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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". |
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" kC Newsletter " - 10/21/08
IT FEELS LIKE WE HAVE BEEN ON THE ROAD FOR A MONTH, BUT IN REALITY OUR FIRST SHOW IN ARUBA WAS LAST FRIDAY NIGHT. WE HAVE TRAVELED SO MANY MILES, EXPERIENCED SO MANY DIFFERENT CULTURES, MET SO MANY PEOPLE, SEEN SO MUCH OF OUR WORLD…IT IS HARD TO DIGEST IT ALL. EVERY DAY HAS BEEN A MEAL IN ITSELF…SPICY, SATISFYING, SWEET, AND DEFINITELY UNIQUE.
MY LAST NEWSLETTER LEFT OFF WITH ME HAVING JUST AWOKEN IN PANAMA CITY…NOT THE SPRING BREAK DESTINATION ON FLORIDA’S PANHANDLE…THE CITY IN THE COUNTRY WITH THAT BIG CANAL. IT WAS SO AWESOME PLAYING FOR A FULL HOUSE, TOTALLY SOLD OUT, PEOPLE WANTING TICKETS BUT THERE WERE NONE LEFT…THERE IS NO BETTER FEELING FOR A BAND PLAYING IN A COUNTRY FOR THE FIRST TIME…QUITE A MEMORABLE WELCOME.
AS MUCH FUN AS THE GIG WAS, OUR ADVENTURE THE FOLLOWING DAY WAS EQUALLY COOL. AS SOON AS I HEARD WE WERE PLAYING IN PANAMA, I HAD EXPRESSED MY INTEREST IN EXPLORING THE PANAMA CANAL. IT IS JUST ONE OF THOSE PLACES I HAVE READ ABOUT SINCE I WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL, AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT. LUCKILY, SOME OF THE CANAL OFFICIALS MUST BE REO FANS, BECAUSE WE GOT A LEVEL OF TREATMENT THAT WAS BEYOND VIP. WE ACTUALLY STOOD ON THE GATES OF THE MIRAFLORA LOCKS AS AN ENORMOUS “PANAMAX” FREIGHTER, THE LARGEST SHIPS WHICH CAN NAVIGATE THE CANAL, STEADILY APPROACHED. THE HUMAN BRAIN, WELL AT LEAST NOT MINE, CAN’T REALLY COMPREHEND THE SIGHT OF
THIS ENORMOUS VESSEL, PASSING THROUGH SO NARROW A WATERWAY. THERE ARE LITERALLY LESS THAN TWO FEET ON EITHER SIDE OF THE SHIP SEPARATING ITS HULL FROM THE CONCRETE WALLS OF THE LOCK. IT IS TRULY AN UNBELIEVABLE SIGHT TO SEE. NOT TO MENTION THE HUMAN TRIUMPH INVOLVED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD. THERE ARE NO PUMPS INVOLVED IN THE CANAL’S OPERATION…IT IS ALL ABOUT GRAVITY AND RAINFALL. CHECK IT OUT WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE; THERE ARE A NUMBER OF INTERESTING BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT.
MEANWHILE, HURRICANE OMAR HAD BEEN BEARING DOWN ON OUR NEXT DESTINATION FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, AND WAS ON COURSE TO HIT THE SHORES OF PUERTO RICO RIGHT AROUND THE SAME TIME AS OUR PLANE WAS SCHEDULED TO LAND…OUCH. NOTHING LIKE HUNDRED MILE AN HOUR SUSTAINED WINDS, AND A FORECASTED TWENTY PLUS INCHES OF RAINFALL TO PUT THE DAMPER ON A ROCK SHOW. I GUESS OUR WEATHER KARMA WAS DUE FOR SOME GOOD LUCK AFTER A ROUGH SUMMER OF OUTDOOR SHOWS IN THE STATES, BECAUSE THE STORM NARROWLY MISSED SAN JUAN, AND MOVED OUT TO SEA WITHOUT INCIDENT…YAY, AND OLE!
