Road Tips

Audio Engineers Society Convention - New York

This was the main reason why I went to New York in the first place -the Audio Engineers Society Convention at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan (see map).  Our professional line of Focal Loudspeakers - Focal Professional - is one of the hottest and up and coming lines in the professional world.  And the AES convention is the major convention for record producers and studio engineers.  That's the group we're targeting with Focal Professional and we had a big group of them to entertain during the four days of the show.

Now the Audio Engineers Society boasts thousands of members around the world.  They have two conventions a year - one in Europe, and one that alternates between New York and San Francisco every other year.  These are the guys who do the actual recordings and mixing of artists and other media, such as television shows, commercials and films. 

Still, there are some famous faces that pop up at AES.  The famous musician Peter Gabriel, who is co-owner of Solid State Logic, a British company that makes sound console boards, was on hand to help show "The Shed", a 900 sq. ft. all in one studio that closely mirrors Gabriel's own production studio that is part of his Real World Studios in Box, England.   

I like Peter Gabriel as a musician and it was pretty neat to see him.  To see The Shed and an interview with Peter Gabriel at AES, click here.

I also saw the famous session musician Al Kooper at AES.  Kooper has played on albums with a number of great artists from Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.  He was one of the founding members of Blood, Sweat and Tears.  And as a producer, he's produced such artists as Lynyrd Skynyrd, David Essex and Joe Ely.  Actually, it's not the first time I've seen Al Kooper at a show.  He usually pops up at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  But he was also poking around at AES.

One of the demonstration DVD's we were using at AES was a clip of a band headed by the noted jazz percussionist, Omar Hakim (right).  It turned out that Omar and his bass player, Jerry Brooks, stopped in to listen to our speakers and we played the clip of his band playing.  Hakim has played with such artists as diverse as Sting, Weather Report, Dire Straits and Madonna.  He was a very nice guy and very complementary of our speakers.  I think he was a little humbled and overly appreciative that we chose to use his clip as demo material.

I also met a guy by the name of Jay Messina, a production engineer who has recorded and mixed for bands such as Aerosmith, Supertramp, The Rolling Stones and Peter Frampton.  We were actually playing a Supertramp track that Messina worked on when he came in.  He sat and listened for a moment and he turned to me and said, "Yep, that's pretty darn close to what I heard in the studio."  Then he introduced himself to me.  It was pretty cool to talk with him. 

The first night of AES, we, along with Dangerous Music, sponsored a party at PureMix Studios in the lower East Village of Manhattan.  The owner of PureMix, Fab Dupont, is a big proponent of Focal Professional loudspeakers and Dangerous Music's control system.  In fact, Bob and Chris who own Dangerous Music used to own Fab's studio.  The building that houses PureMix has a long history as a recording studio.  The Rolling Stones recorded in the facility back in the 70's.  That was pretty wild to find out.   

Fab has done a lot of work for a number of artists.  Most recently, he mixed some tracks for Jennifer Lopez's new album.  He told me that most of his work is done "on spec".  He said that producers will come to him (and other production studios) with a number of songs to mix.  The songs get mixed and then sent back to the producer.  The producer and artist will then pick what they feel are the best mixes for the album.  Fab said, "A lot of the time, you're doing it for free because they may not pick the mix you did.  But the rewards, both monetarily and reputation-wise, are huge if you do get a mix picked."  I thought that was pretty interesting. 

One of the guys at the party - and also a user of Focal Professional speakers - Dave Kutch, is a master recording engineer for Sony Music.  He has worked with such notable and diverse artists as Rod Stewart, Nelly, Kelly Clarkson, Outkast, and Whitney Houston.  Most recently, he worked with Alicia Keys on her new album.  Here's a picture from the party of Dave Kutch with Jacques-Hubert Constant, the head of Focal Professional on the left, and Dave's date on the right. 

AES was certainly different from any electronics show that I've ever worked.  First of all, our focus was on the demonstration of our speakers, which left a lot of production people stunned with how well they sounded.  We had a big presence at the show - not only with our big bubble shaped booth - but we also had our speakers on display with about 10 other manufacturers.  It was a very successful show for us.  We got a lot of contacts, converted a number of people and got a lot of rave reviews on our loudspeakers. 

I'd love to work another AES, but that probably won't happen until 2009 when the convention comes back to New York.  It was exciting and invigorating.  There was definitely a buzz about our products over the four day show.  And talking with recording engineers and musicians who liked our speakers was really exhilarating.  It was one of the most fun shows I've ever worked.   

Esashi - New York

Our first night in Manhattan, we were invited to go out to dinner with the two owners of Dangerous Music, a company that manufactures control devices for the professional music industry.  They wanted to go to Esashi, a little sushi place in the East Village area of Manhattan.  Oh, man!  Sushi in New York!  I couldn't wait!

Esashi is owned by Yukihiro Ishiyama and his wife, Minako.  They have been in business on Ave A. in the East Village since 1991 (see map).  Esashi is named after Mr. Ishiyama's home town of Esashi, Japan (see map).  Esashi is right on the coast and as a little boy Mr. Ishiyama and his friends used to catch incredibly fresh seafood and their families would have the catch that night for dinner.  Mr. Ishiyama opened Esashi with the plan to make sushi the same way he remembers having it as a little boy.

There were five of us who met up at Esashi around 7 p.m.  The two guys from Dangerous Music - Bob and Chris - used to run a recording studio around the corner from Esashi and they frequented the place before they got into making control components.  Bob lives in upstate New York and every time he comes back to New York, he always takes in Esashi.

And there's a big reason why - it was some of the best sushi I'd ever had in my life.  The spicy tuna rolls were very good, but the salmon and the toro, or fatty tuna, were unbelievably great.  I also had a couple shrimp, just for good measure.  I was devouring the sushi, it was so good.  And I washed it all back with a couple tall and ice cold Asahi beers. 

We went for a second round and I ordered exactly the same thing I ordered the first time.  My colleague, Simon, decided to go exclusively with the toro sashimi style.  The chunks of toro were huge.  I should have gone that direction. 

For those of you who don't like sushi, Esashi has a full menu of cooked items, as well.  My colleague, Todd, who grew up on Prince Edward Island, and who loves seafood, has an allergic reaction to raw seafood.  He had to go with the salmon teriyaki - a marinated salmon, broiled and served on a plate with assorted vegetables.  He said it was outstanding.

Esashi was very good.  And expensive.  With tip, the bill came to just over $500 bucks.  But it was well worth it.  The fish was very fresh, the restaurant had a great atmosphere, and the service was exquisite.  Esashi would be a place I'd highly recommend for sushi in New York City.      

(Update October 2011 - Before my recent trip to New York, I suggested to my colleague Simon that we go back to Esashi as it remained one of the more awesome sushi places I'd been to.  Simon quickly told me, "It's closed."  I asked him when it closed and he said, "Dunno, but's it's closed."  Bummer...)

A Tribute to a Tough Old Marine

I'm wandering off course today to pay my respects to my uncle, Jack Wehrle, who died yesterday a day short of his 85th birthday.  Jack had been in poor health for a number of years after suffering a debilitating stroke about 15 years ago.  He'd been in a nursing home in Florida for a long time and his health had been slowly deteriorating for the last few years.  A couple weeks ago, he had a foot amputated after a pressure sore developed on his heel and it became infected.  That was the beginning of the end of Jack who died at 5:00 yesterday morning. 

Now, Jack wasn't really my uncle - he married my dad's first cousin, Virginia (aka "Muff") - but he was closer to me than any real uncle I had.  Actually, he was a second father to me.  He was a guy who shared my love of sports, especially baseball, and who loved to have a good laugh. 

Growing up, the Wehrle household was a second home to us (as was our house to the Wehrle family).  It was like having a second set of parents and having two more sisters and two more brothers in our family. 

