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I’m always up for a Red Road Trip, plus my friend Chris had organized the entire Halloween Bash show in Daytona Beach, as in years past, and wanted me to come down there for that, so for these reasons plus the huge amount of love I feel for Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa, on the morning of October 27th I got in my car and set out on the road once more, Florida bound! Many hours later I arrived at the hotel, excited to be seeing Red Elvises again (because it goes without saying, of course, that I feel an even more huge amount of love for them too!) even though it had only been a week since I had last seen them. Yeah, I’m that crazy. I walked into the lobby wearing a Red Elvises t-shirt and a guy there thought the band had arrived. But no, it was just me right then. I got my |
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I went back down to my car to get my bag and somehow walked right past Chris in the lobby when I came back in! Then I heard his voice and realized who was standing there. We greeted each other and discussed where all the rooms were and when the band might get there, and then I went back up to my room before going to his suite to hang out and have a bite to eat until the band got to town. He had a feast waiting for the guys and Elena – cold cuts, baked salmon, peel-and-eat shrimp and oysters!! And yes, of course, beer! I got a beer and settled down with some cold cuts to start. After a little while Oleg called Chris’ phone and said they were almost at the Bank and Blues Club, going there to unload before coming to the hotel. So Chris and I went over there to greet them and help a little.
The Bank and Blues Club in Daytona Beach is a small place with a stage high up on a platform in one corner, almost like somebody designing the place said “Oh, wait, we need a stage, where can it go? I know, over there, by the door... What do you mean there’s no room? We’ll build it up high, like a loft bed, that’ll work!” And it did, even with steep, slightly curved steps leading up to it on one end. It’s a pretty cool looking place, though, all hardwood and it has an upstairs balcony like a dance hall in an old western, where people can go up and look down over the dance floor and tables. The bar lines the wall opposite the stage area, underneath the balcony, and there’s a natural place to put a table to sell merchandise right next to the steps leading up to the stage. Chris and I went in the back door and through the hallway, then went out the front door to help unload the van. It was great, of course, saying hello to everyone again, even though I had just said goodbye to them the previous Sunday. You know me, I can never get enough of Our Favorite Band.
Soon they were ready to go to the hotel so they climbed back into the van and Oleg followed Chris’ car the couple of miles, maybe less, to the hotel, which, I may have failed to mention, was sweetly located right on the beach. The band’s rooms were all on the same floor as mine and Chris’ suite was six floors above, so after they checked in and got settled we all went up there to eat a little and relax before the show. I left after a little while to go put on my Halloween costume; thanks to longtime fan Lilith (formerly known as Azariah) in Raleigh, North Carolina, I had a great idea for a costume – a Mail Order Bride. And, yes, I blatantly stole her idea, knowing she wouldn’t be at the Daytona Beach Halloween Bash show, and I told her I was doing that. I would’ve come up with my own idea but hers was just too perfect, seeing as how Red Elvises did all the music for the movie “ Mail Order Bride” long after the famed “Six-String Samurai.” So my costume was a white dress, with a veil acquired from eBay, with part of a Priority Mail envelope attached to the tiara attached to the veil, red and white flowers with stems wrapped in postal Priority Mail tape and postal stickers all over the dress. Stickers which kept falling off the dress, to be more precise. I was picking them up off the floor all night (oops!). I also put a Red Elvises bumper sticker across my butt but that fell off too, twice. I guess the dress was just sticker-resistant...darn polyester on my butt (as the song says...)!
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So I rode back to the Bank and Blues Club with Chris, his son Rory and Rory’s girlfriend Allison, who were going to be selling the merchandise, giving me a night off (thanks, again, guys!). Chris had a fabulous costume and was dressed as either Athos or Porthos (I can’t remember now, the conversation with Oleg about it later confused me actually, about the pros and cons of Chris being one or the other Musketeer) of the famed Three Musketeers. When I got inside and saw the guys I told Igor and Oleg that I was a mail order bride but there didn’t seem to be much need to explain my costume because it wasn’t long before strangers were coming up to me going “I GET it! You’re a mail order bride!” So much fun, and the show hadn’t even started yet.
