Single Of The Year-Tour 2013 - Part I

Woke up this morning after what I'd call the best sleep I had in a couple of days. Much needed indeed as the flu I managed to catch right in timefor the first tour gig decided to feel very comfortable in my body.

Now this is Berlin and it welcomed us in exactly the way I expected it to in mid-October. When driving into town it was pouring down, it was dark and double bass player Isi and me couldn't have been more knackered at the end of the third day on tour.
Still I got a feel it's been worth it. The first show in my favourite Hamburg place, the Nachthafen, turned out a real blinder. Looked empty first, filled up then to what I'd call a packed place and ended with a pretty punkrocky encore which rounded out an almost perfect gig. A lovely moment was when Justin of The Galantiers and his wife Gaby (did I get that right?) did a 30 min slot in the middle of the evening playing Galantiers songs on acoustic guitar and violin. Brillant! Didn't get to bed early that night...

Second day.

The always wonderful Prinz Willy in Kiel. Again a well attended evening with the usual, very attentive audience there. Very different to Hamburg. If Hamburg was Rock'n'Roll this one got closer to a traditional folk club feel. Really good show again and a nightcap with our host at the nearby Club 68. Good talks there and to bed fairly early this time. A surprise was the local press being around for the gig the first time ever. An interested young lady who never heard of a band called The Clash. I assume it's a sign of me being a bit older than her. But then again... how can someone not know.... well, she'll find out. Been down to the sea front for a cuppa the next day before leaving. Loved it.

Kiel. Baywatch.

Bassist looking at the sea.

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.