While preparing to write this story, I felt I had to go back to the crucial events that occurred which led to me taking in my first Robin Trower show.
    Before you start to read this I would suggest you grab yourself a beverage of some kind as it is quite long!
   Obviously starting my web site was a major part, but the web site was, and is,  just simply a hobby.  I enjoy the correspondence from everyone and the interaction that goes on continuously. I find this to be the most interesting and rewarding part of having a site.
    The door that opened  for me came on Friday, December 10, 1999. This was the day that Davey Pattison sent me an e-mail remarking on my site and asking me if I would like to put a link to his web site to help promote his latest CD  "Mississippi Nights"  (which is an outstanding recording that, if you don't already own, I highly recommend).
   This initial contact really started me on the road to experiencing all the weird and wonderful opportunities that would soon occur.
    Not only did I get the opportunity to do an interview for my site with Davey, whom I'd admired through his music, I also had the good fortune of gaining the friendship of an incredibly nice person. This in turn, led to the following situations.....
    While researching for Davey's interview, I contacted Bill Lordan through a lawyer friend of his, and much to my surprise he wrote me back and said to call him.
As it turned out, Bill had just finished doing an interview with a fellow by the name of Dan Muise, a writer residing in Philadelphia, who was in the process of writing a book on several guitarists including Robin Trower, who was trying to get a hold of Davey Pattison to interview him for the book as well.  Bill had lost track of Davey and so my contacting him regarding Davey was "very timely" to say the least. This then led to Dan Muise contacting me to talk about the upcoming book.  Talking to Bill prompted me to do an interview for my site with him as well. During our conversations and correspondence, Bill generously sent me some of the most unbelievable memorabilia and recordings I have ever seen or heard. All these verbal contacts eventually led to Bill and Davey talking about working together again on Bill's next recording project. (I can hardly wait)!
   Then came the surprise invitation from Bill to come down to see a show!
   Still with me?
   The day I received this invitation, I had been fighting a cold all week and was just starting to feel somewhat human again. I was at home when the mail came and there was a letter from Bill. This was not unusual, as I said earlier, we had been sending things back and forth via snail mail for weeks, but this was different.  The letter read....
Feb. 26, 2000
....  "Kate (Bill's partner) and I had an idea to run by you to consider. When I talked to Derek (Sutton) last week he said that Robin was coming over to tour starting on the west coast in May or June, he will have the schedule soon. I am going to at least one show... could you get away for a weekend say to come to California to go to a show with us as I could arrange backstage passes and good seats so you could meet Robin........ Think about it and consider the possibility of coming down for a few days......"
   Well I started to have about a hundred different scenarios of this picture running through my brain (high fever delirium).
   After shaking my head back to reality, and being the practical person I am, I said to Sue (my wife) that I'd have
to think it over.  Sue said right back to me.. "You're going and that's that!  If you don't, I'm leaving you on the grounds of stupidity!"
  Sue knows I have always wanted to go to a show but the likelihood of me actually doing it was so remote given that it would take a fair amount of time and money to fly anywhere from Saskatoon to see a show.
 "Besides", she said "You'd be going with Bill Lordan AND, in all possibility, meeting Robin Trower! How can you not go? "  (The look on her face was almost going duhhh).  I have learned during our 20 years of marriage not to argue when she uses that tone!  (LOL)
  I talked to a few friends and they also said that if I didn't go I would regret it for the rest of my life. Even my parents totally backed the idea as a once in a lifetime opportunity that I could not pass up.  So, the decision had been made.  I was actually going to go see Robin Trower perform live!!!!

