BOCA RATON DEATH MARCH, A CRAZY PLANE FLIGHT TO DENVER,AND BILLY BOB THORNTON
I am limping into the last week of the tour quite figuratively . I have been having trouble with my computer and I think I have lost my tour book, so I cant blog . I am on our manager's laptop and trying to catch up . Last we spoke the Isaak agravation was headed toward Florida . I am telling ya Florida was a lot of fun but man O' man was it hot . The three venues that we play down there are a lot of fun . The Hardrock Live in Orlando is a very nice sounding venue as is the Ruth Eckerd Hall. Last year when we played at the "Ruth" Sheryl ,our manager, had her dog Rodney out for a pee and the people that work there said dont go out behind the parking lot because there is a gator in the water, back there . Well of course I ran out there fast as I could, to see the gator and there he was , his beady eyes looking out of the water . Pretty cool. Now as for Boca Raton ...Holy sh#t...I mean to tell you gentle readers that it was HOT. We stay in this really cool old Floridian hotel that is like from the 20s . I really love palm trees ,as you know, and I have several in my back yard . I have a king palm in my back yard which is very rare for Northern California . Matter of fact I have not seen another one in Norcal. I also have two Pygmy Date palms,a Kentia palm, a Guadaloupe palm in the corner, a Sega palm. and two queen palms out front. Now you know.
Anywho the king palm in my back yard is like about 18 feet tall but the ones at this hotel in boca are SEVEN STORIES TALL!!!!!!
Very beautiful. Now on to the show. I dont know what sadist thought that having an outdoor show in Boca Raton in August was a great idea ! Of course , it rained right before showtime so it was like 150% humidity . During the show I asked Omar ,my drum tech, if the fans were on ( by the way I have two Vornado fans on me on the drumset). Omar said that they were but I couldnt feel them because it was so humid. And I looked out at the poor crowd and they were wilted! But they were real troopers and stayed to the very end .
On to Denver or Lyons I mean.......So after Boca we had this hell flight . We got up in the dark at 5:30 am to catch a flight from West Palm Beach to Denver thru Dallas . That my friend was an absolute beating. So we finally get to the hotel in Denver and have 2 hour to sleep then up and get in a van to drive up to Lyons Colorado to a Folk Festival ! A MIGHTY WIND!!! So we are pulling up and everyone is in Birkenstock sandals and floppy camping hats and there are tents everywhere . So I am thinking ...Man in my new flame suit and yellow crocodile shoes.....oh yeah baby .....I am going to blend . Turned out to be a really fun gig...And we had the next day off in Denver. Much needed I might add!!!!!!
I had a decision to make on the day off. Do I go see the Colorado Rockies versus the Pittsburg Pirates or go see Billy Bob Thornton's band ? I was so tired that the thought of standing around a bar all night sounded coarse. So I opt for the Ball game . Lord have mercy did that game suck ! Both of those teams are terrible . I saw routine grounders missed and not even tried for and one jamoke dropped an easy fly ball !!! SWEET JESUS...you have to catch that if you are in the bigs.....And it is funny ,the dude in the newspaper ,the next day ,said they sucked as well. Then I thought as sh#tty as these two teams are my beloved San Francisco Giants are even worse . Oh well.......It was a warm night so I walked back to the hotel . The next day I see Isaak and he went to see Billy Bob and Chris says that Billy Bob asked him "where is Kenney Dale ?" So I guess I made the wrong move and missed the good hang........ Got a good night sleep anyway !
On to Phoenix.....
This show was one of the best of the tour....I know it is strange to play in the round and have the stage spin around but I love the Celebrity Theater..We have played there a bunch of times over the years. And the crowds in Phoenix are awesome. They were screaming from the moment we hit the stage . Earlier at the hotel I decided to walk the two blocks over to the Apple store in 105 degree heat . Now for you folks who have never been to Phoenix the way they keep it cool in an outside mall in the heat, is they have spritzers that spew water on you as you walk around . It is so dry that it evaporates and you stay cool . At least that is the theory ! Man from total heat and humidity in Boca Raton to hot and zero humidity in Arizona. It is a funny schedule...and I have my eye on a new Mac......