The band looked and sounded great, as always. They wore their usual snazzy outfits, very sexy, and played mostly the same songs as at recent previous shows I wrote about... a lot of old favorites along with some of the brand new, as yet unrecorded super hits. I didn’t write the songs down this time but trust me, they were absolutely awesome! They did their “Sad Cowboy Song” group drum solo, their three-part harmony with back and forth body motion thing, which is visually great as well as sounding incredible, and other wonderful familiar show features.
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So I danced some, took pictures while gazing lovingly at the band and had a beer or two, I think...no more than that, I’m sure, and looked around the room at the other costumes. There was a guy dressed up as a cow, someone with a big cartoonlike creature head, a Naughty Nurse, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Marilyn Monroe I think, and even a guy dressed as Borat! During the break they held the costume contest.
 Cow...and Naughty Nurse |
 Marilyn, Borat and more... |
At first I wasn’t going to enter because Chris was the one giving out the prizes and I wasn’t sure how appropriate that would be...friend of the band, friend of the organizer/prize guy... So I was sitting on a stool near the stage just watching people and loving life. Then whoever was doing the announcing started calling out costume names to encourage us... “Nurse! Dorothy! Mail Order Bride! Get out on the dance floor!” So I decided to go for it after all. I went out there and they quickly narrowed it down to three of us. People were clapping and cheering and it seemed like kind of a happy blur... and no, I wasn’t drunk! The three finalists were the Naughty Nurse (a sweet young girl who said to me “I hope you win!”), Borat (a really cool dude and good dancer...he had been dancing with me earlier) and me. I was so surprised, it was unbelievably fun to be in the finalists! The winners were determined by audience response, so each of us had to get out there on the dance floor and shake or wiggle or something to get them cheering. I did the best I could...and it must have worked... Pretty soon the nice Nurse girl had come in 3rd place and it was down to Borat and me. Again we had to bust some kind of a move (hah) and I just went for it, using my best shoulder/chest shake belly dance move I learned from a belly dancing tape I bought a long time ago at Target. People cheered, making me feel good. I threw inhibitions to the winds. Then Borat came in 2nd place... I had done it! I won! Unbelievable!!
 Borat before... |
 Borat after... |
First prize was supposed to be a Red Elvises t-shirt but since I have a houseful of them Chris switched the prizes around slightly and I won a Budweiser t-shirt, a bikers week t-shirt (I think that’s what it is, it's cool anyway), some inflatable object I have yet to explore (a beachball, perhaps?) and a $20 gift certificate to a BBQ restaurant called Hog Heaven in Daytona Beach. Borat, or I should say, the guy dressed as Borat, won the Red Elvises shirt, which he put on immediately and wore proudly the rest of the evening. Later, Oleg seemed very proud of me for winning and Igor told me, “I cheered the most for you!” which was very sweet to say. Thanks, guys, and that includes Chris who initiated and organized the whole thing!! We all had a great time there.
Chris and Oleg, two great minds with one great t-shirt!
Back at the hotel, I changed clothes and then joined everyone else in Chris’ room where we ate oysters, shrimp, salmon, cold cuts, drank beer and talked into the night. Igor, Chris and I sat up till around 5:00am just talking... I was mostly listening and once or twice I actually dozed off for a few minutes...the company was in no way boring, of course, it was awesome to be hanging out with those two cool guys, but I guess I was just more tired than I realized!
