Diary of a Madwoman!

I know, I know, that's Ozzy, not Tull. Oh well. It fits the entry better, dangit! :)

That Vyktoria... what a gal! She took time out of her insanely busy schedule of eating bad food and driving crap cars (oh yeah, and opening for this band you may have heard of... Jethro Tull), to sit down and write about her experiences over the past two months to give you nice people out there sitting comfortably in your homes in front of your computer screens a taste of what the life of a road warrior (minstrel in the gallery?) is really like.

Without further ado, here it is: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Take it away, Vyk...

GREETINGS FROM A CHINESE RESTAURANT IN FLAGSTAFF AZ 9-19-99

Having my "time off" until the 2nd leg of the tour, I just spent eight hours in Kinko's Copies (my home away from home) sorting out the old stuff and making new stuff. I'm happy to have this week "off," mostly because it stretches out the tour and gives me time to let it all sink in. With my stuff in storage and a PO box in VA and AZ, I am a homeless happy camper happily camping at various friends' houses, coffeehouses, and, of course, Kinko's Copies. I have never felt so free (and happy).

There is so much to say about this Jethro Tull tour thing that I really don't know where to start. I think I'll write some songs out of it soon, and that way, I can reach into those dimensions that I can't really go into linearly. The tour is pure poetry... it can't be described, only experienced. Having said that, I'll try anyway. Ok, the whole thing can be summed up in one (often-used word on the tour) MEGA!! In all aspects, it is and has been the most exciting, wonderful time of my life, exceeding my expectations of what touring with the greatest rock band on the planet would be like. First, I want to say THANKS to all you Tull fans who have been so welcoming to me. I've had a blast playing for you and meeting a lot of you at the "merch" stand.

As far as the shows, all have been awesome, with St. Louis (Riverport), Wallingford (Oakdale), Baltimore (Pier Six), and Akron (Blossom) being MEGA!! (even GIGA!!) Hello to all my friends and family who came out to see me in Baltimore... thanks for being there. (I could feel the wave of love coming off the audience from the time I stepped onto the stage, and it fueled my show.)

The Tull guys (band and crew) are some of the nicest, most egoless, super kewl people I have ever met. They have all been a great source of support and positive feedback. Mr Anderson :) and his lovely wife Shona have been very nice and are very, very funny. Ian has been quite helpful with info on guitar pickups and ear monitor systems and has been seen shooting photos of me onstage with his new fancy, shmancy digital camera. He also introduces me to the audience each night (well, his disembodied voice recorded onto minidisc does) and will most likely be playing flute on a song or two from the side stage on the next leg of the tour. A great guy and a MEGA performer... wow!!!!

Speaking of mega, Tull's keyboardist, Mr. Andrew Giddings, is as weird as I am, and that means we will be working on a music project in the very near future. He took an interest in my music right away and suggested we work on some demos, possibly with a CD in mind. We have very simliar ideas and tastes in music, and I'm very excited to see/hear how this develops. As I write this, Andy is at home with minidiscs of my live shows from the tour working on making me sound BIG. :)

Also, as some of you may have heard, Andrew accompanied me onstage at my last two shows on "Rainbow Black," and it was transcendental. He'll be playing more on the 2nd leg, so stay tuned.

The tour was not without its share of difficulties, but looking back, I really wouldn't change a thing. It's more fuel for the soul. The pace is very intense on a tour like this, and because I have been totally solo, I have had to be super-organized to stay slightly on top of it all. I'm hoping to have some assistance in the near future... (any volunteers?). Here are a list of the little things that got in the way of a totally smooth ride. (Editor's Note: VPK LOVES TO MAKE LISTS. :)

1. Food poisoning on the 1st day out!! I ate at (and I'm not making this up) The Atomic Cafe... catfish. Don't do it. It gives a whole new meaning to "Catfish Rising."

2. A blowout on the highway with no time to spare en route to Detroit. PS: Don't EVER say the word "Toyota" in Detroit.

3. A CD order that did not materialize. I actually ran out of CDs on the tour. YIKES!!

4. Two @$%%$#$!!*&^%&** speeding tickets.

5. I lost 800 freshly-printed schedule cards on the highway in Detroit (when I took out all the stuff from my trunk and placed it on the side of the highway to get to the spare tire). On second thought, this could be a very cleverly-disguised promotional plan... imagine all those motorists with my itinerary blowing onto their car windows!!

6. MY favorite... getting completely and hopelessly LOST in every city I drove into. It is a "phase" that I hope is over. I mean, I can't imagine getting lost in Missoula.

7. The night I drove out of Atlantic City and couldn't find a room, so I slept in my car (or more accurately, didn't sleep in my car). Funny thing was, the next night was the Baltimore show and everyone commented on how "rested" I looked. Ha!

OK, now a list of the fun/cool stuff:

1. Feeling absolutely comfortable in front of 3-5000 people and being able to just "get gone" on a great big stage with a mega-powerful PA.

2. Meeting Ian Anderson, my favorite artist in the Milky Way Galaxy.

3. Hearing Jethro Tull every night. They are in top form; a MEGA show!!

4. Seeing my name on several marquees with Jethro Tull!!

5. My new job as the cocktail waitress who brings Andrew a glass of bubbly (on a silver tray) right at the start of "Locomotive Breath." This job was bequeathed to me after the stage manager, "Midge," had a brilliant idea that I should do it rather than he. Believe it or not, this is much more nerve-racking than going out and playing in front of 5000 people.

6. Never, EVER being fully-dressed when it was time for me to go on in 2 minutes.

7. The guy on the Harley who fixed my blowout in ten minutes and escorted me to the show. Thanks, Max!!

8. Ian knocking on my dressing room door five minutes 'til my set and wanting to "chat" monitors, cameras, and Fishman pickups. Well, if you're gonna be distracted by someone seconds before your set, it might as well be God.

9. Hanging out with the band and crew in a very glamorous bar in Syracuse called "Awful Al's" on large, red leather couches, drinking Rémy Martin, smoking cigars, and listening to Frank Sinatra.

10. Purchasing my new Taylor guitar and finally having three guitars onstage.

11. Calling Jennifer (webmistress extraordinaire) and best girlfiend and yakking our heads off for four hours from a Motel 6 in Canton, Ohio (the call started at midnight).

12. The cute, sweet, lovable Nissan Sentra I rented and grew very attached to (having put 9,700 miles on it in one month).

13. The night I accidently left my camera onstage on the drum riser... only to see Martin Barre taking pictures of all the band members with it DURING Tull's set!! I could never have planned that... it was divine intervention. ...And, of course, having a camera full of up-close, personal photos of sweaty rock stars onstage jamming out! :)

To sum it all up, when dreams come true, it can take awhile to adjust and integrate. This was the case with me until one night in Akron, Ohio at Blossom Center. As I watched Jethro Tull from stage left as I usually do every night, it FINALLY sank in, and I was just floored to be there, watching this immense talent so closely and being accepted into the fold. My heart opened and I realized where I was. I had dreamed of this many times. Literally, I have dreams recorded in my dream journal from three years ago of being on stage with Jethro Tull, of being on tour with Tull, etc., and here it was, REAL. It flooded me with how much I adore this man, this mega-talented genius who has brought so much joy, beauty, realness, and art to the world with his music. And for the first time on the tour, I FELT it totally.

In joy and gratefulness,

Vyktoria