AC/DC Brian Johnson gets ready to rock ...on Casey Key Florida before the tour

It's where the elite meet

By JENNIFER SHEA
CORRESPONDENT


Published: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 9:12 a.m.
Brian and Brenda Johnson, Sarasota's rock royalty, are on the cutting edge of redefining the colloquialism "party like a rock star."


COURTESY PHOTO / LOXCOMM, ANGIE GOMES Billy Joel tour rigger Norman Gomes, AC/DC rock legend Brian Johnson, Bad Sara band manager Brenda Johnson and Bates RV owners Dorothy and Frank Bates (left to right) enjoy a post-dinner libation at Turtle beach campsite. "Camping is really the great equalizer," Brenda said.

click to enlarge Frank Bates, Angie Gomes, Brian Johnson, Dorothy Bates and Brenda Johnson (left to right), share some time out on the area waters recently. "Turtle beach campsite has a dock and boat slips across the street, so we drove a boat to the Field Club for lunch, said Angie Gomes. "Then we went to Casey Key; there is a dolphin that comes right up to your boat."
COURTESY PHOTO / LOXCOMM, NORMAN GOMES

click to enlarge
click to enlarge LOXCOMM COURTESY PHOTO / ANGIE GOMES Redefining 'party like a rock star': from left, David Harkins, Norman Gomes, birthday girl Angie Gomes, Brian Johnson, Brenda Johnson, Vicky Harkins (holding football), kneeling, Frank Bates and Dorothy Bates, kick back for a week of camping. Brenda and Brian got "hooked on camping" about 17 years ago. For the Johnsons, camping is the ultimate relaxation. The new definition? A laptop, couple of bikinis for the petite green-eyed Brenda, stereo system for Brian, a coffeemaker and an Airstream RV to park at Turtle Beach Park campsite.

Brian Johnson, lead singer for the phenomenally successful rock band AC/DC, will kick off a tour of North America, South America, Europe and Asia in October to support his new album, "Black Ice."

For a Hall of Fame legend like Johnson, touring equals insanity.

Brenda, band manager to budding rock groups, Bad Sara and 7 Years Past, is the most thoughtful of spouses. She tries to simplify Brian's life during AC/DC tours.

So while Brian toiled under the hot lights of a photo shoot in New York, enduring the intolerably prying questions of Rolling Stone magazine writers, Brenda packed their Airstream and invited a few friends for a week of simple decompression. "Brian flew in from New York and came straight here," Brenda said.

From a five-star Fifth Avenue hotel, tariff, $1,100 to $16,000 per night to the quiet serene beauty of Turtle beach, $300 bucks for the week? Yep, the perfect precursor to the upcoming tour.

"I live on the water," said Johnson, clad in flip-flops and short-shorts, without a trace of makeup or a wrinkle on her tanned face, "but you can't beat this water view. It is so beautiful here."

Not exactly what you were expecting the camping crowd to look like? Don't judge these books by their covers; Brenda was a Girl Scout and Brian was a Sea Scout, Britain's equivalent of our Boy Scout program.

Add Norman Gomes and his wife, Angie, and the joint really starts rockin'.

Gomes is known in the music business as one of the best tour-riggers in the industry. He is currently on tour with the Dave Matthews band. He took a short break after Billy Joel's sold-out Shea Stadium concert, which included a surprise appearance by Sir Paul McCartney.

"Lot of fun," he smiled.

Now, like Brian Johnson, Gomes has a short break between gigs. He and Angie accepted Brenda's invitation to party at Turtle Beach for Angie's 40th birthday.

"We talked about a cruise or maybe going abroad, but we love camping with the Johnsons," Gomes said. "We actually bought our first Airstream from Brian.

"He signed it over the door."

"We bought our first Airstream about 17 years ago, for our vintage car racing," Brenda said. "We got hooked on camping. It really is the great equalizer." Johnson adds that "at around $300 a week off-season, anyone can camp at Turtle Beach."

Camping, she said, has really helped the Johnson family realize how little they truly need to be happy. Johnson lists their favorite camping sites as Turtle Beach, Anastasia Park in St. Augustine and Key West. "We've met the most wonderful people."

Johnson also invited longtime friends Frank and Dorothy Bates, owners of Bates RV in Venice and Tampa.

Johnson, Bates and Gomes could easily afford to vacation wherever they chose, "but you can't beat the view at Turtle Beach," Brenda said. "And you really get to bond in a different way with people.

"I love the camaraderie."

Frank Bates laughed, "I can't open the door and sit in the hall, barefoot, at the Ritz, and you can't buy this view of Siesta Beach."

"Some campers were here from Switzerland," Brenda said. "Brian asked them what they did, they were Swiss bankers. Then there are folks here who don't have a lot. Strangers helped me connect the electricity and the cable."

Johnson decorated the campsite with tiki torches and paper lanterns for Angie's birthday. Neighboring campers brought wine and joined the celebration. Johnson softly cranked his music, hammocks swayed gently in the Siesta Key breeze; a good time was had by all.

The next morning at 9 a.m., the athletic contingent, essentially Brenda, returns from a beach hike. The Gomes stir slowly. Norm, spraying for ants, Angie shares a muffin with Brenda. They slowly sip their coffee and take in the beauty that surrounds them.

In the past week, they have enjoyed grilling marvelous dinners under the stars, a "spa day," that included pedicures and manicures, kayaking and beach hikes.

No ringing phones or faxes -- instead, stunning sunsets and witnessing "the most incredible rainbow halo around the moon," Brenda marveled.

"We laughed, Brian told jokes, and stories," and they commune with what Brenda calls "the best-kept secret in Sarasota."