Encore

When I said on April 13th, 2014 that there would be one last blog post, being so late with it was not my intention. But that's how it goes: real life catches up with you quicker than you care for. Soon enough you're back in the everyday work routine

It's unbelievable that the official part of the Tales From Britain tour is over now for two weeks already. Thanks to our dear friend Nicole, we had the chance for a little "encore", since she had invited us to a private party that took place exactly one week after the last show in Frankfurt. More about that later.

For now, let's go back to where I left you with the last post: in Frankfurt.

"The morning after" is always strange. When you wake up after the last show of a tour is over and realize: no need to rush. No need to pack bags and be back on the road because you have to be in the next city on time. There's just that big... emptiness. Which may sound totally dramatic ... but it's in fact just like that. [Note from Stefie: I couldn’t agree more!!]

When you go on such a tour and road trip, you're in a completely different world and mindset. You get into that routine of getting up in the morning, leaving the hotel after a not-too-late breakfast, getting in the car, going to the next city, checking into the next hotel, getting ready for the show, back to the hotel after the show, editing photos, writing blog posts (if you're not too tired), turning out the light way too late, getting up the next morning after not enough sleep, being back on the road on time, writing blog posts in the car (if you were too tired the night before) and so on and so forth. And then after the last show... nothing. All you have to do is pack up, put everything into the car and head home. The worst part of such a trip.

We wanted to delay that part for a bit and since the weather was so very nice, we walked over to the Zeil again (main shopping street), strolled up and down without any real intention of buying anything (except for a few postcards), took some rather uninspired photos along the way, and ended up at Spice Kitchen again. Been here the day before for that delicious Pink Lady drink (see blog post from April 13, 2014). Today we wanted to have lunch here though. Their Asian food is very very good. We both chose "Wok-fried garlic, chili, mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, onions, green beans, Thai basil, bamboo shoots and zucchini in a spicy sauce with jasmine rice" and chicken. So good!!

Went back to the car after the meal. Yes we could've stayed longer. But even though you hate to go home, in the end you don't want to hang out at that last destination for all too long either.

But before we could actually get the car out of the parking garage, there was one last "where is my XY" panic. Those who have read this blog from the start, may or may not remember, that there was some regular searching for stuff chaos here and there. I'm the chaos queen who keeps losing things, Stefie's usually the one finding them. This time however, I managed to find it on my own. The parking ticket, that is. Yay for me!

But before I could actually find it, this conversation went down:

S: Do you have the parking ticket?

H: Um... no. Should I?

S: Gave it to you.

H: You sure?

S: Pretty much.

H searching purse, wallet, jacket and jeans pockets to no avail.

H: I don't have it. Are you sure you gave it to me?

S searching her purse, wallet, jacket and jeans pockets to no avail, actually totally knowing in advance that searching wouldn't make sense, since she probably clearly remembered giving it to me.

S: I don't have it. I'm very sure I handed it to you when we drove into the garage.

H: Do you by any chance remember where I put it?

S: No. Have you checked thoroughly?

AS IF I wouldn't check thoroughly. Tzzzz... Still she now checked my purse & wallet (but spared me the indignity of checking my jeans pockets thank you very much).

S: (giving me the hint of a stink eye): Great. For the loss of a parking ticket we have to pay 30 Euro!

H: -_- (thinking: yeah shoot me now)

All this actually took place before we went to lunch and all during lunch I kept thinking about where I could have put that damn parking ticket, stressing about having to spend 30 unnecessary Euros.

H: There might be a chance it's in the pocket of the grey jeans.

S: And the jeans are where?

H: In my bag.

And the bag was in the luggage room of our hotel. Which meant: unpacking the bag in the luggage room to a certain extent to get out the grey jeans and... THERE was the ticket!!!  :-).

AS IF I wouldn't know where I stash my parking tickets *eyeroll*

Great. Because... it would really have been too bad if we had to pay 30 Euro for the loss of a stupid ticket, right? Went to the garage and put the thing into the machine and it came up with €31. THIRTYONE EURO???? (That's $43 | £26).

