Here I am getting ready to board my flight from Ontario CA to Milwaukee. I’m actually a part of the crew this trip! While Bobby Fig and I visited Ricci at his home a few weeks ago he decided I should be an official tour member this trip. I get to be in charge of recording the new cd. Yes Ricci is actually entrusting me to this great task that all of you will hopefully enjoy for years to come. I will do my best. I’m feeling that now that I’m officially going on the road as a working employee or as Jimi calls me one of the boys, that  I should get a luggage tag! Yes I did ask Ricci for one and he said I could have one but I think he was just trying to be nice and to get me to leave him alone. I’m still waiting Mr. Martin!
We are coming from all over this trip. Normally I would be flying out with both Bobby’s but  Bobby Figueroa is coming from New York as he had a prior commitment there this week.  I’m currently  sitting here at the Ontario airport with Bobby Z at this awful hour of 5:30am. Actually quite pretty here in California at this early of an hour though I don’t want to make a habit of it!  The rest of the guys, Ricci, Jimi and Jerry are all flying respectively out of Salt Lake City and Long Beach for a flight into O’Hare. They will be picked up in Chicago and driven to Milwaukee. So Z and I will be the first to arrive into Milwaukee today. Got to run for now as the flight attendants are not happy with me for typing as we are getting ready to depart the gate. Lets hope I have nothing exciting to note about this flight!…more soon!

Arrival in Milwaukee – Well , Z and I have arrived here in Wisconsin. We met at the baggage claim (as he had a much closer to the front seat than I had) to see if we could find our ride to the hotel. After much searching with Z toting around his B3 keyboard which is luckily on wheels (heavy!) we found our guy.  Only problem is he is also waiting for  one of the Four Lads who are also playing the Festa Italiana so we have to wait. Although how we are going to get anyone else in this van with all the stuff we have should be interesting. We waited about 10 minutes and out comes an older gentleman and woman and they are pushing an airport cart with about 15 suitcases on it. I wish I were kidding when I say that! Z and I are sitting in a 7 passenger  mini van – with his B3 and both our suitcases packed for 5 days already in the back. There is no way all that luggage and those two were going to fit in there. Our driver asks the Lad if he can come back for them while he drops us off first. Lad isn’t happy about it, but has to go with that otherwise some of his 15 pieces of luggage are not going to make the trip. Z and I are secretly happy we aren’t the ones left on the curb!

Bobby and I arrived and are greeted by this swanky art deco hotel  lobby and feel we’ve had enough of each others company for a few hours (wow that didn’t take long!) and go to our own rooms. I sat for about 30 minutes running through every channel on the TV I could – as back home I don’t get the remote long enough to know what’s even on TV any more;  before I was bored and ready to go exploring. I know when Bobby Fig lands he  will want a nice big beer cooling in a big old ice bucket so that was the next task. Deciding to brave the humidity I walked across the parking lot of the hotel next door  to  us and to the gas station on the corner  scouring the fridge sections and what do I find – no beer! I then walked across the very busy intersection to the gas station on the other corner ( I think this deserves a luggage tag by now – no?) and again, no beer! Thinking I’m in a dry county by this time (but isn’t this the Beer Capital of the World?)  I finally decided to ask someone at the gas station where is the nearest place to get some, they directed me to a place a mile down the road and I passed. As much as I love these guys, I will not walk 1 mile in 95 per cent humidity carrying a case of beer! (just lost the luggage tag rights on that I guess?)

A few hours after arriving at the hotel I went down to the pool to take advantage of the hot tub and pool.  Mind you it is about 93 degrees in the pool area but the water is like 40 degrees. And it never warmed up the entire time I was in it! Amazing how they can do that.  Z is already down there when I arrived working out in the gym. I could see him through the glass walls from the pool area. I managed the ice cold temperature of the pool for about 30 minutes before I felt like frostbite was going to set in. Z when he was done working out in the health club managed to get into the pool for less time than I did. He preferred the hot tub but since it was already a balmy 93 in the pool area we opted to sit and watch the others nearby. One of my favorite things to do is people watch and when I’m around these guys I get to do a lot of that. So if you ever run across me on one of the tours, I am watching you and yes you could end up in the blog one day! Bobby  Z sat a couple chairs down from me and we had a laugh at the guy across the pool from us who was wearing a purple Speedo and trying to get a tan from the sunshine coming through the window.  I think he’s with one of the other bands that are staying in the hotel. The girl at the front desk said the hotel was full with Festa  acts. 
The sun was setting a bit later on and I was wondering where everyone else was when Ricci called the room. He was meeting the others who already made it in down in the restaurant for a welcome reception.  Bobby Fig  arrived from the airport just as I was heading down to the restaurant so we dumped the bags in our room and went back down together. For once no one had any airport drama!

