BACK TO THE BIG LEAGUES
Hi everybody and greetings from that fabled road I'm always singing about! I have a day off and lots to catch up on so I thought I would send out a few different notices to you.
The first thing is that, for anyone that didn't know, we have a newer version of our web site, which is more devoted to the current cd, "Traveller" and the current band that played on it and will be touring with it.
The site is www.dannyvaughn.com (even I can remember that!) and it has, once again, been designed and will be maintained by our loving webmaster of long standing, Chris Galler. We're going to keep updating it with photos, videos, anything worthwhile that you guys send in from the tours, and it is my hope that we will have a small on line store set up in the summer where there will be t-shirts and cds available. This will be especially useful for my American friends that don't have a chance to get some of the goodies that we have on sale at the shows. I'm also looking into reprinting my solo acoustic cd, "Standing Alone" in the near future.
Okay, let's talk about the Journey tour!!!
I couldn't, even under pressure of a flogging with a wet noodle, come up with a bad thing to say because there isn't anything. The band, the crew, the catering team, the drivers, the promoters, and the merch people have all been absolute professionals and extremely welcoming to both of us. It's been a long time since I have stood on stages of this size and, while the rest of the band are very much missed, I wouldn't have traded this chance for anything. I have listened to Journey for most of my life, and performed a number of their songs in cover bands I have been in over the years (in fact there's one you can download for free in the raritites section of the web site) and I have been just like all the rest of the happy fans watching the band and singing along every night.
My deepest appreciation goes out to the many Journey fans from all over that have welcomed us (dare I say it, "with open arms"???) and given us the chance to prove ourselves each and every night. What a great bunch of people we have met. Thank you!
SHEFFIELD- A great place to start for us because we have played there in clubs many times before and have a lot of friends there. Everything was brand new that day. We arrived without a clue of what to expect and were taken unawares by the lack of any stress. Whatever our small needs were, there was no problem. Several of the crew are friends of both Tony and myself, including the one and only Kevin Elson mixing the front of house sound, as he has done for Journey for many years. Kevin also produced the Tyketto album "Strength In Numbers", so we had lots to talk about. As shows go this was probably our most nervous one. Tony and I felt pretty stiff (oo-err!) and lost out there on that big stage, but found our feet well enough and played very well. The proof was in what I heard from the staff that worked there who were very impressed by how many people came into the hall to see the support act. This has been true of all of the shows and we couldn't be more grateful.
NEWCASTLE- I always look forward to this city. I love the people and I think it's one of the prettiest cities in England, (if a little hard to get around in). For those of you who might be under the impression that we are being driven about in limos or tour busses, this is where the fans first started having a bit of fun with us because of our 2 seater Vauxhall (christened the tour roller skate). It wouldn't be long before they started bringing some very funny signs. I like this venue and Tony and I both put on a much better show. We felt more comfortable and started to move around a bit more. I think we looked less like deer caught in the headlights as well. Got a really great reaction from the sellout crowd.
GLASGOW- It's been too long since I've played Scotland. We arrived at Clyde Auditorium (which we have renamed the Armadillo) early and got into the massive place with the crew (we get breakfast that way). This venue was a lot bigger than the others so I'm glad we didn't have to start here. It was our best show so far and the crowd were nice and loud for us. Bless 'em. We even found a couple of videos taken of our set on the net the next day. Check out our myspace pages to see those. Afterwards, we hooked up with some very old friends of mine and ended up at the fabled Cathouse sharing a drink or 7 with the promoters, friends, and a few memebers of the audience. The Cathouse is still one of the most thriving and cool rock clubs I've ever been in. A long standing tradition of great music and great people exists there. We finally got a cab home (ever tried to get a cab in Glasgow on a Saturday night?) at 5 am. Several sheets to the wind.
NOTTINGHAM- Our day off was spent driving back from Scotland on a really awful, wet and grey day, so you can't say we felt rested but by the time we got to Nottingham on the following day, we were ready to go. Having always played in Rock City just up the road (I'm told that I'm one of only 2 or 3 artists that has played all 3 rooms in there), the Royal Centre was a new experience, indeed. By this time, we are starting to really have a lot of fun joking around with the crew and the guys in the band, who are all really easy going. Jeff, of course, is a long time friend of both of ours so we're always busting each others chops and having a laugh. Also, as Tony is a regular trouble maker on the melodicrock.com message board, some of his fellow "authors" are now showing up to heckle him a little. No less than he desereves, though.
There were some great moments back stage as well, like when Tony suddenly found himself being handed one of Neal Schon's signature Les Paul's by the man himself and being told "go ahead, check it out". At first Tony, in utter panic mode, strummed a few chords ve-e-e-ery quietly, but Neal (with what I thought was a very mischevious grin on his face) wasn't having that and said "go ahead, man, it's plugged in" and reached over and turned the amp up! Tony is to be praised for his bladder control but his face was priceless! He was playing a guitar solo in front of one of the best guitarists in the world on an instrument that is more valuable than most of the cars any of us will ever own!
