SUNDAY, MARCH 17TH AND MONDAY, MARCH 18TH – FRANKIE BALLARD TOUR OF JAPAN AND OKINAWA:
Leaving today for 6 shows in Japan and Okinawa with Frankie Ballard – his 4th tour overseas for the troops.
Got 3 hours sleep, showered and drove myself to the airport at 3:45 am. Lindsey and the Z’s are returning from Norway late tonight, so I left her car at valet so she could drive it home. I called my wonderful Skycap to ask him to meet me at valet and woke him up! He had emergency knee surgery last week. I felt terrible. But, he called his “partner” and asked him to meet me at valet. Unfortunately, I had already checked in and gone up to the departure counter by the time he showed up.
Why I booked a flight from Nashville to Seattle and then to Tokyo, I do not know. It had to have been something to do with the cost. I had no idea the flight to Seattle was going to be 6 hours! I was in first class and this really, really huge man got on and of course I’m praying he’s not my seatmate. He wasn’t but he was in the seat behind me. His legs were so big, I couldn’t recline my seat even an inch. Then before we ever took off, he started snoring loudly! I ate breakfast (he snored through breakfast) and read my Gary Sinise book (if you haven’t read it, buy a copy NOW. Wonderful book and brought back so many memories of visits to Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea and the Hospitals in DC). About 4 hours into the flight, I thought, okay, I can sleep sitting up and the snorer was finally awake. Great plan but about 20 minutes later, the man in the window seat in front of me leaned over the back of his seat and started a conversation with the man sitting next to me by the window. No chance for sleep at all on that flight as they continued their “spiritual” conversation until time to land.
Found the Sky Club at the Seattle airport and it is right above our departure gate. Got some emails answered before heading to the gate for hopefully an on-time departure.
We boarded on time and I plugged in my mobile phone to charge the battery. Nothing. No power. I told two different flight attendants multiple times and they always used the excuse that we would not have power until we took off. I knew that was a lie because I had just flown to Zurich and back and had power on the ground. Also the fact that everything else in the seat was working….TV, lights, etc….was a pretty good indication that something was wrong. It was full flight, so no chance of moving to another seat.
As soon as we took off, I told the flight attendant that I still did not have power. She finally got the purser who discovered that our entire side of the aircraft was without power. She shut the entire system down twice and guess what….no power! She finally said she had sent a message to Atlanta to ask how to fix the problem. Guess what again….no resolution. So there goes my plan to get some work done on the flight. Their excuse was that the aircraft is so “new”, no one is really familiar with how things work!
I ate dinner and watched a movie and then tried to sleep but could not get comfortable. Seat is extremely hard and very narrow. There are no overhead bins above the seats in the middle so everyone was cramming their bags into the bin over my head. Makes it impossible to get my bag down for the things I need before landing.
About an hour and a half before landing, one of the really nice Asian flight attendants brought me her power bank to charge up my phone. I actually have one but the charge on it was gone from the Seattle flight.
I got a message from Davy that their flight from Australia to Tokyo is delayed by about an hour. Going to make for a very late night arriving on base.
When we were ready to land, we were told to put on our seatbelts and there was a shoulder strap as well as the lap belt. My shoulder strap “disappeared” inside the seat at some point during the flight and even the flight attendants couldn’t retrieve it.
Landed early, collected my bags and “lugged” them onto the shuttle bus to go to Terminal 2. I had put in a request with the Delta Million Miler Desk for Delta to have someone meet me at baggage claim and walk me to the correct bus stop. Nope. No one showed up.
Since I had a 4 hour “wait” for Frankie and his guys, I was able to store my luggage and found a long row of tables with chairs and power outlets up on the departure level. I got everything set up and started working but after about 30 minutes, I got a text from Nicole saying she had arrived and would come find me. I assumed she would wait until the group arrived to come to the airport. It was really sweet of her to arrive that early.
We talked for a while since I needed to let my battery charge and then we went downstairs and purchased my train ticket for tomorrow. Afterwards we had a great bowl of Udon noodles and some tempura.
Frankie and his group landed about an hour later than scheduled but everyone was in a great mood. He and his guys are always so great to work with and so passionate about supporting the troops. His current tour manager was in the Navy and actually on the USS McCampbell which is stationed at Yokosuka – our first stop. Unfortunately the ship is not in port while we are here. But it will still be a trip down memory lane for Davy. Luke Nelson is Frankie’s production manager and he reminded me that he was with me on Kristian Bush’s tour several years ago and the USS McCampbell is the ship that Kristian performed an acoustic set on for our tour.
