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Random Musings

The final concert of the South American tour in October was in Quito, Ecuador, in front of an ecstatic audience and the next morning, as we were waiting to board the plane home, an earthquake struck.  Apparently, it was only a four point something on the Richter scale but still, as the building began to rattle and shake there were a few moments when everyone looked startled. Your first thought questions what’s going on and immediately after that you start to look around for an escape route or some shelter.  A sense of alarm ran around the room and I noticed people looking at the ceiling, like me, wondering whether it was going to come down any second.  There was what I can only describe as a quiet panic running through the room as people weighed their options.  Fortunately, it wasn’t so serious and lasted only about a minute.   A few minutes later as I walked out to the plane, savoring the relief at not being in the building any more, I had the notion that we were lucky but couldn’t help wondering if there was more to come. Fortunately, there wasn’t – at least not this time.

IG and I shared the journey to Frankfurt via Caracas and we had time to chat about the next album.  It was a productive talk and despite all the negative things buzzing around the Internet, we are enthusiastic and will definitely be working on the project early in the New Year.  I read somewhere that all the tracks were finished, awaiting only vocals.  That’s not true.  From the writing session earlier this year at El Cortijo studio in Spain (not Ian Paice’s studio, as I think some believe), we have a dozen unfinished jams and ideas for songs – rough diamonds that have yet to be polished.  There it is.

Talking of Spain, a couple of weeks ago, I flew on easyJet from Basel to Alicante to visit my father and stepmother for a few days.  Returning home was a challenge as the plane was overbooked and I was put on standby.   Waiting and watching all the passengers cheerfully shuffling forward was torture. The last lucky one disappeared down the tunnel and I was informed there were no seats left.  I was stranded in Alicante.  The next easyJet flight was two days away.  After running around all the other airlines to find an alternative, of which there was none, I returned to the easyJet desk where my only option was to fly to Gatwick and spend the night in a hotel and then fly to Basel the following morning. When we landed at Gatwick the captain announced that there would be a delay exiting the plane as they were having difficulty contacting the ground staff to bring the steps.  After fifteen minutes or so he announced that the steps would be with us shortly.  Five minutes later, he came back on and announced that the ground staff had brought the wrong steps!  Funny, I thought this was 2011.  Finally, after another ten-minute delay, we disembarked.  If life was easy indeed!

This from Steven Wright’s latest album, I Still Have A Pony:  So I called up the airline to make a reservation and they said how many would be traveling and I said, ‘How do I know, it’s your plane’.

Classic Rock Magazine’s awards ceremony at The Roundhouse took place a few weeks ago and IG, IP and myself were in attendance to pick up a Lifetime Achievement for Innovation.  It is only at events like this that you get to talk to old friends and meet other musicians and there were many there; Lemmy, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Rudi Schenker and Matthias Jabs from The Scorpions, Jeff Beck, Glenn Hughes, Peter Frampton and many others as well as record company people, promoters, agents, managers, etc.  Gene Simmons hosted the event quite genially (excuse the pun).  After the dinner, the awards started being given out… best new band, best song, best album, etc. and then there was a break.  I nipped outside for a break and got involved in various conversations.  There were a lot of people out there and I had no idea that the awards had started up again.  After being held up by people wanting photographs taken by friends who had no clue how to operate cameras, I made my way back into the ceremony only to see that IG and IP were already on the stage.  I’d missed the big introduction!  I was horrified and ran up on the stage in time to mumble a few words and hold the statuette for a moment.  Embarrassed, but hey, it’s only rock’n’roll.  I wasn’t the only one; I heard that not one of the Manic Street Preachers got up to accept their award despite being there – they were probably outside as well.  The evening closed with an electrifying performance by Jeff Beck, which my daughter Gillian and I thoroughly enjoyed.  What a player!   Incidentally, Gillian is about to give birth to her second child, and looks lovely with it.

Now we’re on the road again and working with the orchestral musicians from Frankfurt that accompanied us on the European tour in July, an excellent group of people who are so enthusiastic about the show and play like they are part of the band – they mean it.  A real pleasure to work with them again.

It may have been noticed by those seeing DP lately, that I have changed my amplification – as good as SWR was (and is), I have switched to TC Electronic, a Danish company who have been around for decades making high end studio processing equipment.  Their new Blacksmith bass amps and speakers are really great and suit me and my Vigier bass very well.  Just thought you should know.

Good luck,

RG – 29 November 2011

5 thoughts on “Random Musings

  1. Bruno Molo wrote on 2011-12-12:

    Thank you for the tour, thanks for everything. We all miss you in Brasil. Come back soon!
    If life was easy is fantastic! I drive to college listening to the album every day! Thank you!
    See you soon!

    Reply
  2. John Bartone wrote on 2011-12-05:

    Thx Roger! DP should consider getting their own plane. Ala Iron Maiden. Avoids all the hassles of dealing with check-ins etc. Long live the Morse Era!!

    Reply
  3. Jim Corrigan wrote on 2011-11-30:

    Great comments, as usual Roger! Really looking forward to seeing you in February! Hopefully DP will melt some of the snow and ice we’re sure to have here at that point! Happy Birthday and Safe travels, always. Jim & Line.

    Reply
  4. Tim wrote on 2011-11-30:

    reminds me of flying from LA to Moncton,NB, via Toronto a few years back…Landed in Toronto…stood up to deboard….Capt announced they were waiting for a response from the gate folks….waiting….20 min…30 min…missed my connection…apparently the lady in charge was eventually found “upstairs” in the lounge. Great to see DP are to play in Atlantic Canada for the first time ever!Will be there!!! Also…thanks for the update on the gear.

    Reply
  5. Hristo Yankov wrote on 2011-11-30:

    Great news, thank you for sharing your recent moments with us! All the best!

    Reply