The Canyons of My Mind...

This trip just gets weirder and weirder. Bob Skeat and I got the giggles yesterday just thinking about the events of the last 3 or 4 days. At that point we sitting in the bottom of the Grand Canyon drinking champagne, having been delivered there by helicopter on our day off! The youngster of the band, Joe Crabtree, had planned a full day of events for us culminating in a visit to the Venetian in the evening where we joined USASH supremo and archivist extraordinaire, Dr. John and Diane, for a visit to the Blue Man show.

By rights, I should have been in bed recovering from this wretched bout of food poisoning but armed with a gallon of Gatorade and some disposable hospital - issue paper trousers (I kid you not) I decided, ‘It’s Vegas for Chrissakes!’ The Canyon was amazing. I’d been there a couple of times before but never quite in this way. Our Gallic sound man Daniel, was very relieved to find that the helicopter was French made. We were not quite so sure. Our pilot clued us in on all sorts of facts. This place is stupefying. We flew over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and saw the Colorado river in all it’s mighty glory. ‘Awesome’, is one overworked word I would actually use here.

Anyway, in the last few days we’ve played our final show in the U.K. which included the entire Argus performance at the Astoria in London, we flew to Philadelphia taking advantage of the 5 hour bonus time-change to play The Rites Of Spring Prog Fest. We then made it down to Annapolis to one of our favourite venues, the Ramshead – played a blinder. I got food poisoning and spent the night in Emergency. Then we somehow limped to DC where under the scrutiny of 5 video cameras and the world’s best recording equipment, we recorded the Argus album during the afternoon in front of a small, invited audience, live, in it’s entirety. Directly that evening we flew out here to Vegas. Action – packed day off! Well tonight’s gig should be a piece of cake. By the way; Denny and Chipster and Milt ( Pervisaurus) …you are the A Team! Could not have done it without you! Steve and Jon and Leon (broken ankle notwithstanding)… Warriors all!!

I had a great meeting also, yesterday, with Ellen Lafferty one of the team organizing ASHFEST FLORIDA in September and she will be at the Vegas show taking reservations for what will be the culmination of celebrations of a great year for Wishbone Ash. I strongly recommend this trip, if finances and time permit. It’s an amazing value for money thing and at the rate we are going might, just might, be the last opportunity to see the band before we implode under the work load we’ve set ourselves. I jest, but it’s been a long time in the preparation and could be something of a Pilgrimage for you diehard Ashaholics who regularly make multiple shows in Europe or the USA. Right now, we’ve got the West Coast on our minds.

Westward Ho the wagons! California beckons – Be well, my trusty cohorts!
~ A.P.

P.S. Pictures will follow no doubt.