It was about an hour and a half drive from the airport to Yokosuka and I definitely remember this base. The lodging doesn’t have an elevator and in the past, we have always been on the first floor. Not this time. I switched with someone on the 3rd floor so that I’m on the 2nd floor. It’s HARD lugging 50 pound suitcases up several flights of stairs!
Nicole was going to escort Frankie and his guys off base to walk around the “clubs” for a little while. Davy wanted to see how much things had changed! I went to my room and set up my laptop – something I’ve learned to before I ever unpack one thing just in case WiFi doesn’t work and I need to switch rooms. It didn’t work! I went to the front desk and the nice night clerk came to my room and “re-set” the router. NOW it’s working!
Nicole is going to escort us into Tokyo for our “day off” tomorrow and I’m taking everyone to the infamous Robot Restaurant. My dear friend George DeGrella who worked for AFE Europe for many years and is now at Yokota Air Base is also meeting us.
Going to answer some emails then shower and get a few hours sleep. We have a 9 am lobby call and it’s already after midnight!
Jude
TUESDAY, MARCH 19TH – -ONLY DAY OFF ON MAINLAND JAPAN:
After getting in bed so late (2:30 am) there was no way I could get up early enough to jog and be ready for lobby call at 9 am. I justified blowing off exercise with the reasoning that I would be walking most of the day and definitely going up and down LOTS of stairs.
Everyone was in the lobby by 9 am and we walked to the train station from the base. On the way, I learned that the station where we were meeting the guide that Frankie hired had changed our meeting point from the Tokyo Station to the Shinagawa Station. I began frantically trying to reach my friend George to let him know about the change in our meeting point. Unfortunately, he was already on the train from Yokota to Tokyo Station. He was able to get off and find a different train and actually arrived at the same time we did. So great to see him! The guide arrived a few minutes after we did and the first stop everyone wanted to make was for lunch. I suggest Hamazushi but it was about a mile away so we found another conveyor belt sushi restaurant. It turned out to be just as great and the group loved it. I even found some new “favorite” pieces. But, it spoils me for eating sushi in the USA because nothing compares with sushi in Japan.
Next the guide suggested a famous Shrine and Temple. It was a pretty long train ride and when we arrived, it was packed with tourists. We were able to walk around and take photos but I hate that the group did not get the experience of being told about all the “customs” that must be honored before entering the Temple and the actual experience of going inside. We had less than one hour there and then had to go to Shinjuku to the Robot Restaurant. We arrived on time and I was able to pick up the tickets and we all went into the “bar” area for the pre-show. Again, the pre-show was nowhere near as good as the first time I visited about 4 years ago. The Frankie’s group were impressed as they were with the actual show. It’s so wild and crazy, there’s no way to explain it. We had 5 seats on the front row and 5 seats immediately behind those. I made sure Frankie got front row seats because that’s quite an experience. I think when we exited, everyone was in a sensory overload.
Nicole and George decided to go back to their respective bases immediately after the Robot Restaurant experience and I left as well to do some “catch up” work on email from being gone all day. We decided to eat something before taking the long train ride back and found a really good “Italian” restaurant. We had trouble finding our correct train line and George finally split off from us in search of his on his own. We finally found it but the train was packed. Means we would have had to stand the entire one hour or more trip. We decided to wait for the “local” train and took it. It took a lot longer because of stops but we were able to sit the entire trip.
Nicole’s husband was sweet enough to pick us up at the train station and drive us back on base. I stayed up until 3:00 am working! Pay back for a wonderful day spent in Tokyo with a fantastic group of guys/girls.
Show tomorrow is at this base – Yokosuka Naval Base. We had beautiful, perfect weather in Tokyo today and forecast is for pretty weather the entire time we are on Mainland Japan.
Jude
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20TH – FIRST SHOW AT YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE:
Not enough time to sleep and jog but I did get in a good workout with the “bands”. Always wake up to at least 50 emails that have come in between 3 am and 7 am that require attention.
Lobby call was 11:15 am for lunch at the O’Club. They have really good food there and everyone enjoyed the meal.
Frankie and the musicians went back to lodging and Davy, Luke, Anna and I went to the venue. Yoshi’s production company has this show as well as the on next two shows and he is fantastic. The band came over about one hour later. Sound check ran a little later than anticipated because it was hard to get the “sound” right on the stage.
