:: Tallboy6: mike errico - spring tour 2002 ::

:: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 ::

I've received word: at least one of the six participants has completed the adventure, and has acquired photographs, which are in the mail. The Cleveland Free Times is planning an article to come out this week.

Yes. I have been inducted.

:: mike 7:39 AM [+] ::

Congratulations. You have been selected as a participant in

MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE 2002


Enclosed, the mike errico sparkly stickers I did not have on that fateful Cleveland day. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is at One Key Plaza, Cleveland, Ohio (East Ninth Street at Lake Erie). The Wetlands VW bus is located down the escalator, and to your left.

There are no velvet ropes, and you can look deep inside. It is a beautiful, crazy-looking thing that I’ve stood in many times, selling my t-shirts and CDs. Enjoy its colors, and its history. Then peel and apply ONE mike errico sparkly sticker on some part of the bus (the rest are extras “just in case”). If you're chill about it, it won't be a problem at all. Know that, at that moment, somewhere on this earth, I am thanking you.

Remember, if you don't want to go visit the hall, or have already been, the web site says, "The bus is displayed on the ground lobby, and may be enjoyed without having to purchase an admission ticket." So the choice of buying a ticket or not is yours.

Also, the hall of fame does not allow photography, so It may be hard to provide proof, but since it’s in the free section of the Hall, you might be able to sneak one. Either way, I will accept your word.

When you get home, sleepy and full of rock and roll historical facts, fill out your MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE 2002 T-SHIRT REQUISITION FORM telling us which free mike errico t-shirt you would like to be the proud owner of. Read the form carefully, as not all t-shirts are available in every size. There are pictures of some of them on the web site, at www.errico.com.

Finally, put your ticket stub (if you decided to take the tour) and the REQUISITION FORM in an envelope, and send it to:

MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE 2002// Box 20463// NYC, NY 10011

Do not forget to put a return address and proper postage. Within the week, you will be refunded the cost of your single ticket, and sent the t-shirt of your choice.

You are undoing a great injustice. Blessings upon you.

And tell us how it went-

------the requisition form-----

MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE 2002
T-SHIRT REQUISITION FORM

To complete the Adventure, check one of the following t-shirts. Read the form carefully, as not all t-shirts are available in every size.

the mike errico baseball t
gray with navy sleeves, “upside down kid logo”

[ ] S [ ] M [ ] L [ ] XL

mike errico cap sleeve girly t
baby blue with navy cap sleeves, “upside down kid logo”

[ ] XS only

Classic mike errico t-shirt
gray with navy ringers, “upside down kid logo”

[ ] L [ ] XL

limited edition mike errico “Pictures of the Big Vacation” orange t
front: “upside down kid” logo/ back: “pictures of the big vacation” logo

[ ] L

vintage mike errico “Vicious Circle” t
w/ “Vicious Circle” gear logo on front

In military green:
[ ] M [ ] L [ ] XL

In burgundy:

[ ] M [ ] XL


Send this sheet, along with your voided ticket stub, to:
MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE 2002// BOX 20463// NYC, NY 10011

You will receive your shirt within the week.

Choose wisely, choose well, and thank you
for participating in the MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE series.

:: mike 7:25 AM [+] ::

Many people wrote in to participate in MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE 2002, but only six were chosen, out of respect only to the stickers that were already on the bus. They're all my friends.

Also, the Cleveland Free Press wrote in. They loved the idea, and want to do a story on it. I hope my people make complete the ADVENTURE before that piece of crap bus gets sealed behind a plexiglas box. Time to act fast. Stickers were sent, with congratulations, and a t-shirt requisition form that they could fill out. Timing's crucial. (suddenly I sound like the "Crocodile Hunter" guy...krikey! Timing's of the essence with this Sheila...etc.)

:: mike 7:18 AM [+] ::

5/6 - Rock and roll Hall of Fame/ Birth of the MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE 2002

I've written pages about this day, the incredible journey through that hall of broken instruments, but instead, will boil it down here by providing the e-mail that was sent to my mailing list in the Midwest the MINUTE I got home:

Hey, folks -
Spring tour has come to a close, and everything went great- thank you so much for coming out and saying hi. A lot of new people have joined up and I'm psyched. However, in over 16,000 miles worth of traveling across this country, there's just one order of business left undone, just one stone unturned. Maybe you can help, and I've come up with a way for you to

win free entrance into Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
AND a free mike errico T shirt in one shot!

Q: So what happened, Mike?

A: Here's the story. My last show of tour was at Elmhurst College outside of Chicago. My girlfriend came out to meet me, and we decided to wander our way home. As a perfect end to 3 months of touring, we decided to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I figured it would be pretty funny to put a sparkly sticker somewhere in the hall, and say "Yeah, I'm in the Hall of Fame...I'm under the sink in the men's room" or something. But LO and BEHOLD, the day we went to the Hall, I'd forgotten the stickers back at the place we were staying. I'd totally blown it. I was pissed.

But insult met injury, as we walked in the Hall, went down the main escalator, and saw the Wetlands Bus . Wetlands was a club in NYC which closed about 6 months ago. It was famous for launching many people, and I'd played there a bunch of times. They had a cool, old VW microbus parked in the middle of the club where bands would sell their merchandise. It became kind of a landmark. My stickers were all over the backstage of the club, and they were ON THAT BUS. I knew it. We ran downstairs and inspected the bus (there are no velvet ropes around it at all). I saw band stickers from all my NYC friends, and even a couple of national acts, but DAMN it if the sparkly sticker wasn't on it. Anywhere. I was so bummed. I thought for sure I'd gotten into the Hall of Fame.

