Day 20, Magdeburg

So it was the morning after the night before, I realised I was no longer Brett Winterford, but also that we all needed to be in Magdeburg for our concert the Oli Cinema. It's always nice to show up outside a venue and see your show advertised on the big sign out front. There's a certain romance to it that a poster in the window doesn't quite capture (no doubt helped by the vintage Citroen parked out front). Something we could all get used to I'm sure...! And what a space to perform in. A beautiful old picture house near the middle of town, built but the Germans in the 1930's, then re-designed by the Russians in the 1950's. Wolfgang, the owner/resident/operator of the cinema, tells us that recently there has been a push to refurbish the cinema in the original German design, but many of the local residents would like to leave it the way it is, in spite of the Russian influence, because that's the way they remember it when they were kids. A night out the movies for 1DM, including an ice cream. I love the sense of history here in Germany, so often a source of great fascination.

The show itself was a real treat. An invitation from the University as a follow-up to our performance the previous Monday. (If you missed that, you can read about it HERE). Unfortunately Tim McMillan wasn't able to make the trip this time round, so we weren't quite able to match his quick wit and sense of humour - the previous Monday he told the crowd (in German) his favourite words were 'Lord Mayor', this on account of the Mayor of Magdeburg sitting in the front row - but nonetheless, the three of us (Kent, Brett and I) had a grand old time, playing on a grand old stage. One of those gigs you know you'll look back on, perhaps when you've just finished playing 4hrs underneath the TAB in the corner of a pub somewhere, to remind you that the journey is ongoing, and there are always better days ahead. Again Brett had defied the odds to stand on stage with us, laryngitis and all, let's hope that next time round he'll be there in full voice (although I must admit I was loving singing those songs of his!). Maybe in the future we'll all get to tour round in this thing....? That would be cool.

Unnecessary photo insertions aside, thanks to the Hochschule for inviting us back to play here in Magdeburg, thanks to the Oli cinema for hosting the concert, and thanks to Micro for making it all sound wonderful. I'll leave you with our last song for the evening, funnily enough a song that would be right at home in the corner of a pub underneath the TAB. What was I saying yesterday about great songs....? Who would have thought we'd be playing Cold Chisel in Germany.... x



PS - I'm back in Magdeburg for a house concert next Tuesday 15th - details HERE if you're in town...