On Tour with The Adrian Belew Power Trio - Part II

So as I started to say in Part I, nothing prepared me for the beauty that is Quebec City. I wanted to weep when I got there, though that could also possibly be from the fact that we arrived absolutely starving mid-afternoon, a mere two hours before soundcheck and four hours before the show at 7:30 p.m...and the fact that the entire city is made up of straight up and down hills which I swear are really mountains. More on that in a minute. First, once again we were put up in a five star hotel, and this time for three days as the trio was performing both on July 6 on their own and on July 8 on the main stage with Friends of Crimson King, opening for Primus. When I opened the door to my room, I gasped at how wonderful it was, but I almost had a seizure when I saw the view from my window:



Is that incredible or what? You should have seen it at night, all lit up. I tried to take a photo but it came out kind of blurry. Oh well. You'll just have to trust me...it was about as good as it gets.

Anyway, as I said, we were starving and had a small window of opportunity in which to eat. Since Julie, Eric, and Adrian played this very same festival last year, all I've been hearing for the past twelve months is how much they love this little bistro they discovered there called the Victor Cafe...and Julie, knowing my weakness for hand cut french fries with curry dipping sauce on the side, had teased me mercilessly that they were the best she'd ever had and couldn't wait for me to try them. So she "allowed" me to indulge without giving me the usual "Mom please eat healthy" speech beforehand.

Here's a few photos from our lunch, with Matt sipping a most pleasant beer he'd never had before and me closing my eyes in ecstasy when I tasted my first french fry. For the record, Julie had a salad (sigh...) and vegetarian burger made of brazil nuts and spinach (to die for, actually), Matt had a burger, and I had a fresh salmon filet sandwich on a home made brioche. I could seriously eat at that cafe every day for the rest of my life:






By the way, notice what I am wearing? That's a custom designed t-shirt by one of Ade's most rabid fans and someone who has become a good friend - Rena Faye, a/k/a Tickledrop - her blog is a link on the right hand side here:



So the only problem with lunch was that to get there, we literally walked down a hill that was so steep I was out of breath at the bottom...and that fact...coupled with the ninety degree heat, made me totally paranoid that I'd never be able to climb up the damn thing on the way home. I'm not kidding, I've never seen hills like that in my life...what the hell do they do in the winter there when it snows? And as we sat at the cafe, we all remarked how young and absolutely gorgeous everyone in Quebec City is. Our table was a people watching delight. Oh sure, I thought, no wonder everyone here looks that way. No one over forty is still alive after years of those climbs...either that or they flee to flatter ground. I literally worried half way through lunch that I'd never make it back until I noticed that there was actually a fire rescue station directly across the street, a fact which I made Julie take notice of in case I passed out on the way home.

I would later climb up and down that hill over a dozen times over the next three days, dub it the "Hill of Death"...and then find out on our very last evening there at 3:00 a.m. that I could have taken the elevator in the parking garage at the foot of said hill which went directly to our hotel lobby. Oh well. By the end of the three days, I was in much better shape, I could ace the hill without feeling like I was going into cardiac arrest, I had new muscles in my calves or is that calfs, and when I got back to Philadelphia was actually stunned to weigh myself and see I'd lost three pounds! So let me get this straight. I can live in Quebec, eat french fries and buttery pastries and crepes every day and still rapidly lose weight? Oh oh oh...I am soooo there.

The streets were loaded with unique shops, bakeries, galleries...I'm almost in tears writing this because I want to go back like...tomorrow...but can't. I returned to my hotel and collapsed in my king sized bed complete with piles of golden silk pillows and took deep cleansing breaths while Julie, Eric, and Ade headed to sound check. I had my own personal driver to take me to the festival when it was time. Yes, I shouted to myself "Thank God Thank God Thank God I do not have to walk up any more hills to get there" but like I said, by day three I was in much better shape.

Anyway, the driver took me right to the backstage area, where there were trailers stocked with alcohol, soda, cold water, and all kinds of cool snacks as per each individual band's riders. We were right next to Zappa Plays Zappa who were going on directly after us, and here's a photo of their brilliant drummer, Joe Travers, hamming it up with the equally brilliant Eric Slick. Thanks, Joe, for graciously posing for groupie Mom:



Zappa Plays Zappa invited Ade to do a cameo during their set - he recreated his Bob Dylan role during the song "Flakes", even wearing the original hat he wore in "Baby Snakes", and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. I took this photo of Ade in our trailer prior to his performance...wish I had been closer to the stage to take a pic while he was performing but we had an awesome spot in the VIP area...great for listening but hell if you don't have a zoom lens.



But I digress. It was time for the trio to take the stage first and they fucking killed it. Here's a few shots of the show, but again, I was not standing in a great spot for photography and could hardly get Eric at all but hey hey hey, take a look at the size of this crowd. And if you think that looks like a lot of people, wait until I post a pic of the audience two nights later when the trio and Friends of Crimson King opened for Primus on the main stage:







The show was a triumph and as I've already written, we stayed around afterwards so that Ade could perform Flakes with Zappa Plays Zappa. We grooved to the music some more and then, exhausted but exhilarated, headed back to our hotel where in the lobby we bumped into the band members the trio would be playing with on Tuesday - the legendary Tony Levin and the California Guitar Trio.

I'd already met Paul, Bert, and Hideyo when the trio played with them in March but it was the first time I'd ever met Tony. I tried so hard not to be a fan girl but it was damn near impossible and then we started talking about the upcoming tour in Russia (where this same group of people will also be performing August 30 with Keith Emerson and Patti Smith and Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn and Eddie Jobson...oh god...I can't take it; I want to stow away in their suitcases)...anyway, it turns out that Tony and I share similar Russian ancestry and next thing I know he's telling me about a book he read on the subject...he said "Write down your address, I'll mail it to you" and the whole time my heart is fucking beating in my ears...but not once did I fall to my knees and gasp "You know, you were one of the first concerts Julie and Eric saw when they were six and seven - we took them to see you and Peter Gabriel in 1993 at the old Philadelphia Spectrum and even at that age, they were mesmerized and you are one of Julie's heroes and one of mine in a big way..." Nope, I didn't say it, I just smiled serenely and acted like I have conversations with someone of his stature every day...sort of what I do with Adrian even though it's two years already that my kids have played in his band...I still wake up every morning pinching myself saying "Can this really be true or is it the world's best dream?"

