From Vik's intrepid reporter Michael Toth comes this...
TRUE TALES OF TOUR TERROR!!!
Combustible Edison just played two dates within reasonable driving distance
of my residence in Akron. I took days off from work to catch both shows and
sleep in later the following mornings, and if possible, connect for some
Columbus and Cleveland area cavorting with net chums Br. Cleve and The
Millionaire. Cleve said to expect a phone call from the road when they knew
more what was happening.
Tuesday night, 11/5/96 9:52 PM
Cleve calls me to say they JUST pulled into their Cincinnati venue from Grand Rapids, MI and were unloading equipment. The trip took significantly longer than anyone thought. They were scheduled to go on at 10 PM. Cleve said it was now looking more like 11. The Grand Rapids venue ("The Reptile Pit?") was the slimiest the band members had EVER seen and I gathered they were all happy to get out of the experience alive. I'm still not sure what made it SO slimey, but accounts of human excrement seen smeared on the bathroom walls offers some hints. Cleve informs me that they've averaged 3-4 nights of sleep the past few solid days of touring, and everyone needed to sleep in, so they planned on a late afternoon arrival in Columbus. Ergo, lunch at Columbus' Kahiki (Cleve says the only other Tiki monument restaurant on its scale is in Ft. Lauderdale) with a couple friends of mine and me would be postponed to a dinner if at all. I said I'd just call by their hotel in Columbus with my friends Mike & Rick that afternoon to figure out details.
Wednesday, 11/6/96 11 AM
Cleve rings Toth's Space Age Bachelor Pad. "Cleve, hi. YOU'RE up earlier than you should be."
"Yeah, well, we kind of had to check out. The hotel blew up."
"Um, excuse me?"
At 7 in the morning they decided to do some work on the roof of the Day's Inn, making noise Cleve likened to several helicopters landing in the room. Something went wrong, the roof collapsed, and water (from burst pipes?) began pouring from the light fixtures and ventilation vents. Going on three hours for sleep, everyone quickly got dressed, grabbed their stuff and ran out as water filled the crumbling hallways.
,br>
Mike, Rick, & I met up with them at the venue and chatted with Cleve and The Millionaire, who were their typically friendly, jovial selves, despite the fact that they had EVERY right to be untalkative and cranky. We hung out for the sound check, which ran late enough that we had to go Kahiki-ing without them for fear that we wouldn't get back in time for them to change, etc. and prepare for the show. This obviously bummed out Cleve. But they put us and Skip, a Columbus friend of mine, on the guest list and slapped a "reserved" sign on a table near the front (which the crowd politely respected(!)); we were able to waltz in at 9:55 through the crowds and sit down at a prime spot. Both here and in Cleveland, my friends and I were treated like kings by these guys; hospitality was on parade for what truly WAS a two-day
Millionaire's Holiday...
The band was in mighty fine form, leagues better than the very well-done performance I caught last spring. Lots more texture, proficiency, and overall zing, apparently a by-product of six months of touring. The witty-in-between-song-bantering Millionaire in particular was dynamic on his sparkly guitar...Vinnie Bell eat your heart out!! Nice crowd too. I couldn't name a single song I wanted to hear and didn't among there two one-hour sets, and I finally got to hear all the legendary ComEd cover tunes I've only heard about like "Mini-Skirt" and "Space Patrol" et al. But whatever angle someone might create to bad-mouth the band, there's no denying they're five highly skilled, professional musicians who immensely enjoy the music they perform. The show was...*Columbustible*!
Thursday, 11/7/96 2PM
Like The Munsters' house, there seemed to be a bubble of bad weather surrounding their van ever since Cincinnati. I knew they were getting closer as the clouds got more ominous. Having driven back with my friends the night before, I hook up with the ComEd tour van on the Interstate on the way to Cleveland. As everyone else heads to their hotel, I take Cleve and The
Millionaire to Akron's Tangier ("The Showcase of the Midwest!"), an insanely elaborate mosque-motif Las-Vegas-without-the-gambling restaurant/entertainment complex that's IMHO, as much of an intriguing regional anomaly as The Kahiki. Pretty barren on a Thursday mid-afternoon, but they got the idea. I've suggested ComEd needs to get booked at The
Tangier's "Sultan's Cabaret," but considering its itinerary that had acts like The Limelighters and The Mills Brothers booked over a year in advance, that could be tough to arrange. Cleve and I admired the wall of fame of autographed photos of Phyllis Diller (she's CONSTANTLY there), Frankie Avalon (w/ "Pudgie"!!), etc. while The Millionaire gave a phone interview. We also
visited the mondo bizarro Tiki McDonald's near Kent, and then it was time to get them to their hotel in downtown Cleveland.
A tornado was spotted ten miles or so from the venue and there were some wicked winds and rain, but other than that, as of when I left them, there were no signs of new tour nightmares. My newlywed friends Brett and Chicory enjoyed themselves immensely with me as I experienced a second fine performance (although not AS fine as the Columbus show; still solid and skillfully played and in no way disappointing, but not AS zingy and zippy despite getting some rest; the crowd may have contributed to that; bassist Nick had a rather noteworthy night though).
There you have it! Late arrivals from feces-coated hell-holes, sleep deprivation, disintegrating hotels, tornados, and more!