The coast, the photographer, the day common sense disappeared

We did this on our last year's tour and apparently Mr Clark Nova and me weren't that much of a pain in the neck even though it was the last couple of gigs then. Frank Johannes, an old friend and fantastic photographer accompanied us on the last days of our tour in 2011 and just captured everything that was to capture. On stage, off-stage, backstage, stage of losing it. The result was an amazing documentary in black and white of the daily routine of a singer-songwriter tour in Germany. When Frank heard of us being on tour again he invited himself for a short three day stint including our gigs in Berlin, Kiel and Hamburg. The latter most likely because of the lamb's head soup that became a tradition for us in a Turkish restaurant opposite side of Nachthafen, the place we played this year the third time.

Our tour photographer, Frank

Only seen a few of his shots of this trip so far and they were really amazing. Looking pretty much forward to what's coming there. I think there is a preview on his web magazine BRUNO.

We kicked off in Berlin's King Kong Klub with a decent gig being filmed by Frank's crew and continued to Kiel. Not that much of a drive and with Hamburg the next day (just an hour away) we had enough time to do some sightseeing. Well, there isn't really a lot to see in Kiel, to be honest. They got a pool with seals in it of which we spotted a head for about 30 seconds, a rowing club called KKK and a lot of water.

Seal in Kiel. Shy.

We skipped Clark's suggestion for visiting two big junkyards even though he was pretty enthusiastic about it. Understandable. We're talking about a guy who watches tractor videos on YouTube first thing in the morning. Instead had some local food containing a lot of meat and cabbage before setting off to Hamburg.

After 24 hours travelling in this company I had a remarkable moment in Hamburg waiting for our venue to open. Sat in a bar with Clark and Frank and literally saw my common sense disappear. It just stood in front of me waving me friendly good bye. Gone. Still trying to figure out if I miss it. Here we are.


Good gig at Nachthafen Hamburg though.

Back to Berlin to drop off our photographer and spend an off day there. Been to the pictures to watch ther new Bond. Loved it. Went for a drink at Fabelhaft Bar where we met Erin Lang and her friend Iggy and had a nice chat about particularly whales. Tour is sort of picking up speed.

Next stop Unnersdorf near Bad Staffelstein in northern Bavaria. Always weird here. A great audience anyway and it's a special thing to meet Norbert, the owner. He keeps an old guitar in his kitchen and plays the blues there which is probably the most appropriate thing to do in the solitude of winter nights in a place as remote as this.

Frankonian food. Quite rich. Might be healthy too.

While writing this mails came in with information about new gigs on this tour. Clark Nova and me will have a last one on 1 December in Biel (Switzerland) at the Biotop, I'll do another solo gig in the UK on 13 December in Winsford at the De Bees Music Bar.

Regular updates you'll find on facebook. On top of that a lot of more or less intelligent comments and remarks on what's hapening on this tour.

Afternoon guide to Dresden

Yes, I've been on time. In fact pretty much on time. Arriving in Dresden 2 pm. gave me five hours to kill. This might be boring for you, dear reader (if there is someone like you out there), but following this blog might be of some help for you once you arrive in Dresden with five hours to kill.
First get yourself a car park close to where you're going to spend the evening. This will be tricky later so do it now. Next grab some food. Easy task. You may go to the top end of Bischofsweg where you'll find the restaurant in no. 12. They serve cheap (and I mean cheap) home cooking from 11 am. to 2.30 pm.
Then go to Drop Out Records and buy an album. Or a single. The Ducks Deluxe album is gone now so you will have to take the first Graham Parker & The Rumours or Ian Dury. That's ok I think.
After doing this there are a lot of choices. For my part I went to the Tiki because of their free Wifi. Want to know the November 2012 password? Here we go: sommersonnegurkeneis. Else not really a particularly charming place (if you want that kind of interior rather visit the Tiki Heart in Berlin) but their coffee is ok and the bar-maids are on the ball.
Got enough battery? Got a good book with you? Even better. When the battery dies switch to reading. That's a bit vintage but will do for this afternoon. I recommend one of Ken Bruen's novels. Any of those will do.
Book read? Ok. Go to Thalia. That's opposite side of the road. You're a smoker? Good for you as it's ok to smoke in there. On top of that they serve Radeberger beer from the tab. That's not too bad. Thalia is one of these basically nice little art house cinemas with a café/bar to it. Some artsy nude photography and film posters make for the decoration plus a real rubbish b/w painting of an earth closet in a forest. If you feel inspired by the Ken Bruen you just read, this place is not the worst to be: you can have a double Jameson or a black label Bushmill here.
They also do gigs here but presumably not for me after slagging that painting off which was probably done by the owner himself, his daughter or his best buddy.

... and did I mention? Today is 20 November which means I'm playing Berlin. See you there at the King Kong Klub. Clark Nova will be playing too, something called Urge will do a set and Mr ThomThom Geigenschrey will be guesting on violin on a couple of my songs. But hey - you've seen this anyway on facebook, eh?  

