Supporting The Support

Hello and welcome to our Lee MacDougall tour blog.

We, that’s me, Heidi, and my very best friend/partner in crime/soul- and tourmate, Stefie. This is our first-ever attempt  at writing a blog, so please bear with us newbies. And if the grammar may sound off to you every now and then… sorry about that. * We’re Germans, trying our best to write this blog in English, so that not only Lee’s fans in Germany understand what we’re writing about, but his fans in other parts of the world can understand as well.

*Well... except for this first entry which was proof-read and grammar-corrected by our dear friend Jinjer. We wanted to leave a good first impression, you know ;-) Thanks Jinjer!

The reason we decided to set up this blog is first  and foremost,Lee MacDougall. For those of you who know him already, the following will be old news. For the rest of you: Lee is a singer/songwriter from Grimsby in the UK, who has built a strong and loyal fanbase over the years due to touring regularly across Europe and the USA. He has supported artists like Bob Dylan, Van Morrisson, Train, Ed Sheeran, Paolo Nutini and Bon Jovi. So far he has released two home demo EPs that were recorded in his bedroom, titled “If Walls Could Talk” and “For A Few Tales More”, and were only available at his shows or through his website.

Now Lee is going to release his very first full-length album, which was produced by Jim Lowe (who has worked with Taylor Swift and The Stereophonics) later this year. The first single off of the album – “Falling In Love For The Last Time” has hit German radio stations on January 31st and will be released on March 14th, 2014.

However, it can already be pre-ordered now from iTunes. Click here to do so, if you haven't already ;-)

He’ll be touring Germany again (and yes, I think we’re VERY blessed in this country right now!) for a double-headliner tour together with the Welsh duo Paper Aeroplanes this coming March/April. 

Lee has toured our country several times and has supported German singer/songwriter Tom Lüneburger three times on his tours. We saw Tom when he was the support act for British singer/songwriter Bobby Long and liked him enough to want to check out one of his solo shows so we purchased tickets to his February 22, 2013 show at Bunker Ulmenwall in Bielefeld. That was the first time we saw Lee. Exactly one year ago today! :-)

We were somewhat familiar with Lee, but not that much really, (hard to believe now, I know…), so the Bielefeld show was a good opportunity to get an impression of him.

I think it was only 15 minutes into the 30 minute support set, that we had already made a decision: if Lee would ever return for shows over here, we’d be SO there! We were blown away by his remarkable voice, beautiful songs, and his way of capturing an audience right away. So when Tom announced that Lee would be supporting him on the 2nd leg of his “Lights” tour in October/November 2013, it wasn’t even a question whether we should buy tickets. In fact we ended up with tickets to 6 shows. And if that wasn't enough, we had also become members of the official Street Team.

6 shows to see a support act we had only seen performing one time for 30 minutes, and that was several months ago.  Looks like someone had left a really big impression…

And he continued to impress us. So much so that we bought tickets to 5 more shows…. somehow “crammed them in” after work was over, went back to work the next day still half asleep, drove hundreds of miles from West to East on a weekend… and had a grand ol’ time.

Then again… we’re touring junkies. It’s not the first time we’re doing this. It all basically started many moons ago with our first live show of Bon Jovi, and what followed was close to 100 shows all across Europe and parts of the USA in 12 years. The love for that band slowly faded around 2005 for various reasons so our tour activities were on hold for a while, and then picked up again in 2009 for the above mentioned Bobby Long, whom we’ve seen 39 times now. We still love Bobby, no doubt about it, and will surely see him live again, if he ever decides to come back to Germany.

But it’s safe to say that Lee has touched us in a very special way with his songs, his voice, and his performances. For the first time ever we’ll set off for 22 days on the road, seeing 15 shows.

But not only do Stefie & I  share the love for music and going on tour seeing our favorite artists, we also share a  love of photography. We’ve taken countless photos on our tours and when possible, of the artists performances. But now, for the first time ever, we thought about officially documenting a tour by creating a blog. The main focus will be photos of Lee’s performances, of course, but also photos of the adventurous, crazy, sometimes exhausting, but always fun-filled life on the road.

Here are some photos we took during the Supporting The Support tour :-) 

 Zentrum Altenberg, Oberhausen, October 11th, 2013

 

 Forum in Kevelaer, October 12th, 2013. Lee joining Tom to perform his song "Paperblock". A highlight of every show.

Pantheon Casino, Bonn, October 13, 2013

 

Kulturzentrum Grend, Essen, October 18, 2013

Prinzenbar, Hamburg, November 8th, 2013

Long lines at the merchandise table were a common sight every night.

Spreading the word... even in the Ladie's Rooms ;-)

Our car is a Lee supporter, too!


"Smile" - Sputnik Café, Münster, November 7th, 2013


Beautiful!

 

Performing "This Is My Story" admidst the mesmerized crowd every night!

Intense at Frannz Club, Berlin, December 7th, 2013

Tour Buddies

 

 Not only stole Lee the heart of everyone in the audience, but obviously also Stoffel's, Tom's partner at the piano, who handed him a bouquet of "Rewe"* roses at the end of the last show. Some lucky person caught it later when Lee threw it backwards into the crowd.
(*German grocery store chain)

And now it's less than a month until the "Tales From Britain" tour starts. Please check out the link on the right side bar for all tour dates and to get tickets. If you haven't seen Lee live yet, then it's about time! Don't miss out on this talented performer!


We'll be back with this blog in 26 days from now. Hope to see some of you there.

And please don't hesitate to leave us a comment :-)