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Yes, I am still seeing Sheila. We're seeing quite a bit of each other. Things are going very well in that regard.
I'm hoping that later on this year we can see more of US 66, the Arizona portion between Kingman and Flagstaff, and during the spring. It's challenging for both of us to get any extended time off. I switched assignments at work effective January 2nd and we're on a very tight schedule.
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Two weekends ago Bachman & Turner played in Glendale, at the Jobing.com Arena, the present home of the Phoenix Coyotes. Sheila and I got to meet up with Fred Turner a few hours before the show. I knew before last Christmas that we might be seeing them. Fred told me in an email about there being rumors of an Arizona show, and when it became official I bought some tickets.
We ran into Fred and his wife Donna in that mall area north of the arena. I had related to Sheila the story about how I had run into Fred on Fremont Street in Las Vegas several hours before their scheduled show, and within ten minutes it was happening all over again!
I have been wanting Sheila to meet Fred for some time, and it happened! Sheila was impressed with how down to earth Fred is, and me, even though I've now met him more times than I can remember, I still get giddy with excitement whenever it happens.
As for the show, they were preceded on stage by Trooper and Loverboy; both out of Canada. It was "Canada Fest" and from audience response to questions by the lead singer of Trooper, 40% of the audience was Canadian. He also gave a friendly shout out to us Americans.
Bachman & Turner ended up closing the festival. It was a shorter set than I would have liked, but they were more improvisational than I had ever seen. Randy Bachman extended most of his solos with extra measures......even his "drumstick" solo was a little longer and not quite to script, for lack of a better expression.
There weren't any songs from their 2010 CD, but they did play "Shakin' All Over"......I don't think they've done that one live since 1986. They did not indicate that any new material was coming out, but I can tell you what I know here.
A 40th anniversary of their Not Fragile album is being released later this month. It will be a two CD set and will have some live/rehearsal material. It is also public knowledge that Fred would very much love to do a new album, but logistically it's difficult since he's in Winnipeg (and Tampa during the winter) while the rest are in B.C.. Randy's also got a lot of side projects going on with a radio show on CBC as well his "Every Song Tells a Story"concert series that he does without Fred.
As for the new album, there's some chatter that Randy would love to do a new one, concentrating on blues, and Fred could contribute beyond measure to something like that.....not only as a vocalist (he's got the right vocals for it) but also in songwriting.
I can only hope, as a nearly 40 year fan, that they are taking good care of themselves, and that the Good Lord will bless them with many more years. It's hard to believe that both of them are now 70 and are still rocking. It's likely that 40 years ago neither one of them thought they'd be playing together in 2014.
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I got my first 2014 coin in my change this morning, a Lincoln cent. Tucson usually doesn't get the new coins as quickly as other locations. Mine came in change from a purchase at the Quik Trip on Broadway and Camino Seco. Just a few days ago they were handing out shiny 2013 cents.
The guy behind the counter told me that they've been getting brand new rolls from their armored car carrier (Brinks?) so it sounds as if the 2013 supply is near its end.
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This may be an early bedtime tonight for me, so I'll sign now.
Weekends are great. Especially the long ones.
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