Well, yesterday we got to rehearsal around 3 pm but Gene, the Swedes, and Johnny Echols (tonight’s guest) got delayed when Johnny got a ticket in traffic! But they all arrived by 3:45 pm and then we went thru the tunes and it sounded wonderful. Everyone except Anna, actually, who had to leave with Gene and pick up her Chello from Glendale…GLENDALE! They finally returned at about 8pm…it took them about 3 hours!

Afterwards, Johnny split back to the hotel (by the way, his guitar playing was spot on A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, which UCLA will find out come tonight…) and Gene took us all out (about 18 of us!) to dinner at El Coyote in Hollywood, plus bought everyone 1 cocktail; what a guy, huh? The Swedes were teaching us some Swedish at the table.

Speaking of the Sedes, we have some new additions (and one REALLY new addition!): first off, on this trip, violinist Ketil, Andreas, and Caroline are not on this trip. They have been replaced by Kerstin Thorn, Maria Ekvall, and Malin-My Nilsson. Anna (cello) and Eric (viola) are still with us. And we have our original horn section back; Bjorn, Stefan, and Oscar!

ok, well it is nearly 1;30pm so I must now work my way to shower and then off to UCLA for soundcheck. Seeing as how this is our town, this show is going to be very special. I’m gonna try to savor every moment. Also, it’s worth mentioning that Bjorn turns 26 today!

Mike Randle