Hey Hey In Rockers and Welcome to back The Lobby this month! This weekend was Thanksgiving weekend here in the US, a time to give thanks for all of the people and things you are fortunate enough to have in your life. It’s also a day of feasting and drinking with roasted turkey, bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy shared around a table with loved ones and friends. It’s the start of a holiday season that extends through Christmas with many, many events and generation old traditions that make this time of year so magical.

One of these traditions during this time is The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC, which happens every year on Thanksgiving morning drawing 2.5 million people into the streets of Manhattan as well as nearly 35 million from around the globe watching on television to see the parade wind it’s way through one of the busiest cities on earth. The parade is a long trail of marching bands, large inflated balloons of popular characters throughout the years and brightly decorated floats carrying actors, politicians, and dancers and yes, pops stars and musicians (that’s where we enter this story) through the skyscrapers and bustle of Manhattan.

Gwen Stefani, Wyclef Jean, Flo Rida, 98 Degrees, Patti Labelle and Smokey Robinson were among the artists riding the legendary themed parade floats, ours was a Hawaii themed float with John and I perched atop a confetti spewing Volcano complete w/ a waterfall cascading down from the top of the float and the rest of the band below us joined by little kids dressed as frogs while stilt walkers dressed as flowers greeted parade goers. Sit looked like some kind of surreal dream and believe me if felt like a surreal dream as well as we spent 1.5 hours waving to the millions of attendees and finishing the parade with a television broadcast of our single “So Alive”.
The parade fishes up with a visit from Santa Clause in his sleigh pulled by reindeers and the holiday season officially begins here in the US. Right after the parade my family met me at our car and we drove through the millions of people to the airport and made the 1-hour flight back home for Thanksgiving Dinner with our family in Buffalo, NY… what a great way to start the holidays ….

Goo Goo Dolls also did a gig at The Rock and Roll Marathon in Las Vegas this month, the first outdoor show since the craziness of the mass shootings that occurred there in October and under some pretty intense security conditions the gig went perfectly. It was great to see the people of Las Vegas standing strong together and enjoying the music in the night air despite the senseless tragedy that occurred there just a month before. Las Vegas is one of the most unique and extraordinary places in the country and it’s back on it’s feet and ready for action, still wild, but perhaps a little wiser.

Oh, here’s something pretty cool …. I may have mentioned my daughter attends a Japanese language school here in the US. Well, I have been recruited to be Santa Clause for the school’s pageant and have been invited to sing 2 Christmas songs with the kids ? IN JAPANESE!!!!!! So, we will be sharing a recording the songs with you the readers of In Rock for The Holiday season online, so stay tuned to www.RobbysLobby.com for details on how to hear the songs and my attempt to be festive with Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in Japanese! Have a great Holiday and I’ll be in Japan for Christmas this year visiting friends and Family, maybe we’ll see you in a Curry Shop or the train in Tokyo!

All The Best and Peace to You All!
Robby