Kansas City might be the loudest stadium that I've played in.
I love Kansas City. I love the coaching staff, the players.
The Dead's best venues were the outdoor concerts. I've been to a few, including one outside of Kansas City on the Fourth of July, but my fave was Shoreline Amphitheatre - a beautiful outdoor arena built on a landfill.
Whenever I'm in Kansas City, I think back to all the jazz-blues greats who played the blues here - like Count Basie, Charlie Parker and Jay McShann. I watched those guys jam in different places and heard a lot of things - but I couldn't do what they did. They were too good.
Like every other place, I guess, Kansas City was quite a different city when I was a youngster there. They had quite a few clubs, and we had what we used to call jam sessions every night.
I've been back to the Kansas City area a lot in the past. My sisters went to college in the area. My brother went to college in the area. I've got friends there, so there's some ties to the area.
I like Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. With the waterfall and things like that, I think it's pretty cool.
One time, when I was in my teens, jamming in a Kansas City club, I was doing all right until I tried doing double tempo on 'Body and Soul.' Everybody fell out laughing. I went home and cried and didn't want to play again for three months.
Being born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in the very rural parts of Kansas led me to believe that everything was simple, everything made sense and that anything was possible.
Kansas City, well, part of the town's pretty cool, and part of the town is not. But it's gonna be that way no matter where you go.
