ON THE GABRIEL TOUR
10

Diaries and Photos

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    ON TOUR

San Diego / Dec. 8

Just a short trip down to San Diego for today's show. Good to see the Blind Boys again (they weren't at the Denver show.)

          

          

          

Los Angeles / Dec. 6

Played on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. That means spending the day at NBC studios, doing some soundchecking but mostly sitting around. Fun place, though. Jay Leno, seeing me backstage talking on my cell phone, quipped that with it I look like a real L.A. guy.
Peter braved his hoarse throat and sang well (we only did one song; More Than This.)

          

          


Denver / Dec. 5

Back in the show groove. Peter's caught a bit of a cold, but was able to sing, run, bicycle and do his hamster imitation quite well, considering his sniffles and the altitude.
          

          

          

                    


    LOOKING BACK

Some memorable road moments from this tour:

In Denver's Pepsi Center arena, while sitting on the edge of the slowly revolving stage, playing and singing the sensitive ballad Mercy Street I saw, above the rapt faces of the audience in the stands, the scores of all the national basketball games, flashing in bright lights all around the perimiter of the arena.

          *****
When we played the early morning Today Show in New York, we were all very sleepy at 5am. Nobody told Rachel the revised order of songs we'd be doing, so on the live tv show she had sounds set up for In Your Eyes instead of More Than This. When Peter counted in the song she had about a nanosecond to adjust because on live tv there's no asking for a second take!                                 

          *****
At the Minneapolis show the P.A. kept blowing out - and Peter immediately came to the drums (the one instrument everyone can hear without amplification) to start a band jam on drums. Fortunately that p.a. problem never recurred.

          *****
In Mexico City, when I appeared on the morning tv show, the host, Brozo (who dresses as a clown!) surprised me by having his "secretary" appear behind me on camera, then asked me to tell the watching audience what I thought of her.

          *****
In Detroit, practicing for the first time a 60 degree revoloution of the stage which would take all the players to a different position for half of the show - but the cables from each instrument were now hopelessly criscrossed around the stage, and nobody could calculate what would happen during the show when the band goes running around and other stage moves happen.

          *****
Back at Arzachena (Sardinia) before the tour actually started, we did a performance in the town's center piazza. As we were soundchecking in the afternoon, a small parade entered the square, led by a statue of the Saint being feted. From stage it looked like the tall bearded man was just one of the audience.


          *****
In Quebec, just before the first dress rehearsal, we were presented with our stage costumes. They were received with... mixed feelings, and though we made adjustments soon afterward, it was a memorable moment.
                     

          *****

  

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