Big Sky Road Report

[nrc@bsbbs.columbus.oh.us (N. Richard Caldwell)]

It's been quite a week for The Big Sky Road Show.  Missy and I
 finally got our incoming mail service back just before heading
 out for Toronto via Niagara Falls.  We were rather amused to
 read the whole "thigh spreading controversy" since whether or
 not Tori's leg spreading is spontaneous or "fake" seems to us
 to be an entirely moot point.  If you listen to what Tori is
 saying, in the music, in interviews and between songs at her
 shows, part of her point is that women don't have to be "good
 girls" to be intelligent, thinking human beings.  It's possible
 to be an intelligent person and still want to "throw someone
 against the wall and lick them" or for that matter, spread your
 legs while you play the piano.

But enough about that, the best news is that our trip to Toronto
 was fantastic.  We stayed two nights at Niagara Falls on a
 package deal, making the trip up to Toronto for the show on the
 second night.  

We arrived at the Phoenix Theater at about 5:45 to find Sean
 Culhane, his wife and a friend already waiting (sorry, didn't
 catch their names) at the door.  Later we discovered that Sean
 is a Love-Hound and RDT reader.  As the line began to form we
 met Paulina Stuckey who overheard us talking about RDT with
 Sean.  Paulina has done artwork for the Kate Bush fanzine
 "Little Light" and had heard about us from there.  We met a lot
 of nice people in line and after the show who were very
 interested in the fanzine.  We ended up writing down the
 fanzine address on anything we could find to write on.  Next
 time we plan to come prepared with flyers for the 'zine.

But the fun was only starting.  

Since most of the people who showed up early hadn't heard any of
 the import B-sides, we got the boom box out of the car and
 played our B-side tape as we waited.  We're not sure just what
 time it was but _Flying Dutchman_ playing on the boom box.  A
 car pulled up and a tall, young but gray haired man got out,
 followed by Tori.  Tori heard the strains of _Flying Dutchman_
 and said, "I know that girl!"  

Then she spotted Missy in the crowd and greeted her by name like
 a friend she hadn't seen in months.  Of course, if you've met
 Tori, you know that she greets everyone like a friend that she
 hasn't seen in months.  But the fact that Tori is aware enough
 of our efforts to remember Missy on sight after having met her
 only briefly after the Columbus show (a story I never got
 around to telling here) is incredibly gratifying.  Missy has
 yet to stop grinning.  THANK YOU to everyone here who has
 helped us get this far, especially those who have been plugging
 the fanzine and mailing list.

Tori pointed out the tall, gray fellow as Mr Spivak, her manager
 and told Missy that she should take the opportunity to talk
 with him in person.  She signed one fan's jacket and posed for
 pictures with another and then said she needed to get inside
 since she was late for the sound check.  I asked if she'd do
 something special, she asked what we would like to hear and I
 suggested _Take to the Sky_.

Since it was getting close to time for the doors to open I took
 the boom box back to the car and returned just in time to see
 Missy going inside with Mr. Spivak.  I followed them inside and
 we sat at the back of the theater and talked, or rather they
 talked as I mostly listened.  The gist of the conversation was
 that he will cooperate in every way possible.  We'll still be
 doing the fanzine (which as far as we know is still the
 "official" fanzine) and Tom Richards will still be doing the
 fan club.  Mr. Spivak said that the fan club would be handled
 "completely separate" from C-side records, so *hopefully* that
 means that Tom and Arthur had a talk and we won't see any more
 ads like the one that ran recently in Goldmine.  I'll leave it
 to Missy to relate more details once we get settled and she can
 stop grinning long enough to post.  

Oh, one other note on the conversation with Mr. Spivak.  Thanks
 to your efforts, they've become very aware of the net and how
 active the fans here are.  He even talked as though he had read
 some of the messages here.  You never know who might be
 reading, folks!

We got excellent seats in the second row for the show and
 settled in for an unusually long wait.  The warm-up act was
 typical of the species: talented, but not quite enough so to
 make you less impatient for Tori.  The place was packed with
 people standing along the sides and sitting (thankfully)
 between the chairs and the stage.

Tori walked on stage without introduction and ripped into an
 incredible performance, starting _Flying Dutchman_.  Certainly
 her voice has gotten a little rougher this late in the tour but
 she didn't ease off the tough parts of the songs (as someone
 commented here) one bit.  The stories were longer than ever and
 the songs more intense.  This show was a better show than
 Columbus by far and much more intense than the Mountain Stage
 performance.  Tori never did do _Take to the Sky_ but she did
 _Flying Dutchman_ was a treat in itself.  Certainly the crowd
 noise was less of a problem than in Columbus, although the
 silence was occasionally punctuated by an errant "WOOOOO" or an
 occasional attempt at clapping along which died a mercifully
 quick death.

After the show we tried to get into the "meet and greet" as
 suggested by Mr. Spivak, only to be stonewalled by the security
 people who are, of course, only doing as they're told.  We were
 finally able to get shepherded in as Mr. Spivak brought Tori
 down the hall.  We stood back while Tori greeted all the
 industry people and enjoyed watching her make everyone feel
 special. By the time our turn came to feel special the security
 people had abandoned the door and the fans who had waited
 around got to come in as well.

Tori signed our sheet music for _Winter_ and _China_ and
 apologized for not playing _Take to the Sky_, saying that she
 had played _Flying Dutchman_ instead since she had heard us
 playing that.  We chatted for a few minutes and enjoyed some of
 the hugs that Tori is so generous with before she had to leave.
  It was already well into the wee hours of the morning and only
 the giddiness of such a spectacular night kept us awake on the
 drive back to Niagara Falls.

I'm sure I've left a lot out.  We'll try to sort out more of the
 details once we get our heads back on straight.  For now we're
 anticipating the Detroit show.  If it's one tenth as good as
 the Toronto show it will be well worth the trip!

Thanks again for all your help and support!

Richard & Missy 

P.S.  Sorry if this message is botched.  I'm uploading it from a portable 
wordprocessor and I really can't tell how it will turn out.

"Don't drive too slowly."         Richard Caldwell
                                  The Big Sky BBS (+1 614 864 1198)
                                  nrc@bsbbs.Columbus.OH.US