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Smoke On The Water 1997
Montreux, Switzerland - We are sorry that Stan Green, Robert's premier lighting engineer had to work the "Black Crows" this summer. We will miss him. Cory joins the crew for this adventure to Europe and earned a merit badge for herbal procurement on the first day. Here are some of the details.
Our first show in Europe was at the Montreux Jazz Festival on the Lake Geneva shoreline. We had the night off and went to see "SuperTramp" play. Cory was able to fill our prescription before "SuperTramp" hit the stage. Naturally we didn't care about the show after that and Cory was now "Our New Best Friend". A song comes to mind while sightseeing in Montreux. I wandered down the Grand-Rue and ended up at the Grand Hotel where Deep Purple had recorded the album "Machine Head" for Warner Bros. The Grand Hotel is now private luxury apartments, so I couldn't go inside. As I snapped a photo, I imagined what it was like back in 1971 trying to track for their next album in the halls and hotel rooms. From the photos inside the album, you can see that the producer and engineers had quite a job. The next night Jeff Healey opened for Robert Cray. Then we boarded a euro-tour bus after the show and load-out, for the Netherlands and another day off. Traveling in Europe is getting more enjoyable since the EC was formed. Borders are easier to cross even for dogs. We ate breakfast at a truck stop in Germany where I spotted a doggie tie-up with food and water outside the resturant. We arrived the next afternoon at the Bel Air (Poser) Hotel in Den Hague. First things first, We immediately found the nearest coffee shop and played some billards for about 4 hours. The next day was a show day. Eric Clapton's band "Legends" played first at the North Sea Jazz Festival. I got to visit a good friend, Clapton's guitar tech, Lee Dixon. Lee said Eric might do a song with Robert and could Eric use one of Robert's guitars. I said yes without any hesitation. Sure enough during the show Eric came up on
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Pie Squad Strikes
June 1997, Somewhere, USA - Buddy McKenzie was pie'd shortly before midnight on his birthday. This Cray Band traditional is well known, so Buddy was sitting in the dressing room after the show, and figured 10 minutes to midnight would be safe to tell everyone. He thought they wouldn't be able to find a pie before his birthday was over. Wrong, 10 minutes is plenty of time for this World Class Pie Squad. Buddy will be keeping his mouth shut from now on. Steve was also pie'd in his hotel room, a few days later on his birthday. Happy Birthday Guys
© 1998 G. Zaccaria
Zack Drives Magic Bus
Somewhere, USA - While day driving on the Blues tour this summer. The bus driver had to use the toilet. We were trying to beat the band to the Hotel and he didn't want to stop. So with out blinking an eye, the driver and I swapped so he could remedy his problem.
© 1998 G. Zaccaria
More Blues Music Festival
San Francisco, CA - Robert Cray's agents tell us there are 25 more Blues Festival shows/dates scheduled for August 20th through September 22nd. The traveling festival will include B.B.King, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn, Tower of Power and Blues Time.
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 stage left to watch the show. Towards the end of the set, Robert came over and ask him if he wanted to play some blues. Eric said yes. So I handed Eric one of Robert's guitars and plugged him into a reissue Fender Bassman and let it rip. Then it was off to Scotland and the rest of the 1997 European Tour.
Robert's next performances were at the Concert Hall in Glasgow and the famous Manchester Apollo (where the Beatles played). Then 2 nights at Shepherd's Bush in London. On the way back to our hotel in London, a taxi driver recogonized my face from a "Guitar Player" magazine article and ask for my autograph. The rest of the guys, including Robert, witnessed this and teased me about it for days. There goes Zack he's famous. Then we flew south to Spain for a show in Barcelona at the Parque de Can Solei, which is actually in a suburb, north of the city called Badelona. Barcelona is a beautiful city with lots of sites to see. There are spots of Gaude architecture though out the city and it is amazing. This is one of those times where Robert plays two shows in one day. The show in Barcelona started late at night july 18th and finished on the July 19th. Then it was off to Lisbon for another show. This was Robert Cray's first show in Portugal. Lisbon is another beautiful city. I would definitely go there for a vacation. One last show in Madrid, Spain, where I ran into Jamie our truck driver from the states. He was there visiting his fiance. Then it was back home for a week of R-R.
© 1998 G. Zaccaria
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