Thursday -  July 15th.
Today was hot! We all had breakfast with Ricci this morning in the hotel restaurant. It’s always amusing to see who is the last at the table. Jerry was the late comer today. Once we were done Ricci called to have Festa send a van over so we could all go to the fairgrounds early and scope out the layout of the stage and see where we could get the recorder set up.  We made it a field trip for the whole band. Everyone had to go. Actually everyone wanted to go as its rare on the tours that they get to do some fun stuff together as a band.  The Festival  opened at 2pm today and we got there about 2 hours early. They did let us in the gates but none of the vendors were open yet.  We are on the Harley Stage tonight a very different looking stage that had motorcycles hanging above and below each other on each side of the stage. I think someone mentioned it was the oldest stage in the park but also the biggest. I thought it would have made a great photo op for the band to all sit on one of the motorcycles with their tuxes on but no one was game. I guess the appeal of dangling from the scaffolding on a Harley 10 feet off the stage just wasn’t there.  Still the stage was large and very accommodating. We met Paul and Rick the nice sound guys who were going to take care of them once the show began. As the day was still early there was no reason for us to go back to the hotel yet. We walked around the grounds a bit to take in some of what Festa had to offer.  The lure of the beer stands was too much of a temptation for some! They had to wait until 2pm for the stands to open so we continued on our walk around the tents and more until it was time for them to clutch a cold one.  As we strolled I got a shot of the band in front of a large Venice painting to make it look the they were actually in Italy. I’ll have to crop out the sidewalk that you can see plain as day below their feet to make it more realistic! Again we continued on our trek and were stopped by a gang of Italian maidens with lovely flowers in their hair and when they found out who Ricci was asked to have their photo taken. Surrounded by the pretty girls all decked out in costumes of  swishing skirts of green, white and black Ricci and the girls took quite the nice photo!

Once 2pm did come and the beer stands beckoned the band’s name towards them we lost Jerry and Jimi.  Jerry’s  friend from the band Ambrosia (who was also playing at Festa tonight at the same time we were playing on another stage!) lives here in Milwaukee and had invited him to  his recording studio downtown.  Jimi, who always wants to see new things in town, went along for the ride too. We were just down to me, Bobby Fig, Bobby Z and Ricci now and off we went to the beer stand.  I got to have my first “Blue Moon” brewski and I have to say I’ve become a fan. Especially of the little floating orange slice that they put in the cup to enhance the flavor!  I was the only one who went for that option and the other guys were jealous and curious because I got the bonus of having the floating orange.

On our way back to the hotel this afternoon Mitch, police officer extraordinaire , excellent driver and new friend to the band gave us the history of the large highway bridge that loomed behind our stage. Rumors or speculation have it crumbling soon and they will have to replace it. Hopefully the crumbling will wait until we are all out of there and long gone!  It’s such an imposing thing when you stand underneath it, which you have to do when going into the Festa Italiana. Ricci asked if I would take a photo of him with Figgy and Z  to show the magnitude of the thing. In order to get this shot I had to crouch on the ground and shoot up. Yes folks on my knees on the cement taking a photo of a picture that may not even make it into the blog. If it shows up now you all will know the sacrifice I had to make so you could see it!

My days as a recording engineer are numbered after the show tonight. We had plugged the recorder Ricci brought into the PA system but it picked up nothing. Seems Ricci’s little recorder was way more advanced than the PA system for the fair.  My job officially dissolved I am back to band photographer.
Not everyone could agree on whether to go downtown tonight. I think majority were up for a trip downtown, but a bit of tiredness prevailed and we went to the local steak house on the corner.
The “Branded Steer” became home to not only our small group but of just about everyone who played at Festa tonight.  We saw the Four Lads there, members of Ambrosia and several others I am not yet familiar with. Definitely the place to be if you want an autograph from someone  from the show.

