Diary 2002

Las Vegas, L.A., Sacremento

JUNE 27, LAS VEGAS. John Entwistle, 57, died today in his sleep at the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel. The cause is being probed, but it must be booze and drugs... must be, in order to cause a Heart Attack. He'd had years of abuse to his body, and it finally caught up with him in the wee hours of this morning. Sad Day!...

JUNE 28, LAS VEGAS. The Joint gig at the Hard Rock is cancelled, for obvious reasons. I went down for soundcheck, and was then told about John's death by the Tour manager, Doc. I nearly fell off the Stage... Had to sit down immediately. What a Shock to my system that was! I was told that the Tour would be cancelled and that I would fly to Houston instead, to visit my Mom and Dad, and then back to England. Just as I was leaving out my Hotel room, the phone rang and a voice on the other end of it said, "Rabbit, don't go anywhere. Just stay in your room." I said, "Why, what's up?" The voice replied, "The Tour is still on. We're getting a new bass player, so just stay in your room until you're called for. We are flying to L.A. today, so call your Dad and tell him things have changed, and that you won't be coming to Houston today after all. The Tour is going ahead." Total confusion, total confusion. We flew to L.A. today instead, and left John's body in Vegas for post mortem. It was so sad for us all to fly off and leave him there...

June 29 & 30th - L.A. Irvine gig is cancelled as well. Pete called in Pino Palladino to join us as John's bass replacement. We have 2 days of intense, solid rehearsing with Pino to get him familiar with the set. Pino is a real good guy. He's under pressure too, cause he has to learn in 2 days what I've been doing for 23 years with the Who. Good luck Pino! John is desperately missed by us all. Emotions are up and down, and we're all supporting each other through this hard time of loss. Sad times! We rehearsed at Third Encore in North Hollywood. Pino is doing a good job.

JUNE 28, LAS VEGAS. The Joint gig at the Hard Rock is cancelled, for obvious reasons. I went down for soundcheck, and was then told about John's death by the Tour manager, Doc. I nearly fell off the Stage... Had to sit down immediately. What a Shock to my system that was! I was told that the Tour would be cancelled and that I would fly to Houston instead, to visit my Mom and Dad, and then back to England. Just as I was leaving out my Hotel room, the phone rang and a voice on the other end of it said, "Rabbit, don't go anywhere. Just stay in your room." I said, "Why, what's up?" the death of John Entwistle. It's really weird playing without him. That version of the Who is dead and over forever. God Bless you mate. Peace forever. We had a long, hard 2 days of rehearsals with Pino, but it's going well...

JULY 1, The Hollywood Bowl, L.A. The gig went very well in spite of our loss. Pino did great, and the audience were very warm to him. We all got through the 1st gig of our lives as the Who without John Entwistle as best anyone could have, so it looks like a "New" Who will now be forged and work will continue. It's hard, but we're gonna do it...

JULY 2, L.A. Day off, and we fucking need it too!...

JULY 3, Shoreline, Mountain View, Cal. Good gig. It's sad without John, but we're gonna make it with Pino. Pete was at his best tonight. Zak kicked ass and Pino was spotless. I was a bit subdued and sad, so Pete gave me a hug after the show and asked if I was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine, just very sensitive." We're back with a vengeance! San Francisco is a cool place. God Bless Entwistle.....

JULY 4, Sacramento. Hard gig for me tonight. John's gone and the sound is getting hard to get used to. Because John's sound is gone, it's taking a while to adjust to volume changes, and harmonic placement of the keyboards to suit the new sound. Pino's bass has added sound quality to the band and it will all get sorted out as we go along. It's gonna be fine as a 'new' sound for the Who...

JULY 6, The Gorge. Good gig. Beautiful scenery here at the Gorge. Indian territory, but it's a bit too far to go for a gig with the scenery as an excuse to go all the way there. It's out in the middle of nowhere. Valleys, mountains, lakes... beautiful, but next time just send me a photo of the place.  Last gig of the 1st Leg, we made it in spite of our loss of John Entwistle. It's sad, but a "new" Who has now been born, with Pino Palladino as our Bass player. Funny thing though, I still feel redundant, replaceable, and at the bottom of the Totem Pole, as the Who's keyboardist, after 23 years of service I feel un-important in the wider scheme of things. Oh well, I get paid a lot for it, so fuck it! Home to England tomorrow... Yee-haw!!!!

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