It should be noted that Tony says in his own blog that he arrived in Canada two days early just so he could check out the Adrian Belew Power Trio's Sunday concert. Did he like them? Ha ha - I think so!

So we're hanging out in the lobby for quite a while - it was around midnight I guess; next thing I know Tony is gone but Tyler, sound man extraordinare for the California Guitar Trio, says "Party's in Tony's room!" and everyone headed there but I felt funny hanging out with all that testosterone as the apparent only female in the group because in the meantime, the guys from Zappa Plays Zappa came in and invited Julie and Eric out for drinks and it would have been weird if I'd tagged along with them, too, so I ended up dejectedly going to bed, fantasizing about all the fun I was missing.

Truth to tell, I was exhausted anyway, and I think I pretty much fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Plus, I had already been up and down those damn hills a couple of more times.

The next day was our day off and I had a date with Eric to meet that morning for pastries at this incredible bakery the trio had discovered last year as well...I was sure after partying into the wee hours with the ZPZ guys Eric would cancel on me but he's a real trooper and at 11:00 a.m. promptly he called my room and arranged to meet me in the lobby. Back down the Hill of Death we went, but alas the bakery was closed! Or so we thought - as Julie would later tell us when we bumped into her and Matt, there were two bakeries and the one we wanted was in fact already filling the street with aromas of wonder and delight - but Eric and I, deciding to make lemonade out of lemons, headed straight back to the Victor Cafe for more french fries with curry sauce. Yay! So by the time we found Julie and Matt and learned the bakery was open, we were already full.

We wandered up and down (and I do mean that literally) the cobblestone streets, in and out of shops, having the best time ever. Adrian is friendly with The Ventures, who invited us to stand on the stage when they performed at the festival that night. We also learned that The Wailers, who were the original back-up band for Bob Marley, would be on stage immediately following them so Oh My God, I got to stand stageside for both bands. It was fucking surreal.

Here are a couple shots of The Ventures and their set list...again, I apologize for the poor quality but I think I was shaking from head to toe from their absolutely stellar performance:






This photo was taken of the crowds on the street watching The Wailers. I wish I had a better camera for this - you had to see it to believe it. Concert goers were given badges with tiny red blinking lights as their "tickets" and they were all standing atop this castle, watching the show from above...all you could see were those flickering, twinkling scarlet stars...it was insanely beautiful:



And in the background, The Wailers were performing I Shot the Sheriff, Jammin', No Woman No Cry...holy crap, I'm still shaking from the experience.

Oh, I forgot something. The "place to be" during the festival was a fabulous restaurant located right in the heart of things called Le Capitole. At Tony Levin's advice, we had dinner there (artichoke fritters, scallops, steak for Ade and Matt...and yep, Limoncello!) and it would be where we'd end up hanging out for drinks every night as well. Gorgeous building, great food...sob...I want to be there right now in the worst way...

But the night was not over yet and we decided to hit the hotel bar and see if anything was happening since all of the over two hundred bands booked for the festival were staying there and we were bound to bump into someone.

No sooner did we walk in and order drinks when we recognized Tim Alexander, drummer for Primus, having a solitary drink of wine. Naturally, we invited him to join us and this time, Eric had to refrain from being the fan boy...when he was fourteen years old his world revolved around that band...but you know, the only dork in the crowd was me and out of respect to Eric, I bit my tongue and just listened. And then, in walked Les Claypool, bassist for Primus and the man whose parts Julie had to learn when she joined the Adrian Belew Power Trio as he appeared on Ade's solo CDs.

This is where it gets funny. So here I am, sitting at a table with all of these rock and roll legends - Tim has a bandanna tied around his head, Les has jet black Prince Valiant hair and a goatee and was wearing a leather cap and a big silver cross around his neck...total rock stars...and Ade and these guys start discussing their wives and kids.

"Oh, my wife couldn't make it because our kids our in dance camp," says Ade. "They are so funny - my girls never just enter a room - they are also gymnasts so every time I look up they come somersaulting/cartwheeling in, one after the other...this weekend they had a recital..."

"My wife and kids are here," said Les. "But I know what you mean about the camp thing. My kids go to circus camp. My wife didn't warn me in advance and I go to the recital and there's my young daughter, way up in the air, swinging from a trapeze. I went white...but hey, she did great...I just nearly had a heart attack, that's all."

I was so fucking fascinated...here's this uber rock star, scary looking, talking about his daughter and camp and being frightened at the thought of her on a trapeze. Again, totally freaking surreal.

We sat for quite a while sipping our drinks until the bartender politely told us last call...I guess it was 1:00 or 2:00 a.m....and the best was yet to come, for the next evening would be the night we'd all been waiting for...Adrian, Julie and Eric performing with Friends of the Crimson King. But there was more. They invited Les Claypool to join Tony Levin and Julie Slick on bass during "thela hun ginjeet".

So. Are you following this? I was going to watch my son do double drums with Pat Mastelotto and my daughter trade off bass solos with Les and Tony.

I could not believe it. I still don't believe it, even though I watched it with my own eyes.

Anyway, we stumbled up to bed, determined to get a good night's sleep but Eric, the world's biggest sweetheart, said to me "Hey, Mom, want to meet for those pastries tomorrow morning?"

So we did. We got up early and had fresh, hot out of the oven obscenely oozing with butter croissants overflowing with chocolate and almonds. But hey, we walked back up the Hill of Death afterwards so no damage done (in case my doctor -- a very nice man who treats me for high blood pressure and cholesterol -- is reading this).

Adrian, Eric and Julie headed for what would be their only rehearsal for the show...meaning, they had to get on stage with Tony and Pat and Les and the California Guitar Trio for the very first time in front of a crowd estimated at 60,000 people. Paul, the brilliant guitarist from the California Guitar Trio who brainstormed the whole Friends of Crimson King event had the entire set worked out...Tony and Pat would join the CG Trio for their set; Ade would come out during their last song and solo; then Julie and Eric would take the stage and do a half hour set; then Tony and Pat would join them for Elephant Talk (Julie left the stage for that but Eric and Pat did double drums and the California Guitar Trio joined in as well), then Julie came back on to end the show with Les and Tony for "Thela".

