I woke this morning thinking about that lobster we ate on the plane last night which was so kindly bought to the gig in Boston by Mark and Bonnie Stover all the way from Boothbay. We all wondered what their secret was. It's something to do with the home made mayo possibly, or maybe it's just the super fresh lobster, bursting with flavour!?

Red Bank is small town about an hour south of New York, on the South bank of the Navesink river that I'd never heard of until now, let alone visited. Actually, to be precise, it's a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, originally formed as a town in 1870 called Shrewsbury township. We left the hotel at 3pm and slipped immediately into heavy New York City traffic and the queues leading into the Lincoln tunnel. It was a solid half an hour before we crawled our way below the Hudson River and out into the bright sunshine on the New Jersey shoreline. The drive was fine except for a brief traffic jam for I'm guessing, an accident (wreck they call it here). we arrived in the small town and pulled up to the backstage of the venue at 4:30pm. It was immediately clear that this was another tight load-in for the boys and there was even less backstage room for the band so most of us took to wandering the streets after sound check. Mark of course is still having difficulty walking but he's in really good spirits and on the mend.



It's worth mentioning that Red Bank is the birthplace of the American jazz pianist Count Basie. As a small boy, he would hang out at the Palace Theater, (later renamed) in Red Bank and did occasional chores for the management, which got him free admission to the shows. He also learned to operate the spotlights for the vaudeville shows. One day, when the pianist failed to arrive by show time, Basie took his place. Playing by ear, he quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to silent movies.





Dan and I find the most comfortable seats in the building and relax before the doors open.



Mark introduces Glenn Worf each evening as a master of music. Never was such dedication more obvious as Mr. Worf seen here doing battle with the old lady in the nearest available spot.



Only room for one in the production office today..





Another fantastic audience and a great show from the band. The efficient air conditioning really did it's job and kept it very comfortable in the theatre whilst outside it was unseasonably hot and muggy, more like late Summer. After-show, it was a much shorter one-hour drive back to the delightful hotel in mid-town Manhattan..a quick cuppa and bed.

Natural Selection competition - clue



Box Z contains 'Speedy'. Used by the Alka-Seltzer company from 1953 to 1964, this mascot is associated with a hangover. There's only one song on the album which refers to a hangover in verse one. (only six people have got this answer correct so far)

Trivia - The most famous commercial jingle sung by speedy Alka-Seltzer aired: “Down, down, down the stomach through Round, round, round the system too, With Alka-Seltzer you’re sure to say, Relief is just a swallow away.” Interestingly, one Alka-Seltzer ad, the voice of Marvin Miller is heard. Mr. Miller was also the voice of Robbie the Robot in the Forbidden planet.