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Program found at Sonoma Raceway. Used to carry my
cache 'O 11-IndyCar driver autographs! (The
Tomaso Collection)
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Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
Err
Sonoma? Uh, like hows do weeze get to I-5? Cymbal crash please; Hooah!
Thus, upon "Seeing Eye Guide Dog
guy" extraordinaire Claudio' who'd just spent some time watching the
Milwaukee-Fest IndyCar race on "Peacock-lite" (NBCSN) a week before
the annual "Sleepy Hollow" car race at Sonoma Raceway. He called me
up following the Milwaukee Mile's conclusion and said: I'm going to see Buddy
Guy and Peter "Do You Feel!" Frampton in Medford, Oregon Thursday
night and its only five hours from Sonoma, so wanna go to the IndyCar race?
Alas, Y'all know
why I haven't been scribblin' as mucho lately here (in September) on 'Der No
Fenders Bloggenspotten; Ja-Ja! As I've been 'Oot 'N Aboot ridin' Shotgun in
'Grand Mamah's "Model A" (Dodge Caravan) to Infineon; Err Sonoma Raceway
'N Beyond; Hooah! Followed by another marvelous Roadtrip down to Oregon's
mighty Sand Dunes...
Obviously
Y'all know how large 'O a Petrolhead; Err Race Geek I am, right?
(Having
scribbled relentlessly for eight years now 'bout Formula 1 & Indy Cars...) So after asking him a bit more trip details 'N being
ARSE-sured, kinda like ARSE-suming; Hya! That Sonoma truly was only 5hrs
further south; (WRONG!) Naturally I said yes & off we went.
Busing south to Tacoma the night before our
departure, Claudio' decided to call up Sonoma Raceway and wrassle' us up some
tickets, for which a very amiable customer rep ' named Justin greatly helped us
out by advising us on best seating location, etc, telling us "you're all
set, your tickets will be at Will Call, Sir."
Yet, the following morning, Claudio was in NO
hurry to depart for the 'Uber long day's drive: Yo Tomaso, we won't be leaving
for another half-hour plus at the earliest...
As we finally hit the road around 11:30AM
Thursday, since its only a six hour drive to Medford, Oregon; WRONG! In what would be the first of our many travel miscalculations;
Hya! Spending A-L-L day flying south at breakneck speeds along I-5 before
arriving at The Brits amphitheatre at 7:30PM, as I waited at the gate while Claudio parked our trusty Minivan, leaving me hearing
Buddy Guy playing in the background before we collected our tickets at Will
Call, basically missing the entire short 45min set Mr. Guy played.
Yet we
got to hear the show's main act of
Frampton's Guitar Circus in its entirety; featuring headliner Peter "Do U
Feel?" Frampton and special guest Robert Randolph who plays a wicked-mean
steel "slide" guitar! As I can still hear their awesome encore
performance cover version of Jeff Beck's
I'm going Down, Down, Down playin' in my head, as Frampton, Randolph & Co.
were GURR-REAT!
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Frampton Comes Alive again! 35th Anniversary cover.
(Image source: bing.com)
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While
I don't recall Frampton's set-list, other than it all sounded pretty groovy 'N
tight, I really was surprised when he launched into his 'Mega '70's Hit Song
"Do You Feel?"
Well, woke up this morning with a wine
glass in my hand.
Whose wine? What wine? Where the hell did I dine?
Must have been a dream I don't believe where I've been.
Come on, let's do it again.
Do you...you, feel like I do?
How'd ya feel?
Do you...you, feel like I do?
Whose wine? What wine? Where the hell did I dine?
Must have been a dream I don't believe where I've been.
Come on, let's do it again.
Do you...you, feel like I do?
How'd ya feel?
Do you...you, feel like I do?
My friend got busted, just the other
day.
They said,"Don't walk, don't walk, don't walk away."
Drove him to a taxi, bent the boot, hit the bag.
Had to play some music, wonder why's he [brag or drag].
Do you...you, feel like I do?
How'd ya [turns from mic, can't catch it]?
Do you...you, feel like I...
Champagne for breakfast and a Sherman in my hand.
Peached up, Peached Ale, never fails.
Must have been a dream I don't believe where I've been.
Come on, let's do it again.
Do you...you, feel like I do?
How'd ya feel?
