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
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