END OF THE ZIP CODE TOUR

MONTREAL AND QUEBEC CITY

JULY 13-16

Two days off before our last show. On the 13th, I went to the concierge to ask about finding a place that would sell “tubes”....for rolling up posters to fit them into my suitcase. We had obtained many posters of the shows during the tour....I usually got two of each poster, and sometimes there were two or three different ones per show. So we had accumulated quite a lot of them and needed to get them back home Fortunately, there was a Post Office just a few blocks away, and they indeed had just what I needed. So we took care of that and decided to roam around Montreal a bit. We walked down to the Old Town area, browsing into several stores, mostly just looking and wiling away the hours. We popped into a couple of the Native North American places, looking at the art and crafts they offered. Walked into a few clothing stores and such, but couldn’t really find anything we couldn’t do without, so made our way back to the hotel. That evening, we had a tour dinner that had been arranged by the band and AEG in the St. James. A chance to share time with everyone and celebrate the success of the tour. Great fun for us to all be together, mingle and discuss our experiences and share with each other what we would be doing in the coming months. Joyce Smyth got up and made a short speech of thanks and congratulations, as did Mick. So we were at that juncture again, when part of us hates to see it come to a halt, and part of us is ready to go home and do other things. We were all grateful to have this special night together and I think it helped us to appreciate what we had accomplished over the 2 1/2 months of the tour. Truly a wonderful way to wind things dow.

The next day....another day off...we had a funny experience. We decided to go to a different area to shop around, and the concierge pointed us to  the Eaton Centre area, St.e. Catherine St. So we went there and went into some department stores, and walked along the streets checking out the various shops. We had lunch in a local restaurant and then resumed our exploring. Soon we decided to cross the street to check out some places on the other side, and in our haste we would up crossing against the light, dodging some traffic. Well....as soon as we got to the other side, a Cop come up to us, quite agitated, saying that we had broken the law. Geez....ok, so he asks for some ID, which I give to him saying I was sorry, we were from the States and had didn’t mean any harm in our actions. He was not impressed, and told us to wait. After 6 or 7 minutes he came back, giving me a ticket for J walking. Ah, well. We moved on from that and shopped some more...I bought a couple of silk tee shirts in one of the department stores and Rosie picked up a couple of items, and we finally made our way back to the St. James.

That evening we had dinner at an Indian restaurant that we had spotted a couple of days before when we were walking in the Old Town. There were actually a couple of Indian restaurants we had seen, and asked the concierge which one he would recommend....the pointed us to The Taj Mahal. We knew it would likely be quite a while before we could enjoy a good curry....as Macon doesn’t have much to offer in that regard and so we enjoyed a nice spicy meal there and went back to the St. James to finish the day.

OK...last show of the tour. This would be a biggie....there were estimates that we might have 70-80 thousand folks expected at the Quebec City Festival at the Plains of Abraham. Going out with a bang. We would fly from Montreal to QC....otherwise we would have had a 3-4 hour drive, which would have been exhausting. So we made the short flight and had a police escort to the venue. It was fun, as it made quite a commotion through little Quebec City....lots of folks stopping to watch and wave to us....shouting out to us, giving us “thumbs up” and such. Good fun. At the site, we got to our dressing rooms, had a sound check, went to catering for some grub and then got ready for the show. Indeed, it was a great one to end on. I think there was a feeling on stage that this would be the last gig for quite some time, and we should all pump it up and enjoy it....which we did. Great audience....huge crowd of close to a hundred thousand....even more than was expected. So now we are done....again, that feeling of having had another fantastic tour, sad to see it end but anxious to more on to other things.

Mick and Keith both took flights after the show to NY, and the rest of us flew back to Montreal. Most of us went down to the bar of the St. James for one more final goodbye to each other. Rosie and I had a fairly reasonable flight on the 16th...leaving the hotel at 10:15 for a 12:45pm flight. Bags all ready and picked up by the bellman, we met the car that would take us to the Montreal airport.

Our flight was on time, and there were no hitches....thank heaven. We boarded up and Delta took us to Atlanta, where our man Hal Hamilton would pick us up and drive us home. Great to see Hal....and we had a nice chat about things on the two hour drive to Charlane Plantation.

FIELD OF SUNFLOWERS

We got there before dark, and Hal and Scotty had the place looking fantastic.