Jack was the tough love guy of the family.  When I was younger - pre-teen years - he used to flip me shit relentlessly.  But in a joking way Jack was known for.  Now, I was too young to understand he was joking.  At first, I really hated it.  However, when I got old enough to understand that if Jack wasn't flipping me shit, then it meant he didn't like me.  Given the amount of playful crap I got from him when I was younger, he must have really liked me.

In a lot of ways, I connected with Jack a lot better than I did with my own father.  At least through my teenaged years.  Jack used to take me to baseball games in St. Louis to see his beloved Cardinals play.  Jack grew up in Eureka, MO and we'd go stay out on the family farm when we'd go to Cardinal games.  Now, it's not to say that my own father didn't take me to baseball games when I was growing up, but Jack got into watching the games with me.  My father would take a book and read while the game was going on. 

The stories and memories of Jack are numerous.  Not to bore those of you who didn't know the guy, I'll keep some of my more favorite stories brief and to the point.

There was one time in the late 60's when we went to St. Louis along with my cousins Sarah and Tom Wehrle.  After seeing a Cardinals game one afternoon, we ended up going over by the Gateway Arch to see if we could go up to the top.  The sign outside the main pavilion said there was a two and a half hour wait to go up into the Arch.  Jack said, "Well, there's no way I'm sticking around that long to go up in that thing."

I very innocently said, "Well, my dad would wait."

Jack about came unglued.  He yelled, "The hell he would!!  Jesus Christ, your dad wouldn't wait fifteen minutes in line for anything!"

And Jack was right.  My dad wouldn't have waited. 

And you know - to this day - with all the trips I've made to St. Louis, I've never been up in the Arch. 

Jack always used to make the greatest fried chicken in the world.  Looking back, it's no wonder he had a stroke.  He used lard and beef suet to cook the chicken in.  But, damn!  It was out of this world.  He used to make it, seemingly, about once every other Sunday.  But it was an artery hardener from the word go. 

I think I got my love for beer - and beer hunting while I'm on the road - from Jack.  I remember stopping at a liquor store outside of St. Louis after a Cardinals game one Saturday afternoon when I was about 14 so Jack could buy cases upon cases of Busch beer to take back to Iowa.  This was long before Busch was available in Iowa.  I think that's one of the reasons I love to find beers on the road that aren't available back here.  I always thought that was so neat.

I remember he always had a small refrigerator stocked with beer.  It was on the screened-in porch for a number of years, until all the neighborhood kids (well, and me) started stealing beer out of there.  He put it in the basement after they did a full remodel of the kitchen/den area in their house.  It was always full of beer.  It's probably one of the reasons why I have my beer fridge these days. 

As I got older and became of age to drink, whenever I'd walk into the house the first thing Jack would say to me was, "You know where the beer is, Willy.  Go grab one."

Jack also taught me that it's better to drink whiskey with water rather than with pop.  After a particularly hard night of drinking "sophisticated" drinks mixed with pop when I was in my early 20's - and subsequently upchucking for a good portion of the wee hours of the morning - Jack explained to me that I didn't want to drink pop with hard liquor.  I've never had a sweet mixer with liquor since.  He was a helluva teacher. 

Jack always used to give me his old editions of The Sporting News, back when TSN had all the baseball games and box scores in it.  For my 14th birthday, he bought me a subscription to The Sporting News.  He said in his growly, yet knowingly playful voice, "There, now you don't have to take mine from me." 

Before Jack and Muff moved to Florida 12 years ago, he gave me a load of his old baseball books that he had in his sports library.  About 15 in total, I believe.  They're all sitting on a shelf downstairs in our family room.  Honestly, I haven't read them all, but I will. 

I used to throw these big beer parties in my parents pasture from 1974 through 1979.  Each year, I'd borrow Jack's pickup truck to haul things such as dirt, beer kegs and garbage.  We even hauled a pig in it one year.  Don't know if I ever told Jack about that. 

One little funny story from using the pickup for the parties - I had given it back to Jack one evening a couple three days after one of the parties.  The next morning, he drove it to work at the Maytag Company and parked it in the parking lot.  One of the higher executives was parked near Jack and he saw something hanging from the antenna on the truck.  The executive said, "Say, Jack!  What's that on your antenna?"

He looked at it and said, "Christ, I don't know.  Will used the truck for his big party.  Maybe it was a flag to signify that it was the command truck, or something."

He and the executive walked closer to the truck, and upon closer inspection he found that it was a pair of pink women's underwear tied to the antenna.  We found them while cleaning up the pasture after the party and put them on the antenna for posterity.  Jack told me he about shit on the spot.

But, in a nutshell, that was Jack.  Anything I asked from him, he was always quick to help me out.

I last saw Jack in 2000 when I went to Florida on a business trip.  I took a day to go up and see him in his nursing home.  Even though he had a little trouble, he eventually recognized me and I think he was happy that I showed up.  But it really wasn't the same Jack that I knew.  After he had his stroke, he did little to rehabilitate himself.  By all accounts, he should have been dead years ago.  But that stubborn streak, plus being a feisty old ex-Marine, kept him hanging on for a number of years.

Since he was the longtime office manager for Maytag, it sort of struck me as somewhat ironic that Jack died just hours after the Newton, IA Maytag plant shut down production forever.  As my cousin Tom said to me yesterday, "Jack was a company man through and through.  He died just after they shut down operations in Newton." 

As much as it was a sad day for the citizens of Newton, it was equally sad for me to lose someone in my life who I looked up to as I grew up, and someone who I really enjoyed visiting with when I got older.  As close as I got with my father after I got into my 20's, I was just as close with Jack for years before that. 

Semper Fi, Jack.  I'll drink a sixer of Busch beer in your honor today.  You'll be missed...   

Duffy's Cherry Cricket - Revisited - Denver

As I mentioned in a recent post here, Duffy's Cherry Cricket has the best burger I've ever had in my life.  Ever since my first visit last year (see that post here), I've been on an almost evangelical rant to anyone who will listen about how great the burgers are at Duffy's.  I have to say that I've had a number of people who I've either told or who have read about Duffy's on my blog who have gone to Duffy's and have affirmed it's the best burger they've ever had. 

During my recent trip to Denver, I knew that I wanted to have a Cricket burger at least a couple of times during my visit.  We had a hospitality room after the CEDIA Expo show floor closed during the first three days of the show.  I was sentenced to have to go and do that each night.  Actually, the last thing I wanted to do is sit and entertain dealers after talking for nine hours straight about our products.  But it's part of the job and we have food and lots of beer. 

Except I hardly ever ate there.  I knew that I wanted to go to Duffy's and get a Cricket burger afterward. 

The first night, a Thursday, we got out of the hospitality room a little after 9 p.m.  On the way back to the hotel, I announced to the people in our van that I was going to Duffy's for a burger.  And anyone who wanted to go could come with me. 

Well, last year, five of us ate at Duffy's at least once.  The others were intrigued and the first night we had six of us heading down to Duffy's for a burger. 

In short, the Cricket Burger was as good as I remember.  It was absolutely great.  The 85% lean ground chuck burger was cooked to perfection.  The bun was fresh and flavorful.  The great taste sensation was evident from the first bite.   Along with a Smithwick's beer, I was in heaven.  Everyone raved about how great it was.  We knew we'd be back. 

The next day, each of us who went the night before were just raving about how great the burger was.  Being a cheeseburger aficionado, they knew that if I liked it, it had to be good.  So after the hospitality room cleared out about 9:30 on Friday night, we went back to the hotel and dropped the non-believers off.  Then we filled up the SUV with eight of us this time and went back down to Duffy's.   

Here's a picture of the motley crew in one of the backrooms at Duffy's with our beer glasses held high praising the Duffy's cheeseburgers we'd just eaten.  Three of the guys in this picture were Duffy's rookies.  They finally figured out what we had been raving about.

