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My first impression of Tucson, Arizona was the heat. I got off the plane at 10:00pm on Friday night, May 18th, and it was 90 degrees. Did my ticket say “The Earth’s Core” as my destination instead of Tucson? This was, after all, only May, not July or August. “It’s a dry heat,” everyone says. Yeah, okay, well, heat is heat. It’s only slightly easier to take without humidity. But that’s okay, because I was going to visit my friend Maya, a devoted Red Elvises fan, and we were going to see two Red Elvises shows, one on the Saturday night at Tucson’s Plush club and then one in Phoenix at the famed Rhythm Room. I’d brave just about any kind of weather to see them and I was going to see them at two venues I‘d never seen them in before as well, an added treat!
I’d seen Red Elvises in Arizona before but not for a very long time - in Tempe at a place called Gibson’s in January 1999 two nights in a row. This was my first trip to Arizona in all those years. Maya had been wanting me to come out there, stay with her and see the band but usually they played Tucson and Phoenix during the week and I only have so much time I can take off work so I couldn‘t go. This time though, the timing was great for me and they booked shows there on a weekend. When I looked for airfare I found decent fares so I had booked it a couple of months previously, in early March.
I admit it, I asked if they had a red rental car. But they didn’t, so I got a little white Dodge caliber. A white car is good for desert type heat. I drove out of the rental car lot at the Tucson airport and talked to Maya on the phone the whole way to her apartment. She was much better than mapquest! When I got there we went to get something to eat and later managed to calm our excitement long enough to get some sleep. It was great to see her again. You may recall from my previous road stories that Maya and I met in the Red Elvises chat room (it’s still Tuesday nights although everyone seems too busy to come chat lately…there are links to it from the main page of this fanzine as well as redelvises.com) and spent a happy time in L.A. together for the New Year’s show. She’s a fun girl and quite a trooper, as you’ll soon see.
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The next morning Maya’s friend Dvorah came over with her adorable little daughter Tamar, who happened to be wearing a red outfit. She’s really cute anyway, the red outfit was just a plus. We all went out to breakfast and then later Maya and I did some shopping. I bought a cool pair of retro red sunglasses, a new dress and a leopard print top, all of which I couldn’t wait to wear to shows even though I had brought clothes to wear. It’s so nice to be female! Shopping and the prerogative to change my mind more than the wind changes are two great perks of my gender. Dancing like a maniac at Red Elvises shows is a great perk of any gender. One of the shops Maya and I went to was staffed by two hip chicks who said they were going to the Red Elvises show that night, yay! After hurrying back to Maya’s apartment with our new treasures we started getting ready. Dvorah was going to the show too and she soon arrived. She was wearing a green top.
So of course we took Dvorah shopping and she bought a cute red dress and a pair of nice red shoes. We went to dinner at a ‘50s restaurant and then went to a pre-show party at Leia’s, another friend of Dvorah’s. Soon after we got there Leia decided to change into a red dress too. It was like Maya and I had magic red wands and people were changing into red everywhere we went! We hung out at Leia’s cool house near downtown Tucson till around 9:00pm and then left to go to Plush. Oleg had told me they should be there around 9:00.
But… The band wasn’t there yet when we got to Plush and we later found out they were running a little late (probably thanks to a Rusty’s show the previous night…hmm hmm…partying? Red Elvises?? Nooo, not a late night for Red Elvises, surely not! Hmm…). But we got drinks and hung out on the patio to watch for them. After a little while they arrived in the big red van with the little red trailer hitched to the back of it that also says “Red Elvises” on it in big yellow letters.
When we went inside the room with the stage it was already packed with people! Red Elvises are wildly popular in Tucson, obviously. I made my way over to the side of the stage where the merchandise table was being set up, sipping what was left of my drink. I couldn’t wait any longer to see these guys, even though I had just seen them four and a half months ago. With everything I’ve been through this Spring, I needed some cheering up. Hugs ensued all around and I introduced myself to Beth Garner, the “new girl” on guitar from Austin, Texas. Many of you have already seen her play with the band but this was my first time. She fits right in, I have to say, she rocks just as much as the others do. Red Elvises has always sounded amazing and they continue to rock the rafters with this latest lineup.
