day 6 - Potsdam and Magdeburg

we woke up around 9 in Hotel Adina
our plan to go to Potsdam
where Churchhill and his gang signed the post World War II
splitting up Europe accord
we had a scenic drive out of Berlin
driving past the Holocaust memorial we’d seen yesterday from the tour bus
we also got to drive through a long straight avenue
lined with trees and shops
Potsdam is only about 40 minutes away
we were in for a special day
the weather couldn’t have been any more perfect
70
sunny
just the slight touch of a breeze
we parked the car and headed on foot for castle Sanssouci
built by King Frederic in the French rococo style (Jayme's favorite)
we bought our tickets
2 day passes for the entire park and all its castles
for 38 euros (kids free)
then we walked down the garden’s massive steps to a fountain
we ended up spending 6 hours walking the 11 kilometer park
we saw the Orangerie where they would grow tropical fruits in huge greenhouses
we climbed the 200 steps to its top and looked out over the amazing vista of the park
then we toured the Neue Palace which was spectacular
kind of like a smaller Versaille
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=81090479175#/video/video.php?v=78279754175
the Neue Palace only had 200 rooms
we got to see about 25 of them and it still took an hour to see
around 4 we headed back to the car along a tree lined path
it felt like we were in France
my show was at the Blue Note in Magdeburg
only about an hour away
it felt good to be in the car for a bit and off of our feet
Gavin fell asleep in the back seat
and we got to the club in no time
once there I was greeted by Jan
the promoter
he was really friendly and took good care of us
i had an easy soundcheck then we walked down the block to a restaurant
he said it was a place run by handicapped people as a sort of social experiment
although the chef “was not handicapped”
i think he meant – the food was good
we had a funny game of food charades with our waitress
who spoke not a word of English
the best part was watching Jayme try to pantomime “bread”
dinner was good
I had lachsteak – aka: salmon
apple strudel for desert
and G had a huge bowl of ice cream
the Plaza Hotel
where the music festival was putting us up in
unfortunately had a Russian pre-cold war vibe
with awful striped yellow and blue wallpaper
thin hideous carpet
shoddy brown furniture
and garish floral curtains that looked like an old ladies’ skirt
i felt bad leaving J and G alone there
if there was a good night to attend one of my shows
this was it!!
they were exhausted from Potsdam though so it would be Hotel Russia
for them
at the Blue Note Jan was nervously standing outside
waiting for more people to show up
the club had a really great vibe
decorated with some balck and white ‘60s jazz photos
dimly lit
with blue Christmas lights wrapped around the windows
it had about 6 tables with bar stools in front of the stage a bar that ran along one side of the room
and then some more tables in the back
it was cozy
we waited until 10 then i started
i opened with “so down”/”don’t mind me”/
and
“montreal”
the small crowd was very appreciative
and polite
dead silent during most songs
with absolutely no noise when i’d finish playing a song
Jan later informed me that the Blue Note was really a pub
so this made it doubley impressive
I played a 15 song 60 minute set
closing with “stranger in my own skin”
then 2 encores
which included “bus stop”
and “whole wide world”
they ran cool projected images behind me
while one spot shown on me
setting a very nice ambience
the sound was absolutely perfect
all in all it was really positive
although I got the impression
sort of like i did in Gera
that less English was spoken here
there was just something a bit off from truly connecting with everyone
after my show i spent some time talking with Jan and the soundguy
at the end of the bar
Jan told me about how he had bought Nourallah Brothers as an expensive import in 1999
and loved it
he thought it was an "indie classic"
he also loved my new cd Constellation
i was pleasantly surprised to hear all of this
around 12:30 i headed back to Hotel Russia