    Outside The Hardrock with Eric Turner

  After all the picture taking was done, Patrick came in and said that Robin should get going as there were people waiting out back for autographs. We all talked for a bit more and then Robin said goodbye.  We had been up there for quite a long time and it was just a great experience.
 I walked out of the dressing room and Richard was standing there so we talked for awhile.  I told him that I thought he did an excellent job, especially with the older tunes. I  said it was very important to the long time fans and that he really did them justice. As we were discussing this I said that in one of the songs (I couldn't remember which one at that point) where he took a high note instead of staying the standard vocal part and he goes"Oh ya. that's in Daydream". I said "Ya, right. I really thought that gave the song your own personal touch!" I think he was happy to hear that. We then talked about how he liked touring with Robin and about how they knew each other through Robin's son. He has only been married for a short time and was missing his wife but he told me the band were going to go back home for a short hiatus and then come back to finish the tour. He's only 27 and he actually had never played Bass guitar prior to touring with Robin. He plays a number of instruments but bass was new to him. I thought he did a great job! We talked for a couple more minutes and then Bill came over and said we should head downstairs.
  As we walked out the back door behind the stage we ran into Alvino and a few members of one of the opening acts who were standing around talking.
  They were all very nice and amazed that I had come all the way from Saskatoon to see the show. With Bill and Alvino standing together I said that we needed to get some pictures of two of Robins drummers together. So I got a couple of them and then Kate said for me to get in there and she took a couple more.

   We hung around for a bit longer and then we decided we better get going. Bill, Kate and Mark had to drive back home which was a couple of hours away so that they could bring the equipment in for the show the next day.
   We walked around the side and I said that I wanted to see if there were any ads on the doors. So I walked up to the front door which was locked unfortunately. As I tried the door, Jeff the merchandiser was inside and saw me and went and asked one of the security guys to open up the door. Once opened I asked if there were any posters left. The guy went away for a bit but unfortunately said they were all gone. I thanked them and we headed back to the car.
 They drove me back to the hotel and we all made plans for tomorrow. As they were leaving the lot Bill was honking the horn all the way!
 Well, walking through the lobby it really started to hit me how totally unreal that whole night had been. I get into the elevator and still holding the shopping bag full of albums and posters I made my way to my room.
 Once there I put all the stuff out on the bed to really get a look at all the signed album covers and everything else.
 I looked at my watch and even though it was about 2:00 A.M. in Saskatoon, I knew I couldn't wait till morning to phone home and tell Sue what happened.  It was really crazy actually, the whole event finally caught up with me and as I start to tell her what occurred during the whole day I found myself becoming very choked up. I had to stop talking a few times. It was an incredible event that went better than anything I could have imagined and a
very moving experience for me.
   Sue patiently let me ramble on incoherently for awhile until I realized that I was talking long distance so I said I would call the next day. After what seemed like forever I
finally got to sleep.

     I went up to my room to wait for Eric Turner to come and pick me up to head for the Coachhouse. I was sitting in my room when the phone rang and the girl at the front desk says "Your limo is here". I start laughing because I know it's Eric. We head out and Eric wants to stop at one of the guitar shops as he has been trying to make a deal for this beautiful Custom Shoppe Strat. So we went there and he finally gets it for the price he wanted ! Now Eric is beaming! And what a beautiful guitar! Ice blue!
   We then head to the Coachhouse. When Eric and I arrived, Mark, Bill and Kate were already there with the equipment.
The Coachhouse is a great place. An old small warehouse /office building that has been converted to this dinner show venue. I had gone inside through the back door stage area where the equipment was. I walked in and the stage was to my left. People were running around setting tables up. Richard and Alvino were already there. Richard was sitting in a chair near the front waiting for the crew to finish setting up. We said hi to each other and then I went up to the front where Kate was busy at the entrance setting up a table for the merchandise Bill's band was selling. Jeff was also there doing the Trower memorabilia table.
   Jeff had another different shirt than the one I picked up at the Galaxy so I had to buy a second shirt. Then I thought that while I have Robin's signature on all my albums, I didn't get  anything with the whole band on it so I got a second poster with the intent of getting Robin, Richard and Alvino to sign it for me.
  As I was getting it , Alvino walks up and he's holding a drum skin, he looks at me and asks me if I would like it as a souvenir. I said sure and he grabs one the pens and signs it and hands it to me. I thanked him and then said "While your signing things how about signing my poster?"
                                At the front of the Coachhouse with Alvino and Jeff

                           ........ 
    After a while, the sound checks started and Alvino and Richard went up on stage. I was just walking around taking pictures.

...........