But not to get ahead of my story… I offered Igor my help selling the merchandise and of course he accepted… “Well, yes, if it’s okay?” I assured him it was and helped get the table set up. I had a great view of the show, even with people crowding along that side in front of the table, but it wasn’t a great spot for photography. Not to mention that I’d just gotten a new camera and somehow I think it got on the wrong setting… So quite a few of my pictures I did manage to take were blurry. I’ll get used to it, I’m sure, with all the shows I’ll be seeing in June. But it’s always great to hear Red Elvises from such a close vantage point, especially when they have new songs to play! And it’s fun to sell merchandise and communicate with the crowd too, I do enjoy that.
The show soon began. The club was packed full of people and there was hardly room for anyone to move in the front few rows, it looked like from where I was standing. Did I mention the Arizona heat? Yeah, to say it was hot in there and got even hotter once the music started pumping through the place would be an understatement. It was hot in there on several levels. But I didn’t mind, I was seeing Red Elvises again.
They started the first set with “I’m Not That Kind of Guy” and then played the ever popular “Lovepipe.” The third song warmed me up even more as soon as I realized what it was… “Burning For You,” the gorgeous song I’d only ever heard before at last October’s sound check at the Handle Bar in Greenville, South Carolina. I had been blown away by it then and this slightly faster, rockier version was still amazing. The lyrics on the chorus are: “I’m burning for you, I’m missing you like crazy, I’m burning for you, and crying like a child… I’m burning for you, and you are so amazing…” Well, there’s more but I’ll let you hear it for yourselves. I adore that song, it’s definitely one of my new favorites.
The other songs they played in the first set were “Love Rocket,” “Ticket to Japan,” “Strip Joint is Closed,” “Sad Cowboy Song,” “Juliet” and a brand new one that they’ve just started playing on this tour, “Lara’s Wedding.”
During the break I sold merchandise like a madwoman, happily, and didn’t see the guys at all, except for when various band members squeezed behind the merchandise table behind me to move from the side of the stage to someplace where they could get beer or air or talk to people or whatever. The only relief from the heat, I discovered later, was a strong gust of cool air in the half-open doorway a few feet from one end of the table. But the heat was bearable…my red high platform shoes did have to eventually come off though, and then my feet were happier even if I was three or four inches shorter.
The second set began with “200 Flying Girls” and went on to another “old standard” Red Elvises song, “My Darling Lorraine.” Next was “It’s a Wonderful Night (to Fall in Love)” with Beth singing lead vocals! She has a pretty cool voice…it’s just unusual to see anyone other than Igor or Oleg singing lead. But I can get used to it, it was nice. Next was a fairly new song they played on last Fall’s tour but haven’t yet recorded, “Drinking with Jesus,” a real crowd pleaser. I had quite a few people come over to the table in both Tucson and Phoenix and ask me what CD that song was on! Such a great song. They then played “Hungarian (Ukranian?) Dance No. 13,” “Memoirs of a Phuket Geisha” (which Igor is still calling “Memoirs of a Hooker” to everyone’s great amusement), “Closet Disco Dancer,” and for encores, “I Wanna See You Belly Dance,” a new one called “Twist Like Uma Thurman” (it’s great!! People were doing the twist!!), “Sex in Paradise” and “Rocketman.”
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After the show while I was selling merchandise to the enthusiastic crowd, Beth came over to the table and stood next to me autographing posters and things. Now I guess I should mention here that I was wearing my new dress I had bought that afternoon, and it was rather… um, shall we say deeply V-necked… To be blunt, it showed quite a lot of cleavage. Beth and I managed to talk a little; after I heard her ask someone if he knew where Garland, Texas was I told her I lived there once for about eight months and she got all excited because Garland is her home town. It’s a suburb of Dallas, where I lived for about nine years a long time ago before moving to Garland for the last long eight months in Texas before moving to California. So we talked about Texas a little and she grabbed a sharpie and announced that she was going to sign my “boobie.” She likes to sign those, she said. I know people always say “It all happened so fast…!” but really, it did! Almost before I could say “wow,” or “whoa” or anything, she had written “Beth G.” on my left boob and was drawing a little picture of a guitar! It was pretty funny really, my very first time having a boob signed and it was by a girl, who would’ve thunk? Quite unexpected but fun.
