TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH – WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH: TRAVELING FROM NASHVILLE VIA CHICAGO AND TORONTO TO ZURICH TO GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND!
First International Flight and First International Festival for me since February of 2020. Amazed at how quickly I forgot how to pack for an international trip. I’m sure I’ll be making numerous trips to local stores in Gstaad for forgotten items. Of course, some things never change with my trips. I only got 3 ½ hours sleep last night before having to get up at 3:30 am for my 5:30 am pickup to the airport.
I assumed the airport would be packed and a “nightmare” since yesterday was Labor Day and would have been the day everyone traveled home from “Bonnaroo”. I hate it for the fans, artists and promoters that Bonnaroo cancelled at the last minute due to the hurricane flooding, but it sure was a blessing for me. There were no lines checking in or going through security and as of this minute, my flight to Chicago is on time. Actually, the most difficult part of the trip has been getting all my documents loaded into the United and Air Canada websites. Strangely enough, this is the first time I’ve flown on Air Canada. United and Air Canada “supposedly” partner but obviously that partnership does not extend to their websites. I had to do everything twice and still couldn’t download my boarding passes or print them out at the airport kiosk. Had to go to the counter to check in and get those. Hopefully the weather will be good in Chicago and Toronto and we’ll arrive Zurich early Wednesday morning. I have really long layovers in both cities because I planned it that way. After hearing horror stories about flight delays and cancellations, I thought it best to be cautious….not that it will help in the end. Just my OCD running in high gear!
I am meeting Jade Eagleson and his group in Toronto for the flight to Zurich. Jade is an amazing young country music star from Canada. I booked him in Okinawa for a military festival in December of 2019 – before the world changed! He is actually a last minute replacement for Rodney Crowell who unfortunately had to cancel his participation at Country Night Gstaad this year. I have no doubt the Swiss fans are going to love him. Check him out on YouTube if you have never heard of him.
Performers at this year’s event include Emmylou Harris as headliner, Aaron Watson, Jade and a European artist named Philipp Fankhauser. I am guessing both nights of performances will be sold out. It is an amazing event that has been taking place for decades. We are staying at the 5 Star Alpina Gstaad hotel. I’ve only stayed there once back in 2019 with Rosanne Cash. My room and view were fantastic. The only problem I had was trying to turn off all the many lights at night. They all had multiple switches.
Flight to Chicago 8:02 am departed on time. The gate agent recognized me and said it has been a long time since she’s seen me. I’ll say!!! The aircraft was one of the small jets with 1 seat on one side and 2 seats on the other side. Thankfully, it was a short flight and no turbulence until we were landing. Very windy and weather prediction scares me as severe thunderstorms are supposed to begin when I take off at 2 pm.
Since we landed on time, I decided to try to get on the earlier flight at noon to Toronto. The gate agent was very helpful but instead of putting me on the noon flight, she put me on a flight that was departing in 10 minutes. Evidently the 10 am flight was delayed, so I was able to get on it.
The gate agent in Chicago who changed my flight said I had to show a negative COVID test result. I told her I did not since I had uploaded my vaccination card. She argued with me, so I showed her my results. For once, my OCD paid off by taking the test when the website said I didn’t need it. Then when she was changing my flight, she said, “Oh never mind. You don’t need a Covid test result”. DUH.
Then 2 minutes later, she said, “Yes, you do because the vaccination must have been taken 12 months ago”. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it means you must have had a vaccination “within the past 12 months”. I can see how flying is a nightmare for people when even the agents have no clue what is required!!
The flight was full but again short and smooth. The meal was outstanding. All the things I could eat and it was breakfast! Since I didn’t eat anything before leaving Nashville, it was wonderful to have healthy, hot food. I planned to go to the Air Canada Lounge and “set up my office” for the next 6 ½ hours. Only the Air Canada Lounge wasn’t open. There was a “premium lounge” but only available to “members”. I asked if I could buy a pass and she said it would cost $70 for 6 hours. I gave her my AMEX Platinum Card for the charges and suddenly found out that people who have that card get free access!