The next day I checked out, put my stuff in my car and then went for a quick walk on the beach. Before I got very far out on the sand I heard Chris call out to me so I went back toward the hotel to talk to him and say goodbye; he was leaving Daytona Beach to go home and see his wife and his dogs. When I got back it was almost time for the guys to come down, so I hung out near the van to say good morning, just waiting to indulge once again in my favorite sport of following them on an Interstate, this time across Florida to Tampa, about a three-hour trip. One by one they all came outside and put their stuff in the van, and then they told me “We want to take a walk...” So I grabbed my camera and we all headed for the beach. This walk was even more fun that my solo walk had been, and we walked in the other direction than I had gone earlier so I got to see more of the beach. I can’t get enough of beaches either, no matter which coast they’re on. I did notice that the two Americans, Adam and I, each took our shoes off, and Adam walked in the shallow part of the water (I had done that earlier on my solo walk; the water seemed cold at first but after a few minutes of walking it felt warmer and was great!). The Russians all kept their shoes on. Meaning? Probably nothing, just an observation: their shoes are nice for the beach too! What actually surprised me was that cars were allowed to drive on the beach. I grew up going to Jacksonville Beach, a few hours up the coast, and they banned cars from that beach more years ago than I care to remember...something about beach erosion. But maybe Daytona Beach is better able to handle the cars, who knows. Bottom line, it was a sunny, beautiful day on a nice beach with fun people...who could ask for more? We just had a simple walk up and down the sand, enjoying the nice sunshine and ocean waves and it was awesome.
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So after that we went back to our vehicles and I followed the van to Tampa. We went straight to Skipper’s and unloaded their equipment and the merchandise. When we parked and got out we heard music playing; I think it was “Closet Disco Dancer!” I may be remembering that wrong but I know it was a Red Elvises song. It was great to be at Skipper’s again! We were there for a little while and I ate oysters & shrimp and shared a few of Oleg’s crawdaddies (or “mudbugs” as they’re called at Skipper’s) and had a beer. For everyone’s listening pleasure, music was playing on Skipper’s sound system….old blues tunes and mostly older Red Elvises songs, including several of Zhenya’s songs such as “Wild Man” and “Red Lips Red Eyes Red Stockings.” Skipper’s was all decked out for Halloween and since they had had their annual Freaker’s Ball there the night before those decorations were still up, including a big mural on the wall at the back of the stage that said “The Royal Family of Strange People.” Hmm...no one I know! Nothing strange about Red Elvises, just purely amazing people.
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When we finished there we went to the hotel to check in. I was actually able to lie down and sleep for a little while before getting ready for the show...I’m usually too keyed up but this time I managed it. We met at the van at 9:00pm to go to Skipper’s and I was happy to be able to ride over there with them (thanks again, Oleg!). When we got there I went in the backstage door and on through, out into the audience area and straight back to the merchandise booth, where I was very happy to see Chris, K-Dog and Rory…K-Dog gave me a big hug and much happiness ensued all around – a Skipper’s show, especially with good friends there, is cause for joy!
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The show was great great great!!! You know it was! I slipped under the rope on Oleg’s side of the stage to take pictures and actually see the show (too many happy people out front, which is great but not easy for me to get through) and all was cool until a security guy (I guess that’s what he was...bouncer?) saw me drinking my beer and came over and hassled me about being inside the rope by the stage. From what he said, I thought the beer was the issue (and it was, mostly) so I agreed to get rid of it…by draining the bottle and handing it to him, ballsy girl that I can sometimes be (hah). He still made me get outside the rope so I complied without argument. I could still see all right, even from the extreme side. It never occurred to me to tell him right then that I came with the band and knew it would be okay with them if I was inside the rope... Oleg told me later that I should have had the guy ask him and he would’ve nodded his okay...but it all happened so quickly I didn’t think. That happened during “Sad Cowboy Song,” so it wasn’t long until “Belly Dance.” When that song began I slipped under the rope again and a bunch of other girls were right behind me as we all went up onstage to dance. Many other girls were also going up on the other side. I took a moment to run my camera bag, which also contained my ID, money, and other stuff that comprises my life in a nutshell, backstage and then came back onstage to join in the dancing frenzy. I noticed that some girls next to me were actually feeling up Igor! Yikes! All good fun, but they literally had their hands all over his...um, backside. I guess he must be used to that sort of thing or else just (of course) extremely used to playing “Belly Dance” because he never missed a note. It was a lot of fun dancing onstage, the music thundering all around, that cool, unique view of the audience enjoying the band, really getting into it. It’s truly one of life’s awesome experiences!
