Aaaand another day off. On one hand, these off days are nice to adjust the logistics, sleep in, do some sightseeing... on the other hand, an off day means: no show. And do we like days without a show? No.
Didn't help. At least we were convinced that Lee would use his off day wisely: practising an encore song or two, and producing some new, desperately needed
So on Wednesday we didn't do much more than driving from Mannheim to Magdeburg (a good 5 hrs incl. a coffee break and speeding up on the Autobahn with 212 km/h - that's 130 mph - for the first time with the new car. (only for a minute or two or five, but it was fun :-D) (Note from Stefie: I hate cars in front of me or those who change to the left side and drive in low motion!) then checking in into our hotel in Magdeburg, checking out the show venue (with the help of a staff member who was a tad bit more friendly than that guy in Munich a week ago). (A week ago. One week over already? God... time flies!) ... searching for a mailbox (Welcome Packages for new Street Team members need to be sent out, as well as postcards and birthday cards (Note from Stefie: Happy Birthday Mom!) ... and looking for a bite to eat. We ended up at Flinke Pfanne (translates to Speedy Pan), a typical 'cheap Chinese'. We both ordered crispy duck with veggies and curry sauce. It did the job of stopping the hunger, but thats it. No reason to brag about it otherwise.
Back at the hotel we did the usual: working ;-)
Speaking of hotels: there was no reason to bitch this time. We stayied at the Plaza Hotel Magdeburg which has decently sized (bath-)rooms, their own (free of charge!) parking lot, friendly staff and a really great breakfast buffet.
I ended the day sometime past midnight with the upload of the blog.
The next day, Thursday 27th, it was time to explore Magdeburg. While we have been to a whole lot of places in this country before, this city was still unknown territory. We took the streetcar that takes around 15 minutes to get downtown.
Magdeburg is the capitol city of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and has a population of ca. 230,000 citizens. It's located at the river Elbe. Here are some impressions.
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| Cheese stand on the market. Picture was added for no certain reason, really... |
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| Cathedral |
Info courtesy of Wikipedia:
The Protestant Cathedral of Magdeburg (German: Magdeburger Dom), officially called the Cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice (German: Dom zu Magdeburg St. Mauritius und Katharina), is, along with the Liebfrauenkirche of Trier, the oldest Gothic cathedral in Germany. One of its steeples is 99.25 m (325 ft 7 in) tall, and the other is 100.98 m (331 ft 4 in), making it one of the tallest cathedrals in eastern Germany.
From there we went over to the The Green Citadel of Magdeburg (Die grüne Zitadelle), a large, pink building of a modern architectural style designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) and completed in 2005. At one of the worldwide latest and greatest masterpieces of architecture by the Austrian artist, golden globes shine atop its towers, "tree tenants" look out of "dancing windows", scents waft from the wildflower meadows on the roofs, and "feet’s melodies" carry people through the courtyards. It's Hundertwasser’s "…greatest and most beautiful building…"
(source: http://www.gruene-zitadelle.de/)
I personally love Hundertwasser's art anyway, and I love the style of the buildings he has created. Wish we've had more time. Among shops and restaurants, it's also home of the Art Hotel. We made a plan to come back and stay here one fine day. (Note from Stefie: and take more pics)
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| The Artist |
There are a lot more beautiful sights in Magdeburg, but you only have so much time on a show day, so after some quick Indian food (Lemon Chicken... sooooooo good!!!) ...
... it was time to go back to the hotel and get ready for the evening.
Random sight at the train stop: It's Jon Snow, you guys!! (Anyone else here obsessed with Game Of Thrones??)
The venue, Feuerwache, was located only a cat's leap from the hotel. Inside there are three different event rooms. The show would take place in the largest one, which was filled pretty good at showstart.
It was Paper Aeroplane's turn tonight to begin which was of course good news for us (PA and their fans may forgive us LOL).
As for Lee's set... what can I say that hasn't been said already. He's just amazing and it's obvious at every show that we've been to, that also the PA fans who weren't familiar with him before, totally love his performance.
Somehow multitasking (taking photos, recording videos, punching the setlist into the iPhone and actually catching the show) failed me that evening. But fear not, I could get hold of the original setlist after the show ;-)
For those paying attention to the setlists, you'll notice that All The Right Places was back on, which is always a good thing! #6 says both She and Story. Guess he was still undecided when writing the list. I'm very happy to report though, that it was This Is My Story that was chosen for the unplugged song this evening.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE She. Very much so. But - if I'm allowed to point that out - I personally think that Story is the better song for that purpose. If I had a wish, it was that he stayed with that song when "going for his little walk". Also... "any Mutti's in the house?"... is just too cute to miss ;-) (Note from Stefie: I totally agree!)
I love She, but for getting 'gemütlich', the other one is better suited. I've heard people in the crowd whisper things like "oh he's comming down!" and "oh wow that's cool" and they loved the song.
As usual, the show ended with Smile. But it's always good to know that the last song of his set doesn't mean it is the last time we saw him on stage. Thank God we never have to wait long until he's back together with Sarah & Rich for the final two songs.
But just like at the past couple shows, the audience couldn't get enough and they all came out for an encore again. Looked like they had all indeed used the day wisely to practise another song together. It was Tales From Britain, one of the new songs on Lee's EP that is available at the shows. What a treat to hear it played live!! (Note from Stefie: YEAH) It was followed by another PA song which name escapes me though, sorry.
What more can you ask for:
- Lee came outafter PA
- You're Not Her was on the setlist
- This Is My Story made a well received comeback as unplugged song
- They all had indeed practised another encore song together... and
- ... it was one from the new EP.
HAPPY!!!
(Note from Stefie, who didn't get her DNA: Happy but a little bit sad, because I'm still waiting for the bracelets ;-)
So as we walked back to the hotel after the show, we're sure, "the band" was already "on their way to the next tour stop in their 'Nightliner' " (source: the friendly Feuerwache staff member, who obviously had all the insider details LOL)
Time to share some photos:
5 o'clock tea on stage at 9 o'clock. Or... what the Germans call tea...
(Note from Stefie: Lee to a staff guy: "Do you have milk?" Staff guy brings two small packs of coffee cream. Very clever. No tea culture in Germany.)
Um...I know I left a comment here. Did you delete it? If not, then something wacky happened on my end. Grrrr.
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