blakejonesmusic
local music, local arts, The Underground Garden

We started our morning by going to the ‘city center’ of Hilden–the ‘fussgangerzone’ [or foot-going-zone...sort of like our Fulton Mall for you Fresnans, and those things actually work just fine in Europe...] There was a grocery store, and whenever anyone of our troop went inside, they would emerge much much later wide-eyed ranting about the great price and exotic varieties of German chocolates.

 

Well settled into our hotel in Hilden, and with no gig or other band responsibilities until tomorrow night, Lauri and I decided to hspend the rest of the day together exploring the alt stadt (“old town”) in Dusseldorf.

We started off with a late lunch-early supper back at Die Schlussel (“The Key”) where we had eaten last night. This time I was going to try the Schweinhaxe (roasted ham hock or ‘pig’s knuckle’). It sounded weird to my very pedestrian palate, but after seeing them being served here last night, I wanted me one of them things! Get around a couple of bones, and you have the most tender pork roast you’ve ever had.

Two stores we wanted to visit amongst the winding alleys of the old town were the spice shop, and a chocolate shop that had a name that just did not work in English–more than once I had heard one of our friends read it : “Gut and Gerne”?…[ the locals say it: 'gooot unt ger-nah'...or, as best as I can translate it, a store devoted to what is "good" and things we "like"].

Then it was a leisurely walk along the river to finish off our evening in Dusseldorf.

We closed off our night by taking the bus into the town center of Hilden to say “hello” to our host Stephen at his pub. We ended up on the other end of the ‘fussgangerzone’ from where we were yesterday.–a nice little walk down the way after they’d rolled up the sidewalks for the night. We came into The Irish Pub where Stephen immediately pulled up a chair and conversation fired along until it was time to get home to bed.—tomorrow: our first gig in Germany!

…and as Lauri and I had our evening together, the rest of our gang, roamed the night on the cobbled streets of Dusseldorf….

 

 

Tonight was to be our first show in Germany. For all the times I’ve visited friends and family here, I’ve never done a gig in my mother’s homeland. Lauri was sleeping ’round the clock. She had developed a little bit of a cold. There was a lot of coughing, colds, and sinus infections going around our gang throughout this trip. The memory of our last tour in the UK where I arrived almost completely unable to sing for the first two shows was a memory that cut deep; I lived in paranoia. Thankfully, I was ok so far. Just two shows to go. I let Lauri sleep. We were just going to hang around the hotel this morning. Maybe get lunch before going to an early soundcheck at “The Tube” in Dusseldorf’s altstadt.

The rest of the band went to a classic car museum/auction and hung out with Stephen for the afternoon.



Lauri and I had lunch in the altstadt then walked on over to The Tube. It was starting to rain just a little. Very much like everyone of my trips to Europe, it always looked like it had *just*rained, or that it was *going to* rain, or maybe it was raining *just a little*, but thankfully, the rain never stopped or slowed any of our fun.
It looked like people were just starting to arrive. We got the equipment going, said our ‘hellos’, met the soundperson, the club owner, the other bands…

Then it was that chunk of time between arriving and actually playing. This time it was mostly filled with meeting folks who’d come esp. to meet us: Barbara’s family had had a foreign exchange student stay with them years ago, and now Sabina, her husband, and her two daughters were there to meet Barbara. Then came Thorston, an exchange student who went to high school with Lauri, and coincidentally was a friend of my own and some of my friends (though Lauri and I wouldn’t meet for another year.)

Interesting to us Yanks, most music clubs in Germany allow minors up to a certain hour as long as they are with parents.
Opening the show was Bo & the Headhunters. Think of a mid-60′s garage band with a very cool ‘Nuggets’-style record collection, and strange Italian guitars–plus a Fender Musicmaster to boot. Great guys.

The show went well. Except for a short scare where I was trying to get the theremin adapted to the new voltage/different shaped plugs that Germany had compared to the UK, all was easy.

The band played solid, and folks were interested. At the end of the set there was a call of “Zugabe! Zugabe!” that warmed my heart as I recalled the German version of our “Encore!” Pretty sweet for this half-German boy to hear that at our first show ever in Germany. Actually, I didn’t know what to play. Good thing Neptune, who seemed to be keeping some careful track of what we were playing and not playing from our list-o’-songs called out “Bad Bad Ronald”, which I think was the only time we played that strange old Trike Shop chestnut on the tour. Afterwards, we were treated to our first hearing of Hack Mack Johnson—a very solid band in the Beat Farmer (what I said)/ Social Distortion (what Doc said) vein.