Nicole took Anna and I on a driving tour of the base. I have been here numerous times but it has been a couple of years so was nice to re-familiarize myself with the base. By the time we got back to the venue, sound check was finishing up. We had about an hour at lodging before heading back over for the show.
Venue had a nice size crowd but was not completely full. This is a school night and work night but there were several children in the audience. As always, Frankie gave them an awesome, highly entertaining show. After the show, he signed autographs and took photos with approximately 150 people. He is so great with the military – on and off stage. Correction he is great with EVERYONE – on and off stage. The people who attended seemed to know the words to every song he sang, too!
We were back at lodging by 10 pm but I still have lots of work to do and it’s already 2 am. Have a 10:30 am lobby call tomorrow to drive to Atsugi Naval Base for a show tomorrow night.
Jude
THURSDAY, MARCH 21ST – PERFORMANCE AT ATSUGI NAVAL BASE:
I got in bed at 3:30 am and planned to sleep until 8 am. At 7 am, sirens started blaring. I had no idea what this meant and got up to see if people were rushing from the building. No activity outside so I thought I would try to go back to sleep. Only the sirens blared until 7:20 am!
Lobby call to depart to Atsugi was at 10:30 am. Paul our POC met us with a nice tour bus. The drive was less than an hour. Got everyone checked in, dropped our bags and headed to the venue for lunch.
There was an event taking place in the venue so sound check started a little later than scheduled. We have a 6:30 pm show tonight. The group finished sound check at 4:00 pm and we walked back to lodging. We only had about 1 ½ hours at lodging before having to depart to the venue again. I didn’t get much work done in that amount of time!
It looked like all the tables in the venue were full and there were lots of young children in the audience. Once again, Frankie gave them a fantastic show and stayed to sign autographs and take photos with everyone afterwards. We went to a Pizza/Pasta restaurant after the show and had dinner. We were back in lodging by 10:30 pm and I decided I just could not stay away and work. I went to bed immediately and slept until 4:30 am. Was able to get a lot of work done plus shower and be in the lobby for the 10:00 am departure.
Jude
FRIDAY, MARCH 22ND – PERFORMANCE AT YOKOTA:
Spike – our POC – met us at lodging and everyone was ready to depart at 10:00 am. Since this is a Friday, we’re hoping for a packed house at the club where we are performing tonight!
I got a message through Facebook from a guy I worked with in the mid-90’s on several USO tours. Haven’t heard from him in decades. He’s in Okinawa working for 10 days and staying at our lodging. Going to be great to see him again!
We stopped by the venue and dropped off our equipment and then headed over to lodging. The group was amazed at what a beautiful facility we are staying in tonight. But, Air Force is usually like that as I told them previously. Frankie has a huge suite with a washer and dryer! Of course, we always get the super nice lodging when we are somewhere for less than 24 hours.
We dropped our bags and headed over to the Officer’s Club for lunch. It was a buffet of Indian food that was amazing. Of course, we all got more than we could eat but it was really a treat.
Went to sound check immediately after lunch and they were trying to knock it out quicker than these last 2 days because we have such an early start tomorrow morning for the airport. They finished in about 1 ½ hours instead of 2 hours this time. I kept waiting for my friends from the Air Force Band to come by. The band that has performed at Country Gold for the past 2 years and have confirmed again for this year are at Yokota. As soon as we got back to lodging, I got a message from them that they were pulling up just as we were leaving. But they are coming to the show tonight.
Looked like we had a full house tonight and a very enthusiastic audience – as we have had every night. Again, lots of young children. George came to the show with his wife and niece and two of the members of the Air Force Band came as well.
Frankie’s show was fantastic as usual. The autograph/photo session takes place in a room near the back of the show room. This base always runs the autograph session so professionally. Everyone lines up and a staff photographer takes the photos and posts them on a community website for download. That way everyone gets a high resolution, professional photo. As in nights past, Frankie has already signed the photos so everything runs quickly.
SATURDAY, March 23rd -PERFORMANCE AT KADENA AFB, OKINAWA:
Wow, 3:30 am came quickly. Showered and met everyone in the lobby by 5:30 am for the one hour drive to the airport. Turned out to be a little more than an hour because of traffic.
