[at-l] My R&R HoF Trip Trip Report

[Felix J]

There really isn't a lot to tell.

Scooter and I left the 'warehouse' at about 10 a.m. on Saturday 
morning.  We got to a Wendy's on the east side of Indy and spent about 
45 minutes waiting for the bass player to make a 6 minute drive. He was 
bringing us his two basses for the gig.   So...we gagged some lollies 
and stuff antsily waiting.  We were wanting to get on the road to beat 
the 'storm' that was waiting to pound Ohio. 

So...we finally left the Wendys right at noon.  Made really good 
time...for about 20 minutes....then, the time we made was less good. 
And, with each time we made, it got less good.

By the time we got to Dayton, OH, I missed when we were able to drive 35 
mph.  So, we drove 30 mph on a sheet of ice...sometimes lightly covered 
with somewhere between 2 and 8 inches of snow...to a point about 1.5 
miles west of exit 79. That's where there was apparently a bad accident 
that caused our 30 mph to be 30 mph faster than we could continue to 
drive. So, we sat...for just over 2 hours...on a solid sheet of ice 
called Interstate 70.

After a couple of hours, traffic got to creeping along at about 15 mph. 
My bladder was in dire need of a thorough draining, so we got off the 
interstate at exit 79...which was essentially closed because all of the 
truck stops were full of trucks and snow and there were trucks park on 
the overpass and in the ditches and everyplace else.

So, I got out of out little Penske truck and let Scooter take over. I 
walked about .3 of a mile to a gas station...where I had to stand in 
knee-deep snow and urinate behind the dumpster. I did not care. My 
bladder did not care. The dumpster did not care. 

In the meantime, Scooter was allowed to travel down the road to a gas 
station about .4 miles beyond my dumpster. As I walked to him, on 
ice-covered Highway 42, I had several conversations with truck drivers 
who were also out walking around because they couldn't drive anywhere. 
All of the fast-food joints at this exit were closed.  So...being the 
sly dog that I am...I decided to come up with a Plan B.  Plan B turned 
out being to take this little, ice-covered Highway 42 south about a mile 
and picking up US 40. This turned out being a very good idea.

What wasn't quite as good an idea was having Scooter drive. And, that 
part of Plan B wasn't my idea. It was Scooter's. Some folx are better at 
driving on ice-covered roads than other.  I am better at it than Scooter.

He drove for a while...about two hours, I think...and, then said "Can 
you drive. This is starting to hurt my chest." I thought "YEAH, IT'S 
BEEN HURTING MY CHEST FOR TWO HOURS!!!" Would never say that , though. 
So, I took over and after a few minutes he said "Do you think I drive 
like a Nancy Boy?"   I said "Now, why would I say something like that 
about the Nancy Boys?" He laffed. I was off the hook. 

Once we got into PA, the conditions got a little better. Marsha, my 
weather-spotter, had told me that there was still a little snow around 
Somerset...and, she was right. Scooter took over the wheel again when we 
got on the PA Turnpike in New Staunton.  I tried to sleep against the 
window, and sometimes successfully, for a while. Next thing I knew, we 
were getting off the turnpike in Carlisle. 

At some point, and I forget where, I took over the wheel and drove to 
just inside NJ. It was about 6 o'clock in the a.m. and just starting to 
crack some light. We stopped at a rest area and scooter got in the back 
of the truck to sleep and I tried sleeping on the floor of the cab. It 
wasn't much fun, or much rest. 

We rolled out about 8:45 and headed to a NJ diner. Had a fine omelet, I 
did.  I love NJ diners.  Next thing ya know, we were driving through the 
Lincoln Tunnel. Well, we were after the toll booth attendant woman 
reluctantly got out of her booth and walked around her booth so that she 
could count my tires. Apparently I had $16 worth of tires. 

So, we get to the Waldorf an hour or so ahead of schedule. We were 
supposed to be there at noon...rolled in around 11. So, basically 24 
hours to make an 11 hour drive. 

The 'shoremen got us unloaded (and, fairly friendily so) and all our 
gear up to the 3rd floor ballroom.  After we got our 'area' set up and I 
got the truck park, we hit the room to watch a little NASCAR racin'. I 
wonder how many NASCAR races have been watched in Waldorf-Astoria 
rooms.  After about 35 laps, I was out. Scooter was out. We slept for a 
couple of hours. I think it was about 6 o'clock when we got up. We 
walked around a bit and ended up eatin' us some Chinese. Best Chinese 
Filet I've ever had. 

Man, this is one boring-assed story. Maybe that's why I've put off 
telling it for so long.

Monday morning.  Up and at 'them'.  Got our gear set up and got our 
drums on the riser and all. It was interesting watching all the 
different bands and 'organizations' working together. For as much mayhem 
and chaos, it all went very smoothly. 

After everything was set up, rehearsals started.  I believe the Ventures 
were the first and they were fantastic. As I've said, watching them play 
Walk, Don't Run was an outstanding experience. After the Ventures, Joan 
Jett rehearsed and Paul Shaffer and his guys came in. Then John 
rehearsed his three songs. All in all, the rehearsal was pretty cool. 
We had a couple of hours off and just sorta walked around and chilled in 
the room for a while.  

During the actually show, I was in the 'side stage/back stage' area. 
There really isn't a 'backstage' there.  So, all the gear was in a long 
room that ran the length of one side of the ballroom. I sat with some 
guys at a board of some sort and watched a TV monitor. I had been in one 
of those control rooms with the wall of monitors and the guy telling 
which camera to go to (I think he was the 'director'). But, that guy was 
pretty intense. So, I went to the much-more-fun table and heckled the 
monitor with some sound guys. 

At one point, during Justin Timberlake's speech, I was asked to 'go out 
there and punch him'.  I wanted to. Oh, I wanted to.  But, much to my 
own pride, during his speech and Madonna's speech, I never once opened 
the door to gaze my eyes upon them.  I was approximately 70 feet from 
the podium with nothing more than a door between us...and, I didn't feel 
compelled to open the door and look at the spectacle.

I DID open the door during Lou Reed's speech for Leonard Cohen just 
because I wanted to see if he was still alive, or not. You really 
couldn't tell on the monitor. 

Somewhere in the evening, not long after they'd performed Walk, Don't 
Run, a couple of the guys from the Ventures came back. That was when Don 
Wilson hugged me and gave me his picks. Now, usually I'm not a guy who 
cares much about stuff like picks and stuff...but, this one is special. 
I could tell that Don was really, truly, sincerely proud to be in the 
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

My personal highlight from John's speech was that he thanked Tim Elsner. 
Tim is my long-time friend and the guy that got me involved with John in 
the first place. Tim has been a 'friend' of John's since grade school. 
So, I got some personal satisfaction out of that. 

Show's over...truck's loaded...on the road about 2 in the a.m.  Got to 
Stroudsburg, PA, after another NJ Diner omelet, and into a motel room 
bed about 4:30 a.m. The rest of the trip was just full of sex and 
violence and rock and roll...so, nobody wants to hear about that.

Man, this is the WORST Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 
Trip Report I've ever told. Hands down......

-- 
Felix J. McGillicuddy
ME-->GA '98
"Your Move"
ALT '03 KT '03
http://Felixhikes.tripod.com/