The Ultimate Rock Symphony Australia, 2000
'The Down Under Diary'
The Flight -
16th February 2000 - I left Nashville at 5:00pm and flew to LA where I met up with Mark Snyder, my partner in 'Framptone' and guitar technician extraordinaire. Then it was a straight 16 hour flight to Melbourne, Australia. We arrived two days later on the 18th at 9:30am just in time for breakfast. Can you say, "JET LAG???"
Perth
Burswood Dome, 23rd February, 2000 -
7:52pm - The show is just about to start. We have already rehearsed in Melbourne with the band and orchestra. There was a complete run through yesterday and a sound check earlier today. It is a lot of artists for one show but it works. I must leave for the venue which is next door to this hotel.
11:25pm - Show is over and it went really well. In fact, so well that after the encores we needed another song. So Roger strapped on an acoustic and ran out and started the Who's "Squeeze Box" and we all joined in and jammed. For me it was the best part of the show. It was the 'unexpected' ! When people try to descibe Rock'n'Roll it never seems completely right. As we all went back on stage to join Roger for this last great ditty I realized that THIS is Rock 'n Roll. It's the attitude and danger of no safety net. All the rehearsal in the world would not have made it any better. You just had to be there!!!
The Day After
Travel day, 24th February, 2000 -
The reaction was fantastic from the audience and all of us. We loved it and for a first show it couldn't have been better. Everyone is tired but relieved that we have one under our belt, as it were. Now we can relax and make the show even better. Most of today seems to be taken up with just getting to Adelaide. Now here's a strange one - from Perth to Adelaide there is a two and a half hour time change. It's as if we are flying from LA to Nashville, as far as distance is concerned, but Memphis would be half an hour behind Nashville. But I have always felt that way anyway. (lol - No emails please - I love Memphis!) There was a lot of TV cameras and fans at the airport when we arrived and one fan had some terrific drawings of myself, Roger and Alice. They are not at all flattering but hilarious.
Adelaide
Before show, 25th February, 2000 -
No sound check today as the four trucks of equipment are not here yet. It's a very large country and the roads are not set up quite as well as in the US. It is extremely hot so I will try out the pool or go to the beach. I heard about Carlos's Grammy's ( thankyou - finally!!! ) and 'THE' dress. It is on TV here tonight. I am going to post this now for you to see. So stay tuned for my review of tonights show plus more as soon as I can write it!
G'Day, Peter
Adelaide Entertainment Centre, 25th February, 2000
Well, it was a great show in a much nicer sounding room. The audience were
less inhibited than at the first show. That was probably because, in Perth,
the building was very big and cold whereas here there was a warmer feel and
the sound in the room was much better here. Everyone is singing and playing
really well and the whole party seems pretty laid back (early days!).
Of course, I did hear of some orchestra members making a spectacular entrance
into the after show party, which was up on the roof around the pool. The song
that was played is irrelevant, it was the attire that was a surprise. I think
it was, 'When All The Saints Come Marching In, In The Nude'! Australia seems
to bring out the primitive in us all at some time or another. My episode was
in 1978 when I woke up in a strange house with a broken foot! The details will
one day be in 'The Book' but not quite yet.
Adelaide/Sydney
Travel Day, 26th February, 2000
Not many more flights on the tour because when we arrive in Sydney, we are
based there until we fly out to the last show in Melbourne. I think Mark
Clark, bass player/vocalist, flew the plane to Sydney. He was invited up to
the cockpit and never came out till we landed. It was a rather bumpy flight,
come to think of it.
Sydney is a
happening place and I can feel it has a great energy. It's no wonder why so
many people have hideaways here.
Well, some of us love the hotel and some of us hate the hotel! I have a
full kitchen and washer and dryer in my suite and there is a shop downstairs
that only seems to sell Cadbury's chocolate products. It is very hard to
actually get past this shop, which I do, then Mark Snyder, my assistant, puts
a huge bar of it inside my bag. At three in the morning as I get in from a
show - there it is staring at me..................ER.........................What do you think?
Sydney/ Newcastle
Newcastle Entertainment Centre, 27th February, 2000
A two hour bus ride to Newcastle from Sydney and a long hang before the show.
At the soundcheck we ran through 'My Generation' which included, Roger
singing lead and Billy Thorpe and myself adding more backing vocals to the
chorus of Geoff Whitehorn/ lead guitar, Simon Townsend/ rhythm guitar and
Mark Clark/ bass guitar. When the bass solo comes after the second verse I
got to do the talkbox and play the Entwhistle riffs with Mark. Nice to play
it on something completely different. Now who would have thought? Excuse
the accidental pun. The show is really getting slicker and so we are having
more fun with it. Everybody watches everyone else's act from the side of the
stage.