Spike was able to get us into a special area for “Premier Check-in” because of my Million Miler Status on United. But it still took forever to check in. ANA allowed me and Frankie to check 3 pieces and the band to check 2 pieces each (which was a surprise). That still left us with 2 pieces of excess. After calling another agent and having several people work with us, we were finally able to pay for one piece of excess. The security scanning is located in the room where the “Premier Check-In” takes place so we didn’t have to go through the long line with the other passengers. It also meant we by-passed the restaurant where I wanted to have breakfast because it is before you go through security. We said good-bye to Anna as she is returning to Nashville today and we will definitely miss her.
We all ended up in the same restaurant and had Udon and Soba noodles for breakfast. The fight boarded on time and it’s one of the oldest aircrafts I’ve seen in a long time in the ANA fleet. It was a 3 hour flight and instead of sleeping like I wanted to do, I worked the entire flight.
We landed on time and Rob – our POC – was waiting for us with the bus. It was about an hour drive from the airport to Kadena and our first stop was a lodging to check in. Rob had already secured our rooms for us. The lodging has been updated since I stayed here years ago.
After lunch we went to the venue and ate at one of the restaurants in the venue. This is a new facility and is amazing. I had entertainers perform at the other venue numerous times and this is such a great new entertainment facility for the men and women serving at Kadena.
Sound check ran long because it’s a different production company and backline than what we had on mainland Japan. My friend who was the Wolf at Kunsan (General Shoemaker) last year introduced me by email to the Wing Commander (General Case Cunningham) at Kadena. He was kind enough to come by and meet the group and chat with Frankie for a few minutes. He and I talked for a few minutes afterwards and realized we had met in Las Vegas several years ago when I was providing the entertainment for the Thunderbirds Reunion. I had Aaron Tippin there and we met backstage. Of course, another former “Wolf” (General Bishop) got me involved with providing the entertainment for that event. Notice how every “Wolf” at Kunsan goes on to become a one, two, three, and four star General???
The 18th Force Support Commander – Colonel Eddy – also spent a lot of time with us at sound check, at the show, and after the show. What a great guy he was as well! And he coined me and Frankie with a beautiful challenge coin.
After sightseeing in Tokyo earlier this week with my buddy George, he told another mutual friend of ours – Stefano – that I was going to be in Okinawa. I met Stefano in the mid 90’s in Italy when he was providing production and backline for USO tours that I was escorting. I don’t think I’ve seen him since around 2006 or so. His company actually installed the video walls and lighting system in the new Rocker Club entertainment complex. We started communicating via What’s App and learned that he is also lodged at the Shogun Inn where we are staying and made plans to meet up at sound check or the show.
The biggest challenge at sound check came when the group learned that the stage lighting was actually for more “corporate” events than for musical events. Davy stayed behind to work on it and guess who our POC’s called in to “rescue” the situation – Stefano!
We only had about an hour back at lodging before going back over for the performance. I was able to connect with Stefano and he still looks exactly the same. It was great to catch up with him!
We had our largest crowd to date at this venue and it was a family event – but no seats. The audience crowded the floor in front of the stage and Frankie rocked them for 90 minutes. Another great show on the tour.
Veronica – the lady who we met over New Year’s Eve – brought some t-shirts to the show for me to take back to the Improv Comedy Group. This is the lady who is the drama teacher at the High School on Camp Foster. The comedians gave an impromptu workshop for the students during our visit over the New Year’s Eve holidays.
So, this was a great “catch up” time for me with lots of friends. Frankie took photos with everyone after the event and Davy and I got our dinners “to go” since it was so late by the time we finished up.
We have been blessed to have such great “hosts” at all the bases we have visited so far. I know everyone has been pleased with Frankie – on and off stage – and this has been another memorable, heart-warming tour which makes us all feel like we are really communicating to the military in this area just how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice.
Tomorrow is the second day of a weekend festival at Camp Schwab (Marine Base). Halestorm performed tonight and Frankie headlines tomorrow night. We have a 9 am lobby call so won’t be staying up real late tonight.
Jude
SUNDAY, MARCH 24TH – PERFORMANCE AT CAMP SCHWAB (MARINE BASE):
Got up at 4:30 am to shower, work out in the room, and work, work, work before departing to Camp Schwab for sound check. When the bus wasn’t out front by 9 am, I realized it has probably gone to the main building. I walked around the corner of lodging and sure enough, there it was. Davy walked over and had him bring it to our building.
