Vilvoorde and Antwrep - Belgium, 2014
Just got back from playing a couple of shows in Belgium. Eddy Plasquy, pictured here with his lovely wife Christa. Eddy was instrumental in booking me for the Pjeire Blues Festival which was held in Vilvoorde, just north of Brussels.
I had brought over two guitars for this short tour, my Voyage Air (folding guitar which I carry on the plane with me) and my Gretsch Dobro which goes into baggage. While 'Lady Luck' was accompanying me little did I know that 'Murphy' of 'Murphy's Law' was sitting right beside her, as the mishaps were about to happen.
The first thing to go wrong was upon my arrival in Brussels. When I told the customs agent that I would only be there for several days and planning to leave on Monday, the 8th, she laughed and said, 'Oh, I don't think so!!!' As it turned out Brussels airport was scheduled to go on strike that Monday so I'd have to reschedule me flight for the following day. I thought, well, that's not too bad. I'll get to do some sightseeing. Little did I know what would happen next.
Baggage claim. Wonderful. My Dobro was nowhere to be found. After standing around waiting for 40 desperate, long minutes I had an official track down the guitar which was clear across the airport! It took an additional hour to track down and be brought back to me. Ok... I thought, at least they found it.
The first thing to go wrong was upon my arrival in Brussels. When I told the customs agent that I would only be there for several days and planning to leave on Monday, the 8th, she laughed and said, 'Oh, I don't think so!!!' As it turned out Brussels airport was scheduled to go on strike that Monday so I'd have to reschedule me flight for the following day. I thought, well, that's not too bad. I'll get to do some sightseeing. Little did I know what would happen next.
Baggage claim. Wonderful. My Dobro was nowhere to be found. After standing around waiting for 40 desperate, long minutes I had an official track down the guitar which was clear across the airport! It took an additional hour to track down and be brought back to me. Ok... I thought, at least they found it.
Ah, but my troubles were just beginning. The person who was to pick me up had left (after all, I was now almost 2 hours late) and the folks who had booked me to perform were now in PANIC mode!!! I tried to text them but for some reason there was zero reception where I was. So I waited another half hour before someone finally came along and brought me to my hotel.
It was there, in my hotel room that I discovered that my other guitar, the Voyage Air was missing a crucial piece... the saddle... which without rendered the guitar utterly useless. I searched in vain for the missing part but no luck. I simply sat down on my bed and wondered what to do.
Fortunately I remembered that I had a friend Al Johnson - a fine musician - who lived just up the road! I quickly sent him a text - thank goodness for Wifi - and he wrote back immediately to say 'No problem mate, I've got you covered. A few hours later Al and his whole family showed up at my hotel with a wonderful Martin guitar at the ready. I had not seen them for nearly 10 years so his kids were now quite much older.
From left to right: Anna - quite the talented luthier, Al, his wife Mayuko, little Michelle, me and Mieke, who knitted that lovely scarf!
It was there, in my hotel room that I discovered that my other guitar, the Voyage Air was missing a crucial piece... the saddle... which without rendered the guitar utterly useless. I searched in vain for the missing part but no luck. I simply sat down on my bed and wondered what to do.
Fortunately I remembered that I had a friend Al Johnson - a fine musician - who lived just up the road! I quickly sent him a text - thank goodness for Wifi - and he wrote back immediately to say 'No problem mate, I've got you covered. A few hours later Al and his whole family showed up at my hotel with a wonderful Martin guitar at the ready. I had not seen them for nearly 10 years so his kids were now quite much older.
From left to right: Anna - quite the talented luthier, Al, his wife Mayuko, little Michelle, me and Mieke, who knitted that lovely scarf!
Back in my hotel room, I took out the Martin and gave it a go. It was wonderful and would do the job well. However.... at this point I realized that I was starting to come down with some kind of sickness. I thought it was a cold but it turned out to be much worse. You can hear this as in my videos which I shot in my hotel room while waiting to get picked up and driven to the theater for sound check.
I'll call these 'The Hotel Tapes.' I'm playing that Martin and also my Gretsch dobro.
I'll call these 'The Hotel Tapes.' I'm playing that Martin and also my Gretsch dobro.
