U2

With the activity of Bono’s book release and the residency in Las Vegas, I found it appropriate to ruminate about U2. The Band had released their “Boy” album and were embarking on a North American Tour in early 1981. We had been supporting U2 at KFJC with strong airplay. Our music director and their label knew KFJC were instrumental in creating massive awareness of this new band from day one. We co presented this Free show, which was the Bands debut in the San Francisco Bay Area; at San Jose State University with the associated students. As a DJ at KFJC it gave me access to hang with the band before the show. Very casual and relaxed, focused and determined. The band knew what they wanted and were on their way to it. The free show was packed, and the crowd was rockin so hard that their speakers began to tumble, so stage hands held them down, the rest of the show. The show was incredible, with an awesome connection with the audience. Here is the interview from the station, the next day. https://spidey.kfjc.org/39289/1981-u2-interview-at-kfjc/ A note is that the band performed every song they knew, and played a few songs again for their encores.

I had another occasion to meet the band on a different trajectory when they were touring behind “Unforgettable Fire” and having massive success with Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Years Day, Pride…the sold out show was infectious. At this time in their career, they were trying to define themselves. Backstage they told us there ws “No Smoking”, they told us and I quote “the boys are good Christians so there will be no alcohol back stage, what we are offering is water, juices and spritzers. They had fruit and nuts as hospitality. It was cool, however kind of the antithesis of the image they were considered to have. When I met Bono for this time he introduced himself as Bono Vox…Hi I’m Bono Vox and this is The Edge. A conversation evolved into reminiscing about the show at San Jose State and they were all so happy to talk to someone who had been to that show. Bono said “Hey Ric” “that show actually changed our view of America” “we realized there was hope for humanity after all”

Lyle Lovett

Any chance to see Lyle Lovett live in concert is a must see. This extreme talent forges between Texas Troubadour, Minister of Gospel, and Folk musician extraordinaire. I was on the team when Lyle Lovett and his large band broke and earned him a Grammy for Best Country Male Vocalist. Waters run deep with emotion and Lyle is no stranger to it in his writing. A master story teller; watching Lyle, live performing songs by Lester Young, Bob Wills and Guy Clark makes you lean in a little more. Meeting Lyle at the Greek Theater in Berkley was a moment I’ll not soon forget. Quiet, Introspective, intelligent he made us all feel welcome, especially when one of my guests said her mom was a huge fan but was running late and missed the access to get backstage. Lyle said wait a minute let’s go find her, and he proceeded to venture to the stage and look for her mom. Gracious and kind Lyle spent the next 30 minutes entertaining us with “Tales from the Road” he called them. Taking the time, speaking to each of the individuals who were our guests Backstage, he made an impression on all of us. By the way this was preshow, so after speaking to him and then watching him perform we all were mystified.

Urge Overkill opening for Pearl Jam

Flash back to the release of” Saturation” by Urge Overkill. This Album included the track “Sister Havana” which was developing nicely at Radio and before the cover of Neil Diamonds “Girl you’ll be a woman soon” was included on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack which became a huge hit for them. The band was asked to be on the Bill with Pearl Jam and Mud honey for a North American tour. I’d met Nash, Eddie and Blackie a few times including Chicago. The radio promoter asked me about helping set up a promotion on that tour stop in Reno, NV. where they were performing at the Lawlor Event Center on the University of Reno campus. The promotion we were running in conjunction with Radio and Retail; was an Enter to win Contest for the Best Martini mixing bartender in Reno. Judges would be a handful of winners, and Urge Overkill band members. Bartenders were chosen in a contest at Radio. Judges were chosen in a contest at Retail. Spectators and non winners were encouraged to hang in the bar and cheer them on. Only in Reno! Anyway, the night wore on, everyone was getting pretty crazy…little did anyone know, that we had gear set up on the small stage in the bar for the band to perform a song or two, if they wanted to. Mid way through the party a Tour bus pulls up in front and out jumps Eddie V, Stone, Jeff and Mike who had heard about the promotion and all wanted to get in on the Judging…so the bartenders continued to mix, bands continued to drink and a winner was chosen! Late into the night Eddie V is cajoled up onto the small little stage with Nash and Jeff. The boys break into an acoustic version on “Horse with no name” and a few other jems. We hung out late into the night with both bands chatting, and laughing into a hangover the next day.

