WHAT A TEMPER!: PARTY ON MONARCH PASS

Shortly after dinner Sunday night, I hopped into the truck and drove the nearly 200 miles to the Monarch ski area. Knowing the snowcats rumble around the ski area all night, I opted to park in a dark location at a turn off atop Monarch Pass a mile up the road. Although I had gotten there relatively early, I was not interested in making this a late night. So rather than pick a 45+ minute Van Halen concert, I went straight for the good stuff, their Van Halen II studio album. Ah, the clarity of sound! It sounds like Eddie's right there on "Spanish Fly". In 31 munites it was over and I moved onto the main act.

Van Halen was followed by Echo & The Bunnymen, their July 5, 1987 performance at the Torhout Festival in Belgium. Their fifth studio album Echo & The Bunnymen, was released the following day, on July 6th. Similar to what happened with Van Halen, tensions arose in 1986 while they preparing this studio album. Recording was complicated by the star treatment received by McCulloch. This, along with his heavy drinking, alienated him from the rest of the band. After this tour, in 1988, Ian McCulloch left to pursue a solo career.

I love the sound and it sent into the "zone" this night atop a mountain pass, dancing in the snow beside the truck. Crawled into the back of the truck when it was all over, enjoying a restful sleep.

Skiing was a blast: decent snow, a comfortable/mild day and blue skies. Practiced the tele turns on the bump runs. What was amazing was that every time I went into the lodge for something (restroom, lunch, a coffee, etc), they played a Van Halen tune on the piped in sound system. The "classic rock" channel off of satellite radio. That made the day even better!

Senses distorted