July 16th, 2010
Friday! And its hotter is seems today than yesterday!  The Arctic pool is sounding like a great plan right now.   However we are going to the fair grounds again this morning as we have to come up with some idea on how to get these shows recorded so we can put out a new cd.  Jimi is a wiz and getting all the technical talk with these guys so we are going to let him do his thing!
I’ll let you know the results when we get back.
And we are back! A very productive afternoon it was too. Especially the stop at the market we made on the way to the grounds. Yes we stopped before we went to the fairgrounds not after which would have made more sense.  We couldn’t keep the grocery bags in the van since they didn’t know if they would need to make a run with it for another act. We had to carry all our bags to the hospitality trailer so they wouldn’t be left in the heat. Next time they will do their grocery shopping after our excursions to the fair!  On a side note it was very amusing to see Ricci, Bobby F, and Jerry all running around the grocery picking up snacks and drinks for later on.
Back to the afternoon - AFTER we dropped off the groceries in the hospitality tent to keep cool we headed back over to our stage to see if Paul was there.  Ricci and Jimi went into technical talk and Bobby and Jerry went to check on the musical equipment.  I made myself useful and went over to the stage managers office and raided his fridge for cups and waters for tonight. We were a bit limited last night with the water and being as hot as it was and these guys wearing Tuxedo’s  I wanted to make sure we were covered. I did get a kick out of handing the band their water last night that had little sponge bob square pants all over the label. I meant to get a photo of that tonight but it didn’t materialize. I have a feeling they will avoid the camera in that case!
It looks as if Paul had a solution to the recording problem but as I know next to nothing about that stuff lets just put it that things are looking up!  We decided to spend another hour at Festa before going back to the hotel. We were piled in two golf carts and were carted around the grounds. That is definitely the way to get around there! It can definitely spoil one.  Our first stop was the Mass Tent. Every imaginable Catholic artifact you could find was in there. We walked through there and then were taken to the Opera tent which was so warm the boys had beads of perspiration gliding down them!  Seeing that everyone was in need of a shower we headed back to our hotel.
 
Thanks to Officer Ed who was there tonight in uniform and was so helpful to me in taking care of the band and anything we might need. Ed and Mitch are going to replace me one day I can see it!

Saturday, July 17th, 2010
We gathered in Ricci’s room this afternoon so the guys could go over a couple things for the show and then stayed to watch several episodes of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars. (Ricci is addicted to this show and Cash Cab for all of you out there who wanted to know what’s on his telly) Otherwise it was a slow afternoon that Bobby Fig and I spent doing some swimming and having lunch in the hotel restaurant.
We are starting to get to know some of the other bands that are staying in the hotel. Seems the only time we can see them is here. 
We got to have a police escort to the Festa tonight! Our buddies Ed and Mitch when picking up Ricci, Jerry and Jimi from the airport the other day said they wanted to give that to them as a special gift. I really didn’t expect them to pull it off. But surprise, surprise as we walked down to the lobby tonight we not only saw our van waiting for us but a nice shiny Milwaukee Police car with all its lights flaring.  We met Officer Esteban (I hope I spelled that right!) who was kind enough to give us a escort to the highway but then had to leave for real police work! Believe me the guys were totally excited to have had that much! I know I was.
 I got to chat a bit with the band that came on after Ricci’s show. They came last night too to see our show and I found out that they had once been Ricci’s sister Deana’s band in Branson. They were the Bronx Wanderers and had a really cool looking guy who looked like Elvis that I ran into many times backstage. Our audience tonight also had quite a few repeat fans!  Many had been to the show the night before and had come back just to see Ricci again. One was a family with a young daughter who we were very happy to see again. Super great people!
After the Meet and Greet we were whisked back to the hotel were a very colorful Indian wedding was going full force and the lobby and restaurant were crammed with people wall to wall.  We decided to change and have our driver who volunteered to drive us over to our new favorite place the Branded Steer so we could once more have another late night dinner. They know us all by name there already since we had been there every night since we got here.  Ed and Mitch were supposed to have taken us downtown to do some fun stuff, but they both were saddled with commitments from the Festa. (boo) 
I forgot to mention yesterday that we did get to record the show via Paul the soundman! I also forgot to mention that I was reassigned in my duties! Ricci found it too difficult to see people when he went into the audience so it was up to me to go out and get the questions with the mike from the people.  This would have worked well had I known certain technical aspects of the stage. Seems my swinging the mike back and forth and holding it upside down on occasions was giving off tons of feedback. They had to eventually turn me off and Ricci came into the audience. Once again fired!

