THE MIGHTY MIGHTY MIDWEST, NO SHOES, AND MICHAEL BUBLE EVERYWHERE I TURN !
OK dear readers, lets get this Buble crap out of the way first .......Man....now I am used to bumping into friends every now and again , out on the road . it is inevitable. BUT DAMN.....So I told you we hung with Burnaby Mike in Salt Lake City. But as I was getting into the elevator to leave Minneapolis who should be in the 'vator but Buble and Emily Blunt. So I say hi and Michael asks where Isaak is and I say I recon he is on the bus .....So we march out to the bus and have a nice sit down conversation on our bus ........Oh yeah before I forget it ....I was wearing out my new GPS ,on my phone, in Minneapolis...It is the most amazing device . I knew that there used to be a drum store nearby the hotel and I typed it in and BAM there it was with directions.....A pharmacy .....BAM.....a florist....Bam .....I love that feature . I need to get a stereo video bluetooth headset because Hershel yelled at me for listening to South Park clips on my phone while we were stuck in La Guardia airport for 3 hours ....I suppose Hershel is right , he always takes the high road , but come on the South Park boys tell an alien that the shape they wish him most to take is a Taco that squirts ice cream out it's butt.......Now that is funny...... Where was I
Oh yeah so like the next day it is a day off in Chicago . So I am going to dinner with Sheryl ,our manager, and Isaak, as we drive away Sheryl says do you have any plans after dinner ? And I allow as how I dont and she says well I have tickets to see Michael Buble !!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHWWWWWWW....
He is following me . He is a very cool guy actually .
When we arrived backstage Michael asked Isaak if he would come up and sing the song "Kansas City "with him . And Chris said OK .So we went to our seats and Isaak wasnt going to come up till about the 10th song (we had a set list)....Oh yeah , thank God I put on some black slacks . I thought we were just going to dinner . I was this close to wearing my torreador pants. Next thing I know I am sitting in a box seat in one of the most beautiful theaters I have ever seen . And the whole crowd is dressed to the nines!!!!!!
About this theater . I know,newsflash , Chicago has great architecture.....this theater was built in the 1890s by the great architect Louis Sullivan. He gave Frank Lloyd Wright his break . It is a beautiful piece of work . Teddy Roosevelt received his nomination for prisident here !
So right befroe buble brings Isaak up he gives Chris this great introduction about how right after Michael was signed to Warner's records nobody knew him but Isaak asked him to be on his TV show, his Christmas special and to open up a few shows ......mind you Buble has sold out this 6000 seat theater for 3 nights ! So when Isaak gets up on stage he says ..." I opened up for you ?...that must have been a long time ago ! They sang the song and it sounded great... Michael's show was out standing and everyone had a great night .
The next day I had a dream come true ....Now you that know me know that I love musical history . I have been to the Sun Studios in Memphis numerous times , and the Stax/Volt museum in Memphis . But I had always wanted to go to the Chess studios building at 2120 S. Michigan ave. in Chicago . Now some of my mucician friends who had made pilgrimages there told me it was always closed. And I couldnt find anything about it on the net . So I just jumped in a cab and went over there . What the hey !!!
And WHOA......they are open !!!!!!!
So I go in and I am in awe . I am standing in the presence of greatness. Now it isnt as together as Sun Studios. Who have a tatooed rockabilly princess as a guide... But it is still THAT room where it all happened . Here is a smattering of who recorded there ....Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker,Little Walter , Bo Diddley and all of those great CHUCK BERRY tracks. You know every bar band thinks they can play Chuck Berry ,but they cant. If you listen closely to the music it has this incredible swing to it . It has this alchemy of a swing beat and a straight rock groove all in one song . Magic really ..........
We finally made it to MILWAUKEE. home of cool shoes . Alas I didnt find any this trip . But the lady who runs one of the stores always remembers me because I go in there every year . That is where Isaak bought his lime green leisure suit !!!!!!
