Sunday 28th Gudensburg –Hamburg—Cadenberge—Hamburg
Slept..better, woke up and went for breakfast, breakfasts are always really interesting when you travel, sometimes it feels as if we are all part of a human family,that is until you sit down and eat a breakfast in a different place and you realize how different we all are.
The hotel offered me a platter of meat and salad and bread and jam, which was nice, and an egg, I needed a translator to get me some decaf, I feel like a real pain in the ass on this tour.I ‘ve pretty much spent a lifetime eating everything I wanted to eat and drink, but what with the growing years and living in a health conscience society such as Victoria, I now have quite a restricted diet and it makes traveling a little harder hopefully I get to stay a little longer on the planet because of it.
Uli and drove the three hours back to Hamburg and there we waited for Lars and Heinz to pick us up in the van. The show tonight would be the first with the band. To be honest personally I would have loved another day of rehearsal, but I suppose the first night will always be a little nerve racking.
The venue was a flower shop, or should I say more like a flower warehouse, its was quite funny because the last show we played together as a band was in Birmingham last November and that too was in a flower shop, perhaps this is the way of the future, our little angle, every band needs one.
Michael Behr and his beautiful family came to the show and it is always lovely to see them.The owner Deuter,and the promoter Wolfgang were very pleasant people also.
The show was packed and that was great, there were a few hairy moments but overall the show was fine. [Hairy moments]..good name for a band?
Sold some cud’s and had a great moment on stage towards the end of the show. During the interval a small little guy called Johannes came up and asked me for an autograph, he was with his sister and the two of them were really sweet. We had a little conversation and he told me that he played the drums and so we chatted about that for a while. In the encore of the show I usually play the drum, so when I went back on stage I called up Johannes to join me, he was a little shy at first an because of the lights he shielded his eyes with both of his hands, but when he relaxed he started playing the kit and the crowd went wild! Definitely the highlight of the show.
Afterwards we packed away and were helped by lots of people , and then back in the van and courtesy of Lord Delicious we drove through the pouring rain back to Hamburg.
On route home Lars and I stopped into his old place so I could Skype and catch up with the famille and also here about the US getting their asses kicked by Canada in the mens hockey…go Canada, world record for most golds in a Winter Olympics , we owned the podium.
Monday March 1st Hamburg
This was a day off, thankfully. I decided to get healthy and check out the local health spa.I paid my 18 euros [which I did think was a little on the pricey side] and headed of to the treadmill.since [mind you for that price I would expect to be carried to the treadmill by a least three beautiful athletic beauties and then gently wiped down after my efforts ] I nearly tore my elbow off running with the dog [don’t ask] I haven’t been able to use my arm much so I stuck to the legs.
Afterwards I went to the pool and then the steam room which was great, must admit experienced a little bit of a culture shock in the sauna section because not only are they mixed but everyone is completely nude. Years of specialist Irish catholic training has of course rendered the human body as a figment of terror and shame, so to be confronted in this way took a little getting used to, in fact the steam room was the safest places due to the fact no one could see me or vice versa.. note to self..must get counseling about that when I get home.
After three wonderful hours in the gym [funny how you can get used to something] I headed back to the flat.The plan was to go to a wonderful guitar shop called Schalloch [translated it means soundhole].Set up the pa, and then head off to do a little internet tv slot called balcony TV.
We set up the pa, Kristof the owner graciously took us out for dinner and then we headed off to the Reperbahn where the balcony tv thing was to happen.
The Raperbahn is the sleazy red light street of Hamburg, but it also has some great theatres and restaurants.We got to the balcony..which is literally a balcony looking over the street and then we played a song, had a short interview and then headed back to the guitar store to do a little show there.
The gig went well, the audience was an invited group of people who all were musicians.a little bit of pressure there then!
Uli and I played the first set and then the boys very kindly joined us for the second set.
After the show Lars, Heinz and I went to a small Italian restaurant and had a lovely evening chatting about this and that.
Tuesday 2nd Hamburg
Today was another business day. I went over to my manager’s office and we spent the day going through stuff.
I got back to the flat at around 7pm and then had a wonderful dinner with lars and Steffi and their two friends Yoyo and Perdu, both fine musicians themselves.
Hit the sack at around 9.30.
Wednesday 3rd Hamburg
Today was an important day. y first International school show!
I was booked to do a 5-hour workshop with 80 kids in a school in West Hamburg. Lars [bless him] offered to take me there in the car and kindly look after me in the playground until I made some friends of my own.
I arrived at the school to be met by the teacher, the lovely Katherine, she explained that due to illness two teachers were absent and now instead of 80 children it was going to be 160..Gulp…. Oh well in for a penny.
As it happens the kids seemed to get what I was doing and we even wrote a song together and recorded it.
I was really impressed by the musicality of the children, particularly Elias, and Emily and Julia, and many, many, more.
