THURSDAY, JUNE 27TH AND FRIDAY, JUNE 28TH – NASHVILLE TO INTERLAKEN SWITZERLAND TRUCKER AND COUNTRY FESTIVAL WITH RUNAWAY JUNE:
Departed Nashville this morning on Delta Airlines to Boston, then Amsterdam and then Zurich. Runaway June is performing at the annual “Trucker and Country Festival” in the amazingly beautiful town of Interlaken, Switzerland. Jen, Natalie and Stevie flew to Zurich a day early and the guys are on American Airlines through Philadelphia.
Wasn’t as “smooth” at the Nashville airport as I hoped. I couldn’t print my bag tags and boarding passes at the kiosk so had to stand in line for that. Then “Clear” decided in the last 3 weeks that I now have two accounts with them and I didn’t have time to sort it out.
Flight from Nashville to Boston was quick and easy but not so the situation on the ground once we landed. Over 45 minutes from the time we landed until I got to the gate for the flight to Amsterdam. First surprise was the fact that there were no monitors telling the flight departure times and gates for any of the International flights. I had to find an attendant and ask where to go. I was directed down an escalator and then had to stand in a long line to have my passport verified. The reason the line was long was because they would only let 4-5 people go through at a time and those were directed to an elevator. The elevator took us back up to ground level where we had just come from. Then we took a small shuttle bus around the entire perimeter of the huge airport. By the time we finally got to the correct terminal, I had less than an hour left before boarding. I went into the Delta Lounge for a few minutes once I was able to locate it. Again, no signs!
We boarded on time and it is a really, really old Airbus 300-330 aircraft. At least it’s not a Boeing! I watched one movie that was based on a true story about a woman in Kentucky fighting to save the life of a young girl who needed a liver transplant. Got 2 hours of sleep and then we were landing early. The line in Amsterdam to go through passport control was so long I assumed I would miss my connection. But exactly at 6 am, more staff showed up and the line started moving.
Flight to Zurich was on KLM and we landed early as did the musicians coming in from Philadelphia. I didn’t have to go through immigration since I arrived from Amsterdam but they had to stand in a really long line. Chuck Mead is performing on the festival tomorrow night and his bass player’s stand-up bass didn’t make it on the flight when they arrived yesterday. Delta was supposed to bring it in on the same flight today and I was going to pick it up for them. Only Delta didn’t send it. He “might” have it tomorrow!
Daniel – our driver – picked us up in a Mercedes Sprinter van with a trailer and we drove to the Hilton Hotel to pick up the girls. About 20 minutes after we left, I had him stop at a “Marche” restaurant. They have never been to one of those and were blown away by all the fresh food and drinks. We weren’t in a hurry to get to Interlaken because we knew we couldn’t check in until probably 3 pm. The first part of the drive around the Zurich area is pretty boring but once you get close to Interlaken, the magic begins. Interlaken is at the base of the Alps and situated between two huge lakes with a beautiful green river running through the middle of the town. The river water is “green” and ice cold because it is glacier water run off.
We stay at the same hotel I have stayed at for decades although the name has changed. Mike – their tour manager – has never travelled overseas before and he was shocked that there is no air conditioning. I had the front desk give him a fan which is always a tremendous help. Everyone’s room was ready except for Natalie and Stevie.
I got unpacked and did some work while the others walked around. I made the not so brilliant decision of packing one bag to bring with me and one to leave with Lindsey to bring things I would need until she and the twins arrive on Monday. Turns out, I packed the electrical adapters I need in that luggage. So I hiked around town for about an hour trying to find what I needed. I went down to the restaurant to have dinner at around 5:30 and the guys were already there. Sat and ate with them and the food was really good.
The girls had a radio interview at 8 pm and that was very quick – 30 minutes. Again, I walked around town afterwards looking for the plugs I need but didn’t have much luck. Was back in my room around 9:30 and have been working ever since. Going to bed now at 1 am so I can get up and jog before going to sound check tomorrow.
Jude
SATURDAY, JUNE 29TH – SHOW DAY AT TRUCKER AND COUNTRY FESTIVAL – INTERLAKEN:
What a great jog I had this morning. One of my favorite cities to jog in. I have a 3 mile loop along the beautiful river that I always take. The weather was perfect, too. When I got back to the hotel, I realized I had dropped my room key somewhere and it has my name, room number and name of the hotel on it! I had new keys made and asked them to be sure the old one would not work!
Showered and worked for a couple of hours before meeting the guys downstairs to go to the venue for 3 hours of load in and sound check. The production company is the same one we have used for decades and they had things pretty much set up and ready for us. The guys were happy with the backline and sound check went smoothly. The girls came over 2 hours later and finished sound check right on time.
