JULY IS ALMOST OVER!?!?!?!

Well, after U2 was all done it was time to get back to work at the Wine-Ree, and you'd never expect the show I came home to: Justin Bieber at the Mountain Winery. Crazy, I know! It was a charity show for College Track. Every cute little screaming teeny bopper (with well to do parents) in the area was here.



Jeff had Bieber Fever!



Justin Bieber @ the Mountain Winery
June 11, 2011

On June 16 we had Big Head Todd & the Monsters. What a great, bluesy sound they have! Toots and the Maytals were supposed to open for them, but they had bus trouble miles and miles away from here. Toots did not want to miss the show, as that had already happened to him sometime in the past, so they pressed on and kept calling in to update when they would arrive. Well, they did get here eventually, but not in time to open the show. So the solution was they did a shorter set and closed the show.

SURREAL MOMENT IN ROCK 'N' ROLL: When we went to pick them up Toots looked at me and I introduced myself and told him I would drive him in. He said, "And of course you know who I am!" He cracked me up so much! Luckily I did know who he was. He was awfully sweet to me. At the end of the night he told me he'd never forget me and he signed a photo for me. They did a great set, and I look forward to next time. I wonder if Toots really will remember me...





Also in June I spent a day as production coordinator with my friends Steve Paine & Joe Battle on Britney Spears at the Shark Tank. Honestly, I don't get it. But I had a great day with those guys, and we had an awesome runner team too. Lea, Lisa, Jack, Jeanine, Carin, I love it when a plan comes together!

My niece Julianna and her husband Jason came to visit on their way to moving to San Diego. We had a great visit to Santa Cruz . It was so much fun to see them! I miss those guys so much!

Lucinda Williams came back to the Winery on June 25. She was wonderful as always. Butch was sweet and all the band and crew wereas nice as they could be, but I do miss some of my old friends from the Lucinda group. My old friend from waaaay back in the day, David Parks and his sweet wife Kayleen came to that show. We saw each other for the first time in over 30 years! It was a great reunion. Interestingly, last year, Lucinda Williams show at the Winery was the first visit Cynders and I had in 30 years, and of course, we are all from that same Riverside gang! That show last year was also my first chance to meet Kurt.

SURREAL MOMENT IN ROCK 'N' ROLL: I got to have my picture made with the Prince of Polyester, David Lindley, right before he went onstage!

With David & Kayleen Parks

With Lucinda in Berkeley 2004

With David Lindley

Cynders & Kurt 9.12.10

June 26th I worked the Alice Summerthing in Golden Gate Park with my Taylor Street Production family. Luna was finally out of the hospital and a completely normal 8 months pregnant mama, so we were all thrilled to spend the day with her.  Michelle Branch and her band and crew were my favorites on that show. They're coming to the Winery soon and I'm really looking forward to seeing them again. After the show I went by Joe's house and picked up my new bike, thank you very much, Joe! I love it!

Also in June, Rihanna at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, on the 30th, which was a good day, and Rihanna is truly adorable too.

On to July....................................................

JUNE 2011! U2

Wow! What a month it's been (so far!) We've been crazy busy! The month started with U2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Lea & I went out to the warehouse where Alex, Jimmy, Caleb & Tank helped us get our gear together. We packed up office supplies, lamps, phones, our favorite copier-printer, laminating supplies- all sorts of stuff we couldn't work without.

Caleb added the BGP stencil to our production case. This may have been one of the last events at our wonderful warehouse. I can't believe it's being closed down! What will we do without our Ambience Boys and all our "good stuff"?!?!?

 

We moved into our offices at the Coliseum on June 2nd for a show on June 7th. The crew was beyond awesome! Hired guns came in to work for us from Las Vegas, Georgia, So Cal, and all points west. I was so excited to have two sisters with me, Lea and Stephanie!

Ken Kell came to play with us before leaving on his singing group's tour to China. Raven spent the week with us before heading to Harmony Festival and the Southland.

 

Jeff and Mick and the "Outta Site Crew" did everything that anybody asked of them, and more! They actually removed more plywood than was set down for the show, do not ask me how!

Little Richard Nixon was here with us driving vans almost every day, then filled in on said site crew as the week came to a close too.

