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I had been thinking about driving down to Florida again for the Maitland show ever since it appeared on the schedule. It was on a Saturday and I don’t work on weekends, not my full time job, anyway, so why not? It’s a drive of about nine hours (“That’s nothing!” Oleg would say) for me each way, a moderate road trip. So the Saturday morning of November 4th found me driving to Florida once more to see the best band in the world, Red Elvises.
The drive was fast (if you drive like Oleg and watch out for the cops who sit in the median of the highway between Savannah and Brunswick, Georgia) and uneventful (I avoided the cops!). I was happy to drive out of the cold |
I got my room, parked next to the van (I think my car has a secret crush on the van by now, heh heh!) and started getting ready for the show. I was hurrying a little to be ready on time when Oleg called again to tell me the time had been moved back a little...instead of 8:00pm we were now going at 8:45 (if my memory is correct... I think that’s right). Whew! More time to relax and try to look presentable. I decided to glam it up a little and wear heels. It’s a girly thing...sometimes even leopard print sneakers won’t do. I forgot I had to get down a rather steep metal staircase with heels on but that went okay and I managed not to break my neck.
Out by the van a little early ready to go to the Copper Rocket, I was as excited as if I hadn’t seen them in months. Of course, since they’re just the most awesome band ever, you would be too, you know it...I’m not so crazy! Or maybe I am...but I was tremendously psyched to see them again and also see my friend Chris and his son Rory and Rory’s girlfriend Allison too. So everyone came out to the van and we got in and rode to the Copper Rocket, a short drive.
 Igor helped me set up the merchandise area by lifting the heavy suitcases of shirts up on the benches of the booth that had been reserved for that purpose and we turned the table so we’d have plenty of room. I started arranging CDs, bumper stickers, postcard flyers and posters on the table and hung up some of the shirts on hangers so people could see them. Chris and company soon arrived and graciously took over the |
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The guys (including Elena in the generic term “guys” here) did a soundcheck and then changed into their show outfits, inducing multiple cheers from the crowd. For a very small place, the Copper Rocket was packed and ready to rock ‘n roll! Dave there said they had promoted the hell out of this show and that apparently worked; the only space that wasn’t crowded was in the back near the unisex (one sex at a time, heh heh) bathroom and pool table, I believe. I found a good place to stand but then found a better one right in front, and even met some very nice people who offered to help me take pictures while I ran my video camera a little. So a big thank you goes to the guy who took pictures for me, because unfortunately I didn’t get his name.
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Again I didn’t write down the songs but the show was wonderful and they really rocked that small place hard. The new songs went over very well and the crowd went wild on all the songs, dancing like mad. They played two sets as they usually do and the set list was pretty much the same as at the shows I wrote about last month in the Carolinas. Oleg’s voice, which had been a little scratchy in Tampa, was back in fine form again. Igor got the whole place screaming at his command. Elena wowed everyone with her fine keyboard playing and moves (especially the guy fans!) and Adam’s drum solo during and after the group-drumming on “Sad Cowboy Song” was excellent as always. Everybody looked and sounded great! It wasn’t even as cold out that night as it had been the previous week in Tampa. I kept going back over to the merchandise table and at some point Chris had gotten me a beer, which was very good. Later, after the show, he, Igor, Oleg and probably a couple of other people and I did a tequila shot. Whew! That was some fine Jose Cuervo, just like in the song “Drinking with Jesus.” Jesus wasn’t there for that, I don’t think. Had I had more than one shot I wouldn’t have been sure though. Hallelujah!
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So that was my fun night in Orlando...or technically, Maitland, Florida. Just the one show this time but well worth the drive down. We got back in the van and a rather drunk, but very nice, girl came over to tell Elena and me how much she loved Red Elvises and how much she had enjoyed the show. You go, drunken Red Elvises fans of America! You all rock! Hallelujah!
Now for the sublime to the ridiculous... The next day I was out at the van a little before the meeting time so I could say goodbye once again. I was wandering around killing time, looking at the trees and the nice blue sky, thinking happy thoughts with camera in hand (because I wanted a picture with the guys before we all left), just minding my own business, as they say. Suddenly, while standing near my car and the van, I heard a rather hoarse (whiskey-soaked the night before? Just speculating...) female voice yell out, “Honey! What is it you’re trying to do?!” Huh? Someone I don't know is calling me "honey" in a parking lot? A lot of people I do know don't call me that, in parking lots or elsewhere! It seems I had inadvertently attracted some unwanted attention from a Person of Questionably Nefarious Activity; she had seen me standing around with my camera and was concerned that I would try to take a picture of her or her car. Huh? Wtf? I had sort of played “Kayt, Girl Detective” the night before in looking for the band but a stalker of hotel parking lots to capture random people who may or may not be up to no good on camera is not what I’m all about! I, trying to size up my chances of surviving a potential ass-kicking, tried to assure her that I was only waiting for my friends to come down and was not planning at all to photograph her or her dark green bomb of a car (I didn’t put it in those terms, of course). She assured me that if I did she would “call the cops.” Uh huh. Right. No problem. I went to stand... uh, hide, I guess, on the other side of the van, it being big enough and red enough to render me out of sight of most parking lot psychos, I hoped.
A few minutes later when everyone came outside I told Igor a brief version of the above incident and he smiled. Yes, it’s funny now but at the time, being a giant peace-loving wuss, I was just hoping violence wouldn’t ensue. But fortunately, like I said, it wasn't long before Oleg, Igor, Adam and Elena came outside and said “Good morning” so I was safe. Saved by the Red. By then the woman in the car had gone anyway, yay. They put their stuff in the van and Igor took a picture of the rest of us. Oleg took one with his camera of all of us. Hugs all around...”goodbye, see you in two weeks...” and then once again we had to go our separate ways, me north, them west and then north on another highway on their way out of Florida at last.
The only other memorable, or slightly weird, things that happened to me on my drive home that day were 1) I got hit on by a rather odd guy at a Denny’s in Daytona Beach where I stopped for breakfast (“You look very familiar, do I know you? Do you want my number in case things with the [non-existent – I fibbed] boyfriend don’t work out?” – Yikes!) and 2) I stopped at a roadside stand to buy Florida oranges and asked them if they really had a 13 foot gator like a giant billboard a mile or so down the road had advertised. They didn’t, but the guy said they did have a 7 foot gator. I said “Oh really? Where is it?” and the guy pointed to the ceiling, where a formerly alive, he assured me, stuffed, gen-u-wine Florida alligator was hanging. Apologies to all of you animal lovers out there, I love them too and I’m sure this gator died of natural causes, but I just had to take a picture of it.
It's SO Florida!
I can only hope Red Elvises had better, less weird and more fun adventures on the rest of their road trip! I was missing them already but was also very happy to know I was flying to Los Angeles in two weeks for the November 17th and 18th shows in So Cal, also written about in this issue. And then there will be New Year’s Eve at Rusty’s! Are you making your plans yet? It’s the best party on the planet but of course any time with Red Elvises is the absolute best party anyway. New Year’s Eve is coming, be there or be square!
And now I'll leave you with some much more pleasant images...
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