SUMMER TOUR 2009
by Jim Stewart

Joan's tour team gathered at San Francisco International Airport on the night of July 4, 2009 for the start of a summer coast to coast to coast tour. First stop was the small but lovely Napa Valley Opera House.

The tour's sound engineer, Jason Raboin, had shipped a bicycle from his New England home so he could ride during the tour. Inspired by Jason's forethought, tour manager Blair Woods headed to a local bicycle shop and added another two-wheeler to the tour's collection. Bus driver Brant Quick quickly added a bike rack to the back of the bus just in time to accommodate two more bikes that percussionist Gabriel Harris had delivered from his nearby home. The tour was now set for business, fun and an active on-the-road lifestyle. Meanwhile, back at the Napa Valley Opera House Joan and the band, using an extended soundcheck as rehearsal, refreshed their performances of "Lily of the West," "Scarlet Tide," "God Is God," a unique uptempo version of "Silver Dagger," "Long Black Veil," "Gospel Ship," "Don't Think Twice," and other songs that would be played at most shows on this tour.

After a show at Arroyo Grande's Clark Center the group headed to Santa Monica for the first of many outdoor performances. Blair peddled off into the horizon to do tour errands, while Joan and the rest of her entourage headed out on foot for Venice Beach. Joan shared interesting stories of the days she lived above the Pier's carousel in the early 1970's, and informed us that this is where she was inspired to write her popular composition, "A Heartfelt Line Or Two." When we returned to our hotel we found a rather forlorn looking Blair, who announced that outside a L.A. office supply store, his lock and chain had been cut and his brand new bicycle had been stolen! An impromptu tour group meeting was held and everyone decided they wanted to chip in and buy a new bike for him. Our tour manager was initially reluctant to accept the gift, but relented when we convinced him the gesture was one of appreciation and concern. And he thanked us all by taking us out to dinner!

July 9 became an historic day in the career of Joan Baez, as the audience for her Santa Monica Pier concert swelled well beyond the authorized 10,000 attendees, and, for the first time in recent memory, forced Pier officials to close the pier to additional arrivals. Lovely and talented Tift Merritt opened for Joan and proved herself a welcome and gifted addition to the show. It is interesting to note that Joan's ties to the historic Santa Monica Pier go well beyond her living there and this concert, since she, along with actor Robert Redford, is an honorary co-chair of the Santa Monica Pier Foundation. (pic below: Joan at the Santa Monica Pier show)

After the show we all piled on the tour bus and headed back up the coast to San Francisco and a day off. Emma and I rode the famous cable cars and bought bus tickets that got us to Amoeba Music to pick up treasures for ourselves and Joan and DVD's for the long bus trips that were in our near future. When we got back to the hotel, Joan excitedly invited us to her room to screen a rough edit of the upcoming American Masters (PBS) biography of her personal life and career. It was amazing to get to preview this fantastic production in the presence of Joan, who embellished the viewing with personal commmentary as her story unfolded on the TV screen before us. One of Joan's more compelling recollections was how film from a 1958 performance at Cambridge's Club 47 was discovered in some woman's freezer! Also included was recent footage of Joan and the band's all-around stellar singer/songwriter/musician Dirk Powell, dancing during soundcheck along with a lovely snapshot I had taken of Joan with her mother and sister Pauline. I can't wait to see the finalized production that will air on PBS television October 14th! Later, Joan played the rough cut of the film for everyone as we traveled on the bus and mentioned her lack of enthusiasm for the working title of the documentary. It became the mission of the tour group to come up with a title Joan would like. After several possible titles were shouted out, Jason Raboin started going over the lyrics of one of Joan's most requested songs, "Amazing Grace." He suggested "How Sweet The Sound." Joan quickly called her manager and co-producer of the film, Mark Spector, who ran it by the others involved and agreed that this was to be the title!

The Stern Grove Festival, located in San Francisco's beautiful Golden Gate Park, was another impressive event with attendees lining up early in the morning to claim a good piece of earth for Joan's show later that afternoon. Before the show I knocked on Joan's dressing room door to take her a cup of requested coffee and discovered her lovely mother sitting before the large, lighted makeup mirror. After greeting each other with hugs and kisses, I told the senior Baez that I was looking for Joan Baez to give her a cup of coffee. Senior's reply? "Who do you think I am?" She took a big sip of the coffee and we both laughed!