Our show supervisor was Fred White and it was just so much fun to have him here.

Spending the week with him reminded me how much I have missed him. Tracy Underwood AKA Lacey Underwear worked operations. Apparently he cracks Lea up!



SOOOOO....... Update: July 24, 2011

 The Warehouse (also known as the Prop Hole) has closed. The Ambience Boys are working on our shows as well as doing warehouse related work.  I have been crazy busy (YAY!) at the Winery as well as my other gigs. I guess it's time to just post this and move forward...

Rock 'n' Roll is All Around Us!

Sooooo... there's this big stadium show coming to the Bay Area, U2. Have ya heard about it? I guess everybody has because there are few if any tickets left. The show is on Tuesday, June 7, but our work onsite will begin this Thursday. I'm very excited about it and only a little apprehensive. My guy is concerned about me being busy for 8 days and I know I'll miss him and my family and my cats too. PLUS I will miss a great Winery show with Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt, two of my favorites. But I'm excited to spend time with so many friends and such a fantastic crew and hey kids, we're puttin' on a great big rock show!

 Over the past few weeks we've had a lot going on here! Prince was back for a couple of shows in San Jose and I got to have a groovy time with my fabulous gang of friends crew. Lea, Raven, Lisa, Mike, Zach, Bob - what an amazing group! We really kicked butt and Sherry was very complimentary and appreciative to everyone. The shows were leapfrogged with the Sharks playoff games, which meant ice on the floor and chilly temps indoors. At one point I loaned Sherry my Giants Snuggie and got a great picture of her as a souvenir.



Sherry in the Snuggie



Surreal Moments in Rock 'n' Roll:

1. I ran into Dave Chappell backstage Thursday night.

2. Even better: Prince out riding bikes around the Arena neighborhood, first with his security guy, Kerwin, then with Sheila E. I may be able to get a copy of a picture a friend snapped...

Glee was in town for just their second stop on their first tour. The crew had a wonderful time and couldn't stop raving about the tour folks. Dave, Tony, Lea & Raven all agreed it was one of those shows that reminds you why you liked the job in the first place. The catering gang enjoyed a special day too - Charlene, Megan, Trevor, Kathleen, Zach & Larry kept the food coming and the dishes clean for the whole crew. Carin had the biggest challenge keeping up with the shopping list, but fortunately she's up to it. She's fast and fabulous at her job!

Our office is going through the latest round of reorganization so Lea and I spent Thursday helping to get our department relocated. I wasn't so sure about my new spot. I thought I wouldn't like moving away from my big window. As it turns out I love my new space even more than my old one. It's cozy and I felt comfortable from the very first moment. My plants seem to be settling in comfortably so far, and all my tiki goodies have found their new places.

Yep, that's Steve and me in a photo booth down at the Boardwalk. I love photo booth pictures, don't you?

The clock on my cubicle wall is the one I had in the office at Furthur Festival over Memorial Day weekend last year. It's a recycled LP pressed to make a clock face. Lea painted the numbers in and I found the parrot record label on the internet. It's hard to believe that week in Frogtown was a year ago. We had a glorious time with all our festie friends and you bet I'd love to do it again, even with the thunderstorms and the wet tent. It was one of the most fun gigs ever!

The picture on my laptop screen is Lea & me at a Jimmy Buffett show at Shoreline, more good times!

My Kiwi friends Murray and Christy were here for just a quick visit on their way to the Caribbean. It was so wonderful to see them! We had a night out at JJ's Blues, a super groovy little club in my neighborhood where we heard the Liar's Club blues band with Steve and Tim. Everything's better live! With all the big shows I get to see, the little ones are still just as much fun and even more. Of course going out just for fun with friends is a big plus!



Christe, Murray & Tim at JJ's



Christie



So Ricky Martin, Rammstein, Prince, Glee and the Moody Blues have all come and gone. The Winery is all loaded in and the first show was a big success. Usher will be just a memory in a 36 hours. I'm happy in my new cubicle and Joe's feeling pretty comfy in his new gig and I feel a great summer coming on!  Lisa graduated from West Valley yesterday with her Mom and cousin Trevor in attendance and Gabe showed me all the pictures. It's all U2 from here! Bring it on!





