Chicago, IL

Greetings from cold, rainy Chicago where we're just a couple of hours away from performing in front of an audience of 13 thousand plus! I'm posting this journal entry a little late because I spent the day with Angie, dodging puddles, window shopping and eating. As we pulled into town in the middle of the night last night Charlie made it clear to us that it would be absolutely un-American for us to come to Chicago without having at least a deep dish pizza. If only we had stopped there. Besides everyone being over stuffed, the only complaint I've heard from fellow musicians today has been that we had too little time to see the city.

Charlie learned a lesson last night. He's a helpful sort of chap and was giving the bellman a hand with the luggage when the bellman, thinking Charlie had a grip on a heavy case, let it drop. The hard case landed solidly on Charlie's left big toe. He's making arrangements to have an x-ray and is of course hoping nothing is broken. His limp leads me to believe it is more than just a bruise but he's hopeful and thankful that it wasn't his right foot which is the one used on the kick drum.

Ming is limping also. He injured his leg somehow on the bus but I haven't heard the story yet.

Charlie and I said goodbye to our just before we got on the buses to head to the arena. They're on their way back to Tennessee. Here's a picture taken as we were awaiting the taxi.

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Our Grand Rapids experience was, well -grand. The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Gerald Ford Museum was a pleasant surprise and I highly recommend it. We spent a couple of hours there reading and pondering our short slice of life in comparison to the timeline of the history of man that is part of the exhibit. I bought a book in the Dead Sea Scrolls gift shop called The History of God, it should be interesting reading during long bus trips. After the museum, we lingered awhile along the bank of the Grand River watching a trout fisher angling for steelhead. He wasn't catch anything but didn't seem to mind. The day went by too quickly and soon it was showtime. It was Angie's second opportunity to see the show and she was surprised that it still looks like we're all having a good time after so many performances. The truth is, we may grumble about long bus rides and sore toes but everyone on this tour gets pumped when it is time to take the stage. I don't think that will change.

The Grand Rapids audience was, how can I put this - uninhibited. They really had a good time and it was obvious Yanni enjoyed himself.

Thanks again to the hundreds of you who've offered condolences regarding the death of my friend, Gibbs. I struggled with whether I should share the experience in this public forum. If Gibbs hadn't asked me to share his letter, and he specifically mention 'on the internet', I would have just kept it private. I know now that I did the right thing. Thank you.

Those of you who've gotten used to getting quick email responses from me are probably wondering what is going on. I have just been too busy with my wife to keep up with email AND the journal. I'll catch up over the next few days.

Many of you have written about CDs. I'll write more in coming days about ways we can get together at concerts for signings and such. Thanks for responding. For those of you interested in such things this site received nearly 15 thousand hits yesterday alone. Yes, I'm pretty busy. It is also now only about 40 minutes from curtain. More tommorrow. - Dan ¶ 3:52 PM