Hof Schweers. A farm in the open countryside of Ostittrum. I had watched a video online of a girl playing there underneath the trees and was looking forward to this one for a while. When we got there we stumbled into a cow barn and straight away there was a collective hope that we would be playing inside the old box, despite the pounding will of the sun outside. Our hopes were afforded and we set up in front of a candlelit crowd of about fifty people. Gitte, whose grandfather owned the farm,and her mother Monica, treated us like friends and I'm still savoring the taste of the cheese and meat platter we had before the show in the sun. Much thanks.
Before we started we had an hour or so to spare so myself and Eric made two quick music videos. One for "I Can't Let Go of Cigarettes" inside the barn we were to play in later that night, and Eric played a number of his, "Mackerel Sky," in front of the nigh infinite green outside. As people arrived we had a bit of an impromptu session outside. Brought me back a few summers. Shared some wine with the locals afterwards. Its hard to leave a farm in the countryside in the early hours of morning.
Into Bremen the next day for an hours busking. I use the term loosely as it was as much a show as any other. The sun found us again. We set up on a stage in a pocket of the city surrounded by statues and coffee shops. It reminded me of Wim Wenders "Wings of Desire." There's something about Bremen that makes me think of coffee and winged angels. If you know the film you'll get what I mean. People sat down and listened. Children danced. Fine start to the day. Roamed around the city for the rest of the day with Anna, our tour mammy, and Markus. We had beer and ice cream, and mixed coke and fanta in the same glass. I was suspicious at first but it worked.
Later that night we played a living room show. Hosted by Nina, an actress from Bremen. Well that's what was on our tour programme but we ended up in the garden. One of my favorite experiences of the whole trip. No plugging in. No microphones. Just standing in front of a group of strangers and singing. The tag of stranger slips away so quickly in the throws of music, food and drink though. By nightfall we were joking in broken English and Lorcan and Cillian learned some new German profanities. Tough day for Eric as he drove all the way to Hamburg only for the show to be cancelled. He found solace in a visit to the Beatles museum on its last day of opening though and returned to join in or festivities and sang everyone into twilight.
Busy day yesterday. Wallfest. We had two shows on the city stage. It was nice to be on a big stage after a run of shows in cafes and small bars. Sound system was amazing and Max did a fine job of making us sound as big as the stage was! Played our whup up set and met lots of good folk. The city block was cut off and a big stage pretty much planted in the middle. Energy draining day. Five o clock finish at the festival and we had to leave straight away to head to Achim for another show. Nice little bar called Katacomben. We did a songwriter swap with Eric. Two songs each in rotation. Was tired and slept well last night. It's nice to see people coming back to see us that we've met before.
The sun is out again today. I'm going to wash some clothes.
Paul
Before we started we had an hour or so to spare so myself and Eric made two quick music videos. One for "I Can't Let Go of Cigarettes" inside the barn we were to play in later that night, and Eric played a number of his, "Mackerel Sky," in front of the nigh infinite green outside. As people arrived we had a bit of an impromptu session outside. Brought me back a few summers. Shared some wine with the locals afterwards. Its hard to leave a farm in the countryside in the early hours of morning.
Into Bremen the next day for an hours busking. I use the term loosely as it was as much a show as any other. The sun found us again. We set up on a stage in a pocket of the city surrounded by statues and coffee shops. It reminded me of Wim Wenders "Wings of Desire." There's something about Bremen that makes me think of coffee and winged angels. If you know the film you'll get what I mean. People sat down and listened. Children danced. Fine start to the day. Roamed around the city for the rest of the day with Anna, our tour mammy, and Markus. We had beer and ice cream, and mixed coke and fanta in the same glass. I was suspicious at first but it worked.
Later that night we played a living room show. Hosted by Nina, an actress from Bremen. Well that's what was on our tour programme but we ended up in the garden. One of my favorite experiences of the whole trip. No plugging in. No microphones. Just standing in front of a group of strangers and singing. The tag of stranger slips away so quickly in the throws of music, food and drink though. By nightfall we were joking in broken English and Lorcan and Cillian learned some new German profanities. Tough day for Eric as he drove all the way to Hamburg only for the show to be cancelled. He found solace in a visit to the Beatles museum on its last day of opening though and returned to join in or festivities and sang everyone into twilight.
Busy day yesterday. Wallfest. We had two shows on the city stage. It was nice to be on a big stage after a run of shows in cafes and small bars. Sound system was amazing and Max did a fine job of making us sound as big as the stage was! Played our whup up set and met lots of good folk. The city block was cut off and a big stage pretty much planted in the middle. Energy draining day. Five o clock finish at the festival and we had to leave straight away to head to Achim for another show. Nice little bar called Katacomben. We did a songwriter swap with Eric. Two songs each in rotation. Was tired and slept well last night. It's nice to see people coming back to see us that we've met before.
The sun is out again today. I'm going to wash some clothes.
Paul