Better late than never?
Dear Blog reader … my humble apologies for being so tardy in getting this particular batch of memories up and running. I have only my innate laziness and various “life” distractions to excuse my inaction these past few months but hope that you will forgive me and continue with your unstinting support? That said … let's waste no more time in useless, inconsequential banter and fall head-first into the melting pot of worldy adventures I've been privileged to undergo since my last entry!
Before Bob and I flew off to Washington DC in July we were happy to go bike riding one Sunday afternoon with our friends Dave and Christy. They … regularly bike ride … we … do not! So Bob and I hired bikes for the day and followed in their more experienced wake. There's a wonderful track that follows what used to be a railway line from the east coast of the Island straight through to the west and we went as far as St John's, a few miles short of Peel and what would have been the end of the line. All in all about a 17 mile round trip. From nought to 17 miles in one day? Not the best idea we've ever had but … it was mighty good fun!
A jolly ride out ... adventures in cycling! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Just before flying off to the States for the summer, Dave and Christy were working on a special commemorative DVD for the local Government here on the Isle of Man. It was to celebrate the Bee Gees acceptance of being made Freemen of the Borough of Douglas. For those of you who don't know, Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb were all born on the Isle of Man. Oh yes they were! For some reason, beyond my comprehension, Dave and Christy both thought I was the ideal person to present the program - I humbly picked up the gauntlet! The dvd is now finished and ready for purchase should you my lovely reader feel curious enough to buy, here is the link to the website:Bee Gees commemorative Dvd.
A walk in the sunshine ... a dvd in the making ... from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Let us move swiftly on from the gentle, rolling countryside of the Isle of Man, to the bustling metropolis that is Washigton DC. The idea was to spend the summer in LA via a little east coast jaunt that allowed us to take in a couple of Back Door Slam gigs before settling in the sunshine of northern California.We were excited to see Davy and his new line-up who were on tour supporting the brand new rock super group Chicken Foot. We wanted to get a taste of things to come before they moved out to the west coast later in the tour. So Bob carefully studied the tour dates and came up with the idea of starting in Washington where – according to his information – they were to play the day after our arrival. Only … the date had been rearranged and they were now playing in Cleveland – a good 5 hour drive away! - 2 days after our arrival! Ha!It gave us the opportunity to play at being proper tourists … which was in fact wonderful:
Washington DC ... weeee from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
The drive to Cleveland was easy-peasy lemon squeazy.
On our way to Cleveland ... from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
The gig the following day was sensational. The new band definitely ROCK! And we loved the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
… I now have many new and interesting ideas for my next show!Can you guess what inspired me the most? ...
Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame ... & BDS of course! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
And so, onto New York, New York. We had a few days here which allowed me to wander off and do my own thing. Which consisted mainly of window shopping (well I went inside just to keep cool!) no purchases were made during the making of this Blog! It was ridiculously hot and humid which made for some very interesting al fresco smells. The air was so thick you could chew it!
New York, New York .. so good they smelt it twice! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
And of course the reason for being here at this time … Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam!
Star Gazing in New York ... BDS ROCK! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
And so we flew across the great expanse that is America and found ourselves, once again in Los Angeles. I don't care what people say … I love it!
La, la land and some of it's charms ... from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Famous McCabes Guitar Shop Santa Monica ... from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Grooving at the Grove ... from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
The Getty Museum ... wow! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
About half way through our stay, we drove up to see Davy
and the boys again, still on tour with Chicken Foot, at Lake Tahoe
Nevada. It's a fair old schlepp from LA so we decided to go via Death Valley
– something we've been planning to do for ages – stop over night – at Stove Pipe Wells!
- and drive on the next day. When we left Hollywood it was a very pleasant 80F. Several hours later, driving ever downward into the Valley itself, the temperature gauge in the car started going up and up! It was 112F by the time we arrived at out Motel! It was like being wrapped in cling film and instantly baked! Amazing.The highest temperature that day was at the aptly named Furnace Creek at a whopping 117F! Phew what a scorcher!
We'd been reliably informed that one thing we HAD TO DO, was get up ridiculously early to watch the sun rise over Zabriskie Point
(which I kept calling Zabrinskie!Doh.)So we woke at some un-Godly pre-dawn hour, in order to get there before the sun had fully risen. Amazingly there was a full moon that night and it was swinging low over the hills as we set off – beautiful.
The whole experience was utterly breath-taking. The changing light over the strange and moon-like landscape was simply wonderful. I couldn't stop snapping away with my camera. Everywhere I turned was another “must-have” picture. Bob … apparently inspired by the location … asked me to marry him!!!!! I said YES!!!! Hurrah.
