FALL TOUR 2008 - 66 DAYS ON THE ROAD
by Jim Stewart

DAYS 4-9: I arrived in Dublin to join the tour team at the Clarence Hotel, where long rehearsals were in progress by Joan and her all acoustic and very gifted band. As Joan got to know her new entourage of friends and musicians, an immediate "comfort zone" and musical bond became firmly established with musical director John Doyle (guitar, mandola, vocals), Dirk Powell (banjo, mandolin, accordian, fiddle, vocals and just about anything else he could get his hands on), and Todd Phillips (bass, mandolin and vocals). Anticipation grew as the first of two shows at Dublin's Vicar Street arrived. As usual, a fantastic audience enthusiastically greeted Joan and her band, and displayed its own natural musical gifts as they sang loudly and clearly on songs like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Joe Hill." After the second Vicar Street show, we left explicit instructions with the management there to give our best wishes to their upcoming performer and longtime touring friend Josh Ritter, who was bringing his show with a full 22 piece orchestra to the venue.

DAY 13: Dismal, cold, rainy British weather greeted us in Manchester where Joan returned to Bridgewater Hall. As her voice echoed throughout the stately venue, Joan honored a request and performed a flawless rendition of one of the early folk ballads from her first Vanguard recording, Joan Baez, and sang the heartbreaking "Mary Hamilton" in a voice so powerful that it brought a triumphant ovation from the appreciative audience.

DAY 14: After a 334 mile drive after Glasgow to London, the tour group awoke in the bus in a parking lot near the legendary performing mecca Royal Albert Hall. Joan's manager Mark Spector inviting British singer-songwriter Thea Gilmore to be the tour's only opening act in recent memory. Thea kindly consented and was a hit with a set of mostly original material that included songs from her most recent studio project, Liejacker, which features a duet with Joan. It was comfortable to have this former opening act, her young family and band backstage once again. Thea later returned to the stage to join Joan in "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Royal Albert Hall will always register as a special place for me since an all-time merchandise sales record was set that stellar evening.

DAY 15: After the grand Royal Albert Hall performance, the band and crew set out for another long bus ride to Amsterdam, while Joan and her new touring assistant/guitar tech, Stephanie Hudacek, remained in London for interviews which would also promote Joan's latest studio recording, the Billboard charting, Grammy nominated album Day After Tomorrow.

DAY 17: Joan and Stephanie arrived from London, and everyone prepared for a concert that evening at Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn hall. During the show, a fan named Claire Postma went down front and handed Joan a pair of traditional wooden shoes, which prompted Joan to kick off her own shoes and dance around in her new clogs. Before the show Claire had surprised me at the merchandise table with, believe it or not, a size 14 pair of the wooden beauties that everyone joked would also make nice, big window flower planters!

DAY 18: The group arrived in Berlin, Germany, for a day off. Joan and her band wandered around this historic city and viewed the Berlin Wall, climbed to the top of a tower near the Brandenburg Gate, and were entertained by a unique group of life-sized marionettes. To honor the request of one of his daughters whose favorite food is bratwurst, Dirk and Joan posted for photographs as they devoured one from a street vendor.

DAYS 19-20: At soundcheck Joan and her band started working on new arrangements for two of her own compositions, "Love Song To A Stranger" and "For Shasha." "Love Song" became a remarkable addition to the regular setlist and featured a beautiful accordian solo by Dirk. That evening Joan wowed an enthusiastic 2627 member sold-out Tempodrom audience with a spectacular performance that resulted in the audience rushing to the front of the concert hall to demand many encores like "We Shall Overcome" and "Gracias A La Vida&." In celebration of the triumphant evening, Joan and the band played music and danced the night away as the tour bus rolled to the next city, Milan, Italy.

DAYS 21-23: After a lengthy 689 mile drive the entourage awoke in Milan and started wandering the streets where they toured a magnificent cathedral in the heart of the city and looked for a music shop to find strings for Dirk's violin before dining at a street-side cafe. Lots of regular Joan Baez concert attendees were at the Milan show, including Annett Austerman who presented Joan with lovely, antique rosaries from her own personal collection.

