TUESDAY, MARCH 19TH AND MARCH, 20TH – AFE TOUR TO ASIA WITH RVSHVD:
I cannot imagine “who” decided that 5:15 am is a great time for a flight to depart Nashville to Atlanta! I had to leave for the airport at 3:00 am and as usual, never got to get any sleep that night before departing.
This is my first time working with RVSHVD and I am impressed by how excited all the bases are that we will be visiting in Japan, Okinawa and Korea. I was really surprised that AFN Tokyo reached out asking for his music so they could play it and almost every base has asked for an in person interview. Great publicity but means we have early morning call times every day.
It’s a long tour – 19 days including travel – and there’s a lot of travel. But we also get one day off in the Tokyo area, one day in Korea (not near Seoul) and one day in Okinawa. Perfect for them as they have never been to Asia. Their “team” has been great to work with planning all the logistics for our visits and if that’s any indication of how the group will be, it’s going to be an easy, fun tour. Frank with AFE does such a great job of initiating and putting together all the details of every tour he is involved with. He is a role model of what every “tour producer” should be.
Everyone was either early or on time at the airport and super nice guys. There are 3 musicians and a production manager flying out of Nashville with me and we meet up with Clint (RVSHVD) and Angel (his wife and tour manager) in Atlanta. No issues checking in for our flight except the Delta counter told us earlier this week that the ticket counter opened at 3:30 am. But, when we arrived, we were told that was true but the agents don’t arrive until 3:45 am. Huh? How can a counter be open without any personnel?
No issues checking in and first flight was on time. We landed Atlanta and I got the guys squared away at the food court and headed to the Lounge to try and get some work done before we departed. I received my email just prior to departure stating Delta would not have WiFi service on the 15 hour flight from Atlanta to Tokyo. I almost didn’t book flights with Delta for that very reason. If you read any of my “rants” from previous road reports you’ll know they took down all their satellites last year to “replace’ them. So there’s no service over the Atlantic or Pacific until at least the end of this year. This is a perfect example of “corporate waste” at the expense of customer service. I am sure they spent billions of dollars on this revamp and by the time the service is up and running, Starlink will be available and everyone will have their own WiFi! We just booked 10 flights for a group in June on United because of the lack of WiFi on Delta.
I worked for about an hour and then went to the gate to meet Clint and Angel for the first time. Really sweet people, too. The gate agents in Nashville and Delta allowed everyone to board first with me which was great because then they had overhead space available for their instruments.
It’s a really nice aircraft and the flight attendants have been great. I was so tired but knew I had to stay awake the first 3 hours of the flight because I would lose WiFi after that. Once we arrive Alaska air space, Wifi is history for the next 12 hours. I managed to eat and stay awake and work until we lost the signal. Then I slept – off and on – for several hours. Watched one bad movie. Even though there are lots of movies to choose from, doesn’t seem to be any worth watching since COVID. The last great movie I saw was “Reagan”.
We are landed at Tokyo Haneda on time. No problem clearing Immigration with our QR code. All our luggage and equipment arrived but when we tried to use the QR code for Customs, it was rejected. So we had to fill out forms and then exit. There is a JAL check-in counter right in the Arrival Hall so we were able to check our luggage in and get our boarding passes. We have 30 minutes that we could go upstairs and buy Kit Kat. We won’t be coming back through the International Terminal because we fly out of Seoul to return home. Hated to buy the Kit Kat today and carry it around with me but no other option.
We went back to the arrival hall and cleared security. Two of the guys had tools in their carry on bags that they use for their guitars. The officers took them away from them and would not let them bring with them. Fortunately, they were not “mission essential”. We took the shuttle bus to Terminal One for our flight from Tokyo to Misawa.
Had about 30 minutes there before needing to depart. I found a fantastic Macha Latte while waiting. Short 1 hour and 25 minute flight on Japan Airlines to Misawa AND they had WiFi that worked.
Jared and Soree (not sure of spelling) met us and it was so great to see them again. Last visit to Misawa was November, 2024. We stopped by Hamasushi and it did not disappoint. Everyone loved it – except maybe Clint and Angel and they don’t eat fish. But they ate some of the other things. The rest of us ate everything in site – 9 people and the total bill was insanely low – thanks to the value of the dollar again the Yen (1 Yen = $0.67!)
We stopped by the Shopette and grabbed some water, etc., for our rooms and I found some Kit Kat that was “new”. We aren’t in the main building this time but are in the building where families stay when they first arrive Misawa. All the rooms are HUGE suites…so huge that I get lost just trying to find the bedroom. Jared had told us there was a washer and dryer in each room but my “laundry” room was empty except for the hoses that were supposed to connect to the washer and dryer. Then, about 30 minutes later, I found an entirely separate “wing” to my suite – that does have the washer and dryer. Wish we had this at the middle of the tour when I’m going to need to do laundry! This suite has 3 bedrooms, two living rooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, dining room and two laundry rooms. There may be even more that I haven’t discovered yet. I hate it when I have that much space because I end up leaving things. LOL
Clint, Angel and I have a 9:45 am lobby call for the first of many AFN Radio interviews tomorrow. Busy day…Interview, visit to K-9 kennels, lunch at Country Club, sound check, Meet and Greet and performance. Then we have to leave the next day. Sad we don’t have more time here.
There was an exercise taking place these past few days because they have to be prepared for any conflicts that might arise based on what is happening in China and Russia these days. It ended tonight as we were arriving at lodging. This base has lots of F-16’s taking off at all hours and I love that sound because it reminds me of the many tours to Iraq. Sadly, the F-16’s are leaving here and being replaced by the F-35’s.
Almost 1 am so going to sign off for tonight. So…I thought it was still February. I guess I lost a month during the tour to Bahrain and Kuwait! Everyone in RVSHVD’s group are so nice and easy to work with. This is going to be such a great visit with our men and women serving.
Jude
MARCH 21ST – FIRST PERFORMANCE AT MISAWA AIR BASE, JAPAN:
Met Jared in the lobby at 8:30 am to make sure everyone got their breakfast sandwiches. So nice of him and FSS to provide these to the group. Clint, Angel and I had a 9:45 Lobby call to go to AFN for a radio interview. He is a “natural” on the air and the station was really happy with the way the interview turned out. He took photos with everyone before we departed to pick up the guys at Lodging.