In a desperation move, we decided to run home and try and get the stickers, but it started raining really hard, we got caught in rush hour traffic, and the Hall closed in our faces. It took until we were deep into Pennsylvania before I calmed down, and decided to call you with this plan to undo a great injustice...

MIKE ERRICO ADVENTURE 2002

Here's the deal:
1) send me your mailing address
2) I will send you some stickers
3) you go to the hall of fame, stick at least one sticker on the Wetlands VW bus, send me your hall of fame ticket receipt, and
4) I will refund you the money for the ticket, AND send you a mike errico t-shirt of your choice in whatever size we have available.

The first six people who answer this e-mail will be selected for ADVENTURE 2002.

ALSO - if you don't want to go into the hall, or have already been and are bored of looking at Jimi's smashed guitars, the web site says, "The bus is displayed on the Museum's ground lobby, and may, therefore, be enjoyed without having to purchase an admission ticket." So the choice is yours.

The hall of fame does not allow photography, so it'll be hard to provide proof, but I will accept your word. Since the bus is in the non-paid section of the Hall, you might be able to sneak one, though. As I said, there is no velvet rope around it - I was moving the doors around, trying to find my sticker. If you're chill about it, it won't be a problem at all.

Relevant links:
Hall of Fame official Web site

Press release about the Wetlands bus

Mike Errico adventure 2002 begins...NOW
:: mike 7:05 AM [+] ::

5/5 – Jacob’s Field- Cleveland, OH

Cleveland Indians v. Texas Rangers

My girl likes baseball and cheap seats. We drank beer in the sun and prayed for foul balls. No luck. Even major leaguers couldn’t hit as far up as we were. Jacob’s Field is beautiful, but incredibly polite. I’m used to Shea stadium, and coming home hoarse. Heckling was at a minimum, until John Rocker came out to close the game for Texas. Then the place went up. Is he the most hated man in sports? Well, he pulled these reserved Midwesterners out of their shell. And then got shelled, which was even better. Indians won big.

Tomorrow is the rock and roll hall of fame, and a long trip to New Hope, PA

Total YAHOO! miles: 10297.89
Quote of the day: “R-O-C-K-E-R S-U-C-K-S!” – Jacob’s Field

:: mike 7:07 AM [+] ::

5/4 – DRIVING HOME

We map our trip home. My girlfriend has an aunt in Cleveland, and if we stay there, we decide we can hit an Indians game, and the rock and roll hall of fame. Perfect. Maybe we can squeeze in a stop in New Hope, PA, too. Four days. Deal.

I get the oil changed in the car. God bless that thing. Not a breakdown in almost 16,000 miles. I must publicly kiss the floor. I made it to every show. That is unbelievable. This car is heroic.

Off to Cleveland.

Total YAHOO! miles: 10,297.89
Quote of the day: “Can I change this?” – my girlfriend, while holding the knob on the car radio. She wants music. I guess I’ve been listening to talking a lot. It made me feel like I had people in the car. Sure. Change it, baby. I wasn’t really listening to the words. I was just surfing the inflection of deep, unstuttering radio voices, the way sleeping babies ride their mother’s breath.

:: mike 7:06 AM [+] ::

5/3 – Elmhurst, IL – Elmhurst College – LAST GIG OF TOUR

I got up early and made Midway airport in time to meet my girlfriend, who’s flown in to drive back with me. We’ve been apart this whole time, and it is a good way to have a little bit of an adventure together, but she’s also been more than a little concerned with my being alone for so long. She’s not a fan of tourlog entries with me wandering cemeteries in Colorado and gun sections of Kmarts in Kansas. It is good to have a co-pilot, even if she got tired of listening to the A.M. crop reports even before we got out of short term parking.

As finals build up pressure along all campuses, I’ve watched the overall fun level everywhere drop. Every place is just a little less populated, students walking just a little faster. In February, this whole world was like E! Network’s Wild on College Drinking Binges, but now, people are sleepy, stressed, pale, irritable, and faced with months of slacking off for which they must pay. I’m probably out here a week or so too long. But hey, I’m coming east, and it’s Chicago, where I know people, and it’s my last show. My voice is still healthy, my equipment still works, I’m grateful.

The Elmhurst "soundman," an undergrad, decided last minute to go to a track meet, and bailed, leaving kind but hapless girl in a green sorority t-shirt to operate the board, but I played it as well as I could, putting something extra into the final song, “Someday”. People have been writing in for setlists, and they vary slightly, but the songs on Tonight I Drink You All are the songs I focused on, mostly, with additions of “Strawberry Song”, requests like “If I Were The Pope” (it’s been fun, since he’s on the news a lot lately), covers including “Shook Me All Night Long”, Rival Schools’ “Good Things”, a ballad version of Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” which turned out to be kind of stupid, Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”, etc. I hope to radically transform this list in the near future.

A man named Jason handed me a finished boot of the Lake Forest show he taped. I was so psyched. It’s beautiful, designed graphically with photos taken off the web, the whole nine. He has created a family heirloom, without even knowing it. Other friends arrived with another cheesecake, which turned out to be my dinner, washed down with dark beer at an Irish bar named McNally’s, or something. Mmm. Healthy. We call them "the cheesecake girls", now, since that's the second one they've brought.

Somehow, I think all this craziness has been worth it. I’m proud of the new disc, ready to record the next one, and I know there are people out there besides my mom who’d like to hear it. It makes all the difference in the world, it keeps me sane, and I have you to thank. Thank you.

Total YAHOO! miles: 9861.76
Quote of the day: “John has a track meet. He can’t make it. I think a friend can do the sound-thingie.” – the promoter of the Elmhurst show.
:: mike 7:03 AM [+] ::