...An Open Road Song

Hot Springs Arkansas...and the Bath Houses

2012-02-03T15:48:00.000-08:00

so we arrived here in the strange yet quaint town of hot springs arkansas. this is a rare occasion because we were sitting down here for 4 days. the even stranger part was that we only had night shows. so that left us a lot of time to explore the tiny town. the venue...located 20 miles from our hotel...in a HUGE 15 square mile gated community...is a story for another time. this blog is all about the wonderful town of hot springs and my trip to the place that put this town on the map...the bath houses!

these pictures are far from in order...so ill try and explain each one as they come

no joke...this is my hotel room door. we are staying at the legendary Arlington Resort and Spa...favorite hotel of Al Capone...and other Chicago gangsters. and yes...it does look like a closet door.

the beautiful Arlington Resort and Spa. really a nice place if you want to get the classic vacation experience...not if you are like us and are used to high speed internet, cable tv, flat screens and other more modern amenities...such as hot water that is ready to use when you want it, not 15 minutes later.

a real natural hot spring right outside the hotel...and yes...the water really is hot

the local old medical building across from our hotel

this sign just made me laugh...there are tons of there old time photograph places...designed for tourists

another shot of the Arlington

smallest storefront i saw in the whole town

look closely at the window

city square

AH my bath house! more on this later!

another old bath house...this one is no longer in use. there are only 5 functioning bath houses in hot springs

this is called the cooling room. they would wrap you in cold towels and you would lay on these metal cots to help cool your body from the hot bath water

this is the pack room...same as the cooling room...just this time they wrapped you in hot towels

the wonderful stained glass windows in the pack room

this is a needle shower. it has several jets that spray you with high powered water jets to help clean off the dead skin

controls for the needle shower

one of the traditional mineral bath tubs

a typical bathtub stall

on the left is a Sitz Bath...and the right is a steam chamber. if you haven't figured it out yet...you sit down in the Sitz Bath...its for hemorrhoids and lower back issues

another shower

steam chamers

controls for the steam chambers and showers

more steam chambers

more Sitz Baths

the beautiful statue/fountain in the center of the mens side of the bath house. Natural Hot Spring water was pumped through this fountain to help keep the room warm and humid

the stained glass ceiling above the fountain

more controls for the needle shower

another version of the needle shower

this was a special spring bath. they actually had a huge underground lake that was filled with the hot spring water. they would tunnel down into it and cover the opening with glass so visitors to the bath could see where the water was coming from. and yes...you can actually still see the water swirling around today

one of the many services offered at the bath house

the men's gym located on the 3rd floor

the famous "Maxine's" brothel...now a punk rock club

so thats it for pics. now for the story! these pictures where taken at the national bath house museum located on bath house row. it was one of the original bath houses in the city...but it was converted and restored by the government years ago with a 5 million dollar budget to help keep it preserved for people to tour a bath house. it was really beautiful.

My bath house experience happened at the wonderful historic Buck-Staff Bath House. celebrating its 100th year in business this year. it was actually the only bath house to stay open when the governor came in back in the 70's and banned gambling in Arkansas. when the gambling crowds left, the bath houses suffered greatly. the Buck-Staff has been owned by the same family since it was build and opened in 1912. also an interesting note....all the bathtubs, showers etc are all STILL ORIGINAL. no new fangled stuff here. this was the old school experience. so yep....i was in the same bathtub that men had been bathing in for the last 100 years. due note, they DO scrub them thoroughly after each person!

like i said...there are only 5 bath houses still in operation. the Buck-Staff is the most authentic of all of them. for my $64...this was my experience!

Myself, Becca and Jen decided to go to the Buck-Staff for a bath! Once inside, we pay the front desk clerk and we are handed a little card with our services checked off and a loofa mit. this was the last time we all saw each other. men were on the first floor and women on the second floor. so off i went into the dressing room. i was greeted by my locker room attendant Bobby. he was a very nice older man. i entered my little changing booth...stripped down...and then locked all my stuff into a little locker.

i let bobby know i was done locking up my stuff and he came in with a large sheet and wrapped it around me and led me into the large bathing room. mind you, bobby came in and wrapped me in the sheet because well...when was the last time you took a bath with a swim suit on. you have to be comfortable in situations like this. but i felt totally comfortable...with all the staff. they were very friendly..and for them...this was just another day at the office...and i was just another naked guy.

Bobby introduced me to my bath attendant, Walter. Walter was a very very funny man. older gentlemen. he already had the bath drawn for me and it was just about filled to the top when i got there. it was a HUGE porcelain tub...big enough for me to stretch out in without bending my legs. standing almost 6'1...a bathtub this large is hard to find...so this was a real treat. walter took my sheet, and i climbed into the large tub. the tub was located in a large bathroom style stall. about 8ft wide and about 15ft deep. so you could walk around the whole tub without issue. the tub was tall...i had to use a stool to get myself in safe. again...this is the part not for the timid. the bath tub had its super hot water flowing out of a huge faucet. it could easily fill the massive bathtub in a minute or two. at the front of the tub was a giant thermometer and a large water turbine machine for creating a whirlpool effect. it looked like a gigantic emulation blender. the water was about 120 when i got in. once i got settled in...walter got me a hot wet towel to rest my head on and a cup of hot water straight form the faucet that was topping off my hot bath! its believed that drinking and bathing in the natural hot spring mineral water has healing properties.

after some short conversation...walter made sure i was comfortable and i spent the next 20 minutes in the tub just relaxing. about half way through the bath..walter stopped in and added some more hot water to the bath...keeping the temp well above 100! always checking to make sure i was comfortable and ok. this was the life!

after the 25 minute bath...walter soon returned. after draining the tub...it was time for the scrub. boy this is the questionable part...but it will all make sense in the end. after filling about 1/3 of the tub with fresh super hot water...walter grabbed the loofa mit and i gave me a great scrub down from head to toe. i know it sound weird....but its all part of the experience of being pampered at the old bath houses. after a good scrub...i got out of the tub and walter handed me a towel...about the size of a face towel and led me off to my next station.