Sunday July 18th, 2010
Today is our last full day in Milwaukee. We sure have had fun and wouldn’t you know it the last day was probably the most fun. I had the guys come down early to the lobby before we left for the show so I could take group and single photos of them for the Cd. We changed backgrounds many times eventually finding the wall behind the check in desk to be the most effective with the Red paint. Thanks to the girls at the Crowne Plaza for letting us crash your work area! The red looks stunning in the photos!
We then gathered at the hotel bar to have a drink and wait for our ride when we saw Micky Dolenz of the Monkees standing right next to us. He was also waiting for his ride to Festa where he was performing on the stage next to ours. Ricci went over and introduced himself and told Micky the story of how his sister Deana broke Davy Jones heart back in the 60’s. Micky actually got a chuckle out of it. The bar normally closed early on Sunday but they said if there were enough people in there after the show they would stay open. Ricci and Micky said they could arrange it that there were enough people in there.
One we knew who would not be in there that night was Frankie Valli who also was on a stage nearby ours. Mr. Valli arrived into the hotel on Sunday and didn’t have a suite waiting for him and was put in the room next door to Ricci’s. Well he wasn’t happy that he didn’t have a suite and asked the hotel to ask Ricci if he could share his parlor with him. Ricci’s parlor was small, and they would have been in each others’ way all the time so Ricci gently declined. I think ole Frankie won’t be a fan in the future!

We actually had a interesting show tonight. Too bad it won’t make the cd, but Ricci usually tells a joke during the show but this time he gave the punch line before the joke. Ahh memories, though he will deny this  (Van Halen anyone? Those of you who have seen the show will know what I’m talking about!)
Our  family of 3 from the previous two nights came back to see us again tonight with more family in tow! Also we saw again more faces that we had seen the first couple of nights return to the show tonight. Including the blonde in the striped shirt who really liked Ricci! We wished Ed and Mitch well as we knew we wouldn’t see them again for awhile. (Except for Jimi and Jerry who are getting a ride from them tomorrow back to O’Hare airport!) A shout out to Ed’s daughter Mia as well who stuck with us pretty well!  When we arrived back to the hotel we went straight to the bar to make sure it was still open and Micky Dolenz and his sister were there as well as some of the other bands from Festa. Mitch and Ed had packed us up some dinners from the nearby food vendors to take back with us so we mowed down our dinners and had some very fun conversations with everyone else in the bar. Most of us have early flights tomorrow so it was a short night and we’ve been out on the road now for 5 days so I think we are ready!  Great people here in the Midwest (as I knew there would be having come from the Midwest myself!) and we are definitely looking forward to coming back next year!

Pretty much tonight was a write off as when the band did get in they were tired and hungry. Ricci is still in Chicago and they don’t know when they will be able to get him here. Wonder if he’ll be here in time for the show tomorrow?  The Pack does play pretty well but I think without Ricci there the audience would be a bit miffed.
Just an observance.
I ended the evening with a good dinner in the hotel restaurant with Bobby Figueroa and Jerry Vilicich. We were joined early on by one of Ricci’s fans Andrea who had flown all the way from Winnipeg to see the show alone because her boyfriend didn’t want to go at the last minute. Big mistake boyfriend, she had a heck of a time with me and the guys entertaining her with jokes and stories. You should come next time. 

Tuesday - June 15th.
Ricci made it in last night at about 1am! Yay! He called Bobby F this morning to let him know and advise on sound check time. Which was early – not fun but even worse for Ricci who was probably really exhausted but never showed it. The show was a lunchtime gig and we had to leave right after the show because we have to drive to Niagara Falls where we have a date with Greg Frewin of the Greg Frewin Theatre and Magician extraordinaire. But back to the Stage West – early sound check – this is where we realized the stage is set up for one of the musicals playing at the hotel this week. I believe the “Wedding Singer” is the production? Stage set up looked to me like a scene out of Romeo and Juliet and where the heck are they going to put my Bobby? The drums are up high on a platform way over the other guys’ heads. One slip of a drum and Jerry is gonna get it. Out cold we have no bass player. But we’ll stay positive while Bobby has to pop his ears being in the high altitude.