They have never been on a military tour so everything is new and exciting to them. We visited the same K-9 Unit with Chapel Hart in November. They have a new “puppy” named “Doris” and she is really “frisky”. So adorable. They gave the usual demonstration and then they let Lorenso wear the “bite suit” and have the dog attack him. I forgot to mention that it is cold and rainy here today. Fortunately, they have a nice indoor training area so we still got the “full show”.
Next stop was lunch at the country club located on a beautiful lake. They have their fireworks out on the lake on the 4th of July. The food there is great and even though the base ist only supposed to provide dinner on show night, they paid for lunch as well. And the food was great.
We have about 30 minutes back at lodging before heading to sound check. I was happy to learn my TV had been fixed. Last night, I kept getting a message that the cable was not connected. I keep it on the news in the background while I’m working every night.
Sound Company was set up and ready for us. I realized I had left my phone in the room, so Jason was going to take me back to retrieve it. I asked Clint and Angel if they wanted to go to the Exchange since the musicians were not ready for him yet and we dropped them off there. When I got to my room, my room key wouldn’t work. Jared had given me a set of duplicate keys for everyone since there is no front desk in our building and I was sure someone was going to lock themselves out. I tried opening with the spare key and no luck. So I had to go to the main building and have new keys made. We double checked everyone else’s key while we were there and mine was the only one that didn’t work!
Stopped at the Base Exchange to pick up Clint and Angel and they were just finishing up with a purchase of kimonos. That’s what everyone buys their first trip to Japan.
Sound check was quick and sounded great. We had about an hour at lodging before going back to the venue. The Meet and Greet here is prior to the performance instead of after. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that but it turned out to be much better that way. Wish we could do all the Meet and Greets before the shows. The base announced that the first 75 people to show up for the performance would be allowed to meet Rvshvd and take a photo with him. It moved really quickly.
We had approximately 175 people attend the show which was a great turnout considering the base just finished their “exercise”. This is a great base for “families” and the entire front row was filled with children of all ages – dancing the entire show! On the last song, RVSHVD invited the children on stage to dance. It was the cutest thing! His entire show was awesome and everyone in attendance thought so as well.
We had ordered dinner to go and it was waiting for us in the Green Room. We have an 8 am lobby call tomorrow to fly to Tokyo and then bus to Camp Zama. It’s going to be “non-stop” all day long as the performance is tomorrow afternoon at the Cherry Blossom Festival. Should be beautiful!!
Jude
SATURDAY, MARCH 22ND – TRAVEL TO CAMP ZAMA AND PERFORMANCE AT THE CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL:
Text messages kept me awake most of the night! Lobby call was for 8:00 and it took about 5 minutes to arrive at the airport. It is a tiny airport but it still takes us a “while” to get checked in. Before we could go to the ticket counter, all our checked bags had to go through a security scanner. Got everyone checked in and we went upstairs to clear security – which wasn’t open yet. It opened about 10 minutes later. We had a few minutes to wait for our flight because the plane had not arrived. It is really windy today and we keep hoping that our flight won’t be delayed. As we were waiting, I got a text message from my App saying our gate had changed and we were now going out of Gate #1. So funny because there is ONLY one gate. LOL.
We landed on time at Tokyo Haneda and Randy (our host) messaged me that he was running late because of an accident that had traffic backed up. We didn’t have anywhere to park when we landed so by the time we picked up our luggage, he was there waiting for us. We took a few minutes to go into a Lawson’s and grab some sandwiches for lunch on the one hour drive. Traffic was really bad but Randy said it always was in that particular stretch of the road and it would clear up in just a few miles. Only it didn’t! The one hour drive stretched into 3 hours which meant we had missed our time for sound check. They were able to delay the opening acts and let us try to get a line check. But the production company didn’t have things set up the way we needed. There was a huge crowd of Americans and Japanese already in front of the stage so Clint decided he wouldn’t sound check. He and Angel went to the green room which was set up in the gym behind the festival while the guys tried to quickly get a sound check. It didn’t happen because there were too many problems to fix and we ran out of time.
We went to lodging and got checked in. I had about an hour in my room but the guys went back over to the festival to watch the local bands. RVSHVD was supposed to perform for 75 minutes but the other band was still on the stage when we arrived. The festival ends at 6:30 pm and a black hawk had to take off at 6:15 pm. We decided that RVSHVD would just keep performing through the helicopter take off.
The base is open to the public today, so there was a huge crowd spread out across the grounds. Food booths and fun games for the kids lined the perimeter and some of the food looked amazing. The Japanese were in the very front of the stage and were line dancing to every song. The military were mostly behind the Japanese. He had a great show with people singing along and we got a message that the Blackhawk was going to wait until 6:25 to take off so RVSVHD got in almost a full hour show. I was really worried about how the show would go because the guys didn’t have time to sound check or work out any issues. But the sound was perfect thanks to Lorenso and a great group of musicians!!!
There was no Meet and Greet since there were just too many people to even try. Randy got this sweet lady named Mary (from Kenya) to go with us off base to a fantastic Ramen restaurant. It was a nice dinner and thankfully everyone loved the food.
Tomorrow is a day off and we’re going to take the train into Tokyo for a day of sightseeing.
Jude
SUNDAY, MARCH 23RD – DAY OFF FOR SIGHTSEEING IN TOKYO:
Lobby call was at 9 am and Randy had arranged for two really sweet ladies to escort our group into Tokyo. Kumiko and Wendy were waiting for us in the lobby and we all walked to the local train station to purchase passes. The train trip to Shinjuku took over an hour with multiple stops and changing trains. Then just finding the right exit out of the station was a process. We walked to a little narrow side street that our hosts wanted everyone to see and took some photos. By then, everyone was hungry so we stopped at a Yakitori restaurant. I didn’t realize that smoking was allowed in the restaurant. That was a shock. I’ll pay for it tomorrow with congestion.
From there we got back on the train for another long ride to Akihabara in search of Anime and Dragon Ball souvenirs. Everyone found what they were looking for so we got on the train again to go to a famous Buddhist temple – Senso-ji. It was really crowded but quite an experience. We purchased our “fortunes” and while mine said it was “good”, one of the predictions was that I would “meet a Senior and he would turn me into a superb man”! I sure hope not! LOL.
