Diary
7th March 2009 Cafe Del Theatre Lleida
| Posted at 09:37 AM on March 16, 2009 |
Linda Writes
What a great time that was!
I hate early starts but we had to set off at 6am to get to the airport for an 8o'clock check-in.
We set off on time but were soon snarled up with a closed road which set us back 30 minutes. After that it went pretty well until we hit road works which slowed us down again.Then, as we approached the outskirts of Newcastle, we hit another long line of traffic and realised that we had only 30 minutes before the gate closed. AAAAaaarrrrgggghhhh - we could miss the flight.
I had a little smile to myself as I thought of my favourite book which has written on it 'DON'T PANIC' in large friendly letters - but I have to admit that I did not feel that it would make much difference this time.
We had a map ... I urged Chris to leave the motorway and I would find another way through. Good idea except the scale of the map was too small and I was almost immediately lost.
Somehow we got back onto the motorway a bit further on and found, to our amazement,that we were only 5 miles from the airport and had enough time to do it.
The gods must have been smiling down on us - I don't know how we made it, but we even had 12 minutes shopping time before they sent us to the boarding gate. It was good to get on that plane and relax ... well sleep actually!!
Barcelona airport is a confusing place - we followed the green arrow to the baggage hall ... only to find that we should have followed the red arrow, which of course went in the other direction. Thirty minutes later we were fighting a baggage handler for our guitars as he was just about to take them away ... who knows where they would have ended up??
Isaac met us in and by this time we had already ascertained that Matt was in terminal C, waiting for us. We were in terminal A .... miles away.
Isaac got the vehicle and said he would pick Chris up and meet us at terminal C. It almost was terminal - I thought I would never get there!!
Eventually all three of us, and Isaac were in the vehicle and heading for Lleida.
Isaac made the mistake of asking if we wanted anything to eat or drink. Does a fish swim? Doesn't everyone know that a musician never refuses food? Who knows when the next meal will be along?? Yes please we said.
What an experiance that turned out to be ... it wouldn't happen in England! The waiter brought us some yummy bread and a sauce, then baby leeks and another sauce ...these were to try ...for goodness sake could you see that happening in Watford Gap services??.
We eventually ordered and I have never seen such a feast. It was a very nice interlude and I'm just sorry that I didn't notice the name of the place because I would certainly recommend it.
An hour later and we arrived at the AC hotel in Lleida where we promptly booked in and all went to bed for a while.
Chris was not particularly well - in fact he was at death's door - so he was more than grateful for the chance to catch up on a bit of sleep.
At 9:30 we met with Antoni and Alex in the foyer. I was very surprised to find that they were both so young.... I always expect older people when they are dealing with acts of our age ... but these two were perfect gentlemen and very into the music of the 60s and 70s ... how refreshing!!
We were to see the venue - and the act that evening was 'Xavier Baro' an artist from the same town. I had not heard of him but he is obviously well regarded and has a big following. It was very interesting to watch. Unfortunately we couldn't understand the words and he is best known for his lyrics but it was an enjoyable evening for all that and good that we had the chance to see how the venue worked.
After the gig we headed for the burger joint and filled up on 'junk' food - but even that was different class - it was obviously made with top class beef - not the cotton wool that we normally find in burgers at home.
Back to the hotel where we agreed to meet earlyish the next morning.
Breakfast at 9am and then a rehearsal. It's funny how quickly you can forget things. I wasn't sure of a lot of the new songs and even Matt was floundering a bit with some songs. No matter - we had got quite a long way when Antoni called for us ....snails for lunch.
Now I'm not a big fan of snails but I hate to miss out on a speciallity so I said I'd give it a go. Matt ordered a salad and said he might try one or two ....
It was good that Antoni and Chris were hungry as Matt's 'one or two' was actually 'one' (at least he tried), I did a little better but after about twenty I was out. Chris and Antoni managed the rest and that was good because it was a respectable result.
Back at the hotel we bumped into Nelson Silva - he was just checking in so we agreed to meet them in the foyer in a few minutes so that they could join us for the sound check.
The one thing that bothered me was that people could smoke in the place. Chris' lungs were by now akin to two sacks of sogge brown paper and my throat was not fully up to scratch either (something to do with the plaster dust that I had been dealing with at home). Antoni said he would do what he could, I said I would announce that it would help if people didn't smoke, but I didn't hold out much hope.