Sigh. Okay, we had parked for more than 24 hours in a public garage in downtown Frankfurt. But still. :-/

See? I knew why I didn't want to remember where the ticket was. It would have saved us ONE EURO!!! Damn.

To make things worse, that stupid machine wouldn't even take credit/debit cards so we fed the bitch with the last of our cash. F*ck.

And now there was no reason to stay any longer. Time to get outta here.

                                                                     ~~

The first two or three days back home it's like your're not really there. Your body is there, but your mind is still on the road... Not quite sure what to do with yourself, you do what must be done: unpacking bags, laundry, putting things back where they belong, watering flowers… more acting likea robot, trying to get used to being at home again.

Thank God there was a full weekend between coming home and going back to work. I remember once coming back from a tour in the late afternoon and then going back to work the very next morning. Hell !!

It was still unreal to go back to the office on Monday, trying to wrap our minds around company-related things. But the money for the next tour needs to be earned so… there’s no way out. The good with the bad: it was a short week. Three and a half days of work, and then – off to Borna (East Germany, about 30 km / 25 miles from Leipzig).

Thanks to both our bosses for being kind enough to allow us to leave early again. We were back on the road at 12:30pm-ish. The Thursday before Easter is usually a heavy traffic day because a lot of people start into a long Easter weekend (we’re off here Friday through Monday) and we were a bit worried if we’d make it on time. Thank God, not many go to the East on such long weekends, but more North (to the coast) or South (to the mountain regions). That’s why traffic wasn’t really a problem and we arrived around 5pm in Borna. Or better… in Altenburg, which is about 20 km/ 15 miles away. That’s where our bed & breakfast – Pension Meyner (very nice place, friendly people!) – that Nicole had booked for us was.

There hadn’t been any time for lunch so we asked the B&B owner for a place to eat. He recommended Gaststätte Zur Leimrute, only a minute by car. The menu looked good, the prices even better, so we placed our order.

It was shortly after 6pm. But then we waited and waited. It wasn’t really crowded in the room where we were sitting, but soon enough we realized there was a different room in the back… and that one seemed to be crowded with lots of people who had ordered their food before us. By now it was 6:30pm and still no food in sight and we had to be in Borna at 7pm. I texted Nicole. Would the show start right on time? Yes it would. Oh dear. So we asked the waiter how long it would take to bring the food since we had to be in Borna at 7pm. He made it clear that this wouldn’t work. It would take another 10 minutes ‘til the food was ready, and we’d need roughly 15-20 minutes by car to get to Borna. Which meant: we had to cancel the order. We offered of course to pay the full price but he said no, just pay your drinks and it’s ok. Maybe you’ll come back another day with more time. What a nice dude! We’d HAVE to find a way to come back.

Paid for the drinks and headed out to our car, and we would’ve broken speed records to get to Borna, if there hadn’t been several drivers in front of us that were obeying the speed limit. We arrived at the Children’s Home at 7pm sharp… and on our last nerve. This had been totally unnecessary. Our only excuse was: we were hungry and there weren’t many opportunities besides that restaurant and we had thought the food would be ready a bit quicker.

Anyway. We arrived perfectly on time and only a couple minutes after we had taken our seats, Lee began with his performance.

His audience on that night wasn’t the usual one, but kids from very young ages to 18 years old, some of them mentally handicapped, but all of them very excited. Doesn’t happen every day that such a talented, cool and funny musician shows up at their place for a concert.

Lee asked them if any of them spoke English… but the answer was no. He replied that he could only sing in English… but he’d do it very slowly then, to which a very understanding boy said “das macht nichts!” (that doesn’t matter) LOL.

So the first song of the evening was the usual first song: Joanna, which seemed to be an instant favorite, followed up by “The A Team” (Ed Sheeran), a song that everyone was familiar with. Especially 18 year old Kevin in front of us who knew all the words and did a nice job, accompanying Lee.