Do you...you, feel like I Do...
They said,"Don't walk, don't walk, don't walk away."
Drove him to a taxi, bent the boot, hit the bag.
Had to play some music, wonder why's he [brag or drag].
Do you...you, feel like I do?
How'd ya [turns from mic, can't catch it]?
Do you...you, feel like I...
Champagne for breakfast and a Sherman in my hand.
Peached up, Peached Ale, never fails.
Must have been a dream I don't believe where I've been.
Come on, let's do it again.
Do you...you, feel like I do?
How'd ya feel?
Do you...you, feel like I Do...
Song Lyrics from:
Do You Feel like
we Do'
Peter Frampton; Frampton Comes Alive,
1976.
Playing
the venerable Do You Feel's first rift before stopping 'N proclaiming he'd
played I-T about 17-million times; Aye Karumba! And therefore had fun messing
us around during the vaunted Talk Box bits, although I appreciated his
appropriate nod to fallen ex-band members Bob Mayo (Keyboards) and John Siomos (Drums)
after the current keyboardist's brilliant rendition of the song's patented
keyboard solo. While even more amazing was Bass Player Stanley Sheldon still
twangin' away for Pete since originally joining up with Frampton in 1975...
VIDEO: Do You Feel like We Do'
And
naturally, the audience enticed Frampton into an encore, to which as I've
mentioned, started off with his and Robert Randolph's excellent rendition of
I'm going Down, Down, Down, with the encore being capped off by an AWESOME
rendition of the timeless George Harrison Beatles classic, While My Guitar
Gently Weeps! Which I can't find anything for this duo on Youtube, but did
discover this recent Buddy Guy & Frampton version from the same Guitar
Circus tour...
VIDEO: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Leaving
immediately after Frampton & Randolph's brilliant encore we drove SOUTHWARDS
awhile before sleeping overnight some where's in the Siskiyou mountains, as I think Claudio said we were at 4,000+ feet
elevation; where we could smell a heavy layer of fire smoke all night long
before drifting off to la-la land.
Then we
drove the ENTIRE following day before finally arriving at Sonoma Raceway at 5PM
Friday afternoon, after 'bout 10hrs driving - to check out the track, parking,
etc before departing for our next overnight's locale: Guerneville.
As our
only roadblock of the day was when traffic came to a crawl on the freeway just
prior to the roadside sign warning us to expect HEAVY traffic on Raceday! Which
was caused by a massive Industrial complex buildings(?) being on fire, with
acrid smoke wafting skywards; while we pondered just what type 'O nasty,
toxic pollutants we were breathing!
Since, have I mentioned yet how the Dodge Caravan doesn't have (working) AC! As
we opted for the 2/5 version instead, i.e.; 2-windows DOWN at 5mph, as we
lumbered by the warning sign; Hya!
Yep,
we stayed at a friend's fabulous 'lil rustic cabin's Lodging & camping
resort; along with getting lost in Petaluma 'N stopping at Taco Bell for dinner
each nite in Santa Rosa, along with buying various sundry supplies at Lucky's;
Hey! NO Do You feel 'Rucky jokes here; Hooah! (visiting two different stores) Along
with visiting the local Safeway, Trader Joes, Costco,etc.
And
although I thoroughly enjoyed Sonoma Raceway, I equally enjoyed my stay in the
tranquility of Guerneville, spending two night's sleeping underneath the Redwoods at our
friend's peaceful resort!
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| 2014 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma ticket stub autographed by A-L-L 3 Team Penske Boyz, i.e.; 'Monty, 'HULIO & DJ WillyP, aka Juan Pablo Montoya, Helio Castroneves & Will Power. (The Tomaso Collection) |
As
little did I know, the following day I'd be procuring half of this year's
starting grid's "John Hancock's" during the "obligatory"
autograph session, including procuring A-L-L three Penske Boyz signatures on
the only thingy in my possession, the day's
ticket stub, with Juan Pablo Montoya, (2000 Indy 500 winner) Helio Castroneves (2001-02, 2009 Indy 500
winner) and soon to be 2014 Indy Car Series champion Will Power all gladly
signing I-T!
To
continue reading, see; The Tomaso Files: Buddy,Peter and Eleven 'lil IndyCar boyz - Rollin-rollin-rollin'