The soundcheck went well Josan was on the ball and we were soon sorted out. I decided to do 'Who Knows Where the TIme Goes' to start with, but when we walked back in that evening I realised that it was probably a mistake. A large lung full of air is required before the top note and the amount of smoke that I took in with it ensured that it didn't quite come off - but hey - that's the way it is sometimes. The only problem is - people don't blame the smoke - they blame you for not being able to sing ... pants!!
Luckily that was the only song that caused any problem and the rest of the evening was great. We remembered everything, didn't make any massive mistakes and had an absolute ball.
It was obvious that the audience spoke little English. This always amazes me because the place was completely sold out with people who could barely understand what they were listening to...and yet it worked fine.
At the end of the evening we knew we had given all we had and went to the bar for a well deserved beer.
Everyone was so nice to us. I'm just sorry I didn't get to meet Jolanda, ANtoni's wife .... maybe next time?
We chatted to quite a few people and then put away the equipment. Nelson and family offered to help with carrying some things back to the hotel so Chris set off with them and I said we would follow shortly ... famous last words.
Salban (did I spell that right?) was pouring perfect gin and tonics, as was Kiku, there were a few very nice people left at the bar, including Josan, whom we thanked for doing an excellent job on the sound. Ten minutes became half an hour. One gin and tonic became several. Then the Tequila.
I can remember laughing a lot, dancing in a strange and peculiar way and having a very odd conversation with Kiku ... who started it??
At around 5:30am I realised that perhaps we should make our way back to the hotel as we had to be up and ready to leave at 10:30 .... ooops.
It's along time since I had an 'after party' like that one. I do not remember leaving or getting back to the hotel. I know I set the alarm on my phone because it went off at 9am, but I couldn't work out who had done most of my packing (it could only have ben me) and I couldn't help but notice that I hadn't actually managed to get into the bed to sleep. What a great time - and I didn't even have a hangover!!
When I met the guys for breakfast Matt admitted that he had not managed to get into his bed either - and Chris said something along the lines of "That was a long ten minutes" Ooops!
It was a wonderful time and all I can say is thankyou to a group of thoroughly nice people.
At 10:30 Isaac came to pick us up and take us back to the airport - we had hardly been there for two days but it was really sad to say goodbye - I hope we see you all agan some time.
Nelson took some shots too - you can see them here....
29th Nov T'Eekhoornnest, Soest
| Posted at 06:15 PM on December 10, 2008 |
We got back to Soest in good time, but we were all completely wasted!
Piers was there to help us to set up so we did that straight away and then headed back to the cabin to get a bit of rest before playing.
Matt's violin teacher turned up to try out a bit of 2nd violin on Lord of the Ages, he's a lovely man and his wife was really nice too. In fact lots of lovely people turned up - too many to mention and I wouldn't want to miss anyone out.
It was great to know that we had come to the end of the tour and it was time to party.
We had a great time on stage as support act to The Desperadoes - who were excellent and played some great new material. I'm sure they are destined for great things. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the whole thing and I was just having a ball.
When both bands had finished Daniel put some great music on and we danced until we were ready to drop.
We couldn't have asked for a better way to end the whole thing, with everyone on a high.
No photos I'm afraid - I completely forgot all about it! If anyone has one that might be printable - please send it to me.
Thanks Piers and Ineke for making it possible for us.
28th Nov 2008 Klif 12, Den Hoorn,Texel
| Posted at 06:11 PM on December 01, 2008 |
For the three of us in Magna Carta, Texel was the end of two solid
months on the road.
Billed as 'Time for the Leaving' the last big tour in Holland, we
began with a sold out show in Tilburg, Schouwburg on October 1st and
technically it ended in Texel on 28th November.
This was not quite true as on the 29th November we had a concert in
the cantina at the 'Eekhoornnest with our friends the Desperados, but
these sessions tend to be more a chance to play and relax and meet
friends, rather than a hands- on concert situation.
Texel is an island off the Dutch coast, wild and windswept in the
wintertime and buzzing like a hive with tourists in the summer.
I love islands with especially fond memories of Pabay up there in the
Hebrides. The sky seems somehow more immense, changeable and far
reaching and the sound and scend of the sea is with you on all sides.
There is a timeless quality to islands that you do not find anywhere
else. Maybe it is down to so many natural elements converging on one
place emphasising the vastness of the sea and sky, but they do have a
quality unique to themselves.
This is surely passed on to the people who live on them, for
islanders, are definitely a race apart.
They tend to be tanned and windburned from the continual friction of
the weather; neighbourly, for in extreme conditions they depend one
upon another, and wary of strangers whilst being curious at the same
time.
Texel is no exception.
Den Helder, is a haven of ships old and new and particularly the tall
ships and the sinister black hull of the Russian submarine. You get
your boat to Texel from here
The ferry 'Skulpengat,' leaves every half hour in the summer, and, as
we found out to our cost, hourly in the winter. On this tour we have
prided ourselves on being on time for every soundcheck. I have to say
that this is very much down to Matt and Linda as I still persist in
believing that time is elastic, but we left our departure from Soest
more than a tad on the late side.
Up into the gathering dusk across a windblown Friesland and missed the
ferry by a hair.
Time and tide care not for the vagaries of man, so we called the Klif
and explained the situation, consumed some chips and krokets and
glumly watched the passing minutes. Nothing we could do.
Quite a few travellers waiting in the terminal were coming to see
Magna Carta, not least our friends Joop and Martha.
At last we were on. Twenty minutes and we were there, disembarked and
hurtling along the narrow turf walled roads we screeched to a halt in
front of Klif 12.
The hosts are Cor and partner Sebastian, two of life's greatest souls.
We have played there many times and recorded the DVD 'Ticket to the Moon' there.
It is a small theatre with an outsize plaster statue of Marilyn Monroe
at the edge of the car park.
Cor is welcoming as ever and equally outrageous, but under pressure as
he has a lot of people for dinner- they do great food there-the show
is sold out and in we come well late.
It could have been a disaster, but it was not.
Linda and Matt did a fantastic job wiring up the sound system, by no
means a simple exercise and we actually had it all soundchecked before
the bulk of the audience turned up.
Cor and Sebastian found their second wind; a trainee Egyptologist named
Janko introduced himself as the barman. Matt's lovely folks turned up
as did Nico and Trudy; Henk and Octavia and a whole host of good folk.
...and in the expensive seats ....(just kidding)
molten form with no trace of melancholy, and played two blistering
sets. A lot of merchandise was sold; good people hung around
afterwards, much falling over water in a variety of guises was
consumed and around 4.30 am. Matt, Linda and I adjourned upstairs to
drink a nightcap and eat a spot of early morning snap.
We crawled out into the real world around 11.00am. No self-pity. It is
the musician's golden rule, if you are really going to party, then
don't moan about the consequences.
We loaded up. Ate an uitsmeiter each.
Sadly hugged Cor, and wreathing the world in diesel fumes roared off
down the highway for the ferry.
In some ways it was the last one. In many ways it wasn't.
But it was a great night and one never to forget.
Cor; Sebastian, love and thanks,
We and I will never forget you.
Chris. December 2008.
27th Nov 2008, Schouwburg Het Park, Hoorn
| Posted at 06:10 PM on December 01, 2008 |
Well, we?re coming to the end of the final Dutch autumn tour. This is my last write up for it. It?s a bit of a strange feeling, but there is nothing we can do about it. And as I do believe: every end is a new beginning!
Yesterday was a real nice day, in which we caught up on some jobs to do. Linda went to some friends in the afternoon, with whom she would stay the night and we were going to see her in the American Hotel, Amsterdam the following day where we were to do an interview. Chris took me out for dinner at ? ?t Luykje? in Soest. We had a great time!
Chris figured he had been coming there almost since the time he?s come to the Netherlands. The personnel is always very friendly and walking around with smiles on their faces (there is absolutely no exception).
The food is gorgeous and so are the drinks. Of course we were the last to leave (we even bought the taxi driver that came to pick us up a drink) and said goodnight to the lovely staff.
