When Eskimo Joe’s Joel Quartermain caught up with Tone Deaf for a chat about their upcoming tour (see below) recently, he was asked to share one of his best stories from tours past – and boy, did he serve up something unexpected!
Remembering a tour stop at the Sundance Film Festival on the band’s 2008, Black Fingernails Red Wine tour, Joel recalled being dropped in “the depths of a freezing American winter. While shopping for some thermal underwear to combat the -17 degree weather, we heard a rumour that Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were in town for the premiere of their tour film, CSNY/Deja Vu.”
“Not just that, but they were rumoured to be doing a surprise show at our gig directly after we played. Obviously, we were incredibly excited at the prospect of meeting and sharing a stage with these LEGENDS, particularly with Neil Young, who we considered to be a musical God. Surely this couldn’t be. It seemed too good to be true.”
Joel continued: “I was at the counter of the store paying for my new undies, chatting to the person behind the counter when he asked me ‘where are you from, I can’t place that accent on you’. A voice from behind me said ‘Oh that’s definitely an Aussie accent.’ I turned around to be face to face with David Crosby. ‘You’re bang on, mate!’ I replied before rushing off to tell my bandmates.”
“After coming off stage that night, with the packed room buzzing at the prospect of being treated to the rumoured performance, we were backstage waiting on CSNY’s arrival. And then in they walked, Young with his wife Pegi and son, Ben. Obviously, we were in awe. The room was small and when the giants walked in, we barely spoke a word, pretty much just trying not to stare at Neil. None of us plucked up the courage to speak to him, which made the scenario even more awkward.”
Neil Young | “Rockin' In The Free World”
“In the end, Young and Still’s got on stage to join Josh Hisle, who is a two time veteran of the Iraq war, singing Young's 'Rockin In The Free World’. All the while we were standing just metres away to the side of the stage, blown away. It fell short of a full CSNY performance but we still felt like we’d been in the room with greatness.”
Eskimo Joe have announced they will be embarking on a seven-date tour of Australia in March and April, 2022. The trek will see them perform both Black Fingernails, Red Wine (2006) and A Song Is a City (2004) back-to-back, in full for the first time ever. Tickets are on sale now! More info, here.
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