Next stop was another train ride to Shibuya Crossing – where all the streets converge and over a thousand people cross the street at the same time. Then we went to a Pokeman Store a short walk from there to finalize our Tokyo purchases. We were supposed to be back on base by 8 pm which wasn’t a problem. However all the dining facilities on base would be closed by the time we got there. I messaged Randy and asked if we could stop and eat before we came back on base even though we would arrive back after 8:00 pm. He agreed and Wendy knew a great restaurant nearby. Kumiko had to leave us because she has to work tomorrow. Wendy took us to an amazing restaurant with all you can eat and drink prices. There were grills in the table and they brought out meat and other items. We selected the most expensive because it included Wagu Beef. It did not disappoint! Everything was delicious and we all ate way too much.
Back on the train for two more stops to get us close to the base. We walked back on the base and said good-bye to Wendy and by then it was after 10 pm. I think everyone really enjoyed their day off in Tokyo even though we barely “scratched the surface” of everything there is to see and do. Wendy and Kumiko were such wonderful “tour guides” and we all enjoyed talking to them and hearing about their lives here.
I made it in bed by 1 am and have a 7:30 am lobby call to drive to Haneda Airport tomorrow. Randy did such a great job of hosting us and Wendy and Kumiko were awesome “tour guides”. Lorenso said the Production Company was really good and helped him make the most of a difficult situation with our late arrival. Confirmed that there were 10,000 people attending the Cherry Blossom Festival!!!
MONDAY, MARCH 24TH – TRAVEL FROM CAMP ZAMA TO IWAKUNI MARINE CORPS BASE:
We departed lodging at 7:30 am for the one hour drive to Tokyo Haneda Airport. This is the one hour drive that took 3 hours on Saturday. Glad we decided to leave earlier because it took us 2 hours today.
No issues checking in with ANA Airlines and they even had the boxes for the guitars! We had about 45 minutes to shop or grab something for lunch. I spent it looking for some candy that Zoe asked me to bring back and I succeeded. The flight from Haneda to Iwakuni only took one hour and 45 minutes but there was a lot of turbulence – especially when we were landing. Nia – our MCCS host – was there to meet us with a big bus and we filled the bus bays with out luggage and equipment. The bus was decorated with Cherry Blossoms!
Our rooms were ready when we arrived at lodging and we dropped bags and went to the Provost Marshall’s Office to get our visitor’s passes. That only took a few minutes and Nia walked us over to the Food Court and Base Exchange so we would know where those were located. Everyone was planning to go into the closest town to eat dinner. I had too much work to do to join them and also wanted to get in a jog before dinner. Weather was perfect for jogging and I went my usual 3 miles. I walked over to the club to order dinner because Nia said that was the best place to eat. It was supposed to be open until 8:00 am but was closed at 6:00 pm when I arrived. Evidently they close early on Mondays! So, I had no other option but to hike back to the Food Court. If I had known I was going to walk another 3 miles just trying to get dinner, I would have kept my timer going on my watch.
Going to try to get into bed by midnight tonight. We have an 8:45 am lobby call for AFN and then NOTHING until 3:30 pm sound check. I think the guys are going to get up early and take the train to see the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum tomorrow before sound check. I went years ago and it was pretty amazing.
Jude
TUESDAY, MARCH 25TH – PERFORMANCE AT IWAKUNI MARINE CORPS BASE:
Had no idea the type of day this was going to turn into when I got up. Challenging!
The AFN interview at 9 am went great. Really good female conducting the interview.
We had the rest of the day free until sound check at 3:30 pm. Clint and Angel decided to take the trip to Hiroshima after the interview.
I went to the restaurant where we are performing tonight to grab an omelet. Then I worked non-stop until sound check time…which is when the “fun” began…
I walked into the show room which is upstairs in the building. The heat hit me in the face and took my breath away. When I asked what in the world had happened, I got a casual answer that the heat and air for the building is controlled by one “central source. The heat had been on all morning but today was the day when they permanently turned off the heat until this Fall. But no air conditioning will be turned off until next month! It was 76 degrees outside with a nice breeze and at least 100 degrees inside.
They had put huge fans way in the back of the room which didn’t help at all with the stage. And I knew when they turned the stage lights on, it was going to be unbearable. I asked if we could get some fans for the stage and if they didn’t have any, I would buy fans from the Exchange! I also opened the back doors and let in a nice breeze. They found two huge fans to put in front of the stage and that helped tremendously. There was no water for the sound check and by the time there was finally some brought to the stage, sound check was almost over.
The stage is only about 3 feet high and I had asked for stanchions to be placed a couple of feet in front of it so attendees wouldn’t place their drinks on the stage or inadvertently pull wires loose and de-rail the show. I was told there was no need for these as no one had ever done that in the past. But, I asked that they be provided just in case.
I had been told that the official marketing photographer was going to take all the photos and post on Facebook for downloading. But, was later told that wasn’t going to happen because the photographer was not allowed to take photos of “individuals”. When I asked for a couple of volunteers to help me take the photos, I was told that wasn’t possible because the “staff” is not allowed to “touch” anything that belongs to the individual. Never in all the thousands of shows I’ve worked have I ever heard rules like this.
The stage was tiny and completely filled with “stuff”. Both sides with the stairs were blocked by the speakers, etc. When it came time for Clint to go on stage, I realized there was a huge speaker’s podium on the stage! I had to try to move it back behind the curtain to make room for him to enter the stage. It meant moving it over several wires and I was worried I would unplug something critical to the show.
The huge room was set up with big tables all along the back of the room and lots of space between those tables and the dance floor and front of the stage. They served food which meant all the attendees sat at the tables in the back of the room and no one came to the front of the room and no one danced. So, Clint performed to an empty dance floor and empty space all the way back to the FOH console. And, he nailed it. He did a great show and the audience responded enthusiastically. They were just a long, long way away. There was less than 50 people there which was disappointing, but it was a Tuesday night.
