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On the road with Red Elvises, what a delicious idea! I had anticipated their arrival in the town I currently live nearest for months, or for as long as the tour dates in the Carolinas had been posted on the band’s schedule. On Wednesday, October 18th, I was at work all day but my head was mostly filled with happy daydreams and excitement. My workplace is so close to the Visulite Theatre where Red Elvises were booked that I can see it from the big window at the end of the hallway outside my office. So every chance I got I went out into the hallway and was looking over there and counting the hours till we would all be there enjoying some great music. Work was on the back burner but somehow it got done and by 5:31pm I was in the Ladies room happily changing into my |
When we got to the Visulite I found that the band had been there to unload and had gone…probably to eat and/or grab a nap before the show. There was just one name on the guest list (mine, yay!) and it was spelled correctly, I was happy to see. The girl at the desk asked “Is this your date?” and before I had a chance to say anything, she added “+1” beside my name and stamped our hands. We walked in and I saw the merchandise set up on a table next to the bar. At the back end of the building was the stage, with a sort of “sunken” dance floor in front of it. The Visulite was once a movie theatre, and I presume to offset the sloping of the floor, the bar and tables and chairs were on a raised platform about level with the stage. It’s a pretty cool place; I had had a look around one afternoon the previous week when I went over there to take the manager some Red Elvises postcards to put out for weekend patrons to pick up. And by the way, the management there is very friendly and nice, which always makes for a more groovy experience.
After communicating entirely by Internet with her for years, I finally met the fan formerly known in Red Chat and to other fans as Azariah, although these days she is called Lilith. She was there from the Raleigh area with her friend Sharon. Brian and I sat with them and watched the opening band, Truckstop Preachers, who are a country rock sort of band, very good in their genre. I got myself a beer and enjoyed it while eagerly awaiting Our Favorite Band’s arrival. I could feel the magic about to happen and was half crazed with anticipation. Pretty soon I saw Adam walking through the club so I got down off my tall chair to greet him. Then Elena came along and hugged me hello as Adam had, followed by Oleg. In another few minutes Igor walked past us carrying his stage clothes and went into the hallway on one side of the stage looking for the dressing room. I thought it was on the other side so I went to say hi and tell him that… Actually though, I think the dressing room was literally “backstage” – behind the stage, and I never quite figured out where the access to it was except by walking across the stage to get to it (which I discovered much later). So everyone was present and accounted for and I was very very happy. The lead singer of Truckstop Preachers kept making little “announcements” and comments about Red Elvises being next and being Russian, and I was quite jazzed to hear members of the audience yell “Whooo!” when Red Elvises was mentioned. Closet Red Elvises fans in Charlotte, who knew!!
Igor asked me The Question, “Can you help us?” – meaning the selling of merchandise, so of course I agreed to do that as I followed him to the merchandise table. He explained what was in each suitcase of shirts, put a Red Army hat on my head to display the hats and gave me some change to get started. I could see the stage from there so I was happy. You’re probably going to get tired of my usage of the word “happy” throughout this article, so I’ll try to vary it here and there by substituting “overjoyed,” “delirious,” “ecstatic,” “tickled pink (red?) till Tuesday” and other words that convey how deliciously wonderful it was to see these guys again. Trust me, I was all of that and more; they fill a deep hole in my overflowing heart with their positive energy and smile-inducing, life-affirming joy. It’s love, man!
They started the show with three new songs back-to-back, songs so new Igor hadn’t quite gotten around to naming them yet. The first one, which looks like it will be called “Sweeter Than Champagne” (more on that later), kicked off the show in a really sweet way as it reverberated around in the Visulite Theatre. Then, up-and-coming crowd favorite “Drinking with Jesus” wowed us, followed by another great new song that I don’t know the title of – if it even has a title yet. It wasn’t a huge crowd but the turnout was pretty decent for a Wednesday night in a town the band hadn’t played in a very long time (or ever? I couldn’t find a listing for Charlotte on the Tour Dates Archives list, going back years...so I dunno...). As far as I could tell, there was much dancing, drinking and happiness going on throughout the evening and the smart and lucky people who ventured out that night had a great time.
