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Friday, June 1st - Maitland, The Copper Rocket
I was all set to fly to Orlando to begin the first of two Florida weekends with Red Elvises and was very excited about seeing them again even though, yes, I had just seen them two weeks previously in Arizona. When you can’t get enough you can’t get enough, know what I mean? In the course of that Friday, June 1st, two things happened. First, the good: my friend Rebecca called and offered, since she was going to the Copper Rocket show and the Skipper’s show anyway, to pick me up at the Orlando airport and drive me around all weekend, including returning me to Orlando to catch my flight home on Sunday night. All right!! Woohoo!!! I called Alamo and cancelled my rental car reservation – riding around with her would be a lot more fun!
The second thing that happened wasn’t so good; my plane was delayed by an hour and twenty minutes leaving the Charlotte, NC airport. I had arranged to leave work a little early so I had gone to the airport straight from work. Oh well, at least I had plenty of time to put on some makeup while waiting to board! Originally my flight was supposed to land in Orlando at 8:45pm, allowing plenty of time to make it the 20 miles to the Copper Rocket in Maitland (a suburb of Orlando). But instead it landed around 9:40pm and the show was supposed to start at 10:00. Fortunately they did end up starting a little late and we only missed part of the first set. It was really great to see Rebecca and her adorable little dog Lilly again! She showed up at the airport right on time and off we went, navigating the wet streets of Orlando (it was raining cats and dogs that night) following my mapquest directions. Every so often, once the show began, Chris would call me and just hold his phone up so I could hear them play a song. It was all "where are we going?" and good times, mixed in with looking for a Shell gas station...or any gas station and making sure to not get lost.
We finally reached the Copper Rocket during their new song “Burning For You” and I have to admit I left Rebecca changing clothes in her Suburban and ran inside to enjoy. The rain increased as the night went on but inside things were hot and…well, I was going to say dry but actually it was more like a sauna in there – the place is tiny and it was filled with warm bodies dancing to Red Elvises’ music. So it was actually pretty steamy. Much of my time that night was spent in or near the doorway so I wouldn’t completely wilt from the heat inside.
I don’t know, of course, what song they started the show with and can’t remember which one closed the show. I didn’t write down any of the songs. I just took pictures, drank beer, danced a little, talked to people and thoroughly enjoyed being there. I know they played a lot of great songs, including many old ones like “Sad Cowboy Song,” “Strip Joint is Closed,” “Belly Dance” and lots of others. I’m pretty sure they did “Closet Disco Dancer” as one of the encores, and most likely “Juliet” too. They also played some new songs and you can see my previous reviews for some of those titles. But presuming most of you who are reading this have been to one or more Red Elvises shows, you have a pretty good idea of how terrific the music sounded, how fun the group drum solo was and how much they rocked on all the songs. It was a hot hot hot show and I’m not just talking temperature here.
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Saturday, June 2nd - Tampa, Skipper’s Smokehouse
The next morning, Saturday, Rebecca and I got up and started getting ready to go. Her car needed gas so she went to get some while I finished getting ready and throwing my stuff together. Then the trouble started… My cell phone rang…playing the familiar Squirrel Nut Zippers song “Hell” like a premonition (although it always plays that song; I only have the one ringtone)… Rebecca was on the other end of the line telling me some bad news - while she was out she discovered one of her front tires had a big highway bolt right in the middle of it! Oh nooo! Dilemma! What to do?!
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I forgot to take a picture of the bolt when it was in the tire but this is the actual bolt, which did turn out to be smaller than the head of it made it look but still…it was pretty impressive, and not in a good way. We both knew what this could mean. We had been planning to follow the van to Tampa and if we had to take time to get the tire fixed they’d have to go on without us. We could still find our way there, of course; I never go anywhere without my mapquest directions – not after last October’s roadtrip when I realized along the way that if something happened and I got separated from the van in some of those towns or between I’d have no clue where I was or where to go. So now I’m more prepared, just in case. Plus, I'm too independent to be that dependent, if you know what I mean. But it would be more fun to just follow them, to feel like part of the red caravan, so to speak. Of course, if the tire needed fixing that would have to be done; we couldn’t take the chance of a blowout on the freeway. What a way to start a morning!
Rebecca drove back to the hotel and by this time I had checked out and was downstairs with my bags. The wind was picking up and it was starting to sprinkle rain. Oleg was putting stuff in the van and the other band members were arriving at the van too. Deciding to seek the opinion of someone who spends an enormous amount of his time driving, Rebecca asked Oleg to look at the tire, specifically the bolt, and see what he thought. He said it looked like it needed to be fixed. Luckily there was a tire place right down the street! Rebecca and I went down there and that Red Elvises Magic must have been working because the guy yanked the bolt out, put in a plug that Rebecca supplied (ya gotta love a girl who carries tire plugs and extra oil with her on road trips, especially when tire repair places don’t have any plugs!) and didn’t even charge her. We were out of there in less than ten minutes and managed to catch up with the band because they had visited the Sam Ash music store across from the hotel. The van was headed toward the parking lot exit as we approached. Very nice timing - how lucky were we?!
