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Winnipeg RustFest I (Oct. 28, 1996)

Your Host - Kenny Sultan Hoeppner

Pre-Fest Notice

The Fest Call was put out by Kenny Sultan Hoeppner....

The Winnipeg RustFest is set. Here's what's happening.

The RustFest will be held at Saffrons restaurant in the lounge. Saffrons is located on the corner of Corydon ave. + Hugo St.. Why Saffrons? Saffrons is located right across the street from the Gray Apartments which is where Neil and his Mother first lived when they moved to Winnipeg from back east. For those that have John Einerson's book Don't Be Denied, there is a picture of the block in it. (John is also joining us in one of the Rust Rows) So I thought it was a good place to start our Rust odyssey, near the same place that Neil started his musical odyssey. You might call this a Roots RustFest.

The festivities will start around 4 pm on Monday October 28th. For those who are in from out of town or those who have the day of you are welcome to start earlier. Saffrons has a full menu for those who wish to eat, and their happy hour is from 2 pm to 7 pm.

Saffrons would like to know in advance how many people they can expect. So for those who will be attending. Please email me to confirm, so I can let them know how many Rusties to expect.

I have made arrangements with another bar for transportation. Wise Guys Bar and Grill has donated the use of their events bus (a converted old school bus)to pick us up at Saffrons and take us to the Arena and back. So we can leave our cars at Saffrons. It beats paying $5.00 at the Arena for parking. The bus will be leaving for the show at around 6:30 pm. Well thats all for now. Just 14 more sleeps to go. See you at the RustFest.

Peace, Sultan (khoeppne@City.Winnipeg.MB.CA)
Ken Hoeppner (Home: 204-452-6252, Work: 204-986-4772)

PS: On the weekend of the concert. The Winnipeg Free Press will be running some stories and pictures about Neil's days in Winnipeg by John Einerson. For those people from out of town: if you're in Winnipeg on the Sunday, maybe we can get together for a little tour of the Neil places that are significant.

PPS: My email is only available at work so I won't be able to respond to any messages on that weekend. So please call me if you have any questions, or need any directions.

Fest Report

(Also see the Show Reviews)

Hey Rusties: This will be the 1st of a few posts I will send about Neil and RustFest here in Winnipeg. I'm still recovering and buzzing from Monday nights show. Thanks to all the people that showed up and made RustFest a great time.

    From Winnipeg:
  1. Jeff Oliver
  2. Stu Reid
  3. Steve Pind
  4. Steve's wife
  5. Ruth Armstrong
  6. John Einerson
  7. Jacqueline Bays
  8. Kurt Braun, keeper of the banner in Regina and here
  9. Neil Hogue
  10. Nelson Hogue
  11. Randy Hogue
  12. Les Hayden
  13. Diane Hayden
  14. Rick Fryer, without who's help this probably wouldn't have happened
  15. Fred Lyons
  16. Pierre
  17. Peierre's Daughter
  18. Deanne
  19. Al
  20. Kate...
  21. ... & Perry from Wise Guys Bar And Grill, let us use their bus
  22. Jungle Jim Healy, drove the bus
  23. John...
  24. ... & Holly from Safrrons, let us use their lounge
    From Out Of Town:
  25. Chuck King (Champlin, MN)
  26. Gord Sepparla (St.Paul, MN)
  27. Mike Manning (Lino Lakes, MN)
  28. Jay Ulka (Fargo, ND)
  29. Mark Merck (Fargo, ND)
  30. Erik Rittenhouse (Madison, WI)
  31. Erik's Fried

On Monday afternoon my friend Stu and I went down to the arena to see if we could score any autographs and to find Zeke to see if he would sign the MORE BARN banner. Neil's Bus wasn't there yet so we walked over to an open door that was close by the loading ramps. There was a security guard at the door and just as I got the words "I'd like to get in touch with..." out, I had to point and say "That Guy!"

Zeke comes walking up the stairs on his way to one of the busses. I showed Zeke the banner and told him the people of Rust would be honored if he would sign it. He looked a little groggy (either he just got up or hadn't slept for quite a while. It took minute but he finally recognized the banner and said "Oh yeah sure I'll sign it." (For those looking for his signature on the banner, as they say in the Bingo halls, "Under the O Zeke".) I then asked him how his trip across Canada was going so far and he said it was great and then he went onto the bus. We left and it was time to get ready for RustFest.