  After taking a few shots I stepped  outside through the back exit where I first came in and joined Bill, Eric and Mark outside.  We unloaded the van and started unpacking everything and putting stuff together. This was a lot of fun. It has been awhile since I was in a situation of hauling equipment. We got everything ready to go on stage.
                                       Bill setting up outside the Coachhouse

   While we were outside I could hear Richard testing the mics and he was just  singing by himself. He was doing a very slow bluesey kind of thing using Lady Love as the song. Man, he was really, really good. I was  totally impressed with his vocal skills. He went on for a few minutes like that and I enjoyed his improvisation.
   Robin showed up about this time and they worked on a few songs to  get the sound check done. It was so cool listening to this going on. The place, except for all the staff getting the tables etc. ready, was empty and I just walked around the bar area , then upstairs in one of  the booths, just listening to them play. Robin would fool around a bit , trying things, it was very relaxed.
  They went through "Lady Love" and "Daydream". Just kind of getting things to "feel" right. This went on for about half an hour.
   After they finished the sound check Bill and I were standing just off to the left of the stage. Robin came down and we all talked for a bit. I remember talking about In City Dreams and then us laughing when I  told them how one night about a month ago I got a phone call  from my 74 year old mom who said "Listen to this.." and I hear the
 start of "Long Misty Days"......she wanted to hear what this Trower  stuff I was so interested in sounded like so she went to a local record store and found that CD. She also said she really liked it!!
 Robin and Bill were also talking about the venue and the heat and all, and Robin was saying how he's had to learn  pace himself through the shows so as not to get too wiped out by the end. I thought this was an incredible statement given the fact that he was SO intense at the Galaxy. As I said, he was giving it everything and I was wondering how it would go because this place, given its size, was going to be a lot hotter than the Galaxy was.
 Robin was taking off then so we had to start getting Bill's bands gear into place. I tried mainly to stay out of the way at this point. Hauled a few pieces and amps up on to the stage and then each person sort of set up their own stuff.
 It was starting to get close to when the doors were going to open up. The tables were all set for the dinner crowd.
 It was about this time that we started to talk about videoing the show. Brian Webster, the sound man, took me up into see the manager of the place to tell him that we did want to video Bill's band and so he said we could set up on a ramp way that overlooked the whole place. I went up and checked it out and it was perfect.( there's that word again)
 The doors finally opened and people started to come in. They were all being seated and I was just walking around anticipating another dynamite show.
 As Bill was still walking around also it was pretty funny because I kept hearing people going "Hey, isn't that Bill Lordan?" I had mentioned this to Bill and he said if any one asks just respond "Ya, it used to be him. "Pretty funny!
  Another person who was going to be at the show was a friend of Robin's named Richard Crail. Richard and I had some contact  through my web site thanks to Bill and  had made arrangements to meet at the show. Richard is a big Trower fan and a really nice guy, who had been in a bad accident and who I knew was in a wheelchair. Richard had told me that after his accident Robin's music had inspired him and gotten him through some tough times. As a matter of fact, if  I have the story right, after the accident, Richard's mom Joy, had somehow gotten a letter to Robin in England telling him about Richard and how his music had such a positive influence on his recovery. Robin and his wife Andrea then started to correspond with Richard. Andrea had also written to Bill about Richard which prompted Bill to correspond as well. I was walking around by the stage when I looked over and saw someone sitting at a table, and while I didn't notice the wheelchair for some reason I thought this was him. As I was walking towards him he looked over and about ten feet away from each other I think we both knew who each one was. Richard was there with his mom, Joy, his sister Shannon and her daughter Jessica. We all talked for awhile and she said that she wanted to take some pictures of the two of us and I said that I also wanted some as well so I excused myself and went upstairs to get my camera. Because Bill had also been in touch with Richard  when I went upstairs I told Bill I had just met Richard and to come down with me and I would introduce them.
  After introductions we talked for a bit and took some pictures then we went up to the front as Richard wanted to get some memorabilia stuff. Bill signed a CD for him. It was really great meeting Richard. A super nice person. I said I would see him later after the show.