HOME SWEET HOME

Yard all mowed nicely, grounds groomed, our Border Collies Molly and Maggie and our Mutt Charlie greeted us enthusiastically. Scotty was there to meet us, and they helped us get our bags into the house. We talked to them for a little while, then they left us to enjoy the late afternoon and evening to ourselves. Part of me wanted to ride around some in the woods, but as we were both pretty tired, I left that to do tomorrow and in the coming days. So...home again with some great memories and experiences of the tour and some wonderful things to look forward to doing in front of us. We are truly blessed.

LIBERATED LADY....I CAN GO HOME NOW....

SHUFFLE OFF TO BUFFALO

BUFFALO, NY

JULY 9

 

ASHLEY ROSE AND PETER TZIROS

Time to move along...and we were definitely ready for a change of scenery. We were excited, as our daughter, Ashley and her husband, Peter would be coming to Buffalo the next day, on the 10th. We bussed to the plane and got up in the air at 4pm, landing at 5 and then were bussed to the Hyatt Regency in downtown Buffalo. There was a big food festival going on in the city during our stay...the “Taste of Buffalo”. The locals told us that it would be a big deal, attracting lots of folks from other cities into the downtown streets. Indeed, that was one of the reasons it was so difficult to get Ashley and Peter a room at the Hyatt. They had actually booked a Bed and Breakfast room some weeks ago as we were told no rooms were available at the Hyatt....but then about a week or so before, one opened up and we were able to book it for them.

But the food fest would not start until the weekend. But folks were already beginning to bring in tents to set up, etc. For this evening, we roamed around and found a nice local Thai spot for dinner called Papaya on Chippewa St. Back at the hotel we wrapped up the day with some tv in our room until lights out.

JULY 10-12

I wanted to do laundry one more time before the tour would end, and called a place that was on our “Daysheet” to make sure it would be open and could do the “fluff and fold” service. They said they could, so I took a cab to it to drop off the goods. Ashley and Peter would not arrive until later in the afternoon, so we had some time to kill. After I got back to the hotel, Rosie and I went out for some lunch and to roam around some. I asked the server at lunch where a street might be for us to do some shopping and wander around, and she made a suggestion to us to go to The Elmwood Village. What I failed to ask was how far it was....we walked a good  three miles before we got there. We almost decided to try and go ahead and get a cab back, but in the end we made it there. Maybe not a stellar shopping area, but we enjoyed popping into several shops just looking around. The funny thing was that after an hour or so, just as we were about ready to go back, I recognized the laundry place I had been to earlier...so I went in to see if my stuff was ready, and it was. From there we called a cab to get back to the Hyatt....and somehow the cab company managed to miss us....we called another couple of times before they finally got to us....causing us to wait a good 40 minutes or so. The good news is that we got back with clean clothes!

We hung around the room for a bit...me doing some packing now that I had fresh laundry, and waited until Ash and Peter arrived. Finally they called, and we were so excited to get up with them. It was Ashley’s birthday on the 8th, so this would be in part a celebration for that. I had asked the concierge about a good restaurant for dinner, and he had suggested a place called Tappo. I asked him to make a reservation, which he did. However, when we got up with the kids and discussed it, Peter pointed out that there was a steak restaurant in our hotel that was deemed one of the best in New York state....called “E.B Green’s”. I had seen the rating as well, so we switched to go there for dinner.

As it turned out, Keith (who had several members of his family with him) had taken up most of the tables in it in the main dining area...but his assistant, Tony, who I ran into trying to make the reservation told me that there was one table they had reserved that they would not use, and graciously gave it to us. So we wound up in the same area as the Richards....which gave Ash and Peter a chance to say hi to all of them and for us to mingle with them.

As for the food....we all decided that it was fine, but not what we would think would give them the “Best Steak Restaurant in New York” rating...but it made for a fun setting and we all enjoyed it.

The next day would be show day....Peter decided he wanted some time at the indoor pool in the hotel, so Ashley, Rose Lane and I went out to check out the “Taste of Buffalo” on the streets....by then the streets were filled with lots of tents of various venders and tons of folks there to try out the wares. After 10 minutes of that, it was apparent that that scene was not really what we wanted to do, so we went back to Chippewa St and found a spot for lunch. Soon after that, it was time for us to head over to the stadium to get things started.

The Buffalo Bills home field, Ralph Wilson Stadium. The usual routine ensued, sound check, etc...and soon it was showtime. Great show...another sold out gig...amazing. Ash and Peter had a great time, as we did.