After the show we faced a 14 hour bus ride to Layton, Utah, for a concert at Ed Kenley Amphitheater (thank goodness for those DVD's Emma and I purchased)! The venue's staff were remarkably agreeable and friendly and made performing there a real joy. Catering was simply splendid and Joan's activist, ex-Marine friend Jeff Key had traveled from his home in Salt Lake City to visit with Joan and see the show. Following the show, we bussed through the magnificent snow-covered Rockies to Boulder, Colorado, where we'd be able to establish a home base for the next five days, and do shows at Chautauqua Auditorium and the Denver Botanic Gardens. Tibetan flautist Nawang Khechog performed an impressive song before Joan took the Chautauqua stage

The bicycles got good workouts while in Boulder, and one day most of the tour team bought automobile inner tubes and went tubing on Boulder Creek. What an adventure and what an expensive event! Blair and Jason lost their shirts; Blair lost his expensive sunglasses and a layer of skin off part of his back; Joan and everyone else got many bruises as we traversed rocks in the creek; and my camera was ruined when I somersaulted into the stream at the base of one of the rapids.

Next up was another long bus ride to St. Louis, where bassist Todd Phillips got a surprise visit from his fiance and their dog. For the next concert in Knoxville, Tennessee, the band took on a debonair style and wore hats during the show that looked like they were purchased at a Frank Sinatra garage sale. Joan dedicated "Joe Hill" to the Iranian people to salute their struggle for freedom. At other venues on the tour, Joan reprised her popular and inspiring YouTube video version of "We Shall Overcome" sung partially in Farsi. Music Director John Doyle's wife and daughter paid us a visit in Knoxville.

Early the following morning the bus pulled out of Knoxville en route to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Along the way we stopped at a Flying J to fill up on diesel fuel and allow the group to invade the truck stop where we purchased ice cream, sodas, and a great big cave-man looking smoked turkey leg that circulated around the bus so everyone could take a big bite. Joan found a DVD of Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M For Murder" at the Flying J. As we later watched the film I couldn't help but point out the specific moments that were designed especially for 3-D when the movie was first released in that format in 1954.

Atlanta has always been a gracious city to Joan Baez. In 1975 they declared August 2 as "Joan Baez Day," and on this visit the Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured a front page color photo of Joan and declared that she is "The Voice of a Generation."

The morning of the Atlanta outdoor show was overcast and humid with rain threatening throughout the day, but inclement weather failed to materialize. Before she performed her own composition, "Love Song To A Stranger" (featuring lovely keyboard work by Dirk), Joan commented to her audience that she just loved to hear the frogs sing. During her solo spot, when the band leaves the stage, Joan pulled one of those beautiful, lengthy traditional ballads out of her memory bank and performed a flawless interpretation of "The House Carpenter."

Fans at the Atlanta show brought baskets of homegrown vegetables, which inspired Todd to make omelets on the bus as we traveled to the next show in Boone, North Carolina. Local restaurateur Linda Braswell had offered after show food from her Glidewells Restaurant. Wow! Linda was a hero with the warm, freshly made goodies that she brought to the bus door after the show.

In Hershey, Pennsylvania, some of the tour team headed to a Dave Matthews Band concert, while I took off for the Hershey Gardens and was amazed by the butterfly house, until it started pouring rain, trapping me in the park's gift shop for about an hour! Next up was Dallas, Pennsylvania, and an outdoor concert that had no covering! It looked like rain all day, and about 45 minutes before the show, the skies opened up and it poured, soaking the audience members who arrived early to claim their viewing spots. When it was time for Joan to go on stage, the rain stopped! Our dear friend Rosalie Smith was in the audience and brought friendship, warmth and comfort to us after the show, along with some very delicious blintzes!

Northward to Westhampton (NY) Performing Arts Center was our new goal, before we headed southward to New York City and a benefit for mayoral candidate Rev. Billy Talen at the Highline Ballroom. Joan sang a rousing "We Shall Overcome" with Rev. Billy and his Stop-Shopping Choir. Before the show we celebrated Joan's manager Mark Spector's birthday with cupcakes and champagne! (in pic at right: back row - John, Dirk, Gabe, Jim, Todd, Blair, Emma; seated in front - Joan, Mark, Brant, Jason)

The Pines Theater at Look Park was next on the agenda in Northampton, Massachusetts, and then abundant amounts of food showed up in Lowell, Massachusetts, where Joan's friend Martha Forsyth demonstrated her abilities with a hula hoop and delivered homemade bread. Also, fan and baker Barry Lay brought an amazing cake! Lester Holt of the weekend edition of "The Today Show" and the NBC Weekend News was on hand with a film crew to record the concert and interview Joan. Before we knew it we were headed to Portland, Maine, for a show at the lovely Merrill Theatre. During soundcheck Joan and the band worked on a beautiful arrangement of "Tramp On The Street" from Joan's 1969 Vanguard release David's Album. Although the song was perfect for Joan and her current band, it never made its way into the shows, but continued to show up in soundchecks from time to time.