They played only one long set in Charlotte with no break, and the next songs were “Ukrainian Dance #13,” “It’s a Wonderful Night (To Fall in Love),” “My Darling Lorraine,” “Memoirs of a Phuket Geisha,” “Gypsy Heart,” “Love Rocket,” “Ticket to Japan,” “Strip Joint is Closed,” “Sad Cowboy Song” with its classic 4-person drum solo, “Closet Disco Dancer,” “I Wanna See You Belly Dance,” and two encores, “Juliet” and another new song that I wrote down as “Rock Me Baby” with a question mark because I seem to recall that lyric from it but I don’t know yet if that’s the title. I love all the new songs!!
During Adam’s drum solo in “Sad Cowboy Song,” Oleg had walked near the merchandise table and told me “You should be up front dancing, don’t worry about the table…” So I asked my friend Brian to keep an eye on the table (he doesn’t dance) and to tell anyone who wanted to buy something that I’d be right back. Then I ran up to the stage for “Belly Dance.” The Visulite has a nice sized stage, not enormous but high and big enough for a band and plenty of dancing girls, with stairs conveniently placed right in front. Girls were going up there; I caught Oleg’s eye and he nodded and moved his head in that way that I’ve come to know means “come on up,” so up I went. He directed some of us to the other side, between Elena and Igor, and that’s where Lilith and I ended up, dancing like maniacs. I may not have any natural rhythm but I do love to dance onstage for that song! It was really cool and I enjoyed it immensely, which goes without saying even though I’m saying it anyway.
After the show I sold some more merchandise and then Igor helped me pack it up. They had had a slight incident involving some candle wax at a previous show (no light at the merch table, use of a candle, someone accidentally knocked it over and wax got on a few of the t-shirts and tank tops), so Igor asked me if I could put them on ice to try to get the wax off. He also needed some more merchandise, which I had at home, so later, instead of sleeping at my friend’s place in town like I’d planned, I ended up making the hour-long trek home to take care of all that and sleep for a few hours. It wasn’t any problem except that the ice treatment didn’t quite work on all the shirts. Three of the tank tops came out nice and wax-free, at least, and I was able to bring most of the merchandise requested.
The band was leaving the hotel to head to Raleigh at 12:30pm on Thursday (October 19th), so I was there at 11:50am. I parked my car, fibbed to the hotel guy watching the registration parking (“Uh… I’ll probably be here about 15 minutes…”) and went inside to wait in the lobby. I was excited to be following them to the next town on the tour.
Now about following the big red Red Elvises van… It’s not for the faint of heart, to be honest with you, because, even though Oleg is what I consider a safe driver and I’d literally trust him with my life, he’s fast. And following him is a bit like Life itself – there are times when it’s rather tranquil and you’re rolling along at what feels like a reasonable – though fast – speed, and then there are other times where he gets a break in traffic and speeds up the big red Ford E-350 van and you’re flooring it in a Toyota with your hair flying out behind you, screaming with joy and the unbridled chaotic sensation of near-flight. Or something close to that. But I had done it before and I chose to do it this time too, knowing that at the end of the road I’d be in a different place with the best band on the planet. And along with hanging out with these incredibly fun people, it was also really exciting to be going to a couple of venues that I’ve seen for years only as listings on a tour schedule; now I was finally going to experience the Pourhouse in Raleigh and the Handlebar in Greenville firsthand! So I knew it would be fun to follow the van, as well as, on a more practical scale, a good challenge to depend on my own finely-honed skill of keeping up with them to reach the destinations. When you’re on a freeway and don’t really know where you’re going, other than the name of the next town, then your life, at least temporarily, becomes a situation of “I’ve got to stay behind this van and keep up or I’ll be hopelessly lost in limbo! And you, Other Cars, will get out of my way! Aha!” It’s an adventure! It’s a good feeling to be able to keep up… It’s a situation where the end result is so rewarding that it makes all the lane changes, “running” of yellow traffic lights and cut-offs of pesky cars that get in the way worth it!