the Sitz Bath was next. its basically like a sink on the floor big enough for you to sit in. this bath was located on the other side of the big bathing room...in a stall about 5ft square. kinda like a bathroom stall in a modern rest room...with one exception. NO DOOR! walter had the bath all set and hot for me by the time i got over there. so he took the small towel he gave me at the bathtub, and wrapped it around my neck. then it was time to sit down in the giant sink and soak for another 15 minutes. this bath was designed to treat hemorrhoids and lower back issues. now the interesting park was that the "stalls" had no doors...and you faced right out into the main room. there were only half walls on the sides. so there i was...sitting in a giant sink...just chilling...for all the world to see.

after the 15 minutes, walter returned and walked me over to the next station....the hot packs. these were large cots that i laid on and walter wrapped me in super hot wet towels. once wrapped in the towels, i was laid on my back and wrapped up in a huge sheet. i left like a giant burrito. walter warned me that it was gonna sting a little at first...and boy did it! it was all worth it though! so relaxing! i just laid there...wrapped in hot towels...head to toe for about 25 minutes. it was amazing.

walter came back to un-wrap me...yay! "Lets get you's somes steam" he says to me and walks me over to the steam chamber. the mens steam chambers look nothing like those above. they are basically just a small stall with a small sitting area in it. a lot like the small saunas of today. it was a wet steam. the steam came directly from the hot spring located below the bath house and was piped into the steam chambers. a quick 2 minute trip inside the chamber and i was sweating like i had run a marathon.

then it was off to the last part of the process. a trip to the needle shower. walter had it firing on all cylinders when i got to it. its basically a shower...with small jets all around you. there are at least 20 small jets that fire high pressure water all over your body...and then a big faucet above your head. it was really refreshing! after a short rinse off...i was finally dried off and walter led me over to Ron...my masseuse.

the last section of my treatment was a 25 minute swedish massage. Ron was wonderful. it wasn't really a "massage"...more like a nice rub down to relax my muscles and reduce any strain. this was the kinda cheesy part of the whole experience...but i came for the bath...not the massage.

after that...it was back to see bobby and get my clothes back! all in all it was a wonderful experience. defiantly something i would do again. all the people there were amazing and so friendly. Walter had worked there his whole life! everyone there made me feel at home and it was just another day at the office for them.

there is a big difference in the mens vs the woman's end of things when it comes to traditional bath houses. bath houses were built and ran to attract men...not women. funny hu? no expense was spared when these houses were built...they were furnished with the most expensive amenities and attractions. from hot tubs, to pool tables and grand piano's. it was truly and amazing experience and i enjoyed every moment of it.

i even got a little souvenir for my trip. Bobby brought me a little going away gift after i got back from my massage. a small blue pocket comb, wall calendar and pocket calendar from the Buck Staff. yeah that may seem kinda cheap and stupid...but back in the day...thats what you would have gotten...and it just made the trip that more authentic. as a note, none of the girls got parting gifts lol!

well thats it for that!

Repairs

2012-01-23T19:42:00.001-08:00

Great. First day in the books. For me it was a lot of re-building racks of gear and getting this packed away. We did manage to repaint just about everything.

Small bits of information about today's venue that would have been helpful...yes there is a scene shop you can use...but it's at the other end of campus. And it's not big enough to unload your truck into the shop to work on things!

The things people leave out in conversations!

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Location:Theatre Dr,Johnstown,United States

Back on the road again

2012-01-22T15:53:00.000-08:00

well im back on the road.

off on another 3 month long tour across the country and back again. someone please buy my promoter a GLOBE!

my life has been completely turned upside down over the last month...but it seems things have begun to right themselves. its a waiting game at this point. but i hope things get better...they cant get much worse.

greeting from Johnstown, Pennsylvania...and another boring, tiny, old sleep inn. great...4 days here!

Aruba!

2011-12-20T12:12:00.001-08:00

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Location:L.G. Smith Blvd,Oranjestad,Aruba

Pressing on

2011-11-17T20:43:00.001-08:00

I have updates..I swear! Just been pushing non-stop the last 2 weeks of tour. Home in a few days and then the work begins again! More to come soon!

Back in the air

2011-11-06T03:57:00.001-08:00

Sitting at the terminal again...this time I'm in St. Louis. Headed to a show today in council bluffs Iowa. Been up since 3:30am. So it's St. Louis to council bluffs (Omaha basically) via Memphis...its gonna be a good day. And I'm only on the 3rd day of the 11 day stretch!

Another haul

2011-11-04T07:57:00.001-07:00

So today kicks off a 11 day...14 show run...straight. Gonna be an adventure for sure. We even fly one morning to load-in...including a layover. That could be dangerous! But it's not the craziest run we've done by far. I get to see my family for a bit in a few days. We are playing in New York. Gonna be a blast.

Counting down the days till I get to see Maddie again! December 17th I'm jumping a boat to see her! It will have be exactly 5 months since we said goodbye and she left for the cruise. Longest and hardest months of my life thus far...but its worth it.

Here's a little pic as a present!

Taken the other night during a haul from South Dakota

ping pong

2011-10-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

our tour has us traveling this country with no rhyme or reason to its path. Minnesota to chicago to Wisconsin to kansas to south Dakota...you get the idea.

