day 2 - Dollywood Gera
35,000 miles over the sea?
yep - jetlag is funny...
i'm on a strange euro keyboard
so everything in a different place
enjoy the results!
i slept only 4 hours on night one at casa buskies
we waited for G who slept like a champ
until 10
did some laundry - the bed linens
then waited for the washing machine for 2 hours
i am completely sure we got them clean as a whistle
around 11:30 we headed to the tapete offices
to have lunch with basti - mr. breezy hair
gunther
and matthias
we walked to a cozy little italian place
i had salmon
Jayme had the best tortellini ever
mr. bread had well - you guess...
after that back to the office for our tour itinerary
and merch
at 2 we left for Gera
a town of about 100,000 4 and a half hours away
my show was part of a musical festival they are having
with bands and singer songwriters coming from all around
i had to get back up to speed on the autobahn ways
going along caustiously at first
then doing 150kms in no time
still being passed almost as though we were standing still
when we all walked in to burgercafe
there was a small group already gathered who started
clapping and smiling widely
dolly parton was playing in the background
they immediately ushered me to set up on the stage
just a mic in the corner
i noticed a large filming rig in the back
the sound guy was really nice but spoke no english
in fact other than daniel
the promoter
i only spoke to 2 people the entire evening that seemed
to know our language
it set kind of an odd awkward tone for the entire evening
after my sound check
they told us they would prepare dinner
i asked if they could please make it vegetarian
this threw them for a bit of a loop
we were presented cheese and tomato sandwichs a few minutes later
as a table was swiftly placed in front of us by two men with large
and curly mustaches
we nibbled our sandwichs and a lady with greying high hair
snapped photos of us and smiled wildly
now kenny rogers was playing in the background
it was still pretty early
maybe 7
still light outside too
daniel asked if it would be ok for me to play soon
i said sure but we need to get to the hotel
he kindly offered to take J and G
so i was on my own now
Jayme kissed me on the cheek and smiled sheepishly
good luck tonight
i think they'd put waylon jennings on by this time
it was sweet and a bit sad
they were really nice to me though
and communication problems did not stop the acoustic party from
rolling forward!
i had a brief interview with a lady named anna
who was supposed to introduce me
i could tell she didn't really understand much of what i said
she just kinda glazed over
after a long german intro in which i could only pick out
texas
beatles
and john lennon
my show began
i carried on with business as usual
told stories
sang my songs
did what i normally do
they smiled and applauded
they asked for 4 encores
i kept trying to end the show
they kept asking for more
i was running out of songs
so i played missing funerals
and even model brothers
it was all really positive
but i think 90 percent of the room
had no idea what i was saying
so there was kind of an interesting
dynamic taking place
i felt a bit like the circus had come to town
at the end of my performance 2 and half hours later
i noticed i'd blown the lights on my merch suitcase out
by using the wrong euro converter
nice...oh well - what can you do?
i said goodbye to my new friends
and the cafe owner guided me to my German chariot
he was fiftyish
with a sort of italian flare
a fancy jacket and ascot
greying wavy hair swept to one side
he did everything quickly and with zest
he spoke to me as if i understood every word
smiling and gesturing with his hands
he ushered me to my car
said a few more things
then patted me on the butt
and said something else i didn't understand
i did understand that the butt pat meant i needed to get in the car
so i did that quickly
as he stood there by it's side
gazing off across the street and smiling
i sat there for a few minutes getting the GPS ready
he was still there
gazing and smiling
i slowly rolled forward and lowered the window
i said goodnight
he waved eagerly and bid me a fond farwell
yep - jetlag is funny...
i'm on a strange euro keyboard
so everything in a different place
enjoy the results!
i slept only 4 hours on night one at casa buskies
we waited for G who slept like a champ
until 10
did some laundry - the bed linens
then waited for the washing machine for 2 hours
i am completely sure we got them clean as a whistle
around 11:30 we headed to the tapete offices
to have lunch with basti - mr. breezy hair
gunther
and matthias
we walked to a cozy little italian place
i had salmon
Jayme had the best tortellini ever
mr. bread had well - you guess...
after that back to the office for our tour itinerary
and merch
at 2 we left for Gera
a town of about 100,000 4 and a half hours away
my show was part of a musical festival they are having
with bands and singer songwriters coming from all around
i had to get back up to speed on the autobahn ways
going along caustiously at first
then doing 150kms in no time
still being passed almost as though we were standing still
when we all walked in to burgercafe
there was a small group already gathered who started
clapping and smiling widely
dolly parton was playing in the background
they immediately ushered me to set up on the stage
just a mic in the corner
i noticed a large filming rig in the back
the sound guy was really nice but spoke no english
in fact other than daniel
the promoter
i only spoke to 2 people the entire evening that seemed
to know our language
it set kind of an odd awkward tone for the entire evening
after my sound check
they told us they would prepare dinner
i asked if they could please make it vegetarian
this threw them for a bit of a loop
we were presented cheese and tomato sandwichs a few minutes later
as a table was swiftly placed in front of us by two men with large
and curly mustaches
we nibbled our sandwichs and a lady with greying high hair
snapped photos of us and smiled wildly
now kenny rogers was playing in the background
it was still pretty early
maybe 7
still light outside too
daniel asked if it would be ok for me to play soon
i said sure but we need to get to the hotel
he kindly offered to take J and G
so i was on my own now
Jayme kissed me on the cheek and smiled sheepishly
good luck tonight
i think they'd put waylon jennings on by this time
it was sweet and a bit sad
they were really nice to me though
and communication problems did not stop the acoustic party from
rolling forward!
i had a brief interview with a lady named anna
who was supposed to introduce me
i could tell she didn't really understand much of what i said
she just kinda glazed over
after a long german intro in which i could only pick out
texas
beatles
and john lennon
my show began
i carried on with business as usual
told stories
sang my songs
did what i normally do
they smiled and applauded
they asked for 4 encores
i kept trying to end the show
they kept asking for more
i was running out of songs
so i played missing funerals
and even model brothers
it was all really positive
but i think 90 percent of the room
had no idea what i was saying
so there was kind of an interesting
dynamic taking place
i felt a bit like the circus had come to town
at the end of my performance 2 and half hours later
i noticed i'd blown the lights on my merch suitcase out
by using the wrong euro converter
nice...oh well - what can you do?
i said goodbye to my new friends
and the cafe owner guided me to my German chariot
he was fiftyish
with a sort of italian flare
a fancy jacket and ascot
greying wavy hair swept to one side
he did everything quickly and with zest
he spoke to me as if i understood every word
smiling and gesturing with his hands
he ushered me to my car
said a few more things
then patted me on the butt
and said something else i didn't understand
i did understand that the butt pat meant i needed to get in the car
so i did that quickly
as he stood there by it's side
gazing off across the street and smiling
i sat there for a few minutes getting the GPS ready
he was still there
gazing and smiling
i slowly rolled forward and lowered the window
i said goodnight
he waved eagerly and bid me a fond farwell
posted by salim nourallah at 2:34 AM
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