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DAY 1
It's cold today. Yesterday was summer and I missed
it (I was having tea at the time!) and now we're back to winter.
I am beginning to remember why I left here so long ago! No seriously,
I am happy to be back but this weather is awful and I have the sniffles.
But not to worry… we're off to rock and roll!!!
We're doing 7 shows on this leg of our world tour which, as you
know, now encompasses Russia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland,
Hungary, The Czech Republic, France, Italy and Spain… so far!!!
The UK dates are not selling in advance as well as we (or the promoters)
would like but that's pretty much been the story of hard rock here.
John Lawton and I had healthy walk-ups at most of our shows here
and I well remember that with Heep, when we were selling out 20,000
seat arenas in America, we had a hard time selling out 3,000 seat
theatres here and as I reflected on some of these things I realised
that we didn't get any genuine gold or platinum certifications here
either which is something we accomplished in South Africa and New
Zealand, among other places. But the heck with that! Free Spirit
is coming out to play and we will… be it 10 or 10 thousand!
We are working with the promoters to keep costs to an absolute minimum
so everyone can at least break even and so that we can play for
the people who do come to see us. Don't get me wrong… it's
not a disaster or anything (if it was we would be cancelling shows
like a lot of other bands)… but, as I have said before, we
are not in this to get rich… first and foremost we want to
share the music with people and if anything cool comes along it
will be a nice surprise. Maybe one day this market will change but
it's been the same for as long as I have been playing here so no-one's
holding their breath. We say a big "thank you" to the
promoters who have agreed to take a shot along with us!
It's 4:30pm and we're about to set off for The Stables which is
a really nice venue to kick off the tour. It was re-designed a few
years ago with performers in mind and has all the creature comforts
that make life just that little bit easier (easy load-in, great
PA, qualified professional staff, comfortable dressing rooms with
showers and a separate "green room" for guests which,
when the Hensley clan decides to show up, is a big plus!!!). Perhaps
the only downside is that it's a bit too comfortable……
So… I will be back later with a full report on the first show…
will it be a typical first show with all the gremlins and pitfalls
or will Free Spirit accomplish its lifetime goal of successfully
moving the building??? Watch this space!
Well… no it wasn't… either of those things we did have
our fair share of first-night problems and a monitor operator who
never really got it but the shows was strong and everyone seemed
to have a good time and to come away with good feelings! What were
the highlights??? Let's see… I got lost trying to find a venue
that is only 12 miles from the office! We sold lots of merchandise
and Lee's first gig went… well… quite well! The after-show
pary was hilarious and our spirits were high so I would have to
say that it was a successful first night. To be completely honest
though, I can't say I'd be in a hurry to do this venue again. It
really is set up for theatre and soft music more than real rock
& roll and, well, I think I'll leave it at that.
Next day...
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