So i had some fun in Appleton Wisconsin. We had played there a few times before with in the mood and also with Christmas Carol. it was nice to get back and see old friends. the day had pressed on like every other. sound check went fine. setup went fine. dinner was...well..dinner. and then time came for the show. its a huge venue. nearly sold out. it was set to be a great night. i arrived up at foh 5 minutes before the start of the show and did my normal pre-show check in with the cast and made sure they were all good to go. me and andi did our normal check list and we cued the opening speaker to do her speech on stage. it all went great. she talked for about 5 minutes and introduced the show. she walked off like we had done so many times before and AJ started his pre-show speech from off-stage...asking everyone to turn off their cell phones and such. nothing out of the ordinary. the house lights dropped and the theater went dark as normal. the band began to play the march in as they walked by me playing "Saint Louis Blues". as soon as the band walked by...something just didnt sound right. something was off. i didnt know what it was...but i knew something wasnt right. i was a bit far away from stage...about 100ft or so. with the band playing acoustic at the front of the stage for the first number...it always sound a little different because they arent mic'd...but the rhythm section is. but it was eerily quiet. i tried to push bud and the drums in the mix. as the fader moved up...nothing. no change. that was odd. by this time the band was back at their seats and the number had ended. maybe it was just me i though. bud played the first chords of the opening number and it still sounded strange. the singers came out in darkness just like the other 800+times ive done the show and the band clapped along in rhythem. the lights came up and as i moved the faders to their correct position...the singers opened their mouths...but nothing came out! my head shot up like a startled deer! something was definatly wrong..VERY wrong! my fingers shot over buttons...checking to see what i had missed. maybe i forgot to unmute something. but things had worked perfectly 5 minutes before when our 2 speakers were doing their thing. i got on com and told andi that i had NO PA! the sound system just simply wasnt working. she told me that she was aware of the problem and they were working on it. she had 3 technicians from the house working on the problem in the control booth where she was...3 stories above me. there wasnt anything i could do...but sit there. the singers and band seems un-phased by the sound issues. the show went on. over the next several minutes..the band and she singers continued on like nothing was wrong. andi made the call to keep the show going...so on we went. i could hear some sound coming from behind me...from the ceiling speakers that covered the cheap seats far under the balcony behind me. the audio feed that feeds the control booth was out...so i had my headset mic on so andi could hear the show to call the light cues (because she is behind soundproof glass) while i still tried to talk her through what was going on with the PA and with the techs working on the issue...as well as try and mix the show for the people who still could hear the show via the small ceiling speakers. it was juggling at its finest. over the next several minutes...it was mix the show, check with andi, mix the show, where are the techs, i still dont have power...over and over. after about 15 minutes of silence from the massive sound system...andi reports to me that the control units (3 of them) for the pa fried and wiped all the settings. they were able to switch them out and i should have full PA by this point. for me though...it was still silence. the house techs insisted that i should have full power by this point. still nothing. i had to walk them through basic trouble shooting steps like i was babying a tech for their first day on the job. checking to see where we had power...were they saw signal...where there wasnt signal...trying to follow the chain of sound from me to the speakers. 30 minutes after the silence started...a routine check in with andi revealed they had gotten the building blueprints out and were looking for power breakers that might have tripped. i couldnt do anything but just sit there and mix the show as if nothing was wrong. it was very strange...the crowd applauded at all the normal spots...as if nothing was wrong. you could hear the singers...but you defiantly could hear that something major was wrong. finally....45 minutes after my initial second of panic i received word they had found the problem and fixed it. i slowly brought the rig up to full power...section by section. sure enough...the hall filled quickly with the sweet sounds of the band and singers. i couldnt do anything but bow my head in relief. after the act ended...i got the chance to talk to one of the techs that was working on the problem. this was the ultimate course of events that had occurred . perfectly timed with the downbeat of the opening number...there was a power surge in the downtown where we were. one of the techs just happen to be looking at the racks in the control room when the lights on several of the pieces of equipment actually exploded. this is how they were right on top of it before i was. the power spike took out the 3 controllers that handed the audio TO the sound system. the sound i was hearing was the ceiling speakers...which was the only one of the 7 audio feeds that leave my board that didnt go through the controllers...it went right into the amps. they got those fixed relatively quickly. when they kept insisting i should have had full power...they didnt know that the power spike had also taken out a power conditioner that actually supplied power to the physical speakers themselves. they eventually found the damaged conditioner and were able to feed power to the speakers from other locations. the conditioner did its job...it sacrificed itself to protect the speakers. ive only seen this happen one other time...and it destroyed the conditioner but saved about $15k worth the gear. it was a wild first act. bud knew something was up but he didnt believe me at first when i told him what had happened. none of them knew differently since by board stayed up...thus the monitors and mics and audio kept flowing to the stage and stage monitors. to them...nothing was off. later we learned that we dropped one of the legs of power to the audio power service. its 3-phase...so there are 3 actual power lines that come in. one had died and that caused an imbalance. thankfully my leg stayed un-effected and my gear was spared. it was a wild night. but when something like that happens...all you can do is laugh and keep pressing on. as we left the theater that night...all the stop lights in the downtown area were flashing and had been reset. apparently we were not the only thing effected by the power that night.

here are some pics!!!!

so why are there doors that lead to nothing? kinda dangerous if you ask me! Remember...its not the fall that get you...its the sudden stop at the end

Double Vision!

My usual front of house setup

this was in the dressing rooms somewhere

Seattle Opera house...it was just stunning

someone please tell me how this was a good idea?

All set up and ready for the show

swapping bags in Appleton Wisconsin

Sign...step left...repeat

AH...so thats where normal is!

hard to see...but its bud and the band watching the world series during intermission

L' Acoustic Kiva/Kilo rig...sounded AMAZING

this really was a more "Mystery Science Theater" photo...but i didnt really have time to frame it right.

mixing in "sound man time-out" in Emporia Kansas

Tacky...yet useful

they felt the need to take a photo of someone using the dispenser...and tape it on

Chipotle and frozen custard made Saint Joseph Missouri tolerable for the crew

update

2011-10-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

wow....almost 2 weeks without an update...sorry guys. lots to tell. ill try and write when i can. long drives, bad crews, power blowing at the start of the show...sickness and injury cant stop this train from rolling!

more coming soon!

