News From The Road

The Boston shows were great. There is nothing like a little home cookin' to really turn up the heat a little. I know both bands have said there is no rivalry but it seems like the bad boys from beantown have added a little extra cayenne pepper to the chili. It seems like the set is pretty set with Adam's Apple and Nobody's Fault revolving with Last Child, Monkey and Let The Music Do the Talkin.' It's a well balanced set. The blues tunes seem to be getting rave reviews.

The guys blew into Cleveland on the 3rd, played the show and headed right to DC for the NFL shindig. On the morning of the 4th they went down to do a soundcheck on the Mall in front of the Capital. They were given a police escort to the mall. You would have thought President Bush was in the motorcade. After the soundcheck the guys met with the press for about an hour, then back to the hotel for a change of clothes and a bite to eat. Everybody was at the hotel. The Jets were there as well as all the performers. Then it was showtime! Another escort to the gig and some more schmoozing.

As you know the band took the stage right after Britney and just blew the doors off the place. They shortened Walk This Way and Saddle so they could play 3 songs. Dream On was awesome! I have heard that song live about 300 times and I swear this time was the best.

O.K enough cheerleading here. I've got to say Brad had a spark and a half that night and it really shows how fuckin' good that guy is. If Joe is the cool then Brad is the glue. He showed it that night. As the guys were leaving the stage they past right by Aretha Franklin. I saw them go right past her, they didn't even see her really because she was kinda in the corner but Joe saw her and walked right up to her and introduced himself. She seemed just as excited to meet and say hello to him as he was to her. Maybe she heard that they are covering a song of hers on the next album. We got right in the cars and headed for the airport to go to Chicago. It was funny because Tom turned on the TV and they were showing Dream On. It was time delayed about 10 minutes.

The NFL Kickoff event in DC was a burn, but at the same time a lot of fun. After playing at Alpine Valley we headed to Detroit to play the make up show. Holy shit that place is big! 40,000 fans strong. Paul Stanley mentioned that the tour will be back to Detroit in November. Looks like we are headed in-doors and should be out on the road until Christmas.

Since Joey and Joe have houses in Florida they hopped on Kiss's plane to West Palm while the rest of us flew home to beantown. Joe sat with Gene for most of the ride and got an education on how not to have any free time.

West Palm is like Boston with nice weather. Everybody comes down to the show and has a great time. Steven gave Richie Supa a tip of the hat during Pink and let him sing back ups without the use of a monitor. Hey Richie next time stick a finger in your ear, buddy! As you know Richie goes way back with the boys writing or co- writing great tunes such as Chip Away, Lightning Strikes, Amazing and of course Pink. He's a class act and a hellava song writer.

In Atlanta they guys saw Derek St. Holmes at the show. Derek was the driving force behind Ted Nugent in the 70's and formed Whitford St. Holmes with Brad. They released a great underrated album in the early 80's then Brad came back to the family after a brief stint with Joe in "the Project."

Well, if all goes well and Isabel heads out to sea we will see everybody in Virginia Beach, Charlotte and Raleigh this week before heading over to Music City.

Last note: I thought it was cool that Joe dedicated "Dream On" to Johnny Cash in West Palm. Johnny along with Elvis, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis helped form Rock and Roll and Joe didn't let that moment pass without acknowledging it.

See ya next week I promise.

John B.