Saturday, July 28 and Sunday, July 29 – Day 1 & 2

Leaving today for a week in The Netherlands and Germany with Darryl Worley doing some shows for our troops with AFE. It is just me leaving out as Darryl flew over earlier in the week to do some commercial dates Friday and Saturday night with an EU band that he has been playing with when he does the international shows. Our friend Sarah Jory is actually on this tour as well. She is an amazing pedal steel player and a real treat to have on this tour.

I fly from Nashville to Atlanta then on to Amsterdam and finally landing in Brussels about 2 hours before the band arrives from Oslo. Thankfully I did not have any delays or problems with the flights and landed on time in Brussels and even got to see my friend Don Muzquiz for a few minutes in Brussels. He has been on tour in Europe for the last month with Alanis Morissette and it just happened that they were flying out of Brussels the same day I was arriving. What luck 

Michele, who just took over the AFE European coordinator position and Mike Tietze, our friend and awesome bus driver met me at the airport at 9. Darryl and the bands flight landed at 9:30 and they are very tired. They did a show in Poland then flew to Norway on 2 hours sleep, then from Norway to here with no sleep.

Mike has a big sleeper bus so I was able to get Darryl settled and he crawled in a bunk and slept for the 1 1/2 drive to our first base in Schinnen Netherlands.

We arrived Schinnen and John Howe and his production crew had everything set up and ready for us, of course 

The show is at 4:00 pm today so we are doing a quick sound check, then drive to the hotel, check in and freshen up before heading back over for the show. With an early show it will allow Darryl and the guys to go to bed early – hopefully!

Sound check went well but when they did their show in Seljord Norway the night before, a huge rain storm came in during the middle of Darryl’s set. They had to run off stage and when they returned to finish the set, Darryl had about a gallon of water in his guitar. He was fighting with it some during the sound check trying to get it tuned.

The band is really good, very tight musicians and all very nice and kind – or maybe they are just to tired to care right now. LOL

The hotel is about a 15 min drive from base in the town of Heerlen. It is very nice and has AC! It has been in the 90’s here and most hotels in Europe do not have AC. So this is a God send! Some of the rooms were not ready when we arrived but we were able to get Darryl one, Sarah one and then Jay one. It took about 30 mins for the others rooms to be ready which gave us about 30 mins to freshen up before leaving.

We have to have our passports to get on the base and I was holding everyone’s from earlier today and as Mike started to pull the bus away from the hotel I realized mine was still in my pants pocket that I had just changed out of! I had to run back to my room and grab it.

Schinnen is a small base and Darryl probably had about 75 people in the crowd. the stage is set up in the parking lot and we just pulled the bus right up to the stage. They said this was the biggest turn out for any concert they have had! He and the band did a great 90 minute set and I could see some of the audience singing along to all his songs. I love seeing that. After the performance, the commander of the base presented Darryl and the band with metal signs that say Schinnen. Very cool and unique gift from them. After the show we did a little meet and greet by the bus. I love how Darryl takes his time with each person and talks with them. It is very genuine and the troops are so appreciative.

Since this band is made up of 3 guys from France, 1 Dutch and Sarah is British, it is cool to see what they think of all this. This is the first military tour they have done.

The band ate some BBQ while Darryl did the meet and greet. Michele was kind enough to get a plate made for Darryl and I to take back to the hotel. On the drive back, Mike mentioned joining him and Michele in the hotel restaurant for dinner. As tired as I was and thoughts of just crawling into bed were on my mind, I ended up joining them and had a really nice dinner on the patio. It was a nice ending to a very long day!

Tomorrow is a day off but at the last minute the Commander of a small base about 90 mins from here heard about Darryl being at Schinnen and asked if he could have us over for lunch so we are going to leave out of the hotel at 10:00 AM and head toward Vokel Air Base.

Lindsey

 

Monday, July 30 – Day 3

I set my alarm for 8 so I could shower and have breakfast before leaving. I slept so well I don’t think I even moved all night. Went downstairs to eat around 9 and saw 1 of my guys. Tietze came down not to long after me and we sat and ate. It is a very good breakfast bar! Saw a few more coming down as I was heading back to the room. Grabbed a few autograph cards, coins and cd’s and headed down to the bus. Everyone was ready to roll out at 10. Yay.

