Some early dates are in....

hint to Mary and Bob - look at February.

Wow! What a nice surprise! An early date. You know I'll be there. Cool! What about you Bob?

WOW is right! Talk about extremes! First August - now February?? Surprising indeed - but I'm there. Just had a thought: What if a Birch "regular" got there early (for a change) - and I show up at 6:30?
Best,
Bob

I get off work at 5:30pm, which puts me at the Birchmere around 6pm. I'm not leaving work early. And I'm not camping out in the dead of winter. (It's not that I'm not willing to make sacrifices. I'll be missing my aerobics class that evening. ) I'll just roll the dice and take my chances. Maybe one of the other Birchmere regulars (there are quite a few) will be there.

I should be done with physical therapy by mid-January.... so I am actually thinking about it. Fly in - fly out.... and if I go, I'll save the seats

I miss hearing the band, it's been since August - I missed Florida and (gasp) 12 days of pizza due to my shoulder surgery.

I'm in for Denver(w/ wife and one of her co-workers). Thanks AA & Ruthless Mgr.!

Throwing my usual requests for: Same Road, Same Reason & The Last Flamenco :)and Playing for Time............................

I'll see you there!

Nice! - Looking forward to it.
Bob

Just had to make this post regarding AA on the All Star Smooth Cruise. What a band! What troopers they were!

The theme of their concert was to have been a nice outdoor concert under the stars on the Lido deck near the pool. Nice concept, but the weather did not cooperate. It was cold and windy that night! You're probably wondering, well, why didn't they just move the event indoors? The problem is that the ship was not full charter, so Smooth Jazz cruisers were competing with regular Carnival cruisers for event space throughout the duration of the cruise.

In any case, the crowd bundled up in coats, hats, scarves and gloves, sat outside, drank tea, coffee, and hot chocolate, and enjoyed AA on the Lido deck. Despite the cold, there was a good, enthusiastic crowd of not only SJ cruisers, but regular Carnival cruisers as well since this show was "open to the public." In between songs, band members tried to keep warm. They too were bundled up along with the fans. Dave Hiltebrand (Nick Colionne's bass player) was in attendance at the show and told us how hard it is to play under those conditions, and that he felt for AA. (And he knows cold. He's from Chicago!)
Stewart told us that since the stage was a good 10 feet higher up on the deck, that The Lads were feeling the cold and wind more than we were. But, they pulled it off and put on quite a show. It's always a pleasure to see AA, even outdoors in the freezing cold, however, I'm looking forward to seeing them in a nice warm venue....like, say, the Birchmere, in about a week!

Hey, Mary
Thanks! I remember finding out about the Japan dates and the Cruise when we talked to Stewart at the show in August. Didn't know that you were sailing. I will, of course, expect a full report next week! See you there.
Bob

Some May & June dates just added... as well as December

Hey, Kat
Silver Spring, MD in June? That's a new venue - and closer to my neck of the woods! Glad the Lads are hitting this area more often.
Best
Bob

Not sure that I will make it to Silver Spring or Annapolis, but I'm thinking about it! There is a week in Northeast, and that should keep me busy....

I just ordered my ticket for IMAC on June 21. It'll be my first time at an Acoustic Alchemy concert.

Blair Mansion is Gary Grainger's new club. He's just getting started with it. I haven't been there yet. He had a Valentine's Day show there with Jaared and Meritxell, but I was unable to make it. I'm not sure if that was the debut of the club that night or not. I hope he does well with it.

I talked to someone at Blair who said they don't have much info. yet, i.e., ticket prices, TicketMaster, seating, etc. Gary is coming in tonight to work out the details. Stay tuned...
Bob

Just put an important date on the calendar....

A concert at BB King's in NYC to benefit the Institute For Science And Health. This is the 4th benefit show that Acoustic Alchemy has done for IFSH and pancreatic cancer research.

For more info, check:

http://www.ifsh.org/New/Events/AcousticAlchemy/Index.asp

Holy cow! I almost missed out this year. Hadn't checked the site in a while, but just happened to get my Sculler's quarterly mag. in the mail today. WHOOPS! They're coming in June this year! a few months earlier than usual. Just got the tix for the 20th at 8. Can't wait (Hey, that rhymed) TG for the U.S. mail!

It has become a tradition - Seattle will have fireworks at the ready to welcome The Lads!

