TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH THROUGH WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH – TRAVELING TO GSTAAD, SWTIZERLAND:
For once, I had a “decent” departure time from Nashville. I left for the airport at 9:30 am because I had to turn in a rental car. Hashem – the skycap – let me drop my bags curbside and then go turn in the rental. I’m still in the walking brace and I swear the rental car agency is about a mile from the check in terminal. It would have been brutal on my foot to have to walk that far with all my luggage!
I have 5 members of Appalachian Road Show with me – 3 on this fight and 2 connecting with us in Atlanta. Three of the guys have their wives/fiancé with them. The fiddler – Jim VanCleve (who just got selected into the National Fiddler’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame!) is getting married in Gstaad! His fiancé and 6 family members/friends are going to Switzerland as well as two spouses of the other musicians. Very nice, easy group!
Drake Milligan and his musicians/crew will arrive Gstaad on Thursday. I booked Appalachian Road Show and Drake Milligan for this year’s event. Dwight Yoakam is headlining but I didn’t book him although I have known and worked with him since the beginning of his career. There is also an “up and coming” Swiss female country star named Amber Rae who will be performing. I met her in Zurich last March and she’s really good.
This is my first time back in Zurich since the “accident” so I was in a wheelchair when I left here in March. Thankful to be in just a foot brace now and continuing to heal!
I have found that if I roll a very small yoga ball under my foot several times a day, it helps more with the healing that anything I have tried so far. But, I forgot and packed the ball and really wanted to use it during the long flight. I searched several stores and finally decided to buy a “Chupa Chups Pop”! (same size as a Tootsie Pop!) I was able to break the cardboard stick off and use it as a small ball. Necessity is the Mother of Invention!!
I asked the gate agent if one of the musicians with an expensive guitar could board with me and help with my bags. She said he could but he would have to gate check his instrument. I told her we wanted to first try and see if it would fit in the overhead. When we boarded, a flight attendant named “Ruben” absolutely refused to even let him try. He said the closet was going to be used by the “bride” for her wedding dress then proceeded to put about 5 other passengers bags in the closet with her dress. I have a letter from the FAA that states musicians MUST be allowed to carry their instruments on board “if” it fits in the overhead and there is space available when they board. I am going to report “Ruben” to Delta. What a jerk!
Flight from Nashville to Atlanta was on time and our departure gate was only one gate away. There wasn’t time to go to the Lounge and my 360 status didn’t send a Porsche to pick me up and take me to the gate this time. I stopped to buy eye shadow that I had forgotten. But they were out of the colors I wanted at the three counters that had cosmetics. I finally decided to buy the closest thing but when she opened it, one of the colors was broken. I told her I would take it anyway if she would discount it. She gave me a whopping 10% off. WOW. Then she would not let me take it with me. I would have to pick it up when I boarded. I got my money back and left…
Once of the mobile carts came by and offered me a ride to the gate. I told him to take me to the Sky Club Lounge but he tried to drop me at the Centurion Lounge instead. I couldn’t make him understand where I wanted to go so I just got out and walked. Stopped at a money exchange and they were closed for lunch (At 4 pm?). Finally found one and then headed to the gate. This gate agent was super nice and said no problem in allowing the acoustic guitar to be carried on board!
We had the nicest purser – Donna — and flight attendant – Julie—that I have had all year on Delta. Makes a huge difference. And it was a plane with lots of seat storage space for once.
My headset was defective and they brought me a new one. Then the screen kept popping up to the controls every few minutes during the movie. I didn’t even complain. I just ate dinner (first and only meal today!) and tried to sleep. I had to get up every 2 hours during the 8 hour flight and go to the toilet to do squats so I won’t get a blood clot. I still slept about 3 hours total.
We landed on time and are meeting 4 of Dwight Yoakam’s crew for the bus trip to Gstaad – about 3 ½ hours from Zurich. One is on our flight – Tommy – and Scotty who is not on our flight messaged me his seat number so I went and introduced myself. Scotty has been with Dwight for years so we have traveled to foreign countries before. He also worked for the Bellamy Brothers a VERY long time ago. One of the other 4 crew members was with the Mavericks years ago and remembered me. They landed before us and Scotty was told that American Airlines left his bags in Philadelphia! The airline is “supposed” to deliver to the hotel once they arrive but we all know how that goes!
Toni – who has been our driver for the festival for years and years – met us with his nice tour bus. The “wedding relatives” picked up a rental car and everyone headed to Gstaad. I worked non-stop and we only made one stop to purchase snacks for our hotel rooms. I found a new candy bar to take back to the family – Strawberry Matcha!
