Guest Book

Hey now! :wave: Nine (yes, NINE!! Oy...) years ago today, I woke up in a budget hotel in Virginia Beach. It was a couple of blocks off the strip and it's grand palaces, but hey, walking distance to the beach, so it fit the bill just fine. I did a little sun worshiping and wave jumping (love that Atlantic Ocean), but really, my mind was elsewhere. In a few hours, I would be embarking on the musical adventure of a lifetime--four shows in four nights by The Allman Brothers Band and Phil & Friends. Virginia Beach, Raleigh, Charlotte and Atlanta. The now-legendary "Beach To Peach" run. So, fast forward to that afternoon, and I pulled up at the Fish Camp. And like magic, all of the cute little screen names started coming to life. Real people! There was Johnny, the host with the most. And there was Jeanne, Carol Bluefox, Tony Bird72, Marley, Gary Peachnutt, Big Mike, Melissa...you get the idea. There we were, most of us hundreds of miles from home, sharing pre-show refreshments and road stories as though we were old friends. What a great thing! Later at the show I met Easy Michael, although at that time I believe he was still going by Michael from Richmond. Either way, a swell cat! Carol, Tony and I had primo seats...drop dead center, about halfway back in the front center section. Perfect! A few songs in, a crazy lady whose name rhymes with "Donna" snaked her way down the aisle, slapped a pass on my chest, grabbed my hand and led me away. A couple of twists and turns later and we were standing on the side of the stage, just a few feet from Gregg Motherf*ckin' Allman!! I mean, y'all, he was right there! He even ducked behind the speakers to change his shirt between songs, and I just had to do it: "Lookin' good, Gregg!!" I got a smile and a nod. Hopefully he took it in the spirit with which it was intended... :boomerang: Ultimately, fighting the urge to boogie was more than I could bear. It didn't help looking out and seeing Tony and Carol cutting some major league rug in our seats. So I thanked L.M. for a truly memorable experience and headed back out into the mass of humanity. Oh, and what a show! Two solid hours of straight up rock 'n roll, baby!! No instrumentals, and no drum solos. Not that there is anything wrong with those, of course, but sometimes you just want to rock out, you know? Phil's Quinted totally nailed their set, too. The highlight for me was when Derek sat in for a smokin' cover of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love." That's what I'm talkin' about. And it was just the first night. Imagine! So much music and fun to come. More new friends, more adventures. Even spent the last night in Atlanta in the shadow of Turner Field. As Peter Griffin would say, "Freakin' sweet!" Even got a phone call the next morning from our dearly departed brother TommyC. What a great guy. A couple of weeks later, a guy in Chicago who I had never met, save for a couple of show trades, invited me to stay in his home. After a tremendous night at the Chicago Theater, I slept it off in his son's twin bed, with Green Bay Packers memorabilia all around me. The next morning, we started the day off right in his garage and then went for breakfast. What can I say? It felt like we had done it a hundred times. Instant Friendship...just add music and watch it grow! 😎 I don't post much anymore, and I don't mind saying that I'm not particularly crazy about the direction the Guest Book has been going. But that's fine...the community here is larger than any one person, and I have no illusions about being missed. Life, as they say, goes on. But every time I read about how the brotherhood just doesn't exist anymore, well, I just have to respectfully disagree. I can assure you, the brotherhood was alive and well those August nights in 2001. Maybe the various parties of the Allman Brothers Band Corporation (or whatever the heck it's called) don't see things in brotherly love terms anymore, but that's out of my control. I don't presume to tell them how to run their affairs. They're grown men, for goodness sakes. They certainly have no right or invitation to get all up in business, so I choose to stay out of theirs. But friends, The Brotherhood is very much a real thing. I've made connections here on this website that will last a lifetime. I've shared ups, downs, highs (get it?), lows, tears, and even a little romance with the fine folks here. A fellow from HTW even came to my wedding. And I know that any time I'm in Gadsden, Alabama, or High Falls, Georgia, or Cherry Hill, New York, or Punta Gorda, Florida, I've got people! I can drop a quick line and say, "Hey, I'm headed your way...let's do lunch." Friends. Honest to God friends. Friends that I wouldn't otherwise have. If that doesn't fit your definition of a brotherhood, then by all means, call it something else. But from where I'm sitting, it couldn't be any more real. Thanks to everyone for enriching my life these last ten years. And as always, thanks to Duane Allman for making it all possible. :angel: