FRANKFURT AND PARIS

Frankfurt
The Commerzbank Stadium is a nice facility…but not made for music, I’m afraid. After our morning routine, we left for the venue around 3pm. I went to write up the set list…and seeing some of our crew, they immediately gave us the word about the poor acoustics of the place. I finally walked out to check it out myself….and could tell that we were in for a challenge as far as the sound goes. It’s covered stadium, and there was a full 7 second delay after striking a note or hitting a beat on a drum. Ouch…a nightmare for us to deal with.

To be honest, it was a nightmare from the beginning. Not only was the sound absolutely horrible in the place, but the volume was very loud for some reason…making it a total “wash”. I could barely tell what I was playing all night…much less hear the other musicians with any distinction. We all struggled though it…and while we all did our best, there was just no way to make the place sound like we would all like. Nevertheless, we managed to put on a pretty decent Rock Show under the circumstances…but I have to admit that I was grateful after the last note was played and we headed back to our hotel.

Paris
We did go out for a bit to the Monoprix (a sort of grocery/hardware/department store on the Champs) to get a few items Rose Lane wanted for her trip to Italy.

The last Paris show we did was one of the best of the tour…it was just a couple of days after Mick’s birthday back in July of last year. I wanted this to be a good one, too…and wrote up a set list that I felt the fans would appreciate and that would be fun for us

The show turned out well….if not as good as the one a year ago. Still, Stade De France was sufficiently rocked, and the reviews the next day were all very positive.

LYON AND BARCELONA

Lyon
Keith wanted to run over a couple of songs…“You Got The Silver” was one…and we got that in for the night for the first time on this leg. Finally it was Showtime….and we hit the stage feeling more confident having the other five shows under our belt. It turned out to be the best one so far.

Barcelona
I’ve continued to try and do more cardio in the workout and did about 45 minutes of walking and running on the treadmill before pushing some weights. Afterwards I inquired about a massage, and arranged for one at 7 that evening.

Then we did a little rehearsal in Keith’s room…Mick had wanted to do Streets Of Love this night, as apparently it got a good bit of radio play here, and we all needed to go over it. It sounded fine, and we all broke up into our respective dressing rooms. But as we were leaving, we sang “Happy Birthday” to Bill Richards, who is Keith’s step dad.

Then it was time to hit the stage….another strong show…and that wonderful Latin spirit came through from the Spanish fans. It’s soooo much fun to play to these audiences…they really lift you up and make it a special event.


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-05 14:35 by Lorenz.

San Sebastian and Lisbon

Back in my room I was settling in for the evening when Bobby Keys called me. His room was just a couple of doors down, so I went down to hang with him for a while. Bobby’s hobby is flying powered model airplanes and helicopters….and he has a neat computer program with flight simulators that let you “fly” all kinds of different aircraft. Darryl Jones showed up shortly, and we all had fun flying “Bobby’s planes”. It’s certainly not as easy as it may seem, and I kept crashing all over the place…which made for lots of laughs. We enjoyed that for an hour or so, and then I retired to my room.

Last year when we played Porto, I did a recording session for Tim that included a Fado singer named Anna Moura. She is an amazing talent, and we had recorded “No Expectations” and “Brown Sugar” with her and three of her musicians

Tim had invited all of us, and much to my surprise, Mick, Keith and Ronnie had accepted and had tables there. After she finished, Mick and I conversed a little about her singing and the playing, agreeing about the pitch problem she had and the proficiency of the playing.

At the gig it was the usual thing…except that in doing the set list Mick suggested we invite Anna Moura to perform “No Expectations” with us. I was very pleased at this, and we put it on the list. I went to find Tim to see when she might be arriving…he was able to get her on a cell phone and told her of the invitation. Not long afterwards she arrived, and I brought her, Tim and her two guitarists to Mick’s room for a run through. The only concern was the key….we do it in E, and she had recorded it in B. Even through it was quite low for her to sing, she was able to re-phrase it and make it work. Her guitarist George was helpful in encouraging her and suggesting some phrasing. We worked out the arrangement and made plans to do a full rehearsal with the rest of the band later. After that, I messed around in the Rattlesnake for a bit until we all gathered in Keith’s room for the run through. That went fine, and we were set.