Sound check done, and I’m sure the catering staff is cursing me for sitting at a table they wanted to set up while I had all my notes and camera equipment all over it touching the silverware. We went to change into our stage wear. Sorry, they went to change into their stage wear, though I have entertained the thought about getting myself a tux to fit in with the rest of them after the shows during the meet and greets.
Luckily Andrea wasn’t so put off by her company the night before during dinner that she asked me to sit with her during the show. We had nice stage side seats where I could torment everyone in the band with my camera all during the show.  I tried to get her to ask Ricci a question during his Q&A session but her shyness over took her and she declined. Which means I had to ask the question! As if I don’t know the answer to this as it’s asked at every show! Mostly by me! So for anyone attending any of the future shows do me a favor so I don’t have to do it anymore Ask Ricci “Boxers or Briefs”  You’ll like the answer but I won’t tell you what it is and I know the answer every time! (wink wink)

case. Ricci had about three women in this audience that wanted to see the true result of the Boxer or Briefs question and asked him to come home with them or if they could go up to his room. Figuring he had nothing to lose Ricci shouted out his room number to the audience for anyone else who wanted to know. Just too bad that we were checking out right after the show was over and had a car waiting to take us to Niagara Falls.

Stan, our faithful driver whenever we are in town on an ARB tour was there and had some friends with him. His son and his son's friend Marina. A head turning, pretty Greek girl who Stan also tried to get to ask the infamous Boxer or Briefs question but she couldn’t do it due to modesty. (Seriously people?)

 Instead of doing a Meet and Greet as we usually do as we were pressed for time we had a few people back in the dressing room while the band disassembled their equipment and packed up. One was a very nice gentleman who had drawn a caricature of Dean to present to Ricci. Marina the head turner was also very pleased to meet Ricci as I'm sure he was just as pleased to meet her. I heard a couple of rumblings around me as we walked back to our rooms to pack about how nice Greek girls are.

We had 30 minutes to get packed and out of the hotel or Stan was leaving us behind. Actually I’m exaggerating especially since I had my own car there and drove Bobby F and Jimi to Niagara Falls. They weren’t going to leave me or they would be minus a drummer and piano player for the next show. I did have to follow Stan at times so I wouldn’t get lost and I think on a couple occasions he was trying to lose me. Just kidding Stan! The drive ended up not being as long as I thought it would be. We arrived at the hotel around 4pm and had a couple hours to relax before we walked over to the theatre for dinner and a magic show.
 Ricci wanted us all to walk over together, he likes to keep the band together or one of them will wander off on their own. Usually Jerry or Jimi. They like to explore – a lot! This time however Bobby and I were dragging behind and they left us back at the hotel!  Not that a walk across the parking lot is all that devastating. It was just the point of it!

After our run through the buffet for our dinner (especially Z, Figgy and Jerry who were all bout to expire from hunger of course) one of the highlights of the night surfaced. I can see this is going to be a running inside joke for a long time to come. Ricci had seen a girl in the audience that looked like Marie Osmond. He had mentioned that since she went on her Jenny Craig diet he thought her a bit less cute. He liked the 'curvier' Marie. Yes folks they talked about this for half an hour! All five of them as if they were on the View or something. Whereas Jimi and Ricci preferred the bigger Marie, Z, Fig, and Jerry had no objections to the smaller Marie.  Because the topic was so discussed, Bobby Figueroa started to hum a few “salty” lines to the tune of “Return to Me” called the “Big Marie” Jerry added a few lines but they were definitely into creative mode at that point. Marie Osmond would have been shocked or laughed until she cried if she had heard this dedication to her I’m not sure. (hopefully the latter)  Ricci then informed us all quite seriously that not only does he prefer the curvier girls, his brother Dean Paul did as well. Now there’s a bit of family info for you all!

We had way too much time before the show started that everyone was getting a bit silly. From both Bobby’s doing their impressions of Ricci down to his facial reactions, to passing around the stuffed Liger Bobby F had bought for me at the gift shop and pretending to feed it drinks and popcorn to Ricci going out to the buffet and carrying back an assortment of desserts for everyone to try. 