White Zombie

Everything new in the music business at the time would take time to develop. White Zombie was no exception. Case in point, I remember it took months and months of touring to get the interest from the music public at large. Geffen Records released" “LA Sexorcisto” in 1992 and the band toured behind it for over 24 months. The label stuck with them and radio finally came around. I had met the band a couple of times, however on this occasion they were set to headline the Warfield theater SF. I was back stage when one of the doormen stopped in and said that there was someone at the Backstage door looking for Sean Yseult. She said to everyone WTF. It turns out it was an old friend who had a gift for her. She said send them in, the bouncer got it mixed up and thought she meant to send the gift in, and make her friend go through the front doors. She was mad, however the gift arrived in a wooden slip case box. Sean took a moment and slipped the box top open and to everyone’s surprise was a perfectly preserved, acid dipped and cleaned Blue Jay. She was transfixed, saying that she will add this to her collection. She was asking us if we knew how awesome a gift this was, and that Birds have something like 300 bones. The acid cleaned bones is a taxidermist procedure that you really have to see to believe. Indeed an amazing gift.

Vince Gill

A friend is a huge fan of Vince Gill and so am I. Vince was on tour and came to Oakland Coliseum Arena. He was open to receiving guests before show. I have to admit that most of the artists who come out of MCA Nashville are gracious, courteous and humble. Is that just a Southern thing? We made our way to the back stage greet and meet “Green Room”. It was stocked with refreshments, couches, flowers, Nintendo video games, chairs, lamps and table tennis. There was food, candy and beverages a plenty. After a while Vince popped in with other band members and started mingling. He made the rounds meeting everyone, posed for photos, signed autographs and hung out. I got to spend a little more time with Vince when he said to me “hey are you hungry? I said “Oh yeah” He said follow me…we made our way over to a hospitality table which was set up with a Panini press. Vince said how about a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. So there I was having Vince Gill prepare these sandwiches, and tell me he was so happy that someone else wanted to eat with him.We talked about the traditions of before show and he said “ I like to eat before I hit the stage so I don’t have hunger pains and my stomach does’t growl.

Nirvana

I met and spoke to Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl numerous times. In this profession, it’s unavoidable when you work with a label whose artists you represent when you are in the field. One of the early interactions with the band was in the planning stages of the release of ”Nevermind” Through an executive at Geffen Records we had discussed with Kurt doing a record release party, which was vetoed. I suggested an instore autograph signing or an instore Live Performance. Kurt liked the idea of performing for a small group of fans in a store and said he would only do it at an indie store. I suggest Peaches in the U- District of Seattle which was approved by the band and label. They had a solid fan base already from the release of “Bleach” and performing in small bars and clubs near the University. 9/16/1991 the store was packed to the gills with anticipation, of course the fire department showed up, took one look at the crowd inside and said no one else is allowed inside, so we stationed a couple clerks to guard the entrance, so if you were late you were stuck outside. The band lit into a searing 10 song set rift with a mosh pit and kids crowd surfing over the record racks. Kurt at one point dove into the crowd himself. The instore turned into a success, and store sold all 400 pieces of “Nevermind” The band stuck around and signed autographs for about an hour outside in the parking lot in front of the Fire Engine. The fans were great and stuck around. I brought the band back into the store to meet Jamie the manager and his staff. I leaned into Kurt and asked “Well what did you think?” and he said “Better than expected” Enough said.

https://youtu.be/wqEFhNR9-t8

https://youtu.be/s7npc9J-Zzs

Peaches store in Seattle was in the process of being sold off. The new owners called them Beehive Records.

Weezer

Straight outta LA the band Weezer took the world by storm with cuts on The Blue Album like “Say it Ain’t So”, ‘Buddy Holly” and the massive Alternative Radio Hit …”Undone - The Sweater Song” We were in our element as a company DGC/Geffen while breaking new bands started to become a natural occurrence. The radio promotion department was hitting on all cylinders which made everything else fall into place. I had set up display contests in the Bay Area with Key retailers for a chance to win a Backstage Greet and Meet at the Fillmore. As it turns out, there was so much support that we just made the decision to invite anyone to the show who wanted to go. We had the band, in particular Rivers Cuomo and Matt Sharp stick around in the Mezzanine for photo ops and general frivolity. The band was very accommodating and points were scored! By the way it was a Halloween night in the 90’s, so the costumes were outrageous and fun.