DAY 24: The tour bus rolled into the City of Lights, Paris, France...and, as always, I thought "C'est si bon.&qout; What a wondrous city! Collecting one-by-one in the Hotel de Banville's lobby, everyone feasted on various kinds of eggs and warm fresh breads and chatted the morning away. Another hotel patron recognized Joan and brought over a copy of Le Journal du Dimanche that featured a picture of Joan above a headline proclaiming, "Ma nuit avec John Lennon" along with an interview that had been previously down on the telephone with writer Eric Mandel. Joan laughed at what some copy editor thought was the most important information contained in the interview.

DAY 25: The concert at Paris' Palais des Congres was an amazing success! Afterward promoter Gerard Drouot took the entire tour group to dine at one of Paris' finest restaurants.

DAYS 26-36: The tour took a well-deserved break from the rigors of the road. Most folks returned to their homes, while John Doyle headed to Ireland to visit family and Todd Phillips returned to California to work on a permanent home-base move to Nashville.

DAY 37: This day found everyone gathered in Philadelphia for a concert at the Kimmel Center. During the tour break, Dirk had completed an impressive video and posted it on YouTube. "Oui, on peut - Yes We Can! Obama Zydeco" at this point had 150,000 views and was featured on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show." The next day Joan was featured with her band on the radio show "World Cafe," presented by Philadelphia's WXPN, before heading to New York City for two shows at Town Hall. (Photo of Joan at right is from the World Cafe taping and taken by Doug Seymour.)

Day 38: Joan stayed in her warm, cozy hotel room on a cold, rainy New York City day until dinner time, when a break in the weather allowed her to venture out for a stroll around Central Park before ducking into Tavern On The Green for a nice meal.

DAYS 39-40: Two well-received, sold out concerts at Town Hall were highlights. On the second night, Judy Collins was in the audience. Joan introduced her to a well-deserved ovation from the audience.

DAY 41: This day found us on a rare day bus drive, heading 215 miles to Boston for a concert at the Berklee Permance Center.

DAY 42: The group went their individual ways while Joan and John head to the Boston Commons and explored one of the city's historical graveyards before stopping into a coffee shop to warm up with tea and treats.

DAY 43: Since bus space wouldn't allow Todd to bring his preferred instrument, a full-size upright bass, he borrowed one to play at the two Boston shows. Joan added her medley of 1950's rhythm and blues songs to the show, which led into the standard set list favorite, Sam Cook's "Wonderful Word."

DAY 44: Before the second Boston show, Joan, John, Dirk and Todd discussed songs that might be nice to include in the set list, and they ran through favorites like "Angel Band," "Poor Wayfaring Stranger," and Donovan's "Catch The Wind," which made the final cut and was eventually added to the shows.

DAYS 45-46: After an overnight drive to Alexandria, Virginia, everyone settled in at the Hotel Monaco before heading to a Barack Obama campaign rally where Joan sang "Amazing Grace" and gave a brief speech in support of the first political candidate she has ever endorsed. Later that night, Joan held an election night party in her room where the required attire was the wild animal-themed bathrobes offered by the hotel. When then-Senator Obama was declared the victor, Joan, Todd, Dirk and I filed into the streets of Alexandria in our hotel robes to rejoice, but we found only a few like-minded celebrants in the rain-drenched Alexandria streets. So, we hailed a cab and headed for Washington, DC, and the White House, where thousands of other happy people communed and congratulated each other on the Obama victory.

DAY 47: The day after the presidential election, at Dirk's urging, Joan and her band went to the local Obama headquarters in Alexandria to musically thank the volunteers who were packing up and closing their campaign office. Totally unplugged, Joan and the band performed songs like "Catch The Wind," "Poor Wayfaring Stranger," "Long Black Veil," and "We Shall Overcome" for the engaged group in the tight confines of the small office. That night at the first of two concerts at Birchmere, Joan repeated "We Shall Overcome."

