Friday night at last!   The anticipation began to mount when I was catching the 5:15pm train home from work.  I could not  resist  a trip to St Petersburg to catch the band so I had  bought my ticket 4 weeks before the gig and my bags and gear were  packed the next day and had been collecting dust in the corner of my bedroom since then.
  I was up at 4:30am for a 7:00 flight.  Grabbed the usual  Starbucks  coffee and off I was to the airport.  Amanda had decided to pass on this trip. I think we both needed a weekend for ourselves  so off I went. The stress  factor was mounting from the minute I had to wait on the usual airport security  line and then had to empty all my gear for inspection. I guess all the wires and batteries raised a few red flags.
     Finally arrived in Tampa.  My sister  in law Lisa was waiting for me. After lunch my brother Steven come home from  work and  within an hour we were off to the city of Largo to pick up my other brother Rick and his wife Christiane.
    Christiane  arranged for a limo  to bring us to to and from the show....and you can only guess what was being packed  for the trip other than five bodies and a bunch of camera bags. A loaded cooler of beer , Jack Daniels and Bacardi ...
     Needless to say we were feeling  mellow by the time we arrived....
.......
                 Neil,  Lisa,  Christian and Rick                                                                             Neil and Steve

Well after we arrived at Janus Landing ( one of my favourite venues ) A major storm front was heading our way. Peter was meeting me after soundcheck to do a small session for his new drum sponsor Tempus.  So after a few minutes of catching up we went to work.

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After shooting the weather turned ugly. The rain was so hard and it was so windy that we were getting soaked on a stage that was fully covered. Five minutes into the monsoon it was not looking good.. Everything on stage was being covered. So for about an 30 minutes Pete and I were kind of stuck there.  We waited for  it to slow down a bit and then walked next door tothe local watering hole to join my brothers who were,  of course,
dry and enjoying a few pints .  Introduced Pete to everyone.  Pete stayed for a bit (had a soda) and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the gig.

Neil taking a shot of the Calandra clan
front and centre

On to the Show. The start time was pushed up about an hour or so.  At this time the rain had stopped. As soon as the band hit the stage it started again but only lasted a few minutes..
 Opening the set "Twice removed from yesterday" second tune on deck "Shame the Devil" which was absolutely amazing...why this song was never played much live in the past or present is a mystery to me..It is just a fun rockin song. And Steve i am happy
to tell you that "No Time" was played in your honour!  On to the "Fool and Me" this did not do it for me. it reminded me of the version from the king biscuit 77 album. Its just my opinion but the original can never be duplicated...but it was nice to hear anyway.
"Roads to Freedom" and "Islands" were killer. We had the usual "BOS" and "Day Of The Eagle". "Rise Up Like The Sun" is one of my favourites so i always enjoy hearing it and during the lead break RT always seems to go into body overdrive!

Robin pushing the guitar for every note

" and givers sing the blues"

Glenn Letsch

   On to "Victims of the Fury" another great cut. Next on deck 'Gonna Be More  Suspicious" was a real crowd pleaser. Sympathy and Hannah were also big audience favourites. The biggest disappointment for me and allot of others was Too Rolling Stoned. When that tune breaks to the end it like a freight train of guitar tone and licks
getting rammed down your throat..and what happened ? No ending !!!!!!!!!!
 WHAT A BUMMER !!!!!!!! THAT WITHOUT A DOUBT IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF ANY TROWER SHOW!   It went right into" Go My Way" and ending with "Another Time another place" which is a sweet tune.
 So in ending it was a great trip. I was able to see some old friends see my family and limo it to see one of my favourite guitarists....Life is good!
 Thanks to my brothers Steve and Rick and their wives  Lisa and Christian for there hospitality and endless supply of booze!!!!!  Oh and great pancakes!
Thank you to Laurie for hooking me and my family up.
 And a special thanks to my good friend Steve Shail for making sure all was a go at the
last minute when I could not get in touch with anyone.
See you at the next show!