the great aachen revival
hang on hang on hang on…
we did
and it paid off in spades
a sleepless night at the Polish depression hotel
gave way to maybe our best day yet
we bailed from the AM marschiertor fleabag first thing this morning
so far
it’s the best decision we’ve made on this tour
‘cause right now i’m sitting in a gorgeous peaceful room
with mod décor
looking out over a serene euro courtyard
relaxed and feeling good even though i got no sleep last night
we’re in the hotel residenz domicil
only 20 euros more per night and well worth it
this place is beautiful
one of the coolest hotels i’ve ever stayed in
explored aachen today
spent the whole afternoon walking around
had lunch outside
about 86 and sunny
dined right in front of an amazing gothic church
but on the way we’d lost one of G’s precious bacums
(gavie's word for blanky)
so i ran/speed walked 2 miles
re-tracing our route
to find it sitting on a ledge in front of a shop window
some kind and considerate soul had found it on the sidewalk
and placed it there for me to retrieve
they got some good instant karma coming there way!!
G was so happy when i finally returned
triumphant
waving his bacum over my head
huffing and puffing and very svetty
but man it felt good
i thought it was gone gone gone
so know I’m of the opinion that this is a very charming town
we didn’t have time to find it yesterday
but i like it now
and it gets even better…
the show tonight was beyond description
i’m gonna try to fill you in on it as best i can
but i don’t think i have the words in me
i played a place called raststaette
it’s not a “club” though
they call it a culture center
it’s on the bottom floor of a two building compound
which houses the employees and offices of
http://www.heimat.de/raststaette/
and
http://www.kulturserver-nrw.de/
a government funded art database
it was founded by a guy named wolfgang who’s a sculptor
i didn’t get to meet him ‘cause he’s in Vienna on business right now
but jorg (pronounced – yorg) and heike were our hosts tonight
incredibly cool and kind
we had a pre-gig dinner outside in their courtyard
with about 15 other people
they’d grilled fish especially for us ‘cause we don’t eat cow
and cooked up a veritable feast
everything looked so beautiful on the table
i wanted to take a picture but was too self-conscious
it was by far the best meal we’ve had here
fresh salads
gigantic soft round bread
a turkish dish a lot like spanikopita (spinach pies with feta)
so much fun
this place full of love life and happiness
an amazingly cool art music peace vibe
G ran around the courtyard with jeorge’s son henry
a two year old as tall as G with blond blond hair
they raced around on little push cars
played in a big cardboard box together
and ate pretzel sticks
G had to retire early tonight
‘cause he was just too worn out by the time i got around to playing
during my set
jorg projected really cool semi-digitized footage of me
on the white wall behind the stage area
while i played
i wore my crazy suit for the first time tonight
good accidental perfect timing
‘cause it looked bizarrely cool in the filmed footage
and the giant poster in the window touted the suit in german
they’re really all about atmosphere here
i love it
all the places i’ve played have been big on lighting and vibe
raststatte is only about as big as bend studio in dallas
the perfect sized venue for acoustic music
i played to about 35 people who intently listened
i mean
they f****** LISTENED
they don’t look around
or fidget nervously
every pair of eyes in the room all fixed on the stage
paying attention to ever single thing
it has been incredible to get a chance to play for audiences like this
i did another 2 encores tonight
then sold more cds than i have ever sold at any one show
i think every single person in attendance must have bought
at least 1, 2 or 3 of my cds
afterwards we had some wine and good conversation in the courtyard
talked about american tv shows
the history of raststaette
michael Jackson
and my weird name
i hated to say goodnight
as it was one of the best times i’ve ever had at a show
in the 16 years i’ve been performing
thank you Aachen!!
tomorrow we head to northern france on our way to switzerland
we’re gonna stop off in colmar
in the wine country
to make up for our cancelled gig in Wuppertal
oh, the suffering on this tour!!!
pity me not
see you in france my friends!!!