Here is a wonderful video of the aforesaid Elephant Talk. I know I am prejudiced, but Eric is fucking phenomenal in this clip.

Friends of Crimson King:




I'm going to post some amazing photos of the show next, but a couple of things first. When Les Claypool took the stage, he was dressed as Elvis, wig and all. Eric almost lost it, laughing. Right after the show, Tony smiled from ear to ear and said "Great job, Julie"...I know, because I was standing on the side of the stage (crying, of course) and everyone hugged and grinned and were basically thrilled with the performance, practically saying in unison "Same set next month in Russia?" Russia, where they will play in front of 100,000 people. I know I've already talked about that in a prior post, but I will have much more on that and some other cool touring scheduled for the rest of 2008 which is totally blowing me away. I also wanted to mention that Tony and the California Guitar Trio all did fantastic write-ups on the event on their respective websites. To see what Tony had to say, go here. He's got a great photo of Les as Elvis on his blog and bleh, also one of me which has me determined never to eat another french fry again. (Not) And yeah, you can tell by the photos of the crowd, they drove 60,000 people into ecstasy. To get the California Guitar Trio's take on the experience, you can read Paul Richard's diary here (scroll down to July 8 but it's pretty interesting reading his entry of July 14, too) and Bert Lam's diary here (again, scroll if you want but he's got cool stuff posted after the fact as well).

Okay, then, here are some of my photos. I especially love the one of Tony smiling at Julie...have I mentioned my fan girl crush on him? Ha ha - oh, I'm kidding, but he is absolutely one of the coolest people I've ever met, other than Adrian of course.

First up, a shot of our trailer:




Tony, watching the trio intently from the side of the stage and then taking their photograph:



Tony, Les, and Julie trading bass licks on Thela:










In the pic below, you'll see Pat Mastelotto who regrettably I could not photograph that well from my vantage point on the stage but man, Pat and Eric are a combo to be reckoned with...everyone agreed that their playing style was the perfect compliment to one another and Pat had some incredibly nice things to say about my son though I did not get to talk to him that much and again, look at Tony's face while he talks to Julie after that triumphant performance of Thela...it was magic:



I did not get good photos of the California Guitar Trio nor any good shots of Eric and Pat double drumming as I was too busy watching and listening and again, was not in the best spot for taking pics but both Tony and the CGT have most excellent photos on their site as do various fans who posted on Flickr, just click on that link and type in the names of the various band members and you'll find a wealth of great stuff.

Think that was it for the night? Think again. After the most amazing concert of my life, we all headed back to Le Capitole, this time being joined by Canadian legend Kevin Parent and his girlfriend Zoe (who pretty much only spoke French but Julie, who is wonder woman and also speaks French fluently, managed to converse with her throughout the evening)...Kevin in fact performed with Tony, Pat, and the CGT on Saturday night. The restaurant pushed four or five tables together. To my left was Tony Levin and to his left was Kevin Parent...directly opposite from us sat Zoe, Julie, Matt and Adrian, then to my right was the entire California Guitar Trio and their entourage including wives, soundmen, etc., Pat Mastelotto and his wife, Eric, a bunch of people I did not know who were part of said entourage...anyway, we talked and talked about everything from gourmet cooking to exotic places we'd been to music (of course) while Eric held court at the other end of the table, cracking everyone up, and it was almost 3:00 a.m. by the time we um, loped out of there. She's going to kill me for telling you this but it was pretty funny...at the end of the evening Julie accidentally spilled her glass of Cabernet Sauvignon all over poor Tony Levin but he was not only gracious, when she practically rushed out of the restaurant dying of embarrassment -- Matt and Ade had already called it a night and returned to the hotel an hour before -- he accompanied her home up the Hill of Death while I, along with the others, entered the just discovered way too late elevator...I seriously do not think I would have made it up the hill in my current condition so thank God I found it existed, even if said discovery was three days too late)...the whole time saying to myself Do I believe this? Do I believe this whole fucking experience? Am I the luckiest person in the universe or what?

No, actually, Julie and Eric Slick are the two luckiest people in the universe - they get to do this all over again next month in Russia and again with Adrian in Europe in October and November and well, I'll be sitting right here, blogging about it from afar.

Oh..one final thing. The Friends of Crimson King got an awesome review in the French Canadian newspaper, Le Soleil. I translated it to the best of my ability (which isn't much) so here it is...maybe Julie, when she gets home, or one of my readers from France can do a better job:

"FRIENDS OF KING CRIMSON

Far from being the only trio in the limelight yesterday, Primus was preceded on stage of the Friends of King Crimson, a supergroup consisting of the California Guitar Trio, refreshing Adrian Belew Power Trio and a rhythm section the groove deemed implacable trained Tony Levin (bass) and no less respected Pat Mastelotto (drums).

After a rather cautious start, which saw the CG3 +2 open walking with his guitar playing very placed, influenced by Robert Fripp (King Crimson), then the feverish Adrian Belew Power Trio take over the provision has concluded Elephant Talk about an inspiration, courtesy of drummers Mastelotto and Erick Slick, bassist Tony Levin and the stick guitarist Adrian Belew. As if this were not enough, all this beautiful world was then joined by bass Les Claypool (Primus) and Julie Slick to create a genuine festival rhythmic! Astounding!"

Okay, this is now the world's longest blogpost. Luckily, the next day, Wednesday, was another day off, but we had a seven hour drive to Boston facing us for the trio's show at Harper's Ferry on Thursday night. I think I'd better make that Part III.

Later,
xo

On Tour with the Adrian Belew Power Trio - Part I

So I'm back home after ten days of probably the best time I've ever had in my entire life...and it even culminated in an absolutely fantastic surprise - I got to read a story for a future NPR Radio broadcast at the KGB Bar in New York City on Saturday, July 12, 2008 and I just received an email that the movie based on my short story Daddy Left Me Alone with God has been accepted for its 5th film festival - and this time in the United States! The film has been screened so far at festivals in the UK and South Africa and now you can catch it at the Indie Fest USA in Anaheim, California. Here's the schedule...it looks like "my movie" will be shown on Wednesday, August 13 at 5:00 p.m. in Theater 12. Yay!

But enough about me. It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for...my week on tour with the Adrian Belew Power Trio. First stop: July 4, 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario and how wonderfully weird to be in another country during Independence Day but things being what they are in the U.S. right now...*snort*...what independence, eh?...though I admit I did miss the fireworks and Gary and his traditional 4th of July barbecue.

I fell instantly in love with Canada. I'm serious. I would move there tomorrow if I could. The people are so warm and friendly and liberal; the architecture magnificent, and oh boy do they hate President Bush...even though it's Canada, there were Elect Obama posters everywhere. We arrived a day early so we could take in the sights, and here's what we stumbled upon a mere couple of blocks from our hotel:



Naturally this beautiful backdrop called for some family photographs...luckily everyone indulged me.

Here's the group shot...okay, maybe if you look at his face, Eric wasn't so happy playing the role of tourist but he's a good guy and did it anyway:



The lovely Julie and handsome significant other, Matt, who accompanied us the first six days of the tour:



If the rest of the group had to suffer, then so did I...God, I am really the most unphotogenic person in the universe but oh who cares...have a look at that fantastic building in the background instead:



We wandered around with Adrian later, looking for a good place to eat. Trouble was, we found way too many restaurants...each with a better menu than the next but with the festival in town, many had hour long waits and we were starving! Luckily, we found an awesome Italian restaurant (naturally I can't remember the name) with exposed brick walls and brick oven pizza and fresh fish and pasta dishes. The wine flowed; Julie had an insane artichoke salad, Adrian had fish with a side of white asparagus; I started off with mussels soaked in Grappa and then ended up splitting a pizza with Eric...unbelievable. And then when we finished our meal, Adrian introduced us to our first taste of Limoncello. We ordered a round and it kind of became the after dinner drink of the tour...we were so mellow when we left that restaurant and so happy...as Ade has said repeatedly and it never tires me to hear it over and over again...his favorite part of touring other than the music is his band and his/their families enjoying a meal together.

Let me tell you, having a meal with Adrian is one of the best experiences of my life, too. He is so full of interesting stories...I mean, the man has a thirty year career and you'll be sitting there chewing on a piece of bread when he'll come out with an amazing story about traveling with David Bowie or King Crimson or Frank Zappa...just mind boggling stuff. That man needs to write a book some day, that is for sure. My jaw just kind of drops half the time when he speaks...oh how I adore him.

The next morning, July 5, 2008, was festival day, but sound check wasn't until an hour or two before the show at 7:00 p.m. so we had all day to explore. Actually, now that I think about it, those pics I posted above were taken then...but I wanted to show you Ottawa before I launched into my spiel and I have a ton of photos of the show itself to put up next. Anyway, we wandered back into town in search of a good place to have lunch and landed in a little cafe which served a lot of vegetarian items and homemade quiche and salads and had the display case of pastry to die for -- Julie said no, don't do it, Mom, eat healthy -- so I did but all bets were off when we got to Quebec City...more on that later.

After we ate we walked by stands which were equivalent to a huge outdoor farmers' market in the U.S. but also includes handmade crafts, soaps, candles, leather goods...arghh...I could have spent thousands of dollars in that spot alone. Julie sulked at all the incredible and unusual fresh produce...I have a feeling once she is rich and even more famous she's going to insist on staying in private villas with full gourmet kitchens when she travels because she was really chomping at the bit to buy stuff and cook for us. She groaned every time we passed boxes overflowing with ruby red fresh raspberries and blackberries and perfect organic baby carrots...so did I, imagining the meal she would have prepared if she were able.

We calmed her down and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the festival. While I'm on the subject of food, these festivals have catering tents for the stars and really go out of their way for vegetarians. There were chick pea casseroles, spinach with cheese, fresh fruit, quinoa with steamed veggies...just awesome stuff.

And now for the music. The trio ruled. Right before they went on stage, a fan who wasn't familiar with them, standing behind me and um, a little inebriated after being at the festival and drinking in the hot sun all day, asked me "Why do they call it a Power Trio?"

"You'll see," I replied.

He fell back down on his blanket. I was standing in front of him.

"Am I blocking your view?" I asked. "Not that it matters...trust me...you'll be standing up the minute they play their first note and you won't sit down again."

"I doubt that," he slurred.

I rolled my eyes, knowingly, and didn't say another word.

The trio took the stage...and it was a fairly large stage, so how I managed to get them all in this photo, I have no idea. Luckily there was also a large movie screen to the left so everyone got to see:







You know the fan I spoke to - the one who asked why was it called a Power Trio? The entire concert, yep, he was on his feet screaming and he kept grabbing my arm shouting "I understand! I understand! They are fucking amazing! Long live the Power Trio!"

It was hilarious but um, I did warn him in advance.

There were thousands and thousands of people in the audience and the festival was actually down by the river so the trio played during one of the most magnificent sunsets ever:



The customary final bow:



Fans screamed and cheered after the trio left the stage...I promised them that the band would return and sign autographs in around fifteen minutes and I guess everyone believed me because they stayed while I chatted them up and took their photos...and when Ade, Julie and Eric came out of their trailer armed with Sharpies the crowd roared appreciatively:



I'm trying to figure out how I am in this photo but I have a vague memory of switching cameras with a fan...by that point I had a glass of wine or seven but yeah, there I am, taking a pic of the band signing:





They might not have had a limo, but here's how the band was transported to an official autograph tent across the field...Matt and I were so jealous there was no room for us...neither of us had any idea we apparently had a life long dream to be driven in a golf cart (ha) but hey, at least it was another cool photo op:



So how was the music itself? It was so damn awe-inspiring...one of the top ten shows ever...and if you don't believe me, you can listen to the entire concert right here! (Click on "Audio" and scroll down to where it says "Adrian Belew - Performance, Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, 2008" and then click on "listen"). Look, I would not steer you wrong here. You really need to listen to this show...it's over an hour long, recorded live and raw, and it will give you the chills. If anyone has any difficulty accessing it, email me and I'll give you more detailed instructions but if you merely click on "listen" and have iTunes or Windows Media, etc. you'll be fine.

