George Jones
George Jones rolls into Moncton
Legendary country singer arrived in town yesterday, performs at Moncton Coliseum tomorrow night
By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff Published Tuesday April 15th, 2008
The Possum has arrived.
George Jones is in Moncton, and if you were out shopping yesterday afternoon at Highfield Square, you may have seen the legendary country singer shoe-shopping with his wife Nancy.
He proved elusive to the Times & Transcript, however. We missed him by about 15 minutes, it seems.
Jones and his band and crew arrived yesterday afternoon. They played a show in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday night and they landed in Moncton early for their show tomorrow night at the Moncton Coliseum.
Jones performs at the Coliseum tomorrow night, one night after Maritime songstress Anne Murray commands the stage for perhaps the final time. Murray's current tour is supposed to be her final major tour.
Will Jones be at the show tonight?
"I'm not sure if he's going," says Wes Weaver, one of Jones' bus drivers. Weaver was hanging out around Jones' several buses parked in the Highfield Square parking lot. Jones and his band and crew are staying across the street at the Crowne Plaza hotel.
Weaver repeated several times how much the band, crew and Jones himself enjoy touring Canada.
"The fans up here are just really rabid about country music," Weaver said in his thick southern accent. "(Jones) has been really, really upbeat. The crowds up here have been awesome."
The Jones tour buses were parked in full view of Main Street and the singer was strolling through Highfield Square wearing a ball cap -- not exactly the low-profile one would think a singer of Jones' stature would keep.
"He enjoys talking to people," Weaver says.
"He doesn't mind, and people are pretty respectful of him. They want to say hi, but they don't mob him. If he is going to be mobbed though, it's in Canada," he says with a laugh, noting Canadians' love for the singer whose career spans six decades.
Weaver notes that fans from the Bouctouche area, in particular, love the singer.
"Oh, folks in Bouctouche just love George. If we're playing the New England states, they'll come down to see him."
Weaver rattles off names of Maritime cities and towns without even thinking about it. "We love Canada," he says.
The band played Halifax and Sydney already. Moncton is tomorrow night, followed by three Newfoundland dates and a Charlottetown, P.E.I., show. Following that, the band has a week off.
Weaver has been driving Jones' band around North America for 12 years, he says, but he is still the "new guy".
"George really takes care of you," he says. "When you work for someone who is good to work for, you don't want to leave."
Vaughn Reed has been in Jones' band for 21 years, initially as a guitarist and now as a bass player. He was also strolling through Highfield Square yesterday.
"There are very responsive audiences" in Canada, he says. "As an entertainer, you always appreciate that."
Both Reed and Weaver were relaxed and eager to chat.
"We don't mind talking to people," Reed says. "You talk to people and they tell you the things you should go see, 'You need to go see this or you need to go here,' Getting it from the people is great."
Reed says he was told he should check out Magnetic Hill. Other than that, he was hoping to hit a nice restaurant or two.
"When you're travelling, you don't always get to eat very well," he says.
n George Jones and opening act The Roys will perform tomorrow night at the Moncton Coliseum. Tickets are $61 and they are available at the Moncton Coliseum box office, online at tickets.moncton.ca or by phone at 857-4100.
George Jones rolls into Moncton