A momentous time at Death Valley! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Lake Tahoe couldn't have been a more different experience to Death Valley.It's 6 or 7 thousand feet above sea level in an Alpine Mountain range . The lake itself is immense and surrounded by lush green pine forests and a good 30F degrees cooler. We stayed at one of the many Casino Hotels in the area who were hosts to Chicken Foot and Davy K. The gig was set up in a massive car park to the side of the hotel which was cordoned off for a series of summer concerts. The boys went on in what was left of the days light and played as the sun was going down. The atmosphere was truly electric and the crowd, as-they-say, went wild! It was a great gig. Quite a day all in all!
Lake Tahoe and BDS!! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
The band had their own head-lining gig at Slim's
in San Francisco the following day a mere 3 hours away by car. There were major bridge works on what would have been our most obvious route into the city and so our drive was a little more circuitous than expected but we managed to get to the venue on time … the band, bless them, were a little late! It was a very important gig for them, as the The Times Culture Magazine
had arranged to fly one of their regular writers, Paul Sexton
over from the UK to do a special feature on Davy and the band! Paul was more than happy to hang out at the gig and soak up the wonderful atmosphere before the boys and their Bus finally turned up to do a very quick sound check. My favourite part of the night was being invited on stage to sing backing vocals on a couple of songs – I was a rock chick for a few minutes – yeh!
Are we going to San Francisco? from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
The drive back to LA is always delightful when you take Route 1 down the coast road past, Nepenthe
and Big Sur
. It was getting quite late as we approached Santa Barbara
and feeling more than a little tired, we decided to stay the night. I was driving and had been stuck behind a line of particularly slow vehicles at this point, when I'd had enough! So I put my foot down and sped past them. 30 seconds later I spotted flashing blue lights in the rear-view mirror and was told - in no uncertain terms! - to pull over! Eek! I was SO apologetic, that the incredibly stern Policeman, who stood legs akimbo, hands on hips as he “questioned” me, was more than a little puzzled and it wasn't just my accent.When he came back from checking out my Isle of Man
driving license he basically told me off and informed me that the speed limit in “this country” is 70 miles an hour … keep to it! OK officer I will … thank you! Phew! I was so wound up by the experience I hardly slept a wink.
A couple of weekends later Bob and I were invited to stay with our good friend Christine Hansen
. We'd met her together in 2007 when she was part of the organisation that promoted the Nelson Mandela concert in Johannesburg which Corinne was invited to perform at. Christine, originally from New York, was then living in LA and had recently moved out to live in Ojai California
, a beautiful place an hour and a half north of where we were staying in west Hollywood. We jumped at the chance.
Driving up the driveway to the Mansion Christine's little house was a part of, was such a thrill! The main house, which belongs to a close friend of Christine's, is in the beautiful style of a Mexican Hacienda and we both fell in love with not only the house but it's absolutely fantastic location. High up on a mountain ridge over looking the small town of Ojai, we were on a level with Eagles as they flew by – breath-taking!
The entire weekend was like a fairytale, including going to a “Pirate's Weekend” convention down at beautiful lake Casitas. An eye-popping experience if ever I've had one! We also enjoyed local rich, gastronomic delights, deep tissue massage and a midnight dip in the hot spa pool. Too much information?! It was all a total joy. Christine is the perfect hostess … witty, vivacious, generous and inspirational! It's a weekend we'll never forget. I hope it's not the last time we get to sample the high life in this most beautiful of places with our lovely friend.
Oh hi it's Ojai! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Towards the end of our summer stay in Hollywood, Davy and the band were set to play their last couple of gigs on this particular leg of their almost continuous tour. The last night of the Chicken Foot extravaganza took place at The Gibson Theatre Universal City on a stupidly hot Sunday evening. The support band for this particular gig had been set months in advance which meant the band weren't allowed to play; Davy, talented boy that he is, did a blinding solo set which went down a storm. Of course he'd rather have played with the band but sometimes these things are set to thwart us. He was awesome!
Bob and I got to the venue late afternoon in time to be at sound check and took the opportunity to wander the strange and surreal streets that make up Universal City
Davy K with Chicken Foot @Gibson Amphitheatre LA from Christine Collister on Vimeo. Me, Davy K and Peter F at The Mint! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
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A couple of nights later the whole band played atThe Mint
, a newly revived gig on the outskirts of Hollywood. This small venue is camp as camp can be and a great place to watch a show. There were loads of friends and fans who came down for the gig and none were disappointed. I was thrilled to be invited to sing again, this time alongside Peter Frampton
too! Yeh … the Framptonettes are alive and kicking (we sorely missed Christy D
though!)! There was a palpable wave of excitement as Peter was announced on stage. Davy and he - and the entire audience - grinned from ear to ear the entire time they played! It was quite something to behold.
We left our pals in Los Angeles at the end of September and made our way back to the Isle of Man and this side of the pond. We had a short 2 week turn around before heading off to Australia and all things Antipodean … all to be revealed in the next installment!