On Saturday, the talk about Duffy's began at the breakfast table.  It continued all through the day on the show floor.  I was even talking to dealers about the place, and a group of guys from one of my dealers in St. Louis went to the place later that day.  They have now thanked me a minimum of seven times since then for turning them on to the place. 

Saturday night, we got out of the hospitality room early - about 8:30 p.m.  Oh, we were definitely going back to Duffy's.  We had talked this place up so much that we had even more rookies going this time.  Twelve of us piled into two vehicles and went down to Duffy's.  This time, we sat outside in the little beer garden area and had a waiter that looked exactly like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 

Here's a picture of the group from Saturday night.  In the foreground in the brown shirt on the left is Fraser Robertson from Focal.  A Brit, Fraser said he'd never had as good of a burger in his life.  I said, "Buddy, I had never had one this good, either, until last year at this time."

Believe me, if you ever go to Duffy's Cherry Cricket you'd completely understand why nearly a dozen grown men would throw caution at the wind, damn all the medical reports that say cheeseburgers are bad for you, and go to the place three nights in a row.  The Cricket Burgers are absolutely fantastic and I know you'll think so, too.  You gotta go there if you ever have the chance.            

Brew-Ha-Ha - Davenport

One of my more favorite local events was held recently in LeClaire Park in downtown Davenport - the annual Brew-Ha-Ha beer tasting event.  Brew-Ha-Ha is a fund raiser for the local Illinois public television station, WQPT.  And with proposed cuts in state funding to WQPT looming in the future, they really need all the help they can get.  It cost $20 bucks (in advance - $25 at the gate) to get in and I thought it would be a nice little donation to public television while getting a nice little buzz on at the same time. 

I haven't been to the Brew-Ha-Ha for three years.  The past three years, I've either been out of town or went to an Iowa football game.  This year was the first time I would be in town for the event with nothing else going on.

It was a nice day for the Brew-Ha-Ha, light winds and temps in the low 80's.  A big crowd had gathered to try a number of beers from a number of different breweries.  Three tents were set up - albeit way too close to one another - with a number of stations that gave out the beer samples.

Now, compared to other Brew-Ha-Ha's - and other brew fests I've been to in the past - this one was a big dud.  First of all, I was told that a new law on the books in the state of Iowa prohibited those who did not hold $1 million dollars of liability insurance for the festival to be able to dispense beer.  Immediately, that took out the bulk of Midwest area micro-breweries from participating at the Brew-Ha-Ha.  So that basically limited the participants of the event to the local Budweiser and Miller distributors, a specialty beer distributor from Rock Island, and the Coors distributor out of Des Moines. 

And because of that, there wasn't a lot of things available that I hadn't tried before.  I was able to try the new Boulevard Luna Ale, which was pretty good, but definitely not my favorite Boulevard beer.  And it was a bit too early for a lot of the Oktoberfest beers that were coming out in a few days.

But the good breweries that have been here in the past - Capital, Millstream, Gray, and a number of others - didn't want to come up with the hefty price of a one million dollar liability insurance policy for the event.  And that really hurt the event. 

That, and the fact that it was just too damned crowded.  The tents were spaced too close to one another and the lines to get some varieties of beer were almost impossible to be in.  The weirdest thing - to me - was that the longest lines were for the fruit flavored beers.  That was fine with me as I absolutely abhor that type of beer.  But they must be real popular as the lines were long all day long. 

Brew Ha-Ha is a great fund-raising event, but I was deeply disappointed in the offerings they had.  If the same insurance stipulations exist next year, I hope they move the event to the Illinois side of the river.  I don't think I'd go again if they have it in Iowa.  I have a better selection of fine beers in my refrigerator in my garage than they did at Brew Ha-Ha.   

BJ's Brewhouse - Boulder

We had our annual pre-CEDIA company meeting in Denver in early September.  Actually, it was the shortest company meeting on record.  We finished just before 12:30 and broke for lunch.  Except my boss said, "I want to have us grab some beer and some wine, go up in the mountains and just hang out this afternoon."  God, I like working for this company.

The only problem is that it's monsoon season in early September in the Colorado Rockies.  Rising heat mixing with the cool air over the mountains creates clouds which, in turn, create rain showers - and some of them can be pretty heavy.  As we started out toward Estes Park, it became very evident that the weather was not going to cooperate.  So we ended up stopping in Boulder and looking for a place to eat.

Now, I hadn't been in Boulder since 1979.  I remember some of the city, but it was still sort of a new experience for me.  Downtown Boulder is really nice.  There's a lot of shops and restaurants in the area.  The Pearl Street walking mall is very nice.  We were walking along and one of the guys pointed out a place called B.J.'s Brewhouse.  "Food and beer," he said.  "Looks like a winning combination for lunch."

The BJ's Brewhouse in Boulder (see map) is a long narrow place with tables up front, booths along the wall toward the back and a long bar that looks into the beer vats behind a large glass window.  It was about 2 p.m. when we were in there, so we were able to get a big combo booth in the back of the place for our group. 

Location update - Thanx to CarrieOB who pointed out that BJ's Brewhouse moved from the Pearl Street location to a new stand alone building in part of the Twenty Ninth Street shopping mall in Boulder.  (See map) 

I didn't realize until I did some background research on BJ's Brewhouse that the restaurant was part of a chain under the Chicago Pizza and Brewery Inc. umbrella.  The background of the company is rather interesting.

In 1978, two men - Bill Cunningham and Michael Phillips - owned a Burger King franchise in Southern California.  Wanting to expand their franchise empire with Burger King, they were halted by the company who decreed that franchisees couldn't own multiple locations. 

Cunningham and Phillips then looked toward owning a pizza restaurant.  But not the typical Southern California pizza restaurant at that time where you had to wade through screaming kids, ordered your pizza at the counter and basically had to wait on yourself.   They wanted an upscale sit-down place with good Chicago style pizza, beer and good food. 

With only two years experience of running a Burger King, the men opened the first BJ's Chicago Pizzeria in Santa Ana, CA in 1978.  The place became an instant hit.  They eventually opened six BJ's in the area and business was booming.  For years, they garnered awards for having the best pizza in the Los Angeles area. 

In 1991, they turned to their accountants - Jerry Hennessey and Paul Motenko - to see how they could scale back their day-to-day involvement in the business.  This intrigued the two accountants who immediately agreed to take over running the six restaurants, even though they had absolutely no experience running a restaurant.    

Hennessey and Motenko went on an aggressive campaign to expand BJ's by expanding the number of restaurants, buying up other chains, adding brewpubs to the mix, and making franchises available to buy.  Motenko and Hennessey ended up buying out Cunningham and Phillips remaining shares of Chicago Pizza and Brewing, Inc. in 1995.  Today, there are 66 BJ's restaurants in 11 states.    

The menu at BJ's is widely varied.  There's a little bit of everything for everyone.  In addition to their pizza, they have a great variety of burgers, sandwiches, pasta, ribs, steaks and other great looking entrees.  But the first order of business was getting beer on the table. 

BJ's has seven craft beers they brew at their locations.  They also have a dozen other beers they brew at selected locations during certain parts of the year.  We ended up getting a couple pitchers of their Tatonka Stout and a couple pitchers of their Piranha Pale Ale. 

The Piranha is an American-style Pale Ale, short on the hoppiness you get with more of the full pale ales.  Still, it had a nice "bite" to it (hence, the "Piranha"), and it was smooth to drink.  The guys who had the stout were impressed with it, as well. 

So many choices on the menu led to a lot of different things ordered at our tables.  A couple of the guys went with the open-faced chili cheese burger - a 2/3 pound burger (that actually looked bigger than 2/3's of a pound) smothered with cheese and chili.  You have to eat it with a fork, it's so big. 