After people made their final purchases and reluctantly left Plush, Igor helped me pack up the merchandise. They packed up all their band gear too and everything was taken out to the van. The boxes of CDs in the trailer had fallen over, along with some other things, so there was a lot of straightening-up work to be done. We talked out there and then Maya, Dvorah and I finally said our goodnights and headed to my rental car. We had a great time!
The next day I think I woke up around 9:00am… I’m not sure… I got online on my laptop to check my email, then tried to repack my things, got in the shower (most of Beth’s autograph came off in there) and then shortly after noon called Oleg like he’d suggested to see where they were and when they were leaving for Phoenix. I had told him I wanted to follow the van to Phoenix on Sunday if possible. I had Mapquest directions but it’s just easier to follow the van, then I don’t have to worry about getting lost or whatever…nevermind the ultra-cool factor of having the best band in the world rolling down the highway right in front of you!
Oleg told me where they were and where they were about to go eat breakfast, inviting us along, so I got back on my laptop and got directions, scribbling them down fast because I had no printer. As soon as Maya finished her shower I told her, “Uh, I talked to Oleg and he wants us to go have breakfast with them…” She said “When?” I said “Um, now.” Most people, especially females, at that point would’ve either wanted to kill me or would’ve at the very least voiced a lot of fairly legitimate excuses as to why it would take them way too much time to get ready and get their stuff together for a road trip, but not Maya. She’s a real trooper!!! And she deserves a medal for putting up with me, because I can get sort of… well, antsy… anxious, excited, determined, crazed… (I prefer to describe it as “resourceful” and, yeah, okay, somewhat crazy too…) when I’m running around after the band. She got dressed really fast, threw some clothes and things in a bag, grabbed some CDs to play in the car, wrapped her long gorgeous curly black hair in a knot instead of taking time to comb it all out, and off we went! We both knew we were off to Phoenix then, so I took all my stuff since I wasn’t sure how much time I’d have the next morning between bringing Maya home and having to go to the Tucson airport for my flight home.
Between my scribbled directions and Maya’s knowledge of Tucson we got to the restaurant, near the motel, and drove right past it. I naturally hung a California-worthy U-turn and we checked out the restaurant. I saw the van over at the motel, maybe 100 yards away, so we thought they were about to come over to the restaurant. We didn’t realize at first how much time had passed and that they had already eaten by then. I pulled out my cell phone and saw I had two missed calls from Oleg. Just then, the van was approaching down the road, but at the light they turned left and headed away from where we were… Oh no! Where were they going? I called Oleg back.
Oleg: “We’re at the Circle K getting gas.”
Me: “So you want us to meet you there?” (I’m not a blonde but sometimes I can display tendencies… apologies to all actual blondes out there… heh heh)
Oleg: “Yes, if you want to follow us.”
Me: “Ok, we’re on our way.”
Maya and I jumped back in the car and drove the extremely short distance to the gas station, where Adam, who was out of the van stretching his long legs, suggested I pull up as far as I could behind the van’s trailer and fill up with gas. I had about ¾ of a tank but thought it was a good idea. Then Maya and I both ran into the store to grab snacks and so on, since we were hungry, and by the time we were back in the car ready to go, Oleg had pulled out toward the road. That was when I got a little too excited and turned the key in the ignition waaaaaaaaaay too hard while stupidly pushing the gas pedal as if I was trying to start a 1959 Buick or something. The car refused to start, and wouldn’t you too, treated that way?
“What is WRONG with this car?” - that, in language cleaned up for this publication, was just one of the things I muttered in frustration over the next couple of minutes. It was a new car, that was obvious by the new car smell inside it, in spite of the chips we had opened. What could be wrong? After several tries I just stopped, and sat there for a moment, trying to think. Oleg had by that time, after opening the van door and looking at us in the car as if he had a giant red question mark over his head, driven on without us… they had to go, of course. Finally, as I was starting to wonder how long it would take Dollar Rent a Car to replace my rental and contemplate that scenario, Maya calmly reached over and gently turned the ignition key.
