Abbey Road UPDATE!

[Raspbernie]

Well folks, "A Taste of Chicago" is a mere 5 days away and it seems like things are not looking good for "A Walk Down Abbey Road."

Tour promoters are still unwilling to make Eric an equal partner in the band. Perhaps this was their plan all along. Who knows? All that is certain at this point is that Eric was told that he would play all gigs in July and they now only want him for a very few "select" cities where Todd can't make it. Otherwise he'll be sitting home while the other guys play venue after venue.

Because Eric would only play a few shows he would not benefit from the group's skill-sharpening night after night itinerary. Eric would basically have to play one night (with no prior rehearsal) go home for a week, play two or three more, go home for a week and a half, play another...back home...well, you get the idea.

Even more than that, because Eric would only play a very small number of shows, he would not be integrated into the solo sets of the other musicians, nor would he have as important a role to play during the Beatles set. (That way when he's not on tour -- which would be MOST of the time -- he "wouldn't be missed!")

Even though a number of the supergroup band members play on each other's songs in the first set, none would play on Eric's songs, nor would Eric play on any of theirs...this would amount to Eric basically playing his three solo songs alone with the backup "house band" and then leaving the stage for an hour and a half while the rest of the guys partied on.

If you were an Eric fan in the audience, would you be wondering, "Where's Eric and what in the hell is going on?"

If you were Eric sitting backstage would you be wondering the same thing?

You know, I'm pretty much a "nobody" -- but I know how bad *I* feel when someone treats me with little or no respect. Imagine how you'd feel if you were a "somebody" and you got treated just as bad or worse?

PLEASE NOTE: THERE HAS BEEN NO FINAL DECISION ON THIS YET...Eric has been trying to get the promoters to rethink their position...but as I said, it currently does not look good. As soon as it's confirmed, Eric will let all of us know.

Until then, remember...if this tour comes to your town and you're wondering why Eric ISN'T playing...it isn't because HE didn't want to. --Bernie

[Gemini]

Bernie, that is very disrespectful of the promoters to treat Eric in that fashion. They must be insane to think anyone would want to do that. Eric is a great entertainer. Man, I sure wish I had the money. I would set Eric up with the concert tour he deserves.

Gemini

[HubbyOfEricFan]

Bernie, I just got back online after the weekend and, wow, there's lot's of stuff that's been posted since I last saw. But hey, you finally answered my question with an earlier post about what the problem is. As with my very first post this was the scenerio I suspected all along, and totally understand and side with Eric. I said it would be a travel nightmare and idiotic for Eric to play only here and there. And you also answered that you and Eric were first told he would play ALL the dates in July. Clearly, the blame here for all this mess lies with the promoters. I think finally, all of us on this site agree, nobody should blame Eric, or you. Sorry if people were taking me wrong earlier. Thanks for all of your work Bernie. As many posters have said, maybe this will convince Eric the only way to do a tour the right way, is to do a tour by himself (or with Raspberries??!!!!) where he will have control. Thanks for everyone who's posted. Overall, it has been a good discusion. Take care. Wally.

[Art]

Bernie: Thanks for the update. Looks like the writing is on the wall, unless some last minute accommodations are made. Maybe you could talk Eric into playing a night at the Agora, it'd be just like old times. Art in Utah

[Betsey]

I am so sorry for all of us who were planning to see Eric on stage this summer. But, if I were Eric, I'd pull out too! The promoters' plan is idiotic. We all know that Eric deserves better than that. Eric was right -- we would be disappointed with the arrangement. Betsey

[Robin23]

THANKS Bernie for your continuous updates. I had a feeling the promoters were the ones to blame. I wish they had a clue on what the fans really want. They're just a bunch of dopes with money. I'm sure things will work out if we continue to think positive.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July.

Robin M

[seattlesteve]

Bernie,

Do you or Eric have an email contact at the promoters office that we can flood with our two cents worth? As per usual, many people don't understand the range and depth of Eric's fans. The only way they will add Eric full time, is if they are convinced he will sell more tickets.

Let's convince them.