No one announced that there would be a Meet and Greet, so no one knew where to go to have a photo taken with RVSHVD. Our main POC had gone downstairs to order our dinners so I had to find someone else who could let people know. I was able to handle the Meet and Greet by myself since we only had a few people attend. Right in the middle of it, I was told that the item I had ordered for dinner was not available. Then, I was asked if I wanted something else? I had not eaten since the omelet at 10 am this morning and everything was closed, so of course I wanted something else. But I was not provided with a menu to select a different item. I finally told her to just bring me a grilled cheese sandwich – hoping that was something on the menu!
I guess the final surprise was when we got ready to leave, we were taken to a door that opened right beside our lodging. All day we had been told we had to walk all the way around the building in order to access the stage.
At the end of the day (which it is) RVSHVD did a great show for the people who did attend. It’s not about having a huge crowd, it’s about making sure the ones who did attend felt special and know how much we love and support them.
Tomorrow we fly to Okinawa!
Jude
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26TH – FLIGHT FROM IWAKUNI, JAPAN TO NAHA, OKINAWA:
Departed Lodging at 10:00 am and check in was a very long process. Again, we had to check in and then take our bags to a security scanner. They called me back and opened both my bags. They literally questioned everything. I had hair spray, bug spray, and sunscreen – all in small containers in my checked bags. What happened to being able to “check” those items? I pretty much had to re-pack both my bags after they finished going through everything. Then, when I arrived at the hotel, I realized they had opened it again after it went through the scanner because several things were unzipped. Good grief!! Iwakuni is a CHALLENGE!!!
Flight was a lot less than the 2 hours they scheduled. Ray from Kadena Air Base was waiting for us with a big bus. It was about a 45 minute drive from the airport to Camp Foster Marine Base where we will be for the next FOUR days! Soooo nice not to have to unpack and repack in 24 hours.
We dropped bags and immediately went to the PX so I could show everyone the shopping mall connected to it. They were suitably impressed. From there we took taxis to American Village. We found a restaurant on the 3rd floor of one of the buildings that had what looked to be a great menu. Turns out it was. I tried something new and loved it….Sweet Potato Tempura! Also tried the pork that Okinawa is famous for. Clint had the Pigs Feet which looked so gross!!! We ended the meal with a walk to the Blue Seal Ice Cream shop for sweet potato ice cream. All the sweet potato products are “purple” and delicious. Never see them anywhere but Okinawa.
Danny and I took a taxi back to lodging but the others stayed and walked around the area.
I worked until 4 am but at least I don’t have to get up at 6 am. Thursday is a day off. YAY!!!
THURSDAY, MARCH 27TH – DAY OFF IN OKINAWA:
First time I haven’t set an alarm and of course I woke up at 8 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. Got up and put my clothes in the washer and went upstairs to the “little” exercise room for a workout. By the time I finished, clothes were ready for the dryer. I had all my laundry finished by 10:30 am.
I worked with Ray at Kadena to get Clint situation to fish off the pier at their Marina. He really wanted to go fishing in Japan…..just not out on a boat! The guys were planning to visit some castles today.
I worked until around 2 pm and was able to print out the K-ETA arrival forms for Korea on the lodging printer. I walked over to the PX to grab some things and look for “Cherry Blossom” items for Zoe and Japanese Pokeman cards for Zac. Worked a couple of more hours and then met Dureil and his wife for dinner at Hama Sushi. I just HAD to go there one more time before departing Japan. They had never eaten there and liked it. He tried some really strange “stuff” but I stuck to my favorites.
Worked late again but we don’t have to go to sound check at Kadena until 4 pm. We’ll just stay over there until after the show which doesn’t start until 9 pm. Dureil said they have done a great job advertising the event so hopefully we’ll have a big crowd on a Friday night!
Supposed to be storms most of the day tomorrow but hoping to get in a 3 mile jog before they start.
Jude
FRIDAY, MARCH 28TH – PERFORMANCE AT ROCKER CLUB AT KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA:
Woke up to a really dreary looking day. Overcast and showers off and on. Decided to work for several hours and then go for my jog. The weather cleared up somewhat by noon but was really windy and cooler. But it was a wonderful 3 ½ mile jog. Yep, got lost again and ran an extra ½ mile. I do it every time I run here and every time I remind myself where I make the wrong turn. But somehow manage to repeat the same mistake over and over.
I stopped by the Exchange/Shopping Mall/Food Court and grabbed some last minute gifts. Went into one of the food courts that has a “healthy” option – which for some reason is “rare” on military bases. I was able to get a kale smoothie and veggie salad that I picked the ingredients for. Ran into several of my group eating there as well. Angel had some great photos of Clint fishing at Kadena yesterday. He caught 3 fish and released them. The people at the Marina told them they should have kept them and made a sandwich out of them. Clint also had the nice experience of having a fish poop on his hand! LOL
They also went to one of the famous castles in Okinawa – only to find it was closed due to renovation. They were still able to walk around and take some photos.
I forgot to mention that the restaurant that is located next door to our lodging is closed for renovation. It’s a great restaurant and so convenient. No idea how long it has been closed since during the visit last November, we stayed at Kadena AB.
We departed Camp Foster for Kadena Air Base and there was no traffic so we made it in less than 30 minutes. We had two young Marines who had “volunteered” to drive our group – Ortiz and Payton. They were so nice and Clint spent a lot of time with them talking to them about “music”.
I was shocked when we arrived at the venue to find the Production Company is run by a friend of mine that I worked with for decades here in Okinawa – Aaron Muchnik! It was great to see him again and he and his crew were awesome. An added bonus was everyone spoke English!!! And, I found out that he occasionally works with the production company I use in Korea. I immediately emailed that company and specifically requested that he be allowed to handle my three shows for the Gary Sinise Foundation in May at Kunsan, Camp Humphreys and Osan. Thankfully the agreed.
The group finished sound check on time and we had 45 minutes to visit the largest base exchange in the Pacific. Two stories! They had lots of “Japanese/Okinawan” gifts on the bottom level and everyone made purchases.
When we arrived back at the Green Room, our pre-ordered dinner was ready and it was by far the best food I have ever had on a military base. The entire group agreed. Ramon – Duriel’s son – is the Manager at the Club and does such a fantastic job. It was great to see him again, too.