After the show Rose Lane and I went down to the bar for a bit...and called Ash and Peter to see if they wanted to join us...but they were pretty beat, and as Ashley was at that point close to three months pregnant (she told us that just before we headed out on tour...but swore us to secrecy about it until we would get together in Buffalo...so we had spread the news by then), they decided to stay in the room and go to bed.

We got up with them the next morning....we would be flying to Montreal and they would be flying back to Manchester, NH....but we did have some time to hang out a bit before we would have to go our separate ways. It had been so great to spend time with them...so special. It was difficult to have to split and go our different ways, but we were infinitely grateful for the time we had! Their flight wasn’t until later that day, so we actually wound up leaving before they did. After hugs and an emotional goodbye, we got up with all the gang to head off to the plane and on to Canada.

The St. James Hotel

An easy flight and immigration process got us to the beautiful St. James hotel in Montreal around 6pm. The cool thing about being here is that we had the whole hotel to ourselves. No other outside folks staying there. We were here not all that long ago....in 2013 when we played in Montreal on the “14 on Fire” tour. This time we were actually playing in Quebec City for the “Le Festival d’ete’”. But they had decided to work it out of Montreal. After settling into our room, Rosie and I went downstairs for a cocktail. It was so great that we had the place exclusively. Keith, who rarely gets out of his room, had come down to enjoy some time with everyone. I had a great chat with him...and we both talked about how great the tour had gone, and discussed hopes of the band continuing on. We also talked about his upcoming solo record, which would come out in September. It was wonderful to have some one on one with him, and of course there were others in our entourage that were coming and going in the bar and restaurant in the St. James. Rosie and I eventually took a table for dinner in St. James...and joining us was our friend Sherry Daly, who helps both Ronnie and Charlie with their affairs. We’ve known Sherry since I joined the band back in’‘82, and she has always been an ally and supporter. She had come and gone on tours several times during the past couple of years and we kept saying we should get together for a dinner and personal time, and finally this was a great opportunity to do so. We enjoyed that very much, sharing thoughts about the past, the present and the future. She is a wonderful person and a great friend.

 That ended a fine day

DETROIT

DETROIT

JULY 6

The good news about the hotel is that they had quite an excellent gym, and not many people using it. I had a very nice workout while watching some of the Wimbledon tennis matches on the various tv screens scattered on the walls. Checking emails back in my room, I had one from my friend, US Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.

She had contacted me weeks before saying that she was hoping to come to the gig, but wasn’t sure she would be able to with all the politics going on in DC. But it turned out that she could attend, and that was the nature of her email. Very cool...she would come with some family members, including her brother, who used to play drums. Debbie is a musician as well...and they used to have a family band. I’ve worked with her on some conservation issues at the Capitol in DC over the past several years. She is a great champion of the environment, forestry and conservation. I looked forward to seeing her.

Another good friend, John Kulhavi would be coming to the show as well. John is an interesting guy...a retired General from the Reserves, he flew helicopters in Desert Storm and earned a Purple Heart. Then he went into the stock brokerage business and became one of the top representatives of Merrill Lynch, winning several awards. John is also a hunting client of ours at Charlane and he handles some of my portfolio...doing a fine job. John is also on the board of the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities...I nominated him for the position several years ago and was able to serve with him for a year before I rolled off of that board. He would be bringing quite a crowd to the show...about 18 people in all.  

Rose Lane had noticed that there was an exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Art on Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and expressed interest in going to it. So we had the hotel doorman hail us a cab to go to it. It was raining a bit, but we decided to go for it. Our cab driver was a nice guy named Floyd. We had a good conversation with him on the way, and he dropped us off on a side door that was closer than the main entrance, to avoid getting too wet. I settled up with Floyd and took his info in case we needed to call him later to pick us up. We entered the building and went to the desk to buy tickets...only to be told that it was sold out for the day and it only had about a half an hour left anyway. Geez, should have called in advance! We killed some time in the gift shop looking around, but didn’t buy anything and decided to try for an Uber car to take us back. Using the Uber App, it indicated that a driver was only 6 minutes away, so we waited a while. But after 10 minutes, we still didn’t have a car and the App indicated it was 8 minutes away. Another ten minutes went by...no car. So we cancelled that and called Floyd. He was back at the MGM, but said he would come get us, which he did. Finally we returned to the hotel, disappointed to have missed the exhibit and to have waisted the time.

As there really wasn’t any other interesting things to do in our surroundings, we pretty much hung out in the hotel the rest of the day, getting quite bored in the process. On the bright side, it did give us a chance to relax some and to catch up on this diary and some other things.

