My Turn

There's two sides to every story, and I want everyone to share my take as well. Chuck will fill you all in on the musical side and I will do the rest...
Once we got to Los Angeles and settled into our Suite here at the Four Seasons it became our home. First off we stock up the mini fridge with snacks, light fare and wine along with coffee and drinks. Remember we live in this cubicle which is quite different from the sprawling big house on 2500 acres in Twiggs County. We've been doing this for 40 years now so we have it down! 31 with The Rolling Stones! Chuck is spending his days rehearsing, and I am painting some at the hotel and doing sketchbooking by the pool as usual. It takes up the hours. Rehearsals are civil: 2 to 8, and we can have dinner in a timely manner. Enjoy some TV time and rest.

Acrylic Painting of Bottle Bush Tree Blossom

Plus, Jenny Taylor (Ronnie Woods Asst.) asked me, Patti Hansen and Sally Humphreys, Ronnie's wife, if we would like to sign up for Zumba Classes down at the 3rd Street Dance Studio. We all agreed even though none of us had done it before. Wow! One hour of rocking Rumba/cardio dancing and exercise. I thought before I went that my old 64 year old self might just keel over, but I did fine. We all loved it and have been continuing our routine even through San Francisco and back here in LA. We had a couple of friends to join us: James McCartney (son of Paul) and Jane Rose. Sweet!

Marilyn Monroe with Rose Lane outside The 4 Seasons Hotel

 I have been working with the tour for some years now just bouncing from one department to the other. I have fixed salads and snacks in catering, counted tickets during the shows in Europe, assisted with Makeup and Wardrobe, and anything else I could find to do to keep my mind busy. I'm just a shaker and a mover.  On the first run of the shows I signed on to help Caroline and Isobel who work in makeup and wardrobe. It was a particularly hectic scene during those first 3 months. Mick and the design crew had decided to have a drum brigade of 50 people all dressed like Gorillas filing through the audience marching to a drum sequence designed by Matt Clifford. They were joined by 12 dancing girls and at the end of the performance on You Can't Always Get What You Want there was an additional Choir of about 30. The catch is this: They all had to be groomed, dressed and fed...this all going down from 2 pm and ending after the show at 11:30pm. Phew. This sort of thing takes an Army of tenders...one of which was me. We had 4 hair dressers and 4 clothes techs to take care of the gorillas as they had to have their hair put under black skull caps with large paper masks (which had to be fitted in case of glasses) and a long sleeved black tee. All of this work for a 10 minute interlude to open the show and then back to undo it all and pack it up for the next stop. Oh, the miles of walking that I did during those 5 shows is amazing. Wish I had bought a pedometer so I could keep up with it.

When we arrived here in Los Angeles I assumed that this would continue, and I put in for a permanent position working under Caroline Clements. She had come to my aide and asked that I be allowed to assist her at the shows. The answer was YES, and I finally have a job with The Rolling Stones. It changes daily according to the city, etc. I am calling myself the "Shoe and Wig Roadie" as we had Lady Gaga on the gig in NYC for Pay Per View and we all laughed so much because she had just "that" person on her staff. Or, given her show, that would probably be 3 or 4 people carrying shoes and hair. Anyway, it is all fun and games. We laugh a lot! w

Rose Lane, Grace Lee and Lisa Fischer

And, mostly just have a really good time. Of course, the tour did not continue with the Gorillas and all of that production. The Choir still sings on YCAGWYW but the rest of it fell by the wayside. The UCLA Marching band did open the first Staples show, and I do say they rocked Satisfaction to the top!!! All dressed in their regalia and sporting dark sunglasses.... Fun!
Now, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the RS50 which has been traveling through our entourage since arriving here in Los Angeles. It's been a really bad disease. Chuck, Charlie and others got sick immediately upon arrival. The bowl effect here is particularly bad right now as it hasn't rained during the 5 weeks + that we have been in California. Bad air quality has been a hamper, and I guess the stress of starting a new phase also takes a toll. Everybody wants to do their best job...Mick, luckily, has been able to withstand the bacteria as well as Bernard and Lisa...because what would the show be without our great vocalists. Bobby, Isobel and Caroline seem to be on the tail end of the deal. It has just been awful. Caroline had to stay home from the 2 shows in Anaheim. We had two able people in Patty Warner for hair and Jennifer  for makeup, but Caroline is the Mothering sort and everyone loves to sit in her chair and be calmed down just before the show. 

Caroline Clements with Bonnie Raitt

She was sorely missed by everyone. Chuck and I took her to Sunset Beach for a walk this past Sunday and a lunch by the sea. It did us all good, and we took Sunset Boulevard back to the Four Season Hotel....almost too easy given the traffic going up there. Monday we did a show at the Staples Center. It was great. No guest artists this time around...Mick said that the audience was the guest...On the way there Dr. Terri Rock, our staff physician, said that she had made a culture of the bacteria which has infested our camp and that it was a ugly hairy culture that they could not match to any other one hence we are naming it the RS 50 in honor of the tour. I hope that we are over the mess at this point!!!
Now, we have 2 more days off here in Los Angeles and then Thursday depart for Toronto. That is a very special city for us. The band has done all of the tour rehearsals there since the l989 Steel Wheels Tour. We all either lived in the Four Seasons in Yorkville or had houses around town mostly in the Bridle Path Area. Chuck and I opted for homes in and around Yorkville. I had a great friend to study art with there, Gail Balfe, but she has moved on up to Halifax. At any rate, we are all looking forward to a change in scenery. Toronto is it!!