I arrived early at the Los Tapas Bar (Saffrons restaurant) or as Moe the Sleaze renamed it, The Lost Tapers Bar (there were more tapes there than during the Nixon years!) I got there around 3:15pm and hung the banner and set up things and was finished by 3:25 pm. So after a hard days work I sat down and had a beer.

As I was sipping away and daydreaming looking out the window down Corydon Ave, I saw this giant silver eagle come driving up. I couldn't believe my eyes. I yelled to the Bar owner "John I think this must be Neil's bus!" We ran over to the front windows and watched the bus come rolling up. As it got to the Gray Apartments on the corner of Corydon & Hugo, it slowed down and we could see Neil looking out at the Old Grays Apartments (they ain't what they use to be, sorry I couldn't resist). Then the bus sped up and continued down Corydon till it went out of sight. It was all so surreal. The whole thing took about a minute but it seem to go in slow motion and last about a half hour.

Jumping ahead to after the concert. My friend Stu lucked out and was able to score a meet & greet pass from the Warner rep. So he got to meet Neil and get his picture taken with him. Stu asked him about the bus ride in the afternoon and Neil said he just wanted to check out the old neighbourhood. Very Cool. Which goes to show you that you can take the boy out of Fort Rouge but you can't take Fort Rouge out of the boy. Well that's all for now, more to follow...

Peace, Sultan

Chuck King's Fest Report

On Sunday, my friends Mike and Gordy and I packed up all our bags and drove up to Winnipeg.

On Monday morning our local rust-host Kenny "Sultan" Hoeppner met us for breakfast at our hotel. After breakfast Kenny took Gordy and I (Mike stayed back to work out of the hotel room) for a grand tour of Neil related landmarks in Winnipeg. Ken had already claimed the More Barn Banner from Kurt Braun who had taken it to Regina two nights before. Ken took a photo of Gordo and I holding up the banner in front of the Gray Apartments where Neil lived with his mother for a short time after moving up to the city. We took several other photos of places Neil lived, studied and played. If the photos turn out, I intend to get them scanned and placed on the web.

One other stop was made at a used record shop where I found a vinyl copy of Landing on Water having the original sleeve with the photograph of Neil I described the other day. The picture wasn't exactly how I remembered it, but it's still a fun photo of the man.

Ken then left back at the hotel so that he could run some errands, one of which was getting Zeke's autograph on the banner! But I'll let Ken tell that story.

Later in the afternoon we attended the RustFest. Ken did a wonderful job planning the affair. The fest was held at Saffron's "Las Tapos" (which I think is Spanish for Lost Tapers) Bar & Restaurant which is directly across the street from the Gray Apartments mentioned above. (The fact that it is also next-door to Ken's apartment is purely coincidental!) I believe this RustFest has a claim that can be made by no other: Neil's bus drove past! Unfortuantely Neil didn't have time to stop.

Ken had the MORE BARN Banner mounted on the wall to be signed by the attendees. It was a lot of fun reading the signatures of rusties from across the continent. I signed it right next to my buddy Barb H from the land of sun-tan lotion. The banner is still in amazingly great shape after all of it's adventures. It think it would be a great idea to send it to Neil, possibly via Lookout, after the tour is over.

Another highlight of the fest for me was the appearance for a short time of John Einarson, the author of Don't Be Denied - The Canadian Years. In my opinion, this is the very best book out there on our idol and should be read by anyone who considers him/herself a fan. John was gracious enough to autograph my copy.

I also have to comment on the great job Kenny did publicizing the Fest. There was a small article in the Winnipeg Sun about it on Friday ("...The Internet is riddled with dozens of Neil Young websites, but the most impressive of them all arguably belongs to The Rust List, a wired community of Neil Young Fans...") and a reporter and film crew from a local TV station showed up at the event! Did we make it on the air?

Yes! Here's a clip on my server. WARNING: It's huge (over 2MB).
Other Rusties in attendance were Steve Pind, Kurt Braun, Jeff Oliver, Erik Rittenhouse (from Madison, WI fifteen hours away!), Jay Ulku and probably a few others I'm forgetting as well as their friends and families. It was great to see so many of the folks again who were at the Minneapolis RustFest that I hosted in September, but now had time to talk too.

Finally it was time to board the official RustFest Bus (another fine touch arranged by Ken!) and head to the concert.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Ken once more for showing us such a wonderful time!

"Moe the Sleaze"
a.k.a. Chuck King

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