said he would come to get me; I checked in, showered and called a few of the other guys to let them know I was leaving. Attaboy was coming. So was Dan and Mike. Finn said he'd meet us there.

We met in the lobby and waited a few minutes for Val. He arrived and we headed out to his house. It was a nice drive, about 40 minutes out of the city, nice.

Sherrie, happily preparing dinner for us, greeted us. Their house is beautiful, in the desert style. In their backyard was this beautiful Jacuzzi, more like a small beach. I grabbed a beer, changed into my swim trunks and took advantage of this oasis in the desert.

We had a blast. Several of their friends stopped by, and Finn made it shortly thereafter. We ate like kings, steak, steak and more steak. Val has this great telescope- Saturn was out tonight, so we took turns looking at the ringed planet. If you have never seen Saturn through a telescope- you haven't seen Saturn. Unbelievable.

A very close friend of mine, Jay Wells, was in town with the NHRA. He used to work for "Snake" Prudhomme, but retired after last years' season. He came by to visit us. It was great to see him. Tomorrow would be the first day of qualifying, but I wouldn't have any time to leave the gig.

We stayed until 11 or so, and then Jay offered to drive all of us back to the hotel, so we piled into his car and left. It was a very relaxing evening.




DAY 28- Friday, February 21, 2003

SHOW IN PHOENIX


The Cricket Pavilion. It used to be known as the Desert Sky Amphitheater. Either way, it is a great gig in the desert right outside Phoenix.

There was a worry that it would be too cold to do a show tonight, but it was nice and warm. I went to the stage and proceeded to work. During load in, someone said something about a Great White gig last night, that there had been a fire or something. As the morning progressed, the news we heard was bad- as you know by now- nearly a hundred people had died. I finally headed out to the bus to watch CNN- horrible. Everybody on the crew were speechless- this accident happened in our business- something we do every day, and it hit home hard. To bring it even closer to home, Francis had played drums with Great White in the very recent past- Ty Longley was one of his best friends- and now Ty was among the missing. Francis was in terrible shape.

The talk of the day was of course, about the Rhode Island tragedy. It was simply inconceivable that so many people could have died- but after watching the video and seeing how fast the fire spread- it became quite clear. Everybody had their opinion. Great White was at fault. The club allegedly knew about the pyro, so it was their fault. Regardless, at this point, we all hurt, as we were connected to the tragedy- we do shows every night, entertaining the fans who come to our show for a good time. I can guarantee you that some of the people who died in that fire had been at any number of previous shows that many of us on this crew and in the bands have done in that area. It was personal and we all felt a personal loss.

Still, what can you do? It was weird continuing to load in, knowing we were doing a show tonight. Even though we didn't have pyro, it made you think. Many of the fans tonight were Great White fans as well. And again, they had a connection to the victims. Still, the show must go on.

Fortunately, I busied myself with work and put the terrible events of what happened last night out of my mind. The weather was beautiful here. The show was selling well. Jay showed up in the afternoon, and took a bunck of photos. The bands showed up, all painfully aware of the tragedy. Klaus, again in his compassion, asked me if I thought it was in good taste for him to say something. Of course, I told him. All the bands said something during the show about the tragedy- as I said previously- we are all connected.

Ron Capps, who came to the show in San Diego, came again tonight. He came straight from qualifying during the show, and before the Scorpions encore, he indeed gave Klaus the shirt off his back! Klaus was ecstatic and wore it during the encore. After the sadness of the day, it was a welcomed event.




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