On to Reno ....So we play the show in Phoenix and get into the bus for the ride to Reno . I wake up while the bus is still moving and we are in Tonapah Nevada . You guys know that song right ? Willin' by Little Feat. it goes " I 've ben from Tucson to Tuccumcari, Tahachapi to Tonapah I 've driven every kind of rig thats ever been made" Well that is me . We are driving thru the high desert and going thru these near ghost towns that are nothing more than broken cars everywhere and maybe a bar and general store . I wanted to stop but I couldnt get any takers . One of these days I will come back and have a lost weekend in one of these desert towns !!!!!!! We did stop in Hawthorne Nevada to stretch our legs and it is this town out in the middle of nowhere that has all of these military bunkers which probably has ordinance stashed in them . I swear... they had windmills made out of old bomb casings !!!!! Quite a spot. Sheryl, Chris and I were walking Rodney in this park with the aforementioned bombwindmills and i introduced these 2 Californians to "goat heads". They are a sticker that grows in patches and it looks like a goat's head. They are about the size of a small button .We had them growing up in Texas and I can remember falling into a patch of them many a time. They itch as well as hurt. Now you know.
Then we arrive in Reno and I am on the 23rd floor and I swear to you I look out of my window and a 1940s era B-52 Flying Fortress is flying by my window with its 4 prop engines turning and I am going "excuse me can you give me the correct year ?"
Holy sh#t that is an creepy thing to see . It is like being in an old newsreel. I hope it isnt the Enola Gay.... Then I remember that there are lots of vintage planes in Reno........
Reno is one kooky place but the crowds are really crazy and great .
So I go to the Apple store in Reno and the Apple store in Vegas because something is wrong with my computer . I can get email but it wont navigate thru websites . Google wont even open....Of course it works perfectly when I am at the Apple store .. Ahhhh Screw it it is time for a new computer anyway.....
While I was in the Apple store in Las Vegas something funny happened. Oh I dont know if you have ever gone to the "genius" bar in an Apple store. But you sign up and they give you a time .I did and it was an hour away ...I walked around and then came back and right as they called my name some guy jumps in front of me and 15 other people and says quick question ...And this guys starts talking to the Apple "genius " and the guy says if you have any more questions sign up you know how dont you ...and I go "APPARENTLY NOT"..... . I say hey pal, me and these other 15 people have been waiting for over an hour and you just jump ahead. "What is up with that " and the guy turns to me and says "Hey I know who you are you are Kenney form the Isaak band ....So oh great.. now I feel like a heel but then again, no, he was the jackass......but I made nice anyway . And all you know how very DIFFICULT that is for me ....
YOUR PAL IN 'VEGAS
KENNEY DALE
Anywho the king palm in my back yard is like about 18 feet tall but the ones at this hotel in boca are SEVEN STORIES TALL!!!!!!
Very beautiful. Now on to the show. I dont know what sadist thought that having an outdoor show in Boca Raton in August was a great idea ! Of course , it rained right before showtime so it was like 150% humidity . During the show I asked Omar ,my drum tech, if the fans were on ( by the way I have two Vornado fans on me on the drumset). Omar said that they were but I couldnt feel them because it was so humid. And I looked out at the poor crowd and they were wilted! But they were real troopers and stayed to the very end .
On to Denver or Lyons I mean.......So after Boca we had this hell flight . We got up in the dark at 5:30 am to catch a flight from West Palm Beach to Denver thru Dallas . That my friend was an absolute beating. So we finally get to the hotel in Denver and have 2 hour to sleep then up and get in a van to drive up to Lyons Colorado to a Folk Festival ! A MIGHTY WIND!!! So we are pulling up and everyone is in Birkenstock sandals and floppy camping hats and there are tents everywhere . So I am thinking ...Man in my new flame suit and yellow crocodile shoes.....oh yeah baby .....I am going to blend . Turned out to be a really fun gig...And we had the next day off in Denver. Much needed I might add!!!!!!