Today was a very stressful day. To me it felt like I was constantly running behind with things. As we had an interview to do in Amsterdam, we went to the theatre first to drop of our equipment and then went to Amsterdam by train. A very good plan, but it all went a bit pear shaped. The journey towards the theatre was full of delays, once we got there nobody knew anything about us dropping off the equipment (even though I phoned up the day before to arrange it?). We quickly unloaded and I explained to Niels, the member of tonight?s crew that was already present our plan for the day.
Chris and I rushed to the railway station and just missed our train to Amsterdam. We phoned Linda, who was very well together and already got herself at the American Hotel.
When we finally got there Harry de Jong and his photographer Henk were there and Linda had already done her bit of the interview.
We had a lovely interview which was very much pointing on the things to come. After that we did a photo shoot with Henk. He seemed to know what he was doing and I?m sure the end result will be great.
Then Harry and Henk had to go. We too! Chris needed to get some shopping and Linda and I went to the Carr? to drop of a stack of brochures. We agreed to meet up at Amsterdam Central Station in 45 minutes.
Which we did! 45 minutes exactly, talking about punctuality.
We got ourselves back to the theatre, where Ron our soundman for tonight, welcomed us in. We built up the stage in a new record time and did the sound-check. Ron did a great job.
A little later Marjan, who was doing the lights, came in too. She already set up some nice lights, but wanted to make something more out of it.
Ron went for his dinner, but nothing was arranged for us. This is not the first time it happened to us, but today it seemed particularly untogether. It?s not very nice when you have to ask continually for the things that have been agreed to in the contract.
I went to see Marjan, head of the bar staff to get our dinner and drinks sorted. She was very nice and got us the things we needed. In the mean time the artist foyer was getting filled up with the crew of a big Joop van den Ende production that was doing a show in the hall next to us: Andr? van Duin, one of th? Dutch comedians. There were lots of people: musicians, dancers, roadies, p.a.?s, management, catering and of course Andr? van Duin himself.
Dinner was served: beautifully done steak! It hit every right spot and filled every hole? apart the one that I left for a desert. I own up that I do like my sweets.
Marjan said that if I asked nicely I might get a desert from the catering people of Joop van den Ende?s production. So I did?
Bert, of ?Artist Food & Care? who was organising the whole thing, said I could have the very last one. YAY! It was very nice Bert, thank you!
After dinner we made ourselves ready for the show. The usual: tune up, change into stage clothes and pace up and down the corridors. Then we got our ?five-minutes?-knock and Linda and I got downstairs to open up.
It was great! A sold out house, filled with a wonderful audience who were listening very carefully. We had a great time on stage!
to our left ..
and right ...
Unfortunately we didn?t have much time, as the crew made it clear that they wanted to go home, so we packed everything up (in a record time as well) and loaded up the car.
We got home in good time, had a quick bite and a glass of something before turning in.
What a day?
As it is my last write up for this tour, I would like to thank all of the people that came to see us and that put something of their good selves into this tour
We got so much back from all of you, stories of the past and questions about the future, please keep an eye on our website to be kept up to date about what is going to happen.
With love,
Matt
22nd Nov Cultura, Ede
| Posted at 05:44 PM on November 23, 2008 |
We set off in good time and advised Doris of the post code. Smack on time we were standing outside a place that was in fact called Cultura - but it was in the wrong town - and it wasn't a theatre. Chris had forgotten the contract and we didn't have aphone number to get hold of anyone at the theatre.AAaaarrggghhh
I phoned Jet, who was already on the way, she called her husband to get us the telephone number as we re-progammed Doris to at least get us to the centre of the right town.
Jet came back with the phone number and the correct post code. We called to say we were on our way and explain what had happened only to be told that we did exactly the same thing last year. We couldn't remember that at all - what a set of wallies!!
Anyway - we were very pleased to see the wonderful Errol, unload and start setting up. It didn't take very long, ...Bert was really on the ball. Nice to meet Robin too - he was doing the lights - good handshake.
I can't remember the order that everyone turned up in but Jet and Harry came together and joinned us for dinner.
After dinner we were fooling around and Chris did his James Bond impersonation for us - we were laughing so much we thought we should share it with you so I filmed it - I hope it made you laugh. Steffanie behind the bar offered to be the bond girl and so we got a great shot of that too.
Great sport Steffanie
Sophie came and helped Jet wwith the merchandise, Jan Boer came along to see the show, it was great to see him again, we've missed him on this tour.