On Saturday, August 1, Brant steered the bus toward one of the most anticipated engagements on this tour, the Newport Folk Festival. Joan was making another return engagement to this revered music festival, where she made her professional debut 50 years ago.

Band member Dirk Powell had his own set at the Festival with the band Balfa Toujours that celebrated the tradition of Cajun music, and then joined Joan for her set on the main stage. Some of the best in the business were there: Pete Seeger, Judy Collins (who sang a duet of "Diamonds and Rust" with Joan), Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, and our dear friend and former bus mate, singer-songwriter Josh Ritter, who remarked during his set that two important people in his life were on the Festival lineup that day: Pete Seeger, who encouraged him to continue his songwriting efforts after Josh sent him a cassette tape during his early songwriting days; and Joan Baez, who bought him his first suit and began Josh's tradition of wearing suits on stage to this day. The rain managed to stay at bay throughout Joan's set, but as soon as she finished, it rained for the rest of the Festival.

After the amazing Newport experience, it was time to set our sights westward again and head 821 miles to a day off at Bear Run Inn Cabins and Cottages in the magnificent Hocking Hills of southern Ohio. Our hosts for the next couple of days, Phil Myers, his wife, children, father and mother, met the bus with a horse-drawn wagon. On we hopped, except those with bicycles who mounted their pedal driven steeds and kept up with the wagon despite those Ohio hills. It was a wondrously amazing few days which provided a much needed rest for the band of travel worn gypsies. In one cabin we found homegrown veggies from local gardens sitting on a table, which prompted plans for an evening cookout. Blair and Jason wisely purchased fresh fish while we were in Newport and cooked it over charcoal grills, while Brant and I made delicious corn on the cob, garden fresh green beans, and prepared various varieties of summer squash for Jason and Blair to cook with the fish. After dinner, around a campfire, Joan and the band worked up a version of "Banks Of The Ohio" to sing at the next concert at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, Ohio.

It rained all day the day of the show, and we wondered at times if the outdoor show would have to be cancelled, but right at showtime the rain drifted away and it went on as planned with our new friends, the Myers family, in attendance.

A beautiful day off was in store in Bay Harbor, Michigan, where we stayed right on Lake Michigan, rode bikes into town, bought fudge to send to friends back in California, ate ice cream and dined at a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Petoskey. Kresge Auditorium was a wonderful venue, with open sides and views of Lake Michigan. Joan included the enchanting epic "Mary Hamilton" and her composition "Blessed Are..." in her solo set that evening. After the show, Joan and a few members of the entourage went to visit filmmaker Michael Moore at his nearby studios, where they were treated to an advance look at segments of his film Capitalism: A Love Story.

The next venue in Bayfield, Wisconsin, was very special and lived up to its name: The Big Top Chautauqua! It was actually a red and white big top, circus-styled tent that had one expecting to see elephants and painted clowns parading around rather than Joan Baez performing in concert. And like most venues on this tour, the show was sold out!

A couple of days earlier Joan had lost a filling in one of her teeth from chomping on an unpopped kernel of corn while watching a movie. By the time we reached Bismarck, North Dakota, it was bothering her. Even though it was a Saturday, Blair worked his magic and found a dentist who met them at his office, in between attending a wedding ceremony and reception. With Blair acting as dental assistant, Joan gave instructions to "pull that sucker." So it was done.

Joan was greeted in Bismarck by an actual editorial in The Tribune newspaper where writer Ken Rogers urged readers to be "more open to change" when considering health care reform, "more critical" of bailing out the captains of the industry and when someone wants to get into a "shooting war." He tied it all into Joan's career and shared that on her album Day After Tomorrow "...there's no protest...(just) songs of hope and homecoming." In her concert at Belle Mehus Auditorium Joan and her band introduced a new arrangement of "Deportees (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)."

All photos by Jim Stewart, 2009, except (vertically) photo 3 by Todd Phillips, 2009, and photo 12 by Emma Vasseur, 2009.

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

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