Heart

Yes Ann and Nancy Wilson in their heyday were a force to be reckoned with! They were hugely popular at Rock Radio during the release of their self titled Album “Heart” They were a staple at Radio especially after making the determination to go all in with MTV and their more mainstream rock sound. With this release “Heart” they cracked the Top 10 with multiple tracks and for the first time had a #1 Billboard hit with “These Dreams” This ballad propelled them as Ann is quoted as saying to me…”beyond our wildest dreams”. The band was touring during this time and came to the Oakland Coliseum on this Sold Out tour. I was invited backstage for a meet & greet. Little did I know at the time, that the radio promoter had brought bottles of Champaign back stage. When I was talking to the sisters, the promoter pulled out flutes and proceeded to pour us all glasses to toast this achievement of having gone to #1 on the Billboard charts that day. This was the bands first #1 and we all enjoyed the opportunity to share in this massive achievement. A photographer was on hand and the photo showed a delighted Ann and Nancy Wilson in a celebratory mood. This party happened preshow, so by the time the band hit the stage, they were in rare form.

Peter Gabriel

I had the pleasure of working with Peter on his “Us” album, after his major artistic break thru record “So”, His album “So” not only catapulted him for it’s commercial success but it’s respectable achievement here and across the pond. He collaborated with Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson and Youssou N’Dour on his hit ‘In your eyes” which went on to push the album to the top of the Billboard singles, album and Radio charts. It even won him multiple Grammy’s and MTV Music Video awards. Transport forward a few years later and Peter releases a new album and embarks on a World Tour called “Secret World”. It too had all the trappings of success. The tour with Youssou N’Dour opening the show and even walking on as a guest during ‘In your Eyes” was a sold out tour. Peter is a very humble man, I took my wife with me for this show and had passes for a backstage meet and greet. We found the green room which was decked out with Couches, Pool Table, Ping Pong, Bar, Food bites and even a Video screen showing Peter Gabriel videos.. No one was certain that Peter would even make an appearance, but that did not deter everyone backstage from chatting it up and eating and drinking for what seemed like an hour. With time pressing and no Peter Gabriel, people started to slowly leave. The back stage crowd thinned, it thinned even more when Youssou took the stage. I think everyone figured Peter would be a no show. There I was with a few of us in the room and with my wife sitting on the couch talking about making our way to our seats when literally out of nowhere Peter pops in and introduces himself. We had a wonderful discussion about the tour and how he enjoyed the art museums in San Francisco. I told him I had seen him with Genesis on the” Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” Tour years hence in Berkeley, so he got to reminiscing about that time in his life. He talked about melding music and theater to come up with an evocative nuance on stage. The band at the time worked to make the show larger than life, for all to experience. It was a fascinating conversation. He was smart, funny and down to earth…very approachable. It made the whole back stage experience one that I will not soon forget.

Thin Lizzie and Phil Lynott

I was invited to a Thin Lizzie show at The Warfield theater. It was early in my career and a friend asked me to go with her. I was a huge fan and could not refuse. She said she had backstage passes and wanted to get there early. The Warfield backstage is under the stage. We hung out for a while and realized the band was doing a sound check. Charlotte had obviously been here before and knew the way, she grabbed my hand and said follow me as she led me to a private stage door and up this tiny metal spiral staircase onto stage right. It popped us right up onto the stage. After a blistering sound check Phil Lynott came right over to us, kissed Charlotte who then introduced me. She had met him before, and he knew she was coming. Clearly he was interested in hanging with her. I made my way back to the backstage area where I chatted with Neal Schon of Journey who was hanging… Neal later joined Thin Lizzie for a few songs during their amazing set. It was a brief and simple meet, but little did we know that a few years later, Phil would pass from complications from pneumonia at age 36...