  I had also run into Gary Larson who was by himself tonight as Rhonda had to stay home because their baby-sitter couldn't make it.  Thanks to Rhonda for letting Gary out that night. LOL.  I was glad we got to talk again. Gary is a super guy and his site has been a real benchmark to follow as I was working on trying to get my own going.
  It was getting close to show time so we had to go back upstairs, me to get my video camera, and Bill to relax before going on.
  We were all in the room and talking about what was going to happen. Eric kept saying he was going to do the Star Spangled Banner (after all it was Memorial Day) and was doing a bit of air guitar a la Jimi Hendrix. Then they were talking about the introduction as Brian Webster was at the sound board and wanted to give them a big  introduction.   Discussions went towards the past connection with Trower. Bill then asked me if I wanted to introduce them! As much of a kick as that would have been I said I would prefer to be ready to do the video and it was too far from a mic. Besides I would have probably been too nervous to do it!
  Everyone was ready so I went downstairs to get into position with the video camera.
 Pretty soon the lights went down and Bill, Eric and Mark came down the back stairs and walked up on the stage. I've got the camera recording when Brian announces the band. The guys immediately get into it! The first song "When The Sun Goes Down" is one of my favourite songs from their CD.
        The show is fantastic. It was almost funny watching them perform because after spending so much time with them,  I had put aside the fact that these were incredible musicians. They are a dynamic live band. The crowd really responded to the songs which were performed flawlessly.
 Bill gets into a bit of a solo in "Messin The Blues" which was great. At the end Eric celebrates the occasion with an incredible "Star Spangled Banner" and they close on an old Hendrix tune Come On Part II.
 The video turned out pretty well.
  As soon as the crowd stops the final applause I am down off the perch I was in to help get all the equipment off the stage so the next band could set up.
 Just for a bit of information on how the system works for bands playing this type of venue. The band that sells the most tickets out of the two opening acts is the band that goes on before the headliner. Bill's band had been told earlier in the week to stop selling because the place was a sell out and the other band had moved more. I thought this was totally stupid considering the acts. While the other act was good, they were not the calibre of BLX. I also didn't understand how the people doing the show would not want to make an exception to this because of the Trower/Lordan connection. To me this would have had more impact on the night for the crowd............... but what can you do?
 Anyway I get down to the stage and start grabbing  anything I can and we haul it out one of the back doors. It was great fun for me doing this. We had the stage cleared in just a few minutes.
  So we are all standing outside and Bill is telling everyone how hot is was on stage and all the guys were in total agreement. The people from the club had brought drinks out for everyone. I was saying how great the show went and that everyone really seemed to get into it. It was wild just listening to these guys talk about the show. Carol ( Eric's wife) had come outside with everyone and then they closed the doors. She had to get back inside but she didn't have her ticket so I said I would take her in through the front. This was really funny because while I thought all the security guys knew that I was there with the band because I had been going upstairs past these guys all night I hadn't really been up by the front doors too much. I was really starting to get into this thing! Anyway we walked around the side to the front and I saw Alvino and Richard so we said hi and then we headed in through the front entrance. The guy looked at me and said "Go ahead" It was so cool to be "one of the guys"!
I went back outside to help load the truck up and once that was all done we all went back inside. By this time the other band was minutes from being done so we were going to get ready to watch Robin's set.
 Earlier, I had been introduced to the guy who owned the place, ( his name escapes me)  Mark Fry knew him and so he had told us to come up to his booth to watch the show (again everything was just happening to make it........you guessed it.......... perfect).
 Robin came out and again the crowd went nuts.
If anything, they played better than the night before at the Galaxy. And as far as intensity goes Robin didn't skip a beat. He was so into it It was fascinating just watching him. It was so hot up on stage (and as anyone will tell you it gets hotter as the night goes on because of the heat from the lights) and Robin was giving it his all.
 One of the things I saw when watching the people at both shows was how much Robin mesmerizes the crowd. When he was onto a lead and when he likes to do that quick little slide down the neck to bring the sound and the band down, I swear sometimes you could have heard a pin drop. It was so quiet, the crowd was just watching intently to what he was doing. It was a real experience seeing this aspect of the mood that he got the crowd into.

My thanks to everyone..

                                  P.S. "Let's do it again next year!"

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