According to Jeff’s Diary, we drove all through the night after the Phoenix gig to get to LA, something we would do occasionally when we were especially motivated to get out of a place. It was also better to drive the van at night because it was overheating on the regular. One other incentive was that if you showed up at a motel at 6 or 7 am, you could check-in and get all the way til noon the next day for the price of one night. I’m not sure it was this tour but we did this once and discovered that the toilet wasn’t working properly. We called the front desk and they sent over housekeeping. By the time they arrived, we were all crashed out and when they came inside, Jeff didn’t even lift his head from the pillow to tell them “the shitters clogged.” We were all too tired to laugh at that point but we really enjoyed it in the retelling.
Anyhow, we made it to LA with only a few breakdowns of the Tioga and now we were determined to get the radiator fixed on the van and figure out why the RV kept backfiring and stalling. My little notebook at this point is filled with notes about mechanics and scribbled estimates for various repairs. We were in constant contact with the company that rented us the RV to try and find a certified mechanic.
Meanwhile, Bob our manager has flown in to deal with the west coast Sony people and Woody, who has announced that he is quitting after the LA show. I can’t say I blame him, he’s dealing with an unhappy band and two bum vehicles, and has apparently been working for short money. Nic will take over the tour managing and Jim will be the main roadie and we’ll do without a sound man going forward.
When we started the tour, we were committed to promoting the record but, as the shows went on, it became obvious that some of the Slam songs were not going down so well with the crowds (or with the band). I think ‘Baby Blue’ was the first to go, followed by ‘Father’s Day’ (a lovely song, but not a live number) and ‘Baby Doll.’ I don’t think ‘Picnic’ or ‘Slam’ made it past Atlanta. People really wanted to hear the old songs and, frankly, they were more fun to play for us too, so we got the Slam songs out of the way early in the set and focused on the ‘hits’.
By the time we made it to the West Coast, the setlist was pretty much written in stone, something we had never done before on a tour. To be honest, we probably didn’t want to spend time discussing it every night and so we stuck with something like this:
Ron Klaus (right into)
Blood Pact.
Bony Knees
Impossible Things
All Going Out
Another Life
Cemetery
She’s Fetching
Monsters of Jazz
Meet the Witch
Humason
Lunar Module
Mr. Lincoln (sped up)
Loch Ness
Patsy
The Bond
Love Barge
Easter Eve
Younger Bums
Faith Healer
Mr. Woods
I think we encored with some covers, probably ‘Handle with Care’ and usually ending with ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ by Neil Young, with 3 of us sharing the verses.
John Young asked if we were still enjoying the performing and I would say that the enjoyment of the 75 minutes of playing the sets never went away, even in the lowest of times. I don’t remember a single show where we felt like we were phoning it in, although it may have been obvious to an audience that we weren’t having as much fun as usual. We were unhappy with the situation but never with the fans. I’ll post a live video in a few days and you can judge for yourselves.
Our day off was divided between getting the vehicles fixed and meeting with Bob and the label. Luckily, Jim and Nic were there to deal with the former and at least we’d get some free meals out of Sony. Tomorrow: LA show at the Roxy.
Calculating Route... 