Counting Crows

I had the pleasure of working with Adam Duritz and The Counting Crows on “August and Everything after” The band were hanging around San Francisco for some time, playing clubs and making a dust up, before being signed to Geffen Records. At a meeting I had at Geffen Records Offices in the summer of 1993 with Gary Gersh, he played for me, in it’s entirety through his DAT master sound system, the Counting Crows career defining pen ultimate album “August and Everything After” I’ll be honest with you, I was stunned! Gary knew what the band was all about, he was happy, and excited to be releasing this project and we talked at length about marketing and roll out…since they were a Bay Area band, I suggested amongst other things a coming out or live performance Release Party prior to street date at The DNA lounge in SF. Gary gave me his blessing, but first wanted to run it by the band. Later, waiting for authorization and time ticking I spoke to Adam, who told me to run with it, and include all of our Bay Area Teams involvement. It wasn’t long before I started hanging out with the Band. In fact the week I flew back to the Bay Area the band was added as a late addition as an opener for Bob Dylan who was performing in San Jose. I went to that show with anticipation, and excitement. No one really knew who the band was, everyone was there to see the maestro. Adam and the Boys pulled out a show of shows! The crowd was mesmerized and stunned at what they just heard - at a Bob Dylan show! Gary had advanced me some promo CD’s to use as an exclusive, hush hush to very key industry professionals. I don’t even think Geffen Publicity had them yet. I was able to get them out to some tastemakers who raved about the band. I ended up booking the DNA for an exclusive, invite only, RSVP Live listening party. Everyone who was a whose who in the San Francisco music scene was there. It was a triumph for the Band, the Scene and the Music Industry at large. The Counting Crows were launched and the rest is history. Can you say 6 X’s Platinum!

Shirley Manson and Garbage

I got to know Shirley while working with Radio Active Records on her Angelfish album. We had some success with the track “Suffocate me”. The Album was produced by Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads. The band came into San Francisco during a tour for their self titled debut Album. I took Shirley round to a few record stores for an impromptu greet and meet and luncheon with some managers. The following year Shirley ditched Angelfish and would front the band Garbage; which was a Butch Vig incarnation. The first Garbage album was done mostly in the studio with Butch playing all the instruments. The Band Garbage recorded a hit with “Stupid Girl” and were a darling at early commercial alternative radio. They decided to hit the road and brought along bassist Danny Shulman from some early Run DMC sessions. The band scheduled mostly Radio Winter Festivals and a handful of club dates. In San Francisco Shirley contacted me and made sure I was going to be at Slims for an intimate club date. She said “Bring all those people I met last time, so they can see my new band” To say the least the band nailed it! Shirley hung around and signed autographs for anyone who wanted one (she was a trooper) Both Butch and Shirley told me later that night Backstage, that they were not sure how the music was going to translate since they were using samples and Midi controllers. After much discussion we convinced them that they sounded amazing and not to worry. Shirley’s stage presence alone was intoxicating. The next day they performed for Live 105’s almost Christmas, and KOME ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas to much larger crowds but unfortunately only a 5 or 6 song set!

Tom Waits

It could be the luxury of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you live here , you know what I mean and you also know better than to take it for granted. This is the city where you can come and be anonymous without trying too hard. You can blend pretty easily.

I had taken my son Clayton to a San Francisco Giants home game at the then, New Ball Park at 4th & Townsend called Pac Bell Park. We had made our way to the promenade deck where we had lower reserved tickets. Before the game had started. I glanced over at a concession line and saw Tom Waits standing in line with on of his son’s Casey. Our boys were similar in age, so I took my son by the hand and walked over and introduced ourselves to them. Tom was healthy, happy and pleased to talk baseball, sunshine, hotdogs, and the new ball park. It was casual, as we waited in line, and I later asked him what material he was working on? In that sly, graveled Tom Waits voice, he said, “I always have a cat in the bag”. It turned out to be a great day all around!

Rickie Lee Jones

I watched and listened to Rickie Lee Jones performance many times, at many different venues over the years! I met Rickie Lee Jones in San Francisco, I was invited Backstage when she was signed to Geffen Records. This was at The Palace of Fine Arts. The show was an acoustic connoisseur’s dream. Highs and lows, stunning vocal arrangements that dripped of defined luminosity. Back stage was no different, a pipe and drape set up in the large behind the stage area, with a puffy sofa, love seats, pillow cushion chairs, coffee table, lava lamp, candles, low back lighting. It was an inviting and relaxed area, perfect for intimate conversations. We talked about everything and anything…Art, Music, Nature, Triumphs, Tribulations, and Heartaches.She was sweet, beautiful and soft spoken. The band members were as casual as if you had known them forever. The evening was mesmerizing….

The Closing of Winterland : Grateful Dead, Blues Brothers, NRPS

We were a bunch of 20-year-olds from San Jose who listened to the Grateful Dead! We saw many Dead shows at Winterland, too numerous to count! They usually played three nights in a row there, however on this occasion, the grand ballroom was given the last send off by the Grateful Dead.