In the air

2011-10-19T20:19:00.001-07:00

Strange...lately I feel so much more comfortable in the air than I do on the ground. Funny how that goes.

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Back in Tacoma

2011-10-14T14:12:00.001-07:00

Back in Tacoma Washington. This is not how you fly a PA!

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Back to the grindstone

2011-10-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

well...after 2 days in LA...its time to get back to the "real world". thankfully no jetlag! more updates coming soon...the trip home was pretty uneventful...LA was...well..LA. i got kidnapped by a friend and taken to Hollywood and all around the LA area. that i guess was interesting. went to the Kodak theater. went to the famous Amoeba Music record store. bought some vinyl records. it was alot of fun!
In Seattle for the next 4 days doing run-outs. and guess what...its RAINING! hahaha go figure

One more go round

2011-10-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

finally our Australia adventure has come to an end. i am now safely writing this from my bed in california. what a time we had though. i cannot express it all here in this blog...but it truly was a life changing experience. here are some pics from our last few days in australia. Mario...our tour promoter was amazing...as i had stated before. he took us all out to this MASSIVE thai dinner for our last free night in australia. our last 2 days were double show days...so it was the day we flew into adelaide for the final time. it was amazing. best food ive eaten in a LONG time. it was a full 9 course meal. and the wine was flowing! Mario brought all 22 of us out...our tour manager John (ozzy as we call him)..his partner Suzzie...and Mario's wife Gail. it was quite the event. tried oysters on the half shell for the first time. i liked them. i love oysters...but never had them raw. there was lots of seafood and other exotic thai. it was amazing. it was a 3 hour experience that left us all extremely full.

aside from the amazing meal...mario arranged for all of us to go to a wildlife preserve and do the whole koala kangaroo thing. it meant a 5am wake up call after a double show day..but it was worth it! what a time we had! we all got to hold a koala...feed it....feed and play with some 'roos and wallabies. it was indescriblale. ill do my best to let the pics speak for themselves.

so here they are...completely out of order...thank you blogspot...the final pics from out australian adventure!

now what you dont see in this pic is that we are on his huge hill...and its raining...and what do kangaroos do in the wild? yep...we spend a solid 20 minutes slipping all over the hill stepping in kangaroo crap. but it was worth it!

julian resting before our first flight back to the states.

he made it to the cabin doors with the kangaroo inflated...but he couldnt get it through the door...so he had to pop it. and yes...thats a australia sombrero

flying from sydney to LAX. they have a cool camera where you can watch the plane from your seat

my ride home...the amazing 380 Airbus! largest commercial plane on the planet

they love the camera

this would have been a great pic...except the one kangaroo had to ruin it. notice he is no where near the ground!

no you cannot check your email!

high five dan!

Hal getting up close and personal

this one was cool...she was pregnant with a little one...you could see it moving and kicking inside her pouch

yeah...cause thats what we do in australia

she was so cool and calm

stoned out of her mind...she just wanted more eucalyptus

i think this speaks for itself

never before would i dream i would ever see big daddy (bud) holding and feeding a koala...but there you go.

how is that comfortable! ive slept in some strange positions...but nothing like that.

just chillin...keeping out of the rain

and cue the "Dingo ate my baby" line!

aww...little joey! i even got to pet both of them

this one jumped at liz just as i took this picture

dan trying to get some reading done

julian surrounded by kangaroos!

what you looking at fool!

these are not "big reds" (the largest kangaroos) but this one when it stood up was almost as tall as me

cool reusable bad from the coffee shop

my office patio at my apartment

Surfers Paradise Australia

mmmm...Vapianos! amazing pasta place...fresh daily made pasta cooked one at a time for you...just the way you want it.

Gold coast...Surfers Paradise!

Sydney Part 2...and all points in between

2011-09-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

sydney was an amazing city! i lucked out and happened to catch a good afternoon just before i had to head to the next town to do a show. the cast was able to stay behind and spend one more night, but duty calls....and off we went. but before we went...we were able to head back to the hostel one more time...and back to the opera house! i was able to take the tour of the opera house and got to experience it all first hand! enjoy!

right outside my hotel in sydney

AJ on the business end of a canon

the amazing hostel

Kangaroo pizza! NO JOKE! it was good!

Cori really enjoyed her olive dip!

bats just chillin in the garden. they are HUGE!

the bay where the opera house is

enjoying the garden

there she is! amazing!

the end of one of the "sails"

inside the lobby of one of the theaters

view from the lobby

there are over 1 million white and cream tiles that cover the sails

blow hole we saw in Nowra

my room in Nowra...my small bed on the right

CREEPY

GOLD COAST! SURFERS PARADISE

this is what we do every time we fly. 50+ pieces

Sydney adventure...part 1

2011-09-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

Sydney...home to one of the most iconic building in existance. what an amazing city. its alot like new york city...just alot cleaner and not AS many people. this city never sleeps. we are staying and playing in the heart of downtown. there is so much to see and do here. too bad were are only here for 4 days. i actually have to leave a day early to head to the next gig. but i still tried to get out and see as much as i could while in this amazing city. one of my favorite cities in australia...and new zealand.

this is RIGHT across the street from our hotel

here i am..on the street corner...nothing special about this one.

darling harbor...such a great place

darling harbor

darling harbor...its the MATILDA!

darling harbor

St. Mary's church...right up the street from our hotel

this tower is right next to our hotel

fountain in the park right by saint marys

the AMAZING hostel we stumbled into on our way to the opera house. i had herb bread (see below) pasta carbonara and a drink....$15!!!!

cockatoos along side the road...like they were pigeons in the states

entry way into the botanical gardens

those are not leaves...they are GIANT bats!

...even unicyclists

first view of the opera house!

i was a total tourist here!

