Black Diamond, Tuesday Sept. 20^th (100km round trip)

Took the Dodge Back to Canadian Tire yesterday and found out that they didn’t do any of the work we paid for. They said it was a mix up with the paperwork. Right! Apparently the mechanic put the job in the done bin, rather than the estimate bin. That explains why they never called to give us an estimate. Ok, I’ve seen the signs now, plus CanadianGirl (NazForum) told me so! Next time, I’ll ask to see the old parts if I ever go back there again.

Onto the Show now. Picked up Carolyn and Gerry in Calgary , on the way to Black Diamond and listened to Nazareth all the way, especially “Love Leads to Madness”, twice and louder each time. Had a cooler of beer in the van so everyone was drinking, except poor Hollis, who was driving.

Asked about those Guest Passes at the door again, but there were none to be found so I left it at that. Maybe I’ll talk to Tom later. This rock’n’roll life is fast. The Black Diamond Hotel is at the four way stop as you get into town. I think it’s the only 4 way stop in town. This is cowboy country for sure. In fact I’m sure I saw the last cowboy riding off into the sunset as I pulled up to that four way stop. The bar was the only one to allow smoking so far on this tour and it was really bad. We don’t smoke so it was tough to get used to, but we put up with it because this was our band.

The support band came on at about 9:30 . I can’t remember the name, sorry guys, but they were alright. Had a drummer, keyboards and the leader was a chick with a lead guitar. They were from Calgary and so thrilled to be there. Saw Michael again, hovering around all night. Dave and Ramona were there too. Our Eskimo friend, Qaya wasn’t there yet, but I had acquired a spare ticket for her anyway. Qaya arrived just before 10 and I met her at the door with the ticket.

I wasn’t drinking due to the damn driving thing, crap, I hate that. I’m going to make up for that tomorrow night in Moose Jaw for sure. We didn’t need the dry ice machine tonight because the place was full of smoke and we wouldn’t have seen it anyway.

The lights went down at 10:45 as the Scottish intro music came on. It was Naz time once again, yeah!! Frances, Qaya and I made our way to the front of the crown, but not right at the stage. We’d never been this close before. It wasn’t long before the place was rockin’ to “Miss Misery” and “Razamanaz”. There were five cute but quite pissed girls at the very front. I only noticed they were pissed ‘cos I wasn’t, damn. One of them was so drunk she fell over onto the stage but no one cared and we all just kept on singing the songs.

The set list was the same again so we knew what was coming. Nevertheless, “Kentucky Fried Blues” and “This Month’s Messiah” sound better every time. Dan was just superb as usual, his vocals are amazing. Pete was looking into the crowd as he usually does, while playing that bass with such passion and confidence. He was wearing the same white runners as last night. Lee was playing the drums with his eyes closed but still managed to break a stick or two. Jimmy played that guitar like it was a part of him. The lads looked a little tired tonight but the music was still loud and was perfection.

This was so loud that poor Qaya’s ears couldn’t take it so she had to take off and get home. Some people had to work tomorrow, but not me. Well, I actually have to say that I had to put in my ear plugs for “This Flight Tonight”.  Nazareth are well known for being loud but this was the loudest so far by a long way.

One of the highlights of the shows for me has been the encore of “Night Woman”. It starts off with Lee banging on those skins with the lights going ballistic, then his dad, Pete, comes in and plucks those bass strings like he trying to rip them off. Dan hangs back as Jimmy then comes in with that brilliant riff, then Dan finally comes in with “She's a night woman of my dreams
And I saw her glidin' on a moon beam
Silver stardust in her eyes
In the way she leaves her sighs
Last night I fell asleep
Thought I heard her voice begin to speak
My mind is in distress
On my cheek I felt her breath
I could feel her body's warmin' glow
My frozen blood began to flow
She's a night woman of my dreams
And I saw her glidin' on a moon beam
Comes, stays, then disappears
In the morning sun my vision clears
I could smell the roses in her hair
But when I awoke she was not there

Oooh, oooh, night woman of my dream
Oooh, oooh, night woman of my dream
Oooh, oooh,She's a night woman of my dream
Oooh, oooh, night woman of my dream “

Sorry, got carried away there. Did you hear the music as you sang along just then?? I think they wrote this at the same time they wrote “My White Bicycle”!! Which was in Holland and kinda funny for those who went to one of the shows on this tour. You’ll know what I mean.

They finished off with “This Flight Tonight”. It’s always a downer when the show comes to an end, but this time it was a high for me and Frances. Tom gave us those 2 Guest passes that he promised. All I said to him was “See ya tomora night in Moose Jaw Tom” and he looked up from putting a guitar away and said “Did you Get those passes?” Well we didn’t so he pulled 2 out of his pocket and said these passes will get us into any venue, with access to any area, even back stage. Wow!! Tom is now our best friend ;-) For those of you who don’t know, Tom is the Nazareth guitar tech and does other stuff, like playing the tambourine in some of the songs like “Love Hurts” and “Hearts Grown Cold”. He also pumps up the bagpipes for Dan to use in “Hair of the Dog”, that son of a bitch song we all love to sing.

Got home at 2AM . Only time for a beer and off to bed, Moose Jaw in the morning. The van didn’t overheat so we’re looking good.

Louise – I’ll get those photos to you soon!! Thanks for letting me step in and get some great shots.

Dave (a.k.a. Hollis Brown)
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.