June 16th, Wednesday

Two shows today!  I opted for the lie in this morning instead of the free breakfast in the hotel. After the craziness of last night I needed the sleep!
The day started off soggy. The rain came and then the show. We had a great crowd at the first show and had planned on going back to the hotel to relax for a few hours before the second show, but Greg asked if the guys wanted to participate in a video of sorts. He was doing a film shoot to advertise the show and asked Ricci and the band to participate in one of the magic tricks. We had a fabulous lunch first and then waited a few hours which might have been too long because there were 5 worn out guys who stayed out late the night before, just did a show and had a big dinner! I was fine however! (this is at total lie just so you know)
Around 4 or 4:30 the film crew asked us to come backstage to do the shoot. The set were all Greg Frewin's props for the show and the band had fun while waiting for their cues playing around with some of the equipment. The scene set up was to be that the guys were coming off stage from the show and Greg stops them to show them one of his magic tricks. The guys were pretty good - natural actors most of them! Only about 10 takes were needed. And they have their own paparazzi, me! It was fun to watch them film it.

After the filming we had about two hours to lay about which was wonderful. Ricci told us just to go over the theatre when we were ready. It was raining out so everyone could just go at their leisure. When all of us were present and accounted for back in the green room, Jerry wanted to share with us his complete version of “The Big Marie” which he had hand written on a napkin. Which if I ever get my hands on that napkin it’s going up on ebay for all of you to have a chance to bid on
 Joking around that we should add a skit to the show having been inspired by Greg Frewin’s show the night before, Ricci thought it was a great idea. He wanted it to be sort of like the old  Rat Pack shows from the days in Las Vegas or the variety hour. Something silly, but funny. And guess what Jo, you get to be in it!  Well that wasn’t my intention but I wasn’t getting out of it either.
The  plot turned into this:  Ricci was going to do an “illusion” of his own. He and Bobby Figueroa who came down from the drum set right before the Q&A were going to make Bobby Z disappear. They pulled out a black cover, held it up in front of Z and when they dropped it voila it’s ME sitting at Z's keyboard proudly displaying  one of the Ricci Martin cd's (for sale after every Ricci Martin show immediately after the show. See moi for details). Then they pull up the cover again over me and voila there is Z back at his keyboard. Neither of us hiding the fact you could clearly see our feet scuffling on and off the stage. Ricci takes a bow feeling pretty smug at his “Illusion” and there is Greg Frewin standing on the other side of the stage in full costume shaking his head at Ricci's pathetic “illusion”. Which got the audience laughing even more. I have to say I thought there would be crickets out there thinking we were the silliest people alive, but it really worked. Thank you to everyone who laughed!

Post show was another very lively affair. Many friends and colleagues stayed after the meet and greet in the circus lobby and once again we stayed up quite late socializing with everyone. Ricci, Z, Jimi and Jerry have very early flights tomorrow. Bobby Fig and I are driving back to Michigan in the morning and have the luxury of having as much time as we need. I am moving to California this week and we are to stop at Ricci's home in Utah for a few days which I'll also give a report on later on!
June 23rd - 26th - Ricci's Home, Utah

Wednesday -  Bobby and I arrived in Utah early afternoon on the 23rd of June after driving half way across the country. Pulling up to Ricci's gate was such a nice relief after staying in an assorted selection of hotels the previous days and seeing nothing but corn fields for 2 states. Our first couple of minutes there Ricci took us down to the guest house which sits right in front of a flowing river amongst an assortment of trees and I instantly fell in love with the grounds. The sound of the river raging near us was so peaceful!
 Ricci took me on a tour of his gorgeous home which sat only a few yards from the guest house. Bobby had been a guest previously so he knew the lay out of the house already. It was already late in the day and we decided that it was time for dinner so Ricci took us into town and bought us a nice dinner in town.  He seems to be very well known in his small town and they all love him to pieces it’s quite obvious by the few people we met in some of the nearby shops.
After dinner it was getting late and Bobby and I had been driving since early that morning so we just wanted to get some sleep. Arriving back to our quarters in the guest house we turned down the bed only to reveal a Dean Martin throw to keep us warm at night. Very cool. For those of you who love Ricci’s dad it was quite the experience as we also found a stash of Dean’s favorite cologne stored in all kinds of array in the back room a couple posters on the wall framed and stuff like that. So cozy and warm there just like a home away from home!