I’ve been watching the weather because we were under a tornado warning for about an hour here in Toronto! My original flight out of Chicago kept getting delayed and I just got a message that I would miss my connection. So glad I changed the flight when I did. I checked my United App though and it says my bag was transferred to that flight even though the gate agent assured me it would go on the flight with me. When does that ever happen? I may never see my clothes the entire time I’m there…and everything is in my checked bag.
All my “guys” started checking in at various times. We eventually all ended up in the Lounge where I had been working. I left a little early to go to the gate and have the gate agent trace my baggage tag. She assured me that my bag was on the aircraft!
We boarded on time and the weather was still pretty bad. The pilot announced that we would be delayed taking off for a while. Once we got permission to depart, they moved the bridge away from the aircraft. Only – and this is a first for me even with all my decades of flying – whoever moved the bridge hit the engine and the bridge got STUCK on the engine. We were told to stay in our seats and not get up for any reason whatsoever while they tried to remove it. That was a lengthy process and once it was free, it was easy to see that the engine had been damaged. The pilot announced that we were going to “de-plane” and wait in the gate area until someone decided “what to do with us”!
We actually had to stand in the jetway for about 20 minutes because no one could open the door to the terminal except the pilot and he was the last one off the plane. He told us that another aircraft had been found and we would be departing at 12:20 am. Meanwhile, a restaurant had stayed open for us and Air Canada was going to give everyone a meal coupon. Only, they totally botched that process. All the passengers assumed we would just get in line and pick up the coupon since it was obvious that we were the only people still in the airport. Nope. As each person walked up to the counter, they had to show their boarding pass and then have a coupon printed. That was taking forever, so they just started printing coupons for everyone and calling their name to come pick up the coupon. Again, ridiculous considering how many people were on that flight. Finally, they realized that plan had failed as well and just started handing coupons to everyone in the terminal – but they tried to divide us up into business class and economy class lines. For what, no one knows because we all got the same amount on the voucher.
We didn’t even board the aircraft until almost 1 am because there was another weather delay! I finished watching the movie I had been watching while we sat on the ground on the other plane. By the time I finished that, we had climbed above the turbulence and I was out like a light. Definitely not comfortable sleeping in a mask and that’s the longest I’ve worn a mask since COVID began.
We landed Zurich at 3 pm instead of 10 am! The suitcase for one of our guys wasn’t on the plane and we had to spend another 30-45 minutes in line to fill out that paperwork. Toni – our bus driver – was waiting for us once we were finished. He was nice enough to make a stop at a truck stop that has “stores” and the guy who didn’t get his luggage purchased the essentials plus some clothes. The Air Canada rep at the Zurich Airport was pretty depressing with his assessment. He couldn’t find the bag. No idea where it was but said it wouldn’t come tomorrow because Air Canada did not have a direct flight that day. God forbid they pay and put it on another airline. So he got the home address and said they would deliver it to his home if it didn’t arrive before we depart on Sunday. At least the only band equipment he had in his suitcase was a couple of microphones.
It was a 3 hour ride to the beautiful 5-Star Alpina Hotel in Gstaad. The guys are in “awe”. I told them this would spoil them for all other festivals because those events do not book the talent at 5 star hotels. We dropped our bags in our rooms and then went down to the bar to have a quick drink with Marcel (festival buyer) and his staff Heidi, Elsa and Kelly. They are all such wonderful people and I love working with them.
Marcel and the staff left pretty quickly because he had to watch a Soccer game and the girls had work to do. My group had dinner which was amazing….a great mixed salad, sliced veal with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus and a hazelnut ice cream concoction that was decadent! I left them after dinner to go unpack and work. I pack all my clothes in individual mesh packing cubes and one cube was missing when I finished unpacking. I assume it accidentally slid under my bed where my suitcase was on the floor as I packed! Needless to say, I have to go shopping tomorrow.
