Jacksonvillle!

Julie Slick, Adrian Belew, and Eric Slick in Jacksonville, Florida

Part Two of my recap of touring begins with a story about our travels in Jacksonville.

After the amazing night in Atlanta, it was hard for me to imagine that any of our shows would get better. We woke up the next morning and told the "Genie" (Adrian's GPS system which he aptly named Genie) to take us to Jacksonville. I haven't spent too much time in Florida in my life. I played in Fort Lauderdale with the School of Rock and that provided me with many memorable experiences, but I didn't get to see much of the area. Anyway, "Genie" decided to screw up our order and started telling us the wrong directions. "Turn left. Make a U Turn. Turn right. Turn right. Go to Buckhead Diner." How frustrating! Finally, Adrian got it to work and we were on the right road. We arrived in Jacksonville and I suddenly felt like I was in Venice Beach. It has a similar setup - the palm trees everywhere and surf shops - and I felt like I was back on the School of Rock West Coast Tour from two years ago. That was the day I purchased an LAPD shirt and then our bus driver Abel stole it from me.

Julie and I were starving and headed over to the venue to see what was up. The venue was Freedbird Live which is actually owned by the late Ronnie Van Sant's widow. Ronnie was the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd and it all clicked...Freebird Live? Get it?

Julie was into getting sushi for dinner but I was feeling quite pedestrian and decided to get pizza across the street. I wasn't feeling fulfilled so I got super delicious ice cream that was next door to the venue. Julie and I headed back to the hotel and on the way we walked by a Margaritaville Bar where a guy in a Hawaiian shirt was singing "Comfortably Numb" with an 80's Yamaha keyboard.

I love Florida.

We run back to the stage to begin the set. We had a small but enthusiastic crowd. They were very dedicated and inebriated! Our set was going along fine until Julie broke her low A bass string. Adrian saved the day by going into the solo portion of his set early. Little did he know the insanity that was ensuing backstage! Julie did not have an extra pack of bass strings and we were running around and freaking out. David (Adrian's roadie) and I just kept looking at each other, shaking our heads. Adrian finished his solo section and we still had a broken bass. Julie played the next couple songs without a string...wow...kudos to Julie! Finally some guy in the crowd ran in with bass strings and Adrian and I went into an impromptu jam session. I think we may have even started playing a Crimson song, I don't remember. I kept staring up towards the ceiling and I forgot there was another level of venue seating. So I looked and people were giving me thumbs up! I started cracking up because I was not expecting that.

Julie ran back on the stage with fixed bass in hand, and she proceeded to rip through the rest of the set with ease. Thanks to the crowd and sound guys for understanding our technical difficulties. Shows like that are always valuable and important to me. They're learning experiences and they remind you that you're touring, and that it's not always easy. I've always said that spontaneity is the core essence of being on the road.