I finished school at 1.30and then caught the train to Central Hamburg where I was supposed to meet Ki, however due to a breakdown in communication I missed her, but we finally met up.
The plan was to go and visit a wonderful charity called Arche. On my last tour I had been to a concert on a boat, promoted by local Hamburg musicians, to raise money for Arche. Arche is an organization that has a house that can be visited by children after school who are lacking in certain areas of their lives.
I want to try and have a day in Hamburg where we get at least 150 musicians to busk and give the proceeds to the Arche .It will happen in May I hope.
I spent about an hour singing songs with the kids, and I really want to go back.
Got the train home and watched Brazil beat Eire, and Germany play Argentina, more on that tomorrow.
Thurs 4th Hamburg -Munster
Maradona, managed to get a victory in Munich over the Germans, in what was a typical friendly game…i.e. rubbish.
The day began with ..Snow, I cannot believe how cold it is here, just when you think you can get out the beach shorts and Hawaiian shirt ..Bang, you are left shell shocked and shivering outside Aldi.
Lars and I met Heinz, who is in charge of the van, bless his cotton socks. We headed over to Uli in Finkerwerder, the home of Airbus.
Our show today was in the University town of Munster. and the trip was about ¾ hours in the van, not too long by the last tours standards.
The venue was called the Hot Jazz club and was the typical basement bar /club, but with a really great vibe. Some super serious jazz acts have played at the venue, and the music was deeply engrained in the room.
We were treated to a great meal by Abdul, possibly the best food I have eaten at a venue for a while. Mark and Michael were gracious hosts and the whole experience could not have been better!
Before the show I managed to Skype with Lou and then I got to Skype Dublin and got to talk and see my Mom and Dad and my 93-year-old Grandmother. She is such a beautiful lady and I feel so close to her, it was a magical moment.
The concert went well and it is definitely a place I would love to come back and play in. We also tried out a brand new song that I wrote in Hamburg a couple of days ago; it was nice to write a song and get it in the set quickly.
On another note we were visited by Katherine, whom we metat the show in Osnabruck last year. She was the daughter of Wolfgang, the owner of the venue we played, and it was a lovely surprise.
After the show we had a good chat with Mark the promoter and we then headed back to the hotel.
Friday 5th Munster – Hattingen
We had some time to kill today because the drive to the next place is only about an hour. We headed into the medieval town of Munster had a look round, as usual it was bloody freezing, so I just went for a walk around the church and had a coffee.
We also went into the local record store. The owners of the store promoted the show last night so it was good to see them again. I also noticed that I had two albums in their top in store top 20 chart…time to order the Merc I think.
We drove to Hattingen, another small but charming German town. The venue was a restored building from the 16th Century.
The promoter was a great guy called Axel, who loved Irish Music, particularly the Fureys.The room was fairly small but there was a great crowd and they sang beautifully to the songs.
The snow started really falling during the show, and by the time we left the venue [thanks to the great help of Tobias and Robin] there was a blanket of snow everywhere. We went for a little post relaxation in a bar and then headed back to the hotel.
I managed to Skype home which is always good.
Saturday 6th Hattingen - Gevenboisch
I had a good sleep, a little chilly because the duvets are not very thick, must bring my own next time. a good breakfast and a Skype with my Dad in Dublin.
We drove to Grevenboisch and went t the hotel…and to my great surprise Blues were playing Portsmouth….well, no Wembley this year either, lost 2-0.Still,it has been a great season for the boys in blue.
We went to the venue, a museum, had lots of help from Manuel and his buddy getting the gear in. The room was quite small, but perfectly formed…around about 80 people came to the show which was great.
I met a couple who had visited Vancouver Island in the 80’s and had walked the West Coast trail. This trail is for the serious hikers. It’s about a five day hike, and you have to carry everything you need on your back, and the terrain is pretty hard going. You need to be in shape before even thinking about it, consequently it’s still on the bucket list.
There were some nice moments in the show and the food we were given was top notch.
Sunday 7th Grevenbroicsh—Hanover- Hamburg
Today was an off day, Heinz needed a ride to Hannover so we drove through the brilliant snow. After dropping Heinz off we then made the hour and a half journey back to Hamburg.
I had a meeting with der management and then went to Lars and Steffi’s for a sumptuous dinner. We spent the evening looking at our favourite youtube videos, they showed me a video of a girl from the east of Europe who did some sand drawing, totally amazing, check out sand drawing and you will find it, breathtaking!
Monday 8th day off.
Spent the morning listening to Luka Bloom, brilliant Irish singer songwriter, I have been a fan of Luka for over 20 years , he is a superb performer.
I really wanted to go out and do some busking today but I got about half a mile down the street and realized it still incredibly cold and there was no way I would be able to play, so I went back home…so much for that pioneer spirit!
