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Home | Links | News | Newsletter | Pictures | Guitars | Tour | CD's
Welcome to the kC Newsletter!
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Kevin Cronin will send in notes from the road to keep everybody updated on the latest REO Speedwagon news right here! Click on the link below to join the mailing list that notifies you when Kevin sends in a new note. Check out the past archived Newsletters for interesting notes from the past tours, developing news on the new CD as well as notes directly from the studio as they were recording "Find your own way home". |
Join the kC mailing list today !
Click here for details.
" kC Newsletter " - 06/17/08
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The new REO Speedwagon CD!
Click to purchase CD! |
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Send a
message to Kevin!
Kevin wants to hear from you. Tell him anything! You can send him an e-mail via the listens page. kC personally reads his messages you send to his website. |
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Past Newsletters
"2008' News" 05/30/08 - WEBMASTER D, WHO IS AN EXPERT ON ALL THINGS REO... 04/13/08 - I CAN COUNT TO FIFTEEN, AND ASK HOW TO FIND THE BATHROOM... 04/03/08 - WELL EXCUUUUSE ME. JUST BECAUSE... 03/19/08 - Needless to say, my little ones were the stars of... 02/29/08 - The other photo du jour is of John Travolta signing my daughter's Super Bowl cap. ... 02/09/08 - Okay, here is a secret for you…I will be appearing on ... 01/27/08 - WE JAMMED FOR A WHILE ON A NEW SONG I AM WORKING ON CALLED, 01/11/08 - WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE OUR UPCOMING SPRING TOUR.. |
THE JET-LAG JOURNALS…PART TWO
I SURE LOVE ALL OF THE VAST CULTURE DIVERSITY, THE RICH HISTORY, AND THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE OF THE UK AND EUROPE. I CAN’T QUITE PUT INTO WORDS THE EXCITEMENT I FEEL WHENEVER WE VISIT OUR FRIENDS ACROSS THE POND. MY EARLIEST MUSICAL INSPIRATION CAME FROM THE MUSIC OF THE BEATLES, THE KINKS, THE WHO, THE HOLLIES, THE DAVE CLARK FIVE, AND THE MANY OTHER GREAT BANDS OF THE BRITISH INVASION. OUR SECOND TRIP OVERSEAS IN AS MANY YEARS HAS BEEN ANOTHER INCREDIBLE SUCCESS STORY, AS OUR LONGTIME SUPPORTERS CAME BACK TO SEE US AGAIN, AND WE ADDED MANY NEW FANS ALL OVER EUROPE, IRELAND AND ENGLAND…THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, FORGIVE ME WHILST I HAVE A LITTLE FUN AT THE EXPENSE OF SOME OF THE MORE INTERESTING ASPECTS OF OUR EXPERIENCE AS A ROCK BAND ON THE ROAD, FAR AWAY FROM HOME…
FIRST, MY CELL PHONE WAS UNUSABLE DURING THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS OVERSEAS. I GUESS IT’S PARTLY MY FAULT FOR POOR PLANNING, AND NOT ACTIVATING THE I-PHONE WHICH HAS BEEN SITTING IN ITS BOX ON MY DESK SINCE I GOT IT LAST YEAR…OKAY, MAYBE THAT ONE IS ALL MY FAULT. BUT, BEING THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF HOTEL FRONT DESK CLERKS WERE BORN AFTER THE ADVENT OF MOBILE TELEPHONE TECHNOLOGY, FEW OF THEM HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TO REACT WHEN A GUEST NEEDS TO MAKE A TRANS-OCEANIC CALL FROM AN ACTUAL LAND LINE. AT APPROXIMATELY 1:00 AM GREENWICH MEAN TIME, UPON MY THIRD TRIP DOWN TO THE LOBBY TO PLEAD MY CASE WITH THE RADISSON EDWARDIAN’S NIGHT MANAGER, WHO WAS NOT ONLY OF THE POST-CELLULAR DEMOGRAPHIC, BUT FOR REASONS UNKNOWN TO ME, DID NOT CARE TO ABSORB A WORD I SAID, I HAD TO EXERCISE RESTRAINT AS THE THOUGHT OCCURRED TO ME THAT UNLESS I DID SO QUICKLY, THERE WAS AN EXCELLENT CHANCE THAT I WOULD END UP SPENDING THE NIGHT IN A LONDON JAIL, WHICH AT THE TIME SEEMED LIKE AN UPGRADE…I WAS FEELING THAT FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY………NOTE TO SELF: ACTIVATE I-PHONE IMMEDIATELY.
GRIPE NUMBER TWO: EUROPEAN HOTELS, PERHAPS IN AN ATTEMPT AT COST CUTTING, BUT IN MY ESTIMATION A POOR CHOICE OF SERVICES FOR A HOTEL TO CUT, HAVE ELIMINATED CLOCKS IN ALL OF THEIR ROOMS. YES, YOU HEARD RIGHT, A HOTEL ROOM WITH NO CLOCK, NO ALARM CLOCK, NO CLOCK RADIO. NOW ADMITTEDLY, THERE ARE SOMETIMES CLOCKS IN THE TELEVISION SETS, BUT THEY ONLY WORK WHEN THE TV IS TURNED ON, AND SINCE I DON’T PARTICULARLY ENJOY SPENDING MY FREE TIME IN EUROPE HANGING AROUND A HOTEL ROOM WATCHING THE TELLY, NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT HALF THE TIME I COULDN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO TURN THE BLASTED THINGS ON EVEN IF I WANTED TO, AND BECAUSE I HAD A WORLD CLASS CASE OF JET LAG AND WAS PRETTY MUCH DISORIENTED FROM DAY ONE, I NEVER KNEW WHAT BLOODY TIME IT WAS.