Cori skyping with her family at the opera house...i did the same thing

"look mom..."

the harbor bridge...you can pay to walk over it (UP over it) but its alot and takes 3 hours...plus it was raining...almost did it

we found Liz and Bob there by chance!

see...i can be funny too!

chocolate shop in Adelaide

my apartment in Adelaide

we waited for 45 minutes in the Swiss'otel to get checked in...all we wanted to do was sleep! we were on the road at 6am...flight...and then I had a load in that afternoon

cool solar boat!

mmm. gnocchi with rockets, scallops, salmon and onions

done and done!

the wind kicked up

from the hostel where we had lunch...this was the WHOLE restaurant.

for a $3 bread plate..we expected MUCH less...so we ordered 2...this was basically a medium size pizza cut up with amazing spreads!

Cori playing with the Cockatoos

Look! UGGS big enough for me!

An apple store! (for katie and daniel)

pipes for the organ under the theater in Sydney

such an amazing theater. 4 out of 5 sold out...5th one is just a few hundred under the sold out mark

amazing street corner

Adelaide...the first time around

2011-09-22T06:38:00.000-07:00

Ah Adelaide...what a nice little city. so much to do....as long as your day is done by 10pm...then the city shuts down. had a great first few days there. and 2 great days of shows there as well. I say the first time around because we will be finishing the tour in Adelaide in a few weeks.

On the morning of our second show day there. Mario, the promoter, thought it would be a great idea to give bud and the crew a private tour of Adelaide. Seeing as Mario lived there..it was only natural. Mario is a great guy...world known promoter...as well as owning a very successful wine touring company. Wine is HUGE in Adelaide.

Mario picked us up at 9am and off we went to see the city. after a little bit in the car, Mario took us up into the hills of Adelaide...where the money is as we say. beautiful homes, golf courses, the works. a little bit into the trip...Mario turns up the radio and the DJ on station starts doing a promo for the show...pretty cool! then he says...world famous promoter Mario Maiolo is taking Bud Forrest and his crew up to the north hills of Adelaide today...giving them a proper tour of the city and experiencing our fine city...so thanks Mario...and show them a good time!

it was amazing. and funny at the same time! for once i felt like a rock star!

heres some pictures of our adventures around the city with Mario and our time spent in Adelaide.

and no...10am is not too early for wine tasting!

Traditional "Bee Sting" dessert from a german bakery

just made me laugh

in this german bar, you picked your own meat!

they even had cool chairs

the Hahdorf inn..thats the german bar we visited

Only german beer on tap

alot of stores in the area had these outside

Mario...and the cool buildings

Gotta love a good pickle

Bud testing out one of the seats

more of the German bar

funny statues

this was right across the street from the statue

Julian with his new hat

so...as long as the suns up...bottoms up?

The German town of Handorf that we visited

Tower at Mount Lofty

View of Adelaide from Mount Lofty

i dont know why i didnt smile

Julian fixing a shoe in Adelaide

Wireless world for the australian tour

some of our australian road cases

an amazing Brekky i had for breakfast...scrambled eggs, avacado, bacon, duck, and italian breakfast sausage!

andi taking her medicine

the best chai latte ive ever had

my apartment building

my shower...only one small pane of glass

MMMM pasta carbonara

headed to the winery

this was a school where under-priviaged kids can study the arts for free

my bottle from the Nepenthe winery Mario took us to

At the winery

Filling in the gaps...Mandurah and Perth

2011-09-21T01:27:00.000-07:00

Well here are some pictures from our travels to Mandurah and Perth. Both cities were amazing! We actually were in Perth right on the heels of a several month sit-down of Wicked. they loaded out the night before we opened there. We sold out in Mandurah AND all 4 shows in Perth. over 8,800 people saw the show in Perth. Hard to believe WE did 4 sold out shows there..on the heels of Wicked.

saw this in a store window outside the tiger tiger cafe. People in australia are HARDCORE into their biking!

Tiger Tiger...had a GREAT Brekky there for breakfast

Theater in Mandurah

PA hang in Mandurah

View from the lobby in Mandurah

Walking the streets of Perth

A cool church around the corner from our hotel in Perth

Backstage in Perth

Perth

More of that same church in Perth

FOH in Perth....I MISS MY DIGIDESIGN BOARD! (it was so nice to get back on one...even if just for 2 days)

Im still alive

2011-09-19T07:04:00.001-07:00

im still alive everyone.

just been really busy

all my free time in australia is over...its shows and flights every day from here on out.

more blogs coming soon!

Brisbane Australia...a wonderful little town!

2011-09-15T04:38:00.000-07:00

well...i had a huge blog written about the last few days...but it got erased. oh well. it was a rough time in brisbane. my lead trombone player passed out during his solo and fell face first onto the stage from his riser. not pretty. scariest thing ive seen in a long time. the crowd did love all 3 shows there. just was a bad time for us on the tech end of things.

PA hang in Launceston Taz

Launceston Taz house

my apartment in Brisbane Australia

my mobile studio...and yes...thats sushi next to my laptop

i have a problem!

QPAC theater in Brisbane

Farewell Australia...Hello Tasmania (for 2 days)

2011-09-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

yes a chapter closed for me...it was time for me to leave australia. but only for 2 days. jumped a flight to tasmania for 2 days of shows. its a wonderful island. its like if you took alabama...and stuck it where hawaii should be. secluded island...slow people. its considered the country. there are only 500k people here. most live in the 2 major cities on the island. we did the show at the Wrestin Casino. it was a nice place....1600 seats...sold out. usual casino crowd. not like vegas casino...like po-dunk nowhere casino.

but it all worked out in the end. good show. the crowd loved it. i had horrible food. the casino food was awful...except for the squid i had at lunch...which i didnt even order...i ate it off julians salad. it was huge chunks..like golfball size. it was actually really good. my "sea food platter" sucked. it was a shrimp...a small piece of fish...something julian said was a muscle...and 2 things that looked like onion rings. NOT like the squid i had off julians salad.

dinner was much better...it was catered. some kind of chicken mushroom cream stuff over jasmine rice. it was amazing!

breakfast this morning was ok....WAY too expensive...but it was the only thing open in the casino. now im off to launceston to do the gig tonight. im writing this from the back seat of the car...its the 3 of us...the tour manager ozzy...and his wife susie crammed in a van. i LOVE this hotspot thing we got! now i have net everywhere i go.

here are some pics from the packout in melbourne and some from the casino in hobart tasmania.

and no...no tasmanian devils yet...soon

Desperate times call for desperate measures. BUT this is how i found out the water does go the other way!

