Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Day 46-47, Dusseldorf/Mannheim



Greetings from Mannheim folks. Just spent the day in France catching up with some friends from Sydney. As you do. Now back here to rest up tonight before the trip to Munich tomorrow.... Thought I'd begin this entry with another look at one of my favourite parts of travelling - the crazy things you discover, by chance, when wandering around a new city. Things like, for example, an American street wear shop which doubles as an African art gallery. Just in case the average NYC fashionista wants a wooden model of a topless African Lara Croft to put next to his collection of snap back baseball caps. Or conversely, if the average African art collector wants a puffer jacket and some skate shoes to wear to the next exhibition opening. You'd have to say that both scenarios are about as likely as the owner of the shop reading this blog. But you know, funnier things have happened. In which case - West side. 'Sup yo. I waz diggin' it. But why waz you shut my man? Labda kando wakati.

Anyway, in addition to being the city where art meets fashion, Dusseldorf was also home to a great little bar called Bistro Schwesterherz, the venue for Saturday night's concert. A big thanks to Kyung at Stadt Klang for the invitation to perform and the all the guys at 'the bar' for a great night. (I was about to write the initials of the bar there before realising that would be entirely inappropriate...) A real treat as well to be joined my my good friends Bo Terry and her boyfriend Anne from Amsterdam. I wouldn't have known Bo but for a gig I played at a squatters house in Amsterdam back in 2008. The organiser of the show Henk, who has sadly since passed away (still one of the nicest people I have ever met), mentioned a friend of his was travelling in Australia and I should get in touch... and so began a great friendship, the kind I wouldn't have had if it weren't for music. Bo is a wonderful performer with a beautiful voice and a real warmth to her stage presence. I guess that's because she doesn't try to be anyone she's not, always the best type of artist. And even though it was only a couple of songs, and even though I can understand precious little of the Dutch language she sings in, it was still lovely to hear her again. Great music is always great music, regardless of the language in which it's performed. Thanks Bo!

(A quick thanks here as well to my host Eun-san, who took me on at short notice, even though he already had another guest in his one-bedroom apartment. Much appreciated!)

And so I continued on south towards Mannheim, for Sunday night's show, but there was the small matter of a very famous racetrack to attend to on the way. Namely the Nurburgring, one of the most iconic racing venues in the world and for good reason. A 21km circuit winding its way through the forest country around Nurburg, a true test of driving in every sense of the word. I figured it was worth stopping in to check it out, maybe catch a bit of amateur racing if I was lucky... What I wasn't expecting was that the Nordschleife would be open to the general public, and that anyone could rock up and take their car for a spin on the circuit, with no speed limit! And so 10mins later, there I was, flying around the Nordschleife in the tour station wagon, a 1990-something Meroon Opel Omega, heavily laden with luggage and musical equipment, watching the various BMW's, Porsches, Audis and Lamborghinis fly past me whilst I tried to take a photo or two to remember the occasion (no I wasn't meant to be doing that...). It's a good thing I listened to the girl at the ticket desk when she said 'keep to the right if you're going slowly'! Eventually I turned off the camera and put the Opel through it's paces as best I could with my safety in mind, a truly incredible experience, albeit a fairly uninspiring sight I imagined for the average onlooker waiting for the various sports cars to unleash their fury. Or so I thought, for as I was coming to the completion of my final lap (I only drove 1.5 laps, it's not cheap!), I dropped a gear and took the racing line around a sharp right-hander, and looked up to see an old dude giving me big old fist pump (which I assume is also the international symbol for 'I can see you're driving a shit car, but good on you anyway'). And as stupid as it sounds, that made me feel pretty awesome. Worth a toot of the horn, even if I nearly came of the track as a result of trying to find the horn. Rock and roll.



And finally, after all the excitement of the Nurburgring, I found myself in Mannheim Sunday night at the new home of Julia (Lena's counterpart in the Vondomachine), who has recently moved here to study music management at Germany's famous 'Popakademie'. Another bedroom concert, my second in three days after Friday night's show with Kent in Frankfurt, testament to the fact that if you've got a decent space with a few people, it really doesn't matter where you play a gig. Given the size of the rooms over here in Germany they are always blessed with plenty of options. I wondered what it would be like playing to a room full of music management students, I guess because a part of me knows what it might be like playing to a room full of music management students in Sydney.... But as has been the case the whole time through this tour, they were both welcoming and accepting of who I was and what I'm doing. It's not to say that everyone 'likes' what I do, I'm sure there are people who have different tastes and I don't expect to be everyone's cup of tea, but the general attitude over here is one of appreciation, they take the time to listen before forming an opinion, and as I've said before it always makes for an enjoyable experience. Great to see little Jules again, who toured with me for a couple of weeks last year. A big thanks for organising the concert, and to the rest of the guys in the house for having me to stay for a couple of nights. All the best with the rest of your studies, will see you again in the future no doubt!



Woah that's a long one. Time to go to Munich. More news tomorrow... x

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