[darlene]

Bernie and Eric: I KNEW it was something like this! Being a musician (and having been a road musician as well), you LIVE to perform. The crowd (or audience, in classical music) MAKES the performance, and you get that instant feedback and "lift" when the crowd loves the performance and "takes you with it."

You don't get that when you're sitting backstage while everyone else is jamming. Jamming IS the fun of it! Why else do you play music with other people? You can have a crowd in your backyard and play solo, it's just not the same. So, that being said, the promoters on this tour don't need a REAL talent, they need a run-of-the-mill average amateur fill in person, which is what they are treating ERIC like.

Fans should know that this is what they do to some of the most talented performers in the business. Any any performer who would expect another musician to perform under these conditions are as bad as the promoters.

Eric, stay home. This whole dog and pony show isn't even worth your TIME or consideration. And I'm sorry this happened to you. And...you've handled it as you do everything else, with the utmost of class. --Darlene

[Robin23]

I thoroughly enjoy most of the posts on this message board. The views and ideas from other EC fans convey my thoughts perfectly. For example Seatlle Steve's idea about flooding e-mails to the promoters was terrific. Also, Darlene's post about Eric was excellent. I totally agree that this tour is turning into a "dog and pony show". I'm a school teacher and I always tell my students to give their best effort in all that they do.

Robin M.

[tgp]

Okay. So now we know the truth. And I don't blame Eric for bailing if this is what's going on. However, I offer two solutions to Eric so this kind of ridiculous situation does not happen again:

1) Get a good lawyer! Am I wrong in assuming somewhere along the line, contracts had to be drawn up detailing Eric's participation? If so, then shouldn't Eric have a decent enough attorney to either prepare or warn him about the pitfalls of such a situation?

2) Stop with all the short-cut all star tours and go out on the road by yourself. I don't know if he's nervous about attendance, sales or just lazy, but enough is enough. If you go by this website, he obviously has a fan base. And I know for a fact that a band like Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes gets a $10,000 fee for each appearance. Hell, if Eric can't draw more that New Jersey's greatest bar band, well, then we're all pretty much mistaken about his popularity. Life is short and we're all getting older. Think of it, 30 years since "Go All The Way." It would be a shame if we never get to see Eric in person. Hey Eric, sites like the Bottom Line and the Stone Pony are only a phone call away...

[Raspbernie]

And if he wanted to, Eric could do a few gigs with very low overhead. I mean...how much can it cost to push a piano on stage? --Bernie

[Laura]

I agree with Steve. I just cancelled my tickets to the Mankato show on July 7th. If he decides to play as an equal partner, I might get tickets for a different show. I think if we can get the e-mail address and flood them with e-mails it would show we are serious Otherwise, here we stew and await word. Thanks, Bernie for all your info and patience.

[Phil Brigham]

From what Bernoe described, it sounds to me more like a "musician" thing than a "promoter" thing. If I were Eric, I'd feel anywhere from slightly to very insulted. However, if I were one of the other musicians or stagehands, etc. I might have gone along with their thinking...they already have a "show" worked out, and probably logistically and musically it's more comfortable to do it that way. Regardless of who came up with the plan for how Eric was going to be intergrated into the show, Eric should have been completely informed before this...

[Billy K.]

Definitely something wrong with the way THAT is set up. You've got all good players -- jamming/improvsing makes for a good show. This is what it would make this tour a cut above the "oldies jukebox" mentality.

And it would be good to give the songs their own personal kind of spin...I'd definitely would have liked to seen Mark Farner's interpetation of the guitar part of "Go All the Way".

Darlene, what instrument do you play and what kind of stuff you do?

[Foolin' Myself]

tgp hit the nail on the head. EC has to have a contract and I would get out of that mess. I love the Beatles songs, but I love EC's music better. I was not gonna be lucky enough to see EC on the tour anyway. They were not coming anywhere close to where I live.

EC has the talent and the material to go on tour himself. Here in New Mexico everybody and their brothers are playing at the Casino's. Like Bernie said, all EC needs is a piano. I saw Elton John two years ago and all he had was a 9 foot grand piano and himself and he rocked my world. I think EC could do that as well.