After we got off the chat with Wayno, Bobby and Ricci went out to ride the monster which is what I call it. Some kind of off road vehicle that has 6 wheels and no steering wheel but sticks that go back and forth to drive it. I’m sure Ricci will correct me here and tell you all what it is. I let those two run around in it while I chased around Ricci’s pooches Taco and Grizzabelle. When the boys got tired of mowing the yard down with the monster, Ricci prepared the barbecue for dinner. We watched a couple episodes of Cash Cab as dinner was being put together and I can tell you  Ricci and Bobby would make good contestants in case anyone from the show is reading this.  Chef Martin was making for us  Steaks and his famous blue cheese lettuce wedge salad. Also on the menu corn on the cob with a dab of milk in the boiling water which I was informed makes the corn a bit sweeter!  Ladies, he can sing and cook...great combination you know!

Friday  -  Our last full day at Ricci’s he suggested we do something off the wall – for us anyways.  He suggested we go bowling. Now, I've been moaning to Bobby for months that I want to go bowling and he never felt like it. Once Ricci suggested it he was all for it. Must be a competition thing with men I don’t know. I was the one that was mouthing off what a good bowler I am only to regret it later. I can verify, yes they both reminded me of it too. We went to the new alley in Park City and had the place pretty much all to ourselves. It is very modern and bright and had a very eclectic menu that included  Kobe Corndogs! (I’m still amazed by that) Instead we ordered the best Guacamole and chips I’ve ever had – and – at a bowling alley of all places! Would make a lovely place to go for dinner!

 We played three games which seemed longer because the first game Bobby kept trying to change balls. He liked the weight and feel of the pink ball but didn’t want to use a pink colored ball. Again, boys! The new ball must have worked for him though because he won the first two games and Ricci the last one. I won't mention scores, its too depressing, mostly on my part. I'm a bad loser.

Still fairly early in the day when we got back to the house Ricci had talked Bobby into coming into his home studio to lay down a track. It was just the guys playing around at recording something but turned into an all afternoon event. Ricci is very creative in his studio and he got Bobby to record "Their Hearts were Full of Spring" by double tracking himself. I watched the proceedings while I walked around the studio looking at the photos on the wall of Ricci's brother in law Carl Wilson and Dean Martin's gold and platinum records hung next to where I was sitting. Its sometimes things like that remind me Ricci doesn’t have the normal boring family. I do forget at times believe it or not even when we are on the road! 

Saturday -  Bobby and I were kind of sad to leave  - but all good things do come to an end and we had a long drive ahead of us still. Ricci had gotten up early that morning to mix the cd he created of Bobby singing so we could listen to it in the car. He gave us the directions on how to stop off in Sundance on our way out and we know it will only be few weeks before we see each other in Milwaukee incidentally I get to go too! I’ve been assigned a job!
More on that after it happens! 

February 25th, 2010
Largo, Florida

            I was faced with the decision back in December to do either the Tioga or Largo dates for Ricci’s February shows. Seeing that the Northeast was having such a dreadful time with the winter weather I thought it was time to head south so here I am in Largo, Florida.
Its getting close to 11pm now and Bobby Fig and Bobby Z have just landed in Tampa International Airport after a very long day of cancelled and delayed flights. I just got the call from Bobby F and they are tired and hungry. Good thing Ricci picked them up some dinner from the steakhouse we walked over to earlier. RibEye’s for the tired guys should make them all better!

I got in early this morning since the weather was threatening to act up in Michigan and other parts of the Eastern seaboard and wanted to avoid all that. I had a good few hours of watching movies, “Ghost Town” with Ricky Gervais is very entertaining, reading and walking around the area before the rest of the band arrived. Ricci, Jimi Seville, and Art Sanchez all arrived around 5:45 pm and I watched out the window as they milled in with the arriving bus load of college baseball players also checking in. Art is here to fill in for Jerry who had another commitment and couldn’t make this date. I had met Art previously on a project he’s worked on with Jimi and Bobby F and he’s a super great guy. Wish we could have him and Jerry there together all the time! I ran down to the lobby to try and catch the guys before they all wandered off to their rooms to give them the status of Bobby Fig and Z. Ricci was happy I had made it in and said he and the other two guys were going to take a walk over to the Ballas Steakhouse around the corner from the hotel we are staying in and said I should come along. Not one to pass up an offer of a hot dinner – especially with such charming company as those three I headed up to my room while the boys went to theirs to freshen up after their flight. We met downstairs about 20 minutes later. It was a nice 10 minute walk over to Ballas Steakhouse and Ricci updated me on all the new things going on with him and some of the new shows they are working on for the future. (Lots coming soon so keep an eye on the tour dates page!)