It’s after 2 am so I’m going to post this Road Report and grab a few hours of sleep. By the time I slept the 4 hours on the flight I had only gotten 3 ½ hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. Sounds pretty typical…..
Good Night,
Jude
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2021 – SIGHTSEEING DAY IN GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND:
Getting only 4 hours of sleep definitely made me feel like my life is getting back to some sense of normalcy. I sent out my email blast of road reports last night for the first time in over a year and a half. Only had one bounce back to me for an incorrect address so that felt good as well.
Had breakfast after showering and a little “in room” workout. Not enough time today to jog or go to the gym. Breakfast was amazing as usual. Only one of Jade’s guys was down there and I sat with him. I had a great omelet and he had eggs benedict.
We all met in the lobby at 11 am to go to Lake Lauenen for sightseeing. Made one quick stop enroute to see a beautiful church that I also visited on my first trip to Gstaad. The weather was perfect and the walk around the lake was so scenic and peaceful. Emmylou’s group arrived at the hotel at around noon and Aaron Watson’s manager arrived at the Zurich airport at around the same time. Aaron and his group are staying at a different hotel but were on the sightseeing excursion with us. We were back at the hotel at around 2 pm and I have 1 hour before we have to get our “first” COVID test. This is a rapid test and we need it to enter the venue tomorrow. Then we get the PCR test tomorrow at sound check which is what we need to get back into the USA.
I have to rush downtown after the rapid test to by underwear and socks! So inconvenient. I was in such a rush, I picked up the wrong size. I immediately went back and asked to swap them out and the cashier said “NO. You have to purchase the new item and take the old item upstairs to the Kiosk and ask for a refund”. When I arrived at the Kiosk and told the cashier what I needed to do, she said in perfect English, “I only speak German and French”. Really? She took the item and again said in English, “Write your phone number on the receipt”. I did so and then she argued with me that it wasn’t a phone number. Rather than go through the long explanation that it was a phone number in the USA, I grabbed the item I was returning back from her and left.
Had a couple of hours to work in the room before we met in the lobby to go to the Western Party. Heidi emailed me the results of our Rapid Covid Test so we could get into the venue. But, she did not include my test and I was the first one to be tested. No idea what happened but I was still allowed to enter. We just can’t have a mistake like that happen tomorrow on our PCR Covid test since I’ll need the results to be allowed to enter the USA on Sunday!
My dearest friend in Switzerland who has traveled the world with me many times arrived at the hotel right before we had to depart for the party. She has her cute little dog with her and was going to walk him and then meet us at the party. Unfortunately, her dog did not like the idea of her leaving him alone in the strange hotel room so he started barking when she left. Since this is a 5 star hotel, she wasn’t comfortable leaving him so I won’t get to see her until tomorrow!
I think the guys were surprised by the magnitude of the event tonight. A lot of the promoters I work as well as journalists and friends attended the event. I made sure Jade met and had photos taken with them. Abli, Lorenz and Romey, Maya, Jurg, Daniela, Sue, Toni’s wife, Marcel’s beautiful wife and grown-up 8 year old son and lots more were just a few of the friends I got to see again after a year and a half or more. Martin is again handling our transportation and great to see him again. Gino – Aaron’s manager – and Gino’s wife also arrived after having their flight out of Chicago cancelled on Tuesday.
There were two huge tables of “salads and appetizers” and the guys thought that was the meal. I pointed out the “main entre” tables farther away and advised that there would also be a couple of dessert tables set up. They were pretty impressed.
Marcel brought all the artists and sponsors on stage and each were presented with flowers. There are a LOT of sponsors who make this event possible and “first class”! We all left the party at around 10:30 pm and I’ve been dealing with emails ever since. It’s 2 am and I HOPE to go to bed before 3 am!
It was a great day and so nice to see people excited to be attending a “live event” again with no social distancing and no masks since everyone is required to show a negative Covid test to enter!
More tomorrow! Check out the photos on Facebook!!!!
Jude
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH – FIRST PERFORMANCE AT COUNTRY NIGHT GSTAAD:
I am overwhelmed by all the comments on my posts about this trip. I read every one of them and appreciate you reaching out to me. So sorry I don’t have time to respond to each one at this time. But it is encouraging to know that my posts aren’t boring you!
It started raining off and on yesterday just as we finished our sightseeing. Looks like it might rain most of today as well but it’s the perfect time since our day will be filled with sound checks and the concerts.
I slept 4 hours and planned to go to the fitness center for my morning workout. Only, I woke up to dozens of emails that needed my attention since I’ll be out most of the afternoon and all evening for the concert. I did bring my “bands” with me and was able to do a 30 minute routine in my room. Always feel much better if I start the day with a workout.
I met Iris for breakfast and we had such a great time “catching up”. She’ll only be here until tomorrow and we still have so much to talk about. We’ll have a little more time at sound check and the show tonight.
We departed for sound check at 1:30 pm and the first thing we did was take our PCR COVID Test. This time, they did the saliva test. They called and told us not to eat or drink anything the hour prior to the test. Of course, then all I wanted was a drink of water. We had to “spit” in this tube and it literally took me 5 minutes to fill mine up to the little black line!
Jade’s sound check started late because they were running late from the previous artists. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we only had time to change our clothes and go back over to the venue. Iris was supposed to meet me there at 5:45 so she could watch Jade’s show. She did not show up so I started sending her messages and calling her. Nothing! I finally heard from her just as Jade was ready to rush back to the hotel and eat a quick dinner before returning to the festival to watch the other performances. She had gone for walk on some trails behind the hotel and gotten lost. Then she took her bank card with her instead of the hotel room key card and got locked in the elevator. She fell asleep when she finally got back to the hotel, so she missed his show completely.
Jade did such a great job. His voice is amazing and as are his musicians. So many people came up to me after his performance and said how good he is and how much they loved his show. I know he was very nervous tonight but I think he will relax a little more tomorrow night. He made a lot of new fans there tonight!
But, we all had a nice dinner together and then rushed back over to the venue. Phillipe Fankhauser was just finishing up his set and Aaron Watson went on next. Aaron had a great “Texas-style” show that the audience loved. Emmylou performed last and of course, she stole the show – as she should! Her voice is still amazing and she is one of the most gracious people I have ever worked with.
I was able to sit and talk quite a while with Gino and Kourtney (Aaron’s manager). Strange that we both live in the Nashville area yet we have to go to Switzerland to see each other.
Some of the guys stayed and ate at the upstairs buffet. Jade and I went up for a few minutes but did not eat. It was around 2 am by the time we finally got back to the hotel!
Tomorrow there is an excursion to Glacier 3000 and then the final concerts tomorrow night. Heidi, Kelly, Elsi, Martin, Marco and all the people working the festival are so gracious and try to show everyone a great time even though we are all here to work.
I think the event this year was even more special than other festivals because it is one of the first events where they actually had U.S. artists participating. There was so much energy and so many happy people in attendance. I pray this is only the beginning!
3 am here now and I still have lots to do before going to bed. It is so strange to know that it is now 20 years since the attack on the U.S. on 9/11/01. Of course, that event changed our lives forever but there were also so many good things that have come into my life as a result of that tragedy. I would never have met John and Jan Vigiano and knew that they lost both their sons – Joe, Jr. and John – in the Twin Towers. Then there are the hundreds and hundreds of brave men and women I met on my 15 tours to Afghanistan and 39 tours to Iraq plus the amazing entertainers willing to follow me into the face of danger to say thank you to those serving. Other than my family, those tours were truly one of the many unbelievable blessings I have received in my life.
I’m sure I left out lots of things that I will remember tomorrow but just too tired right now to think….
Jude
SATURDAY, SEPTEBER 11TH, 2021 – LAST CONCERT AT COUNTRY NIGHT GSTAAD:
First thought this morning was “The Day the World Stopped Turning” twenty years ago. Hard to believe it has been 20 years. “Have You Forgotten”? So many have but not those of us who journeyed to Afghanistan and Iraq for decades and saw our men and women giving their lives for our freedom. The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and the heartbreak I feel for the families of the 13 individuals who gave their lives only a couple of weeks ago is on my mind daily.
I got up after only 3 hours sleep this time and met Iris for breakfast. She was driving back to Interlaken. Met the groups in the lobby at 11 am to drive to Glacier 3000. We made a quick stop at a beautiful church while on the way. The weather was cooler, especially at the glacier, but the rain had stopped and it was a beautiful day. We had to take two gondolas to get to the top. Then everyone rode the Alpine Slide and walked across a bridge between two mountain peaks. Sad to see that so much of the glacier has now melted but it was still awesome. I had already done both of those activities several years ago so I had a “white hot chocolate” the others played. We went back down the alp at 2:20 pm and were back at the hotel by 3:00 pm. I had “planned” to take a quick nap, but “text messages” prevented that. I only had time to change clothes and meet in the lobby to go over to the show.
Jade’s show (as well as everyone else) was even better tonight. He wasn’t as nervous and had so much energy. He got a standing ovation and as Jurg (the emcee for decades) said, “opening acts” don’t get standing ovations!
My plan was to leave as soon as Jade finished to return to the hotel for dinner. Just as I was about to leave, Marcel told me not to go because Shania Twain was coming by but not to tell anyone else. Philppe Franhauser had asked Jade to perform the encore with him so I had to stay for that as well.
Shania and her husband did come to the show and stayed backstage until Emmylou went on. They watched her show and took photos with some of the people backstage after the show.
Jade is a huge Shania fan and covers a lot of her songs in his shows in Canada. Of course they are “fellow Canadians”. I now wish I had been videoing him when she walked in. There was this look of total disbelief and then I thought he was going to pass out! He definitely didn’t want to appear to “gherm” her so didn’t approach her. I asked Marcel if he would introduce Jade to her and he said he would before she departed. Jade was heading out back of the green room to the toilets and Shania’s husband was just exiting them. Her husband stopped him and asked him if he was the artist from Canada. Jade said “yes sir” and her husband said, “come over and say hello”. She was very gracious to Jade and it was such a thrill to him. He still can’t believe two of his female icons were in the same room together – Emmylou and Shania!
So, I never got to go back to the hotel for dinner and I soon realized I was too tired to eat! Made it back to the hotel at 2 am and then had to shower and pack. By then, it was 3:30 and since I didn’t want to only sleep for one hour, I stayed up and watched all the stories about families from the 9-11 tragedy. I did not have time to watch them earlier in the day and it was hard to “re-live” that tragedy.
It truly was one of the best festivals ever. I was so proud of Jade and his performance. While I was watching him perform, my promoter Kurt from Germany came up and said hello. I had not idea he was even there. He said he had been there on Friday night as well. He was very impressed with Jade and wants to book some shows for him. I made sure Kurt and his wife Astrid met Jade and had their photos taken with him. He was also interested in Aaron Watson so I introduced those two as well.
It was a difficult chore to replace Rodney Crowell at the last minute but I know Jade far exceeded everyone’s expectations.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH – FLYING HOME:
I was dressed and in the lobby at 5:30 am. Everyone was on time but we learned that our flight was delayed by 2 hours. That means I probably will not be able to make my connections in Toronto and Chicago. It was a really “quiet” 3 hour bus ride to the Zurich Airport. We had departed with Emmylou’s group so that the festival would not have to provide two transports to the airport. Meant we arrived 4 hours before our flight departed.