There was a cover band performing before our show and they were really great musicians. And…they are ALL TEACHERS at Kadena Air Base schools! Carl is amazing at his job. He encouraged the Line Dancing Club and regularly booked the “on-base” talent – like the opening band tonight. He also has the elementary, junior high and high school students participating in various ways to showcase their musical skills.
The show started on time and it was a full house…450 attendees. All my friends here said Kadena did a fantastic job of marketing RVSHVD’s show. When the show started, everyone sitting at tables in the back immediately went to the dance floor in the front. The really cool part of the evening was the fact that there was a group of line dancers there. They had practiced a couple of his songs and were great. Ray said they have line dancing at the Club every week and it’s a big hit. Rvshvd had another great show. He has a really beautiful voice and is able to get the audience involved with his songs. All the guys and crew and Angel have been so easy to work with and I’d take them on tour again in a heartbeat.
We did have a little “unexpected” entertainment during and after the show. One of the females attending the event evidently had way too much to drink. I was standing behind the crowd watching the show and couldn’t see what was going on very well. Evidently she managed to jump up on the stage in the middle of the show. Security removed her pretty quickly and then a few minutes later, she was back up there again!
She was outside throwing up at the end of the show and then between the show and the Meet and Greet, she was lying on the floor in the hallway in front of the room where the Meet and Greet will take place. Five or six people were trying to get her up off the floor but she was just “dead weight”. They finally managed to get her up and another female locked her in a bear hug and was walking her to the exit. All of a sudden, the girl broke loose and when racing down the hallway towards the Starbucks! As she ran past Ray, he reached out and tried to stop her but she swerved and slammed into the wall. Again, she was flat on her back on the floor. Only this time she was screaming that “he” (meaning Ray) hurt her. I can honestly say he never touched her. I had to start the Meet and Greet so didn’t get to hang around to see how long it took to get her off the floor and out the door.
There is a long time ongoing issue with the Marines and sometimes the Airmen in Okinawa. They are young men and women who are away from home the first time. They go off base, get drunk, and assault the locals or drive while drinking and crash into the locals. Sometimes they even break into their homes because they don’t realize it’s not where they live. The Okinawans want us out of here and we are moving thousands of them to Guam. That won’t solve the problem, but at least Guam is a U.S. Territory and the incidents will no longer be “international incidents”. Both the Marine Base and the Air Base generate their own funds – mostly through slot machines! There was a big area filled with slot machines in the Rocker Club where we performed. Both bases bring in international entertainment on a regular basis funded by that income. Their goal is to keep the Airmen and Marines “on the base” instead of going into the local economy and doing something stupid.
The Meet and Greet went quickly because the marketing photographer took all the photos. We packed up and went back to Camp Foster and the drive was even quicker than the way over.
I stayed up until 2 am working and am going to go to the fitness room in Lodging again tomorrow. I brought an apple and banana from the Green Room so that will be my breakfast and lunch tomorrow so I don’t have to walk back to the food court.
Jude
SATURDAY, MARCH 29TH – LAST PERFORMANCE IN OKINWA – OCEAN BREEZE AT CAMP FOSTER;
It looks much colder outside today but I haven’t been outside because I brought the fruit from the Green Room to eat. I worked for about 2 hours and then started a load of clothes in the Laundry room. While the clothes washed, I went upstairs and worked out in their little fitness room. Better than “nothing”! I think some of the group was going to Hama Sushi for lunch – one last time. Sad to be leaving Okinawa/Japan but happy to be going to Korea tomorrow.
Tonight is the final show at the Ocean Breeze on Camp Foster. We left for the venue at 4:50 pm and it was only a 10 minute drive. The stage was set and the Production Company was waiting for us — as I expected. Everything is always first class on the shows for the Marine bases here thanks to Dureil, Mika and Al.
Did I mention that Dureil’s wife brought me some Okinawan goodies to the show at Kadena? I am afraid I will misspell her name but I think it is spelled Tamoko? Anyway there was chocolate mochi, tiny sweet potato balls with sesame, matcha granola (Zoe will take that one from me!) and a box of sweet potato pastries. I shared the first two items with the group because they were fresh and needed to be eaten soon. But I am taking the last two items home.
Sound check went smoothly and we had dinner in the Green Room before the show. We had preordered weeks ago and I had the Yakisoba. It was delicious. All the portions were huge so we had to get to go boxes. Just sad I won’t be able to eat it because we depart for the airport at 9 am tomorrow.
The show started on time but it was a surprisingly small crowd— only 54 people. But Al was able to get them to come down front and as was the situation last night, there were line dancers. RVSHVD and the guys had another great show and brought lots of smiles to the ones who were there.
We were back at lodging by 10 pm. I worked until 1 am and packed what I could. Lobby call is 9 am.
SUNDAY, MARCH 30th– travel to Camp Carroll/Camp Walker:
Al arrived on time but had an issue with the bus driver. He kept telling Al that he couldn’t bring the bus to lodging because he couldn’t make the turn! I explained that the same bus dropped us off with no problem! We finally convinced him to pull in and we quickly loaded up. But he was right—he had trouble making the turn but only because of his driving ability. LOL.
We allowed 4 hours to drive to the airport and get checked in. It took every minute of that time. Usually we are flying from Okinawa to Tokyo so it is considered a domestic flight. Since we are flying to Korea, it is International. After more than an hour to check in 7 people we headed down to Security. Domestic had at least 5 Security check points but International only has ONE — and the line was super long and not moving quickly. By the time we finally “ escaped” Security and Immigration, we only had about 10 minutes before the flight boarded
It was a tiny plane with only coach seats. No WiFi. But they served a meal that was edible. About 10 minutes into the flight, they announced that we were going to have severe turbulence. They would not let us get up for the entire 2 hour flight and there was never any turbulence!!!
We landed on times and Brian from Camp Humphreys had arranged for Mr. Kim from USFK to meet us and help us get to our gate. We haven’t had anyone do that in decades! We had to go through another security scan even though we were only connecting to another flight.