Also, here is a terrific You Tube of the trio performing Ampersand that night:



Okay, knowing blogger the way I do, I've probably exceeded the maximum photo thing so I should probably make Quebec a separate post due to all the cool photos and film I have from those shows...anyway, let me wrap this up by saying at the end of the evening, we found ourselves back at the hotel bar (The Marriott - these festivals do not skimp on quality for their performers, that is for sure), which, oddly enough, was mobbed with little kids at midnight eating pizza -- we would later learn they were a champion lacrosse team or something but it was still weird to be sitting in a bar with youngsters and I cannot say I enjoyed that experience...we were hoping to end the evening with another round of Limoncellos but alas the bar didn't have much in the way of cocktails...Ade and I took a walk on the wild side and ordered something called a caramel apple martini which we promptly sent back after one nauseating sip after we made simultaneous "Eww" faces and acknowledged that when in Rome do as the Romans so we broke down and had a beer which neither of us exactly love that late at night but it was better than nothing. After just a few sips we headed ecstatic and exhausted to our respective rooms...the drive from Ottawa to Quebec City the next day would be around five hours and there was no day off in between so maybe in retrospect it was a good thing the bar was not exactly a comfort zone...anyway, nothing would prepare me for the magnificence which awaited us...stay tuned for Part II...Quebec City...quite possibly the best three days of my life.

Later,
xo

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: On Tour with the Adrian Belew Power Trio

I'm so psyched.

Tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning, Julie, Eric and I are taking trains, planes, and automobiles to Canada for the July leg of the summer Adrian Belew Power Trio tour.

Photo by Gary Slick, June, 2008

But first things first. On the right hand side of my blog, directly under "About Me", you'll see a little icon which says "JPG" with a photo of Julie and the word "vote". Please click on it and, well, vote.

Wait. I learned that if you use Internet Explorer as your browser, you might not see the right hand side of my blog. So let me make it easy for you and put the link here, too.


Vote!

This is a photograph Gary took of Julie during the last tour and it's entered in a contest as well as up for consideration to be published in Issue 18 of JPG Magazine, which issue will have the theme "On Stage". So if you would be so kind...we thank you very much.

Also, I just learned that Phaze, the publisher of my first four books, is offering a special promotion tomorrow - 20% off if you enter the secret code. So here is my author link and when you go to check out, enter the following promotion code: FIREWORKS08...and you'll get a nice little discount. I can't wait to tell you about my new publisher but their website is undergoing renovations - it looks amazing so far - and I want to wait until it's officially finished before putting up a link. But if you can't wait for that, tune in around 11:00 a.m. today to Blog Talk Radio, where I will be hanging with the fabulous Stella Price. Here's her announcement for the event:

"I will will be talking about my trip to Scotland and regaling you all with tales of yachting, adventuring, shopping and of course, the reason why I went, Audra's wedding! Also, she'll have some amazing guests calling in and chatting in the chat room who will be giving away some fantastic stuff! They include:

Cat Johnson
Bianca D'Arc
Rowan West
Tilly Greene
Robin Slick
Jacquelyn Frank
Selena Illirya
Kayleigh Jamison

And many others that will just happen to pop in! And Ill be giving away a stunning 24k gold plated Scottish Thistle bookmark, and Winners choice of our print books! You can also expect goodies from Bianca D'Arc, Jacquelyn Frank, Tilly Greene and Many many more!

Both the Chat room and the call in lines will be open for this event so make sure you stop in, and hear all about the misery, the wonder and the insanity that was my trip over the pond! Hope to see you there!"

So yeah, I'll probably call in around 11:00 a.m. but probably cannot hang around too long because I have to do wash, pack, and run some errands before my trip but you can be sure with that group of authors, it will be a blast.

Anyway, how excited am I. It's been over a year since I last tagged along for more than a day or two on tour with the trio but this time I'll be there from July 5 at the show in Ottawa to Quebec July 6-8 and ending, for me, on July 11 in New York City with a stop in Boston on July 10. (The tour continues on in Pittsburgh and Kentucky but I have another way cool "obligation" on July 12 which I'll discuss in a separate post) I will have both camera and laptop with me so in theory, I'll be blogging the whole time but just in case I'm too wiped out or without internet service, you may not be hearing from me again until my return. But I know me - when I get excited, I have to write it all down, so even if it means begging to use a hotel computer...well, anyway, I'll give it my best shot.

Here's how the Quebec City Summer Music Festival is advertising Friends of Crimson and yeah, yeah, I know already told you this, but they are opening for freaking Primus. (Shouldn't it be the other way around, she wondered? Ha.)

Friends of Crimson King (California Guitar Trio, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Adrian Belew Power Trio)
July 8th, 2008, 20:30
Scène Bell

"It’s a meeting at the summit for these musicians who, at some point in their career, were members of the legendary prog group King Crimson.

The musical program will showcase the great songs of KC, as revisited by the California Guitar Trio, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Adrian Belew and the Power Trio, rounded off with pieces from each performer’s personal repertoire"

God, I have the chills, and I partially know the set list as well as a couple of "might also happen" rumors so I'm even more crazed.

I've never been to Canada, either, so I'm stoked about that, too, along with the fact that Julie tells me last year when the trio played this very same festival, they discovered the world's best french fries with curry sauce at a little cafe nearby and she's tortured me with that for the past twelve months. Guess where I'm heading first when we hit Quebec on July 6?

Tonight Julie and Gary are making a joint bon voyage dinner for all of us (Gary is staying home with the dog on this tour, darn it) and I'm sure I'll be taking a few photos of that and posting them before we leave tomorrow (though our first train is at 5:00 a.m. so I'm not promising and didn't I say at the top of this post you might not be hearing from me again until after July 11? Ha! As if.)...anyway, we are having three types of homemade ravioli - three cheese, eggplant/cheese, and broccoli rabe/cheese with three different sauces, all of which have a roasted garlic/olive oil base because we want to keep at least that part of the meal light. One will have fresh peas; the other chopped heirloom tomatoes, and the third is a Julie surprise. On the side will be baguettes, salad, and God knows what else...I'm guessing she'll do berries for dessert again but I'll campaign for something more decadent...I know, I will offer to buy something other than twist top wine if Julie caves and lets me have something chocolate or full of gooey nuts and whipped cream. Though Julie tells me - and I'm not sure I believe her so I'll hit Google - that twist top is the "new" good wine. Huh? She's kidding, right? Hang on...must open another window now and check.

I should have known. She is correct. That's my Julie.

Yeah, so we're boarding a train at dawn which takes us to New York City, then another train which takes us to Syracuse, where we are meeting up with Adrian and Andre and driving across the Canadian border with all of the gear...and we'll be spending the evening of the fourth of July in a place other than America, which is a first for me, that's for sure.