We got on the I-4 freeway behind the van and drove for a short while, until Oleg pulled off at an exit. We were so excited, not because freeway exits excite us (come on, we’re not that wacky, we’re just crazy Red Elvises fangirls!), but because Rebecca’s Suburban needed gas and we figured he must be going for gas too. Rebecca was relying on her Shell Oil credit card on this trip so we were both sending “thought waves” to Oleg for the type of gas she wanted… “Shell… Shell… pick Shell…” we said softly over and over like two gypsy fortune tellers making wishes, projecting the thought forward toward the van. And Red Elvises Magic must have been at work again because Oleg made a U-turn at a traffic light and pulled into, of all things, a Shell station! We were just down the road from the entrance to Walt Disney World by then. Life was good.
The rest of the trip to Tampa was uneventful except for the strong winds. We could see the trailer on the back of van shimmy now and then from the wind. The heavy rain of the night before stayed away though, which was nice. It was blue skies all the way to Tampa. We passed Dinosaur World, which might be cool to really see someday. It has big giant dinosaurs outside that look like someone’s humongous paper mache project. We passed a huge electrical power pole – or whatever you’d call something that holds a bunch of electrical (telephone?) wires – that was shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head… large round shape in the middle with two slightly smaller round shapes on either side of the top like mouse ears. But soon we were out of Orlando and less than two short hours later were going into Tampa. Lilly slept on Rebecca’s lap the whole way…she’s tiny so that was actually a good place for her.
By the time we got to Tampa there was a tropical storm watch in effect. Tropical Storm Barry was out in the Gulf threatening to rain on our parade…uh, concert. I was watching the weather report on TV at the hotel while talking to Lori on the phone, and what I was seeing was a big giant red arrow pointing straight at Tampa! Even though it was red this couldn’t possibly be a good thing… “Are you sure,” I asked Lori, that this isn’t going to rain out the show?” Skipper’s is mostly an outdoor venue with only the stage itself and the bar and merch area at the back roofed, aside from the restaurant part of it, that is. “It’ll blow over by 6:00pm,” Lori replied calmly and confidently. “You’ll see, it will.”
And it did! That night we got a little light rain but nothing serious, and Skipper’s had extra tents and tarps up to help shield the crowd. I got a few raindrops off the overhang of the roof right in front of the stage, but nothing that would melt anyone, so it was cool. But I’m getting ahead of the story, as usual…
That afternoon at Skipper’s Smokehouse I met a great fan named Marc who, along with his wife Susan, were Fans of the Month a few months back (April 2007). He was very nice. I didn’t get a chance to talk with him or meet Susan later though, because that night I was running around all over the place and they had about 15 people with them having fun at the show…hopefully next time I’ll get that opportunity.
The band, along with friends Lori, Chris, Rebecca and me, all started ordering food after they finished unloading their gear and merchandise. We sat at our usual table there and shared the traditional Skipper’s afternoon lunch/dinner (linner?). I was delighted to learn that we could indeed have oysters in June because Skipper’s flies them in from all different places and won’t serve them if they’re not safe, of course! Apparently there’s always somewhere in the world where oysters aren’t spawning in months without an “R” because those we ate were good and we’re all still alive and well. So we had oysters, crawfish (a.k.a. crawdaddies or mudbugs), plenty of beer… and I also had an order of fried shrimp and a deviled crab, a longtime favorite thing of mine. It’s almost making me salivate now remembering that meal! We sat and talked about various things and I very much enjoyed the company of Oleg, Igor, Adam, Beth, Elena, Chris, Lori and Rebecca. That’s a great group of people to hang out with, it was lovely. The band was supposed to have a TV interview at Skipper’s that afternoon but for some reason (weather? Another commitment on the part of the TV crew? I never did find out...) it got cancelled. Bummer. I would've loved to have seen that happen.
 Oleg tried on my new glasses. |
 Lori, Kayt and Rebecca at Skipper's. |
 Igor at dinner, and part of Chris. |
After all that happiness it was back to the hotel to socialize a little with Lori and Rebecca, who I never get to see often enough, and get ready for the show. Lori wanted to go early so she and Chris could set up the merchandise and get ready for great selling success, so she left Rebecca and me there to go later. We ended up riding to Skipper’s with the band and that saved us the dilemma of trying to find a decent place to park at Skipper’s (as well as being a lot more fun, I’ll admit!). Lilly had to stay at the hotel this time but she was a good little doggy, as she always is.