It is funny when you have been touring for as long as I have you get to where you actually have all of these memories in towns you didnt evern know a few years back . For instance I am walking to the Wallgreen's ,about 4 blocks from the hotel . Now I have been in that tiny little Wallgreen's about 15 times or more . But the big one is ...WOW ..the Riverside theater .man...we have played there a bunch of times . We played there on our first tour with the Thompson Twins in '87 yeah.... I thought I was something playing the theaters of the country ! I remember one night Sammy Bodean came down to say hi . You know the bodeans " The Wisconsin Beatles" Anywho we had a nice hang . Sammy might be a bit cranky but I really like the guy and he is very talented ...I wonder what those guys are up to ...
As for me I play in Iowa for the first time ever , tonight...
WISTFULLY YOURS
KENNEY DALE
Oh yeah so like the next day it is a day off in Chicago . So I am going to dinner with Sheryl ,our manager, and Isaak, as we drive away Sheryl says do you have any plans after dinner ? And I allow as how I dont and she says well I have tickets to see Michael Buble !!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHWWWWWWW....
He is following me . He is a very cool guy actually .
When we arrived backstage Michael asked Isaak if he would come up and sing the song "Kansas City "with him . And Chris said OK .So we went to our seats and Isaak wasnt going to come up till about the 10th song (we had a set list)....Oh yeah , thank God I put on some black slacks . I thought we were just going to dinner . I was this close to wearing my torreador pants. Next thing I know I am sitting in a box seat in one of the most beautiful theaters I have ever seen . And the whole crowd is dressed to the nines!!!!!!
About this theater . I know,newsflash , Chicago has great architecture.....this theater was built in the 1890s by the great architect Louis Sullivan. He gave Frank Lloyd Wright his break . It is a beautiful piece of work . Teddy Roosevelt received his nomination for prisident here !
So right befroe buble brings Isaak up he gives Chris this great introduction about how right after Michael was signed to Warner's records nobody knew him but Isaak asked him to be on his TV show, his Christmas special and to open up a few shows ......mind you Buble has sold out this 6000 seat theater for 3 nights ! So when Isaak gets up on stage he says ..." I opened up for you ?...that must have been a long time ago ! They sang the song and it sounded great... Michael's show was out standing and everyone had a great night .
The next day I had a dream come true ....Now you that know me know that I love musical history . I have been to the Sun Studios in Memphis numerous times , and the Stax/Volt museum in Memphis . But I had always wanted to go to the Chess studios building at 2120 S. Michigan ave. in Chicago . Now some of my mucician friends who had made pilgrimages there told me it was always closed. And I couldnt find anything about it on the net . So I just jumped in a cab and went over there . What the hey !!!
And WHOA......they are open !!!!!!!
So I go in and I am in awe . I am standing in the presence of greatness. Now it isnt as together as Sun Studios. Who have a tatooed rockabilly princess as a guide... But it is still THAT room where it all happened . Here is a smattering of who recorded there ....Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker,Little Walter , Bo Diddley and all of those great CHUCK BERRY tracks. You know every bar band thinks they can play Chuck Berry ,but they cant. If you listen closely to the music it has this incredible swing to it . It has this alchemy of a swing beat and a straight rock groove all in one song . Magic really ..........
We finally made it to MILWAUKEE. home of cool shoes . Alas I didnt find any this trip . But the lady who runs one of the stores always remembers me because I go in there every year . That is where Isaak bought his lime green leisure suit !!!!!!
It is funny when you have been touring for as long as I have you get to where you actually have all of these memories in towns you didnt evern know a few years back . For instance I am walking to the Wallgreen's ,about 4 blocks from the hotel . Now I have been in that tiny little Wallgreen's about 15 times or more . But the big one is ...WOW ..the Riverside theater .man...we have played there a bunch of times . We played there on our first tour with the Thompson Twins in '87 yeah.... I thought I was something playing the theaters of the country ! I remember one night Sammy Bodean came down to say hi . You know the bodeans " The Wisconsin Beatles" Anywho we had a nice hang . Sammy might be a bit cranky but I really like the guy and he is very talented ...I wonder what those guys are up to ...
As for me I play in Iowa for the first time ever , tonight...
WISTFULLY YOURS
KENNEY DALE
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