We arrived exactly as predicted at Hotel Huus where Appalachian Road Show is staying. I haven’t stayed at that hotel but it is lovely! Beautiful place for a wedding and looks like the weather is going to cooperate. Got them checked in and then rode the bus with Dwight’s guys to the Alpina Hotel. Our rooms were ready there and as always, the hotel is spectacular and the service beyond superior. Had some fruit and a little bundt cake waiting for me in my room. The Cake is Lemon Pistachio Gluten Free and tastes amazing!
I worked until time to get ready to go back to Hotel Huus for a quick meeting with the festival promoter and Appalachian Road Show. When I arrived back at the Alpina hotel, Dwight’s musicians were just arriving. Dwight and his family are not here yet and Heidi told me the airline did not put any of their bags on the direct flight from LAX to Zurich. I don’t know what airline it was but that is unacceptable when there are that many passengers in a family flying first class!
I went down to the restaurant to see if they could deliver my meal to my room and most of Dwight’s guys were already there ready to eat. In talking with them, we realized that several of them were with Dwight the last time I booked him in Norway and Sweden. Also one of the guys knew me from his time with The Mavericks. I was able to have my food delivered to my room and it was so good. Mushroom risotto, veal and mashed potatoes and a strawberry cheesecake. I took one bite of the cheesecake and then put the tray outside my door. It was delicious but I didn’t want to be tempted to eat the whole thing!
Trying to get in bed by midnight because I have to meet Drake’s group early tomorrow morning.
Jude
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH – SIGHTSEEING DaY AND WELCOME PARTY IN GSTAAD:
Stayed up until 2:00 am messaging back and forth with Drake’s tour manager regarding their arrival time. It’s going to be much later than we anticipated. We had to shift the departure time to the Glacier 3000 to 11:30 am. That’s the latest the groups can go and get back in time for the Welcome Party tonight.
Drake’s group arrived at around 10:30 am and we had their room keys ready for them. Three of the group are staying at a hotel near the venue. Everyone was on the bus and headed for the Glacier by 11:30 am. I did not go because I wasn’t sure how challenging it would be because of my foot. I’ve been many times before but always like to go to see the reaction from the artist’s groups to the “view”! They were definitely impressed. I learned that the Alpine slide was closed when they arrived. It did open up but not until they had to leave to go back to the hotels. If I had been with them, I would definitely have tried to get the slide open for them.
I asked the hotel to give me a ride into town so I could purchase Evo Eye drops at a Pharmacy. It’s the same drops as Meibo in the USA – but doesn’t require a prescription. But the biggest difference is, Evo costs about $25 U.S. in Switzerland and about $800 U.S. in the USA! Ridiculous.
As we were pulling out of the hotel driveway, the driver told me that all the shops close for lunch at noon. It was 5 minutes before noon! I had him take me back to the hotel.
I was able to work for about an hour and then had the driver take me into town. I only had about 30 minutes before I had to leave for the venue for Drake’s “load in”. The pharmacy only had 4 bottles and I purchased all of them. I am going to go to the other two pharmacies when I have a little time on Saturday to see how many I can get there!
Rode over to the venue with some of Drake’s crew and tour manager so they could at least load in some of their equipment. Tomorrow is going to be challenging because Dwight’s equipment is arriving by truck at 7:30 am and they have to load in all of his stuff. Dwight and his family and Scotty are still missing their luggage. Supposedly, Dwight’s “might” arrive today but American Airlines is denying knowing “where” Scotty’s missing bag is and blaming it on the Zurich Airport. So frustrating.
Load in went by quickly and I had less than an hour to get dressed for the Welcome Party. As usual, it was spectacular. Huge food tables and so many friends were there that I have made in Switzerland over the years! The groups did not realize that the first tables that were set up were only salads and appetizers. They loaded up on those but then I told them there would be a huge buffet of “meats and veggies” coming out next. And or course, at the end there were long tables filled with desserts.
Swiss artist Marco Gottardi and his band Silver Dollar performed after Marcel made a speech thanking the entertainers for coming and also brought the many sponsors on stage to thank them and give each a bouquet of flowers.
