Dear Hot Buttered Rum family,
It’s Barney, the band’s manager, writing to let you know the latest developments with the Europe trip, coming up October 9-17. First of all, sincere thanks to all of you who have written and called since my last letter. I have really enjoyed getting to know some of you a little, and I hope to get to know you better when we are in Europe.
Many of you have asked questions and made suggestions, both to me and to the travel company, so we have made some changes that should allow even more of you to come along on the trip. Here are answers to some of the questions people have been asking:
1) As you know, the cost of the trip is $2,950.00. That includes airfare to and from Europe, all hotel costs, transfer, ground transportation, breakfast each morning, tickets to all the shows, and tickets to the band’s dinner concert cruise down the Seine. The price also includes the fee the travel company is paying the band to make it financially feasible for them to do this, as well as the band's logistical costs for the trip. This is a very good deal! All of us will meet in either Houston or Newark, depending on where the majority of you are originating your travel, and we will fly on to Europe as a group. The airfare includes tickets from the designated hub markets of San Francisco, Denver and Portland, OR. Travel from other cities may cost an additional $100.00 per person. Every step of the way, there will be representatives from the US travel company and their European partners, who will assist you with any problems you may have, including obtaining medical care, interpreting local language, suggestions for sightseeing and any other issues or needs you may have while traveling with the group. With the details of travel taken care of, you will have the freedom to be footloose.
2) The travel company is offering a land-only package for $1,950.00 for those of you who wish to use airline miles to travel to Europe. We will arrange for you to meet us in Amsterdam and travel with the group. We highly recommend getting on the tour bus if you are arranging your own airfare. Half the fun is getting there…
3) All it takes to reserve your place on the trip is a completed application, which you can find here and a $200.00 deposit. Rhythm Honey is willing to work out payment schedules that will help many of you to spread the cost of the trip over the next six months or so.
4) Many of you have asked if you can extend your trip and the answer is yes. Rhythm Honey will help you to make those arrangements.
5) We have had many requests from people who would like to bring their children along. You are absolutely welcome to do so. Though we will not be able to get underage people into venues that don’t allow it, children will be provided tickets for those shows open to all ages, including the boat cruise. Rhythm Honey will be happy to arrange for professional, bonded baby sitters in your hotel at your expense.
6) We’re excited that folks have been buying tickets, and a couple of large groups are going to wait and jump together, but we MUST have a minimum of 75 people signed up by May 1 (and yes, I can probably get an extension from the travel company, but don’t count on it 100%) or we call the whole thing off and return all the money. Please try to get your people together and reserve your spot now.
I took a similar trip to Europe with The Radiators. You cannot imagine how much fun we had. Fans travel with the band and crew in coach tour buses and stay in the same hotels. This allows the group to bond unlike any other circumstances. The trip with the Radiators included a great deal of drinking. In fact, the group drank all the champagne on the bar car of the Eurostar as we traveled under the English Channel. Not particularly remarkable except that it was an 8 a.m. train! Once we got to London, a group of the fans persuaded the hotel management to leave the bar open all night just for them. They proceeded to conduct a round-the-clock party on an outdoor balcony adjacent to the bar.
We arrived in Bruges on market day and I was amazed to find a Flemish band playing old Stax R&B hits in the middle of the medieval town square. They even had a B3 organ with a Leslie cabinet. While I was listening to the R&B band, a weird marching band, dressed all in white, with white papier mache headpieces on and playing instruments all made from white PVC pipe, marched into and around the square, blending atonally with the R&B music. What a day!
The Radiators, who are really nice guys, but who are also a bunch of crotchety old men, were terrified at the thought of actually living with their fans on a nine-day tour. By the second day, though, they were pulling out acoustic guitars on the buses and leading sing-alongs. Imagine what Butter will do with this situation…
As always, call 770.518.6434 or write me at
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if you want to talk. Also feel free to call Brady, Yakir or Melissa at 888.903.3329 and they will be happy to answer any specific travel questions you might have.
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