If I laughed, he got his own back on me later when, during Journey's fantastic version of "Lovin' Touchin Squeezin" Jeff suddenly hurled his wireless microphone towards me where I was watching at the side of the stage. Suddenly, I was singing the "na na's" along with the band! You didn't see me? There's a reason. I panicked and stood frozen side stage and wouldn't come out!!!! It's not often I get stage fright but that one got me. Again, the crowd were in the hall early to have a listen, and were around afterwards to check out the new cd, maybe get a t-shirt, and generally say hello and shake a hand or two. What could be better?
MANCHESTER- We did 2 nights in a row here at the fabled Apollo. These shows were particualry special to Tony as he grew up here and this venue was where he always went as a young lad to see his heroes play. He sat in the audience (like we all do) and dreamed of being up on that stage one day. It was a pleasure for me to stand next to him and see the smile on his face. This was also the first, and hopefully last, appearance of the "Tony Marshall Is God" sign in the audience. This was replaced the second night by the "Tony Marshall Is The Taxi Driver" sign and a few others I won't even mention
Further evidence of how comfortable we now feel on this tour was shown when I got out a rather industrial sized broom and swept Neal's side of the stage for him during our set.
On the first night I got to make up for the Nottingham stage fright incident (I was just so happy I didn't drop the damned microphone) by actually joining Jeff on stage for the same part of that song. What an amzing thrill. It felt like it took a second, but it's a second that I will always remember and if anybody got a picture of it, please send it in to us! 2 nights at the Apollo felt so easy as we were staying locally and knew so many people in the audience. The tour was only made available to us about a week before Journey arrived so there was no time to advertise. I was really pleased by how many people came up to say that they had no idea we were on the bill but were pleasantly surprised.
CARDIFF- Another lovely city that I haven't been back to in a long time. I think the crowd in this one were particularly "up for it", as I wandered around the arena during Journey's set watching all the people dancing, singing and cheering. I kept thinking that this is what music is supposed to do. Lift us up. Make up happy. Take some of the stress away. Tony and I are really locking into playing together on stage at this point. An acoustic duet is a long ways away from a full band gig and there are completely different approaches to guitar playing involved. Everywhere we play we are picking up new fans, making new connections, and getting more gigs for our band in the near future.
BOURNEMOUTH- The last time I was here (in the mid 90's) I was told that this was a place for little old ladies to retire (that's why Status Quo played there **ouch!**). Well that has certainly changed. Spring is here in England and it is a particularly lovely time to be out driving around the country. The city itself has grown by leaps and bounds and there are an endless amounts of cool hotels, bars and restaurants to have fun in. As always, we never get to see much of anywhere we play. Just what's there on the way in and on the way out. I wish that I could get to spend time in all of these cities.
We were told the sad news of Brad Delp's death today. The singer for Boston had a voice that no one could imitate. He was part of a band that truly deserves the title "legendary". Quite a few people were visibly shaken by it. I found myself playing through a few Boston songs backstage when I proposed the idea to Tony that we try one in Brad's honour. We were running through some ideas when Jeff came in and then next thing you know, we were a trio. This tells you something about Jeff. Really, he should have saved his voice for his own, very demanding set. But, he is, first and foremost, a musician and you couldn't have held him back if you wanted to. Jeff joined us on stage for a simple acoustic version of Boston's "Rock And Roll Band" which brought the house down. A moment I won't ever forget. For our set, I have to say that it was my best so far. My voice is getting stronger and really opened up on that wonderful stage. We met a huge amount of people in between sets and it was a real pleasure to shake every hand and sign everything. Thanks to everybody for making this my favourite night so far.
There are 3 more shows to do and neither of us want it to end. I'll write more when it's done.
A very happy side effect to all of this is that we are picking up gigs for the full band when we return in May. It is our intention to do a 2 hour set absolutely filled with new and classic songs with even a small acoustic break in the middle. Being among these giants has inspired us to raise the level of our game, so watch out!
Here are the confirmed dates so far...
MAY 8 - LONDON- THE PURPLE TURTLE (A SPECIAL SHOW TO BENEFIT ARFM RADIO)
MAY 10- NEWCASTLE- CLUNY'S (FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS CRIMES OF PASSION AND THE DIVIDE ISSUE)
MAY 11- BELFAST- THE ROSETTA (FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS STORMZONE AND MILLION $ RELOAD)
MAY 12- DUDLEY- JB'S (FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST 7 DAYZ)
MAY 13- LIVERPOOL- THE BARFLY (FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST BULLIT)
JUNE 1- CHELTENHAM- THE NIGHT OWL
JUNE 2- SHEFFIELD- THE CORPORATION (FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS CRIMES OF PASSION)
I have it on good authority that there will be more shows added very soon and, when they are, I'll post them here.
Thanks to everybody for all the amazing support and we'll see you again on that long and winding road.
All the best,
Danny Vaughn & Tony Marshall
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