Billy Bookcade turned up with his wife and his brother, Bea and Peter came along from Radio Ede anong with the rest of the crew (thanks for the pink elephants Bea - private joke).
It was quite a party in the dressing room - good job it was a big one!!
I forgot to ask in time if it was possible to record the gig but Bert was great, he set up the exxtra equipment needed and we did get a recording.
It was snowing quite heavily by this time and there was a discussion as to whether we should shorten the gig or not. We decided to go as normal but for some reason we seemed to be more talkative than usual and it all went on longer than normal. Sorry folks, it wasn't intentional.
I'd received an email from a really nice guy who asked me to sing 'Only Road Home' .... not an easy one given the content of the song but I ran it through in the interval and decided I would give it a go. It didn't really fit in with the set that we had worked out so after a quick discussion we decided it should go as an encore - before Airport Song.
Paradise Row seemed to really take off and the audience indicated that they would like another song. Given the situation with time and weather I explained what we were about to do and gave people chance to go if they needed to.
It was great that the gig was recorded because I was able to send Peter the copy of Only Road Home the following day..... technology!
After the gig we went to the foyer and said hello to everyone, Jos and Pernilla were there and a few other friends ... it's always great to see everyone - it's just such a shame that there is never enough time to spend with each one individually, but I guess that's just the way it is.
21st Nov Private function, Rotterdam
| Posted at 05:43 PM on November 23, 2008 |
Winter has kicked in the Netherlands!
In the night we had gales of wind and heavy hails storms. It came up to the point where all three of us were thinking if our poor cabin in the woods would stand against the weather. It did! Going out on the forest path in the morning it was all covered in branches and what was left of the leaves.
Also the temperature dropped, where the last couple of weeks we had an average temperature of about 10 centigrade, today it dropped below freezing. (very nice, especially when you get text messages from people saying that summer has really kicked in in South Africa with temperatures above 30 centigrade).
Today everything was quite relaxed. We enjoyed our breakfast, loaded up the vehicle and set course for tonight?s concert in Rotterdam: the Tennis Club Lommereijk.
We?ve done this place before, last year. They made such a nice job of it and really would like to do one more evening like it.
Due to the weather we had some delays on our way up, we even had sleet (mixture of snow and rain) coming down.
We arrived at the tennis club a little later then expected, but there was no rush as everybody had had some delays. We got a very warm welcome from everybody present.
Coen and his son Thomas (later joined by David) had just finished off setting up the stage and sound and after a nice cup of coffee we got started setting our equipment up.
Coen made a real nice job of it and in very little time the sound was set.
We got our things into the dressing rooms (the changing rooms of the tennis club, beautifully lit with lots of candles).
Jaap took us to the Chinese restaurant close by. It was just down the lane so we walked it. And there it happened, dear readers: we got our very first proper snow for this winter! I love snow, particularly the sound of walking over fresh snow.
It's snowing!!!
After a couple of rounds we made our way back to the tennis club, where the first guests were arriving.
We tuned up, got changed and chatted with some people before starting our first set.
The crowd that was there tonight was not a large one (mark you it wouldn?t fit), but it had a very warm feeling.
In the interval we got a nice surprise as Dirk-Jan joined us in the dressing room. It was so nice to see him again.
The second set went really well. And everybody really enjoyed themselves, whilst I saw outside the snow blowing over the tennis courts.
When we got to the outro of ?This Time Around?, Linda and I got joined by a very in-tune-but-wrong-key kind of noise. It is in this part that Chris doesn?t play and he thought he?d tune up whilst we were rounding off the song. Now the tuners Chris and Linda use have got three settings: the ordinary tuner, a metronome (which keeps perfect time and gives little clicks) and a setting almost like a tuning fork that gives you a perfect note where you can tune to. The on-button is the same button that switches from one setting to the other and needless to say, that was what happened.
Chris had coincidently switched setting, but didn?t hear the fact that it got onto the ?tuning fork?. Linda and I did and cracked up laughing.
It?s hard to try and describe how it was, but for me this was definitely one of the funniest on-stage moments on the tour!