Melbourne PA

Hal skying with his wife after the show...in front of the amps for the PA

Never leave home without him

im sorry but i have to start dropping the quality of my posted pics...it was taking 10 minutes per photo to upload...so from here on out...slightly less high quality shots.

Launceston Tasmania...cleanest air on earth

these kind of trucks are everywhere. this one just as a cap on the back

awesome bakery we found in launceston. they serve you a LOAF of bread.

iced coffee in a carton...brilliant!

Melbourne...So many hidden secrets!

2011-09-10T01:39:00.000-07:00

Melbourne is amazing. so many cool things to see and experience here. ive spent the last 2 days exploring as much as i can. i could write forever about what i saw but ill sum it up the best i can.

me, aj, brian and cori wandered all around Melbourne. we stopped at the Melbourne Museum. Couldnt believe it...the King Tut exhibit was here on display. we checked it out. best $25 i ever spent on a museum. the regular museum was horrible...but i loved the tut exhibit. it was so amazing to be so close to such great artifacts.

after the museum we found a wonderful garden and cathedral. we walked around as much as we could. we found this amazing little bohemian section of town filled with little awesome shops.

later that night we hauled tail back to the hotel for some dinner. we ended up at the "spaghetti tree". a very well known italian restaurant just up the street from the hotel. the food was AMAZING!

i had gnocchi with carbanara. so much food. after that i slipped fast into a food coma and just enjoyed the night alone.

today was spent just wandering around the other end of town. we found a cool farmers market...but it wasnt anything to write home about. basically ive just been trying to enjoy as much of Melbourne as i can. its beautiful...except for the price of some things. a 2lt of coke from the 7-11 costs $6au...which is about 6.25us. a footlong ham sub from subway is $15au! a "12oz" bottle of coke is $3au. but i can have an amazing dish of killer pasta from a gourmet restaurant and it only costs me $18. doesnt totally make sense..but oh well.

heres some pics! i know they are random...i dont like that about blogspot...its hard to arrange them.

such wonderful sights

MEGA-DECK!!!!

Awsome sign outside the mens room

Theatre in St. Kilda

We're Famous!

Right next door to the theatre in St. Kilda

Lobby in St. Kilda

FOH view from St. Kilda

LOOK A BEACH! right outside the theatre in St. Kilda

Museum in Melbourne

View from my window in Melbourne

View from my window

Shower in my apartment

bathroom sink in my apartment

my bed

office/living room

kitchen

Gnocchi

St kilda stage

counter-weight

Melbourne

Cori playing in the water

Andi and her drink

our first album cover

Melbourne Australia!

2011-09-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

finally we have made it to the 2nd country in our trip! Melbourne Australia! it was a short little 4 hour flight from Auckland to Melbourne. We got to fly with the "Tall Blacks"...the New Zealand Basketball team. not as cool as the "All Blacks"...but they work in a pinch.

We flew right through customs! no problems at all!

Australia is alot like New Zealand. same amount of Asians. i know how bad that sounds...but its the truth. once again we have been dropped in the heart of "china town". its a nice hotel. 27 stories. Lots of shopping around. I finally got my AUS cell phone and my own internet. its slow but it works. its so weird going from a Droid smart phone to a small plastic simple phone. takes some time to get used to. especially when we all have the SAME phone! but for $20 you cannot go wrong.

everything is expensive here! $6 for a 2lt of coke! but thats what it is..so im drinking it like it was a fine wine...lol! 97c Walmart Coke...how i miss you! food is amazing here. so many choices! had a great char-broiled chicken sandwich yesterday for lunch. forgot about dinner...oh well. i had the chance to wander around town with Cori for a while. we checked out some really unique stores in search of a jacket for her. we did find a wonderful jacket in this basement store. it was so hip! she also ended up getting this dress from a high end clothing store i had never heard of...but i havent heard of most of the brands here. but dont fret...there is a KFC down the street...a 7/11 across the road and a "Happy Jacks" down a few blocks. Happy Jacks is a clone of Burger King.

last night i found myself in a really cool jazz club. middle of nowhere...down a back alley...through a door with no writing on it. creepy but weird. the place was so tiny. the band was ok. nothing to write home about. but i was proud...i stayed up till midnight and slept till 8am! the night we got here...i was passed out by 9:30 and up at 4am!

now im off to get some grub. we went to see the theater yesterday that is in St. Kilda. its beautiful. built in the 20's. but they JUST started renovating it. the drapes were all still on the wrapping from the company...wrapped in plastic and on skids. there is no main curtain...it doesnt work. all brand new line-sets. they are silver...look more like ladder truss than pipes. even the line-set weights are brand new...they are still on skids by the rail! but there is a HUGE poster of us out front. 2850 seats. first night is almost sold out...2nd night is a total sell out! HERE WE GO!

more to come later!

Hamilton NZ

2011-09-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

Ah Hamilton, New Zealand

a quiet little town in the middle of nowhere! about 90 minutes away from Auckland. The Show was great! another sold out show. this one was 1400. but its still great to see another sold out show. In hamilton...its just another small town. there was a beautiful fountain structure right outside the theater. from what the locals told me...the theater was built in the 70's...and boy did it look like it! it was like the theater lost in time. but cute none the less. had a great time.

the awesome fountain!

funny tiny sinks in the bathroom

view from FOH

meyer PA hang

cool chairs in hamilton...dont lean too far forward!