The show went quite well…again, that incredible Latin passion from the audience was evident from the start. The song with Anna went ok, but not as well as I’d hoped. For one thing, she missed her cue to get out on stage in time to start the second verse….and Mick had to cover it. That caused the arrangement to get a little off track…but not so bad that it created any big problem…we rolled with it. I thought that the crowd may have reacted more to her…but maybe they didn’t know her so well. Anyway, they were appreciative of her...


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno

"Paris
We did go out for a bit to the Monoprix (a sort of grocery/hardware/department store on the Champs)
to get a few items Rose Lane wanted for her trip to Italy.

The last Paris show we did was one of the
best of the tour…it was just a couple of days
after Mick’s birthday back in July of last year.
I wanted this to be a good one, too…and wrote up
a set list that I felt the fans would appreciate
and that would be fun for us

The show turned out well….if not as good as
the one a year ago. Still, Stade De France was
sufficiently rocked, and the reviews the next day
were all very positive. "

Well, interesting that I see it the same way

Where's the bit in his Lisbon blog where he mentions meeting me? Grrrr...

thanks Lorenz, a very nice read! (and thank you Chuck for sharing your stories)

Interesting that his views are nearly the same as the IORRian reviews.

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Where's the bit in his Lisbon blog where he
> mentions meeting me? Grrrr...


LOL!!

Great Chuck´s diary!!

Curious about the madrid blog..


Thank you chuck for this blog !

yes chuck; thanks ever so much for being a reporter on the front lines of rock and roll central...these fascinating, insightful and historical anecdotes are essential reading to the rock historian as well as the casual fan...

i mean, does it get better or more informative than this???
i don't think so...oh thank you Chuck...thank you thank you thank you....
this particularly riveting...:

"There I decided to look into doing my laundry….it had been piling up and I knew I needed to deal with it. Our hotel info sheet had a place listed that was only three blocks away. First I called the concierge to see if a bellman might take it over there for me and drop it off (the sheet said they did a “wash and fold” service)….but they wouldn’t do that…so I went to do it on my own. The directions they gave me weren’t quite right, and although when I finally found the place I realized how close it was, it took me a good 20 minutes of walking around to locate it.. It seemed there was no one around to leave it with, and it was a small place with only about 4 washing machines and 2 driers all of which were in use. So I abandoned that idea for a while, going back to the hotel. I checked back in an hour or so, and there were machines available, so I dove in. The first machine I tried was a larger one, and required more coins than I had….so I went to a place next door to get change. They didn’t have any, and I tried a news stand across the street. A nice lady there helped me out and went back with some more funds. But then I realized I still wouldn’t have enough for the drier…so I went to one of the smaller machines which meant I had to cram in my threads, but it was half the cost of the bigger machine. After putting in a few coins I realized that this machine’s temperature selections were broken. Nice. So I had to re-arrange it all into yet another machine. Finally I got things going and went to a little small bar down the street to have a sandwich while my stuff was in the cycle. That killed some time, and when I went back I didn’t have to wait too long to get the clothes out and put them in the drier. Finally I got it all done…folded up my threads and headed back to the hotel. Ah, clean clothes!"

whoa, fascinating chuck...ty ty ty ty ty ty...
looking forward to the digestive health thread and your rock and roll bathroom anecdotes...keep it coming boy!!!

don't be so sarcastic!
finding out which, michelin star european eateries, Chuck has been dining in,
is quite often the highlight of my day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-05 16:11 by Adrian-L.

It's CHUCK diary, wich means it's about HIS life. If he wants to write about trees and diner places that's fine. But i'm very thankfull about the stones info he writers, wich i really enjoy to read.

Ha ha ha, more sarcasm please, I love it!

Lorenz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FRANKFURT AND PARIS
>
I wanted this
> to be a good one, too…and wrote up a set list that
> I felt the fans would appreciate and that would be
> fun for us
>



ok,it`s officially,he makes all the setlists

-----------------------------------------------------
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

Thanks for the essential info of Chuck's essential info, Beelyboy - that was a thrilling read. Can't wait to read about his laundry as the tour progresses.