A lot of people stayed with us afterwards and we had a great time talking with everybody. It didn?t take long until the famous ?bitterballen? came round and Dirk-Jan and I had a laugh about the way Chris ate his. It was clear that - much as he likes them - he still eats them like a foreigner (in other words putting the whole ?bitterbal? in your mouth and bite on it). The only thing that shows he?s got some experience is that he had his glass of water ready to kill the heat a bit.
Anyway, after a very enjoyable time with Wouter, Bert and Chris and their ladies we packed up again and in made our way into the wintry night heading for home.
It was clear that the motorways were well salted, as there was no snow on it at all. Though the sides were all covered with snow, which gave beautiful views.
Thank you all so much for a lovely evening! You did it again, what a night!
19th Nov Omroep Gelderland, Arnhem
| Posted at 03:26 PM on November 20, 2008 |
Matt writes
The end of the tour is nearing, only a week and a half to go, five concerts.
Linda went back with Elrieke to spend some time with her. Chris and I came back to Soest and decided to have a nightcap, which lasted us until 5 o'clock. By that time I got a text by someone telling me she was off to work! We do make different hours in this business.
Even though we weren't in bed early, we still got up in reasonable time and a wonderful day ahead of us!
I made some breakfast for us and then it was time to go to Arnhem, to do a radio interview for Omroep Gelderland with Eric van den Berg. The trip towards it was very enjoyable.
We were really looking forward to meet our 'liquorices-all-sorts' friend Elly again (for more information, read our previous write ups about Omroep Gelderland).
Unfortunately she wasn't there today, neither was there the big jar of sweets! That was quite a blow...
Ah well, it happens. Marlena, the girl who was behind the desk, called Eric for us. We quickly figured out how the coffee machine worked, just in time to have our cups of steaming coffee before Eric came into the waiting area and welcomed us.
It was great to see him again. Eric is such a easy person to be with and always smiling.
We had a short tour through the station, as it was all renovated and they had some very fancy new gadgets in there!
When we got to the studio, we settled ourselves and chatted a while.
Then came the interview, again a very nice one. Not only talking about the history and the achievements, but also very much concentrated the situation now and the future (up to the Carre and beyond that).
It was very nice. We hung about until about 16.15. Then we had to be gone again, as we didn't want to be caught in traffic if we could help it and... we were to go to a concert that night! Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry did a show in the Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam.
We got ourselves back, after saying goodbye to the lovely Marlena and Eric. Just in time before the motorways got stuck.
A little shopping and a quick bite and of we were again!
The show itself was great! Both Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry had an excellent band behind them. Also the Southern USA humor got very funny. Looking at the concert professionally, I'd say that the way Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry played wasn't as good as I had hoped for. But that doesn't take away the things they have created and achieved and, as Linda rightly said, that we were standing in the same hall as two true rock legends!
18th Nov Stadstheater, Zoetermeer
| Posted at 03:25 PM on November 20, 2008 |
I did in the beginning of this tour, dispute with the other two about
getting to a venue at 4.00 pm, when showtime is usually 8.30. That is
four and a half hours of hanging about and one can get a tad
impatient, but in the end I must concede I like being able to take
time over the soundcheck; dinner; and then wind up to the show.
You have to get your soundcheck done in time as most Dutch sound
crews/ lighting men must observe the great Dutch time honoured mad
dash for dinner at 6.0 pm on the dot. I used to say to my great friend
Hans Bouwer, a Colonel in the Dutch Army, that all an aspiring enemy
would have to do is invade Holland at 6.0 pm. They could take over the
whole land without firing a shot as most of Holland is having dinner.
Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones on being asked what 25 years in
the Rolling Stones was like replied, 'five years of music;
twenty-five years of 'angin' about.'
In some ways that is so true. It is also part and parcel of the job.
The Theatre at Zoetermeer, is a hard place to get into; one of those
bewildering concrete edifices that is an architects's joy and an
artist's nightmare. Matt tries the front entrance and is sent to
artist's entrance/stage door. To get to it I have to drive along the
pavement/cycle track. How's about that for a piece of planning?
Stage door. Only to be told that we load in further down.
I back into a concrete tunnel next to a parking garage and finally
that is it. The area around the door is a sad monument to the crass
dictums of Brussells and the 'no smoking ban.' Why we can't have rooms
where people can smoke in peace and inhale into simple extractor fans,
is beyond me. Instead we get the situation like at the stage door
here. Drifts of tab ends up and around the steps and the stench of
burnt tobacco hanging in the air.
