House of Floyd On The Road = Stormchasers!

Greetings...Pink Floyd/HOF fans.  Our spring tour was quite and adventure.  Mark told us that it was about a 10 hour drive to Bend, so everyone except Joe and I started out on Monday and stayed in Klamath Falls.  Joe picked me up at 8 am on Tuesday morning, kudos to him for being willing to drive us to gigs, it saves wear and tear on my car!  We made it to Bend in 7.45 hours, with several pit stops along the way.  Riding with Joe was both fun and productive musically.  Getting to know eachother better and having time to discuss things musically, makes a huge difference in that it draws us that much tighter together musically. 

I never did have the opportunity to travel growing up (no car, low funds, plenty of stuff to do at home), so all of the scenery that I've taken in during the last 5 years that I've been with HOF has been fantastic! This trip was the most beautiful yet.  The Mount Shasta area is awesome and Shasta lake is breathtaking.  Of course with Joe at the wheel, I was able to really behold the landscape rolling before us. With no loss for conversation about the music, set lists, etc. we were really hungry by the time we arrived in Bend.  That was soon taken care of at the Outback Steakhouse just across the street from the very nice Super 8.  We had a fun, satisfying dinner with the HOF family, minus Eddie since he flew up to Bend later that night and Joe and Louis went to the airport to fetch him.


Wednesday we visited downtown Bend (very nice) and load-in to the beautiful Tower Theatre at noon.  Everything about this gig was awesome.  The magnificently restored 1940's movie palace, the crew, the sound, and the nearly sold out audience!  We hope to return there again for sure!  After a quick pack-up, we returned to the hotel to get some rest, since we had to be up and on the road again to Coos Bay at 7 am.   

Thursday we met in the lobby for breakfast and of course, lots of java.  We all had our eyes on the Weather Channel.  It wasn't looking good, especially over the Cascades, which is the way we had to go to get to our gig that night in Coos Bay.  Mark made a call to the folks at the Green Spot.  He let them know that the weather was not looking good but that we'd try to take another route and still get there to do the show.  He agreed to give them an update in a couple of hours. Mark is the one who makes all arrangments for all of this and we so love him for it!  We drove south on snow and icy roads fighting high winds for several hours while continually checking the road reports.  Mark finally decided that we just couldn't get there safely in time to do the show, so he called the venue.  The gig was off!  I then called my old buddy Dennis, who was coming up from Brookings to see us in Coos Bay and shared the disappointing news.  He was able to cancel his hotel room and his wife Shari was able to freeze the lunch she prepared for us.  They are both so great! 

We continued heading south for Redding with the night off and it continues to snow.  Joe complained that he moved here to get away from this kind of weather.  Finally as we reach the California boarder the snow let up and we did a quick stop in Weed for souvenirs. Once in Redding, we enjoy a hot tub and dinner at a nearby BBQ place.  After dinner Joe, Louis, Eddie, and I had an impromptu acoustic rehearsal in my room. I felt as if I went to PF college with Eddie's CD collection which spawned a lot of great ideas for the band.  I love these guys!

Friday morining we were back on the road on highway 299 headed over to Arcata, through the Trinity Mountains.  This drive was even more beautiful, except for the winding roads that Joe loathes.  We arrive in Arcata by early afternoon and decided to have some lunch and walk around for a bit checking out the town square and shops.  Then it's on to Eureka to check in at the awesome Best Western Humboldt Bay Inn.  We hang out and relax for a while and then all pile into the free limo provided by the hotel to go out to dinner.  The awesome Shannon is our driver and we invite her to come to the show the next night.

Saturday we load into the very cool Arcata Theatre Lounge at noon.  Once again, great venue, crew, sound, etc.  Once we're set up and done with sound check, we go back to the hotel to clean up and Sheri suggests that Louie cut my hair.  He works his magic, even with his dull scissors, and I'm sporting a new look!  Back at the venue it's packed and there are many fans that have seen us several times before.  It's an honor to spend time with those who keep us going, playing this great music. We start with 'Echoes' and pound out Pink Floyd songs for almost 4 hours.  It's great having Eddie setup more upfront, making for a strong, powerful sound.  Everyone played great!  The crowd was wild; the smells were wilder; Rich and Aidan were awesome on the lights and video; and Rachel and Spencer worked their 'merch' magic.  As you may or may not already know, this band has and is a family type band, with the kids, as well as other techs Matt and Sharon.  It's as strong a group as I have ever experienced.

Sunday morning Eddie knocks on the door at 8 am.  Joe and I are sawing logs.  Time to go, wind gusts up to 60 mph, rain starting to dominate.  On the road again, white knuckles, sideways rain.  We stop in Willits for a great brunch and we're even recognized by fans from Redway.  We dropped Eddie off in San Rafael and make it home to Alameda by 4 pm.  My cat won't leave my side....next stop Modesto.....its been a pleasure sharing our spring Stormchaser tour with you.  Pat