It looked good, but I went with the Roast Beef Dip - tender roast beef topped with cheese on a French hoagie bun and served with au jus and creamy horseradish sauce to dip in.  A couple of the guys went for the pizza.  And the others filled in with sandwiches and burgers.

My Roast Beef Dip was OK - nothing special.  The burgers, however, were HUGE!  My boss ended up getting one of their cheeseburgers and this huge patty between a bun was served to him.  He just started laughing.  He said, "I'm hungry, but this is sort of ridiculous!"

I got a bite of the pizza, which wasn't all that bad.  Compared to some of the better Chicago pizzas I've had I'd say BJ's would hold it's own against them.  And I got a bite from one of my colleague's chili cheese burger.  It was very good, but - man!  Was it a lot of food.

I'm sure they have better items on the menu other than the Roast Beef Dip, but I was in the mood for a sandwich like that rather than a burger - considering that I knew I was going to be heading to Duffy's Cherry Cricket in the coming days for the best burger in the world.  But BJ's, overall, was a good experience.  The beer wasn't bad, the food was above average, and it had a nice comfy atmosphere.  I'd go back if I encountered a BJ's Brewhouse again in my travels.

A Hayseed in the Big City

Earlier this month, I went to New York City for the Audio Engineering Society convention at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.  Now, I had never been to New York before and up until 9-11-01, I really had no gumption to ever go to the city.

But something struck me about New York City in the days and weeks after the 9-11 attacks.  For some reason, I reversed my earlier stance and New York became a city that I really wanted to visit some day.  I got my chance in early October when the leaves should have been changing and a fall chill hung in the air.  Unfortunately, it was unseasonably hot and muggy the whole time we were there with highs in the mid-80's (F) most of the time. 

Actually, I didn't get to see much of the city.  Oh, I was able to see the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building off in the distance.  I walked through Grand Central Station and Times Square.  I walked past Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral.  I rode by the United Nations, Macy's and Tiffany and Co. in a cab.  I was in Tribeca and the Lower East Side - East Village area.  I stayed in Midtown Manhattan, but most of the time I was at the convention center for the show. 

I took our small camera with me, but I didn't have a chance to take any pictures with it.  So I have absolutely no photographs of my first trip to New York City.  But I do have some great reviews coming of restaurants I ate at throughout the city while I was there.  I had Italian food four times in the six days I was there.  And that's not counting the Italian deli hoagies that I had for lunch three days.  I have to say that I never tire of Italian food. 

Manhattan was about what I expected it to be - a melting pot of people from all over the world.  It's definitely an area that you have to do a lot of walking around to see things.  It's dirty and exquisite and filthy and elegant and foul-smelling and gorgeous all at the same time.  I didn't quite feel as intimidated by it, probably because of my travels to Chicago over the years.  But there is really no other place like it in the world.

It's truly an exciting world city.  It's a center for media, entertainment, fashion, and art.  Any type of food you want - they have it in New York.  And Manhattan is the epicenter of the world's cultural elite.  It was almost dizzying trying to fathom the impact the city has on the rest of the world. 

I told Cindy that we'd have to go to New York together and experience the city.  I got a taste of it (literally) this time around and I would like to go back when I'd have the time to walk around and see the sights, rather than catching fleeting glimpses of famous landmarks from the backseat of a cab.   

As I said, I'll have a number of reviews of places I ate at during the time I was there.  Look for those in the coming days.   

Sonny Landreth - Davenport

The great Louisiana guitar player, Sonny Landreth, played at the Redstone Room in Davenport a while back.  We've seen Landreth on a number of occasions playing at Summerfest in Milwaukee with John Hiatt, as well as with his own band.  And he played the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival last year here in Davenport, putting on a great show. 

If you aren't familiar with Sonny Landreth, check out this incredible YouTube video of him playing at the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago earlier this summer.  It's one of his new songs that he played the night he was in Davenport. 

Cindy and I went with my buddy, Randy Adams, and his girl friend, Laurie Brekke, to the show.  I had asked Santo Pullela to hold us a table, but he wasn't able to do so.  I noticed before the show started that there was a table over by the wall that had a "Reserved" sign on it.  I asked Santo, "Is that table for us?"

He said, "Well, no one was supposed to be saving tables, so if you want to sit there, do it."

And we did.  We had a great sight line directly to the stage.  No one challenged us for the table. 

Opening for Sonny Landreth that evening was a local trio calling themselves Fusion Infusion consisting of Paul DePauw on guitar, Al Nache on drums, and Barry Vestal on bass.  These guys used to back up Ernie Peniston for a time, but broke out on their own to play a jazz/rock infused style of music.  As long as I've known him, I've always been a big fan of Paul DePauw's guitar work and the band did a great job that night. 

After about a 25 minute break, Sonny Landreth hit the stage.  Landreth was accompanied by his longtime bass player David Ranson and a new drummer, Mike Burch, who played the hell out of the drums.  The show was just absolutely electric.  He played for about 90 minutes with one short break to solve a grounding problem after about five songs.  But after the break, the band just unloaded.  It was one helluva show.

The Redstone Room was extremely lucky to get Sonny Landreth for the price they did.  He had an open date between a Thursday night show in Champaign, IL and a blues festival he was playing in Monroe, WI the next day.  Santo told me how cheap it was to get him and I promised that I wouldn't reveal the amount.  But it was significantly lower than what he normally gets for a show.

If you're into great guitar players, don't hesitate to buy a ticket when Sonny Landreth comes to a stage near you.  He plays it all - rock, blues, cajun, jazz.  You won't be disappointed. 

The Broiler - St. Peter's MO

On a trip to St. Louis, recently, I found myself out in St. Peters, a town where my old company was located before I started to work for my present company over five years ago.  One of the places we used to go to for lunch when I would visit the main office was The Broiler, a nice little restaurant in St. Peters (see map), just south and a little east of Mid Rivers Mall.  It was close to lunch time and I decided to stop in for one of their great burgers.

Now, I didn't really know how to categorize The Broiler.  It's first and foremost a steakhouse, but they have a very good burger that they make out of ground chuck (they grind it themselves).  It's cooked over a charcoal grill and served on a very good toasted bun.  It's got excellent flavor and texture.  It's tough to beat.

The Broiler has been in business since 1988 serving great steaks to a rapidly growing area west of St. Louis.  I first went there in 1995 when my then-boss took us there for dinner one evening.  It was then I was told their burgers were the best around.  On my next trip down to St. Louis, I made a point to stop into The Broiler for a burger.  I wasn't disappointed.   

I got into The Broiler around 1 p.m. and went into the bar area.  The place hasn't really changed much since the last time I'd been in three or four years ago.  The bar/lounge area is cozy and unpretentious.  The main dining room is a little more formal, yet not stuffy or snooty.

The tables in the main dining area are covered with a nice linen tablecloths and it's got kind of an old-time supper club feeling to it, even though it's in a small strip mall.  One of the neater things about The Broiler is that in the main dining hall, you can look through a window and see the chef cooking meat over the charcoal grill.

I sat at the bar and the bartender asked if I'd like to see a menu.  Their lunch and lounge menu is more appetizers and sandwiches than their main dining menu.  But I do have to say that I've been in there on slower nights, sat at the bar and was able to watch a game on TV and order off the main dining room menu. 

But I really didn't need a menu this time.  I knew exactly what I wanted.  Provolone cheeseburger, medium, with the steak fries.  I said to the bartender, "I haven't been in here for quite some time, but that was always what I used to order for lunch.  I hope it hasn't changed."

The bartender said, "Oh, heavens no.  It's just as good as the last time you were in."

About 15 minutes later, my cheeseburger showed up.  I have to say that I forgot how good it really was.  The burger was juicy and delectable.  The bartender was right - it was just as good as the last time I was in.