I had a decision to make on the day off. Do I go see the Colorado Rockies versus the Pittsburg Pirates or go see Billy Bob Thornton's band ? I was so tired that the thought of standing around a bar all night sounded coarse. So I opt for the Ball game . Lord have mercy did that game suck ! Both of those teams are terrible . I saw routine grounders missed and not even tried for and one jamoke dropped an easy fly ball !!! SWEET JESUS...you have to catch that if you are in the bigs.....And it is funny ,the dude in the newspaper ,the next day ,said they sucked as well. Then I thought as sh#tty as these two teams are my beloved San Francisco Giants are even worse . Oh well.......It was a warm night so I walked back to the hotel . The next day I see Isaak and he went to see Billy Bob and Chris says that Billy Bob asked him "where is Kenney Dale ?" So I guess I made the wrong move and missed the good hang........ Got a good night sleep anyway !
On to Phoenix.....
This show was one of the best of the tour....I know it is strange to play in the round and have the stage spin around but I love the Celebrity Theater..We have played there a bunch of times over the years. And the crowds in Phoenix are awesome. They were screaming from the moment we hit the stage . Earlier at the hotel I decided to walk the two blocks over to the Apple store in 105 degree heat . Now for you folks who have never been to Phoenix the way they keep it cool in an outside mall in the heat, is they have spritzers that spew water on you as you walk around . It is so dry that it evaporates and you stay cool . At least that is the theory ! Man from total heat and humidity in Boca Raton to hot and zero humidity in Arizona. It is a funny schedule...and I have my eye on a new Mac......
On to Reno ....So we play the show in Phoenix and get into the bus for the ride to Reno . I wake up while the bus is still moving and we are in Tonapah Nevada . You guys know that song right ? Willin' by Little Feat. it goes " I 've ben from Tucson to Tuccumcari, Tahachapi to Tonapah I 've driven every kind of rig thats ever been made" Well that is me . We are driving thru the high desert and going thru these near ghost towns that are nothing more than broken cars everywhere and maybe a bar and general store . I wanted to stop but I couldnt get any takers . One of these days I will come back and have a lost weekend in one of these desert towns !!!!!!! We did stop in Hawthorne Nevada to stretch our legs and it is this town out in the middle of nowhere that has all of these military bunkers which probably has ordinance stashed in them . I swear... they had windmills made out of old bomb casings !!!!! Quite a spot. Sheryl, Chris and I were walking Rodney in this park with the aforementioned bombwindmills and i introduced these 2 Californians to "goat heads". They are a sticker that grows in patches and it looks like a goat's head. They are about the size of a small button .We had them growing up in Texas and I can remember falling into a patch of them many a time. They itch as well as hurt. Now you know.
Then we arrive in Reno and I am on the 23rd floor and I swear to you I look out of my window and a 1940s era B-52 Flying Fortress is flying by my window with its 4 prop engines turning and I am going "excuse me can you give me the correct year ?"
Holy sh#t that is an creepy thing to see . It is like being in an old newsreel. I hope it isnt the Enola Gay.... Then I remember that there are lots of vintage planes in Reno........
Reno is one kooky place but the crowds are really crazy and great .
So I go to the Apple store in Reno and the Apple store in Vegas because something is wrong with my computer . I can get email but it wont navigate thru websites . Google wont even open....Of course it works perfectly when I am at the Apple store .. Ahhhh Screw it it is time for a new computer anyway.....
While I was in the Apple store in Las Vegas something funny happened. Oh I dont know if you have ever gone to the "genius" bar in an Apple store. But you sign up and they give you a time .I did and it was an hour away ...I walked around and then came back and right as they called my name some guy jumps in front of me and 15 other people and says quick question ...And this guys starts talking to the Apple "genius " and the guy says if you have any more questions sign up you know how dont you ...and I go "APPARENTLY NOT"..... . I say hey pal, me and these other 15 people have been waiting for over an hour and you just jump ahead. "What is up with that " and the guy turns to me and says "Hey I know who you are you are Kenney form the Isaak band ....So oh great.. now I feel like a heel but then again, no, he was the jackass......but I made nice anyway . And all you know how very DIFFICULT that is for me ....
YOUR PAL IN 'VEGAS
KENNEY DALE
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