DAYS 48-49: Joan and the band performed a second sold out show at Birchmere before heading 562 miles north to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

DAY 50: Joan's childhood friend Lily visited with Joan over coffee in Joan's room in Toronto before the evening's concert at Massey Hall. Lily was the inspiration/subject of Joan's composition, "Lily," which was featured on the Gone From Danger CD.

DAYS 51-53: On a cold November night in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Joan declared it was "movie night," so the group gathered on the bus and headed for a local cineplex. The next day was a day off to relax, do laundry, etc., before performing a sold out concert at the Michigan Theater, and then heading to Chicago's Symphony Center for a return engagement followed by a trip to Minneapolis

DAYS 54-55: A relaxing day off greeted us in Minneapolis where we all filed off the bus and into the hotel. We all appreciated the hotel's heated tile floors in the bathrooms and were dazzled by its stark white "Clockwork Orange" decor. Joan was greeted in Minneapolis in print by reviewer Rick Mason who called her voice "exquisite" and declared her new Day After Tomorrow album a success. The concert the following evening was yet another winner!

DAY 56: This day found us headed to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport for a flight to San Francisco. A massive suite at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel awaited Joan, featuring a large patio overlooking Union Square and an ice rink far below. Dinner plans were quickly changed to the large table on Joan's patio, where we celebrated a wonderful tour and watched the colorful city sites below.

DAY 57: As the tour bus wound its way from Minneapolis with our new favorite driver, Brant Quick, at the helm, everyone else traveled up to Santa Rosa in a 15 seat passenger van for a return engagement at the Wells Fargo Center For The Arts. On the way there, the van pulled over and Joan's lovely granddaughter Jasmine hopped aboard to spend the day with us on the tour trail. And, indeed, it was family night at that evening's concert with Joan's son Gabe and his wife Pam, Jasmine, and her mother, Joan Sr., among the too-many-to-mention attendees! As a tribute to her family, Joan dedicated "Honest Lullaby" to her son, and she sang "Sweet Sir Galahad," which she wrote for her late sister Mimi's second wedding.

DAYS 60-61: Soundchecks and preparations for two concerts at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre took up much of the days. Both shows were, once again, family nights, with many of Joan's family, friends and business associates in the audiences. Joan's sister Pauline was there one night as well, and as in Santa Rosa, Joan's mother received great applause when her daughter introduced her from the stage. After each show, Joan Sr. held most regal and queenly meet-and-greets backstage!

DAYS 62-64: The group headed northward to Eugene, Oregon, for a day off followed by a show at the Shedd Institute for the Arts. Strolls along the beautiful Willamette River were on the agenda for most of the tour group before heading to Portland for a day off and a show at the rather funky Aladdin Theater.

DAY 65: The Aladdin audience proved to be amazing. Joan added " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" to her solo portion of the shows sometime ago, and not needing an invitation, the Portland audience sang loud and clear and in perfect harmony, which prompted Joan to continue the song in a style that she had only done one other time in a long ago concert in Spain that was recorded live for her album Diamonds & Rust In The Bullring.

DAYS 66-67: These were busy days for the tour group. We left on a day drive to Seattle, did a show that night at the Moore Theater and departed on flights the next morning. Joan and John made plans for a benefit with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and others over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday in Los Angeles. Todd headed to Santa Rosa to finish his move to Nashville. Crook was preparing for shows in Cuba with Jackson Browne, and Dirk went to his Louisiana home to complete prior musical commitments. Jason headed home to New England, and I flew home to Tucson to spend the night before getting on another flight the next day to spend Thanksgiving with friends in Columbus, Ohio!

I'd like to extend personal thanks to all the fans who helped with merchandise sales on this tour. You're always the best, and it's a joy to see you along the tour trail! Be sure to check the tour dates here on the website where you will find more shows being added for 2009!

Happy Trails!

All photos by Jim Stewart and Crook Stewart, 2008

Be sure to take a look at the many other photos from this tour. Enjoy!

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