The time passed quickly and I left with the first group who wanted a ride back to the hotel. I still didn’t get in bed until after 1 am and planned to get up at 6:30 am so I could answer some emails.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH, — FIRST PERFORMANCES AT GSTAAD COUNTRY NIGHT AND 25 YEARS SINCE THE ATTACK ON THE USA ON 9-11:
It is really difficult to be overseas on 9-11. No one even mentions the tragedy that changed our lives forever. But even in the USA, most of the young kids honestly don’t even remember what happened and they sure aren’t being taught “history” in school. So sad to me. But I will definitely take time today to remember loved ones lost in that tragic event. Especially John and Jan Vigiano’s two sons. John and Jan have passed away now but will always be alive in my heart. I will also remember the brave men and women who gave their lives in the war with Afghanistan – protecting our freedom and country.
I did wake up at 6:30 am and at 7:00 am, I got a message from Heidi asking if there was any way one of my groups could come sound check earlier – like “now”. Dwight’s equipment was supposed to arrive by truck at 7:30 am and was delayed until 9:30 am. I knew I couldn’t rally 14 people with Drake’s group who were scheduled to sound check at 12 noon. I waited until 8 am and started reaching out to Appalachian Road Show. They were able to scramble and arrive at the venue at 9:30 am instead of 10:30 am. And they finished in one hour instead of 1 ½ hours. Dwight’s truck didn’t actually arrive until 10 am so we had to move Drake’s sound check from noon to 1:00 pm. Means we will barely finish in time to get back to the hotel, eat dinner from 4-5 pm, shower and rush back to the venue for the show.
My friend and promoter of the Bellamy Brothers shows in Germany found me at sound check. It was nice to be able to say “hello” and chat for a few minutes before we had to leave to have dinner at the hotel. I had reminded the restaurant earlier in the day about the number of people, menu selected and that we had to be out of there no later than 5:00 pm to leave for our show. Somehow, there was a mixup and they started bringing out the wrong meal. I asked them to change back to what we agreed upon and they were able to do so. But, it meant it was about 5:20 before we finished eating. The food was excellent!
The show was almost sold out. Amber Rae performed first and she was really good! Drake was the “headliner” for the first half of the show and performed next. His show was amazing. He got such a huge response from the audience!
Next was an hour break and then Appalachian Road Show performed. Five incredibly talented musicians!!! Dwight closed out the second half of the show. Best description is “he’s still Dwight” when he takes the stage. Amazing!! Have always loved his music. Unfortunately, the mix was WAAAY too loud and people started leaving – LOTS of people! It was so loud, I couldn’t stay in the concert hall but had to listen from back stage.
I didn’t stay until the end of his set because Drake’s group was ready to depart so I went back to the hotel with them. Got in bed at 2 am and will get up at 7 so I can be “shopping” by 8:00 am! Other than the sound issue, the first night was a huge success. And, I saw so many more of my friends tonight. It was still “strange” not talking about 9-11 with anyone but my heart was with the families of the victims in the USA.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH – LAST SHOW AT GSTAAD COUNTRY NIGHT:
I was up at 7 am and left the hotel at 8 am to get in some early morning shopping. I struck out on everything in Gstaad except for a couple of more bottles of my eye drops. I had the hotel pick me up and take me back to the Alpina. I was able to eat an omelette before the restaurant closed and then had the hotel call a taxi to take me to Saanen. I found the Tissot watch Zac wanted— for $900 USD! I sent him a weblink for Swatch watches to pick a different one. LOL!!
I found the exact watch that Zoe wanted. The pharmacy did not have the eyedrops I needed so hoping I can get a few more bottles at the Zurich Airport. And Zac’s watch!!!!
Called the taxi back to the Alpina and stopped to chat with the restaurant manager to reconfirm the dinner plans. He had everything exactly as we requested so hopefully tonight will go much smoother. I was headed back up to the room when Marcel walked up. He asked me to have a coffee with him and a chat. Had a nice relaxed visit with him and also discussed the issues with the sound last night at the show. Hopefully tonight will be much better.
Showered, dressed, and was worked for about an hour, but I got so sleepy. I was going to take a 30 minute nap. As soon as I laid down, I got a call from Nashville And the nap time disappeared.
Met everyone for dinner at 4 PM and it went very smoothly this time. Once again the food was phenomenal. Drake’s group had requested to leave at 5:10 PM instead of 5:30 but I told them I was going to wait until six to go over.
