| Barras at the Bandshell Reading, PA 7/12/08 |
| Andi is not one to miss a Barras show if she can help it. So she arranged to come down here for a short visit when they announced a show in nearby Reading, PA. Little did I know when we made the date how short the visit was going to be! She arrived Friday morning, we had breakfast at the Oregon Diner with the most depressed/depressing waitress I have ever seen, and then drove down to see if Vic could get us a Ride the Ducks tour. As he works for them, I had high hopes it could be done. We parked downtown and got on Darrell and Tony G's DUKW. (not a misspelling - that's the miitary abbreviation for this amphibious bus) Tony was a panic, taking on a South Philly Italian persona (think Rocky 1). Darrell played straight man to his many jokes and puns. We took a whirlwind tour of the most historic square mile in the USA. And when we got to the Delaware RIver, Vic joined us as our Captain for our time in the water. It was the first time I had seen Vic in action/reaction mode with Tony and I got a big kick out of it. Made the trip along the Delaware more enjoyable for me. |
| After our tour, Andi and I drove home and said hello to Fozzie. He's Andi's dog-away-from-home and the recipient of occasional doggy treats sent thru the mail from Buffalo. He was very glad to see her. In case you are wondering, he's mostly Soft-Coated Wheaton Terrier. |
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| We grabbed some cheesesteaks from the steak joint down the road and were off! GoogleMaps said 63 minutes to Reading from my house but I didn't believe it. They are always so optimistic! So I doubled the time and added some figuring we were driving during rush hour on a Friday and the trip would be a congested mess. Well, the gods were with us because it took me only 63 minutes to get there! No traffic tie-ups, construction or any other roadtrip joy-killers. As we parked, We said "Hi" to Jamie Gatti, the Barras bass player and only member of the band who is not a MacNeil. They had arrived not too far before us and were just setting up for soundcheck! We took the blanket, my cane chair, the Canada lawn chair I bought at Sobey's in St. John's a couple years ago and found a primo spot at the edge of the moat. Yes - there was a moat between the performers and the audience! The sign on the fence said, "No swimming! Water is hazardous to humans!" So even though it was tempted to jump in and cool off, we resisted the temptation. |
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| Stewart's face above indicates that he's not too happy with the soundcheck for his accordion. A key was stuck and he had to get out a tool and fix it while the others checked what they needed to check. Sheumas looks towards the sound booth to catch their attention. |
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| They were all in various states of concentration as we walked to our spot, but each one managed a wave at us when they noticed we were there. We kid them about being their US groupies. I don't know if anyone else has seen them as many times as we have, but they still enjoy seeing us, so we continue to roadtrip to see them as much as time and money will allow. The longest I've driven to see them is 10 hours to Toronto in Hugh's Room, but we've seen them together in Massachusett's, Pennsylvania, New York State, and Ontario. Does it count if we encountered only Kyle and Sheumas twice in Cape Breton playing shows? LOL! When I popped into the square dance in Baddeck, Cape Breton on my way to the ferry in North Sydney a few years ago, Sheumas laughed and said, "You're a long way from Pennsylvania!" |
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