So we got on the road and then stopped on our way out of Charlotte for breakfast at a Bob Evans restaurant. Adam and Elena had eaten the free breakfast at the hotel so they weren’t hungry and stayed in the van; I went inside with Igor and Oleg where they proceeded to charm our waitress without even trying. She heard them talk and it was all over… She asked “what are your accents, French?” “Close,” Igor said, “Russian.” It turned out that our waitress’ late husband had worked in Moscow and had developed quite a fondness for vodka and Russian food. She was very nice and served us well, and we enjoyed talking with her too.
Back on the road, the traffic wasn’t too bad going to Raleigh, except when we got into town it was a tad trickier keeping up with Oleg. I’d like to extend a big blanket “sorry!” to all the cars I cut off changing lanes and trying to make traffic lights so I wouldn’t lose the van. Well, it wasn’t actually that bad, I guess. Most of the time I drove safely enough (I think!). We stopped at Guitar Center, where amidst some Russian conversation an orange power cord of some sort was bought for Elena. I wandered into the keyboards room and watched various band members plink on some keyboards; there were some cool ones in there, going strictly by looks, and some of them were red. I know nothing about any musical instrument so that’s all I can say; I just hung out and didn’t touch anything, wishing I knew where the restroom was and, more importantly, if I’d have time to use it.
We left the Guitar Center and went to find a hotel, which turned out to be Econo Lodge. I had no idea where we were in Raleigh or where the club was or anything, since that was my first trip to that city. We got rooms and Oleg said we’d meet at the van at 8pm to go to the Pourhouse and that I could ride with them, which made me very happy, uh, overjoyed to have that cool mode of transportation. As anyone who knows me knows, I love riding in the van! Not to mention it also meant I wouldn’t have to battle traffic or find a place to park. And yeah, okay, I’ll admit it, it’s a great way to feel like you’re “with the band” too and be around them, ‘cos they are, of course, just beyond cool human beings who make me laugh and make me happy, I’m sure many of you reading this agree. As a wise person once said, it doesn’t have to be complicated.
As we pulled up in front the Pourhouse the first sight we saw was a thin guy dressed in a white jumpsuit complete with a red cape and a red wig with black sideburns…a red Elvis! It’s a great feeling to pull up in front of a club and see people get all happy, and this guy was just over the moon delirious with happiness; he was bowing to van! His name turned out to be Brent Matthews and this was his very first time seeing Red Elvises. He told me later that he wanted to show them respect and pay tribute, so he got the Elvis costume and came dressed up. You would’ve had to go a long way in Raleigh that night to find any other first-timer who loved them as much as Brent did; his only prior exposure to the wonder of the band was “Six-String Samurai,” a copy of which he had with him to get signed. We got out and I helped the guys carry some stuff in, found the area where the merchandise is usually set up and got started setting up, laying out CDs, the DVDs, bumper stickers, posters and flyer postcards. Igor brought the suitcases of shirts back there and helped me. It was really great to see Lilith and Sharon again too, who live just outside Raleigh. They were there looking lovely and ready to party.
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The show that night was very well attended and a lot of people came over right away to check out the merchandise before the show began. Igor was kind enough to watch the table for me while I ran down the street to the Irish pub, Tir Na Nog, I believe it’s called, to get some quick dinner…mmm mmm, fish and chips! I brought it back with me and ate it little by little as they started playing.
The show began with “200 Flying Girls” and then they played one of the new songs, with the lyric “looking for cool…(girls)” and Oleg on vocals – I think that’s one of those as yet untitled songs. It’s a lot of fun and fits in nicely with all their other songs. Next was “My Darling Lorraine,” “Gypsy Heart,” “Love Rocket,” “Ticket to Japan,” “Strip Joint is Closed,” “Sad Cowboy Song” and the traditional last song before the break, “I Wanna See You Belly Dance.” I stayed at the merchandise table that night where there was good visibility but it was in the back. I asked Lilith to take some pictures with my camera so I’d have some taken in front of the stage. Although they had sounded good at the Visulite in Charlotte, of course, at the Pourhouse the sound was much better; it’s also a smaller venue with more intimate acoustics. I saw the crowd from the back and it was obvious that everybody was grooving on the great sound and having a terrific time.
They took a break, some more merchandise was sold and soon they were back onstage for set #2, which started with their great new song “Sweeter Than Champagne.” At that time, though, it had no official title yet. Next was the hilarious “Drinking with Jesus” song that I still can’t get out of my head (okay, no, I haven’t really tried that hard to get it out of my head!). “Jesus had a shot of Jose Cuervo….” – yeah, it’s good times. Hallelujah! The set continued with “Ukrainian Dance #13,” “Memoirs of a Phuket Geisha” and “Juliet.” But the crowd wouldn’t let the band leave the stage without “one more song!” And one more song after that and one more song after that, so for encores they played “Juliet,” another new song that’s either, I suppose, “rock me baby” or “my baby likes to rock and roll” (lower case because neither of those is the exact title), and then they closed with “Rocketman.” It was a fantastic night for everyone…except for Lilith, later on – she had the misfortune to get bitten by a spider that happened to be lurking on Oleg’s side of the stage! As bad luck would have it, Lilith is allergic to spider bites and soon was feeling the terrifying effects of certain vital parts of her face and throat swelling and reacting to the spider voodoo. Luckily, a guy from Tir Na Nog down the street was at the Pourhouse and happened to have prescription Allegra, which he gave Lilith. Now we all know that normally it’s not recommended to take someone else’s prescription medication but in this instance it saved the night for Lilith and helped her both feel better and avoid a trip to the hospital. So it seems even nasty spiders can have good taste in music but of course it’s tremendously bad form for them to bite people at Red Elvises shows! As far as I know that has never happened before! We’re all just glad Lilith is okay after her insect attack ordeal! Her white pickup truck that got autographed by a different Red Elvises lineup years ago was parked across the street so I finally got to see that close up, shortly before she got Adam and Elena to sign it.
We took a few more pictures as the guys were loading up the van and then soon it was time to go. Back to the hotel, a little hanging out for a short time and then the chance to get some good sleep before leaving for Greenville, South Carolina the next day, a beloved day off for the band. Once again, 12:30pm was our meeting time by the van (and for me, at my car, parked next to the van).
The next day, Friday, October 20th, just before they got in the van and I got in my car, Oleg said “Super buffet?” and Igor replied “Sounds like a plan!” I like a good buffet myself so that sounded interesting. I followed them a short distance to a very delicious Chinese buffet restaurant where Oleg, Igor, Adam and I feasted on everything from won ton soup to eggrolls to beef with broccoli and more. The funniest thing about that buffet was that on one table they had some clams, in the shells, set up next to a pan full of chocolate pudding. Jello, in a couple of different colors, was also near that odd configuration…very festive. The food was very good, no matter what was next to what, and it was hard to decide between several dishes so I tried to get a little bit of a lot of different items. Elena went across the parking lot to Wal-Mart to shop while the rest of us ate. Once we were all full and the band members were back in the van again, we got on the road and headed out of Raleigh.
There was a lot of traffic on the way to Greenville, South Carolina but at least it was a day off for the guys (and girl) so we had plenty of time for the approximately five-hour drive. It took a bit longer than that with the traffic and stopping for gas and other needs, and once when we were stuck in slow moving traffic Oleg made me very nervous by suddenly pulling over to the right shoulder of the highway and driving on the shoulder to the next exit, about a quarter of a mile up the road. Of course that’s highly illegal in most states and carries a huge fine if you’re caught, but I had no choice but to follow him; I didn’t want to lose the van and have to somehow find my own way to Greenville. As I drove along the shoulder trying to maintain a make-believe cloak of invisibility for both our vehicles (please let there be no cops here to see us!, I silently asked the god of freeway driving…), I looked in my rear view mirror and saw another car doing the same thing behind me. Oh well, safety in numbers, right? We exited the freeway at the next opportunity and took a scenic detour on a state or county road until the next chance to get back on the freeway. But it turned out just fine; some of that Red Elvises magic must have kept the state troopers away.