The infamous bathroom in the middle of the bus!

look...im a REAL tourist now!

Auckland, New Zealand

2011-09-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

Well..its finally here. Show 1 of our first world tour! its been years since we first talked about coming here. back then it was just a big pipe dream. now im sitting in a 2,286 seat theatre...where we kick off our world tour...to a sold out house!

im going to try and write here as much as possible...but no guarentees. Between the travel, time changes, exploration of cities and bar hops...i cannot guarantee a post every day...nor a complete post at that!

Last night was my last "free" night in Auckland. Its a beautiful town. looks alot like every other major downtown ive ever been in...just with alot of asians and people driving on the wrong side of the street! My day (Friday) started when my body decided it was time to get up at 4:30 in the morning! if this is the worst of my jetlag...bring it on! i did manage to get a little more sleep but was up and showered by 7am. The apartments/hotel we are staying at are amazing. they even bring you a continental breakfast to your room each night at 8pm. its just a little something. a banana, oat bar, bakery roll (like 14-grain), yogurt and a juice box. not too bad i might say. things to have a different taste here. its growing on me fast. i spent the majority of my morning enjoying the apartment to myself as julian was at the Spa all day. i was able to contact family, do some work, mix a bit of my albums and watch some funny NZ tv.

Later in the afternoon i did wander a bit downtown and get some postcards to commemorate my stay here. it was the one tourist thing i did so far. i ended up going to dinner with Cori around 7pm. we walked around downtown as she lead me to a Mediterranean restaurant that she claimed was italian. Had amazing spaghetti carbanara. and some great new zealand beer. Cori pointed out the sticker that was on the beer bottle and asked if i thought americans were offended by it. the label read "supporting the ALL BLACKS". bless her heart..she had no clue what that ment. its world cup rugby here this week. the all blacks are the auckland rugby team. dinner was amazing and afterwards we walked around the downtown a bit and saw some of the sights. Down here you HAVE to look both ways when crossing the street. Cori almost didnt make it back to the hotel...she nearly got hit by a bus. luckily i was able to grab her at the last second and pull her back. so remember kids...always look both ways!

Cori downtown. i took this so i could fit in with the 200 other people on the street corner taking the same shot. its a little out of focus...but you get the idea

the breakfast they bring every morning

View from my apartment

Room keys are touch...how James Bond!

The Theater we are playing at in Auckland...The Edge

The pub where i had the best guinness ever! didnt know it at the time...but its apparently open 24/7!

Auckland city streets

Where our mystery guy did his jump! 630ft!

yes even here...a Dennys (and a pizza hut and KFC)

Can i get the bills game with this? (TVNZ headquarters)

Pretty church down the street

The Sky City tower

my ONE tourist shot!

View from where our mystery guy jumped from! 11 seconds to the ground!

more of the skyline

Auckland city streets

Church

more of the church

even the coffee is beautiful here. best vanilla latte ive ever had. worth the 6 bock walk for it.

The Edge Theatre

From coast to coast...and now across the pond

2011-09-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

As stated above...before it was always "coast to coast"...today (now friday my time) marks the start of "across the pond" when we talk about where we tour. Thats right, In The Mood is now officially "safe and sound" down under...though our gear is still in hock with the NZ government. More on that later.

Our journey started (well for me...over 4 years ago planning this thing) Wednesday August 31st, USA time. The day started with a wonderful 9 hour trip from our rehearsal and opening location in Folsom California to Glendora California to drop off some gear and then over to LAX where we awaited our first international trip for ITM. The dive was the normal...long....hot...and long. After getting to the airport, we met back up with the company who was waiting for us at the terminal.

We took our whole show, stripped it down as much as we could, and stuffed it all into 22 "boxes". Each box had to be 24"x24"12" in size...AND...had to weigh under 50lbs. A tall order as we carry all of our stuff in our 36' truck thats packed to the gills. Each box was super-reinforced with special tape and labeled in every way possible to ensure that should something go missing...we could have it sent to us. It took days and many many hours to get everything set in boxes, taped up, labeled, weighed and organized. Truly an undertaking. We got to the airport at 4pm...for a 11:40pm flight to New Zealand. We had some time to kill you could say. Getting out of the country wasnt a problem. Security was a breeze. The next several hours were spent pacing in Terminal 4...sitting around with the guys...walking to the other end of the terminal (only 400 yards max) and checking out the extremely overpriced shops. We all spent most of the time hunting around for one of the few 120v plugs that might be hidden on a wall somewhere so we could charge our laptops and cellphones for the flight. This was fruitless for most, as there were only a few plugs to be found. As time passed slowly...we all called our loved ones and wished them farewell for the next 5 weeks. The entire trip would be without cell phones for most, and internet is VERY expensive here. Most took the time to call their families and say goodbye. Man that sounds so cryptic! Finally the time had come to board. 300+ people stood in line to board the jet that was outside waiting for us. Oddly enough, it had shown up at the gate nearly 3 hours ahead of time!

Once on board, i was seated in a window seat on the left side of the jet...35 rows back. The rest of the company with the exception of Bud, was in the rear of the plane in rows 50+. All Bud told me was that the rest of the company was in the rear and me and him were in the "front". By front, I mean front of economy. Behind Business...and First Class. I knew Bud was not on the plane as I made my way to my seat. A nice comfy red chair right in front of the bathroom. Thankfully there was only 2 seats in my section. The plane is configured 2X4X2 across. So I figured it was just gonna be me and Bud. Somehow I always end up in that situation. So I grabbed my ipod, headphones and Kindle and sat down in my new home for the next 14 hours. The nice part of flying with Qantas was that we each got a "welcome kit" which had a blanket, pillow, airline headphones and a toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste. (boy that was a welcome relief after 15 hours on a plane! more on that adventure later) As I got myself as comfortable as possible for the journey...a young girl walks by and sits down next to me. This was a shock. Bud was sitting next to me as per my calculations. And no...he didnt get to have a First Class seat...we arent flipping the bills here.