And finally, because the last couple of posts focused on Julie, here's a great photo of Eric taken this past weekend at a rock festival where he played with, I think, at least four different bands - Jen Foster, thanks for the link to your photobucket site - I knew if I checked I'd find something new there!



Think Eric looks like he's having a good time? Nah...

Enjoy the long weekend, everyone!

Later, (or not)
xo

Dining with Julie Slick

So Julie and I have had a lot of down time together in between her summer touring schedule and whilst I wait for edits which are forthcoming on my new book. Naturally when this occurs, we do what we do best - eat. Oh and play Scrabble - and as brilliant as my daughter is, graduating college magna cum laude and all, she cannot beat me. Last night I trounced her by over 100 points, despite the fact that she tried her best to get me drunk first even though I assured her it would make absolutely no difference - I would still demolish her. We shared a lovely bottle of Torrontes but once I put a seven letter word down five minutes into the game, she cracked open another bottle of an equally lovely Zinfandel.

It didn't work. Sorry, Jules.

But first we ate. That morning, Julie and her dad went shopping at the Clark Park Farmers Market in West Philadelphia and then headed cross-town (sort of) to South Philadelphia where they did more damage at the Italian Market. Not only did Julie prepare an awesomely magnificent meal last night, more dinners of wonder and delight are scheduled for the rest of the week.

We started off with a cheese plate, which included Lagrein, Testun al Baralo, Acio DiBosco, and Boucheron goat cheeses served with raw sugar, honey and balsamic carmelized figs, spring olives, and honey hazelnut crackers. (Where did Julie learn how to roast and carmelize fresh figs? I have no idea but to taste them, drizzled with honey, is to experience nirvana)




For the next course, Julie and I had grilled garlic scape, lemon thyme and cashew pesto glazed scallops, heirloom tomatoes and baby squash served with roasted garlic dijon Four Bean Salad over arugula, curly endive, and purple lettuce medley.



Gary, our resident carnivore who is slowly coming over to the "other side" and acknowledged that when he does eat beef, it will be organic from now on, had grass fed Porterhouse Steak briefly marinated with kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and teriyaki sauce served with sauteed chorizo garlic scape reduction. (Julie wrote the descriptions here and I think the word "briefly" is included to let you know that you are not supposed to over-marinate grass fed beef. I also never heard of "garlic scape" before, either, but I looked it up on Google this morning...I'll put a photo and a definition under the pic of Gary's steak)





"Garlic and its relatives in the allium family, (leeks, chives, onions) grows underground, where the bulb begins its journey, soft and onion-like. As the bulb gets harder (and more like the garlic we know), a shoot pokes its way through the ground. Chlorophyll- green like a scallion (maybe even greener), the shoot is long and thin and pliable enough to curl into gorgeous tendrils.

This stage of growth is the garlic scape, folks. If left unattended, the scape will harden and transform from green to the familiar opaque white/beige color of garlic peel. Keeping the shoot attached will also curtail further growth of the bulb. So, in an effort to allow the garlic to keep growing, the farmer is getting a two-fer with this edible delectable that cooks are just beginning to discover."

Well, Julie apparently knew all about them and went into rapture when she saw them at the farmers market.

It was a totally unbelievable meal, but Julie wasn't finished with us yet. For dessert she prepared an almond scented mascarpone cream with strawberries and bing/rainier cherry melange.



Do I believe we eat like this? She woke up at dawn this morning, even though she's busy all day today, to brine a whole free range chicken with specific instructions that we are to roast it with fresh oranges and rosemary atop baby new potatoes and onions.

You don't even want to know what she is planning for Thursday evening, which is going to be a bon voyage meal for the three of us - Julie, Eric and I are all headed for Canada at 5:00 a.m. Friday morning for the July leg of the summer Adrian Belew Power Trio tour, which means that Matt and Katy and Gary, our significant others, will be treated to one final spectacular meal before we leave them to their own devices for ten days.

On Friday, Julie and I had to run some errands and what a better excuse for trying out a new...well, new to us...it's been around a year of two already...restaurant. After much deliberation - because there is literally a brand new place opening every day in downtown Philly, we settled on Raw Sushi and Sake Lounge. No Bento boxes for us, we split three rolls, which amounted to twenty-four pieces of sushi. By far the best was a house specialty, the Binny Roll, which is a shrimp tempura and avocado roll topped with really fresh, succulent tuna garnished with eel and spicy sauce. Also most excellent were our spicy tuna and scallop rolls, but oh man, that Binny roll...next time I might not share and just get that one for myself.

Raw is conveniently located a few steps away from our favorite Italian Gelateria, Capogiro. We split a small, which features two flavors, and oh my god, try and pick out two when the choices include Bacio (chocolate and hazelnut), Baked Pineapple, Bananas Foster, Bourbon Butterscotch, Burnt Sugar, Cetriolo with Grey Goose Vodka (cucumber with vodka), Cherimoya (custard apple), Cherry Blossom, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Cilantro Lime, Cioccolato Mexicano (Mexican chocolate), Cioccolato Scuro (bittersweet chocolate), Cocomero Giallo (yellow watermelon)...oh God, I can't even type them all here, but we chose fresh strawberry and mascarpone - it was like eating the world's best and richest cheesecake without the crust. And yes, it's true, we are mascarpone addicts.



So I'm pretty happy with simple roast chicken tonight...and luckily we've also been doing a lot of walking in some intense Philadelphia heat so I've actually lost instead of gained weight over the past few days.

I guess that's it for now - I've got a bunch of stuff brewing as usual but I've finally learned not to blab about things until, um, it's a done deal, you know?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend...I'll be back with any breaking news.

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Thursday, June 26, 2008

Wow, I remember when I used to blog every day. Well, I try to do it when the Adrian Belew Power Trio or Project Object are on tour, but over the past few days, things have been quiet, I've been writing, and I know it's hard to believe, but most of the time my life is just as exciting as the rest of you. Ha ha - which means I sit around in my pajamas, paying bills, avoid housework, watch television with the sound off, and a personal highlight, wondering what the hell to have for dinner.

But some stuff has come up that's pretty damn fantastic so here is the official report.