Still, all was not lost, I wrote another new song, called Green light, and it should be in the set for Wednesday’s house concert show in Finkenwerder.
In the evening Kirsten and myself went out to see a show called Hamburg Sounds, a monthly showcase of the best bands in Hamburg, very professional, maybe around 500 people in a marquee, with all the sounds and lights of a venue, some good moments over the course of the evening. There is a guy here called Duncan Townsend, originally from Nottingham, but now living in Hamburg, some good songs.
After the show Kirsten gave out flyers for the Hamburg show on the 16th, tickets still available if you are interested.
Tuesday 9th Day Off
Today was another rest day so I decided to go to the gym/spa, very pleasant few hours. also managed to record the new song Green light with Lars on backing vocals, and sent it off to Lou.
In the evening I had the pleasure of meeting a friend of ars and Steffi’s, called ..Steffi, who had the most wonderful energy and personality a real tour de force of a person, had another wonderful dinner cooked by the first Steffi and went to bed early…life of a rock star eh?
Wednesday 10th house concert Finkenwerder
Today was a good day, woke up fairly late and then went for a walk and a coffee with lars checking out his new neighborhood also needed to get my nails done…yes nails. I also had to sign 30 cd’s for the children at the high school I performed the workshop at…bless em.
I also had the funny experience of hearing my local Victoria CBC radio station on the internet on a live stream, I sent the guys at the station who I know an email saying hello, and before you know it, there I am in Hamburg listening to the host Gregor Craigee read out my email…surreal.
The concert was at Uli’s house in Finkenwerder. And like any House concert I have ever had the pleasure to play..was great. Lovely people, we had Steffi and Kirsten sing with us as well as Kirsten joining us on tenor sax for the new song, green light, which seemed to go down ok.
After we finished the set, Uli invited two of his neigbours to play a few tunes. Heike and Andreas played fiddle and guitar and were just great. It was lovely to play some Irish music; I really do miss it when I don’t get to play it.
Thursday 11th Hamburg- Olsberg
The day started as usual, looking out into the street to see if the snow was still there..and guess what?. It was….Lars had invited Derek from Southampton over for breakfast. I decided to cook a full English for the lads. I went out to the store and really struggled to find anything that remotely looked like a conventional sausage, now I know the Germans excel in the sausage dept, but for the bratwurst they have I could find a simple breakfast sausage. I compromised with ..well I am not actually sure, but considering I wasn’t going to eat them anyway I figured they were ok.. Found some bacon but drew a blank on Heinz baked beans.
Went back to the flat and cooked the food and had a good laugh with the boys.
Today was going to be a fairly long drive to Olsberg.We picked up Uli in Finkenwerder and headed off. The scenery started to change after a couple of hours or so, the flattish landscape was now becoming more mountainous and far more snowy… If that was possible.
We stopped off at the most unwelcoming and horrid service station ever, which coming from someone who seen many in the UK is really saying something.
But all was forgotten when we reached the gorgeous town of Olsberg.It was snowy and could easily be used in a Disney winter /Christmas movie.
We checked into the hotel [by far the best hotel so far on the tour]. Two things I have noticed about hotels are, the more expensive hotel is the heavier the key ring, and the more likely you have to pay for the internet. this hotel again proved the rule, a wonderfully heavy brass key ring with red tassels and of course, skinned alive for the price of the internet.
The show was held at an old cinema [kino] that had been converted into a small music venue. Hans, the organizer was delightful and after a good sound check where we tried out the new tune, we were treated to a wonderful Italian meal at Salvatores.
The concert was great, sold some cd’s and met some wonderful people. a lovely lady called Bernadette came up to me and told me that she loved my Sunrise song, because she too had found her Sunrise, and she then proceeded to tell me abut the new love of her life. This for me is the best part of being on the road, singing my songs and getting instant feedback [hopefully positive] from the people.
After the show went for a drink at a bar with the organizers, I nearly caused a diplomatic incident by requesting some lime cordial juice in my alcohol free beer, the poor girl looked at me as if I had just asked to smother her in peanut butter and the proceed to remove it with a kitchen utensil. note to self. no lime next time.
Back to the beautiful hotel, which incidentally is where the rich and famous come for new fangled medical ways to help you spend thousands of dollars on treatment. Farah Fawcett, Omar Sheriff to name but two had been known to drop a few K’s in persuit of a cure.
Friday 12th Olsberg-Wipperfurth
Had a good sleep, and an even better breakfast..blueberries!!!The trip to Wipp was about 2 hours and was made memorable by me being car sick, an experience I haven’t had for years and years, I had to get the lads to stop the car, and whilst everyone was telling me how pale I looked, got out and walked around the place where Lars had stopped the car. eventually the cold won over the nausea, and I got back in the van….can you cope, reading about all this excitement?