love
s
we did
and it paid off in spades
a sleepless night at the Polish depression hotel
gave way to maybe our best day yet
we bailed from the AM marschiertor fleabag first thing this morning
so far
it’s the best decision we’ve made on this tour
‘cause right now i’m sitting in a gorgeous peaceful room
with mod décor
looking out over a serene euro courtyard
relaxed and feeling good even though i got no sleep last night
we’re in the hotel residenz domicil
only 20 euros more per night and well worth it
this place is beautiful
one of the coolest hotels i’ve ever stayed in
explored aachen today
spent the whole afternoon walking around
had lunch outside
about 86 and sunny
dined right in front of an amazing gothic church
but on the way we’d lost one of G’s precious bacums
(gavie's word for blanky)
so i ran/speed walked 2 miles
re-tracing our route
to find it sitting on a ledge in front of a shop window
some kind and considerate soul had found it on the sidewalk
and placed it there for me to retrieve
they got some good instant karma coming there way!!
G was so happy when i finally returned
triumphant
waving his bacum over my head
huffing and puffing and very svetty
but man it felt good
i thought it was gone gone gone
so know I’m of the opinion that this is a very charming town
we didn’t have time to find it yesterday
but i like it now
and it gets even better…
the show tonight was beyond description
i’m gonna try to fill you in on it as best i can
but i don’t think i have the words in me
i played a place called raststaette
it’s not a “club” though
they call it a culture center
it’s on the bottom floor of a two building compound
which houses the employees and offices of
http://www.heimat.de/raststaette/
and
http://www.kulturserver-nrw.de/
a government funded art database
it was founded by a guy named wolfgang who’s a sculptor
i didn’t get to meet him ‘cause he’s in Vienna on business right now
but jorg (pronounced – yorg) and heike were our hosts tonight
incredibly cool and kind
we had a pre-gig dinner outside in their courtyard
with about 15 other people
they’d grilled fish especially for us ‘cause we don’t eat cow
and cooked up a veritable feast
everything looked so beautiful on the table
i wanted to take a picture but was too self-conscious
it was by far the best meal we’ve had here
fresh salads
gigantic soft round bread
a turkish dish a lot like spanikopita (spinach pies with feta)
so much fun
this place full of love life and happiness
an amazingly cool art music peace vibe
G ran around the courtyard with jeorge’s son henry
a two year old as tall as G with blond blond hair
they raced around on little push cars
played in a big cardboard box together
and ate pretzel sticks
G had to retire early tonight
‘cause he was just too worn out by the time i got around to playing
during my set
jorg projected really cool semi-digitized footage of me
on the white wall behind the stage area
while i played
i wore my crazy suit for the first time tonight
good accidental perfect timing
‘cause it looked bizarrely cool in the filmed footage
and the giant poster in the window touted the suit in german
they’re really all about atmosphere here
i love it
all the places i’ve played have been big on lighting and vibe
raststatte is only about as big as bend studio in dallas
the perfect sized venue for acoustic music
i played to about 35 people who intently listened
i mean
they f****** LISTENED
they don’t look around
or fidget nervously
every pair of eyes in the room all fixed on the stage
paying attention to ever single thing
it has been incredible to get a chance to play for audiences like this
i did another 2 encores tonight
then sold more cds than i have ever sold at any one show
i think every single person in attendance must have bought
at least 1, 2 or 3 of my cds
afterwards we had some wine and good conversation in the courtyard
talked about american tv shows
the history of raststaette
michael Jackson
and my weird name
i hated to say goodnight
as it was one of the best times i’ve ever had at a show
in the 16 years i’ve been performing
thank you Aachen!!
tomorrow we head to northern france on our way to switzerland
we’re gonna stop off in colmar
in the wine country
to make up for our cancelled gig in Wuppertal
oh, the suffering on this tour!!!
pity me not
see you in france my friends!!!
love
s
posted by salim nourallah at 11:55 AM
2 Comments:
your travel tales bring back so many fond memories of a trip we took to germany years ago. i want to go back! making me very anxious for my trip to italy next week.
sounds like the nourallah family is at pleasantry lane....hmmm. great venues, beautiful countryside and thoughtful fans. enjoy the remainder of the trip and we will see you at bend upon your return.
post photos somewhere if you get a chance.
michael
Excellent Salim!
Great job on the search & rescue for G's blanket, Emma would be in freak out mode about that kind of thing too. I'm sure you earned big points with him for that :-)
Great to hear about how attentive the audience was, best of luck on the remaining shows!
Daniel
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