ON OUR DAY OFF, LIKE A SALMON SWIMMING UPSTREAM TO SPAWN, I WAS DRAWN TO OUR LONG TIME HAUNTS IN OLD SAN JUAN. ON OUR FIRST TRIP TO Puerto Rico IN 1985, WE TOTALLY CONNECTED WITH THE OLD CITY. OUR PAST HANGS SUCH AS EL BATEY, MARIAS, EL MORRO AND THE EL CONVENTO HOTEL, WERE CALLING MY NAME, AND I COULD NOT RESIST VISITING THESE NOSTALGIC PLACES. I FOUND MARIA AT HER NEW BAR, EL TORTUGA…HER SMILE AS LOVELY AS EVER, AND COUNTING THE TILL AS ALWAYS. OUR OLD FRIEND AND BARTENDER AT EL BATEY, ALAN, HAS RETIRED, BUT I HONORED HIS MEMORY WITH A GLASS OF FINE SIPPING RUM AND A GAME OF BUMPER POOL…WITH MYSELF, I KNOW, HOW SAD IS THAT? THIS BEING THE SAME BUMPER POOL TABLE, OVER WHICH I, AND FORMER SECURITY MAN, MIKEY, HAD HELD COURT INTO THE WEE HOURS, BACK IN THE DAY. WE SET FORTH A CHALLENGE TO ALL COMERS: YOU WIN, WE GIVE UP THE TABLE…WE WIN, YOU BUY US SHOTS. I AM PROUD TO SAY WE RETIRED UNBEATEN, AND HAVING DRANK OUR COMBINED WEIGHT IN RUM AND TEQUILA THAT NIGHT.
LAST NIGHT’S SHOW AT ROBERTO CLEMETE STADIUM WAS ANOTHER MAJOR SUCCESS. OUR GOOD BUDDIES, KANSAS, SHARED THE STAGE, AND TOGETHER WE ROCKED THE JOINT, BIG TIME. THE FIRST TIME WE PLAYED IN SAN JUAN, BACK IN 1985, WAS AT A TIME WHEN “CAN’T FIGHT THIS FEELING” WAS NUMERO UNO ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS, AT THE PEAK OF THAT SONG’S POPULARITY. IT WAS BLASTING OUT OF EVERY SHOP, TAXI, AND BOOM BOX ON THE ISLAND. WE WERE TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY WHEN WE PLAYED THE SONG THAT NIGHT, AND THE AUDIENCE SANG ALONG WITH SUCH VOLUME THAT THEY DROWNED OUT OUR SOUND SYSTEM. WELL GUESS WHAT, IT HAPPENED AGAIN LAST NIGHT. OUR CONNECTION WITH THE PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO IS UNDENIABLE, AND IT HAS REMAINED STRONG EVER SINCE. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING THAT MUSIC HAS SUCH A MAGICAL POWER TO PEOPLE BRING, AND KEEP PEOPLE TOGETHER.
OUR CREW DID AN AMAZING JOB, UNDER EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TECHNICAL CONDITIONS, IN ORDER TO PULL THIS TOUR OFF. ONCE AGAIN WALTER, MIKEY, SCHAEFF, PETE, PAUL, T-BYRD, SMOOTH, GONG-SHOW, AND JIMMY…YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST. THANKS TO ALL OF THE PROMOTERS, LOCAL CREWS, RADIO STATIONS AND FANS WHO HAVE MADE THIS TOUR SUCH A SUCCESS. BECAUSE OF YOU ALL, WE WILL BE ABLE TO COME BACK AND SHARE OUR MUSIC WITH OUR FRIENDS IN THE CARIBBEAN AGAIN SOON.
SO NOW I SIT ABOARD MY FLIGHT HOME, LOOKING BACK ON OUR TOUR, LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR NEXT VISIT TO THESE SPECIAL ISLANDS, AND IN ANTICIPATION OF SEEING MY FAMILY TONIGHT. AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE, THE ONLY DRAG OF MY JOB IS THAT I HAVE TO BE AWAY FROM HOME SO MUCH, SO MY PAYOFF IS IN SIGHT.
GRACIAS, BUENOS NOCHES, AMIGOS,
KC