Grat job, Lorenz.

Thanks so much!

Keep on rollin'
Gangster

Let us hope that he´s not running out of coins again, he might miss a gig if that problem continues.

Erik_Snow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the essential info of Chuck's essential
> info, Beelyboy - that was a thrilling read. Can't
> wait to read about his laundry as the tour
> progresses.


Now I know what Chuck is carrying in the photo I took of him entering the hotel in San Sebastian. I must admit I did wonder at the time what it was exactly!

Svartmer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Let us hope that he´s not running out of coins
> again, he might miss a gig if that problem
> continues.


he could always take a collection plate around FOS, before
the band hit the stage

Beast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Erik_Snow Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for the essential info of Chuck's
> essential
> > info, Beelyboy - that was a thrilling read.
> Can't
> > wait to read about his laundry as the tour
> > progresses.
>
>
> Now I know what Chuck is carrying in the photo I
> took of him entering the hotel in San Sebastian.
> I must admit I did wonder at the time what it was
> exactly!

Thanks for letting me know - and now I suddenly know why there was a bag on stage at Twickenham last year

Adrian-L Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Svartmer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Let us hope that he´s not running out of coins
> > again, he might miss a gig if that problem
> > continues.
>
>
> he could always take a collection plate around
> FOS, before
> the band hit the stage

Yes, and if they begin with One Coin (to the laundry) from the Dirty Laundry album he could surely stimulate the crowds generosity.

I'm thankful that he sheds some light about how they experience some venues (like Frankfurt)

I am very down on Rosie (Mrs Chuck). Here she is living in the lap of luxury for donkey's years and she leaves her two story-suite and avoids the Stade de France gig to go to Italy "to paint." Look out Picasso!

stonesrule Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am very down on Rosie (Mrs Chuck). Here she is
> living in the lap of luxury for donkey's years and
> she leaves her two story-suite and avoids the
> Stade de France gig to go to Italy "to paint."
> Look out Picasso!

look out Ronnie Wood

Lorenz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Paris
I wanted this
> to be a good one, too…and wrote up a set list that
> I felt the fans would appreciate and that would be
> fun for us
>

Hey, Chuck, you just forgot Sway
Otherwise, it was great !

[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]

Chuck's diary is a great read, especially the background infos and insights he gives us about our band. So finally we know that they had the same bad feeling about the sound in Frankfurt and they were glad when it was over. So having experienced this sound disaster and knowing what to expect in Düsseldorf and Hamburg they should do something about it. If the band is aware of the problem they should really have the means to change a few things, e.g. to make a proper soundcheck and tell the important people in charge to leave that ferking roof open....
But anyway, keep on writing your diary, Chuck and thanks for sharing all this with us....and don't forget to put "She was hot" more often in the setlist - it's a killer song!

Do I not see a link to where one can sibscribe to Chuck's blog??

J

Do I not see a link to where one can subscribe to Chuck's blog??

J

JMARKO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do I not see a link to where one can subscribe to
> Chuck's blog??
>
> J

[www.chuckleavell.com]

Here's his writeup from his blog:


So we all headed to the grounds of the Jazz Fest, to the “Acura Stage”, one of the main stages…where we were to perform. But just as we arrived, it began to rain. And rain…and rain some more. HARD rain…as a matter of fact, it rained some 5 inches over the next two hours, causing some flash flooding! We were delayed…and for a while it looked like we wouldn’t get to play at all. But finally we were called to the stage and told we had about 20 minutes to play. But play we did, and while it was a bit bizarre (the flash flooding caused a sort of “instant pond” right in front of the stage…and some people were standing in waist high water), it went quite well…and we were given a very warm and enthusiast reception. We wound up playing just four songs…“In The Night” by Professor Longhair (I wanted to salute the heritage and influence of that New Orleans icon), “Route 66”, “Tumbling Dice” and “Compared To What”.
There was a bit of rain still happening during our set, but at that point it was mostly a drizzle. It amazed me that the fans had waited through the incredible downpour, tolerating some very challenging circumstance….but they did, and we were all very grateful.