When I listed my Top Ten Burger places last week in a post here, I put The Broiler just outside of the Top 10.  I may have to rethink that after my most recent visit.  It was very, very good and a place that I'll keep coming to for a good burger when I'm in the St. Peters area.  Which, I'm sorry to say, isn't all that often any more.  But I'll just have to make the time to drive out and stop in.       

(Update - It had been quite some time since I'd been to The Broiler and I decided to go there for lunch when I was in the area during a trip to St. Louis in February of 2011.  I pulled up to The Broiler and noticed a sign in the window and no cars in the parking lot.  It had closed.  I was very bummed because I really wanted one of their char-grilled burgers for lunch that day.  Too bad.  Another great little restaurant goes by the wayside.) 

More from CEDIA - 2007

At the annual CEDIA Expo held recently in Denver, the audio video industry showcased the products that will be in homes across America and around the world in the coming months.  Actually, not a lot of new and exciting products were introduced.  Most of the new products shown were basically minimal upgrades of existing technologies.  Still, CEDIA managed to draw over 29,000 people to the four day expo - the highest attendance ever for the event. 

Of course, the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD war was the biggest topic on the minds of people at CEDIA.  (Check out my earlier post on the most recent developments regarding the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD battle here.)  While audio manufacturers like Marantz and Denon showed new Blu-Ray machines at CEDIA (both with $1995 price tags), a number of audio manufacturers are still waiting to see which way the wind is going to blow in regard to who will have the upper hand in the format war.  Or, they're waiting for lower priced dual-format transports to become available. 

Flat panel televisions continued to be the rage on the expo floor with a number of companies showing new products for the upcoming fall and holiday selling season.  Many manufacturers (and retailers) are hoping for more stable pricing and better profits during the last four months of the year compared to last year's price wars that erupted around Thanksgiving. 

Panasonic showed a number of new lower priced plasma monitors that had fewer features than some of their previous models.   I checked out the new Pioneer Kuro plasma displays and they looked stunning.  But I'm still a fan of the Samsung televisions.  Their plasmas and LCD units looked great, and their new DLP projection screens are using LCD technology, making the bulb and the color wheel in the old DLP units obsolete. 

3-D was a big draw at CEDIA.  A number of companies showed monitors capable of projecting three dimensional images on screen, primarily for gaming or motion pictures.  I didn't really look closely at the 3-D displays, I'm a little turned off by the 3-D experience after working with a Canadian company by the name of Sensio for a couple three years.  We were distributing it in North America until things went a little sour and we were stuck with some old technology that Sensio refused to upgrade.  Long story short, we no longer distribute Sensio. 

Anyway, 3-D capable monitors seemed to be the hot "new" thing to show at CEDIA.  The only problem is that most of the 3-D capable monitors were very high priced and out of the range of most consumers.  It's my experience that 3-D is neat for the first few times someone sees it, but after that it's "OK, what else is on?"

Home automation is still one of the main components of the show.  More companies are beginning to incorporate lighting, security and whole house audio/video control into nice little packages.  They're still pretty expensive, but the problematic factor that plagued the control industry has gone down in recent years making the controllers easier to program and use. 

Convergence units that combine downloading of music and movies via the Internet were also shown at the CEDIA Expo.  Apple TV was among the first to address this, but others were showing new models at CEDIA.  Antex showed their multi-zone Sirius or XM digital tuner. Inteset displayed their Denzel TP420 combination cable and HD tuner along with an 750 gig hard drive unit to store movies, pictures, music and other media.  And my friend, Brad Paulsen, helped unveil the new Sooloos music server, the most unique music server I've ever encountered.  Sooloos is pricey - $12,000 for the unit and the music to download into it is extra.  But it was pretty damn cool with its touchscreen menu system and high quality sound. 

All in all, there wasn't any major breakthroughs of technology at this year's CEDIA Expo.  Products are always improving, but the steps seem to be smaller than some of the technological giant leaps we've seen in the past few years.  Still, it's a fun business to be part of and it's always fun to go to a show like this and to be able to look into the future of home electronics.      

Key Lime Cheesecake Pie

Our daughter, Sara, had some surgery to remove a cyst on her thyroid recently and she convalesced at our house for a few days after she got out of the hospital.  While she was there, she kept dropping hints that she wanted a Key Lime Pie.  Finally, she just said, "Will you make me a Key Lime Pie?!  I don't know what else I have to do!  I've only been mentioning it for three days!"

So I decided not to make a quick and easy Key Lime Pie like I have in the past.  I decided to do a Key Lime Cheesecake Pie.  I made something similar to this earlier this year with lemons and it was wonderful.  So I decided to substitute key lime juice for the lemon juice in the recipe.  It came out wonderful. And believe me, if I can make this, you can to.

1 - 9" Graham Cracker crust pie shell

2 - 8 oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese (or equivalent)

1/2 cup - sugar

1/2 cup - sour cream

2 eggs

1/2 cup - Nellie and Joe's Key Lime juice

1 lime zested, then cut in half.

4 oz. - Cool Whip whipped topping

Let the cream cheese soften for about 30 to 45 minutes.  Put it in a mixing bowl and mix at a medium speed until the cream gets even more soft.

Set oven temperature for 375 degrees (F) 

Add in the sugar and the sour cream and continue to mix until the cream cheese is almost liquid.  Add the eggs, the lime juice and the lime zest to the mixture.  Squeeze the juice from the lime into the mixture, as well. 

After the mixture is softened into a near liquid stage, pour into pie shell.  Place on middle rack of oven and let cook for 35 to 40 minutes, or until it gets a little dark on top. 

Pull from oven and let set for 15 to 20 minutes to cool.  Cover and place in refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours. 

Before serving, spread 4 oz. of Cool Whip on the top.  You can garnish with lime slices, as well.

It's so rich, but, oh, is it so good.

My Top 10 List of Best Burgers

A Road Tips reader, Pete Haskins, asked me via e-mail a couple three weeks ago to name my Top 10 best burgers of all the places I've been to.  I thought about it for a number of days and finally came up with what I think are the best burgers I've ever had.

My choices of 1 thru 3 were pretty easy.  But after that, it became a little more tough to differentiate 4 thru 10.  Here's what I came up with:

1. Duffy's Cherry Cricket - Denver:  Hands down the best restaurant burger I've ever had.  I have turned a number of friends and colleagues onto the great burgers at Cherry Cricket that I've garnered sort of a cult following as to my taste in burgers.  85% lean ground beef, cooked on an open grate over charcoal, the Cherry Cricket burgers have a taste sensation like no other.  And the buns are soft and fresh - another point that I look for in the perfect cheeseburger.  Look for a post in the upcoming days when we visited the Cherry Cricket - not once, not twice, but three times - when I was recently out in Denver.

2. Krazy Jim's Blimpie Burger - Ann Arbor:  A funky little place with a sassy woman grilling the burgers, Crazy Jim's was the best burger I'd ever had until I found the Cherry Cricket.  Four patties make about a half-pound burger.  Then tell her what you want on them from veggies to bacon to eggs.  It was heaven on a bun, I'm telling you. 

3. Monk's Bar and Grill - Wisconsin Dells, WI:  I'm not a big fan of the Dells area, especially in the summertime because it's so packed with people.  But each time I pass by, I always make a point to stop into Monk's for one of their great cheeseburgers topped with grilled onions.  If you get up there for a weekend or a vacation, stop into Monk's and have their burger.  You won't be disappointed.   

4. Solly's - Glendale, WI:  They claim they're the inventors of "The Butter Burger" - a hamburger patty cooked in butter.  And of all the butter burgers I've had in Wisconsin, Solly's is the best.  Top it with cheese and "The Butter Burger" is a cholesterol-hiking delicacy that keeps people coming back for more. 

