Goodtime Girl Rides Again! Go Behind The Scenes Of D'Angelo's Second Coming w/ Tina Farris' Tour Diary
Goodtime Girl w/The Vanguard, Yasiin Bey & Kendra Foster on the road w/ D'Angelo's Second Coming Tour.
Yup. Goodtime Girl is back in the saddle, uh, tour bus. Perhaps you already knew that Okayplayer-4-life Tina Farris of Tina Farris Tours, AKA Goodtime Girl has long been a source of wisdom, light (sometimes shade) and tantalizing behind the scenes glimpses of the touring life. Of specific interest to OKP readers: the touring-with-D'Angelo-life. Case in point: think back to when D'Angelo emerged from celebrity semi-darkness and started playing shows again--a European mini-tour so too-good-t0-be true that many D'Angelites assumed it wasn't true, having been burned by scams and unconfirmed appearances. If you remember the suspense around those first few shows in Stockholm and Paris back in January and February of 2012, you may recall with particular clarity it was GT Girl who blogged the all caps announcement that HE GOT ON THE PLANE, laying to rest any lingering doubts about whether D'Angelo was real and also the truth, that the first step had been taken on the comeback journey that brought us to Black Messiah. So it's with great joy that we note that as D'Angelo is touring behind a new album, the Goodtime Girl blogspot is once again populated with updates and dispatches from the road. The pronouncements are a little less dramatic this time out (it's been three years, not 12) and D'Angelites probably need a little less reassurance (just a little). But The Adventues of Goodtime Girl are still must-read material for any serious music head. And if you're the type of person who needs to know where to get late afternoon brunch in (say) Paris or a black hair professional who can do an edge right in (say) London or how to deal with being strip-searched en route to (say) Sweden...read on for all the goods. Find below some highlights from Tina's ongoing tour blog and hit the link to read in full:
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Day #1 of D'Angelo's The Second Coming European Tour.
Fresh from producing the party of the season....the Roots Jam Series in Los Angeles - 4 nights of live music featuring everyone from Miguel and YG to Marsha Ambrosious, T.I. and Kool and the Gang! Definitely the highlight of my career.
Then simultaneously fresh from co-producing the charity event of the season, will.I.am's I.Am.Angel Foundation Gala....
I had the NERVE to stop off in Harlem because D had the nerve to have a show there before we went on this tour.... and then....didn't sleep on the plane over. I had the nerve to watch all of House of Lies, This is Where I Leave You and No Good Deed.
You would think I'd take my ass to bed on an arrival day in a foreign country right? Since I'm tour managing, handling wardrobe, passing out tour books, handing out credentials and sweet talking folks with soon to be expired passports into countries who have rules against such....I SHOULD be going to bed.... right?
Wrong....flying over the Alps .... and they was calling me.... like the bottom of a 99 cent store box of Baking Soda to a feening crackhead in recovery. I had to go. So I grabbed the only people crazy as me and we hightailed it to Flumserberg for an hour of rip roaring, ass busting, head thumping, ice down my drawers having fun.
And then we did a show on D's birthday. This show is long and great and NEW. So that means it can ONLY GET BETTER...and it's wearing me out now. Can't give you anything. You just gotta come and see. GOT TO. I can't wait for Paris/London....this shit will be FIRE.
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Friday, February 20, 2015
Whenever the Paris portion of the tour takes place people stand back. They already know. Ask Tina questions now, on this bus, in this airport, on this train - because once you get your hotel keys, I AM OUT! People experienced the wake of my dust shortly after making sure the "suite" was actually a suite and my 30 hours in Paris wouldn't be cut short by finding a better hotel.
We started at Mama Shelter. The only place in town with an actual brunch that goes until 4:30pm. Do you see the conundrum. I'm in Paris. I'm eating AFTER 2:30 during the no FOOD zone - you may get a crepe or a moule from a chain restaurant but mostly you're dealing with coldcuts and cheese until dinner time. And dinner on SUNDAY??? Could not start until 7pm.
2nd part of this conundrum....I said "brunch". In my almost 3 decades of visiting my 2nd country, the concept of brunch has NEVER existed. Like cranberry juice didn't exist in the 90's? Neither did brunch until good old Mama Shelter in the 20th....so far away yet so good, next to Pere Lachaise where you can grab a beer and a joint and hang out at Jim Morrison's grave with the rest of the hippies. MAMA SHELTER has internet and pancakes and crepes and crispy bacon and Mimosas and horribly bloody marys but at least they try, and MUSIC....all the music I go on the road with. Every song has Ahmir or Pino or even D playing in the background.
After which I rushed back to the hotel to set up for the massive Palais des Congres where I met my juicy adorable Parisienne Niece who has never been to a big show. She was so excited and so sweet my heart melts whenever I visit my Neela Vanilla.
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The next morning I had to jump up for my traditional hair appointment at Polished Hair Care. This gem of a spot is operated by Richmond, CA own Nicole Pembrook so you KNOW my edges are straight. That's my problem out here. Black hair care is so new. My poor sistren been running around with half done weaves, dried out perms and fuzzy edges. Edges STAY fuzzy. Thank God Michelle Obama has shed some light on what an edge truly is. I now have a reference when interviewing these hairdressers. It's not a game this relaxed life out here on the road. Not. A. Game.
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Followed by the man who will forever call me his "future ex wife" yasin Bey. Hilarity at its finest. He brought the likes of Michelle Lamy - Rick Owens' wife who ROCKS it at 70..... I just love older women and younger men. Go figure.
Followed by a FANTASTIC show filled with all the drama of going onstage late, needing to cut 2 songs and avoiding a 10k penalty if the clock strikes 11:01pm....Damned if he didn't end at 10:59:45. Seriously. I shouted like we won the lotto. Because we did.
How does one fit all of that into 30 hours you ask? Chiiiiile, I can't wait til my day off in London.
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Saturday, February 21, 2015
LAST NIGHT.... I was only at the BEST SHOW.... okay, I don't know if it was the best yet....D and I still can't decide if it's Berlin or this one. I have to believe it has to do with having a curfew. He definitely came ready to give it to London...and he did IN FACT give it to London. The audience was so happy, did not sit down and partied so hard.... infectious. However...Berlin....oh Berlin.....I think that show was damn near 3 hours.... I'm a sucker for a 3 hour show. Clearly.
After party was supposed to happen, but after the VIP bar, and the long long wait for everyone to get their "act right".... I was catching up on my ABC Thursday Night line up and drooling by 3am....when they decided to go to the next club..... I'll get you back tonight LONDON!!! I'll get you yet!