Eric has been on tour this week with both Delicious and Crescent Moon doing double duty on the drums...on Tuesday night they opened for the Butthole Surfers in Asbury Park; tonight it's Delicious and Crescent Moon at one of my favorite venues, John and Peters in New Hope. Will the usual suspects show up, i.e., Mickey from Ween and/or Chris Harford? If they do, you can be sure the jamming will continue until 2:00 a.m. - it would probably go on all night if it wasn't against the law for J&P's to stay open beyond that time. I'm dying to go but Gary's been on this horrific work schedule for the past two weeks because they're short handed and has to be at the office by 7:00 a.m. which means a 5:00 a.m. wake-up. If we were go to to John and Peters, we might not get home until 3:00 a.m. because when those guys jam...well...you just can't leave. It's impossible. By the way, speaking of Chris Harford, Eric has a couple of gigs coming up with him this summer - more details later.

My pal Joe, consummate Ween fan and all around music lover, wrote to me about the Asbury Park show:

"Hi Robin,

Great show last night at Asbury Lanes. Really enjoyed Delicious -- I was standing there with Reverend B-ill from Sound of Urchin when they started playing... and a few minutes into it, B-ill looks over and asks, "wow, who are these guys?" I mean, who knew the players, just didn't know the band name...

I said, "They're Delicious... playing transmissions from outer space..." because the first song was really trippy and spacey, and had this cool effect whereby Andre would turn his guitar on and off repeatedly to create these crazy blips and bleeps...

They were impressive, and kept things interesting up there, you know... to my ears i even heard a bit of black sabbath riffage..."

Rock on, Joe (heh), and congratulations on the impending birth of your sure-to-be-beautiful daughter, Stella Star.

Here's a You Tube which surfaced showing Delicious in concert and below that, my personal Crescent Moon favorite, Hammer to the Skull...Eric does it all, doesn't he?





So yeah, if you're in the area, you really want to hit John and Peters tonight and woo hoo, both bands will also be playing this Sunday at the Festival Pier in Philadelphia.

In other news, for more photos of Matt and Julie's graduation party and my adorable nephew Garrett on guitar, thanks to the lovely Jen Foster, Jordan's significant other, and Jordan, as you know from my last post, is lead guitarist and vocalist for the absolutely amazing band, Cheers Elephant, and guess what, Cheers Elephant will also be playing at the Festival Pier on Sunday - I believe all of these bands will be on stage in the afternoon.

And for more absolutely fabulous photography, here's a film/photo montage of the Adrian Belew Power Trio at their recent stint at Skippers in Tampa, Florida.

Something I've been sitting on but can now report is yes, the trio will be heading to Russia the last week of August to play a couple of festivals. Heart be still - here's a newspaper article I found which gives a little bit of information...well, enough to cause me to foam at the mouth in happiness, anyway. (Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, some more ABPT European dates have been added as well - Eric just put them up on his My Space page.)

Kazan Open Air Festival

August 29-30 will see the unique festival Creation of the World gathering together world music stars in Kazan.

"The one-of-the-kind project is intended to unite people with the help of music of various genres and countries and make them leave religious and interethnic hostility behind.

The project’s author, producer Sergei Mirov and the festival president, musician Andrei Makarevich have chosen Kazan as the festival venue, since it is the city where in modern Russia there are various religions coexisting side by side and its Kremlin has an orthodox church and a mosque standing next to each other.

According to festival organizers on the City Day, August 30, a huge stage will be mounted on the main square of Kazan and the festival will be open by five priests: an Orthodox, a Catholic, a Muslim, a Judaist, and a Buddhist – all at once.

Russian stars, such as Zemfira, Boris Grebenshikov and Aquarium, Time Machine, Yuri Bashmet, and Huun-Huur-Tu will be performing alongside with Western musicians: Patti Smith, Keith Emerson, Fairport Convention, Future Sound of London, musicians from the King Crimson band, and Nina Nastasia, as well as ethnic music stars from Cameroon, Israel, Pakistan, Scotland and other countries.

In addition to that the festival will surprise audience with unusual duets and jams. Thus, Patti Smith will take the stage together with Zemfira, and in the performance of the famous Turkmen drummer Rishad Shafi there will sing solo almost all festival participants.

The Fair Square where the event will be taking place holds one hundred thousand people. Music lovers from Moscow, St. Petersburg and from overseas are already getting ready to go there."

Yeah!

You'll note that the article mentions "members of King Crimson". That would be KTU featuring Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn and Kimmo Pohjonen, UKZ, featuring Trey Gunn, Eddie Jobson, Aaron Lippert, Alex Machacek, and Marco Minnemann, as well as, yep, the Adrian Belew Power Trio. This same line-up is also resurfacing in Moscow a few days later, and I think, but am not sure, that Tony Levin is going to be there, too, because if you go to his website and click on "tours", he mysteriously is going to be in Russia on the same dates as well. And while you are visiting Tony's website, be sure to read his journal and click on the photos. Tony gives great blog!

Okay, so let me get this straight. The article also mentions "unusual duets and jams". Does this mean that the Adrian Belew Trio may jam with Keith Emerson? I'm having a freaking coronary. You have to realize why - let me fill you in on a little Slick history. Growing up, rock was pretty much forbidden in my house because my father was a jazz musician and basically blamed the Beatles for what he decided was "the death of jazz" *snort*...um, it couldn't possibly just have been his career in the toilet due to, erm...let's not go there. But I was bitten bigtime when I heard my first Beatle song. (Yeah, yeah, just like Bad Company's Shooting Star). Beyond the Beatles, though, my knowledge was limited to other British Invasion bands like the Kinks and Stones. When Gary and I first started hanging out in high school, he was my music professor, and in an effort to try and get my old man to listen to something outside the box, he brought over albums (yes, albums...I'm old, remember?) by people like John Mayall, Savoy Brown, King Crimson, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. How could my father deny that even though they played rock/blues, they were still incredible musicians?

He did...but I'll leave all that for my psychiatrist (ha)...but man, I fell in love with ELP, and I know all the critics and hipsters trash them - well, my opinion of that is they are fucking ridiculous and know nothing about music and if someone starts that spiel with me, I walk away.