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Eddy had picked me up and we were off to dinner. He had treated me to a wonderful restaurant which was known throughout the region as serving the finest horse meat around. While my American friends may wince I had no problem tasting this delicious fare. Fortunately my nasal passages were intact, but not for long!
This beer is made only in Belgium and of course, Belgian beer was one of the things I was looking forward to!!!
I was fairly excited when we arrived at the venue and why not? Take a look at that stage!
Yep, my own little 'dressing room.'
Backstage area with some of the other performers, a lovely bunch of fellow rogues!
Toomy (Les' Generals), Adam Bertenshaw, Becky Tate (BabaJack) Eddy Plasquy, Trevor Stegar (BabaJack), me and Tosh Murase (BabaJack) who as it turned out was a fellow homeboy from Huntington Long Island NY. Small world! By the way, BabaJack was a wonderful band. They turned out one powerful set!!
Toomy (Les' Generals), Adam Bertenshaw, Becky Tate (BabaJack) Eddy Plasquy, Trevor Stegar (BabaJack), me and Tosh Murase (BabaJack) who as it turned out was a fellow homeboy from Huntington Long Island NY. Small world! By the way, BabaJack was a wonderful band. They turned out one powerful set!!
SHOWTIME!!! These next two pictures and short video were snapped by Anna Johnson, Al's daughter. However, by now what I thought was a cold was turning into something even more severe. You may not be able to tell from these photos, but I was running a slight fever and my head was starting to completely clog up. By the end of my set I was completely exhausted!!!
These photographs were taken by Eric Schuurmans
Here I am with Joey Gillmore who was to appear immediately after me at the show. Joey is an absolute master of the electric blues and I was really looking forward to hearing his set.
Back stage in the dressing area I was busy warming up in my room and had no idea that Joey was listening to me. Afterwards I came out and sat down beside Joey when we started talking:
TW: 'Man, I'm really looking forward to hearing you play Joey.'
JG: 'Well I'm looking forward to your set too Toby. I was listening to you and man, you're really good! Say, have you ever thought of entering the IBC?' Joey was referring to the International Blues Challenge held annually in Memphis TN by the Blues Foundation.
JG: 'I entered that in 2006 and took first place in Best Unsigned Artist in the band division.'
I sat back and smiled broadly.
TW: 'Guess what Joey... I won first place in 2002 as Best Unsigned Artist in the solo division.'
We both started heaving away with laughter. I made a new friend.
Back stage in the dressing area I was busy warming up in my room and had no idea that Joey was listening to me. Afterwards I came out and sat down beside Joey when we started talking:
TW: 'Man, I'm really looking forward to hearing you play Joey.'
JG: 'Well I'm looking forward to your set too Toby. I was listening to you and man, you're really good! Say, have you ever thought of entering the IBC?' Joey was referring to the International Blues Challenge held annually in Memphis TN by the Blues Foundation.
JG: 'I entered that in 2006 and took first place in Best Unsigned Artist in the band division.'
I sat back and smiled broadly.
TW: 'Guess what Joey... I won first place in 2002 as Best Unsigned Artist in the solo division.'
We both started heaving away with laughter. I made a new friend.
Here's a short clip of Joey Gillmore doing his thing. You should've seen the rest. Joey was not only a master of playing that instrument and singing the blues, but he was a first class entertainer. He had the entire audience singing along and screaming for more.
The next day I was scheduled to play one of the premier Blues venues in all of Belgium - Crossroads Cafe in Antwerp. All of my idols have played there so this was to be a real honor. Note - this was the sign which was above their former location. A smaller version of it is now hanging in their new location.
I performed 2 one hour sets and by this time my sickness had developed into full scale Bronchitis!!! I was sweating profusely and a bit delirious but after taking some large white pill supplied to me by one of the owners I didn't seem to care!!!
After a LONG lay in on Monday - remember, I was supposed to go home that day but was delayed until the following day - I was picked up at my hotel and brought to one of Vilvoorde's finest chocolate shops. I was on strict orders from Carol to not to return back to the States unless I had some Belgian chocolates with me!