Like gemini said, I would help EC promote his own tour if I had the money. So EC, get a lawyer to get you out of the Abbey Tour and use that money to tour yourself.

Besides, you are a headliner, not an opening act. I can guarantee that you would have more fun and see more of the world on your own tour. Bring the whole family with you and tour solo. I would even check out the places where everyone on this beautiful web site live to make sure that you tour our towns. That's just wishfull thinking on my part.

We love you EC and don't want to see you in pain or doing something that you are not happy doing. This is only my opinion though.

[Julie]

Ticketmaster just called me on the phone and said that the Lincoln, Nebraska Abbey Road Show has been cancelled. They will be refunding my money! It's kind of bittersweet though. I really love Alan Parsons and was at least looking forward to the chance at seeing him in concert. I didn't tell the the Ticketmaster people that though. I told them I was very happy as the only reason I was going was because Eric Carmen was supposed to be on the venue and ya da ya da...well, you get the picture!

[LostControl]

I still don't get it -- why can't the promoters allow Eric and Todd to play together? Is there something here don't know? Do they just not get along or something? Or is it just too expensive to pay so many performers?

Any idea why all these concerts are getting cancelled? Is it because Todd can't make it, and Eric refuses to fill in? You'd think the promoters would 'make nice' to Eric and let him play the venues he wants, so that all the shows could go on! They must be losing a heap of money by cancelling concerts. Oh well, I guess they deserve it if they can't get their acts together. It's too bad for the fans -- obviously the promoters don't give a damn about them.

Michelle

[frankenberry]

Yes, a round of applause to bernie for your diplomatic handling of this sticky situation. What would we do without you? Where would we get the truth? How would we know?

Also, here's my vote that Eric pull out of this disaster completely -- and do some shows all by himself.

Heck, if it's a question of rolling the piano out onto the stage of the Stone Pony or Bottom Line, I'll roll up my sleeves and give it a go!

But i know I'd be ticked if I forked over $38.50 or $48.50 for a Keswick seat just to see Eric onstage for a few minutes...

[darlene]

Bernie: You've been a godsend in this whole thing. Thanks a million for giving us as much info as you possibly could as it went along. You handled everything with the utmost class as well.

Eric could certainly do some low overhead gigs and pack a concert. Setting up a tour is very involved and it's not, I'm sure, merely picking some places where your fans are and pushing a piano out on stage. But my husband thinks Eric could do one big concert in/near/south of CLEVELAND, where he has a huge fan base to begin with, and we could all come, and at least, he'd have a guaranteed audience of adoring fans.

Anywhere, even an outdoor gig...That's not nearly as much work as going on tour, and those of us who make the trip would love going to the Rock Hall of Fame and just sightseeing in general. After all, Cleveland is one of the premier cities in the U.S.

I think some of the fans think a musician gets paid in advance or if he/she pulls out of a tour. NOT!!!! In almost every case, the musician must pay his own transportation/flight to the rehearsals, doesn't often get paid for those at all, and then has to pay for all flights to and from. And if you pull out of the tour....you don't get paid at all. At least, that's what I've seen. A musician can't even break even flying home every couple of gigs, and anyway, I wouldn't even open my violin case if a promoter (or my leader) were treating me that badly!

And the greedy promoters would never spring to pay for BOTH Eric and Todd at the same time! THAT'S why they're not arranging for them to play together.

Billy K: I was brought up as a classical violinist, and have played in numerous symphony orchestras, but I also toured in a grammy-winning polka band as violinist/fiddler, composer/arranger. I was also a Klezmer (Jewish band) violinist! I've done recording sessions in New York, Nashville and Illinois, have soloed at Carnegie Hall and have played several venues at Lincoln Center, etc. I currently teach little kids in public school to play string instruments (have done that for 34 years, while I've done all this other stuff!)