The bus has the bunks and sitting area upstairs and that seems to be where everyone hangs out. I went up there and sat and talked with Sarah for most of the ride to the base. She is a sweetheart. We got to the base and went into the Welcome Center to get our visitor badges. Lt Col Graves met us at the Welcome Center – he is the one that saw where Darryl would be close by and is a big fan of his. Very nice. This is one of those bases where you can’t take a lot pictures. So as we drive in, the Lt Col stops at the airplanes they have at the entrance of the base and he takes a few group shots for us. From there we go to the DFAC and have lunch with some of the leadership and staff. It is small and intimate and relaxed. After everyone finished we did a small meet and greet inside then we headed out back where they did a K9 demonstration for us. Darryl has seen a lot of these but it was a new experience for the band and everyone really enjoyed it. Very cool. Stayed a little longer and chatted then loaded back up and headed to the hotel. Mike stopped at grocery store for us so we could get a few things. The hotel is nice, but not a grocery store or gas station within walking distance.

Everyone decided to eat at the hotel restaurant for dinner so we made reservations at 7 for all of us. The hotel actually has really good food and desserts! yum. The restaurant had a nice table for all of us set up on the patio and the weather was perfect. Of course a meal here takes about 3 hours from the time you are seated till you get the check. LOL. I didn’t mind since the conversations between us all was um..entertaining…..

It’s a little after 10 and I am going to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a travel day to Spangdahlem. Next show is on Wednesday.

xoxo

Lindsey

 

Darryl Worley – Day 4 – Schinnen to Spangdahlem, Germany

So today will be our last easy day as everyday after this a show day. Went down to breakfast around 9 and saw most of the guys already eating. We do not leave until 11:30 and then it is only a 2 hour drive to Spangdahlem, Germany.

Went downstairs around 11 to start checking everyone out. Mike had brought the bus around for us to start loading up our luggage. Have I mentioned that Europe is having a heat wave? And that they do not have AC in most hotels… including the ones on base? Things are going to get a little “ripe”

Left out of Schinnen on time and pretty uneventful drive. I sat up front and talked with Mike for awhile about life and our families. He has such interesting stories.. and lot include mom… 

Checked into Eifel Arms hotel which is conveniently located right next to the venue. Andy and Bill met us upon arrival and will be taking care of us while we are here. Andy has a shuttle van and took us over to the base exchange so we could buy some stuff.

Came back from the exchange and I walked over to the venue to check in with John and the production crew. He said everything was going well and no problems. So I came back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. They are taking us to eat at Berkastel about 30 mins away.

Loaded up into the base shuttle van and realized very soon that the AC was not working 
It was a very hot ride up to the castle…but it is beautiful up there! The restaurant had a table set up for all of us. Once we ate, we all climbed the stairs up to the top of the castle. It was an unbelievable view with the sun starting to set. Around 10 … yes 4 hours later… we started for the drive back to base thinking it wouldn’t be as hot in the van since the sun had gone done… unfortunately no 

By the time we arrived base everyone was heading to their rooms for a shower! Said good night to everyone and told them breakfast was at 8am over at the club and then we all have to depart at 8:45 for AFN interview and F16 tour. Busy day tomorrow but looking forward to it!

Night all
Lindsey

 

Darryl Worley Spangdahlem AB – Day 5

Today is our 2nd show and we are at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany. We had to be over at the club for breakfast at 8 then Darryl had an AFN interview at 9. Since we are going to an F16 tour after the interview, everyone had to go to the AFN interview with us.

We got Darryl set up at AFN and Andy, our POC here on base showed the rest of the band some places they could walk around to. The interview lasted an hour as they played some on air games with him and talked with him in between breaks. Took some quick photo’s then rounded everyone up and we went over to the Hanger for the F16 tour. All day long you can hear the planes flying overhead but if you look in the sky to see them then you have to look way ahead of the sound to see the actual planes. They briefed us on their training and missals that they use. I think we all very much enjoyed it. Andy dropped us off at the hotel and took of the guys back over to the exchange to buy a few things.

We had about 2 hours at the hotel before we all went to lunch at The Golden Dragon here on base and then over to sound check. Again.. John and his crew had everything set up and ready for us. I think he and the crew are pleasantly surprised by Darryl and the band and how good they are. I must say I have just fallen in love with Sarah Jory. She is just an amazing steel player, singer and all around person.

They took their full 2 hours for soundcheck today, mainly to just run through some songs. At 5 we walked back to the hotel where we had a little over an hour before we needed to come back for a Meet and Greet with Leadership before the show. Spang is really great about making us a nice green room in the back restaurant area of where the concert will take place. We all met in there at 6:45 and met with Col. Roth. She is the new group commander here on base. She and Darryl chatted for a few minutes before it was time to hit the stage.

The show is again outdoors and it had rained all morning. Michele with AFE kept saying it was suppose to end by 3pm and it did. The sun came out and the temperature was much cooler than yesterday. It made for a great evening.. except the stage faced the sun and Darryl couldn’t see a thing during the whole show except the last 2 songs the sun finally set behind the tree and he could see again 

Bill, our other POC, said it was a great turnout – which it was. Families were out and people of all ages were up dancing and running around. It was another very good show. Afterwards Michele got everyone lined up off to the side of the patio for the Meet and Greet and took the pictures while I handed out the autograph cards. I have really appreciated having her here and she does her job well.

Darryl really takes his time with each person and loves to talk to them. We will have to get things moving a big faster thought at Stuttgart tomorrow so I will get him to pre sign the rest of the autograph cards and Michele is going to make sure they have a staff photographer to do the pictures.

We had dinner in the back restaurant and around 11 everyone headed back to the hotel. We are leaving at 8:30 for Stuttgart for show # 3 tomorrow. So … Gute Nacht!

Lindsey

 

Darryl Worley – Stuttgart Germany – Day 6

I believe 4 hours of sleep is going to be the norm for the rest of the trip. The cooler weather helped cool down the temp in the hotel room and then you place the fan in front of the window and have it blow directly on you 

Everyone was downstairs at 7:45 and we loaded the bus then walked over to the club for breakfast. Finished breakfast and we’re on the road by 8:30.

Mike was driving a young French pop group around the week before he picked us up and they trashed his bus. His toilet seat is broken so us girls are having to make restrooms stops. Which costs .70 euros….We have a cup of change dubbed the pee pee money.

It’s a 4 1/2 hour drive to Stuttgart. We were supposed to arrive by 1 but with traffic it was closer to 1:30. We dropped the band off at the hotel to check in then whisked Darryl over to the theatre for a small M&G with AFRICOM. 30 mins later we ran back to hotel where they had some sandwiches for us then over to soundcheck.

Again..it is so hot here and for some reason the stage is set up to where the sun will shine directly on the guys for entire show. The crew as expected had everything up and ready for us and we were do e in about 1.5 hrs. Martha drove Darryl and I back to the hotel since Mike had to keep the bus at the stage. It will be our Green room tonight 

We have an hour at the hotel to freshen up and back to the venue at 5:30 for a meeting with Leadership prior to showtime. I walked over to the venue with band and Michele got Darryl ride back over with Martha. Have I told you it is so freaking hot!

We met with Major General McCaffrey who is the Deputy Chief of Staff at Stuttgart. He then introduced Darryl and we got the show started.

I felt so bad sitting in the shade watching my guys roast on the stage, but no matter how hot they were they put on a great show and the audience was very grateful. We actually had a nice crowd and they are celebrating their anniversary with AFRICOM so this show worked well with their celebration.

Martha wanted to take us to dinner outside the base but that would mean Mike would have to drive us and he has to have so many hours downtime before driving again he wouldn’t be able to drive. This was fine as we all opted to pre order our dinner and have it delivered to the stage at 9.

Darryl did about an hour meet and greet, taking his time with each person. He has some friends at this base and was able to catch up with them for a little bit. We ate dinner on the picnic tables they left up for us by the stage and then Mike took us over to the hotel.

Good news is Michele was able to move our 6 am leave time to 8 am. It means missing the opening ceremonies at the Graf Volksfest but they really needed the extra sleep as the sun and heat are wearing us all out. I checked the weather for Graf tomorrow and it is only going to be a high of 88! LOL.

Got to the room, took a bath filled with ice cubes, talked to the kids and now going to bed!

 

Darryl Worley – Grafenwoehr Germany – Day 7

Glad we were able to move our departure to 8 am instead of 6 am or I only would have had 2 hours of sleep. The heat / no AC combo really doesn’t help but when you’ve been running off little sleep for a few days at some point it doesn’t matter and you drift off.

The hotel had a small breakfast room and I grabbed some cereal and a bagel before loading my bags onto the bus. Mike, our driver, thinks he has broken or brusied a rib. He promised me he would go to the Dr on Monday. Everyone was checked out and grabbing breakfast by 8 – they are spoiling me by all this on time or early stuff! It is a 4 hour drive to Grafenwoehr where we will perform tonight at 9 at their Volksfest. I sat up front with Mike most of the time as some of the band was downstairs rehearsing and Darryl and Sarah were upstairs going over stuff. I have loved watching them talk and connect over rmusic and can’t wait to see what they do together.

2 hours in, we stopped at a gas station, grabbed our “pee pee” money and did our thing while Mike filled up with gas. Got back on the road and 30 mins later we got a standstill on the Autobahn. From what we could tell it was a crash. We sat for about 40 mins which makes us miss our soundcheck time. Mike called one of our crew guys and Michele called our base POC and they said we could do soundcheck whenever we get there. Pulled up at venue – which looks just like a fair back home, except with great big glasses of beer and people walking around in lederhosen. Unloaded our gear and the band did a short soundcheck. It is already getting busy out here so tonight will be a great crowd.

Sarahs husband Mark will be able to come out to tonight’s show since it is open to the public. The downside is Sarah and Jay will leave with him after the show and drop Jay off at Munich airport and then they have to be in Austria by noon for a soundcheck. The other unfortunate part is I gave Mark the wrong directions and he ended up about 1 .5 hours from where we were. Poor thing really got a taste of my no sense of direction.

Since the bus is our Green room tonight Mike will keep it here and we have shuttles taking us to the hotel 15 min away. Lisa, who is a good friend of mom’s drove me, Darryl and Jackson while Moony drove Michele, Manu and Bastiaan over. Sarah and Mr Jay stayed on the bus at the venue. I have been holding everyone’s passports since we have to show them each time we arrive at a base so I was still holding them when we went through another check point on the way to the hotel. We had to wait for Moony and the other guys to catch up with us since I had their passports.

Got to the hotel around 3:30, got checked in GOT A/C!!! Yes! This is heaven. It is still in the 90s here. I have to head back over with Lisa and get Sarah and Mr Jay their passports. Michele is going to get the band guys back over for dinner and then I will get Darryl over. He will have about 4 hours of down time…in an Air condionted room!!

Back over to the venue at 5 and Mark, Sarah’s husband had finally made it and actually spoke to me. Haha. Mike, Frank from the crew and I walked up to the beer tent and grabbed some food and a beer. I don’t know when I will get to eat dinner so I figured I should do it now during my downtime. I had a huge pork knuckle. It’s huge! So is my 🍺! Enjoyed a bit of the festival then went back for he bus to talk to Sarah and Mark a little bit. The only bad thing about this base is their is no cell service out here.

Talked with Mark and Sarah for a bit then Michele made it over with the band. The base put a meat and cheese tray on our bus but a couple want to get some food at the fest. Lisa and I walked them over to the beer tent and they went for the chicken, which is huge too. Got them settled back on the bus and went with Lisa to pick Darryl up at the hotel.

He came down ready to go on time and back over to the venue. He was able to eat a little bit and chill before going on.

Tonight is the biggest crowd and it’s at 9 pm…it’s still got but no sun burning right down on you. I guess one of the other bands that played earlier in the day were upset they were in the old part of the hotel without AC. I told Lisa to tell them Darryl has been over here a week and this is the first night he has had AC and hasn’t been a diva about it. 

It was an awesome last show and a great place to end the tour. With the late night night /early morning we had to scale the meet and greet down to 30 mins. Finished up at 11:30 and Lisa went to grab him a chicken plate that he ate on the bus. Mark pulled his vehicle in and he loaded up Sarah and Jay’s stuff since they are taking off tonight.

This crew, they work for Public Address and they have been the best. They go with us to each show, traveling over night to have everything set up and ready for us by the time we arrive. No problems at all at soundcheck and each night the sound amazing. I don’t think many were country fans but I think we have a few now. I also want to mention that Darryl has learned their names and thanks them at each show. He enjoys getting time to talk to them too.

We did a big band and group picture by the bus before everyone had to take off. I rode back with Moony and Darryl and Michele got the band back with Lisa. Had to repack some stuff and took a shower. It was close to 1 before I fell asleep. But it was good sleep…with the AC I slept like a rock…for 4 hours.

Saturday Aug 4 -Going Home -Day 8

Set the alarm for 6:30…actually got out of bed at 6:50. Dressed and finished packing and was in the lobby by 7:30 to check out. We left the hotel a few minutes later and headed to the Nuremberg airport 1.5 hours away. No delays and we were at the airport by 9:30 to check in. Michele is on LH and departs a few mins before Darryl and leave for Amsterdam at 11:30.

Gave Mike a big hug and hope to see him soon. He wants me to come back with the kids and take us around. I would love to bring them over in the fall or the Holidays so they could see the Christmas markets. One day.

Michele checked in and then met Darryl and I over at the KLM counter. Since I fly home and he has to fly to Oregon I checked his merch suitcase that he has had over here for his commercial shows and bringing it home. I just have to remember that I have 2 bags to pick up at customs in JFK 🙃

We landed a few minutes late into JFK and then my flight home was delayed by 2 hours due to our incoming aircraft being late. I stead of arriving home at 8:30 it was a little after 10. I monitored Darryl’s flights and it looked like he made it ok to Eugene.

Zac and Zoe start 4th grade on Tuesday and tomorrow is the open house where we take our supplies and find out who their teachers are. It is from 3:30 to 5…just about the time my jet lag should set in….

Xoxo
Lindsey