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Hilton Coiseum, Des Moines, Iowa

Posted by manicdrums in 1997 Elton John World Tour

Still raining…In fact it hasn’t stopped since 4pm yesterday. I woke up at about 8.30, and John Mahon and I wandered down for breakfast at around 9.30, to be told that breakfast FINISHED at 9!!!!! Have you ever heard anything like it? I’ve never come across a hotel that didn’t serve breakfast until at least 10!This place is pathetic. The only redeeming feature was that we were once again able to enlist the services of the shuttle bus, and the guy dropped us downtown at a 50′s style diner (Stella’s Star Diner, in an office building on Locust Street), where the girls served us a full cooked breakfast, complete with 50′s Rock ‘N Roll playing in the background. They were cheerful, pleasant, and the food was exactly what was needed. Thank Goodness! I was beginning to despair!It has rained now for almost 24 hours, without stopping.

So there was nothing more to do than check out, load up the bus, and drive to Ames for sound check. The gig is another of these basketball/hockey arenas. The sound leaves a lot to be desired, too. It has a low-end boom that takes several seconds to stop! But the gig itself was fabulous.. the audience were wonderful, and we somehow came through the appalling sound and out the other end.

We’re on the bus again, overnight to Fargo.I quite like the fact that we’re actually DOING something constructive during that period after the gig when I find it impossible to go to sleep, and yet I know we have to be up early to pack and catch a flight to the next gig. This way, we have a couple of drinks, something to eat, watch a movie, and mellow out until it’s time to get into the bunk, read a few pages, put the earplugs in (mandatory on these journeys), and try to sleep for a couple of hours.