Greenville, at last! I had only ever been to the airport in Greenville, SC before, never the town itself. I drove into town, followed Oleg through a series of turns and U-turns until we pulled in at what looked to me like it must be an expensive hotel...I felt a tiny bit fearful; my bank account would only stretch so far. I went inside right after Oleg did, and it turned out to be the hotel they were booked in for the following night. That hotel was sold out for the Friday night so we went back out to our vehicles and headed off again...to Motel 6 where we spent that night. I felt quite relieved bank-account-wise! As I told the guys in response to Adam’s question later of how my room was, I am totally not picky about hotel rooms. I look at most of them as just places to sleep and as long as the room is clean and I feel safe in that hotel I’m fine. So Motel 6 was definitely no problem with me. We got our rooms and drove around to park. When we got out Igor said in ten minutes we’d all go get barbecue, so I found my room, threw my stuff in, changed my jeans to a pair that bugged me less (will I ever find the perfect jeans?!), combed my hair and went back down to the van. We all climbed in and went in search of roasted meat on bones with tangy sauce on it.
Now the truth of modern technology must be told... the hula girl figurine that used to grace the van’s dashboard has been replaced by Oleg’s new toy, a GPS device with a female British accent, dubbed “Emily” by the guys. I never seriously considered getting a GPS myself, but apparently they are extremely handy for traveling musicians, and if you’re looking for a certain type of business, or in this case, restaurant, a GPS can find plenty of them for you. What it can’t do, however, is tell you which restaurants are open. It also can’t always understand American abbreviations, I learned. The restaurant we were trying to find was called Little Pigs BBQ, and Emily kept telling us we were “approaching Little Pigs Bark.” We laughed a lot at that one. But unfortunately, Little Pigs was closed, so they couldn’t bark or provide us with dinner. The next bbq restaurant Oleg found was also closed. What is it with Greenville, we wondered, so many places closed on a Friday night! It was at that point that Igor suggested we just go to Applebee’s, so we did. At least, as Adam pointed out, we knew it would be open. And it turned out to be surprisingly very good! No, seriously, it was, so if you ever want to try an Applebee’s be sure to go to Greenville, South Carolina. Igor and I each ordered baby back ribs and Oleg opted for riblets. I’m not sure what Adam or Elena ordered but Elena did get herself a big red alcoholic drink that looked quite interesting. The guys ordered pitchers of beer and when the Yuengling tasted a little flat we all drank it anyway after a little discussion and then ordered Sam Adams instead. We were served by a very nice waitress – Red Elvises seem to attract nice people to help them out – her name was Kat and she was great! Applebee’s should give her a raise. They invited her to the show the following night and she said she’d be there. We had such a good time, eating and talking and getting a little bit drunk (or at least I was!); the guys were so happy to have a day off after setting a new record of playing back-to-back shows. I enjoyed that dinner so much, the food was as delicious as the company. I got lots of good sleep that night and I guess I needed it, especially after all the driving that day.
The next day at some point Igor and I had a conversation in which I may possibly have inadvertently helped name one of the new songs. Forgetting for a moment that he had already told me he hadn’t gotten around to titles yet for some of them, I asked him “That song with the words in it, ‘sweeter than champagne...’ what’s the name of that one?” And he said at first “I don’t really know yet,” and then said “Well, I guess it will be called ‘Sweeter Than Champagne.’” And that night he introduced it that way, with that title. Wow, how cool is that, huh? Maybe he would have called it that anyway...but either way it’s a great title, isn’t it?
We met by the van at 12:30pm that day, Saturday, to leave Motel 6 and switch hotels but first went to lunch. Or breakfast. Well, to me it felt like lunch because our meal was at Schlotzky’s, a noted sandwich chain restaurant where they make their own delicious bread. Oleg told me he had been craving Schlotzky’s since Chicago. Again, Adam and Elena didn’t come inside and eat so Igor, Oleg and I enjoyed our sandwiches together. It was a good lunch... I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed eating at Schlotzky’s myself. When we were almost done eating Igor started talking about Key West; they were really looking forward to going there. I said “I so wish I could go too!” and both guys smiled and then Oleg, as if he were my little brother or something, went “Nyah na na na na nah!” It was truly a weird, and very funny, moment! Gotta love those guys, you never know what they’ll say next!
Next we went to the Handlebar to unload stuff, including merchandise, so I got my first look around that club. It’s BIG! I don’t know what I was expecting but it is huge and has a really big nice stage too. Another plus for me was that it had a special area for selling merchandise – an L-shaped wooden counter thing near the back wall with silver metal racks set up behind it on chairs, perfect for hanging up shirts and creating a nice display. And there were lights to illuminate the merchandise back there! I was so thrilled...you just don’t know what a difference having a really good workable merchandise setup makes...well, it doesn’t take much to get me going, but still... I was liking the Handlebar more every minute! I set up the merchandise for later, with some help from both Oleg and Igor. Adam set up his drum kit and they did whatever else they needed to do. Someone from the club gave Oleg the free weekly newspaper, The Beat, and we saw that Red Elvises had made the cover, with a cool article inside! Yes, Greenville is a rocking place all around, I have to say. We’ll get that article on the Press page of the website real soon so you can all read it.
We soon left the Handlebar and went back to the really nice all-suites hotel, which looked more like an apartment complex than a hotel, to check in and get our rooms for the night. I had called that hotel that morning to try to get myself a reservation and it was a good thing I had because by the time we got back there they were sold out again for Saturday night. My room was a studio... I think all the rooms had full kitchens complete with a full size refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, coffeemaker, dishes, glassware, silverware and even potholders. I also had a sofa, desk, TV on a cart that could be turned to face either the sofa or the bed and a nice bathroom. It was the kind of place that makes you want to stay more than one night, but one night was all we had there. I took a bath and rested and watched an old movie while trying to figure out what to wear that night. I ended up wearing the same top I’d worn the night before...the band does that often, so I thought I may as well do it too, wear the same thing. It was red, naturally, and low cut and surprisingly comfortable. Oleg had told me we were meeting at the van at a quarter till seven to go to the Handlebar so I was out there at 6:30. It had been warm in Charlotte and Raleigh but was colder in Greenville so I wore my new red leather jacket with the fringe that I’d bought on the way to Musikfest.
We were there early enough for the band to do a really good soundcheck and while they were doing that I put the finishing touches on the merch setup and then sat down to listen to an absolutely breathtaking new song they were playing that I haven’t yet heard during an actual show (partial lyrics “burning for you....and you are so amazing...”). I was blown away by it, it was gorgeous and sounded like it could hold its own on any radio station easily. I sure hope they record it for the next CD. Somewhere in the middle of all this they ordered food and Igor told me to order something too because “you’re part of the crew.” Part of? I guess I was the crew, because everyone else was the band. I got a kick out of that and it made me feel very happy. Life was good! I ordered a cheeseburger and when the food was ready and we all sat down at a table, Adam got me a beer.
The show that night was just incredible, they tore the place up and there were tons of people having a great time, including Kat from Applebee’s! I talked to a lot of people at the Raleigh and Greenville shows and quite a few of them were seeing the band for the first time. There wasn’t an unhappy face in the building, Red Elvises got everybody rocking. I sold lots and lots of merchandise. A guy came over to the merch table and told me his company was making a movie and wanted to put Red Elvises posters on walls to be seen in the movie! They were the real deal, they wanted a signed release and everything. I told him to be sure and talk to Igor during the break or after the show about it, and they did. If I ever find out the name of this movie I’ll let you all know so you can go see it. Of course, it would be better if they put Red Elvises themselves in the movie or used some of their music for it. But poster visibility is good too.