I had time to get a matcha latte from Starbucks and it was definitely the best one I have ever had! Our flight departed on time but the “taxi” to the runway was frightening! We seemed to have a flat tire and the plane was wobbling from side to side. An American male passenger turned around and looked at me and said “What is that!??”!!! I got the flight attendant’s attention and asked “Why so bumpy” (accompanied by lots of hand motions). She just smiled at me.
We managed to take off but it is even bumpy in the air! Thankfully it is a short flight and the landing wasn’t as bumpy.
We had to go through Quarantine (and found out we now need a QR code for Korea, too!), then Immigration and Customs. Lisa was waiting for us when we exited Customs and had a really nice bus waiting for us. We drove for almost an hour and then stopped at a Rest Area to eat. Normally I LOVE eating at those areas but this one was getting close to closing and my food was terrible. You order from a machine that is in Korean. I ordered the beef Bibimbap and encouraged everyone to try it. There was no beef anywhere in it and it tasted like fish. I then went back to the machine and ordered Ramen. I ordered the Ramen that was not spicy only to take one bite and it set my mouth on fire. I gave up and went to a little coffee shop and got a ham and cheese sandwich!
We drove for about 30 more minutes and arrived at the brand new lodging at Camp Walker. It’s really pretty and still “smells” new. Definitely nicer than when I stayed here in 2023 with Autumn Kings.
It’s after midnight and I hope to get in bed soon. We have a 10 am lobby call to go sightseeing on our day off tomorrow.
Jude
MONDAY, MARCH 31ST – DAY OFF AT CAMP WALKER, SOUTH KOREA:
Lobby call was at 10:00 am for a day of sightseeing. Alex (who worked with me when I was here with Autumn Kings in 2023) and Mr. Pak (our interpreter for the day) were with us all day. We drove for about an hour to Woljeonggyo Bridge. We were excited to learn that Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom in South Korea – especially after searching for them everywhere in Japan and failing to find any!
It was a pretty drive to our destination and we definitely saw lots of Cherry Blossom trees in full bloom. The bridge is the largest wooden bridge in Korea. It was built during the Unified Silla period (AD 676-935) but burned down and was rebuilt and finished in 2018. It was awesome.
We also walked around and saw the “tombs” and the Confucious Class Buildings. The architecture was amazing. Next stop was a Korean BBQ restaurant. Unfortunately Alex could not find anywhere nearby to park so he dropped us off and wasn’t able to eat with us. Mr. Pak took great care of us. The food was really good and LOTS of it!
After eating, we drove back to Camp Walker but made a stop at a Rest Stop so Alex could grab something to eat. He introduced the group to “roadside corndogs” – which are unique and amazing. They are crusted with potato and dipped in honey and other ingredients. I bought them Walnut Tea Cakes which are filled with bean paste and one of my favorite foods in Korea. I was way too full to eat anything after that huge lunch.
We had about an hour before leaving for dinner with some of the B.O.S.S. soldiers – Korean BBQ again. We were supposed to eat at 6 pm but we changed it to 7:30 pm because everyone was still so full from the lunch we had.
Only two of the soldiers were able to join us but I know they enjoyed the dinner with the group. I ate more meat and rice yesterday in one day than I normally eat in a month! Lisa dropped me off at lodging and then she met up with the group who were going out to sing Karaoke! One of the soldiers was only 18, so she wasn’t even allowed to drink. So young!
Lobby call is 8:45 am for the last AFN Radio of the tour.
Jude
TUESDAY, APRIL 1ST – PERFORMANCE AT CAMP CARROLL:
Met RVSHVD in the lobby at 8:45 to drive with Lisa to the AFN Interview. The soldier doing the interview was outstanding! Between breaks, he gave us his whole life story about first being in the Marines and transitioning to the Army. He has seen a lot of the world starting at the very young age of 18. He obviously loves being a DJ in the Army and is so great at it!
We had a break until lobby call at 1:30 pm and then a 30 minute drive to Camp Carroll. That base seems more like “home” to me because that’s where I’ve always lodged with my groups. But Shawn was kind enough to put us in the new lodging at Camp Walker.
We were late leaving lodging and 30 minutes late arriving so they only had 1 ½ hours for sound check instead of two hours. Of course, they pulled it off easily. The Green Room was being set up in front of the doors to the show but Shawn said there was a small room behind the stage that Autumn Kings had used if we preferred to use it. I checked it out and since the guys would have had to walk through the audience to access the stage, we decided to use the smaller room backstage.
Because there wasn’t time to return to Camp Walker, we walked over to the Pub and ate dinner before the show. We had pre-ordered the food so this was a quick meal. Had time to go in the small Base Exchange as well. We arrived back at the Green Room in time to meet with the Deputy Commander of the base – really nice man. He presented everyone with a coin and a gift and told us to go ahead and open the gift. It was a beautiful set of silver chopsticks and soup spoons engraved with Camp Carroll on them. Such a thoughtful gift and everyone loves it.
Normally, we would have a big crowd at Camp Carroll even on a Tuesday night but a couple of weeks ago, one of their Units was “deployed” to another location. Show started on time and there was a total of 40 people attending. We have a different sound company on almost every show and this was one I’ve worked with many times. Backline and Production was great but for some reason, the “tech” decided to smoke everyone out of the room. I actually had to go sit outside because I was sneezing non-stop! I talked to the owner to make sure he decreases the amount of smoke for the last show on Saturday night by about 99%!
RVSHVD and the guys gave those attending a great show and he took photos with everyone after the show. I bought everyone a hot dog from the concession stand before it closed down just in case they were hungry after the performance.
The drive back to base was much shorter because there was no traffic. We arrived back at 9:00 pm.
Lobby call is tentatively set for 10:45 am tomorrow but could change to earlier or later based on what time the bus arrives from Osan to pick up the group. Shawn, Lisa and the entire MWR Staff are all great to work with and it’s always a pleasure visiting this remobe base!
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2ND – TRAVEL FROM CAMP WALKER TO OSAN AIR BASE:
Got up at 7:00 am and really glad I did because I found out the bus was arriving an hour earlier than planned to pick us up. I was able to reach everyone and we were all ready to depart at 9:45 instead of 10:45 am. We had a really nice Senior Airman Cad who escorted us. He works with my dear friend Doris at Osan. It was a really nice bus and the driver was great. If we don’t hit traffic, we’ll arrive at the base by around 2:00 pm.
