Being one of the Hostesses of our show, and the person who negotiates with the bands, the duty of meeting the band when their flight comes in and making sure they get checked into their hotel, etc., falls on me. Not that I mind, rockabilly musicians are usually fun people who like to have a laugh, and I'm always up for a laugh...even at my expense.
One of the stipulations of the contract was that they were to arrive on Thursday and have Friday to rest before the show on Saturday. Paul had different travel arrangements, due to family issues, and Roger wasn't able to make the show due to impending nuptials The Bandidos hired Bobby Trimble to fill in for Roger. So, with those changes, it was just Malcolm, Neil and Carlos arriving at SFO.
Malcolm and Neil arrived first, after a bit of a delay. First thing when they arrived they asked where they could smoke. I was very grateful that they were smokers since at the time I had a 2 pack a day habit. My journey to quitting is going to be for another blog.
I had spoken to Malcolm on the phone but had never met him. I had seen them in Vegas a few years ago, but didn't get the chance to talk to them, so the airport was our first meeting. I had helped them by picking up their merchandise for the show at Viva Las Vegas, and had them ship their new CDs to sell at the show to me so they would avoid customs issues. They were very sweet and thanked me personally in their new CD notes. That was a very unexpected surprise...ok, back to the story...
As I said, Neil and Malcolm arrived first, and about 45 minutes later, Carlos arrived. We made a stop at In-N-Out Burger on the way to the hotel. Seems most people that don't have In-N-Out in their towns have to go there when they visit California, or anywhere else there is an In-N-Out. After the burgers, I took them to the hotels and informed them I was there at their disposal if they wanted to go out that evening, which of course they did. I suggested Forbidden Island Tiki Bar in Alameda, and the plan was, they would rest up for 2 hours and I'd meet them in the lobby.
I lived about 40 minutes drive from their hotel, and knew it was pointless to go home before meeting them. I thought about visiting my friend Jess at her work, but after a couple phone calls I had to return, I realized I didn't have time for that. One hour before we were supposed to meet up, I was wandering around the lobby waiting. In the brief time I had to get acquainted with everyone before we went to the hotel, I had surmised that Neil was probably sitting in his room watching shitty TV. I picked up the house phone, called his room, and sure enough...I could hear the TV on in the background and he was awake. He was also up for coming downstairs and having a cigarette ("tabs" he called them...that is northern English slang and we decided in SF he couldn't call them "fags") and hanging out in the bar with me to keep me company. I think that was when I decided that I would force BFF status on him.
We were joined by the other Bandidos that were stateside and headed over the bridge to Forbidden Island. Jess (or "Jezza" as Neil fondly calls her) met us at the Bar. Neil knew Jessica from her time living in London.
Here are some pics from that first night:
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