The car started.
I felt like a big giant DUH was hanging over my head like a neon sign! But I was grateful! And I knew what I had to do. Pulling carefully forward and out of the gas station, I navigated us to the I-10 freeway that was right there, knowing Oleg had most likely gone that way. I had to catch up if I could!
Fortunately there weren’t any cops along that stretch of I-10 that day because I went pretty fast on my mission. I was as careful as could be, but determined. It took about ten minutes or so but finally I saw the red van and trailer in the distance. Yes!!! There they were! I was helped by the rather large amount of traffic and slower-moving big trucks on the road, plus the fact that the band wasn’t late and we had plenty of time to get to Phoenix that day, which is only a couple of hours north of Tucson.
When I got near the van I saw there was a large truck in front of them so I hung back, in the far right hand lane, thinking Oleg might want to change lanes and get out from behind the truck. He didn’t, right then, but I waved and he saw me… or more likely, saw and recognized the car. He stuck his arm out the window and made the index-and-little-finger “party on” (or “rock on?”) sign that people make at heavy metal concerts, letting me know he knew we had caught up. So soon I moved over into the middle lane behind the trailer and we drove on toward Phoenix in a leisurely and pleasant fashion. Oleg pulled off at a rest stop after a while and so did I; we parked together in the truck parking, the van, trailer and my little rental car taking up less space than 18-wheeler would‘ve. Bathroom and snacks break. Igor and I both bought orange juice from the vending machine. It was another hot day. Then soon back on the road again.
When we got to Phoenix we had to drive through an area with orange construction cones everywhere. I followed the van all the way to the hotel and got a room for Maya and myself there so we could relax and get ready for the show that night. Beth, Igor and I talked for a few minutes while Oleg was getting all their room keys. What did we talk about? My autographed boob! She said she was told she had “forced herself” on me to do that, but I said it was okay and that most of it had come off in the shower (I pulled my t-shirt down a little to show them the remnants). I said I thought it was funny that my first time having that part of me signed was by a girl and she said “Well, they were so “out there…” I had to agree! Igor just grinned. Once we headed to our respective rooms, we had a couple of hours before meeting at the van to go to the Rhythm Room so that was nice. Maya and I put our stuff in our room and then ventured out to a bank and a McDonald’s drive-thru since we hadn’t had any lunch, returning as soon as possible to our room to eat and try to rest a bit. I set my cell phone alarm so we could try to sleep for just a little while. We had Red Elvises music playing softly in a little CD player/radio in the room. Life was good.
Soon it was time to get ready for the show; to go with the band we had to meet them at 7:00pm. That meeting turned out to be in the hotel lobby instead of outside by the van since the air conditioning was nice and cool in the lobby. With the trailer there’s less stuff in the van and I was amazed when I got in that for the first time I could see all the way to the back window! And the van has a fourth seat! Always before they had so much stuff in the van that I’d thought there were only three rows of seats. It’s good for them to have so much more room now, especially with five people in the band. It was very cool anyway that they had plenty of room for Maya and me (thanks again for the ride, guys!).
It was my first time at the Rhythm Room and I liked it very much. It’s a cool place and everyone there loves Red Elvises. They’ve played there lots of times. They set up a merchandise table for us over by the wall near the doors that go out to the patio. Maya helped me set up the table and the display of shirts and hung out with me a lot until later when her cousin, a Phoenix resident, arrived during "Sad Cowboy Song" and they went closer to the front to dance. Maya took some fabulous photos too, check them out in the Photos section.
But I'm getting ahead of the story again... Before the show started the band and I went outside to the very cool barbecue trailer out back to get something to eat. Igor, Beth and I sat at one of the picnic tables out there and quickly ate our barbecue while talking for a little while. The barbecue and black eyed peas were very good! Soon it was time to go back inside though and get ready for the show.