During the break I had a pleasant and very friendly talk with the security guy and he said it was okay for me to be inside the rope as long as no beer was there, since the band knows me and all – and I agreed to have no beer in there so we got that all straightened out and I was able to stand inside the rope and take pictures while enjoying the second set. He and the other guy working there told me the reason for that rule is that sometimes they have people get in those areas on either side of the stage drunk and they bump their heads on equipment and so on. Perfectly understandable...gotta watch your head when you drink and slither under ropes, folks!
The second set was great too… Could you expect anything less from Red Elvises, the greatest rock ‘n roll band ever?! I continued not writing down the songs, just thoroughly enjoying them, but they played a lot of the classics and several of the new ones too. The crowd seemed to particularly enjoy new songs “Drinking With Jesus” (“for people who like drinking!”) and “Sweeter Than Champagne.” They grinned at the lyrics to "Love Rocket," waved their index fingers in the air for “Closet Disco Dancer” and joined Igor in all the motions on “Sex in Paradise.” It was an excellent night!
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All too soon, it was over. A couple of guys got a little overexcited and went into the backstage area, only to be politely escorted out by Oleg because, after all, a band has to relax for a few minutes alone and change clothes, don’t they? Oleg asked me to watch the door, so I did that while talking to friends and putting my camera back in the bag. Then I hung out for a while talking to Kurt, K-Dog and other friends before realizing how chilly it was getting that night. It was cold for Florida, Oleg had even remarked on it from the stage earlier. Elena was cold too and eventually we both went to sit in the van. She practiced her saxophone and I just listened and relaxed. Chris came over to say goodnight and it was still cold out there so I wished him a goodnight from the edge of the seat closest to the van’s door. Soon the guys were finished packing everything up and we headed back to the hotel, where I, at least, got a good night’s sleep...I can only presume they all did too.
On the next day, Sunday, the plan was to meet at the van at noon so I could say goodbye and they could get on their way back to Marathon. That weekend, as it turned out, was the Daylight Savings Time changeover but of course I had forgotten all about it. So I was there by the van in my car a little before what turned out to be 11:00am, and that was after I checked out of the hotel, gassed up the car and went on a hunt for a Bank of America ATM, which I never found (there were other banks, oh well). I heard some maids talking and one phrase in English reached my ears and enlightened me – I heard someone say something like “she’s going to wait until 11:30 to do that...” I looked at my watch, which claimed the time was 11:55. Suddenly I remembered...oh yeah! Daylight Savings Time! D’oh! I reset my watch and not having anything better to do right then, kept sitting in my car daydreaming. No, I wasn’t stalking, I was killing time! And trying to decide what else to do...go get some coffee? Sit by the pool? At 11:20 Oleg came out to take the van for an oil change and asked me if I realized we had had an extra hour. I said I did realize but not till around what was actually 10:55am. He said he’d be back soon and then I decided to get some coffee AND sit by pool for a while, which was nice. When it got a little boring by the pool with no one to talk to I returned to my car, and soon Adam came down so we hung out in my car and talked for a little while. Around 12:20 or 12:25, I think it was, Oleg returned with the van. Elena had come down by then and we were soon joined by Igor. We talked while the van was being loaded with luggage and stuff. Adam asked me, “Are you coming to Marathon?” I so wished I could! But I had to work the next day...darn that real life thing interfering in my fun!
All too soon it was time to go, so we all hugged goodbye and I told them I was thinking of driving down to Orlando the following Saturday to see them again. “Well then, see you next week!” Igor said. That was such a happy thought, seeing the band again so soon, that I think I decided for sure right then to make that trip! We drove around to the front of the hotel and out the parking lot entrance, my car behind the van. Then we had to go our separate ways - they were heading south on their way to Marathon again and I turned the other way to go to the 275 freeway north to head back home. My Hunt for Red October was over...but the trek continued into November! Look for my next Red Road Trip story in this issue...Maitland (‘burb of Orlando) on November 4th!