In the evening we tried to dine in the Wolfgang Puck Cuchina restaurant, but unfortunately it was closed, so we opted for the Steak House again. Food and service was as good as the night before, so we were content. Next day would be busy with the show and seeing our friends.

JULY 8

Entrance to The Fox Theater

That evening there was a party given by AEG at the amazing Fox Theater in Detroit. What an incredible place! We had never been, and while we have been to the other Fox Theaters in other cities like  St. Louis and Atlanta, this one takes the cake. The party

Chuck takes his turn at the organ

included the band, entourage and crew. Great to hang out with everyone. One of the

highlights for me was getting to play the fantastic organ. This is one of the very few

theater organs in the world that has been restored to its original condition and is in top

shape. I enjoyed experimenting on it for a while.

The party was a welcome relief from the norm...great to hang with all of us in the same

place. Robert Bull had been flown in after recovering from his heart attack. He gave a really special toast to everyone, thanking especially Lizzy McGoran, who performed CPR on him until the ambulance came. She literally saved his life. He won’t be joining us back on tour, but wanted to come and see everyone before we resumed the tour.

Domed Ceiling At the Fox Theater

Nice to know we have a show today to keep us busy! We were well over the MGM Grand and welcomed the day’s events. Rosie preceded me in departing for Coamerica Park, and I followed about an hour later with the other band members. In the dressing room I finalized the draft of the set list and checked with Elizabeth Curan to see what song was in the lead for By Request. That turned out to be “Rocks Off”, so I knew we would go over it in the sound check. We did, also adding in “Just My Imagination” in the set as a little tribute to Detroit and Motown. The rest of the sound check went smoothly and I headed back to the dressing room to finalize the set list and present it to Mick. All that done, I hit catering to get some nutrition. It was a nice setup with good food....which is the case 75% of the time...kudos to catering!

By then it was time to hit the VIP room to find my guests. I saw John Kulhavi first...his wife, Carole with him as well as his brother, Donald, who has hunted with us at Charlane with John. He introduced us around to his other friends and we enjoyed catching up some. I also took some pictures with them and with other fans in the room that requested them...and soon I saw Senator Stabenow. Wonderful to see her and I introduced her and her folks to John and his. It was great to catch up with her...she was really excited to be there, and was glowing in the aftermath of the incredible week the Democrats had. First was the Supreme Court’s ruling of affirmation of the legitimacy of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and the second was the ruling in favor of same sex marriage. In addition, the President also got approval from congress on his “fast track” Trade Deals request. Obama had also given a very moving speech on race relations in his eulogy of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine Afro Americans shot and  killed in the tragic  Charleston Church shootings by Dylan Roof, a young radical white supremacist. It was one heck of a week for the Democratic Party.

After a time, I offered her and her brother to go with me backstage. I had asked Mick earlier if he would take a moment to meet her and perhaps take a picture with her, and he had agreed. So I took them to his room first to get that done. Mick was truly gracious to them and the Senator and her brother were ecstatic to meet him. Then it was on to meet Keith, Ronnie and Charlie and get photos with them...that went well, and it was fun to see the joy it brought the two of them. I escorted them back to the VIP and said my goodbyes to them and to John K and company, promising to meet John at the MGM after the show for a short time.

I know I keep saying this...but it was another really great show...smooth, well paced and well played. And yet another sold out stadium. Mick had his usual comments and jokes ready to deliver to the crowd, very clever and well received. Chalk another one up!

Back at the hotel I got the call from John after a half hour or so, and Rosie and I went down to meet him and his party. The casino was buzzing...and the only bar open was the main one in the center, which was pretty crowded. There was no great place to sit, but we made the best of it, standing and talking to his folks for a while. Joyce Smyth, the Stones’ business manager and confidant, and her husband, Michael were there as well, and had some nice comments on the show. It has been good for her to see as many of these shows as she has...to let her know how well it is all going. We socialized for a half hour or so, then called it a night.

Indinapolis to Detroit

INDIANAPOLIS…NAPTOWN

JULY 3

Off day. There was a big Mall that was connected to the hotel by an overhead walkway. So after some coffee and our usual wake-up time, we made our way over there. There was a food court with a PF Chang there, and we decided to do that for lunch. Then walked all around the Mall...but not doing any “damage”. There was a Lucky Brand store that had, at least temporarily, had all Rolling Stones clothes in it. Actually some nice looking stuff...different from the “official” Stones merch. Mostly sort of “distressed” looking tee shirts and the like. We killed a bit of time walking in the Mall and eventually came to a Nail Spa where Rose Lane decided to get a “Manni-Petti”. So I left her there and walked around a while, eventually making my way back to the room and fooling around on the computer for a while.