Could this be? Could I have slipped the grasp of a 14 hour trapped next to by boss? YEP! So we sat down and the flight began. After the first few awkward moments of flying next to a stranger...we struck up a converstation. I never got her name though. Anyway...after some small chitter chatter...come to find out, her and about 20 other female college students were on their way to work abroad in Auckland as teachers. The wilder part was they were all students at Geneva College in New York. Some even live in Syracuse. For those not familiar with that last statement...Syracuse is 40 minutes from where I live, and Geneva is not far away from me either. Truly is a small world sometimes. The girls were going to Auckland to meet their host families and teach there until the end of the year.

Onward and upward we went. We ended up sitting on the tarmac for an extra half hour because the ground crew put too much fuel in the plane and we had to burn some off before we got to a safe take-off weight as we were fully loaded.

Shortly after takeoff...the drugs kicked in and I was out like a light. The menu that the stewardess had handed out told all about the services that were set up for this flight. They were going to do dinner 3 hours in, snack a bit after that, and then 3 hours before we were to land, they were going to serve breakfast. Well...I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew, they had plopped down this goodie bag on my lap. The stewardess asked if I wanted coffee. I tried to form the words "water please" but my brain and body were not talking. I must have said something close to that because she motioned to the bag on my lap. Inside the bag, there was a tea cookie, bag of chips, 2 chocolates and a bottle of water. The water tasted so good after hours of sleep. Soon after I drifted back to sleep for a while and awoke somewhere towards the end of the flight. We were just getting ready to pass over the International Date Line when this picture was taken.

Sleep was far and near impossible for the rest of the flight. My body just wanted none of it. Over the course of the next few hours, I killed some time watching TV, reading a little and just trying to sleep.

These are some of my first views of New Zealand. Known as the land of the big white cloud. The weather here changes by the minute...really. Sunny one second...snowing the next...after that...sunny again.

Here we are...all alive. waiting at baggage claim to start the customs process. Now that fun note I wrote about earlier. For some reason, a form was overlooked and our gear was not cleared to enter the country. After almost an hour, the decision came down from the customs agents. We could take our personal items, but all show items and instruments must be left at the airport in the hands of the NZ government until a bond was posted for the items...to the tune of nearly $116k USD. It was 9am...Thursday Sept 1st New Zealand time when we landed...this was the last thing we needed. But we had no choice.

Here we are shortly after meeting John our new tour manager for this trip. This is our bus for the next week. There is a small "box" in the middle of the bus about 3ft high...apparently its the bathroom. More on that later...maybe.

After a short tour around the city of Auckland...we arrived at our first hotel. The City Oak Apartments. a beautiful 10 story apartment building. Here are some pictures of my apartment.

We have 2 of these small bedrooms. Perfect size for a bed, small bookshelf and room to walk around the bed.

The washer/dryer that is located in the bathroom

Kitchen area. there is a microwave, fridge, 2 burner stove, sink, oven and dish washer. The kitchen came fully furnished.

View of the apartment looking at the door

Outside my window...8 floors up

Sky City

The stage setup outside the theater for the broadcast of the All Black Rugby team. World Cup Starts in just a few days...and Auckland is hosting it

For lunch...I had run into a group of guys from the show and we ended up at this beautiful coffee house. One of our guys had been wanting to jump off the Sky City tower. Its a thrill seekers dream I guess. Its actually a "controlled fall" ...but its basically a free-fall. It takes about 11 seconds to make the 192m jump. At a cost of $225au...not my cup of tea. But he did the jump..and it was amazing. we were lucky enough to be able to watch the jump from the landing pad. Since it was a slow day...he got to jump a second time again for free. The video might end up here sometime...im not sure when due to "contact restrictions. But the coffee house was beautiful and the coffee was like nothing ive ever tried before. Amazing is about the only word i can find. Lunch was a ham, cheese and pineapple "toastie" as they call it. And some chips. (fries for you americans)

One of the bars me and Julian went to our first night. It was a bar we found by accident while walking around the harbor looking for some dinner. After we walked in..we quickly saw the huge parkas on the wall and realized where we had stumbled into. It was an ICE BAR! Well now we had to check it out! It was $30au but worth it. That included the rental of the parka, gloves and a your first drink. At $12 per drink, it really wasnt that bad. our Bartender/host was Luke. A young lad from the UK who was working at the bar on a work visa for school studying hospitality. It was just the 4 of us in the bar..me and Julian as well as Luke and another bartender named Rebecca. She had only been in the country for 2 months. Luke had just gotten there 2 weeks earlier. The entire bar was made of ice...except for the windows, lights, banners hanging from the ceiling and the floor. Everything else was complete ice. The tables, chairs, sculptures, glasses and even the game table! Its very hard to pick up the puck with your gloves on! The hi-res versions of these pics will be online once we get back to the states, but for now, you will get the idea. The bar was 5 below at all times. COLD! We spent about 45 minutes in there just shootin the breeze with Rebecca and Luke. (pics of them to come)

Julian enjoying a shot from the ice Elk

After the trip back to our apartment...we still hadnt found food. So we met up with Greg, Jen and Brian and we went to the pub down the road. It was a nice little Irish Pub. Had some TRUE Guinness and a burger. The burger was good...just different from what we have in America. Cant really put my finger on it.

Well we were whipped. I hadnt slept since the flight and I was fading fast. We all headed back to the apartments for a well needed night of rest. After climbing into bed and doing everything i could to keep my eyes open long enough to plug my laptop in (i think i fell asleep for a second while trying to do this) and start a movie. One last check of my Ipod to see how late we had run about the town like real party animals...9:30pm.

After that...a good nights sleep...5:30am I was wide awake and here I am! it was a crazy night. Tomorrow is our first show in Auckland...1900+ sold in a 2200 seat house!

For now...thats all!