Elaine K

Im very excited to see AA here in WPB so soon this year! We are very lucky the Lads seem to like it here in Fla! And this year will be their first appearance at the newly minted Palm Beach International Jazz Festival (only the second year). A nice day kicked back on the lawn listening to some great jazz!

Kat, are you coming down for this one? Hope to see a great turnout so they come back next year!

Best regards.

not sure yet Frank - I just moved to a new home and started a new job about 2 weeks after I moved. I'm really swamped with a backlog of website and photo work, and I'm trying to catch up. So I won't know for about another week if I can get out of here for some Florida sunshine.... I really would like to go.

Kat - good luck with the relocation and new job!

If i can get some good pics, i will be happy to email them to you.

Have a great day.

Frank

Wow, Blair Mansion, I remember the Mansion! I remember doin' wedding receptions there back in the 80's! Congrats to the G's on the Mansion. I need to make plans to check out my old neighborhood again! As a matter of fact, I'm plannin' on checkin' out Billy Cobham's Spectrum at Blues Alley I think Nov, so I'll get to check the Mansion out while I'm there. I figure and hope that AA will be back in Jacksonville again, and hopefully this time, I will not have two rehearsals that evening, and I can hang and check the show and holla at the boys.

Thanks Frank!

I will PM you to let you know if I am going to make it.

I'm glad you brought up the topic of pictures... Stewart and I were recently discussing 2008 ideas for the website and MySpace.

We think we have quite an archive now of stage shots from various places, and that what we'd really like are more candids of the guys or perhaps photos of them anywhere else but under red lights!

While we appreciate all of the photos, we just would like things to look fresh - especially since many of the venues are regular stops on the tour.

So if you manage to get a few shots outdoors, it would be nice to see the guys at the meet and greet or wandering about before or after the show. Or even a photo of you with the guys....

Hey Kat. I was wonderin' if you could make a stop in J-ville when the boys come to town, and, I hope everthing goes well with your new location. If you can, let them know that they're in my top 40 friends space as a matter of fact.

Bruce,

I don't know about Jacksonville this year, haven't seen it on the tour schedule....

Thanks for the good wishes... and I'm sure the guys know about your MySpace. From your other posts, it seems like you have a busy schedule coming up! Take care of yourself.

I think many of us have looked at next year's cruise and tried to do the math to figure out if we could make the $$ work. Well... check out the package that's been put together for AA fans, my eyes popped open! $999 per person and you can make your reservation and pay for it in monthly chunks... makes it a little easier on the wallet.

http://www.acoustic-alchemy.net/newsitem1.html

(and yes, this was on my list of work to get done this week.... have to be away for business again for a couple of days! )

Now I have to convince Lauri to be my roomie...

Some June dates just added....

Miss Kat-

I would love to be your smooth cruise roomie-any chance this is one of those disney cruises where Mickey Mouse would keep my little criminals busy while I enjoy the music?

BTW-to all you boarders-a long overdue hello to this former Floridian now residing in Southern Miss!

Lauri ... (America's Sweetheart returns to the board...)

No Mickey Mouse ears for this cruise! We're due for a road trip.... we haven't been on one in a long time.

However, there will be no Dairy Queen root beer floats on the cruise. We may have to go to California or Texas.

For those of you who have always wanted to go to Catalina Island.... AA will be playing there during the first week of the festival... see tour dates on the web page.

Also, a date has been added for Philadelphia in June.

A second date at the Towne Crier as been added.... and 2 more dates in California, just before the Catalina Jazz Festival.

Is anybody going to either the show at the Rams Head on 6/13, or the show at the Blair Mansion on 6/14? (Both in Maryland, BTW.) Bonnie and I will be at the Blair Mansion show. It should be a good time.

Mary
I think I might go to both !!!!
Stewart

Hi Mary,
Was wondering where you were. I'm going to the Blair (see the "Ya Tebya LubLiu" thread) and so, apparently, is some guy named Stewart.

Will see you and Miss Bonnie there.
Bob

Bob,
That "some guy named Stewart" is the so-called Ruthless Manager of AA. Although he's the only one that uses that name/description. Actually a charming rogue.
Enjoy.
Best,
SteveC

Steve,
Yes - my (feeble) attempt at humor. I've met and chatted with the Ruthless One many times over the years - and hope to do so again on Sat.

Best,
Bob

Bob, have a great time!