That evening we met up with our friend Ronnie Finestone, who had brought a client of his that is the top buyer of merchandise for Macy’s Dept. Store...a nice guy named Kevin and his friend David that accompanied him. We had a couple of drinks with them in the Capitol Grille bar, enjoying the conversation. Then as it was our “Digital Queen”, Elizabeth Curan’s birthday, there was a group of ours in the hotel bar across the lobby from the Capitol bar and we went there to help celebrate for a bit.

Earlier in the day we had a call from Matt Clifford who told us we were invited to dinner with he, Mick, Ronnie and Sally and a couple of others. We accepted, and wound up having a really nice time in the courtyard of an Italian restaurant called Iozzos Garden Of Italy . Good to have some social time like this...great conversation, lots of laughter, good food. We dispersed around 11 or so and went back to the Conrad to end the night.

JULY 4

What a groove to play The Brickyard on Independence Day...we had some 60,000 or so people there, and the weather cooperated for a nice night.  The big deal of the night was the fireworks at the end. Our guy, “Pyro Pete” worked with the city of Indianapolis to partner up and do a spectacular display at the end of the set. It seemed to go on forever...and as we were rushed out of the Speedway back to our hotel, it went on as long as we could see and a long time after. I was told it was about 20-30 minutes. Even during the set, we could see fireworks going of in various other parts of the town...almost the whole time. We had some musical fireworks of our own...a hot set.

JULY 5

Gotta keep moving’....today to Detroit. All packed up and ready to go at the usual dedicated time...I had time to hit the gym for a bit before, which always helps to shake off the “bugs” and wake up the ‘ol body. A relatively short flight from Indy to MoTown...less than an hour. That put us at the MGM Grand hotel fairly early...around 5:30. Staying at a casino is not my favorite thing...and we were somewhat isolated as there wasn’t much around us. I have to say it was a bit sad to see all the abandoned homes and buildings. Detroit has gone through some really rough times over the past 10 years...and the city is still going through bankruptcy. But the spirit of the people is strong, and you can see some signs of recovery. Rose Lane and I took a walk around the casino to orient ourselves. The usual layout of slot machines and gambling tables in the main center of the complex and a few restaurants and bars scattered mostly on the periphery. Wolfgang Puck had two restaurants...an Italian Cuchina and a Steak House. We opted for the Steak House, having a cocktail in the bar first. A good meal...his restaurants have a great reputation and this was no exception. I just wish it wasn’t in a casino! Rose Lane and I have no gambling desires and with people smoking and the constant  buzz, dings and other sounds of the place, it just is not pleasant for us. But we enjoyed the meal and went back toour room to veg....

Raleigh to Indianapolis

RALEIGH

JUNE 30

A day off, and we spent it staying in the hotel. I went to the gym, which was quite small, but made the best use of it I could. Frankie Enfield, our tour manager, told me about a 3.1 mile trail that goes around the circumference of the golf course. He had walked it and recommended it to me. So I had a go of it. Fantastic trail, and was soothing for my mind and soul to be in that nice forest, plus it was good exercise as there were several “ups and downs” to negotiate. After all of that, I went back to our room to freshen up and get ready to meet David Zucchino, a top notch journalist for the LA Times. David was scheduled to come to Charlane Plantation several months ago, but got called away on assignment and couldn’t make it. He lives in the Raleigh area, so we arranged to meet and just have a “getting to know you” chat. He is actually on leave from the Times to write a book about a sad and tragic incident that took place in the area in the post Civil War era in which there was something of a mass murder of some black officials that were holding political office at the time. Sounds like it will make for a very interesting historical account. We had a nice and productive talk, and he expressed interest in getting down to Charlane some time after the first of next year and perhaps do a story on us.

After our meeting I decided to soak up the sun for a while and found a spot outside the indoor pool area on sort of a patio. I stayed out there for an hour or so...very pleasant.

Back in the room we killed time on our computers and watching the news...then made our way downstairs to sort out dinner plans. We stayed in again, but this time we dined in the main restaurant called. Nice and quiet dinner, great food and service. That ended our day and we retired to our room.