The ticket counter wasn’t open when we arrived but was scheduled to open in about 30 minutes. The ticket desk wasn’t open at all for Air Canada and no one in site to ask about changing my ticket. I went to a kiosk and was able to check in and print my bag tag. I noticed that Emmylou’s group were being told they had to check in at the kiosk so I wanted to ask if our group had to do that with Air Canada. There was a man and woman at the check-in counter and I went up to the woman and said, “Excuse me. I know you aren’t open for check-in but can I ask one question, please”. Her response was a curt “No. We are not open”. I tried again and said but I just have a quick question about group check-in. Again she was very impolite with her response insisting I had to wait until they opened. I walked away and a guy behind me walked up to her with a stack of paperwork and asked if he could ask her a question. She spent 5 minutes answering all his questions! So I went to the guy and didn’t ask if I could ask a question. I said, “I have 10 guys standing over there with lots of musical equipment to check in. Do they have to check in at the kiosk or can they check in at the counter.” He responded immediately. I have to keep in mind that these people are not Air Canada employees but just contracted labor. Regardless, I took a photo of the rude agent and will let Air Canada know.
Check in was fairly easy and the lady who checked me in was nice. She said, “Oh, I see you printed your bag tag” and I asked her about the little stickers that I had placed on my bag with the tag. That is a conversation that would haunt me in Toronto!
Actually check in was easy and we headed to security. That took a while and afterwards we visited the Sprungli Chocolate store. Inflation has definitely hit that store as well. We headed to passport control which had long lines and also took quite a while to go through. Then we took a tram to the gate area and went into the Star Alliance Lounge. By that time, it was only a little over an hour before we would board! The food in the lounge was good or else I was just so hungry from not eating all day that I thought it was good.
As we were boarding the plane, the lady on the jetway said that the delay of our plane arriving was because Air Canada has changed the way they “de-plane” and it is a nightmare. It is delaying all their international flights by several hours. My guess is the same people on the ground in Toronto who were giving out the meal coupons when we left for Zurich must also have come up with the plan for the de-planing!
I told the flight attendant I was not eating and the minute the plane reached altitude, I was asleep. I slept 4 solid hours — even through turbulence which is a first – and felt like a human again. Was able to work for about 3 hours and get caught up on some emails. We landed more than 2 hours late and I only had 1 hour and 20 minutes to make my flight to Chicago. As we were landing, the flight attendant came on and said that “Border Patrol” had advised everyone to stay in their seats upon landing and they would come on the plane and “decide what to do with us”! I assumed that meant “how” we would de-plane under their new system. We sat for about 5 minutes and then they announced a list of cities and told everyone traveling to those cities to find their boarding passes and collect their bags. Fortunately, Chicago was one of those cities.
We got off the plane and had to show our boarding pass to 3 different people as we followed the instructions on where to go. The first stop was security and everything had to come out of our bags and we had to remove our shoes. I was thinking “well that’s not so bad”. Then we reached another area where we had to show our boarding pass to some agents behind a counter and then scan it. That took us into a waiting area where we were told to sit and wait for our initials to pop up on a screen. That area was full of people and initials weren’t popping up very quickly. I talked to a couple of guys who were returning from a vacation in Italy and they were just as frustrated as I was about possibly missing their flight.
I gave the screen until 30 minutes prior to my flight departure and then I went to the counter where several agents were sitting just talking to each other. I told them I was going to miss my connection. They took my boarding pass and one of them started typing on her computer. After several minutes, she asked if I had checked 2 bags. I confirmed that I had only checked one bag. Since we did not have to collect our bags upon landing in Toronto, that was the delay in my approval. Once she deleted one of the bag tags (Please God, I hope it was the right one!), then she was able to process my departure. By that time, I only had 15 minutes before the flight was departing so I ran all the way – a very long way – to the gate. They were already boarding when I arrived but at least I made the flight.
Made it to Chicago just in time to board my flight to Nashville. My bag did make it to Nashville and I arrived home at midnight only to find my house key would not open my front door. Had to call Lindsey to come let me in.
So happy to be home for a few days. I have to go to Alaska for a military tour with Runaway June departing this Friday!
Jude