After 2007's extremely moist summertime tent tour in Germany, during which I could barely see through the sweat pouring down my face in sauna-like venue situations, we decided "never again". A serious quest for lightweight, breathable, but sassy show clothes commenced. Then it was off on a flight to Frankfurt, with a connection to a place called Bremen, near our first gig.
Oldenburg 6/14
Upon arrival, we found that mid-June in Germany was, more often than not, closer to 65 degrees. No sweat. At least in this northern part of the country. Go figure. Downtown Oldenburg is festive and cobble-stoned. More of a forested area around the city than some places. Road manager Andrea got a call that the promoter at the next venue, in Kaarst, is very concerned because large pieces of hail fell from the sky, broke through the roof, and damaged a toilet. "Will Rockapella be upset??" Great concern is expressed toward us, until they admit there's another toilet. OK bring it on. Yay toilets. The Oldenburg show was under an outdoor, fully enclosed tent. The opening act was a British band playing American southern rock. Apparently they pulled it off, because we heard them get a huge crowd reaction as we sat in our private dressing mini-tent...it was like a mini Beatles concert from a distance. The largely well-dressed middle-aged crowd sounded like they were jumping around and rushing the stage. I don't think we got the same reaction, but it was solid. That, and white asparagus soup fed to us, are all I remember in a haze of jet lag.
Kaarst 6/15
The town of Kaarst could be considered a suburb of big Dusseldorf next door, and our gig was at a club that reminded me of the scale of BBKings in New York, but without the BB-ness. My friend Wendy, a cellist in the Dusseldorf Symphony, came to the show and we made plans to tour around during a break in the schedule the next day. Scott and Kevin considered a 4-hour train ride to nearby Amsterdam, and John planned to go to the German IKEA near the hotel. Well to each his own. I don't think he even tried the meatballs. Oh Johnny Johnny Johnny.... "no IKEA without meatballs" is my credo.
Day off in Dusseldorf 6/16
Taking the equivalent of a fast trolly train into Dusseldorf, along with Fred The Sound Man, we met Wendy for lunch. Not sausages, cream sauce covered turkey, fried pork patties, nor any other Germany delicacy, but Mongolian BBQ. Hey why not. They had some funky meats you don't find at the mall in Colorado though. Afterward, Wendy took us on a tour of the city. We passed famous Frank Gehry designed buildings (he also did the curvy new Walt Disney concert hall in Los Angeles, and many others). We toured the opera house and the surrounding downtown. Dusseldorf is known for mustard. A visit to a specialty mustard shop revealed about 25 flavors...with fruits and herbs and other combinations. In the back was a working mustard grinding wheel, churning out the stuff. Later that night I attended Wendy's Dusseldorf Symphony concert. Their concert hall is a huge converted planetarium! A big domed ceiling of translucent material which hides the complex sound baffling material which compensates for the room's roundness. Essentially a square room hidden by an acoustically transparent round shell. You get the planetarium feel without the very troublesome audio problems of a dome. Nifty.
Travel Day and gig in Freiburg 6/17-18
Our German agent's home and a very nice place to be, Freiburg was next. It was here that we encountered the effects of the ongoing Euro2008 soccer championship. The Italians won that night and suddenly it was like Germany was filled with them. They blocked traffic, waved flags, lost their minds. Oh and it was Laundry Day. Learning how to find a laundry day keeps the luggage you drag from train to train in the mornings down to a manageable size. Yay laundry day. Small gig venue, but nice. Food with the team after in our favorite local place.
After Italy won
Ulm 6/19
You'd think we'd be numb to big cathedrals by now (see past German tour posts...), but Ulm has the tallest in the world. The biggest was last year's beastial monster Koln cathedral. Ulm is a little more graceful, but very tall. Surrounded by the usual pretty town and German-ness, and nestled next to the famous Danube river, it was too tempting to pass up. All the big stained glass was blown out during World War 2, and one whole side of the church has only clear glass replacements. The other side, however, has more recent fully designed stained glass. Several very interesting windows in a 1950s or 60s abstract style. Some more traditional churchlike windows also. But at the end, a beautiful tribute window to the victims of the holocaust...complete with huddled grey human figures at the bottom. Very impressive.
Architectural drawing of a cathedral
Tallest cathedral
Holocaust memorial window
The gig was under-the-big-top...one of those circus tent gigs like last year, but this time, the "backstage" was literally like a carnival. Dressing rooms in brightly painted boxcar-like mobile rooms. A bonfire after the show where the tech crew sat around and chatted. Some higher-end American music acts at this place before and after us. Must be an all-summer destination. I think there were some rides and so forth outside the gig area, but I couldn't see.
Flamkuchen
Kevin on the Danube
Under the big top
With The Carnie 'Round the Fire
Wolfsburg 6/20
Like last year's Kapfenburg, the concert was in the courtyard of a castle on a temporary but nice stage, and the whole community showed up. My favorite gig of the tour. Lively audience, cool breeze, cool venue.
Wolfsburg
Gundelsheim 6/21
Getting to Gundelsheim involved a first - renting cars and driving across Germany. We experienced rest stops, gas stations, and East Germany for the first time. Kevin drove myself and John, and Andrea drove Scott, George, and Fred. Lots of pretty countryside and those giant power generating windmills everywhere. We definitely hit the autobahn at around 90-100 mph, though how often I'm not sure. But Kevin & I were converting from kilometers quite often on the iPhone.
The Drive
The Drive
Gundelsheim was a quiet little photogenic village and a show in a high school gym. We were given a massive boule of rye bread as a gift from a nearby bakery, and individual gifts of 5 different beers in a box from a local brewery. One of which is a rare "smoked" beer, which, we're told, is a very acquired taste. "First one you will not like. Second one maybe you will like". I'm not a beer guy, but I might taste that for the same reason I went skydiving last year.
Bread
Beer
View from the hotel window
Nurnburg 6/22
Nurnburg is surrounded by an ancient thick dark stone fortress wall. The city has grown past it over the centuries, but it still stands strong. Our show was on a stage built with the shell of an old cathedral. The innards of the church were destroyed in the war, but it's now used to great effect as a setting for concerts.
As this was the end of the tour, we cleaned up after the show and headed to a nearby outdoor restaurant (Chinese/Thai) eat and watch Spain beat Italy in the soccer championship and start their journey towards the finals. Two big widescreen TVs were set up outside near the tables. Spain hadn't beat Italy in 40 years....and we were eating next to an outdoor Italian joint filled with people. Interesting. Later, we took a walk along the city wall into the red light district just to see what the fuss was about. It was crazy. Like a series of house-sized pet shops filled with ladies, and lit by Christmas lights. One after another...it went on and on. I'll refrain from more details for some more sensitive readers, but we were laughing a lot, needless to say. Then back home to our hotel, where I stayed up all night packing. The next day another train ride to the airport and home again.
After the show
After the show
The Red Light District
Red Light District sign
2008 German Tour part two commences July 14, then home for 5 days and a NY gig. Then off to Japan!