Load out. Michael (sound ) and Raymond ( lights ) help us in and we
also meet Patrick who controlled the lights. Another great piece of
planning we encounter quite often- and today is no exception,- are
dressing rooms strategically placed as far away from the stage as
possible and in this case downstairs. However we meet a lovely Indian
lady, Rosalie, who is just a lovely lady, and looks after the
downstairs bar and so forth.
Coffees. Soundcheck and once again, we are working with real
professionals. And folks, once again the place is deserted at 6.00 pm.
DINNERTIME.
Rosalie brings us a fine steak each. I ration myself to one glass of
wine as I'm driving. The atmosphere is pleasant and various artists
and technicians, working in the big hall upstairs, drop in for coffee.
James Bond is up on the TV monitor in the corner.
Peter Voorbraak, the Director drops in to welcome us, a nice guy
pleased that things are sold out, who with typical Dutch directness,
asks me how old I am. I ask him in return, to guess and he comes in
with 55. That'll do.
Showtime. We are sold out and I hear the applause in my dressing room
tannoy as the two go on up to kick things off.
The stage sound is exactly as we set it up at soundcheck, and that is
not always the case, as when actual people come in, the room acoustics
can change drastically.
On through the first set and all on good form. The audience are
typically Rotterdam; warm and responsive, and we grew to just love one
guy who shouted out wonderful things to a point where later on in the
concert we actually got him up on stage.
'Lord of the Ages,' ended the first set and brought the roof down, so to speak.
Twenty minutes pause, and Elrieke is taking care of merchandise in the foyer
Second set and we build it on up through the new songs, not least the
Funk Weevils ( Matt and I ) and our tongue in cheek version of my
'European Union Blues.' This is simply a send-up and spoof on a Chuck
Berry lick ( and sadly having seen him in concert the other night, we
had it somewhat better) and this has aroused some interest not least
appearing on 'u-tube.'
Out on 'Paradise Row' and 'Airport Song.'
Dash down to the dressing rooms; grab felt-tip pens then up to the
foyer to meet-and-greet and sign CD's.
We load up. Linda heads off with Elrieke, Matt and I run back to Soest.
The idea is to have a nightcap or two. I think we had one, muttered
things about brushing teeth and the next thing two decidedly jaded
rock n' roll animals collapse into bed and oblivion.
It is 4.30 pm.
As ever night becomes day and day becomes an extension of night.
Goodnight. See you at the next one.
Chris.
16th Nov, Cafe Lanting, Meedhuizen
| Posted at 01:30 PM on November 20, 2008 |
After going to bed at 3am, an early morning start was required. Jan had already been in touch with us to ask if we would do something on a live radio show that was being broadcast from the venue before the show.
We couldn't really work out how that was going to work but we did realise that we would have to set off around the 9:30 mark to get there on time - which meant we started to get up at 8:30.
Normally this is something that would only happen if the place was on fire but today it had to be alarm clocks.
I had volunteered to get up first and so prised myself out of my pit and into the shower in the hope of waking up and becoming more human. It didn't work - but I was clean.
I then went and knocked on Matt's door. He emerged looking like a poisoned badger, and was displaying the same temperament. It's not like Matt to be grumpy so I made the mistake of asking what was wrong. It seems that I had snored the place to bits and he didn't get to sleep until 5ish. Matt and I are in adjoining rooms and the walls are not thick but there wasn't much I could say except "please sit in the back and have a sleep along the way."
He did - and felt a little better by the time we arrived.
Sunday morning, no traffic, a dull kind of a day - we arrived on time.
Great to see Jan and Fien again. They are a lovely couple, I managed to have more of a chat than usual with Fien and it was good to share time with her.
'Willie nelson' ( actually his name is Jan but he looks like Willie) was doing the sound for us. We've worked with him a few times and it makes life so much easier when someone already knows how you operate... everything was sorted in no time.
Then it was time to do something for the radio show. It had been going on all the time that we had been setting up and they were playing great music.
It wasn't possible to do a full session and still be ready to play the concert so we decided that they would play some MC tracks, we would do the interview, and then Matt and I would sing 'African Theme' - with the 2nd verse added.