It was less than an hour drive and the stage was set up and ready for us. Gielenn and Shayne were waiting for us and had “breakfast” set up in the trailer. I worked with both of them over New Year’s and already knew how great and efficient they were. Mika with the production company is great too and had the stage ready for the guys. Davy and I walked over to the base exchange and picked up some breakfast sandwiches so the guys would have something “hot” as an option as well. We ran into Dureil while we were there (Entertainment coordinator for all the Marine Bases in this area). He’s such a great guy and always so organized as well.
The guys took a short break and ate some food and then finished up the sound check in record time. It’s definitely not as cold as we were told to expect but I have a feeling the temperature will drop tonight as we are very close to the water. I walked around and took some photos of the food booths and aircraft that were on display. Dureil said they had about 6,500 people there last night with around 3,500 in front of the stage watching the Halestorm perform.
We were back at lodging by 1 pm and I walked over to the Main Lodging Office to sign all the paperwork for our rooms. I was supposed to ask if a certain lady was working because she is a friend of my friend at AAFES in North Dakota. As luck would have it, she’s on vacation!
Got all the paperwork signed and came back to my room to work for a couple of hours. We headed back over to Camp Schwab at 5 pm for a 7 pm performance. The drive over is really beautiful, too. Picturesque scenes of the water and ships all along the way.
The Colonel and Sgt. Major came by to welcome us and thank us for coming out to Okinawa. The Colonel actually introduced Frankie tonight to a huge crowd. Both are really great guys from the “Carolinas”. Will be interested to see how many once Dureil makes his “survey”. It was a “roaring” good time for families and lots of single Marines deployed so far from home.
As with all the other bases, this organization is excellent to work with and we always know everything is going to be first class….and it was! Dureil, Gielenn, Shayne and all the staff are excellent.
This base holds a drawing on AFN Radio for backstage meet and greet passes and it works well for them. It was supposed to be for 75 people but I believe it was about twice that minute based on how many autograph sheets I passed out! The band ate dinner while Frankie was taking photos with everyone. Once he finished, Davey, Frankie and I took our dinner back to lodging with us I was starving by 10:30 pm when I finally got to eat mine!
I called Zac and Zoe and was able to Facetime with them for a few minutes. Miss them sooooooo much. Less than a week to go!!!
Going to bed now because WiFi is so slow I can’t do much “work”. Get to sleep in tomorrow. Yea!!!
Jude
MONDAY, MARCH 25TH, DAY OFF IN OKINAWA:
What a treat it was to get 7 hours sleep and then go for a 3 mile run – first chance I have had to do any exercise other than work out with the bands in my room!
The guys went down to the beach and I worked all morning. Colonel Eddy arranged for the base Historian to give us a briefing about the Battle of Okinawa. Frankie’s grandfather (who he is named for) fought in that battle. His grandfather is no longer alive and Frankie was hoping to get some more information on the battle and maybe “where” his grandfather fought. The historian was great and we all learned a lot. We met him at the Golf Course Restaurant which is located on the top of a hill overlooking the base and surrounded by lots of the caves where the battle was fought. Such tragic stories about the local Okinawans who lost their lives due to the War.
After our briefing, we went out on the patio for him point out the location of various battle sites and caves and also to watch the many F-15’s and refueling planes take off and land. It has started raining so it was no longer an option for us to go see the caves.
Vehicles aren’t allowed to drive up the hill to the restaurant so we had to meet our driver at the bottom of the hill. Just as we started walking down, a huge, hard downpour started. Our clothes and shoes were soaked through! Had to come back to the room and take my clothes to the dryer in the laundry room to try and dry them out!
We grabbed a couple of taxis at 6:30 pm and went to Hamazushi over by the American Mall. This is my favorite sushi restaurant. We had a stack of plate higher than our heads and the bill was $52 for 3 people (including alcohol) and $85 for 4 people (including even more alcohol). We grabbed taxis back to the base and the guys decided to walk around outside Gate 2 for a while but I came back to make a call to Norway and work.
Going to get in bed at a decent hour and then get up early to deal with emails before we depart to Iwakuni. Haven’t been there for years and excited to go back!
Jude
TUESDAY, MARCH 26TH – OKINAWA TO IWAKUNI:
I got up at 6:30 am to begin answering emails – and there were a LOT to answer. Took a short break to work out and shower then worked for another couple of hours. We all met in the lobby at 11 am and departed for the Okinawa airport. We were hoping check-in would go quickly and smoothly. I used my “premiere” status to get us checked in through that lane. The weight and number of pieces were an issue but we kept talking with the agent and even showed her a copy of our military orders. We didn’t have to pay any excess baggage fees for this flight which was great.