We got a great review from Perth which we believe to be the officially
correct review and then there was another one which even criticized the
audience for liking us - this was the exact same show as the other review. Go
figure that one out! I don't really care what they say as I am loving the
show and we are all enjoying working together. There's a lot of respect for
each other's talent AND we get to all come on at the end and then you see it
in the faces of the audiences - it's a mutual feeling.
After another blinder of a show, I ended up in a van with Roger, Billy, Gary
Brooker and Dave, Roger's man and Chris, the driver. We played this game
of...."Look, you think of a band name then the next person has to think of a
band name that starts with the last letter of the previous band. Think about
it..........they are nearly all 'S'. Easy, you say but after a while you run
out of 'S' bands. Anyway, Roger won after 2 hours then we got lost, at 1am in
Sydney, trying to find the hotel. Touring never changes that much no matter
where you are in the world, we still get lost!
It was a hilarious ride back even when Gary finally lit up the pipe in the no
smoking van and I thought Billy was going to jump out as he opened the
sliding door. At the time were careening around Sydney at speeds approaching
60 mph! I talked him back in and we arrived back late but safe. I got to my
room and my key would not work so I go back another three quarters of a mile
to the lobby to get my key revalidated. The perfect end to another perfectly,
imperfect day on tour! Wait a minute, where's my shirt? Oh no, it's still in
the van...........................................Later!
Sydney SuperDome 3rd March, 2000
Today was interesting because it started off quiet but then a lot was packed
into the rest of the day. I was to film a section for an Argentinian TV show
called, 'Surprise and a Half'. Basically, it's a show where the producers
find people who admire others from all walks of life and facilitate a
surprise meeting. For me it was an Argentinian, named Marcelo Furlan who was asked
by his company to courier a package all the way to Sydney, Australia and also
pick something up. To his surprise he ends up meeting and singing with me at
the soundcheck.
First the disguise. They came and turned me into a different person. Full
disguise, beard, wig, dressed in a suit, with hat, just like a chauffeur. By
the time they had finished I looked a bit like a werewolf with a hat!
Marcelo is from just outside Buenos Aires and has been a fan of 'yours truly'
for a long time. I picked him up in a van, on camera the whole time, and
drove him to a hotel near the gig to suposedly 'pick something up' to take
back to the law firm he works for in Argentina. He had no idea who I was the
whole time I drove him. Talk gets around to the show playing in town tonight
at the Super Dome and I tell him that it's Roger, Alice Cooper, Paul Rodgers
and Peter Frampton and he almost loses it then. So I tell him that there are
no more tickets left. He says that I am his favourite musician ever. He
actually asks me if I know of 'his' music. I told him that I was not that
familiar with 'his' stuff, so he starts singing 'my' songs to me, pretty well
actually! I managed to keep it together - just.
There is a lot of traffic but we finally get to the hotel where he has been
asked to drop off/pickup the 'whatever' but they tell him that he must come
back in a couple of hours as it's not ready yet. Bummer! So I tell him that
the show we talked about is only just around the corner and that I know
someone who works backstage. Does he want to try and see the band do a
souncheck even though none of the artists will be there? "Oh, yes", he says
even more excited!
So off we go and Mark, my assistant, is at the door backstage acting like he
doesn't know me. But I tell him that it's me, "Brian", his buddy and in we go.
Mark shows him my guitars and I ask can we go up onstage and watch the band
work. In the end I get my way and we go on stage as Mark is holding my
guitar. I ask him to let me touch it and he says, "No way!" I am very
persistent and relunctantly he gives in. So I play a bad version of the 007 James Bond theme and the band is laughing and saying to get rid of this
loser! Then I say "...try this one!" and go into 'Baby, I love Your Way' and
the band follows as planned. So as I start to sing I am taking off the hat
and the beard and almost get to sing the first line of the song and the penny
drops!
I thought Marcelo was going to have a heart attack. He is in total shock,
head in his hands and I get him to the mike and he sings with me on the
chorus. Unfortunately, for the entire song, the glue strips for the beard
and moustache are still all over my face which makes me look like I had a
really bad shave!!
They filmed the part show that night when I do 'While My Guitar Gently
Weeps' and Marcelo is right in the front. He has gone from, no tickets
available - to having the best seat in the house! Should be a good show
when they edit it all together.
The show was great. Unfortunately, Paul Rodgers and Nikki Lamborn are so sick
with the flu that they have lost their voices. They both went on and did
incredibly well but Paul could not sing the second half so we had to miss
hearing, 'Alright Now', which is always one of the main highlights of the
show. Paul has one of the best voices around as far as I'm concerned. Paul
and Steve Marriot are my two all time favourites. Both are completely
different but they have the same amount of 'soul' and you can't learn 'soul'
- it's a gift!
Bye for now,
Peter
