Dear friends and fans,

 

GREAT NEWS FOR BRAZILIAN FANS!  Roger is very happy to be coming to Brazil to play at the

Sao Paulo Moto Festival, which is Sept 5-7.  

 

Roger just did his first three concerts, kicking off his 2008 summer tour in Germany, UK, and Spain, and is happy to be touring again.

 

His first show took place in Kiel, Germany. This was a city-sponsored free concert where 15,000 fans of all ages showed up to have fun, sing along, and celebrate the annual Kiel week of boat races. The concert was a huge success and it was clear everyone came just to see Roger, as all but 100 left when he completed his set and walked off the stage. The promoter was thrilled and wants to have Roger back again next year. We are indeed off to an exciting summer!

 

This happened to be a good promoter, whereas for one of Rogers shows, in Atlantic City, the promoter did a terrible job…we heard fans were not able to buy tickets when they called the box office.  There were so many problems with it and most of the fans who showed up were the ones on our mailing list. We feel it’s so unfortunate that all the fans in that area did not find out about the show until later, after Roger was gone!  That’s the way it goes in this business- a promoter can make or break a show and that promoter was not a very good one.

 

The next concert at Stowe (Roger’s former boarding school) was truly a one of a kind event. It began with a picnic on the south lawn and ended up with parents and students dancing together in the aisles and on their chairs to “Breakfast in America” and other classic hits.

 

The headmaster was thrilled and honored to have Roger come back almost 40 years to the day from when he left.  We felt happy to be able to support the school’s fundraiser to help sustain the historic buildings where students have the opportunity to learn and explore their creativity in music and the arts.

 

This was truly a special treat for Roger’s former classmates, and for other fans as well, to see him perform at the place that was so instrumental in his development as a songwriter and a musician. For Roger, this concert was coming full circle - having given his first recital, comprised of all his own original compositions, at Stowe School when he was 13 years old.

 

Roger has long since healed the pain of being sent away to boarding school at the young age of 8, and as most of you know, part of that healing came through the music and songs he wrote and sings. We know his music has helped many of you heal similar wounds and find comfort as you have met life’s many challenges.

 

Stowe is so proud of Roger.  They created such a beautiful brochure, we are attaching it here for everyone to see.

CLICK HERE  (PDF format)

 

(By the way, we also learned that Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines, is a former classmate of Roger’s – another of the students the school is quite proud of.)

 

In this world of Internet, there are so many things that affect Roger as an artist and also with Supertramp. Please help keep us informed of any bootlegs you see and spread the word that the only place you can get all of Roger’s albums (with Supertramp and after Supertramp) personally autographed is from Roger’s store website.  Buying directly through Roger’s store also shows support for the artist. (Yes, they are really all personally signed by Roger.)

 

We appreciate you staying in touch and keeping us informed on anything you think we may not be aware of - like new artists covering Roger’s songs, for instance - and we invite you to email us your suggestions and comments. 

 

For example, Nicolas from the French fan website contacted us to let us know that the Supertramp Revival Tribute band was advertising that Roger was going to be playing with them at a concert in France.  This was not true. In fact, we had sent a very strong letter to the promoter saying that Roger was not involved with that tribute band, though they had invited him to play with them. Rick and Roger are not happy with how this band has crossed the line - using the Supertramp trademark and copyrighted artwork, using false advertising to try to sell tickets using Roger’s name, etc. We have tried communicating with them and hope they will come into more integrity and respect - to be a true tribute band instead of just using the Supertramp name and catalogue for their financial gain.

 

So please keep us informed and help us keep up with what is going on around the world.  As you know, when we are on the road touring we may not be able to respond quickly, so also please stay in touch with Kathy, our Webmaster.  And speaking of Kathy, please check out the recent work she has done on the website. We send her big kudos for keeping Roger’s fans informed. Thank you, Kathy – Awesome job!!!

 

GERMAN FAN SITE – A new German fan site will be coming online very soon, so keep on the look out and give them a big welcome.

 

We are really hoping you have a wonderful summer and will be able to make it to one or more of Roger’s concerts this year. It is a very exciting and full summer concert tour.

 

Cheers,

 

Linda and Shakti