abba mania - home from a great tour

Hello, my friends. Well, I have safely returned home from 1979...again. My satin wardrobe and my high heel boots are back in the closet, the disco ball has been returned to the warehouse, and ABBA MANIA is on hiatus again until October 2021. 
   
I will be honest and tell you that I had serious concerns about this tour, even though it was only two weeks in Florida. Like so many of you, I have had more than my share of people in my life seriously affected by COVID-19. I have also lost several to the angels this year, so my reservations were high. But being ever the insomniac, I was kept awake at night by the spirits of musician friends and heroes who have gone on before me. Their never-ending whispering in the empty concert halls of my head echoed continuously - the show must go on. Eventually, they wore me down and I somewhat came to my senses. So a bit apprehensively, I grabbed my piano and hit the road. 

I want to say that we weren't even 2 verses into the first song on the first night before all of the fears went away, and everything felt wonderful. Except for a couple of small lodging issues, the tour was a great success. The venues took social distancing and masks extremely seriously, and everyone in every city complied wonderfully. It felt thrilling to be back on stage and see my bandmates and friends in different towns along the way. Sadly, it was over too soon, but we all made a lot of great memories. Extra credit and a huge shout-out go to Kathy Mullen of "Mullen's Miracles" for being an enormous amount of help to me and all the ABBA MANIA band and crew throughout the entire tour.

I am sharing a lot of my pictures on my Instagram account these days (Facebook too) and would love for you to see them and comment. 

So please follow me on Instagram @therealjeffpike.

Mama Mia, it's good to be alive,

    Jeff