GRIPE NUMBER THREE: EUROPEAN AIRPORT OFFICIALS NEED TO SIT DOWN IN THE SAME ROOM, AND DECIDE ONCE AND FOR ALL HOW MANY CARRY ON BAGS CAN BE TAKEN ON ANY GIVEN FLIGHT, AND WHAT THE MAXIMUM SIZE OF SAID CARRY-ON BAG, OR BAGS, CAN BE. DON’T GET ME STARTED ON HOW MANY TIMES I HAD TO RE-PACK MY LUGGAGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOOR OF AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TERMINAL, THEREBY PUTTING MYSELF AT GRAVE RISK OF BEING TRAMPLED BY ANY NUMBER OF HARRIED PASSENGERS, AS THEY RUSHED TO AND FRO, LOOKING UP AT SIGNS POSTED IN VARIOUS UNFAMILIAR LANGUAGES, RATHER THAN WATCHING OUT FOR POOR UNSUSPECTING RE-PACKERS, SUCH AS MYSELF.
GRIPE NUMBER FOUR: TOURIST/PARENTS SHOULD EITHER LEAVE THEIR YOUNG IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN AT HOME WITH A BABYSITTER, OR RETHINK THEIR PLANS TO SPEND THEIR SUNDAY AFTERNOON STROLLING THE STREETS OF AMSTERDAM…NOT THAT I HAVE ANY FIRST PERSON KNOWLEDGE OF THIS PRACTICE, BUT THE COMBINATION OF A DAD WITH HIS DAUGHTER HOISTED ON HIS SHOULDERS, AS HE WINDOW SHOPS HIS WAY THROUGH THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT OF AMSTERDAM, IS JUST WRONG…EVEN IF IT WAS FATHER’S DAY.
GRIPE NUMBER SIX: IN SPITE OF ALL OF MY MOANING…I HAD A ROCKING GOOD TIME IN EUROPE AND THE UK!...AND I REALLY DO HATE TO LEAVE THIS WONDERFUL PLACE. I OF COURSE AM KIDDING ABOUT MY GRIPES, AND I TOTALLY LOOK FORWARD TO COMING BACK AGAIN NEXT SUMMER. THE EUROPEAN/UK FANS ARE SO LOYAL. WE OPENED THE SHOW AT ARROWFEST IN HOLLAND YESTERDAY, AND OUR SET WAS AT 12:45 PM…(THAT IS JUST AFTER NOON, QUITE EARLY IN THE DAY BY MOST ROCK’N ROLL STANDARDS). AMAZINGLY, WHEN WE HIT THE STAGE THE FESTIVAL SITE WAS ALREADY FILLED NEAR ITS TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND PERSON CAPACITY. WE HAD A GREAT SET, AND IT WAS FUN TO SEE OUR BUDDIES IN JOURNEY AND DEF LEPPARD, WHO WERE ON THE BILL ALONG WITH WHITESNAKE AND KISS. EVEN THOUGH WE ARE NOT REALLY USED TO GOING ON FIRST, IT WAS COOL, AND I THINK WE MADE ANOTHER STRONG IMPRESSION ON THE EUROPEAN ROCK AUDIENCE.
A LOT OF BRITISH AND EUROPEANS HAVEN’T SEEN US IN AWHILE, AND THEY ARE NOT SURE WHAT TO EXPECT FROM REO SPEEDWAGON IN 2008. BUT WE LIVE FOR COMING OUT AND TAKING THE CROWD FAR BEYOND THEIR EXPECTATIONS. IT IS REALLY GOOD FOR A BAND TO BE CHALLENGED IN THIS WAY…IT KEEPS US HUNGRY. I LOVE IT.
SO, WE SURVIVED OUR KILLER SCHEDULE, AND HAD A BLAST DOING IT. NOW WE ARE BACK STATESIDE AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYBODY THIS SUMMER IN A CITY NEAR YOU, OR YOU MAY HAVE TO DRIVE A LITTLE, BUT I PROMISE WE’LL MAKE IT WORTH YOUR FUEL COSTS. HEY, DON’T FEEL TOO BAD, GAS PRICES IN EUROPE ARE AROUND TEN BUCKS A GALLON. THAT COULD EXPLAIN ALL OF THE TINY CARS, PEOPLE WALKING, AND RIDING BICYCLES…HMMM, MAYBE WE AMERICANS COULD TAKE A PAGE FROM THAT PLAYBOOK, AND WORK A LITTLE HARDER AT CONSERVING ENERGY OVER HERE. I’VE GOT IT, NEXT TIME WE COME TO YOUR TOWN, RIDE YOUR BIKE TO THE REO SHOW.
KEEP PEDALIN’
KC