Photo by Yanov
The Greenville show had a more traditional beginning, starting with “Lovepipe.” Other songs they played at the Handlebar were: “Telephone Call From Istanbul,” “Gypsy Heart,” “Love Rocket,” “Ticket to Japan,” “Strip Joint is Closed,” “Sad Cowboy Song,” and “I Wanna See You Belly Dance” for the first set. During that song I got the brilliant idea of dancing on a chair but I picked exactly the wrong chair, which collapsed, and whoops, down I went! Luckily I wasn’t hurt, just kind of embarrassed, and as one guy came rushing over to ask if I was all right I was just hoping the band hadn’t seen me do that from the stage! (I asked them later on the ride back to the hotel and they hadn’t, yay!). I was able to leave the table for brief moments during the show and run around taking a few pictures, and I stood on a chair at some point doing that without falling...so I guess that one chair that dumped me was just a really bad choice. They launched into some of the new songs for the start of the second set, starting with “Sweeter Than Champagne,” then “Drinking with Jesus” and “Paris Waltz.” The new songs were followed by older favorites including “It’s a Wonderful Night,” “Ukrainian Dance #13,” “Winter Reggae” and about five encores because this audience just could NOT get enough – lighters were lit and raised like Our Favorite Band was the Rolling Stones or someone! The encores were “Closet Disco Dancer,” “Rocketman,” “My Love is Killing Me” by special request, “Juliet” and the new as yet untitled song with the lyric “my baby likes to rock and roll” or something close to that. It was the greatest night of the three shows in four days that I’d seen! The big club was popping with all the positive energy and feel-good happiness that Red Elvises brings to town. I swear if you could bottle that feeling and all those good vibes it could be a cure for any kind of depression or gloom the world can dish out! As we all know, this band is sooooo amazing....there just aren’t enough descriptive words in the universe to express how much I love them, and I’m sure tons of other people feel the same way.
I hung out after everything was packed up in the club bar with Oleg and Igor and various people from the club. Oleg offered me half his tequila shot. He had that and a beer, and putting it down on the table he said “Half!” So I sat there and made sure I only drank half of it. That was enough, believe me! I also drank about half of his beer, which he didn’t seem to mind. I mostly just listened to the excited talk and talked some with Herb, the lighting guy, who is very nice. And soon it was time to go get in the van. Oleg and I hung out for just a little while each night and had great conversations but everyone else went right to their rooms. I guess when you’re traveling for a couple of months with other people in close quarters, no matter how well everyone gets along (and on this trip everyone was getting along very nicely, I was told), you grab some alone-time whenever you can. Comfort and relaxation are luxurious when on tour and that last hotel provided plenty of opportunity for both.
The next day, Sunday, they were planning to meet at the van at 11:30am because of the extra long drive to Gainesville, Florida they were facing. So I checked out a little after 11am and was out there to say goodbye. Actually I was planning to follow along as far as lunch (breakfast?) and then make my way home. My red road trip was almost at an end; I had to work the next day...and actually every weekday until the following Friday which I had arranged to take off to drive down to Daytona Beach to see them there (that will be Part 2 of my Hunt for RED October!). So I was happy and a little sad all at the same time. But life is too short for tears so I was mostly really happy to have been able to spend the past few days hanging out with these terrifically fun people. Everyone came to the van with their bags and then Igor and Oleg decided the Chinese buffet restaurant in front of the hotel would be a great place to eat breakfast! I guess Adam and Elena hardly ever eat...they didn’t go with us. Igor and Oleg and I walked over to the restaurant. It was really really good and this time I didn’t notice any pudding...next to clams or otherwise. The place had lots of different stuff though, traditional Chinese food as well as California rolls, sushi, cheese sticks, french fries... something for every palate! Happy happy, joy joy....sexy Russian musicians and good Chinese food too, how much better could breakfast ever get?!
So back at the van after eating, I asked for them to pose for a picture with me before we all left town, and they were sweet enough to do it. We took three, actually, two with my camera and then Oleg took one with his that we’ll have to wait to see. Right before the first one was taken, Elena said “We all love Kayt.” Awwwww! I said “And I love you guys too!” Warm red fuzzies all around!
Soon though, it was time for us all to get in our respective vehicles and head off into the sunset... or actually the early afternoon sunshine. I followed the van out to the main road, where I could see the freeway signs and figure out which way to go, and for the first time on this whole trip I missed the changing traffic light... they got through it and made the left turn but I didn’t. It was okay this time though, because I couldn’t go with them that day. I watched as the red van got farther and farther away and turned onto the freeway and disappeared. Sayonara, don’t you make me cry, I was thinking. It would’ve been silly of me to cry anyway considering that I’d see them again in about four-five (depending on how you count it) days! I was just grooving on the positive energy and was naturally high on the good times I’d just had with them. What a great Red Road Trip it was, and the next one will be great too, I know.
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