JULY 1

I would have lots of guests at the show tonight. Buck Williams, my good friend and negotiator and his daughter, Sarah and her husband Mathias would be there...Tom Burnette, an attorney and a Charlane client with a number of folks with him; some friends from Savannah, Howard Paul and his wife Patty...Paula Fogerty, and various other folks that I had arranged passes for.

But before we would get to that, I went to the tiny gym again and managed at least somewhat of a workout before getting ready to head to Carter-Findley stadium. I wanted to walk the trail again, but there wasn’t quite enough time, plus my right calf was a bit sore and I thought it best to rest it.

At the stadium I finalized the set list, leaving a couple of choices to make when we did the sound check, and found my way to catering for some food. Sound check went fine and we sorted out the set.

The setup was more than a little awkward...our dressing rooms were actually in the arena, about a quarter mile from the stadium. The VIP room was in the stadium, so it was quite a trek to get there. Darryl had some guests coming as well, so he and I arranged for a van and driver to carry us over there. It was another madhouse VIP, with lots of fans requesting selfies and photos, and me trying to spend some time with my friends. In the end, it was impossible to see all of those I had arranged passes for...so Darryl and I did the best we could and escaped back to the van and to our dressing room.

Yet another excellent gig...band remaining at the top of its game and a excited and receptive audience for the night.  

JULY 2  INDIANAPOLIS

Travel to Indianapolis. 

Nap Town. This will

be one

Gasoline Alley

for the books...playing the iconic Indianapolis Speedway...The Brickyard. But a travel day and an off day before the show. The usual routine ensued with our bags being picked up at 11:30 and a 2:30 departure from the hotel for a 4:00 wheels up. I worked on this diary for a while on the plane, and we landed about 5:30. Checked into the Conrad hotel in downtown Indy. Rosie and I had a taste for some Indian food....Indian in Indy...and located a place that was walking distance from the hotel. Had a drink in the bar of the Capitol Grille, which was right next 

door to the Conrad and then made our way to the Haveli Indian restaurant on South Meridian. Nice walk, and we were checking out the surroundings on the way. It turned out that Haveli was a very casual place...and cheap. The food was good if not great...and we loved getting all those spices on our tongues. I think the whole meal with a couple of glasses of wine cost under $40. Afterwards we walked back to the room and shut down for the night.  

CONRAD BRAIN STIMULATOR

Back To Chicago and a fly-in to Milwaukee....

CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE

JUNE 21

Chicago bound. We would actually be playing the Milwaukee Summerfest on the 23rd, but staying in Chicago at the Peninsula Hotel. We’ve stayed there before, so it is familiar territory. After finding our room and settling in, Rosie and I went to “The Bar”, a nice quiet spot on the lobby level for a cocktail. We had wanted to dine in the Chinese restaurant in the hotel called Shanghai Terrace, but it was not available...so we wound up in “The Lobby” restaurant. That was fine, and we enjoyed the fare and went back to the room afterwards to chill out with a couple more glasses of wine and some tv.

JUNE 22-23

OK...retail therapy on the Magnificent Mile in order for the day. But prior to that, I wen to the great fitness center on the top floor of the Peninsula for a good workout. Also, we were to meet for lunch with an old friend, Pat Boyer. Pat was married to Scott Boyer back in the early 70’s when I was involved with Capricorn Records and Rose Lane was working for the label. I used to live with Scott and some other members of the band he was in, Cowboy. I played on their records, and we interacted together playing on other records like Gregg Allman’s first solo album, “Laid Back”. Scott also wrote “Please Be With Me”, which was made famous by Eric Clapton on his 460 Ocean Blvd record. Pat and Scott eventually divorced, but not before having two children together, Scott, Jr. and Ben. Pat went on to make a good life for herself working in the pharmaceutical business....now working with the company AbbVie, that makes the “miracle drug”, Humira. we met with her in The Lobby for a little bite to eat and to catch up on each other’s lives. We enjoyed exploring the last few years of our exploits, and we would see her at the show in Minneapolis as well as at a club show I would be doing on the 24th in Chicago at Martyr’s.

After lunch, we headed out to pound the pavement and do some shopping. We headed over to Oak St., looking into some shops on Michigan Ave on the way. Oak St used to be full of boutique type stores, but it seems now it has been somewhat converted to high end designer stores. Along the way we ran into Charlie Watts, who was doing some shopping of his own. We spoke with him for a bit and then moved on to our own adventures. At the end of the day, we didn’t really do much damage...I bought us some things at Walgreen’s to have in the room...some wine, water, etc. After that it was back to the room for a bit of down time before dinner.