Plans were made for shifts to wait in line at the entrance to Winterland. We got one of our guys in line and took turns waiting, so we could get our regular seats in the front row balcony, stage right, Jerry Garcia side. We held six seats and then the shenanigans began. We snuck in props to entertain ourselves and the crowd: bubbles, stickers, silver and gold stars to stick on fellow concertgoers, who thought they were anointed into some sort of club. At one point during the show, someone had a green fluorescent plastic snap glow in the dark flare which could be used as a projectile, however, on this occasion someone broke it open and started flashing it all over everyone; the dots and trails of this goo stuck out under the black lights. It was a beautiful night, enjoyed by friends, strangers and ghosts of concerts past. Everyone celebrated and partied together knowing full well that this was the end of a time when live music reigned supreme as well as the end of an amazing time period in our lives. It was the closing of the old barn in all her glory. I was fed breakfast at dawn: a lunch bag brown bag with a bagel, cream cheese, an orange and a Tootsie Roll. The rendezvous was successful even as many drank, snorted, dosed, smoked and shroomed the night away.

Excerpt by Ric Curtice: Contained in the Book “This Old Building: The Closing of Winterland”

Iggy Pop opening for The Cars

I was invited by a friend in the business to see Iggy Pop on his Blah Blah Blah tour open for The Cars at the Oakland arena in the late 80’s. I had a pair of tickets so I asked my wife to go with me and I told her that I had Back Stage passes for Iggy Pop. She was cool with it but was not as keen as I was. When we arrived there was a green room stage right set up for the greet and meet. There were probably about 20 of us. Iggy slid into the room with his manager and came right up to Nancy and I first. I introduced myself and Nancy and Iggy with his steel blue eyes was completely dialed into us. I asked him about his early days and how I had seen him at The Old Waldorf run across the table tops and cut himself with a broken bottle. We dished about the state of music and where he thought it was going. He said he was digging on The Clash recently and a few other bands. It was a great conversation and then he moved along to meet others…We stayed and had a beer all the while waiting for everyone to finish their conversations and then something incredible happened. Iggy came right back over to me and said Hey Ric and Nancy, how are you seats. I said we were all good… he had a sharpie in his hands and I rarely did this in those days but I asked him to sign something for me, he leaned over and signed Nancy’s plain white T Shirt she had on. He Thanked us for coming and exited. What struck me the most about him, was that he made the rounds at the Greet and Meet , made an effort to come all the way back around and over to me and had remembered who we were by name and made contact again to make sure we were all set for the show. Remarkable experience.

Elton John at Shoreline Amphitheater

Elton John had recently signed a new deal to return to MCA Records and was heading out on a National tour called “Sleeping with the Past” It was standard in those days to bring Record Store buyers, managers, and owners to concerts in your respective markets. I had personally invited about 20, the other staffers invited 20 and our radio promoter invited about 20, so we had a whole mess of people together. I arranged a greet and meet with Elton who said he would meet everyone pre show. Upon arriving a bit early to Shoreline, I met with production and we did the Back Stage Pass computation, also I got a chance to meet Elton in his dressing room. His dressing room had been made to order by Bill Graham himself. Bill took great pride in making performers feel special. Bill had specially prepared Elton’s dressing room with 25 hand picked Hats from a Haberdashery in San Francisco, he lined them in columns on the wall. When I met Elton he was having fun trying on the different hats with different colors, feathers, braids, crests and boas. I asked him which one he was going to wear and he said; “ I think I’ll use quite a few of these tonight” True to his word, during the performance he changed wardrobes a few times, including the Hats!

Set list 8/20/89 Shoreline Amphitheater

Smoke filled intro to

Bennie and the Jets

Island girl

Harmony

Tiny Dancer

Sleeping with the Past

The Bitch is Back into Brown Sugar cover

I guess that’s why they call it the blues

Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters Pt.1 & Pt. 2

Funeral for a Friend/ Love lies bleeding

Sorry seems to be the Hardest word

Daniel

Candle in the wind

Sacrifice

Blue Eyes

Philadelphia Freedom,

Burn down the Mission

Levon

Stones throw from here

Sad Songs say so much

Don’t let the sun go down on me

I don’t want top go with you like that

Encore

Saturday Nights alright for fighting

Rocket man (I think it’s going to be a long time)

Drinking Champagne with Diana Ross at the famed Clift Hotel in San Francisco.