5. Booches - Columbia, MO: Booches isn't much to look at on the inside - it's more of a pool hall than a burger joint.  But you forget all about the decor when they bring the burgers out to you.  Small cheeseburgers served on wax papers.  They are out of this world.  But my buddy, Dave Haack, who lives outside of Columbia, was telling me recently that they're getting ready to pass a no-smoking ordinance in Columbia that would ban smoking from any place that serves food.  Since Booches is well known not only for their burgers and their pool tables, the owners are contemplating shutting down if they have to ban smoking. 

6. Kroll's West - Green Bay, WI:  Situated in the shadows of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Kroll's West makes a wonderfully juicy burger that is full of flavor.  This old time family bar/restaurant is a favorite of the locals who come in for the messy cheeseburgers served on wax paper. 

7. The Burger Barge - East Peoria, IL:  The Burger Barge can either go to absolutely outstanding to unbelievably horrible visit to visit.  When they're cooked properly, they're excellent.  When they're not - as in overcooked (which has happened to me two or three times) - they're inedible.  The last three or four times I've been in there, however, they've been great.  I always get the Tavern Burger topped with an egg, cheese and a piece of Canadian Bacon.  Yummy!

8. Louie M's Burger Lust - Omaha, NE:  I haven't been to this funky little spot south of Omaha's downtown area for quite a while.  I really need to go back and do a revisit blog entry on Louie M's because not only do they have great burgers, but they have good chili, too. 

9. Dotty Dumpling's Dowry - Madison, WI:  When Dotty's was at their old location before they were moved by the city of Madison, I thought their burgers were the best I'd ever had.  I don't know if it's because they got a new grill at their new location or what, but they don't have that same great flavor the ones at the old place had.  Still, they're very good and merit a Top 10 spot in my list. 

10. Jack's Locust Street Tap - Davenport, IA:  For my money, the best burger in the Quad Cities.  Only you need to go during the day on Tuesday thru Friday when Karen is working.  She knows exactly how to cook 'em and they're the best in town when she's there.

A few more places that are just outside my top 10 are The Broiler in St. Peters, MO (look for a review on the Broiler in the coming days), and the Green Gables at Lake Bloomington, just north of Hudson, IL.  The Green Gables probably would have made my Top 10, but they've been so inconsistent with their burgers since their change of ownership a few years ago.  And the Duffy Burger at Duffy's in Utica, IL is very good, as well.

Of course, there's the great Super Cheeseburger at the Starlight Room in Cedar Rapids.   And the Blue Moon in Madison arguably has as good a burger as Dotty's.  And the burgers at O'Connell's Pub and Blueberry Hill in St. Louis are also worthy of a mention. 

Also, I have to mention the Lion's Tap in Eden Prairie, MN, and Matt's Bar, home of the cheese-stuffed "Jucy Lucy" in Minneapolis.  And I can't forget Hackney's swiss cheeseburger on homemade rye bread in the Chicago area.

I'm afraid to go in and get my heart checked because I'm afraid the doctor would find a cheeseburger clogging one of my arteries.  But I'm always on the hunt for a good burger.  And if you know of one that I've missed out on, drop me a line and fill me in.      

The Dakotas Trip - Part 5

Part 5 of my nearly 2400 mile trip across North Dakota and South Dakota earlier this summer.  To read Part 1, click here; to read Part 2, click here; to read Part 3, click here; and to read Part 4, click here.

I've always been sort of a geography nut ever since I was a little kid.  I would just sit and look at maps for hours on end.  I don't know why.  Maybe I had a little bit of wanderlust in me at an early age.  But just to show you how big of a geek I was when I was a little kid, I could name all the state capitals when I was six years old.  Ask me what the state capital of Montana was and I'd quickly reply, "Helena".  Vermont?  "Montpelier."  South Carolina?  "Columbia."  I was that good (or bad, depending on your viewpoint of geekdom). 

(As an aside, I could name the U.S. Presidents in order when I was five.  My parents would have me come down and do it for their friends when they'd have company.  I can still name all the presidents in order and the state capitals to this day.  I've won a few bar bets in doing so over the years.)

But looking at maps, I was always fascinated by borders.  It didn't matter if it were county borders, state borders or national borders.  I was always enamored by them.  And I still am to this day. 

There's a point just east of Sioux Falls where the three states of Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota come together.  Since there's no topographical boundaries, such as a river, to delineate between the borders, the boundaries for all three states come together at a point in the middle of the road about 15 miles east of Sioux Falls.  Here's a picture of the point courtesy of Google Earth.  That's Iowa to the south, South Dakota to the north and west, and Minnesota to the north and east. 

The spot is marked by a monument that has a plaque that talks about the history of spot.  Actually, the monument used to be right smack dab in the middle of the road - a nice two lane highway at a "T" intersection with a gravel road.  Over the years, it had been hit so many times they finally decided to move it to the South Dakota corner of the three points. 

Here's the nail-head where the monument used to sit.  This is the exact point where all three states come together at this intersection.  If you wanted to - and I have - you could pee in all three states at once. 

Standing on the exact spot where all three states meet, here's the gravel road looking north.  South Dakota is on the left with Minnesota on the right.

Here's the road looking east - Iowa's on the right and Minnesota's on left.

And here's the road looking west with Iowa on the left and South Dakota on the right.  OK, OK.  You get the idea.  I told you I was geeky about these things. 

Here's a picture courtesy of Jeff Morrison which shows the three different street signs for the three different states.  South Dakota's is in the foreground, Iowa's is to the right and Minnesota's is to the left.

And here's the plaque on the side of the monument marker.  As always, click on the picture to enlarge if you'd like to read it.

Back on the road and down to Sioux City, there's a point where Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota meet, but it's out in the middle of a river channel where the Big Sioux River drains into the Missouri.  See the place courtesy of Google Maps on the right.

War Eagle Park is on a bluff in southwest Sioux City that overlooks the point where the three states come together.  The monument on the bluff denotes the final resting place for Chief War Eagle, an Indian tribal leader who worked with the first white settlers in the region to bring peace and harmony between the two groups.

Here's the shot of the confluence of the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers.  Iowa is in the foreground.  The sliver of land between the two rivers is South Dakota, and Nebraska is in the background.  OK, that's enough geeky shit for this day. 

After meeting with my dealer in Sioux City, and then a lunch at George's No. 1 Hot Dog Shoppe, I was back on the highway for a 5 1/2 hour trip home.  It had been a long week, I had seen a lot of stuff, I got a lot of things accomplished and had a pretty good time doing it.  A trip like this makes traveling long distances pretty worth while.         

NoRTH - Denver

A small group of guys from Focal in France showed up one evening a few weeks ago for the annual CEDIA Expo in Denver.  We met up with them at our hotel and then went up to the Cherry Creek area for a nice dinner at NoRTH. (see map)

NoRTH (yes, that's how they spell it) is part of the Fox group of upscale restaurants based out of Scottsdale, AZ.  North is what they call "modern Italian" cooking with some old world recipes through in for good measure.

There was a group of 10 of us. The concierge at the Loews Hotel we stayed in again this year (which was considerably less tired and much nicer than last year) suggested we make reservations as the place did have a tendency to get busy.  The earliest we could get in was 8:30.  We arrived in two vehicles around 8:20 and they got us seated right away.

NoRTH is very trendy and upscale in its appearance.  Sitting there in a pair of shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, I definitely looked underdressed compared to a lot of the well-dressed people in the place.  But, hey, my money spends just as well as theirs - even though I wasn't paying for the meal.  There was a nice little bar area that had a lot of glass and metal to it.  The main seating area of the restaurant had a lot of art-deco furniture and fixtures and it was also dark throughout the place.  But not overly dark where you couldn't see the person across from you.

The menu was definitely a new twist on old Italian favorites.  The main pasta entrees were reminiscent of some of the auberge restaurants we ate at in France last year.  They had pork, beef, fish, fowl and wild game plates to choose from.  Their pasta was a little more on the eclectic side than what you find at most traditional Italian restaurants.  Actually, it was pretty fun. 