About two-thirds of the way back from the stage at the Rhythm Room there’s a dividing half-wall with counter space on top to put drinks and bar stools in a row behind it, for some seating with a good view of the stage. The merchandise table was sort of behind and off to the right (as you’re facing the stage) of one end of that, but I could still see the stage fairly well. At first, at least. Eventually quite a few people got in front of me but I could just move a foot or two closer to the front part of the room, not far from the table, and still kind of see the show when I wasn’t selling something. I could hear them just fine, of course, so it worked. It was enjoyable again talking to people and seeing what they were wearing. This one girl had a white t-shirt with “Red Elvises” airbrushed on the top of it…it was pretty cool.
Soon it was show time! They started this show’s first set with “Gypsy Heart,” followed by “Boogie on the Beach” and “It’s a Wonderful Night,” again sung by Beth. Then the wonderful “Burning For You,” which again made me very happy. And then the very fun “Love Rocket.” Then Igor said the next song was about a train. Another new song?! Wow! They started the song and although I hadn’t heard that song since early 2000 and this version seemed a little faster and maybe slightly more raw, I realized pretty soon what they were playing - “The Train is Coming” - and got so excited I literally screamed and jumped up and down at the merchandise table. It is such a COOL song, I can’t even tell you how jazzed I was to hear it again after so many years. This was a song I had first heard on the millenium New Year’s Eve on the amusement-park end of Santa Monica Pier…the earlier show, under the ferris wheel (just in front of it, anyway), before the one at Rusty’s that welcomed in the year 2000. And I think they played it a couple more times that year but then never again, that I heard, at least, until Saturday night, May 20th in Phoenix, Arizona at the Rhythm Room. I always loved it and missed it… In fact, last August during Musikfest, I think it was, I talked to Oleg about it and how I wished they’d do it again. So I’m really glad that now it’s back, built for speed and rocking like the rest of their songs, in their repertoire.
During the show I noticed some women actually sittng on the bar in the back of the room, where they had a great vantage point for the stage. I've never seen people allowed to sit on a bar before, though, so I got a kick out of that and took a picture.
The next song was “Ticket to Japan” and it was as cool as always, getting the crowd going “Cry ai yi ai ai…” Then Oleg sang “Strip Joint is Closed” while Igor played the bass balalaika, as he did in Tucson also, I forgot to mention. Next was “Sad Cowboy Song” and in Phoenix the crowd had room to do a proper conga line, so they did. Then, just before the break in a spot that seems very natural for this song, “I Wanna See You Belly Dance.”
After the break they got back onstage for the second set, which began with “Harriet” and continued with “Drinking with Jesus,” “Better Than Cocaine” (aka “Sweeter Than Champagne,” “Back Pain” or maybe even “Honey Pie” - wanna take bets on what the final title of that song will be when it’s recorded? Lol…), “Lara’s Wedding,” “Twist Like Uma Thurman,” “Ukranian (Hungarian?) Dance No. 13,” “Memoirs of a Hooker,” “Closet Disco Dancer,” “Rocketman,” “Juliet” and “Rock Me Sally” (aka “My Baby Likes to Rock and Roll”). I’m not sure how many of those last few were encores - responses to the musical question, “Would you like to hear one more? One MORE?
The show was over, it was time to go… eventually, after musical gear and merchandise was all packed up and long goodbyes were said between band and bar staff. Elena was so exhausted she leaned over and went to sleep on a pillow in the van. She worked hard, as did they all. We climbed in the van and went back to the hotel, where Maya and I hugged everyone goodbye and I said “See you in two weeks in Florida!”
We had to get up early in the morning and drive back to Tucson so I could take Maya home and then go to the airport for my flight home. With happy memories running through my head all went well for the rest of my weekend trip and I made it home safe and sound, even with a delayed flight out of Dallas that caused me to not land in Charlotte till midnight and not get home until 2:00am. It was all worth it! I had another wonderful time with Red Elvises and look forward to many more in the coming weeks.
Come back to this very fanzine in July and read all about my June adventures with Our Favorite Band!