When we arrived at our booth in the restaurant we were serviced by Cindy who was extremely nice and very attentive and also by Jamie who came by on a few occasions to check on us as well. We closed the restaurant tonight. Ricci, Jimi and Art had taken several photos with the staff who had all come over to talk to Ricci and find out more about the show.
I left the boys when we got back to the hotel (while all the baseball players ran around us with pizza boxes in their hands cramming the two elevators for long stretches of time) so they could go up to Ricci’s room and rehearse a bit with Art in preparation for the show.

After sound check and a filling lunch provided by Rob and his crew we headed back to the hotel where we had more than an hour to get ready for the night’s show. First person waiting in the lobby for the ride to the venue was Art. Looking cheerful and ready for the night the other guys advised him next time he fills in again for Jerry he would need to pick a color. If you notice in some of the photos all the boys have a different color hanky on their tuxedos.  

Hamilton- Jun 20th – 24th

Saturday – Also known as travel day. Ricci left the hotel a bit earlier this morning to send off Raquel to the airport. I was losing my comrade for the rest of the trip but was glad I got to spend the time I did with her. The rest of us left the hotel around noon arriving not too much later at our hotel in Hamilton. We are to be here for 4 nights. There is a private show tomorrow and another day off on Monday which we’re not sure yet what we want to do.
As it is Saturday, and most of the businesses around us are closed it looks really sparse out there. Bobby, Jerry and I headed off to the grocery store since we found out that they close at 8p.m. We stocked up on some munchies, lotto tickets and then over to the wine store where I picked up some really great Niagara-on the-Lake wine. The band is restless tonight. After two great shows in Toronto they are feeling really good about themselves, as they should and want to keep rolling. We are all on the 7th floor here just a couple of doors down from each other. Ricci shouted out to us as we all went to our rooms that we should all do dinner out tonight. A great suggestion, but we only had my car, a Jeep Compass, to get around in. I can fit 5 maximum in it. The boys are clever though you know? Jerry offered to sit in the hatch area on the way there. It was only a couple of minutes down the road to where we were going so he had no issues with it. I find it funny that the tallest guy in the band rides in the back! Poor Jerry! He loved every minute of it. 
We spent a very long time at Jack Astor’s restaurant. The tables had the paper coverings on it where you can draw on them with the crayons provided. Everyone added their own touch to it. Great to see a bunch of grown men who travel the world in the entertainment industry drawing with the crayons! After dinner we stuffed Jerry back in the hatch and drove on back to the hotel. It’s late and everyone wants a full night of sleep for tomorrow will be an early call for sound check.

Before the second show we were told by the promoter that there were some special people in the audience. A table full of true Italian old school guys and Brian Melo the Canadian Idol winner. They all stayed after the show and Meet and Greet tonight for about an hour’s worth of photographs, chatting and smoozing. It was actually one of the more crazy scenes I’ve been to at a Meet and Greet but everyone was having such a great time and I was no exception. After a quick dinner for all of us in Jerry’s room that Carmen’s packed up for us we had to get to packing and ready for an early morning wakeup call tomorrow and our drive to Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls Jun 24th -25th.

Wednesday – We were out of the hotel this morning by 9a.m. All of us very tired but excited to be heading to Niagara Falls again. We arrived at the Greg Frewin Theatre at the same time as the fire department did. It seems they had a wayward Fog Machine that was going haywire and set off some of the alarms in the building. We were introduced to Cooper the stage manager who took really good care of all of us. In fact, Cooper should get a raise too, I insist! Actually everyone we met who worked here was nothing short of fabulous. What a great bunch of people. We had an excellent lunch at the Theater before the first show as we had to wait to check into our hotel until after 1pm. The staff at the Greg Frewin is wonderful. Courtney, Tammy and Rose took care of us, thank you ladies so much!