Good stuff indeed. All in all, this was a perfect, compatible bill. Thanks to all who set it up!—-after the show, it was the walk up the lane to the bus stop, the bus ride to the “Hilden Huessen” stop, the short walk up to the Ibis Hotel. So different than at home, where everyone loads into their own car.

Our last show of the tour was at the The Irish Pub in Hilden, Germany which is a town just outside of Dusseldorf. Stephen Leech, our host for our few days in Germany is the proprietor. Of course we wanted to do well for him as well as close out our tour on a strong note. We’d be playing with the same groups we played with last night. This time it would be Hackmack Jackson starting things off (and they did! with all the solidity and power of this very together band), then it was our spot, and then closing things would be Bo & the Headhunters (and they rocked it tonight).

Our time was off to a bumpy start: I couldn’t get the theremin to work. There was always the worry of the electricity—slightly different voltage and plugs than the UK. I tried both adapters, neither worked. This is never fun when the pressure of ‘the clock’ is tapping on your shoulder the whole time, and you don’t want to kill the momentum/energy of the night. The theremin had taken a fall; the mic stands in Europe don’t have the same girth that ours do—something in the water I suppose [har har], so we tried putting the thing on one of the bar tables…nothing. Had it died in the crash?…Finally, I picked it up and heard it’s heart-warming little whirring buzz. The table’s heavy metal stand or inside bracing must’ve been killing it. Not that an entire blog post about why-the-theremin-wasn’t-working wouldn’t be fascinating, but let’s get on with the story… Finally, things were ready, and the band shot off like a cannon–much like the busted string at Liverpool’s “Zanzibar” had made us bounce back with attitude and extra crunch. So, with my musical partners well-greased from the two week tour, we delivered a set worthy of a Last Night, and, I believe a suitable offering for Stephen, our most-awesome host. (If you read this Stephen, thank you for all you did for us!) The rest of the evening was spent celebrating, amongst ourselves and our new friends, a job happily and strongly done.


–and to quote John Shafer when he posted this pic on facebook: “We’ve been on the road together for two weeks and we still love one another. ‘magine that. Back to Fresno for more rockin’ and schemin’. See you all soon!”

(If you’re reading this fellow Trike Shoppers, thank you for the power and skill you poured into every single gig.) And, except for the stumble home, that’s the end of our little tale.  [I can't wait for it to be re-told by Doc--it'll be much more grand!]

p.s. maybe it’ll just be a good archive for the band, but if anyone is interested, the setlists from each gig will eventually  be posted on this blog…probably under some other category or ‘page’ as to not clog up the works. cheers!–B.

Dusseldorf’s a great town, but since our time in Germany was so limited, and we had a few folks with us who’d never been to Germany, I really wished for them to see,  you know, something ‘old world’, and most of today’s Dusseldorf was (re)built after the Second War. We’d heard of a village just up the Rhine called “Kaiserswerth”, and it seemed there was a scenic boat ride that’d take us right there that departed from Dusseldorf’s ‘altstadt’. We met Barbara’s exchange family in front of last night’s club (The Tube), and went down to the river to learn that that boat no longer actually docks in Kaiserswerth. Not to be discouraged, Lauri, John, Ron and I walked up the street, cuz a U-Bahn gets you there in a quick 20 minute jaunt. Barbara decided to enjoy an afternoon with her family there in the altstadt. Neptune was hanging close to the hotel and taking it easy for the day.

Kaiserswerth turned out to be a very charming little town. Our first stop was a little bakery which we promised ourselves would also be our last stop after lunch.  We walked to the river, made a new friend from an outgoing lady who said, amongst many other things (to Ron): “You, you’re always so serious, you need to smile more!” [Ron was just standing their politely. That's what you're supposed to do when an elderly lady speaks to you, even when they speak in a language that you don't understand.] She mused about many things, demonstrated a back-wrenching rock n’ roll dance for us, and then ended by sighing, “I used to be young and beautiful, now I’m just beautiful.”

We then found a church that had bits first built in the 12th C., then found the ruins of a fort-thing called Kaiserpfalz.

Everyone was missing their dogs, kids, loved ones, and their own bed. It had been an over-the-top successful tour, densely packed with good times with wonderful people, but it was time to go home. Any cross-continental trip (even though miraculously short compared to such travels of earlier times) is long and grueling. The one life-lesson we all inevitably learn: United *blows* (the cheap suckers), and Lufthansa RULES!