We made one restroom stop which also included grabbing some goodies from the Rest Area. Doris was waiting for us when we arrived at Tirumi Lodge and check in was quick. We dropped our bags and Doris took us on a quick windshield tour of the base. Then it was SHOPPING time!
Bag shops were first on our list and everyone made several purchases – even the guys! We split up after that and I went by to say hello to the people who make my coins for me. Then I checked out super large suitcases and found a nice, lightweight one for $60! This is going to be a “community suitcase” for the Nashville passengers to get our goodies home that we purchased!
Doris and I had a delicious Matcha Latte at a local coffee shop while we waited for her husband William to get off work. Wiliam joined us at around 5 pm and we walked to a local restaurant. I was on the “hunt” for Beef Bulgogi and succeeded. William realized that he had left his wallet somewhere and left to go look for it. Thankfully he found it on his desk. The beef bulgogi was excellent. We went back by the store with the suitcase and picked it up to take back to lodging.
It had gotten really cold so I grabbed a much warmer jacket and cap and walked over to the base exchange to see what had “changed” with the little local shops there. Not much different. Most had already closed as it was 7 pm. If it hadn’t been so cold, I would have gone back over to the shopping street and walked around. There are just so many shops, it’s overwhelming but fun!
We have super nice rooms at lodging and they even have a washer and dryer in the rooms which make it so convenient.
Lobby call isn’t until 2:30 pm tomorrow so I’m going to try to get in a nice run early tomorrow. Problem is…it’s supposed to be cold again! Hard to believe we only have 3 shows left but it’s one a night beginning Thursday.
Jude
THURSDAY, APRIL 3RD – PERFORMANCE AT OSAN AIR BASE:
I was determined to get a jog in this morning because this is one of the best bases to go for a run. They have a 1 ½ mile track (3 miles round trip) that is perfect for me. Only issue was – it was COLD. But, I felt great after completing the run.
Had some “fires” to put out with work issues and then made a quick dash to the Base Exchange to purchase some Korean Pokeman cards for my grandson. Think this might be the first ones I’ve found in Korean for him. Grabbed a Turkey Crepe for lunch and worked until time to go over for sound check.
Desmond had everything set up and waiting for the guys when they arrived. I walked back over to meet Angel and Clint at around 3:30 pm to show them the way to the Green Room backstage door. “Vas” – the marketing person that I have been working with — came by and we had a great conversation about the event in May for the Gary Sinise Foundation. Lt. Colonel Leidel also came by for a few minutes to discuss the May itinerary.
Had about an hour after sound check so I ran back to the base exchange to grab some souvenirs. I have to keep reminding myself that I will be back here in May! The entire group was there “panic shopping”. LOL.
It’s “Taco Thursday” in the club that is next to the show room and all club members eat free. We’re hoping they will eat and then come to the show. Performance started on time and we had 102 attendees. I thought that was good for a Thursday night but Doris wanted a lot bigger crowd. There were lots of kids and RVSHVD brought them on stage to dance during his last song. The Meet and Greet was limited to the first 75 people who came to the show but I told Doris to just open it up to everyone since there were 102 attendees. RVSHVD took photos with everyone and we were back at lodging by 9:30 pm.
We have an 8:45 am bus call tomorrow! Hard to believe there are only two more shows on the tour. We’ve been able to reach so many people and hopefully bring a little “fun” to their deployments.
Jude
FRIDAY, APRIL 4TH –PERFORMANCE AT KUNSAN AIR BASE:
We departed Osan for the 2 hour drive to Kunsan Air Base. As expected, we hit some traffic and it took us 2 ½ hours. Met Karl our POC and Pete (airman) who has only been here one month. Both are terrific “hosts”. I got to know Karl pretty well just through the massive amount of emails. Pete just deployed here and is loving it.
For one of the first times, leadership did not meet us at lodging. As I said, things are really “busy” over here and we did not expect them to be there. Ricah – who helped me on the last tour – was there as well as the new Flight Chief Kiersten Warren and both are awesome.
We basically “dropped bags” and departed lodging for a quick lunch. The Loring Club had a lunch buffet and were trying out “Southern” cooking. They did a surprisingly great job of it, too.
We had three Unit visits scheduled for 30 minutes each. Not nearly long enough but all the time we had available since they perform tonight.
First stop was at the flightline for a “tour” of the F-16. The group was enthralled. They each got a chance to sit in the cockpit and we got photos of them. Definitely would have liked to spend longer there.
Next was a visit to the Fire Department. One of the guys got to climb the ladder on the truck and they raised it all the way to the top!
Final stop was at the EOD to check out all their “explosives”. Angel got to control the robot and two of the guys put on the “bomb suit”.
While I wish we had longer with each Unit, I’m happy the group got to do this since these were experiences they have not enjoyed at any of the other bases.
Production Company was set up and ready for the group. Sound check finished right on time and our dinner was delivered at 4:45 pm so everyone could eat before the show. I had Bulgogi and it was excellent but a huge portion that I only ate a small amount of. Leadership was supposed to come by right after dinner but they didn’t arrive until right before show time because of a very busy day for them. All really nice folks but the group was disappointed that “The Wolf” couldn’t make it because I had told them so much about this base. But, mission must come first and I’m just happy we got to see so many of the airmen today in their work environment.
The show is outside in the club parking lot and it is unusually COLD. They have food trucks around the perimeter and we had about 100 people to begin with. That number quickly grew to 250 attendees after the music kicked off. It was a great show with everyone standing in front of the stage and dancing and/or singing along First show where RVSHVD has done an “encore”.
Meet and Greet was held inside the club and it was a fairly long line. But it moved quickly. Great visit to my favorite base – Kunsan!
Lobby call tomorrow at 9:45 am to drive to Camp Humphreys Army Base for our last show on the tour! Hard to believe it’s almost over!
