German tour 2009
I packed my one bag plus the bodhran [reluctantly] and kissed the family goodbye. Almost 5 weeks away in Germany. This journey that had begun with me cold calling agent Michael Behr a year ago, was now sending me back to Germany for a 12-date tour with my friend Uli Kringler and his band.
I decided to fly to Vancouver and was quite surprised to find that I was the only passenger on the 7am flight, me and two pilots, I am in truth not the greatest flyer in the world, however the view over the gulf Islands and the Georgia Strait is really quite spectacular, and almost stops me biting not only my fingernails but also those of the pilots.
I arrange to fly to Frankfurt and then take the 5-hour train journey to Bremen. From Bremen I make the short trip to Rotensburg, where my agent lives, and where I will stay the night.
Michael Behr and his family are wonderful people, I love being in their house. There is a special surprise waiting for me when I look inside the front room…my new BSG guitar, the Claddagh guitar, I ordered and designed the guitar which was made by Jan Stoviczek at BSG.I am left amazed after playing it for only 5 minutes, this is going to be a great tour.
I left the next morning for Hamburg to meet Uli and the band.Uli introduced me to lars Hanson on bass and Heinz lichius on drums.the guys are absaloutely fantastic, they have obviously listened to the songs and already have a great understanding of the music.we rehearse for 13 hours, and the crack is great.
Next day we do it all again, 13 hours, 17 songs, I am tired but I really excited about playing my songs with these guys.
Saturday is a day off because Uli has a show with Juian Dawson and Ian Matthews in Koln.Lars invited me to meet him and his wife Steffi in Hamburg.Both Lars and Uli , when not playing their own musc or touring with the likes of me, are top session players, and play in the big muscal in town..Tarzan.Lars got me a ticket to see the show, it was an incredible experience, all in German but apes are apes in any language.
The orchestra actually play in a room behind the stage and use cameras to keep in time,after I watched the show I asked lars could I watch the band play the show, so I had 6 hours worth of Tarzan.I obviously bought the souvenir loin cloth, actually two of them because they were quite small, perhaps I’ll wear them in the encore, if I get one.
Sunday 6th was the first show, we played in Hamburg. The gig was really great, firs shows are always a little bit nerve racking, but there is magic on the stage and whatever mistakes there were , were overshadowed by the feeling of friendship and community on the stage…I feel incredibly lucky to be sharing my songs not only with the wonderful Hamburg audience but the also the boys in the band.
Monday 7th.
We are playing Kiel tonight and I only have a few hours to go into Hamburg. Hamburg really is the most beautiful city. Full of energy and life I meet up with lars and Steffi and we eat sushi for lunch. The journey to Kiel is about an hour, made even quicker by Heinz’s breathtaking u-turns!
Kiel is another harbor town situated on the Baltic sea. we are playing in the Kultur forum. The sound check is great fun, and everyone seems happy to playing and looking forward to the show . The gig goes really really well, the songs sound even better than the show in Hamburg, the audience is delightful and I even meta lady called Christina who had been to Hornby Island . Hornby is a gulf island and it’s our favourite place in Canada. Our good friends CONTACT _Con-39E8782E2FB \c \s \l Gerianne and Wayne introduced us to Hornby four years ago and we have holidayed there ever since. Christina loved Hornby and also loved the Madrona trees, we decided to create a facebook group for people who love the arbutus tree.
For dinner we were treated to a local dish, a flat pizza like dish called flamkuchen, very nice.
I signed the Kiel guest book and off we went back to Hamburg.
Tuesday 8th Kassel
It feels like Italy. Its really very hot, especially in the back of the Mercedes van with no air conditioning. The drive to Kassel from Hamburg took about 4 hours, and the crack in the van is mighty. In all the years I have played I have really not done that many miles in a van with a band, and I love it. Heinz the drummer is the resident comedian and his knowledge of Eddie Izzard sketches is really quite impressive..
‘ I am your boss. are you Mr Stevens? Who is Mr Stevens? He is Head of Catering, I can kill catering with a single thought..’’
The venue in Kassel was called the Schlachthof…which translates as .slaughter house. The building had been converted into a community centre, complete with a musical venue. Robert and Janna meet us and help us with the equipment. It’s a small but cozy room with a good sized stage. I ordered a Turkish dish called Boerek,, very common in Germany, it looks like a loaf of bread, with filling, very tasty. see pictures if you don’t believe me.
The producer of my new album and owner of CONTACT _Con-39E8782E31A \c \s \l Stockfisch-Records Gunther Pauler came to visit and see the show and it was great to see him and his lovely wife Evelyn again.
The show goes well and they seemed to like the songs and the band and the bodhran.
After the show I meta lady called Claudia. Claudia had been to the West of Ireland for the past 10 years or so. She told me all about the great times she had had in Westport, and how she was looking for the Irishman of her dreams…I think I should start a campaign to find Claudia what she wanted. however, he has to be able to sing whiskey in the jar reasonably in tune.
We stayed in a hotel after the show and in the lobby we found a Dubliner called Louis Fitzmahoney, he had been playing Irish music for a business conference that night, he sang the parting glass, and did a great job of it. He had been living in Germany for 27 years, but still had kept his Dublin accent.
Breakfast was great, salmon [makes me think of home] and fruit. as I write this now we are on our way to Buchholz,a town surrounded very beautiful scenery,
I must also say the new guitar is settling in very well. I call it the Claddagh guitar, because of the design on the 7th fret, The sound is wonderful and it changes well from finger style and strumming.
