New Year's Eve we had two gigs to play, which we were very excited about. First, we had an early set at the world famous House of Blues during the tail-end of dinner for the people there. They were in for a treat later on, as the second band was Radio Kings. Later on, Barrence Whitfield was going to ring in the New Year with them. We had to play until about 9:15pm and then needed to hit the road immediately to try to get to a private party up in Beverly Farms by about 10 o'clock. I am driving our "Bluesmobile", a 1954 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Deluxe Holiday Coupe with the famous "Rocket" V-8 engine which I rebuilt recently. Yes, the car with the "BLUES" license plate is really out there, and I drive it as much as possible. Sarah Gelenian, my fiance, and Danny Vitale are in the Oldsmobile with me. I am following Steve & Judy Prisby and Pete Carlson who are driving in the van. We had no plans to follow them, just didn't know which streets we wanted to take to get over to Route 93 and decided we might as well follow the van. We are going down Route 16 in Medford, and the drive shaft breaks on the van, sending sparks everywhere underneath it! Fortunately, we were able to fit everything we needed (barely) into the trunk of the Olds, and put six people in the car, leaving the van on the side of the road. The Bluesmobile was so over-loaded that we had to keep the speed way down. We didn't really know how slow we were going 'cause the speedo is busted at the moment. On top of that, the gas gauge is broken and reads empty all the time. You have to kinda know where you are going and how far it is, if you know what I mean! But that we all be fixed soon, and so will the van problems. As we were driving up to Beverly Farms, the tires would rub against the wheel wells everytime we hit a bump or took a corner, which was making everyone cringe, especially me. The burning rubber didn't smell too good either! Sarah was passing out pixie sticks I got in my Christmas stocking which restored everyone's mood. We did manage to make it to the gig and had a great New Year's celebration with the nice people for whom we were working. Boy, am I glad that I didn't bring my Honda that night. If the car was any smaller we would not have made it! The "Bluesmobile" helped us keep our record of never missing a gig in over ten years! HAPPY NEW YEAR 1996 to all of you from the Blues That Moves!
- John -iii-|