• Hudson Valley Freedom Fest 2008

Sunday's show in Rhinebeck NY was a real nostalgia trip. Good to see Edosaurus and friends there.

I got to play once again with Spencer Davis who I played keys with back in 1987. It was great to hear "Big Pete" of Rare Earth playing amazing drums while singing lead.

I told him BOC were big fans of Rare Earth in the early days. We opened the show for them in Cleveland back in the mid-70s. It was an all black audience, but we rocked and won a good part of the audience over with our show.

Gary Bonds is still an amazing performer at 69 years old. John Cafferty had his young son playing tambourine with the band. Joe Lynn Turner can still scream the high notes at the beginning of Highway Star like it's no big deal.

Everybody sang and played and jammed with everybody. Three sets, stacks of hits with over 35 songs, and rousing audience made it an amazing day.

Here's a link to some great photos from this show:

• Sheryl Rob Photos

This was an amazing gig!

We had a huge audience for this FREE SHOW of over 10,000 at the Capital Square. It was a two hour show with guests Pat Travers, Jimi Jamison of Survivor and myself playing classic hits with the amazing Orleans backup band.

This group, called RPM, is the brainchild of Larry Hoppen of Orleans and his manager Andy Broady. They set up shows that are a great mix of classic rock with special guests giving these community events more bang for the buck so to speak.

I talked to many hardcore BOC fans who loved the show, they only wished we played more of the obscure material. But for an all hit show designed as entertainment for the whole family, I can't ever remember a better sounding stage or sound system.

Travers was great as usual, and Jimi J brought down the house with his Eye of the Tiger. The band also proved they are "Still the One" ;-)!

Here's a clip from this show I found on YouTube:

An ad for the gig said this would be the line-up for the show:

• Larry Hoppen (Orleans)
• Joe Lynn Turner (Deep Purple)
• Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad)
• David Pack (Ambrosia)
• Joe Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult)
• Jeff Scott Soto (Journey)
• Robert Papst & Jane Bogaert (Dominoe)

Plus: Charlie Morgan on drums, Lane and Lance Hoppen, Jerry Riggs, Barry Dunaway

"Bring lawn chairs and blankets". What? No thermos flask full of hot tea? Rock'n'Roll!!

Here's all I know about this show:

Rock and Pop Masters played 5 shows in Iraq and Kuwait in July 2010 for soldiers at US military bases. Four out of the five shows were outdoor shows!

It was very hot and very dry. The estimated temperature on stage during the performance of the Baghdad DFTR clip below was 41 Celsius or 108 Fahrenheit.

1. The first gig was in Kuwait at Camp Buerhing June 29
2. The second gig was in Iraq at Camp Basrah July 1
3. The third gig was at Camp Delta On July 2
4. July 3 day off at Camp Delta (Got to ride in a Palladin Tank!)
5. July 4 at Camp Gary Owen - no sleeping facilities there so we spent the night at Camp Adder.
6. July 5 at Camp Liberty in Bagdad.
7. July 6 day off at Camp Arijan in Kuwait
8. July 7 home

Before the tour we were told no exact locations for security reasons. Most shows started at 1900 hours (7 pm) and ran for about two hours.

The set lists varied slightly but here is the set played most nights.

Orleans:

1. Dancing in the Moonlight
2. Dance with Me

1. High On You
2. The Search Is Over

1. Burnin for You
2. Godzilla
3. Don't Fear the Reaper

1. Ladies Night
2. Let It Whip

1. Black Magic Woman
2. Oye Como Va
3. I'm Winning
4. Hold On

1. Battle Hymn of the Republic
2. She Don't Love Nobody - John Jorgenson
3. Celebration - Skip
4. I Can't Hold Back - Jimi Jamison
5. Still The One - Orleans

1. Eye of the Tiger - Jimi Jamison

John Jorgenson (of the Desert Rose Band) was a late addition to the tour line up because Jerry Riggs (Remember Radar Rider on HM Soundtrack?) had another commitment and and couldn't make the tour.

John Jorgenson is hands down one of the greatest American guitar players ever, able to play in many styles. Google him. I am still pinching myself that I was on the same stage as him.

Jerry's bass playing buddy Barry Dunaway also couldn't make the tour, so I got to play bass on the Santana songs and Kool and the Gang songs. More work for me, but I loved every hot and sweaty minute of it.

BTW: The back up band for everybody's tunes is the core Orleans band comprised of the three Hoppen brothers, Larry on guitar and keys, Lance on bass, vocals and percussion, brother Lane on keys and vocals.

They get an incredible vocal blend being brothers so when you hear their songs, or the other artists songs, the vocals sound perfectly like the recorded versions.

I've never performed harmonies on Reaper so precisely until I played with them. When there is a doubled vocal, two of the brothers sing it in unison.

The drummer is Charlie Morgan, a Brit who's best known for his playing with Elton John, but he also played the drums on Kate Bush (Running Up That Hill) and played with Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend and many others.

Skip besides singing plays amazing trumpet. His Las Vegas show includes a tribute to Miles Davis. Alex is an amazing singer, really emotional in his delivery, and can hit all the high notes like he did with Santana for 16 years.

It's a variety show with something for everyone, heavy on the hits, lots of audience participation. We had a soldier playing cowbell on stage with us every night. My personal cowbell now resides in a shrine in the office of MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) in Bagdad.

We had great crowds for all the shows. Some places the turnout could have been bigger, but many soldiers were manning their watches. Even if they weren't there, you could hear the music throughout the whole camp as the sound was loud and clear.

We had meet and greets after every show. That was an important part of the gig. The soldiers were so thankful, downright emotional about us being there. When the going got rough our promoter told us "don't complain. Remember this: you only have to be there for one night. Some of these soldiers are stuck there for over a year or more."

They said this trip would be life changing. Now I know what they were talking about.

The cowbell in Don't Fear the Reaper was played by a different soldier each night of the tour. The performance in the above clip from the Baghdad show on 5 July 2010 by soldier Akiel McKnight was particularly spirited. Enjoy!

Here are some other relevant YouTube links which will open in a new window:

• Iraq and Kuwait Slideshow - RPM Tour - 2010
• Joe Bouchard on the Road in Kuwait and Iraq
• Joe playing bass for Skip Martin (formerly of Kool & The Gang)

For more info on Rock and Pop Masters (RPM) visit this link:

• rockandpopmasters.com

Here's a newspaper report on the tour:

• Former Blue Oyster Cult musician rocks Iraq

• All Star Rock Tour 2011

This was a new one on me - the projected line-up read like an "RPM" gig - yet the gig was billed as featuring the "All Star Rock Tour"...

This left me with a slight quandary - do I class this gig as a Rock & Pop Masters show (albeit with a different name) or is it something else?

One intriguing thing I did notice - apparently, "artists will also appear at 2 p.m. for a free event at the House of Guitars, 645 Titus Ave., Irondequoit."

I wonder what that is?

The Rochester show was an RPM gig with a slightly different name. I will be playing more shows with them starting in late August and into the fall.

The other event you ask about was an in-store promotion for the evening show. The House of Guitars is an incredible store. A twisting maze of more antique guitars, amps, vinyl, promo posters that I've ever seen in my life.

Larry Hoppen and I jammed a bit for the fans on some old guitars we pulled off the floor, but mostly it was a chance for autographs and hand shakes.

Ken Kitt shot a ton of video at the evening performance. Here's a link to some of the videos.

• Dance with Me
• On the Darkside
• Reaper
• Stone Cold