Hit the road again

I know it's moneywise a stupid thing to do to say the least. Why on earth would someone drive down to Prague to play in front of a handful of people, hardly make any money and still consider this a successful start of a tour. Sounds like utter nonsense, complete bollocks.

But hey - how much better can it be to have Pavel Cingl guesting on violin on this first gig, having a small but attentive crowd to play to and try out new material? Playing Nikki Sudden's "Chelsea Embankment" together with Pavel having Phil Shoenfelt sitting in the audience makes up for some extra points... Not to forget the opportunity to have a couple of beers at the incredible "Shot Out Eye", Zizkov's cosiest drinking den if not to say the world's.

Writing this in a Zizkov bakery café on Husitská, having a cup of coffee, accomplishes this more than decent first stop of this tour that will last good four weeks.

Tonite it's going to be the Veraenderbar in Dresden, another one of my favourites. A funny little place on Goerlitzer Strasse, a whacky mash up of vintage shop, folk venue and bar. Located in Dresden's "Neustadt" quarter, a buzzing part of town with numerous bars, little shops, venues, alternative culture facilities and - very important - one of Germany's finest record shops. A massive selection of vinyls and probably the only one in Germany with an extra shelf for "Pub Rock".

Would be fun to see you there tonite. Will kick off around 9 pm.

Maekkelae's Trash Lounge Newsletter 2012

Hei,

es ist mal wieder an der Zeit. Die gesamteuropäische Witterungslage ist scheusslich genug geworden um einen Tourstart als angemessen zu erachten. Warum um Himmels Willen sollte man auch bei erträglichem Wetter losfahren? Den angenehmen Teil der diesjährigen Toursaison hab ich zugegebenermassen ja auch schon während der einen Septemberwoche in Spanien geniessen dürfen. Seitdem gab es vereinzelte Auftritte mit Church Of The Blue Nun, den Très Biens und natürlich auch Solo als Mäkkelä's Trash Lounge. Das mir die Stadt Nürnberg einen ihrer Kulturföderpreise um den Hals gehängt hat war nicht nur nett sondern auch ziemlich hilfreich bezüglich der Generalsanierung des Tourfahrzeugs.

Ich würde mich freuen Euch bei einem der anstehenden Konzerttermine treffen zu können. Zumal ich gerade ganz glücklich mit dem aktuellen Tourprogramm bin. Sollte eigentlich ganz schön werden....

Wasserstandsmeldungen zur aktuellen Befindlichkeit lassen sich relativ regelmässig auf meiner Facebook Seite abrufen, bzw. ab und an auch im Blog. Dort auch der in der Regel aktuelle Stand der Tourplanung.


Terveisin,
Martti / Mäkkelä


17 Nov CZ-Prague, Blaze Zizkov MÄKKELÄ (solo; guest starring Pavel Cingl)
19 Nov D-Dresden, Veraenderbar MÄKKELÄ (solo)
20 Nov D-Berlin, King Kong Klub MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
21 Nov D-Kiel, Prinz Willy MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
22 Nov D-Hamburg, Nachthafen MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
24 Nov D-Bad Staffelstein Unnersdorf, Zur Linde MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
25 Nov D-Würzburg, Wunschlos Glücklich MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
26 Nov D-Fürth, Kofferfabrik MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
28 Nov A-Salzburg, Denkmal MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
29 Nov D-Dachau, Cafe Gramsci MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
30 Nov CH-Thun, Mundwerk MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
1 Dec CH-Biel, Biotop MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
2 Dec D-Köln, Galerie Bruehl  MÄKKELÄ (feat. Tobias Stutz on Cello)
3 Dec UK-Dover, Louis Armstrong Pub MÄKKELÄ (feat. Barry O'Brien on percussion)
interview prior to gig on Dover's community radio dcrfm
4 Dec UK-London, 12 Bar Club MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
5 Dec UK-Bath, The Bell Inn MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
6 Dec UK-Glasgow, Mono MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
7 Dec UK-Stourbridge, Katie Fitzgeralds  MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
8 Dec UK-Brighton, Northern Lights  MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
9 Dec UK-St Albans, The Farmers Boy  MÄKKELÄ & LOS CHICOS MUERTOS
12 Dec UK-London (Mile End), The Victoria  MÄKKELÄ (solo)
13 Dec UK-Winsford, De Bees Music Bar MÄKKELÄ (solo)
15 Dec UK-Wellwyn Garden City, Green Room @ The Doctor's Tonic  MÄKKELÄ & LOS CHICOS MUERTOS
22 Dec D-Nürnberg, K4 Radio Z-Winterfest THE TRÈS BIENS
26 Dec D-Trier, Brunnenhof MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
27 Dec D-München, Trachtenvogl MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
30 Dec D-Nürnberg, Schanzenbräu MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA