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Jim's Journal

July 7, 2004

Hellooo party people!
A big thanks to all of you that took the time to sign the guest book. It really makes me feel good when I read all the positive feedback about what I do. It is both humbling and very inspiring.

I am writing to you from my hotel room in Chicago where we have some unexpected time off due to Adam's illness. Although, we spoke today and he is feeling better so we will be back on schedule tomorrow in Green Bay Wisconsin. (apologies to all the folks in Grand Forks North Dakota).

Moving a little further back on this tour, we had a wonderful time in Europe. What a great show in Belgium and then watching Ronnie Wood play with Bob Dylan in London....Come on!! I do feel the band has been in a groove on this tour. (jinx!) When you have an amazing show it is hard to top it and much easier to have a little let down on the next show, but I must say we have been kicking ass night after night.
Having a break has definitely helped to rejuvenate us.

Coming back to the US from Ireland we had a very nasty travel day. Dublin to London, London to LA, and finally LA to Vegas. Now that is paying the rent my friends. Things started badly as we were delayed by, you guessed it, bad weather in Dublin. Things turned from bad to worse as we arrived in London to see our giant plane having its front tire replaced. I guess it is a little harder to change a tire on a plane than a car but as the hours passed I was ready to run out there and help. We did finally make it out of London but of course by the time we made it to LA the last flight to Vegas had just taken off......on time. Our tour manager Tom Mullaly was now on the phone checking our usual LA hotels which for some strange reason (conspiracy against us) all seemed to be booked. So, we decided to just stay at the Hotel the Airline was providing. BIG MISTAKE!!!

Party people, I do enjoy the finer things in life but I am not above an Airport Hilton, or a Holiday inn, or even a Motel 6. But instead, the airline put us up in some dirty, stinky, flea bag hotel. I had just traveled for 24 hours and now I was scared to get in the shower let alone the bed. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well that night. The next morning the airport was packed. Even though we arrived over an hour early we would have missed our flight had it not been for an airline employee who happened to be a Counting Crows fan. I had never been so happy to see Las Vegas in my life, but as we turned the corner in our van from the airport we came to a screeching halt. We were now in bumper to bumper traffic. Oddly enough, today (conspiracy) just happened to be the first day of some major construction. So my party people, picture this if you will. After all we had been through, the whole band is sitting in a van (did I mention Vegas was hot as hell and the van air conditioning was broken) and we can actually see our hotel outside the van windows a mile away but we can't get there because we are standing totally still in traffic.

Now believe it our not these types of things happen all the time out on the road. Once in a while you get a streak of bad luck and you just have to ride it out until it turns around. Sometimes, I think it's a test to see how much you can take before you crack. We had all managed to keep a pretty good attitude up to that moment in the van but I started to feel us beginning to slide hard as we stared out the window at the beautiful air conditioned Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The van driver must have felt it too, because just as the noise level began to pick up she cranked the steering wheel sideways and we slammed over the median on to the other side of the road free of traffic and drove straight in to the back entrance of Mandalay Bay. We all started applauding loudly and Tom gave her a huge tip when we reached the resort.

That was the turning point of our bad luck and so it didn't surprise me when all of us made some good money gambling that night at the casino. Big winners were Immer and Adam. I was lucky enough to have some family visiting and a few old friends, and I even made a few new ones.

Next was an exhausting but rewarding week in the bay area playing for fans, friends and family. After the Konocti gig we drove for a few hours, then boarded a private jet to fly overnight to Chicago. After a
short nap when we arrived we had to wake up and rock for a huge 4th of July crowd at the Taste of Chicago. (estimated to be 100,000) It was another highly enjoyable gig and now that Adam has recovered we are ready for more, come on!!

Cheers, Jim.

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