The night before Julie was born and my contractions were coming like twenty minutes apart - too soon to go to the hospital but impossible for me to get any sleep - Gary played ELP's Take a Pebble for me and I can't hear that song without bursting into tears remembering Julie's birth...sadly...I'm also that way about Cat Stevens' Morning Has Broken as that was the song playing in the delivery room just as Julie was born and they placed her on my stomach. It was like a scene out of a movie.

So like, imagine how I'm feeling about the possibility of my kids sharing a stage with Emerson. When we were first married, Gary and I would have ELP marathon nights, where we'd listen to every one of their albums in a row. If you would see me right now you'd giggle - I have total goosebumps and I just wiped away a tear.

Damn hormones.

Okay, time to talk about my always-interesting-if-nothing-else writing career.

As I indicated in an earlier post, I went to New York City twice last week to co-star in a documentary. The first day I did a one on one interview and I freaking can't believe it, the minute they hooked me up to that mic and put the camera on me, I didn't shut up. But did I stay on topic? Of course not. I talked about Julie and Eric and Adrian and my own agenda, i.e., my unfortunate experience with agents (one quit the business, one disappeared, and the other wanted me to make my characters twenty-five years old even though I write about baby boomers and that's basically my platform although naturally one day after we parted ways, I started a new book with a twenty-one year old protagonist)...anyway, I cringed the whole way home on the train remembering what I said on camera and thinking I'd really screwed up, but when I went back on Friday and we did a shoot featuring the whole group of us, I think I rectified the situation and besides, that is why directors use the "edit" feature. I had never met any of the nine/ten people also being filmed and it was interesting - even though we were quite diverse in appearance we ended up having a lot in common and by the time the shoot was over and we headed to this really incredible Spanish restaurant, El Quijote for dinner, we all lamented the fact that there were no cameras filming there as we really clicked and great conversation flowed throughout the meal - we were there over two hours and probably could have stayed longer if we didn't have other obligations...and in my case, if I didn't consume more than my usual two glasses of wine, knowing that I had a two hour train ride home.

Anyway, the hope is that this documentary will air on a cable channel such as Bravo when completed and really, I think it will. Both the premise and characters are pretty unique.

Also, I mentioned that I have a new publisher for Bitten to the Core and my editor contacted me this week -- I can tell just from our emails that we're really going to hit it off and that's a huge load of worry off my shoulders. That and the fact that she told me she was laughing out loud and spitting out her coffee while reading the first chapter, which, if you ask me, is a very good sign.

Whew.

Finally, because I can, and because I am sitting here freaking out that I just found it on You Tube, I leave you with Emerson, Lake and Palmer performing Take a Pebble, and Oh. My. God....look how young they are. I'm gonna cry.

Okay, I am crying. But in a good way.

Enjoy.



Later,
xo

The Best Party Ever - Part I

So there's much to catch up on, but today's post is about Matt and Julie's graduation party yesterday - probably one of the best/most enjoyable parties I've ever attended in my life. Thank you so much to Matt's parents, Frank Rothstein, and Eva and Steve Nicolazzi, who held it at their magnificent home, and for acting as sous chefs for Julie, which meant being ordered around until 1:00 a.m. the evening before by the high priestess of Epicurian Delights who refused to let Eva and Steve hire a caterer.

Here's the cool signs which helped me to relax we weren't hopelessly lost (i.e., Did I screw up the directions when reading them to Gary...no, I did not, though I would later rectify that unusual occurrence on the way home in the dark)

I made Eric get out of the car to take this picture much to his utter (not) joy. Other than that, this first set of photos were taken by me and now no one in my family can make fun of my rotten photographer skills anymore...or, now I know the secret. My camera works best outdoors in sunshine.

What a cool banner - and even cooler the sign that there would be a jam session at some point...many of the guests were talented musicians.



Proud papa Gary Slick, who I made pose for this photo because...there's that shirt again! (and notice, when you click on that link, the very cool photo credit. And as my regular readers already know, the t-shirt was designed by brilliant photographer Mark Colman).



And there's the official hand lettered card, announcing Julie as Caterer, in between two of the most lethal Sangrias I have ever had - Julie's special recipe, i.e., fresh tropical fruit, red/white wine, tequila, rum, brandy, cognac, Jack Daniels...oh, I'm kidding...but only a little. More than one glass and you're dancing on tables...more than two and you probably start shedding clothes.

Erm...I wouldn't know.



Some of the appetizers - also all made by hand and by Julie...she totally rocks. The first is brie with honey glazed pecans and a fruit chutney of sorts - there was one on every table, too and incredibly addictive.



Julie's guacamole and corn and black bean pico de gallo...too, too good...and I don't know what she used for a marinade on the mozzarella/tomato skewers but she took a simple appetizer to a whole 'nother level.





As the card says, those are indeed "Julie's Famous Poppers" and they are unfortunately so incredible I ate about three dozen and was almost too full to eat anything else.

Okay, not quite...but almost. She must have made a thousand of them, tray after tray kept appearing warm from the kitchen, and I giggled at the thought of Eva and Steve slicing jalapeno peppers and removing those dreaded seeds at midnight because I know that's what Julie had them doing...I just know it, without even asking.



Speaking of Eva, here she is thanking us all for coming to the party...and yes...she is not only very sweet, she is also very beautiful.



Julie and her dad, sharing grilling duties. I know I'm prejudiced, but I just adore these photos:




This is Clyde, Matt's dog, who stationed himself in front of the barbecue and didn't budge...which was a very smart move on his part as with so much food on the grill and so much Sangria being consumed by one of the chefs and it wasn't Gary, he (Clyde) was bound to get lucky.



What's coming to the table now?






See these shrimp skewers? Un-freaking believable tasting and Clyde's first real score from a "whoops it slipped off the barbecue" mishap. Luckily I noticed right away and wrestled it from him, regretting that I could not take the chance of running for my camera to take a photo of that cute bulldog face with a shrimp skewer sticking out of his mouth but it was too risky. Okay, okay, after I took it from him, I gave him a shrimp...how could I not?



Some photos just to give you a feel for how nice the whole atmosphere was...Julie and Matt, Eric and his significant other, Katy...there's Gary behind Katy in photo #3...all of their friends...family...and the absolutely gorgeous grounds with blooming flowers everywhere...just an incredible vibe.





Okay, for some unknown reason, Blogger is acting weird and won't let me put up any more photos in this post so stay tuned for The Best Party Ever - Part II - below.

Later,
xo