... & OTHER ODDBALL STORIES |
As we left for our first date, Bernie turned to me and asked, "So who will be out front with me when I do the merchandising?" He had never been to the U.S. before, and about all he knew about places like Detroit and Buffalo were what he had seen on TV cop shows. I think he was a little bit scared to be by himself. I told him not to worry about it, he would be alright on his own. Well, the first week and a half we were playing places like Detroit, Chicago, and New York City. Our last date was in Cleveland. As we drove into the city that morning I commented to Bernie that Cleveland was a pretty rough city. Bernie said, "No problem! I've been to all these other places and never had anything to worry about, this is a piece of cake".
We pulled into the parking lot for the club and next door was the hotel that we would being staying. There was also a restaurant where everyone except yours truly headed off to to eat breakfast. I was checking into my room when I happened to notice a cop car pull into the parking lot about half-way between the hotel and the restaurant. Two cops jumped out with shotguns aimed at the door of the restaurant. Then I noticed a couple more police cruisers circling the block. Suddenly a guy emerges from the restaurant with his hands in the air holding a gun. The cops grab him and throw him face first into the pavement and slap the handcuffs on him. Seems that when the band had just sat down for breakfast this guy jumped up and yelled, "I'm pissed off! I've had it!" and started shooting into the ceiling. Everyone hit the floor and was hiding under the tables. I guess Bernie had an adventure story to take home with him after all...