I was invited to an exclusive private party at The Clift Hotel in San Francisco for Diana Ross who was embarking on a new venture “Ross Records”. a joint label deal with RCA Records. She was interested in meeting music executives in a few key markets to discuss the launch of her New Record Label and subsequent album “Red Hot Rhythm & Blues”. Here I was with my wife Nancy sitting on a couch drinking champagne and talking business with the most famous lead singer from the most successful female vocal group in Pop Music history, Diana Ross. This World Famous performer was discussing intimate details about her new project with me; and discussing how I could help her launch her record in the San Francisco Bay Area market. She told me that the Bay Area was always very supportive of her, from her early days in The Supremes to her solo career. We talked strategy, sales history, radio support and retail plans. She told me about working with Luther Vandross her producer and backing vocals on the record. By the way, The song “Dirty Looks from the album cracked the Top 10 R&B singles charts and went Gold. .So many players from the Wrecking Crew are all over the record. She discussed a TV special she was planning around the release date with special guests Etta James, Little Richard, her friend Billy Dee Williams, LL Cool J and others. She was a dream come true, sweet, honest, open and intriguing to talk to. I was also stunned when a letter arrived recapping our visit and Thanking Me for my input. Memorable to say the least.

Meeting Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana at The Fillmore

So I was invited to the Fillmore by a colleague at Warner Brothers Records who told me that Eric Clapton would be doing an intimate sit down show for special guests on his “Nothing But the Blues tour.” The night before he had performed to a Sold Out House at the San Jose Arena. Upon entering and taking in the table clothed tables and the chandeliers, I was quickly summoned upstairs to the mezzanine. My friends said that Eric himself was holding court in the corner and that I should go speak to him. They said “Ric, you always know what to say”. I saw my chance to meet him and jumped on it. Walking over to a spot, I waited my turn, when the conversation began to wane, I happened to glance that Eric was speaking to Carlos Santana. Not to be dissuaded, I reached out and introduced myself. Thinking quickly on what to say, I said; Nice to meet you Eric, I bet it’s been a long time since you’ve been at the Fillmore!” Eric looks at me and says; “Funny you should say that mate” “because I was trying to remember if it was with Cream or with Derek and the Domino’s.” “It doesn’t really matter because I can’t quite remember anyways, that time was pretty crazy and we were all pretty Fucked up.” We had a good laugh and then I turned to Carlos Santana and introduced myself again saying; Carlos I just caught you on your PBS Documentary discussing how we have Angels all around us, and when you perform angels swirl around you! I said “I think that is incredible and I believe you” He said Thank you, and I don’t know if people will believe me, but it’s the truth.” Eric looked at Carlos and said; you must be on some good shit man! We all laughed and cordially went our own ways. Needless to say it was a classic conversation with two greats.

Cyndi Lauper encounter

Needless to say I am a huge fan of Cyndi’s. She made her way to the Bay Area on multiple tours. On her “Hat Full of Stars” tour she announced that she was going to do small clubs and in San Francisco she had a stop at an intimate 500 seat South of Market Street club called Slims. When you get to see an artist in this setting it is like being in your living room. Performing many songs from her newest album of the same name, a stand out song at the time titled Sally’s Pigeon; a song about Teen pregnancy and back alley abortions.This song was co written with Mary Chapin Carpenter and helped make the album and tour deep and meaningful. You could just sense the performance had an undercurrent to it. Sometimes you just get the feeling of the mood.

Fast forward to the end of the concert and the mood changed with a trio of her hit’s as an encore to end the night. As fans made their way out to the night, I asked a friend to join me for a night cap at (the then Micro Brewery across the street) called Twenty Tank. Upon crossing the street and heading over I saw a couple in front of me, and it looked like Cyndi Lauper. I reached out and touched her shoulder and said Hey Cyndi the night’s performance was magic, Thank’s for performing in a small club. She stopped, turned around, smiled and said “do you think so”? I told her “I liked the material from the new album and that her writing on this one had deeper meaning”. She leaned over, kissed me on the cheek and said “Thank you, that means a lot.” She then said “hey have you met Pierre Andre” my percussionist! If you don’t know who Pierre is; do yourself a favor and check him out. Pierre is a Poet, Visual artist, Sax and percussionist who is into macchina. He was instrumental in taking Cyndi’s hit “Girls just wanna…” to another level with a Reggae Dub House version which they rolled out on this tour. Pierre was cordial and cool, adding to the already amazing night.