Adrian Legg Road Stories

Stories From All Things Considered public radio

Road Stories - Summer 2000

>Subject: Piermont...
>From: adrian legg <adrian@********>

>Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 21:32:39 +0001
>
>Piermont is tomorrow, right ?
>
>Bit confused again....the yellow tour book says tomorrow but
>the routing originally had it Friday

Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 22:55:50 +0001
From: brad@dynamicartists.com
Subject: Re: The Yellow Book
To: adrian@***********

>>Yes, Piermont Wednesday, you're staying at Flip's
>>
>>The Yellow book is correct. Be the yellow book, live the yellow book.

>I try, oh wise one, but the covers fell off ages ago and my faith is shaken.

>>How can that be, mine is in perfect shape.

>Now my biro refill has also run out. I fear it is an omen.
>
>Plastic next time perhaps ? And I will remember to bring more refills.
>The lady in the post office was nice and gave us each a government pen.

>>That's an omen! Beware of the government!

>The rain has ruined her tomatoes, so she can't make picalilli this year.

>>If you mean piccalilli, then that is an omen. I am ever on a search
>>for new and good relishes, salsas, and spready, dipy things.

>> >Oh ye of little mileage, how little ye understand the terrors of the deep,
>> >the dragons of the way, the travails and torments of the path, the wear
>> >upon the soul and the airline damage to the burden....
>> >Constant faithful seeking of the knowledge of the Yellow Book, alas and
>> >wise though its words may be, takes a toll upon its mortal construction.
>> >Plastic covers ???

Date: 25 Aug 2000 19:36:15 +0001
From: brad@dynamicartists.com
Subject: Re: The Yellow Book
To: adrian@**************

>> > > OK, OK plastic it is.

>>Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 13:40:24 -0700

>>From: N****** S** <*****@***.ca>

>>...Adrian missed his set at the Comox Valley MusicFest!!

Yup. Oh boy. In thirty years I've missed a radio show in Philly because I had raging 'flu; and I missed a gear demo in Nancy, France when I got disastrous food poisoning in Lyon the morning of the drive down. That's it.

>> He was the whole reason my dad and I drove up from Victoria and we >>didn't even get to see him at the site!

I'm really sorry, and profoundly embarrassed.

>>He was scheduled to play at 5:35 on Sat., but the>>host/announcer >>kept saying he got lost and couldn't find the fairgrounds

>>(he was driving his own car).

Nope. I was asleep at the hotel.

I thought I had a later show, and I had an early start down to do a gig in Seattle on the Sunday, so beloved and I took a nap. It has to be said we were pretty wrecked from the drive, but I was really looking forward to the fest., had paid my immigration/work permit fee, paid the ferry tickets, had made time to practise - all the stuff.

> >So we watched the rest of the show until about 9:00 when it >started to rain and we decided to leave because we

> >didn't bring an umbrella and we were pretty bummed out after not seeing > >Adrian play (for the first time on the island in about 2 yrs i think).

It would have been the first time period, wouldn't it?

> >So we went back to the hotel (the same one he was staying in) and saw > >that he was just sitting down to have dinner and overheard him saying

> >that he thought he was playing later than 5:30 (like 9:30 or 10:00) and > >that he would have played if somebody came and got him earlier. It

> >sounded like an honest misscommunication but i was still really > >dissappointed, even after seeing leo kottke finish off the festival.

I really am sorry. I drove across from New York to start off the tour at Comox. My wandering nephew hitched up from Victoria too, and came by the hotel to find out what had happened. Going through the story with him the number of missed opportunities where the whole thing might have been straightened out in time was quite extraordinary. Other festivals I've done, I was given a schedule and a pass and told about transport schedules/contacts/pa etc. On arrival at the organizer desk at the hotel. This one, none of that happened. I didn't think I had to be at the field until a couple of hours before kick-off. I'm still not sure why I thought I was on at 10pm Saturday - it seemed late to me anyway - maybe it was something to do with a conversation about possibly doing something with a few other players Friday night at 10pm...? Whatever, I'd elected to give that a miss because I didn't think I'd do it justice straight off the end of a 3000 mile drive. We got in Friday afternoon, and the folks at the organizer desk in the hotel lobby gave us a hotel room key and a folder full of tourist stuff to do around the area, and that was it. We had dinner and hit the sack after I'd gone through all the gear, changed the batteries, and done a bit of practise.

My contract had show time TBA on it, as did the details sheet which is spun off from the contracts. I assumed a production person or a stage manager would be in touch eventually and had plenty to deal with already.

We even fixed up something via the organizer desk to get my bits and pieces on and off the stage fast - and time didn't come up during that conversation.

Around 2pm Saturday I checked in with the organizer desk at the hotel and asked if there was anything I should be paying attention to - the lady told me no, so I assumed everything was going according to some plan or other. We walked down to the Subway for a sandwich, got some fruit at the store over the road, walked back, had a chat with our waitress from the night before, and went up to the room for a nap. Apparently when I didn't show up, people from the field rang the hotel and were told I'd gone out, so I guess that's why nobody came and banged on my door.

We were all cleaned up and ready to go by about 7.30, and wondering who we ought to contact to find out about transport when the phone rang and we found out we'd missed it. We tried to work out a way to reschedule for the Sunday, but ferry times wouldn't work for us.

> >The host/announcer guy said that Adrian wanted to play and guaranteed that > >would be back next year.

Yup, I hope so. And next year I reckon we'll all build in a bit more idiot-proofing.