The decision was made to go through the security line instead of grabbing something to eat before going through. Big mistake. There were only a couple of little food places where you could purchase sandwiches, snacks, etc. but had to stand to eat them. I walked with Luke up and down the entire terminal trying to find him something “vegetarian” he could eat.
The “gate” for the flight was downstairs and had gates for 4 other flights all crowded into that one space. It was “bus” gate so they called the flights and boarded each person onto a bus for the drive to the aircraft. It was so loud and all the information was in Japanese that I missed hearing my flight called. I thought all the guys had already gone through, so I rushed onto the bus. After getting on the bus, I got a text from Davey saying they had not gotten on a bus yet!
The flight was definitely not full and was only about 1 ½ hours long. We landed on time and our POC’s – Bob and Caleb – met us after baggage claim. The bus took us to lodging and the Kintai Inn is really, really nice. Everything seems “new” and best of all, the WiFi is slamming. That is, it is slamming after going through complex instructions on how to access it.
The new two story exchange – the largest Marine Base Exchange in the Pacific (and newly opened) – was across the street from lodging so I walked over to buy some water. I didn’t have enough time to check out everything but it is MASSIVE!
We all met for dinner at 7 pm and I thought I had arranged for everyone to have Shabu Shabu but Caleb said he had changed it to Yakiniku – which I actually prefer. Both are similar – large platters of vegetables and paper thin slices of meat. But one is cooked in a pot of boiling water at your table (Shabu Shabu) and the other is grilled over very hot coals at your table (Yakiniku). The group LOVED it and everyone ate way too much. We all agreed that the spicy soy sauce and beef were the winners. The owner of the restaurant is an American and former Marine named Will. He spent almost our entire meal with us talking to us. The cost was $40 per person for two hours of unlimited food and drink (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). That’s quite the bargain. Will brought out a “special treat” which was some type of red meat. He wouldn’t tell anyone what it was until after they ate some of it. I did not eat any but several of the guys did. Turns out it was cow’s tongue. Ugh!
We were full long before our two hours was up! We took taxis back to lodging. I’m not going to stay up working all night. Frankie, Davey and I have a 10:15 am lobby call for an AFN interview. The rest of the guys will meet us at 11 am for lunch.
Jude
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27TH – PERFORMANCE AT IWAKUNI MARINE BASE – LAST SHOW OF THE TOUR!:
First on the agenda today is a visit to AFN Radio. It was a very quick visit but “productive”. Frankie is such a “pro” at PR. We had lunch at the club connected to the theatre where we will perform. Great food but I think everyone is still “full” from last night. The new theatre where the performance will take place is right next door to the restaurant. The theatre is beautiful and massive. Going to take a lot of people to fill it and doubt we will have that many on a “work night”!
Production company is good and sound check ran smoothly. Afterwards we went to a “Unit Visit” with the F-35’s. It was awesome. We visited the different Units who take care of the planes and the pilots and then went out onto the flight line to “inspect” one. I thought I had seen every aircraft the military has (and flown in most of them) but this was a first. Everyone truly enjoyed our visit with these men and women.
We had a couple of hours to come back to the room before leaving for the show at 6 pm. When we arrived at the venue, I was surprised to see so many people already in their seats. We ended up with close to 400 people including lots of children. It was a fantastic “last show”. And the autograph line was much better because the people in line had not been drinking as much as they had at all the previous shows…..that’s because the club ran out of beer. HA!
We had dinner at the club next door and I left the guys still eating and came back to work. Lobby call at 7:30 am tomorrow morning for our flight to Tokyo!
Jude
THURSDAY, MARCH 28TH – IWAKUNI TO TOKYO:
Everyone met in front of the lobby at 7:30 am for the short ride to the Iwakuni Airport. There’s only one check in counter and one departure gate. But, I’m glad we were first in line because it took “a while” to sort out the excess baggage charges. There was definitely a “language” barrier that slowed down the process, too. The bad news was that since this flight was not booked as part of the international roundtrip fare, the guys flying home to Nashville could not check their bags all the way through to Nashville. They are going to have to pick up everything at the Haneda Airport and load it only the shuttle bus to go from the Domestic to the International Terminal. Considering they have 13 pieces between 4 guys, it’s not going to be “fun”.