We did make it into the Shanghai Terrace that evening...and had a really great meal there. Pricey, but worth it as the quality is really high. We were advised by some others to try the “Happy Rice”....which lived up to its name and was delicious. We had some other dishes, all excellent. Then it was up to the room for a couple of hours of wind down before bed.

The next day, the 23rd, was show day in Milwaukee. Since it was a good hour and forty-five minute drive, we left earlier than usual. The venue is a small one in terms of this tour...some twenty-four thousand capacity in what we call a “Shed”...a covered amphitheater called The Marcus Amphitheater. I had exchanged a few texts with my friend Tom Hambridge, a talented drummer and producer, who I had worked with on a James Cotton record a couple of years ago called “Cotton Mouth Man”.

Tom is also a songwriter, and has produced and written songs for Buddy Guy’s last 5 releases. He would be at the show as Buddy was opening for us and he had flown up to deliver the latest project he had just finished for Buddy. We hooked up backstage before our sound check and enjoyed catching up. Tom is a great guy and I’m hoping to work with him some more up the road. He promises to try and make it happen, and I agreed to do all I can to join in on something with him before too long. Tom also introduced me to Marty Sammon, Buddy’s long time keyboard player. Oddly enough, I had been approached not long ago by Jeff Schroedl of the Hal Leonard Co to consider writing a forward to a book about blues piano playing that Marty had written. I had never met him, but was familiar with his playing through recordings...and after getting an advance copy of the book and checking it out, had agreed to write the forward. But this would be the first time I would meet Marty. Very nice guy and great blues keyboardist.

After all that we did the sound check, agreeing to do “Champagne and Reefer” with Buddy as a guest on our set. We had done it before with him at the Beacon Theater for the Shine A Light DVD. Buddy wasn’t present for the sound check, but we knew he would handle it fine.

I finalized the set with Mick and then went to the VIP to meet some of the folks that I had arranged passes for. That included Bill Doyle, CEO of the Potash Company (retiring soon) and his wife Kathy. Bill has graciously sponsored a couple of fertilizer studies at Charlane on pine tree fertilization; Pat Boyer; and Walter Greenberg (formerly with the Stihl Company). There were also some random fans there that I agreed to take pictures with. All good fun.

The gig went well and Buddy was well received, both on his own set and as a guest on ours. He has such a great stage presence and of course is an iconic blues guitarist and singer. One of the few living legends, and a joy to be on the stage with. I also got to play with Buddy years ago when I was with Eric Clapton and we did the “24 Nights” show and record at the Royal Albert Hall back in ‘92. I’m so glad and feel blessed to have had those opportunities.

After the rather long ride back to Chicago, we were pretty well wasted from the day and it wasn’t long before we were in the sheets.

JUNE 24-26

This would be the day of my club show at Martyr’s. www.martyrslive.com 
Billed as “Chuck Leavell with special guests Tim Ries and Bernard Fowler”. Tim had helped to arrange the guitar player and bass player...Bob Palmiery and Larry Kohut respectively....and we had brought in Reggie Jackson, a great drummer that had played with us in the club gig we did in Columbus earlier in the tour. I went down early to start the rehearsals...the guys were quite well prepared (I had sent mp3s to them to study) and we ironed out any problems over the three and a half hours we had to rehearse. Tim and Bernard came in the last hour or so and we went through their bits and were ready to go.

The club owner, Ray Quinn, had done what he could with fairly short notice to get the word out, but in the end we didn’t quite pack the house...probably about 3/4 of it, maybe. But the folks that were there were a really great audience and responded with strong enthusiasm. We all had fun and the band played really well. So in the end I would say it was an unqualified success.

We hung out some afterward...we all had friends that had attended, so we socialized with folks for an hour or so and then made our way back to the Peninsula to crash.

The 25th would be another off day for us. We slept in a while as the night before was a long one. After enough coffee to wake us up and get us motivated, I had an appointment for an interview with a gent named Bill Hageman of the Chicago Tribune. His wife accompanied him, and we met at 1pm in The Lobby. They were both really fine folks, and I enjoyed talking to them. Bill had read my latest book, “Growing A Better America” and had some great questions and comments on it. we hit the streets again to see if we could find any items we couldn’t do without. We went to Water Tower Place, but were disappointed with what was there and moved on to re-visit some of the other stores we had already checked out. I did find a shirt I liked in Sax Fifth Ave, which was right across the street from our hotel and wound up buying that. But otherwise we kept our money in our wallets. That evening we had a great meal at Ralph Lauren’s Grill, just around the corner about two blocks away. We had dined there before and liked it, and were not disappointed this time. Really good food not fancifully overdone...excellent quality and service. That wound up our last full day in the Windy City and we called it a night.