We went in the backstage door but I soon went to the back, to the merchandise table to see how Chris and Lori were doing and to see if I could find my friend K-Dog. Wild horses can’t keep K-Dog away from a Red Elvises show at Skipper’s! So I knew he’d be there, it was just a question of when I’d see him. One of the first people I did see when I went out near the front of the stage was Helen, our Fan of the Month from March of this year. It was fun to see her again and also to meet her mother, and you can read all about her experience meeting the whole band – and see the pictures! – in a separate article in this issue. Chris and Lori were doing fine at the merch area and seemed to be having fun. Finally I saw K-Dog, looking happy as usual, so I had to get another in a series of pictures with him.
I couldn’t seem to stay in one spot during that show. I love being at Skipper’s and was running all over the place, merch table, backstage, in front of the stage taking pictures, and so on. At one point I decided to go see what life was like on the left side (as you’re facing the stage) since I’d never watched the show from over there before. I picked my way through the crowd, walking through the dirt since there is little wood planking over there, and then I realized I’d picked the absolute wrong time to go over there, because the song being played right then was “Sad Cowboy Song.” Suddenly, heading straight for me like a runaway freight train was the CONGA LINE, headed up by K-Dog himself! The man was deliriously happy and tried to grab me and commandeer me into the conga line…but alas, I don’t conga; my specialty is belly dancing…or a semi-reasonable facsimile thereof. The other reason I gave up conga-ing long ago was because I usually like to be right in front of the stage and when you conga you never know where you may end up! But for that one night, I made a temporary exception and fell in with the line, just long enough to get around to where I could jump out of it and head back to the merch table. Conga on, party dudes! I’ll sit (stand) this one out.
I didn’t write down any of the songs but they were all fun and sounded wonderful. I’d be willing to swear to that! They played the old favorites as well as some very popular newer songs like “Drinking With Jesus,” “Your Love is Better Than Cocaine” and “Twist Like Uma Thurman.” Two really great solid sets, and the crowd was wild for them! The opening band, which was probably good but I don’t remember hearing them (not as much fun as Knockdown South last December…) were so impressed with Red Elvises that they stayed to hear the entire show, leaving all their gear stacked up backstage. That made seating a little more precious but it was cool. I’m glad they enjoyed hanging out, they seemed pretty nice.
Later, back at the hotel, we stayed up and partied with some band members till about 4:00am. That was really nice, a chance to relax and drink some more beer and just hang out. It’s so nice to be in a hotel with mini fridges in the rooms, a great place to chill your beer! Bobby, who runs a great place for a band to play in St. Augustine, Florida, was there and hung out with us too. Very late in the night Oleg, Bobby and Lori found some strange fascination with my hotel room number, 2099. I have no idea why they liked it so much but Oleg said it was a good room number so it must have been. The situation begged to be photographically documented, though, so see the photo below. All I know is there was plenty of beer for everyone and we all had a fun time. Finally, though, the party wound down and everyone went to get some sleep. I bid a good night to my roommates and slept like a rock.
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The next morning Lori got me out of bed about 9:30am to go for breakfast with her and Chris! She rarely eats but that morning she was hungry, so we went to Denny’s down the street. I knew the guys wanted to eat later (Igor wanted Bennigan’s but Oleg wanted Chinese buffet…it would be interesting to see who won!), so I decided to try not eating too much. My try was unsuccessful…it was, after all, Denny’s, home of the Grand Slam. So we got back to the hotel around 11:30am and Chris said goodbye. He had to head home to the Orlando area to spend time with his wife and dogs. By 12:30pm the band members were loading their luggage into the van. There was a Chinese buffet restaurant right next to the hotel so guess where we went to eat? Right! We walked over there, except for Rebecca who didn’t have her dog carrying bag with her so she couldn’t leave Lilly in the car because it was too hot. She opted to hang out in my hotel room and take a shower and rest while we ate, joining us later at the van to say goodbye before driving me back to Orlando to catch my flight home. I wasn’t very hungry but got one plate of small food anyway, like appetizers. It was fun, as it always is around those guys, and the food was good…I just wish I could’ve eaten more of it.
Too soon it was time to say goodbye by the van…this is becoming a habit with me! But it’s never really goodbye, it’s just “see you later” for more good times ahead. Unfortunately I had to work all that week and couldn’t go to Key West like I’d originally wanted to, but I was returning to Florida the very next weekend, after all, for the Daytona Beach show. So hugs all around and then they climbed into the van, Lori drove away in her car and Rebecca and I got in her Suburban again and headed out. The band was going south; Rebecca and I had to go to the Orlando airport a couple of hours north before Rebecca went to her mom’s house farther down the Atlantic side of the state. I had just experienced two great shows and was already excited about the next one. Life was good.
One little postscript... On the way back to Orlando so I could get my flight home, Rebecca and I saw this funny truck:
If you look closely at what's hanging from the back of it (if necessary right-click to save the picture to your hard drive and then open it and zoom in) you'll see why we thought it was funny. It's not just the dolls on top of it...although they did look a little strange. Not to mention, it was red. Ya gotta laugh at the funny stuff in life.
More Red Elvises adventures in this very issue! Read on!