There were more cover songs played than usual, which was a good way to make the kids sing along. Lee would often ask what they wanted to hear and at one point someone threw in the name Rihanna. No problem for Lee. Anyone here who doesn’t know “Umbrella”? No. And soon enough they were all ella-ella-ella-eh-eh-ing along. Even “Help” by the Beatles was part of the setlist… to which only some of us… um… elderly ones in the audience knew the words though. The Gorillaz/Prince of Bel Air mashup was met with the same enthusiasm as the regular show audience (how could it not!) and it was for everyone much too soon when he announced “Smile” as the last song. But there was no way anyone would let him go so quickly. What to play now? Any suggestions? Yeah. “Johanna” was their choice. They pronounced the name the German way, which was cute, and Lee picked up on that and pronounced it in German when he performed the song. Too funny!! There was even a Johanna in the audience and of course Lee dedicated the song to her.

After the official part was over, we all went into the backyard where Nicole and the staff had prepared a cool campfire. We all had a seat on one of the benches that were set up around the fire place and from the moment Lee had taken his seat, he was surrounded by some of the kids who wouldn’t let him go again for the rest of the evening. He’s surely made some new friends in Borna. And all these youngsters couldn’t care less that he’s not fluent in German. They kept babbling and asking him questions while he tried his very best to understand and reply in German. He keeps saying that his German isn’t that good but we can assure you… it’s very good!

As if the concert hadn’t been enough, someone even popped in one of Lee’s CDs into the player, drinks were given out (non-alcoholic for the kids of course, sparkling wine for the rest of us, beer for The Artist), and a grand ol’ time was had by all. This was the most perfect ending of the tour we could have wished for. A very very big thanks again to Nicole for inviting us!!! <3

But even the most wonderful evening has to come to an end. By the time when many of the smaller children were already in their beds (probably… LOL), it was time for Lee to say good-bye. The train that would bring him back to Berlin, from where he’d fly back home to England the next day, was waiting. Together with Nicole we brought him to the station. The farewell was bittersweet. It had not only been a wonderful evening, but wonderful three weeks on the road with 16 amazing shows, but despite all the happiness, it was of course also sad to see him go.

We miss you, Lee! Come back soon!

By the way… we went back the next day to the restaurant where we had cancelled the order 10 minutes before the food was ready. Met up there with Nicole and her family for lunch. We had wanted to meet anyway and Stefie and I said we’d like to go back there. That friendly guy hadn’t asked anything for the cancelled order, he had been nothing but friendly, so we definitely wanted to eat there. And thank God we did, because their food is incredibly yummy, their service is friendly…and he got a generous tip in the end ;-)

Now this could be the end of our reports, the end of the blog… at least for now. But it isn’t. We just can’t let go, you know ;-) This however was the last show report. We want to close, as usual, with some photos. We hope you enjoy them. This time it won’t be as many as usual. It was a private party and not the right time keep clicking away constantly.

Please stay tuned for another post. And we promise it won’t take that long ;-)

(As usual, click to enlarge.)

Saving The Best For Last

Münster, show #14, was history. Which meant the following: there was only one show left. One last show of the one and only wonderful Tales From Britain tour: Frankfurt, sankt peter CAFE, April 10, 2014.

How could this happen? Hadn't we just started in Munich? Wasn't it only yesterday that there were three full adventurous weeks ahead of us?

Time flies when you're having fun. Sad but true.

Somehow we dreaded to leave for Frankfurt. It was a bit like: as long as we're not there yet, it hasn't begun and the end is still far away.

But there comes the time when there's no procrastinating anymore and you have to leave. You don't want to miss that last show after all, right?

Made it down to Frankfurt in only a bit more than 2.5 hours. And finally we had a hotel that was so close to the venue again, that we didn't have to deal with driving or paying for a taxi. In fact the hotel was almost "next door". It was the Best Western Scala, which is actually a quite nice hotel (ok, the room could have been a tad bit larger but it was ok in the end), but it doesn't have its own parking garage. Yes, here we are again with a slight parking problem. It's been a while that we had to bitch about that.

So hotel guests who arrive by car, can pull up to the main entry to unload their luggage, but have to use a public garage a few hundred meters away, to park the car. Or you're very lucky and find street parking nearby. I suppose, winning the lottery jackpot might be easier though.
[Note from Stefie: Here we are again with our beloved term "nearby".]

The hotel is located very close to the main and huge shopping street Zeil and other places of interest. And they serve a pretty decent breakfast.

