TOUR REPORT
To see whether we could surprise the unflappable master drummer Ron Wagner, we have all placed books and magazines under our chairs, which we pull out and read during his solo on “Duende del Amor”, the first song after the intermission. Of course Ron plays a wonderful solo anyway, but Stefan and Scoobie back at the mixing console are doubled over with laughter.

A couple of songs later, during our rumba version of “Ipanema”, the whole band gets surprised by Bondo, in a Gorilla costume, walking around the stage, handing out bananas to every musician, and giving me a bottle of Dom Perignon, a gift from my band. I almost stop playing guitar, because I have to laugh so hard. Where Bondo found the costume remains a mystery, because he refuses to reveal his sources. During the introduction of the band, I had also planned to announce our wonderful Lighting Designer, Kevin, who is from Hamilton, near Toronto, but with all the surprises happening at this show I regretably forget. The gorilla comes out again for the end of the encore, dancing the conga with a pineapple in his hands, or is it paws?