A  couple of months prior to the show I had noticed in the paper that guitar legend Johnny Winter was coming to Saskatoon to play at the Jazz Festival.  I have always been a fan of his. One of the best live albums I have ever heard was "And Live".
   For personal reasons at that time, I honestly had not even contemplated going to the show as personal time was very limited.   I did remember talking to  my good friend and resident photographer Neil Calandra about them coming up as he had done some work with them . At the time though, I just didn't think about taking the time to go.
 Things change, and as some of you may know, my wife of 30 + years Sue,  passed away on May 2.   After such as intense few years of caring for her I suddenly found myself with a lot of time on my hands.
 Then I got thinking about the Johnny Winter show and thought what the hell, I should get out and enjoy a guitarist who I have always liked and to see him live would be something to look forward to. A nice distraction at this time for me to be honest.
 So I called Neil and asked if he could get me in touch with Paul Nelson who is Johnny's manager and also the guitarist in the band. I figured I would see if I could get a pass and just enjoy this show which was being held outside in a great area down by the river here in Saskatoon.
 I had had indirect contact with Paul prior to this as Neil had given me some pictures that he took at a show and I posted a page of them on the site.
 So two days later, Neil calls and said that he had talked to Paul and gave me his phone number. I was then just supposed to call him the day of the show and he would take care of it. This was cool. I was going to get to the show and again, this was something to focus on.
  Johnny Winter was headliner of this  festival that goes on around the city at this time and they were playing Sunday night at the close of it. There was a banner on the side of one of the hotels that had about a four or five story poster of him.
 I think it was the Wednesday or Thursday before the show that I got an email from Paul saying that they would be flying in on saturday night and that I should come down to the hotel to meet them that night around 7:00 pm.  This was a shocker!  I of course said yes and would see them then.
 Now I was thinking of the show in a different way.  I had not really expected to meet the band informally and so the thought of taking pictures etc. was really not something I originally thought about being able to do. It now suddenly became a possibility.
 So saturday rolls around and I am pumped.  I gathered any JW albums I had and went out to get a pickgaurd for him to sign if I got the chance :o) .
 I get down to the hotel and was sitting in the lobby.  This is a very old style hotel (Check it out here to get an idea if you want. (Some video of the back where the show was is also there. )
As I am sitting there I see Johnny surrounded by a few people. I didn't recognize Paul in the bunch so I thought I should wait for a bit.
 Still in the lobby  I thought I better give Paul a call so I was standing by the outside doors and got on the phone. Paul answered and I said that I was in the lobby. He says "are you standing by the doors?" I said that I was and he says "well just turn around!" . I turn and see Paul and the rest of the band outside by the van that brought them.  I go out and we all get introduced including a number of people who were from the hotel and handling the shows.
 Out side for a while talking and they get all the stuff into the hotel lobby. While they are sorting through the baggage Paul told me to go up and meet with Johnny and his personal assistant.
Paul was very cool and asked me if I'd like to go up to Johnny's room meet him so I figured what the hell, I might as well! I went up and knocked on the door and his personal assistant opened it up and I said who I was and he invited me in. (Little did I know that Paul had called ahead the minute is was in the elevator on the way up haha. He's Good!)
 I went up and knocked on the door and Mojo opened it up and I said who I was and he invited me in. Johnny was just sitting there kind of watching tv while people were bringing his stuff up to the room. He asked me to have a seat and we chatted for a while amidst the chaos going on. I had brought a few things for him to sign and so I put them in front of him to get that out of the way.
 After about 20 minutes, and knowing that his dinner was on its way up I took my leave and went back downstairs to meet up with the band.
 Once together they asked if I wanted to join them for dinner and so we went across the street from the hotel to one of the many restaurants downtown. Being the Jazz Festival the downtown core was rockin. Lots of people, lots of live acts playing all over, inside outside, it's just a huge party atmosphere during this time.
 We walked into this place and it was packed.  I went up to the desk and asked for a table and was informed there was quite a wait for one. Paul leans over behind me and says :excuse me, we are the Johnny Winter Band and we really just want to eat and relax".  The girl went into the back for a second and I swear within one minute there was all of a sudden a table free!.
 Had a great time sitting around talking, and hearing stories from them about touring with Johnny and also getting some background on each of them.  It was a great time and we talked like I had known them for a long time. Great guys.
 After dinner we went back to the hotel but it was getting late and so I said I would hook up with them tomorrow (the day of the show)
 Sunday morning my phone rang about 10:00 o'clock and it was Paul.  He said that they were going to be going to the sound check soon and asked if I wanted to come down to watch.  Not much hesitation on my part and I was quickly off to the hotel.
 I met the guys in the lobby and after  a few minutes Paul said that they were going to delay the sound check for a while. So we were all sitting around when someone mentioned maybe getting lunch.   I told them that my van was just down the street and if they would rather go somewhere other than the hotel we could go. They were delighted to get out of the hotel and so we all piled into my van and off to the local Smittys restaurant as Scott and Vito both wanted to go somewhere normal where they could get real Canadian back bacon!
 Had a great lunch and then headed back for the sound check.
 The grounds for the show are behind the hotel on the riverbank and so we walked down through the security people and started to set up.
 As they were setting up I was making sure I got to meet the security people so that during the show they would know me and that it was ok for me to be backstage.