Once back at the hotel, I walked to the shops to find cream for my coffee. The wind had picked up considerably and we are supposed to have strong storms later today and maybe for the next several days which is really a bummer! Might effect our trip to Schilthorn tomorrow (where the James Bond Movie was filmed). My friends from Gstaad decided not to come to the show tonight because of the severe weather threat.
I had dinner with the guys again but tonight I remembered to ask what the “special” was. It was fettuccine with gorgonzola sauce, spinach, fresh cooked cherry tomatoes and chicken. It was by far the best pasta I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. I also had the “Carpaccio of tomatoes with Burrata and avocado”. The burrata mozzarella was amazing, too. They give really large portions and I couldn’t come close to eating even half of everything. But, after one bite, the guys helped me out. They agreed it was the most delicious thing they have tried on the menu.
Our show is delayed by 15 minutes because the beginning of the show had to be delayed due to the wind. When we arrived the large mirror in the tent “dressing room” had blown over and shattered. The promoter said the tent had several “rips” in the top but was still “safe”.
We still had to depart the hotel at the same time because of the interviews and Meet and Greet. My friend Katja was doing the interview for social media. It had stopped raining so we walked outside or the interview. Chuck Mead was performing and it was just too loud to hear anything in the tent. Chuck had a fantastic show and the crowd in the tent was huge.
The girls had to do a short Meet and Greet with some contest winners. Alexandra (our promoter) came backstage to say hello to them and she was happy with the number of people in the tent. When the girls took the stage at 11:00 pm, everyone was still there. I was concerned about the audience liking their songs because they are not traditional country. But there was no reason for concern. The audience stayed for the entire show and even asked for an encore. Of course the highlight of the show was Natalie playing “Devil Went Down To Georgia” on her fiddle. I quickly walked over to the Festival Office to say “hello” to my friend Andrea. It was truly a great, successful evening.
It was really late when we got back to the hotel – almost 2 am – but at least all the soccer fans had gone to bed. It had gotten pretty loud in the streets last night because Switzerland beat Italy. Got in bed by 2:30 am and have to meet the group in the lobby at 10:30 am for the trip to Schilthorn.
Jude
SUNDAY, JUNE 30TH – DAY OFF IN INTERLAKEN:
The weather isn’t “great” this morning but it’s not storming. I dressed and had a quick breakfast with some of the guys and then met the group in the lobby. Several of our group are not going because they just want to SLEEP! One guy is not feeling well and I’ll pretty sure he is dehydrated. I decided not to go either because my family hotel reservations for the rest of the week here is messed up. I got everyone off and then walked down to the hotel to see what could be done. She said the hotel is fully booked and we will have to check back tomorrow morning. UGH! Not looking forward to that fight.
I came back to the hotel to try and get some work done. We have to leave for the airport at 5:30 am tomorrow. We’re leaving way too early for the flights but the 1,500 trucks pull out early tomorrow morning and if our van got stuck behind them, it would take several hours more to reach the airport. I’m going to store my suitcase and ride to the airport with the group so I can meet Lindsey and the twins and help them get the luggage on the train for the trip back to Interlaken.
At around 2 pm, I went out for another jog along the river. Again, perfect weather. I made a reservation for the group to eat at 7:30 pm in a special room at the hotel restaurant. We had a wonderful last meal together. Stevie suggested we go around the table and tell what we loved most about Switzerland. It was great to hear that everyone had a lot more than one thing they could say was their favorite. It was a “long” meal with truly great food.
The 4 guys and Natalie all went up to Schilthorn today and had a fantastic time. I always plan to go and something always prevents me from following through. I was worried that the weather was too bad for them to see anything but they said the view was fantastic. And lunch was complimentary in the revolving restaurant at the top. They said the food was great, too.
After dinner, I walked back down to the hotel to see what I could do about changing our rooms for our stay here this week. This time I got a great guy at the front desk who was very helpful. But, I still have to call again at 9 am today because it has to be changed through central reservations in Zurich!
I was back in my room around 10:30 pm and packed as much as I could. Got in bed at 12:30 am with a 3:30 am wake up call. All night long my phone “beeped” with changes to the flights today – the groups outgoing fight to the USA is delayed and Lindsey’s incoming flight to Zurich is delayed. Good thing I insist on the groups booking really long layovers on connecting flights because now the guys don’t have to worry about not making their connection.
Drive to the airport this morning was uneventful and I got everyone to the places where they needed to go before I split off and went to meet Lindsey and the twins and our trip back to Interlaken.
It was another very successful festival and I’m happy that the promoter was pleased and the group had a great visit to Switzerland – most of them for the very first time.
Jude