The concept for this tour began last August when Lorenzo toured California with his band Surfer Joe & His Boss Combo. (You will hear "Surfer Joe" referenced quite a bit as the name refers to a festival, a diner, a booking agency, a band, quite possibly a recording label, but it always refers back to the man who runs the show, Lorenzo Valdambrini.) I sat with Lorenzo and his band which includes his brother and business partner, Luca, in a greasy spoon on Haight Street in San Francisco. I explained how the three bands shared membership, and that a package tour would be a bargain. Lorenzo mulled it over then explained it to Luca in Italian. The astonished expression on Luca's face told me it was a winning plan.
Since then, there has been a lot of talk and negotiation to pull this off. First major problem was that Lorenzo and Luca had to open their restaurant, for which they didn't even have permits yet. But, everything seemed to fall into place for the lads from Livorno and Surfer Joe's Diner was open by February, with a full stage and Surf music shows scheduled every week.
The plan for the tour is that we will arrive before the Festival, with each band headling one night, then we will take the show on the road for the next two weeks, cover all of Italy, except the earthquake plagued northern region. For our last show, we will play inside the diner.Here's a little road map I put together for the tour. Pretty primitive, as I used Adobe Illustrator for the graphics. One day I'll learn Flash. It looks much better in hi-Rez. The song is a new one from Frankie called "Paniolo".
Ok, that's all for today. Lots more back story to come before the real story starts next Thursday, June 21, when we arrive in Livorno.
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