The sound check was a lot of fun. I had asked Paul if I could take pictures from the stage during the show and he basically said that I could go right on stage and take any shots I would care to.
 During set up I had to run back to Paul's room to pick up a few things from it for him and also stop at Johnny's room to get something else they needed for the sound check.

   After they got all set up and ran a few songs I was standing on the stage in the centre and thought I would phone my daughter. She asked me what I was doing and I said hang on a second. I turned to Paul and asked them to play a bit and they went into this blistering piece while I held the phone up.
 After they finished I put the phone up to my ear and my daughter says .."oh having a good time I can tell"!
As I was walking around the stage taking pictures Scott comes over and says ok now we need to get a few with you in it so we passed my camera around for a few shots of me with each of them.

There was also a private tent set up back stage for Johnny and so after the sound check we went in there to relax and chat a bit and Paul gave me the passes that I would need to get back in before the show. I had to go back home for a bit before the show and as I said before , getting to know the venue people helps a lot. As I was leaving I said to one of the guys that I was coming back around seven and parking in the area was very tight so he said that I could bring my vehicle in to the back behind the stage and that they would make sure it was ok there so I didn't have to worry about it.

 Got down to the venue about 7:00 pm and sure enough drove into the private area and had no problems with security. Made our way to the the backstage and all the guys were in the tent waiting to go on. Johnny stays up in his room until minutes before the show.  Hung around with the guys and relaxed for a bit.
 
 

 The band comes on stage at 8 and go into about 10 minutes of introduction playing that is tight, hard hitting and completely gets the crowd revved up for the arrival of Mr. Winter.

 Johnny is finally brought up on stage and sits down with his guitar.  All I can say is that he still is on top of his craft. The blues just flows out of him.  A very enjoyable show that rocked the crowd or the duration of the show. As you can see from the photos I was allowed to get fairly close to the action on stage.

 

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Me and Johnny Winter after the show

 After the show we all hung out in the tent for a while and then after Johnny left with a number of security people around him it was time to call it a night.
 I would like to thank Neil for hooking me up with Paul to make this weekend happen. To Paul, Vito and Scott, thank you so much for allowing me to hang around and for making me feel very welcome. Had a great time and it was nice to get to know all of you. I know we will see each other again sometime.

Some of the things I asked Johnny to sign

 

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For more info on Johnny, Paul, Scott and Vito check out :

Johnny Winter Site

Paul Nelson

Scott Spray

Vito  Liuzzi

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