It was a bit strange but it seemed to work OK.
We said thanks to Roel and then went to get changed to do the gig.
This is the venue that replaces Noordpolderzijl which has now stopped due to the sad, untimely death of Joke.
I guess it will take time to build it up and the audience was not a huge one - but they were lovely and we enjoyed playing to them. We had fun on stage. Matt recovered his equilibrium, and we had a good gig.
Afterwards we went through to the bar area for something to eat. We had Snert, traditional Dutch pea soup with Rookworst, a total meal in itself and VERY tasty. Chris spotted that we could also have chips - an interesting combination.
We had to go, everyone was tired and we were ready for an early night .... if there ever is such a thing. We said our goodbyes, hugs and kisses for everyone and off we went down the road again.
Thanks Jan and Fien, I'm sure we'll meet up again soon.
I think we arrived home about 10:30 PM, by which time we were all wide awake again ... so we watched TV, talked, had a bit of supper and before we knew it, it ws 3am again. Oh well, what the hell, we're fine.
15th Nov Theater 't Mozaiek, Wijchen
| Posted at 11:13 AM on November 20, 2008 |
Matt writes
The day the South African rugby team beat the Scottish. Go Bokke!
It was a fine day and a wonderful evening.
To start with I was woken up by a phone call of the technician of theatre 't
Mozaiek.
He was checking our getting in time, the way we wanted the stage to be set up
and if everything was still going according to plan.
I don't exactly know what he must have thought, but I'm absolutely sure that I
didn't make a lot of sense to start with. After the private concert we did last
night, Linda and I got into the liquor that was given to us in Heerenveen the
night before - dangerous stuff with a devastating 'morning-after-effect'. Linda
and I both decided to give it a miss in the future.
Anyway, when we all got round to earth again, we had a quick breakfast and as I
was doing the dishes Peter, a.k.a. Billy Bookcase, rolled up. We had a cup of
tea, before loading up the car. Then checked if we had everything and headed
for Wijchen.
The journey went smoothly and in just over an hour we found ourselves turning
off the motorway. We drove straight to the theatre, thanks to Eva (the Dutch
version of Doris). I went out to let the people know we arrived. That was quite
a job, so in the end I phoned the same number that woke me up.
A good guess! We got the instructions how to get to the loading dock, which
meant driving another mile and a half, around several buildings and sport
fields. The second time this tour.
In the end we found Erik who guided us to our spot.
As the rain started to come down, we quickly unloaded. We normally count five
to ten minutes for that. This time it was done in half a minute! Where all
these people came from I don't know, but suddenly there they were.
When all the equipment was in, the team went on with doing the lights. It was a
true hive of industry.
As they were setting the stage lights, we couldn't do much but hang around -something we've become true professionals in!
The coffee trolley was pointed
out to us...
but who's the trolley dolly?
...and we made ourselves comfortable. In the meantime Ward, the sound
technician for the night and whom we've knighted to Sir Ward for the occasion,
checked our preferences sound-wise again.
Bart-Jan, the person in charge of the whole technical team and the one who did
the lights for us during the show, gave the signal that the setting of the
lights was done and that we could build up our stage and sound-check. We got
stuck in and had everything in place. The sound-check went fine and in a short
while we found ourselves ordering pizzas with Hans, our host for the night.
Before the show some friends came in so we could have a chat. There were
Liesbeth, Jet and my two sisters and future brother-in-law.
We all found a place in the building (mostly dressing rooms) to sit down and
catch up on everything.
The pizzas arrived and we had dinner. Then we got changed quickly and did the
thing we came for: the show!
To me tonight's audience were very alive and responsive. It had a warm feeling.
Audience to our right ...
Both sets went down really well and it was nice to see a lot of people sticking
around afterwards in the foyer. Amongst them were lots of friends as well!
As we were out, Bart-Jan and his team (I'm now going to name them: Sir Ward,
Erik, Wilan, Jasper and another Erik) cleaned everything away.
After saying goodbye to the people in the foyer, we got our things out of the
way pretty quickly and packed up the car again.
A last round to thank the members of staff of the night and we headed for home.
At the cabin we unloaded and had a nice drink with Billy Bookcase before
turning in.
It promised to be quite a day - more on that soon!
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