Kansas City Here We Come!!!

42 YEARS AND COUNTING!

JUNE 26....Our Anniversary!

So today would be a travel day for us...to get to Kansas City...and it would also be our 42nd Anniversary. Seems we’ve had quite a few Anniversaries on tour with the Stones...and this would add one to the list. After settling up our bill and meeting everyone to board the bus to the plane, we took off for KC. Many of the folks in our entourage gave us good wishes during the trip. We landed late afternoon and were bussed to The Westin Hotel at what is known as Crowne Center, a shopping/convention area that includes the hotel. I was getting pretty desperate to do laundry, and had found out about a place not too far away that had a good “fluff and fold” service. I called them up to make sure I could get my clothes back the next day, and they said they could...so I took a taxi there to drop it off. Back at the hotel I did some research to find a good restaurant, and after checking online and speaking with the concierge, settled on Pierpoint, which had a good reputation and was just a short walk over to Union Station, the renovated Train Station. It proved to be a good move...great food, again, well prepared and not so “fancyfied”....and excellent service. Nice bar as well. We enjoyed our Anniversary dinner and our time together...as we always do, but especially on this special occasion. Forty-two years...I think other than Charlie and Shirley Watts, we hold the record of longest marriage in the Stones’ entourage. Cool.

JUNE 27/28

The Nelson-Adkins Museum

Showtime....again. This will be the 12th Stones show of the tour, the 10th stadium/outdoor show, in Arrowhead Stadium. I had done the morning routine...coffee, gym, fetched my clothes from the laundry and had written up the set list. Rose Lane went on the early van at 2:30 and I held back for the “Band” van at 3:30.

Ed Sheeran with Chuck

Ed Sheeran would be our opening act tonight and would be a guest on our set. He is quite a phenom as an artist...only 24 years old, but has risen to huge fame. This summer he will play three sold out shows at Wembly Stadium in London....by himself...no band....which is how he usually works, apparently. That is just amazing. While his popularity is largely based in Europe, he is really catching on fast in the US and all over the world. Mick and I settled on “Beast of Burden” for him to guest with us on. So before sound check, Ed came in to Mick’s room and the three of us went over it. He came well prepared and was a joy to work with...a fine young fellow...beautiful voice. He played acoustic guitar with us, saying he felt “naked” without it, which he did quite well. We worked out the arrangement and headed up to the stage to do our thing. We went over a few Stones tunes first, then brought Ed on for “Beast...”. Again, he nailed it...and did so with a smile on his face, impressing us all.

Yet another smokin’ Stones show...and Ed did himself and all of us proud. It amazes me how all these stadiums have been totally packed...a testament to the enduring popularity of the band...and hopefully to the level that we have come to as a unit. Mick continues to prove he is the best Front Man there is; Keith continues to prove he is the true Heart and Soul of Rock ‘n Roll...Ronnie is playing better than I’ve ever heard him and Charlie continues to drive us like a freight train. Bernard, Lisa, Darryl, Tim, Karl and I do all we can as the support team. Matt Clifford has come back on stage for a few tunes, mainly serving as a surrogate trumpet player on synth with the horns, but also providing a few other services like  the voice of our intro...“Ladies and Gentlemen...The Rolling Stones”, and prepping the choir for “Can’t Always Get” as well as playing french horn on the intro of same. I’m proud to be a part of it all...and hope it continues after this run. We’ll see.

JUNE 29

Travel day to Raleigh, NC. After sending the bags off and completing our morning routine, we met everyone in the lobby to head off to Raleigh. The last of our southern city shows. We would be staying at a golf resort there...the Washington Duke Inn. It is actually in the sister city of Durham, just off the campus of Duke University. As it was more or less sequestered away from any metro city area, Rose Lane and I decided to stay in for the duration of our stay there. So this evening we checked out the digs and decided to have dinner in the bar area. We had a drink, toasting being in the south again and had a more than decent meal at a nice table in the bar. The hotel is surrounded by its golf course, and on the periphery of that is a beautiful forest of mixed tree species. Lots of Loblolly Pine, but interspersed with various hardwoods. We enjoyed the scenery as the sun went down and eventually called it a day, going to our room to relax and turn in.