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August 17, 2008
Slow ride = cheap ride?
Greetings, loyal readers. I was off on a well-earned vacation this past week, which included stops in Boston, Martha's Vineyard, New Haven and New York City. But the first thing I need to talk about is what happened on the way home: I rode with real, true rock stars.
For reasons of cheapness, I was on a flight that left from the Hartford airport at 7 am. In the security line I noticed several older gentlemen who fit the exact stereotype of aging rock-n-rollers. There was a 60ish British man with brown-shaded sunglasses and a ponytail, and another man with blonde, highlighted hair, necklances, and a designer t-shirt which was punctuated with a slight beer belly. I said to myself, these guys just HAVE to be musicians, or at the very least, involved in the music industry.
I was delighted to see they were aboard my flight to Chicago, so I continued to study them. Clearly if they were musicians, they must not be A-listers - if so, why would they be flying Southwest? And why wouldn't hordes of women be mobbing them? I caught a break, though: they were talking to another guy, a road manager type, who was wearing a shirt that said "FOGHAT." Ignoring the lameness of wearing your own band's t-shirt, I filed it away in my mind to see where Foghat had been playing, or at least to see who was playing Hartford last night.
Wouldn't you know, when I pulled up the Wikipedia entry on Foghat, I was greeted with the picture you see above, who just happened to be the ponytailed Englishman and the pudgy blonde! Yes, I had been riding an airplane with Foghat, the artists behind the classic rock and Guitar Hero III staple, "Slow Ride." According to their itinerary, they had been playing something called the "Oyster Fest" in Connecticut, and were on their way to play the Iowa State Fair. Oh the life of the rock star!
Was I starstruck? Not really. Honestly, after I realized I was on an airplane with bona fide rockers, I was more concerned about being collateral damage to the Day The Classic Rock Died. It happened to Rick Nelson and John Denver, why couldn't it happen to Foghat? Thank God yours truly escaped before it did.
entry no. 1195
Posted at August 17, 2008 02:28 PM
Comments
Great story. Glad you made it out alive. I mean, even if the plane didn't go down, you could have been stampeded by throngs of groupies. Potentially.
Slow Ride is, in my opinion, one of the top five best songs for midnight bowling as loud as the joint can stand it.
Posted by: Marie at August 17, 2008 08:43 PM