Jude
SATURDAY, APRIL 5TH – FINAL SHOW – CAMP HUMPHREYS, SOUTH KOREA:
Lobby call was at 9:45 am and the drive to Humphreys seemed shorter than the drive from Osan to Kunsan. Karl went with us and Brian our POC for Humphreys met us at the gate. He said we could store our bags at lodging since we couldn’t check in yet and we could go to lunch or shopping. But when I walked up to the registration desk, they said our rooms were ready. We basically had about 15 minutes to drop our bags and depart for the Food Court. The Food Court is in front of the Exchange and there are lots of little “stalls” in the area selling Korean items. This Food Court didn’t have a Subway sandwich and I didn’t want any of the other “typical” fast food so Brian said he would take several of us to a “Korean Restaurant” on base. It wasn’t the greatest Korean Food I’ve ever had but definitely better than the Fast Food. There’s Texas Roadhouse on base which is what I really wanted but no one else was interested.
We had about 30 minutes to “shop” after lunch but I am through shopping! The others all purchased more items.
Sound check was from 5 pm until 7 pm and went well except that it was excruciatingly LOUD. The only way I could stay in the room was to put in my AirPods and turn on noise cancellation. I had time while they were doing the sound check to talk to Doug about our show there in May which was very helpful.
We had dinner after the show and Doris and William from Osan drove over to see me and the show again. It had been raining all day and was still raining. I encouraged them not to drive over but they did anyway.
Show started on time and it was still way too loud. Two people came up to me and told me they couldn’t hear RVSHVD’s vocals at all because of the loud instruments and they left. I told their production manager but nothing changed. Doris, William and I walked out into the lobby area to get away from the deafening sound and sat and tried to talk for the rest of the show.
I was disappointed that only 66 people attended on a Saturday night. Supposedly the low turnout was due to the bad weather and the fact that it is the last weekend of Spring Break. It was a great last show regardless and a long line to have photos taken with RVSHVD.
I had purchased a huge suitcase for the guys to put their purchases in but no one had to use it! Wish I had known before I made the purchase. So instead of checking 3 bags on the return flight, I’ll still only have 2 bags.
I got “re-packed”, showered and worked until 2 am.
Jude
SUNDAY, APRIL 6TH – TRAVELING HOME!
Lobby call was 10:45 am and everyone was on time. Although it was a really great tour, everyone is ready to go home! It was about a 2 ½ hour drive to the airport and the check in counter was not open when we arrived. We were able to find some food and shop some more before we could check in.
Mr. Kim met us and helped facilitate our check in as well as Immigration, Security and Passport Control.
Once again, there is no WiFi from Japan to the USA so I ate dinner and slept. WiFi came back on once we were over Losa Angeles so was able to work for about 4 hours before landing in Atlanta.
Everything was going along smoothly until I received a message from Delta that our flights had been cancelled from Atlanta to Nashville! I found where the guys were sitting and let them know. I also reached out to Lindsey and my travel agent to start looking for alternate flights home. I got a message before we landed that I had been booked on a flight the next day but none of the others were rebooked. My travel agent said all the flights are full tonight and most of them are already sold out for Monday because all the flights in Atlanta were delayed or cancelled due to weather. We circled for a long time just 60 miles from Nashville and I was hoping we would have to land in Nashville. No such luck.
We landed Atlanta only about 10 minutes later than scheduled but the plane we were supposed to take to Nashville was unable to land. We breezed through Immigration and then picking up the luggage was the usual nightmare. The Atlanta Airport puts the luggage on TWO different belts and there’s no way to watch both belts at once. One of my bags didn’t show up and I found it sitting on the floor at the end of one of the belts.
No problems going through Customs and I had everyone pull to the side of the Arrival Area while I tried to reach Delta. The wait time on the Diamond Line was almost 30 minutes so I can just imagine what it was on the regular line. I left a message for Delta to call me back because the only other option would have been to go upstairs to the check in desk and I am sure that was a nightmare. The problem was the WiFi and cellular service do not work in Atlanta Airport. When the agent finally called me back, she was cutting out every other word. Basically, she told me what I already knew…there’s no flights available tonight and now none tomorrow!
I called Angela (my amazing travel agent who is willing to work for me on a Sunday night) and she had been working on finding seats. She found a hotel near the airport with rooms (although 2 of them are handicapped!) and we took two taxis to the hotel.
I told everyone I would buy them dinner and we went to a Cajun restaurant near the hotel that the front desk clerk recommended. It was excellent food. While we were eating, Angela was able to get all but two of the guys out tomorrow morning to Nashville – all on different flights. Rather than risk having them stuck until Tuesday, I decided to rent them a car so they could drive back to Nashville tomorrow.
Problem was, I had to give Hertz my credit card and I would already be gone by the time the guys picked up the car. So Lorenso and I went to the airport and rented the car after dinner. Lines were incredibly long and I didn’t realize that the driver’s license saved in my record had expired. Took over an hour to rent the car.
Finally made it to my room only to find there was no bottled water. Went back downstairs to buy some but they were sold out! Walked 20 minutes in the rain just to get bottled water. Finally got in bed at 3 am for a 5 am lobby call.
MONDAY, APRIL 7TH – FINALLY FLYING HOME TO NASHVILLE:
I made sure I arrived at the airport 3 hours prior to my flight time and I needed every second of that time. The Atlanta airport was a zoo. I’ve never seen such long lines. I tried to check in on the Kiosk but the computer insisted I was checking 5 bags. One of the agents tried to assist but when she typed in my info, it changed to 7 bags! I couldn’t go to the Bag Drop line and had to stand in a very long line for Priority check in. The boarding pass they printed for me was a different seat from the one on my app and they sent me to another counter to have it reprinted. That didn’t work either so I used the one they originally printed and got in a very long line for Clear. The Clear agent scanned my boarding pass and said it was invalid and did the same thing with my app on my phone and gave me the same response. She sent me back to the check in counter to have yet another boarding pass issued. Another long line and then back through Clear and into an even longer line for security. I finally made it to the gate about 10 minutes before we started boarding.
Flight to Nashville was packed but departed and arrived on time.
Happy to be back in Nashville for almost a month before going back to Korea for a Gary Sinise Foundation tour with Chapel Hart and Autumn Kings.
This was a very long tour but seemed shorter because of the excellent POC’s we had at each base. Frank at AFE works closely with them for months prior to our arrival and his efforts show. I know the men and women serving so far from home enjoyed RVSHVD’s visit and performances and it is so gratifying to hear their comments and see their smiles at each event.
Jude