After about 30-45 minutes, we finally had everything checked in and had a few minutes to wait before “Security” opened so we could go to the gate. While we were waiting, one of the men who was working at the ticket counter came up to me and said in very broken English that in the future, we would have to pay for excess baggage. He said it’s okay today, but never again. Okay!!!
Had a very short wait at the gate before boarding and then a little over an hour flight to Tokyo Haneda. All the luggage and equipment arrived at baggage claim before we ever made it there from the plane! We helped the band guys load everything onto the shuttle bus and then Frankie, Davy and I grabbed a couple of taxis to the Hotel Okura in downtown Tokyo. It was about a half hour ride and when I arrived, my room wasn’t ready. But they were able to find me another room and I got checked in quickly. The three of us walked over to a little restaurant area for some lunch. The place where we wanted to eat had a long line but it moved quickly. We had bowls of steaming hot noodles with pork slices that was delicious.
I went to the room to work while Frankie and Davy had a sound check at the Embassy. Tonight is a special evening courtesy of Ambassador Hagerty and the CMA. CMA is going to focus on bringing country music to Japan – as Charlie and I have been doing for 31 years. Charlie, a lot of his sponsors, Hiromi and Mr. Morri all came from Kumamoto to attend the special event.
Davy came and got me and took me upstairs to the “green room” so I could say hello to the other artists (Lindsay Ell, Brandy Clark, and Devin Dawson) participating as well as several music industry reps from Nashville that are long time friends. Lindsay actually said she met Charlie while standing in front of the hotel earlier today. Charlie doesn’t have a phone so I had not way of contacting him all day! I finally found him and the Embassy had seated him right on the front row between the Ambassador and Milly (CMA). So happy to see that they are recognizing him for his 31 years of efforts to bring country music to Japan.
The Ambassador and Milly made speeches and the Ambassador gave Charlie special recognition. Then each artist sang a couple of songs and Frankie said some incredibly nice things about Charlie and also about me. He even dedicated a song to the two of us. It was indeed the memory of a lifetime for Charlie.
We took lots of photos after the event and it ended at around 8:30 pm. We were all starving and Davy was taking everyone to a nearby restaurant. I had my phone turned off so I didn’t hear the text message giving me instructions to come to the lobby. I tried to catch up with them later but by the time I left the hotel, Davy texted me to say the restaurant was full and they were looking for somewhere else. I opted to just eat at the hotel restaurant and about 5 minutes after I sat down, Davy and Frankie said they were joining me. Milly also walked in about 10 minutes later. We had a nice dinner and some great conversation.
I was back in the room a little before midnight but had to stay up taking care of email until 1:30 am. At least I can sleep until 6:30 am! Such a fantastic evening for Charlie Nagatani and my friends from Kumamoto!
Jude
FRIDAY, MARCH 29TH – TOKYO TO TENNESSEE:
I was able to get up really early again and get some work accomplished before showering and grabbing a quick breakfast before departure. Frankie and Davy met me in the lobby to say a “sad” good-bye “for a while” and I grabbed a taxi to the airport.
I got there early so I could do some “shopping” for the Z’s before my flight. But I forgot that the ticket counter doesn’t open until 3 hours before flight time. Fortunately I was able to store my bag and pick it up an hour later for check in. Went to the lounge and ate a little of their food for “lunch” while I worked some more.
The flight departed on time and I watched a movie while the meal was served. Then I slept for 3 hours and worked the rest of the flight. We landed early in Minneapolis and I was through Immigration, Customs, Baggage recheck and security in less than 15 minutes – a record, for sure. Was able to go into the lounge and work for about one hour. Flight to Nashville departed on time and landed early, too. GOOD TO BE HOME!!!
But, what a fabulous tour. Can’t say enough good things about Frankie, Davy, Anna, Robbie, Eddie, Travis and Luke. Such great people wiling to give their time to bring smiles to the military and their family and make sure they know their service is appreciated. And – Frank, Gregg, Nicole, both Paul’s, Spike, Marco, Skye, Kimber, both Rob’s, Colonel Eddy, General Cunningham, Caleb, Shayne, Gielenn, Dureil, and everyone I’m forgetting to mention at the six bases we visited as well as the outstanding Production Companies who worked so hard to make sure we had great shows – especially Yoshi!
Thank you, thank you , thank you!
