last day in Hamburg

Day 21


Gunther kindly brought the keys to the car
all the way back to his house
around 1pm
i'd really only gotten a couple hours of sleep
as the kids were up and at it early
we followed him into the city
and back to the Tapete offices
for a business meeting
this was the part i hate
tallying up all the money we'd lost
i felt badly for the label too
because their 20% booking comission
was blown on the GPS replacement we had to buy
they're struggling to survive
and sadly i'm not helping matters any
i was playing the Reeperbahn festival this night
Gunther suggested we park the car early
as getting into this area would be a mess later
after we did that
we went back to his house on the outskirts of town
and i once again had to immediately say goodbye
to Jayme and Gavin
and hop the train back down to Kukuun Bar
i arrived around 5;30
and it was windy and chilly
up until today the weather on our trip had been
pretty fabulous
sunny and warm
we'd really been incredibly lucky
other than a couple of odd days here and there
as i walked to the club
i passed a shop that had all kinds of St. Pauli's
gear in it
St. Pauli is the Hamburg soccer team
Jayme had been wanting some t-shirts before we left
i carefully counted out my money
exactly 14 euros
enough to buy 1 shirt for 13.99
perfect
i was going to come back later with my gig money
to get a shirt for G
at soundcheck i got to meet Kolkhurst
one of my label mates
i instantly liked this guy
we went and had dinner together
in the weird glass encased patio
of a hotel lobby
our free food options were that or McDonalds
before my set
which was at 9
i ventured to the 3rd floor of the Kukuun bar
to stand on a 4 foot wide balcony
in the wind and freezing cold
for the nice people of balcony TV
i played "dont be afraid"
my show at Kukuun ended up being great
it was a small but nice club
super modern
the soundguy played good music
dirk d. sat right up front
on my left
it was good to see him there
a songwriter i greatly respect
smiling and singing along to my songs
on the small red sofa on my right
appeared Martin and his friends
then
3 songs in
Siebeth!
i didn't think i was going to see
any of them before i left
it made me really happy that they showed up
i completely forgot how tired i was
and was carried away by the euphoria of the moment
i even wandered off stage
during "she'd walk a mile"
as the crowd clapped their hands and sang along with
me
it was yet another beautiful moment i will never forget
after my set
i rushed downstairs to the St. Pauli shop
with Dirk and Gunther
to buy a t-shirt for Gavie with my gig money
then they took me on a guided tour
of the Reeperbahn and the places the Beatles played
way back in the day
it was a special moment for me
to be there
with my friends
imagining my favorite band
in the very same place i was
over 40 years ago