When I got to the venue, I learned that Dwight and his band had been rehearsing their show since 4 PM. They decided to make it more of an acoustic version to avoid the issues with the loud sound. It is the screaming guitars that are causing the problem. But that is just Dwight’s normal show. Sadly it doesn’t work for this festival demographic. I did get to say hello and chat with him for a few minutes. I worked for his first booking agency and management company so have known him for decades. Have also toured him to Japan, Sweden, Holland, and Norway several times. Dwight loved Minnie and Minnie loved Dwight. I will always be grateful to him for spending hours with her every time he came to Nashville after she had the stroke and was in a care facility.
I didn’t think it was possible but Drake had an even better show than last night. And actually Appalachian Road Show did as well. During the break between ARS and Dwight I presented Marcel with a beautiful plaque I had made for him celebrating 37 years producing this festival.
Dwight’s acoustic show actually sounded 100 times better tonight. Not only was it so loud it was painful last night but when he talked, it was impossible to understand what he was saying. Tonight the lyrics and him comments were crystal clear. Loved his show.
I was able to speak with so many “old” friends tonight and despite all the “drama” of the past couple of days, I loved spending time in beautiful Gstaad.
Most of Drake’s group went upstairs at the venue to eat but I headed back to the hotel. Showered again, packed and slept for ONE hour.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH, DEPARTING GSSAAD:
Lobby call for me and 5 of Dwight’s group was 7:15 am. Then we were going to stop by Appalachian Road Show’s hotel and pick them up. I had tried to get our departure time changed to about 30 minutes earlier but everyone assured me we were leaving in plenty of time. I remembered the nightmare with crazy long lines for passport control last time I left Zurich. I talked to Dwight’s tour manager and he assured me everyone would be on time. Everyone but one musician was on the bus at 7:15 am. We called the missing musician’s phone and had the front desk call his room. No answer. Finally one of Dwight’s guys got a key to his room to go wake him up. He wasn’t there. He was in the restaurant! He has no idea how lucky he is that he didn’t have to pay for an Uber to the airport because I was ready to leave without him.
I slept on and off during the 3 hour bus ride. Check in went smoothly as did Security scanning. We split up to do some very quick “candy” shopping because we knew we still had to go through passport control. I found Zac’s watch but the pharmacy was sold out of my eye drops.
When I tried to take the escalator down to passport control, it was blocked! The line was all the way up the escalator and along the entire length of the shopping area. I timed it and it took 53 minutes just to get through Passport control — and there was no air conditioning! Everyone was sweating profusely. Nice way to start an 8+ hour flight! Had to take a tram to our gate area and then our gate was at the far end.
We started boarding as soon as I arrived. Huge difference in the flight attendants from Atlanta to Zurich and this group from Zurich to New York. No one introduced themselves or recognized me for being a 360 member. And it is the really old aircraft with ZERO seat storage space of any kind.
We departed on time and when they brought lunch, the little bottle of salad dressing was frozen solid! I only ate a little bit then tried to get comfortable and sleep for most of the flight. The way the seat is configured, it was impossible to keep my foot elevated. Pretty painful the entire flight.
I had the salad before landing but again the dressing was frozen. But, the entire salad had also been frozen and thawed out. The lettuce was actually wet!
We had turbulence over Boston but landed JFK on time. More “drama” at JFK. Took forever for our checked bags to come out. My outside compartment on my big suitcase was partially unzipped when I finally got it. Hopefully nothing fell out of it!!! Won’t have time to check until I get home.
After collecting our bags, we went through customs then dropped them off at the bag “re-check” area. We had to go upstairs for TSA security and it is where all the passengers just checking in for flights have to clear security too! We started down the aisle to get to the Security lines and an agent refused to let us pass. He said we had to go back downstairs fur TSA. I knew that wasn’t correct from previous flights but assumed it had changed. We got in a very long line which seemed strange. Then an agent announced that everyone had to take all laptops, etc out if their bags. That is when I KNEW we were in the wrong lines. We went back upstairs and this time was able to bypass the inept agent and get in our TSA lines.
Our flight kept getting delayed more and more. I stopped at a Starbucks for a Matcha Latte but after one sip, knew it was not Matcha! The flight was delayed for so long I had time to stop in the Lounge and work for about an hour.
We finally departed over an hour late and landed Nashville a little after 10 pm.
Country Night Gstaad was fantastic! Special thanks to Marcel, Heidi, Christina, Zoe, Christine, Sarah, all the festival drivers, Green Room Staff, Alpina staff, Appalachian Road Show and Drake Milligan Group for being so easy to work with. Was so nice to see Marcel’s wife Tina and his very tall (6 ft!) son Nico. I’m sure I’m forgetting “someone” because there were so many wonderful folks involved.
Til next time…
Jude
