Day 3, House concert in Duisburg

Well I had a bit of a moment last night here in Duisburg. I was telling a story I've told many times before, the one about the gig in the pub with nobody, where I was asked to watch the bar for 20mins whilst the manager drove the only customer home because his wife had called and he was too drunk to drive himself... Well that's the short version anyway, if you'd like to read the full diatribe, then you'd best make yourself a cup of tea and set aside 15-20mins before clicking HERE...

Anyway a few years ago I used to tell that story, and relate it to a time in my life when I'd been working in an office building in Sydney... And the decision I made to leave that life behind and pursue music, for better or worse. Only in a strange sort of way, a few years ago I wasn't really sure if I believed what I was saying. It's not that I was trying to deceive anyone, some part of me believed it sure, and I certainly wanted to believe it... But I guess in the infant stages of being a full time musician I wasn't exactly sure it was all going to work out. I wasn't sure if the worse would necessarily get better, if I'd really be able to make it work in the long term, if the choice I had made would end up being the right one. (It's always the right one, but you know what I mean....).

Well last night, as I told that story, I realised that the song I was about to play, The Birds, I had in fact played on my first trip to Germany 5yrs ago. It's a song that was more or less about that decision I made in Sydney, and here I was, years later, performing it to a room full of people in a house in Duisburg, a city I'd never even heard of until a few weeks ago... (The picture is of the room I played in). And even though I have felt assured about this path for some time now, last night I felt a particular connection to the story, a moment of real gratitude for the opportunities I have had, and continue to have, as a result of that choice I made. We shouldn't need to be reminded of these things of course, but sometimes it's nice to feel that genuine sense of recognition within, if only to reassure us that we are headed in the right direction.

Thanks to Petra for the invitation to perform (and for the soup!), and to everyone who came along and made it such a special evening.

Nearly time to head to Sundern. I need to check the map...

ox

PS - That was a bit deep I know, but I'll get back to the upside down banana-peeling and other similarly important discoveries tomorrow...!