Opening Day at the Wine-Ree! The Moody Blues May 27, 2011

Photo by Craig Miller

Welcome home everybody! The clouds burned off, the sun shone and the temp got into the low 70s. The band showed up, catering is delicious as always, and the summer family is starting to settle in. Craig already relocated the first little snake of 2011. Snakes are part of the charm of our place, and we always get excited when we find one. They are always treated with respect and kindness. Our steward Craig Miller is the official snake handler of the Mountain Winery.





Men at Work: Mark Hogue, Joe Battle, Ron Bergman & Peter Donovan





It was great to work with the Moody Blues crew . The drivers were all in a sunny disposition even after the drive up the hill, and I had a good time taking them all to town for the afternoon. Jeff gave me a copy of his cd, yes, in rock ‘n’ roll even truck drivers make records, and there were a couple of pretty good songs on it too. Tony & I worked for Karen “KC” Colvin, who was kind enough to give us a signed picture of the band for Dolores, our awesome “Dry Cleaner to the Stars”. Dolores’ shop, Riverside Cleaners is becoming a gallery of photos of just a few of the rock stars whose wardrobe she cleans for us every week. And she is just about the sweetest lady you could ever hope to meet!



"Dad" looks over Joe's shoulder as he runs his first show at the Mountain Winery



Michael  works one more gig at the Wine-Ree

We were lucky to squeeze one more work day out of everybody's kid brother, Michael Roberts. We're so glad to get to see him before his deployment overseas. He went out to Shoreline for a few hours to see everyone there too. Came back with a little sunburn from hanging on the hospitality deck. Stay safe Michael, we love you!

As it is every year, the Mountain Winery was THE place to be. Ron even left his computer at the office and spent some time relaxing in the sun, watching other guys work! By showtime Lee & Jenn had arrived and Jodi and Michelle were here too. The owners came down, Dean Markley came up. The house was full. I didn’t see an empty seat.. The Moody Blues sounded as great as ever, playing music that took me back to high school. Nights in White Satin was the theme to practically every prom of the '70s, Mark Hogue says even the '80's!



Mark had a Bill Graham moment



Slightly Surreal Moment in Rock ‘n’ Roll: I got a facebook message from a friend with the Doobies to say hello to everyone in the Moodys, and they were happy to say hello back. Mark said, "I love that band!"

The Wine-ree?

I know you're wondering, so why do I say the Wine-Ree? It's because of Dr. John, the Night Tripper, Mac Rebennack. Somewhere in my memorabilia is a copy of his hand written set list and that's what he called our place, the "Wine-Ree". I LOVE Dr. John! Not only is his music straight from heaven, ok, of course by way of "N'Awlinz", but he is just the sweetest guy ever. He made me feel so comfortable and just as happy as you are when your favorite uncle comes to visit. He wouldn't let me drop him off without a hug and kiss good bye. He even drew a little picture in my book.

I'll never forget getting a phone call when somebody thought he'd had heard that Dr. John had died (remember Doug?). Turned out to have been a deejay called Dr. Don. I was sorry for Dr. Don's family, friends and fans, but so relieved! I just wasn't ready to lose Dr. John just yet. AND he's coming back to us this September 27, 2011, along with the Lower 911, Little Feat and the Blind Boys of Alabama. What a show it will be! I can't hardly wait!


So in honor of Dr. John, and one or two Surreal Moments in Rock 'n' Roll, I've decided to call this blog "My Summer at the Wine-Ree", even though I can't resist mentioning the other places I will spend this "Summer Vacation" and the moments I will be having. Later I'll tell a little bit about our San Jose visit from His Royal Purpleness...

RAINY DAY LOAD IN

May 16, 2011 Happy New Year!




Our Lady of Out With the Bad Juju, In With the Good

Today is the first day of my 10th season at the Historic Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. I am planning on absolutely the grooviest season here ever!

 The Winery is the former Paul Masson Winery, built originally as Mr. Masson's summer home. It's the sweetest little venue ever, with the greatest schedule and most importantly, my other family!



John Faldetta



The Valley from our "backyard"



Kindra, Jeff, John, Craig




Ray, Bill, Mark



It's gonna be a great season!