COLUMBUS
5/29/15
The gym in the Hilton hotel was small, but adequate
and fortunately pretty much empty. After my workout, Rosie and I took a stroll
down the main drag, High Street. We would up buying a few things...for me, a
nice new blanket (my “pinkie”) to have for the hotel rooms, as I had forgotten
the one I usually take...and a couple of cool “distressed” tee shirts, and she
bought a sweater and a couple of other things. There were some pretty
unique stores to peek into, which helped
us pass the time. The guy in the shop that we bought the clothes recognized me,
which was nice. This night I would join Tim Ries, Darryl Jones, Bernard Fowler
and Karl Denson to do a club gig at a place called Park Street Saloon. We had a
sound check/rehearsal at about 6:30, and the place was on the way back to the
hotel. Tim had lined up some local musicians to round things out. Two guitar
players (whose name I forget), and a fantastic drummer named Reggie Jackson.
The guitar guys were both good, too..but Reggie was exceptional. We went through
the material and wound things up. Making our way back to the hotel, we split a
salad and a burger in a restaurant close by, then went to the room for a little
rest.
The gig went really, really well. It was a standing
up situation for the audience....there were a few spare tables, but mostly
everyone was on their feet. Tim did about an hour with his stuff...mostly his
Jazz arrangements of Stones songs...and Bernard joined in to sing maybe 3 or 4
of them. Then he called me up and we did my tune Tomato Jam and Statesboro
Blues. Later I did Losing Hand and Compared to What...all went over
great...especially with Reggie kickin’ ass on the drums. Karl played some great
stuff too...as did everyone, really. Fantastic fun and the hose was packed with
grateful fans.
Back at the hotel we knocked down a couple of
cocktails with our friends, talking about the show and just generally catching
up. Great day...
5/30/15
Time for the second stadium show of the tour. This
would be the largest stadium we’ll play on the tour. Sixty thousand and change
in numbers of folks. Totally sold out. It was sort of bitter sweet for me, and
this is the stadium of the Ohio State Buckeys, who beat my Alabama Crimson Tide
in the last Sugar Bowl to take the National Championship. But I have to hand it
to them...they won it fair and square and just outplayed us.
We did sound check about 4:30, and all went well.
Another smoking show....tight and smooth, everyone on top of their game. So
great that we can play at this level in this stage of the game. Kid Rock opened
up...he did fine, but he did do one thing I thought was a bit inappropriate. He
brought out the Navy Seal guy that claims to have shot Osama Bin Laden and
paraded him around on stage. Hey....we’re all glad the guy (Bin Laden) is gone,
but I thought it tacky to do as the opening act on a Stones show.
We had a fantastic police escort back to the
hotel...we haven’t had many escorts in the last couple of years, and this one
was definitely one of the best we’ve ever had anywhere. Those guys were
amazing. We arrived back in high fashion and after changing clothes, went down
to meet our friends. Peter Mathison and his wife, Carol and two of their kids
were there, along with Lynn, Red, Bill and more than a few fans that had been
to the show. One guy, Bill Wilson and his wife gave Rose Lane and me shirts that he had made up
that said Moonlight Mile on them. We celebrated for a while and then called it
a night.
 |
| Thanks to the Wilson's |
5/31/15
My mom’s birthday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I still
miss her so....and think about her often. Dad, too.
I know neither of them would have ever imagined I
would have this job for 33 years. Dad never did get to see me gain real
success, as he passed when I was 17. But mom at least got to see me make it
through my positions with the Allman Brothers all the way through to the
Stones. She came out to Birmingham in 1989 when we played Legion Field.
Actually, I sent a limo to pick her up in Tuscaloosa and drive her and her
friend Mary up to B’ham for the concert. Great memory.
OK...a
travel day for us. From Columbus to Minneapolis. Bags packed and all sealed up,
collected by the bellmen and we did the usual bus ride to the airport. It was
about an hour and a half flight, and we arrived and checked into the Ivy hotel
with time for Rosie and me to decide on eating Indian food. We Yelped up a
place close to the hotel called Bombay Bistro. It was nice and quiet...the food
was very good if not stellar, and we enjoyed all those wonderful curries and
spices. We left there with a nice bag of leftovers that we could tap the next
day.
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