I've been out of polka music for awhile, but lately have been writing some polka and popular music (it just happened, I didn't plan it), and, having just written a song for The Buffalo Touch polka band (based in Buffalo, NY), they've invited me to record their next CD with them, as my song will be on it. I currently play chamber music gigs and have a contract with the Trenton (NJ) Symphony Orchestra and others, but I think I'll be playing some polka music again in the near future! What do you play? --Darlene

[darlene]

PS Art: "a night at the Agora..." Now THAT would be a GREAT NIGHT!!! In addition to a big Cleveland concert -- please think about THAT one, Eric! --Darlene

[Simdonnaj91258]

Hi, everyone. I have been off line for a while, so I had to come here, and get updates on Eric's concert. Can I say any nasty words here? No? Okay, I won't , but I have steam coming out of my ears.

How can they treat Eric Carmen so disrespectfully? He is so great, and the only reason I was going to the "Abbey Road" concert, was to see him, only him. I am not a Beatles fan, nor a fan of any of the other performers, at the concert.

I have waited 29 years to see Eric in concert. I was so very much looking forward to this. Mohegan Sun, in Conn., was where I had planned on seeing the show. I am glad I waited for tickets. I heard on the radio about the "Abbey Road" show, but the DJ mentioned Todd Rundgren? I didn't know what happened, but now I do.

Eric, I support your decision, and respect you, so please, don't let those promoters do that $#%& to you. We, your fans love you, and respect you, and we will wait for your concert, hopefully a one-man show.

Love to you, Donna Castello

[seattlesteve]

Thanks for the insight Eric, and like everyone else here, we support your decision. I suspect the promoters (who is the promoter anyway?) seem to have a misunderstanding problem. Besides the deal with Eric, they have all these cancellations. I'm actually hoping they cancel the Toronto show. I'm holding $76.50 non-refundable tickets (Eric never was listed). If not, I'll go anyway and report back on how bad Eric was missed.

As it's been said, best way to avoid this is to go solo. Much rather see a full EC set anyway. That was a tight band at the HOF show, are they available?

Intimate clubs would be great too. Anyone ever hear Burton Cummings live CD "In the round". It's just him and his piano in a club setting. He tells stories and background info in between each song. I think Eric would be PERFECT in this environment. Low overhead, low maintnenace, low hassle, etc. Great way to test the waters on some of those new songs he's writing too.

[Billy K.]

Wow, Darlene, that is an impressive resume! I admire people that can do a lot of different musical stuff. Yes, Klezmer is pretty cool stuff; kind of like traditional Jewish music fused with Dixieland -- that's how I explain it to people.

Primarily, my music strength is the songwriting area. Can play adequately on a few instruments (mostly keyboards and bass) but definitely not a session ace, by any means. I've DJ'd for weddings/parties, sang some modern gospel, as well as barbershop music, and played in metal, surf, and country-rock bands.

Currently I'm working on a CD of new originals. Plus doing some karaoke to get my vocal chops back and condition myself against stage fright. Haven't got up and done anything in front of an audience in a few years, so it's something I need to do.

[darlene]

Billy K: You can do something I CAN'T do: sing!

I used to have a pretty good voice, but my first school job was teaching vocal music in an inner city type school, and between the stress, and overuse disciplining my little darlings, (not to mention, I wasn't trained properly and didn't know how to avoid straining my voice!), I developed nodules on my vocal chords. I was told I needed an operation, therapy and at least one whole year of vocal REST (or the operation wouldn't work) or in a few years, I wouldn't even be talking. When you're a vocal music teacher, you can't stop talking/singing. Also, my girlfriend had the operation, it was awful and they grew back. So, I just did nothing. I can't sing past second space A on the treble staff most days(!)

But they were wrong -- to my husband's dismay, I'm still talking...Then I found a string specialist position and started playing in symphonies. (No voice I don't mind -- no arms would be a disaster!)

It sounds like karaoke is a GREAT way to get your vocal chops back. Have fun!

--Darlene

[hungryeyes]

Seattle Steve, I love that Burton Cummings cd. We planned on going to see the Guess Who last night up in Milwaukee, but we didn't go because we heard the show was cancelled, along with the next couple of shows, because Burton has inflamed vocal chords. YIKES!

What next??

Gina