One thing that kept catching my eye was their pizza.  There were a number of people who seemed to be getting pizza at the tables around us.  One of the Focal guys, Fraser Robertson, said, "Their pizza must be pretty good.  I see a lot of them coming out of the kitchen." 

Fraser ended up ordering a sausage and caramelized onion pizza.  Dominic Baker, the chief engineer for Focal, was seated next to me and he went with the fire roasted steak Delmonico, a thick cut ribeye (Dominic always eats steak when he's in the States).  And my colleague, Matthew, who was seated across from me, went with the grilled flank steak.  I ended up getting the shrimp fettuccine with small broccoli crowns in a white sauce that featured spicy garlic.  Ooooo, I couldn't pass that up.

Before our meal, we feasted on a number of appetizers including meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, calamari, and a large plate of Italian meats and cheeses.  It was all so good that I finally had to stop myself or I wouldn't want to eat my main entree.

The wine list was pretty dinky, especially for as upscale a place the NoRTH is.  I was pretty surprised to see only about 15 each of white and red wines listed.  Someone ordered the wine that evening and we had an '03 Super Tuscan Altesino "Rosso di Altesino" red.  It was very tasty.

Our food came out and I was impressed with the shrimp fettuccine.  I didn't think the sauce was all that garlic-ky or all that spicy, for that matter.  I suppose I should have told our waiter to "step on it" when ordering my meal.  But it was still very good.

Fraser said his pizza was "exquisite".  Dominic just loved his very rare Delmonico ribeye. (I like meat on the rare side of medium rare, but all the Europeans and Canadians that I've been around love their meat rare.)  And Matthew and I traded bites of his flank steak and my fettuccine.  He wasn't too enamored with it, but it had a good smoky flavoring to it.

All in all, the people at our table all had a good meal.  The wine went very well with everything, even the white cream sauce I had with my fettuccine.

NoRTH is a little upscale for the normal people, but the service and food were very good.  I don't know if it would be my first choice for food when we go back to Denver next year, but it was still very good.         

River Roots Live - 2007

The 3rd Annual River Roots Live festival was held the last full weekend of August at LeClaire Park next to the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport.  As I said in an earlier post here, I was hired to be the head stage manager for the event this year.  Actually, I thought it was going to be an easy gig. 

I wear a lot of hats when I manage the stage at the Wells Fargo Street Festival.  But for River Roots Live, I had a stage crew, I had assistants, I had a lot of help at my beck and call.  Little did I know that it didn't matter - I was busy as all get out all weekend long.

This year, they combined the River Roots Live festival they used to have in late September with the annual Rib Fest they would have during this time in August.  The River Roots Live hemorrhaged money last year and DavenportOne took over the production for RRL this year.  Marcy Hyder, the director of events for DavenportOne, asked me after the Street Fest this year to be in charge of everything behind the stages.  I couldn't say no to her when she told me I'd have complete control of everything.

One of the great things about River Roots Live is that it brings such a diverse section of musical talent together.  This year we featured such different types of music as reggae and ska, folk blues, jam music, and middle of the road rock.  Some people bitch that River Roots Live is all over the place, but I like to think of it as a place where one can come and be exposed to a lot of different types of good music.  Music they may not have had the chance to hear previously.   

Set up took place on Thursday, August 23 as we brought in stage extensions for the main bandshell, and the city brought in their portable stage for the Riverside stage along the levee in the park.  Sound and lights were set up, as well.  Things were going very well, until it started to rain.

The next day, we had to deal with soggy grounds after a 1.2 inch rainfall the night before.  August had been extremely dry, but in the days leading up to the River Roots Live, a stationary front decided to stall out over the Quad Cities and deposit about 4 to 6 inches of rain on the area.  In fact, we dodged a major bullet on Friday afternoon as a storm front that was bearing down on the Quad Cities from the west decided at the last minute to go north of us.  While my wife said it was pouring at her work place in far northern Davenport, it was dry down at the riverfront.

And with all the rain in the area and up north of us, the Mississippi River began to rise - and it kept coming up.  We were a little concerned it may spill over the levee into the park during the weekend, but it leveled out about six inches under the top of the levee.  We were pretty lucky.

And I was told before that I wouldn't be doing the announcements - local talent from various radio stations would be handling that.  But I was then told three hours before the event that I would be handling all the announcing chores for the weekend.  Oh boy - just what I wanted to do.  And how was I going to be able to announce from two stages at the same time?  I knew I had to figure something out.  Turns out things worked out pretty well.  Here's a picture that Cindy took of me on the big screen doing announcements on Saturday night.

I didn't get a chance to hear a lot of the bands that played as I always seemed to be running off in some different direction.  But I made it a point to listen to a couple three each of the songs the artists played.  I really wish I could have listened more.

The skies cleared just before The Pines took the main stage at 5 p.m.  The Pines are a Minneapolis based group with roots in Iowa.  One of the founders, Benson Ramsey, is the son of the legendary Bo Ramsey.  In fact Bo Ramsey played guitar in support of his son's band that evening.

Benson Ramsey (left) and Bo Ramsey (right) on stage at River Roots Live.  Photos courtesy of Danny Owens.

At 5:45 p.m. on the Riverfront Stage, Iowa bluesman Joe Price, a man I've known for a number of years, played his eclectic brand of delta blues.  Joe was joined on stage with his wife, Vicki, for a few songs, as well.  You can check out part of their performance on this YouTube video.  They both did a great job, as always.  And they're both very nice people, too.

Joe and Vicki Price.  Photos courtesy of Danny Owens

When Joe and Vicki finished up, it was back to the main stage to see Nashville-based Kevin Gordon, a Louisiana native who studied writing at the University of Iowa's esteemed Writer's Workshop.  Gordon's style of combining delta blues and rockabilly reminded me of John Hiatt.  Kevin was a great guy to hang with, too.  (Photo courtesy of Danny Owens)

William Elliott Whitmore, a folk/blues guitarist from SE Iowa came on next on the Riverside Stage.  Whitmore sounds a lot older than he is, combining a voice that sounds similar to Tom Waits with a passionate style of playing.  I was able to listen to a couple songs he did and I was quite impressed with him.

Following Mr. Whitmore, my good friends The Andrew Landers Project played on the main stage.  I've worked with ALP over the past few years in conjunction with the Street Fest and the old Rib Fest.  Andy and the guys did a very good job playing in a great time slot for a crowd we estimated to be around 2500 to 3000 people.  There was rain in the area, but it was holding off for the time being.  But, still, it was keeping the numbers down in terms of attendance. 

Andy Landers of The Andrew Landers Project. Photo courtesy of Danny Owens.

The Chicago Afrobeat Project played next on the Riverside Stage.  CAbP (as they're known as among their fans) combined an urban funk, jazz and world music fusion of sound that had people instinctively dancing to their music.  And they were good guys, too.  They all hung out behind the main stage the rest of the evening talking with a lot of the crew and other musicians. 

And last, but certainly not least on Friday night, the fun and energetic ska band Reel Big Fish took the stage in the bandshell for a rollicking performance.  Based out of Southern California, these guys certainly have a lot of fun on stage.

Aaron Barrett of Reel Big Fish.  Photo courtesy of Danny Owens. 

Their show could be classified as "R"-rated, so I was told by my superiors at the event I had to tell their road manager before they went on that this was a "family festival" and asked them to tone down the language if they could.  And they did.  They were very professional about it.  Oh, there were some words in their lyrics that they didn't change, but they didn't drop any "F-bombs" like they're known to during their shows.

Almost as soon as Reel Big Fish took the stage, it began to rain lightly.  The light rain started to get a little more steady and after playing an hour we decided to pull the plug.  Even though they were under a canopy over the stage, they were still getting wet.  Their road manager and I agreed to stop 'em before someone slipped on stage and got hurt.  Too bad, too.  They were really fun to listen to. 

Saturday morning, I had to be back down at 8 a.m. as we were going to load in America for their performance that evening.  I got up at 7 and looked outside.  It was beautiful out.  Clear blue skies, a light wind, low humidity.  It was a perfect day.  I knew we were going to have a large crowd for the fest that day.

I got down to the stage area around 7:45 and promptly found out that America wouldn't be coming in until 9 a.m.  Well, that was going to cause a problem because that was the time Tea Leaf Green was going to be showing up, as well.  OK, we'll deal with it when it happens. 

America's bus and equipment showed up around 9:30 and we got them unloaded and on stage by 10:15.  Thankfully, Tea Leaf Green showed up at 10:30, so the possible conflict of two big acts arriving at the same time was averted.

Here's a picture I took of the main stage at River Roots Live before things got going on Saturday.

Saturday's show started out with two local bands, Dr. Death and the Retro Mechanics; and Rude Punch playing on the Riverside Stage and the Main Stage, respectively.  DD&tRM's are based out of nearby Clinton and won the West Music Battle of the Bands contest to be able to play at River Roots Live.  Actually, for a bunch of high school kids, they weren't bad. 

Rude Punch is a local ska/reggae band from Davenport.  I've heard them play better in the past.  Their gig that Saturday was not their best.

Another local band, The Parish Festival, played on the Riverfront stage for 30 minutes.  I didn't get much of a chance to hear them, but their music had a lot of people captivated at the stage.  I'm sure a lot of them were local friends and supporters.

Things began to heat up with Madison, Wisconsin's Adam Isaac and the People on the Riverfront stage.  Combining a great funk sound with soul and pop, the band did a great job in getting the afternoon going.  Actually, they should have been playing at the main stage, they were that good.

The Woodbox People, a band from Carbondale, IL, was the next band up on the main stage.  These guys came in the night before and were hanging backstage with the crew and other musicians.  They were very nice guys, humbled to be playing at River Roots Live.  Their acoustic mix of bluegrass, delta blues, country and folk was a very intriguing combination.  They'd been out on the road for about two months and this was their last gig before going home that evening.  They were ready to get home.

Playing on the Riverfront stage was a reggae band from upstate New York, J-san and the Analogue Sons.  These guys drove 16 hours from Rutland, VT to play the River Roots Live.  One of the guys in the band grew up in the Quad Cities and was fired up to come back to play the festival.  They really pleased the reggae and ska fanatics in the crowd.

(J-san of J-san and the Analogue Sons.  Photo courtesy Danny Owens)

Chicago's Daphne Willis was absolutely fabulous.  Not only is she a wonderful person, but she's a very good musician.  She's only 20 years old and is completely more mature, intelligent and savvy beyond her years.  She did an absolutely fabulous job with her set on the Riverside Stage.  Once again, she could have easily played the main stage and held the crowd captive.  And she just loved River Roots Live.  She was really fun to hang with before and after her set.  In fact, she stuck around throughout the night because of the strong lineup of musicians we had on Saturday evening and Saturday night. (Photo courtesy Danny Owens)

5:30 came around and it was time for the great jazz guitar virtuoso Charlie Hunter.  The San Francisco-area guitarist was probably the one I wanted to take the time to hear that weekend.  Hunter plays a custom made seven-string guitar where he plucks the bass note with his thumb and strums the upper strings with his index and middle fingers. 

Here's a picture I got of him when he was playing.  He was mesmerizing to watch on stage.  He played about 10 minutes over his alloted 60 minutes.  But as the stage manager, I didn't care.  Charlie Hunter was unbelievable to watch and hear.  And he was a genuinely great guy, too.  He also stuck around the rest of the evening to hear the other musicians on the bill.  He and I became very fast friends that weekend.  What a very, very nice guy.

Actually, the headlining band for River Roots Live was the 70's and 80's middle-of-the road staple America.  They were definitely the band that brought in the people on Saturday night.  We estimated there were about 7000 people there for America.  Considering we were only expecting 4000, that was a nice little surprise. 

Their road staff and the backing musicians were very professional people.  Their road manager, Erin Edwards, was sort of a no-nonsense lady who just wanted to make sure things were going as smooth as possible for the band.  And their sound engineer, Jeff Worrall, is a guy who has run sound for the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar and Edgar Winter.

I got to meet the two principals of America - Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (shown at right) - just before the show.  I was able to talk with Beckley a little more than Bunnell.  He was pretty matter-of-fact, but a nice guy at the same time.  I'm sure there's always that tense time just before the show begins.

And when the show began, it was very, very good.  In fact, I couldn't believe how great these guys sounded.  They just kept coming up with song after song of hits they'd had over the years.  Everyone I talked to that evening and in subsequent days after the fest said they were blown away at how well America played.  Afterward, Bunnell and Beckley sat at the merchandise tent and signed autographs for well over an hour after their show.  A class act all around.  I heartily recommend that if you get the chance to see America in your area, do it.  You won't be disappointed.   

Later that evening, The Headhunters, featuring the great percussionist Bill Summers, the excellent jazz and funk drummer Mike Clark, and joined by the original funk masters The Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli (shown on left), played on the Riverfront stage.  Now, this was an unbelievable show.  When you have a number of professional musicians who say Leo Nocentelli is one of their favorite guitarists, you know the guy has to be good.  He's not just good, he's excellent.   The Headhunters put on a great show filled with funk and R&B.  It was just an honor to have them play the event.

Now, just to show you how high of regard Leo Nocentelli and The Meters were, here's a picture of them with the Rolling Stones when they opened up for them a few years ago.  That's Leo in the middle next to Keith Richards.

I was able to spend a little time with Leo and his wife, Pesuky (pronounced "pa-SUE-key").  They were both just great to hang with.  Both were very down home people and a joy to be around.  Pesuky told me that they had been living in California for 25 years and decided to move back to their home town of New Orleans in August of 2005 - one month before Hurricane Katrina.  She said, "We lost everything.  I'm still sick to my stomach of all the memorabilia, pictures, guitars, and other things that are now gone forever." 

Ending up the festival was Tea Leaf Green, a San Francisco area jam band who has a great following with the young crowd.   I didn't interact with the guys in the band all that much.  But I did have to deal with a very high-strung lighting engineer at one time.  This guy had too much caffeine in his body.  But their road manager, Jeff Brooks, was a very down to earth guy who was very easy to work with.  We got through some minor issues and the band did a very good job closing out the show.

One of the perks I received as the stage manager for the event were some free tickets and free passes to the V.I.P. area of the festival.  I gave Cindy a couple tickets and passes, I gave our friends Scott and Marcia Schroeder a couple more, and I gave my old friend Randy Adams and his girlfriend, Laurie, the other two.  I didn't get to spend a lot of time in the V.I.P. area, but it was sort of fun getting to hang in there with everyone for about five to ten minutes at a time.

Here's a picture of Cindy, Laurie and Randy enjoying the evening in the V.I.P. area.   

Also, I have to give a shout out to my new best friend in the whole world, Santo Pullela, who is the booking manager for the Redstone Room, and who booked all the acts for River Roots Live.  Here's a picture of Santo and his lovely wife, Denise, on Saturday afternoon of the fest.

And I have to give a big "THANX!" to Tom Swanson of the River Music Experience and his compatriot, Jason Gilliland who both play in Jim the Mule for helping me control things at the Riverside Stage.  These guys all worked incredibly hard to make things come off in a very orderly fashion.

A lot of people said that the group of people I worked with couldn't pull off this year's River Roots Live.  I think we more than ably showed the skeptics that it could be done without a professional production company.  Marcy and Kyle at DavenportOne put together a great team of people to pull it off.  It was a lot of hard work, but really a fun experience, as well.  I usually think at the end of these events that I don't want to do another one.  But I'm already looking forward to working the 2008 River Roots Live.