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Cernobbio, near Como in
Italy, was simply gorgeous. Alain, our superb monitor engineer, is at
left; and Phil is standing near the right.
Photo credit: Antonio J. García
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| In contrast, Waldebuhne
(below), near Berlin, was the only spot that made me uncomfortable. Hitler
gave speeches here. The backstage area is a bunker that was built in such
a circular fashion that a bullet could not travel straight for more than
a few feet to a target (thus protecting the occupants from surprise attack). |
Holes in the bunker
walls that had allowed guns to aim through towards the attendees in the
arena during the war certainly added to the eery vibe. But all concerns
faded once the music began, and Berlin was an excellent host overall!
Photo credit: Antonio J. García |
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Taste of Chicago, in Grant
Park, offered a great concert for what was the hometown crowd for many
of us.
But it was humid enough that it was hard to keep the horn exactly on the
face!
Photo credit: Antonio J. García
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Mark Bettcher and I lay down a soli in
Chicago. Photo
credit: courtesy Barry Stark
Phil always opened the evening
by talking with the crowd (here in Milwaukee) to be sure they understood
that he was there to play drums, not sing—but that he'd sing some
later if they were enjoying the night.
Photo credit: Antonio J. García
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| Pori, Finland was a wonderful
festival and in the summer truly a land of the midnight sun. We sound-checked
in the afternoon (below); and it was fairly sunny when we ended our concert
at 10 p.m. or so. In fact, the sun set for about 20 minutes around 1 a.m.
and then was on its way back. By 2 a.m., it was sunny again! |
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I asked the locals how they dealt with
the winter of long darkness. "We go visit Italy!" Seriously,
they do get a couple of weeks' vacation and get away to sunnier spots.
Photo credit: Antonio J. García
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By concert time in Pori, we'd set a new
record for festival attendance: 28,000! (Compare to the rehearsal photo
above.)
Photo credit: Antonio J. García
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