But this ain't a hotel blog, right? Let's get back to the main business why we're here.

We arrived early enough to have some downtime, but not early enough to spend that downtime doing extensive sightseeing or shopping. All we did was walking over to the Zeil (Frankfurt's huge shopping mile) to see if we could have a drink non-alcoholic-beverage somewhere. Back in January 2013 we had discovered a café/restaurant called Spice Kitchen. We didn't want to eat something now, but we both had one of their Pink Ladies. That's a VERY refreshing drink made of homemade lemonade, grenadine, lime and fresh mint. If you happen to be there one day, try it.

Back in the room there was still some time to relax... or start writing the blog für Münster. Theoretically. Practically... I couldn't. Don't know why. Guess I wasn't in the mood to wrap my mind around "creative writing".

So while Stefie at least did some photo editing, I was just trying to not think all too hard about the fact that this was the last time to get ready for a show.

This is not our first big tour. But it was definitely the longest, most intense one we've ever been on. And last days suck. No matter what.

We left the hotel rather early. Just didn't have the nerve anymore to hang around in that damn room. We checked out where the sankt peter CAFE was, and while we knew it couln't be that far away, we were still surprised to see how close it was. Lee was soundchecking when we arrived. But it was still too early to hang around there. So what to do now? Right. Getting something to eat. We were both not in the mood for fancy restaurants and stuff, so we went to a nearby Döner Kebab place again.

About 30 minutes before door opening time, which was 7pm, we went back to the venue but we were alone up until 5 minutes to 7. Inside the place looked interesting with some very comfortable chairs... even a little couch... and they were all taken rather quickly.

A little later it looked like this

.... and by 8pm showtime it was so crowded it must have been close to selling out. Most people who arrived later, were standing, others were sitting on the ground.

Knowing the tour was coming to an end, we wanted to delay Lee's final performance as long as possible so we were really happy to learn that Paper Aeorplanes played first again.

Clear from the start was the following: there may have been more people in attendance than in Münster, but they were all.... quiet. So very quiet. And I don't mean bored-quiet or not-having-fun-quiet. No, they were listening. Between two songs, when Sarah was strumming her guitar, you could hear a pin drop. But after each song the applause was LOUD and enthusiastic! It was exactly the same later with Lee.

Always good for a laugh is when Sarah tells the story that she, Rich and Lee share a hotel room on that tour to save money, and that Lee sleeps in the Besucherritze. Which is a German word she has learned and it sounds very cute when she pronounces it (and it's not an easy word to pronounce for a non-German).

For our English speaking readers: there's no English word for Besucherritze. It's basically the space or gap between matresses in a twin bed.

Oh and... of course it's a joke. Just in case you were wondering. (Or is it? ;-D)

Other essential words she knows now are Flaschenöffner (bottle opener), Leitungswasser (tap water), Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) and encoffeiniert (decaf) and the German translation of her bandname which is Papierflugzeuge.  She's all set now to live here! :-)

I'm not 100% sure but I think it was the first gig where people wanted an encore after their set. There were encores with the three of them at the end of both sets, but it must have been the first one at the end of their own set. Basically what happened to Lee in Hannover. It was well deserved.

But now it wouldn't be long until it was time for Lee to open his very last set of the tour. On one hand we were of course excited, just like before every performance. On the other hand ... well... yeah. You guess it.

But then, here he was, dapper as always, in black pants, dress shirt and tie and dark grey jacket, and for the last time he was singing to us that great, ex-girlfriend-inspired song ;-)

I think it was before London In The Summer, when Lee usually asks if someone in the audience has been to London before, when Bob introduced himself to Lee (and I apologize if it wasn't before that song but another). We others had 'met' him before when he was engaged in a little conversation with Sarah during her set. Now Lee had the pleasure. Bob was an Englishman too, and as soon as he had told Lee from where exactly he came, the two exchanged some pleasantries in an accent that made it impossible for me to understand so I'm sorry I can't repeat their short conversation here.

We'd be hearing more from Bob later. (Or better... Sarah, Rich and Lee would hear from Bob later.)

No changes to the set, but it seemed like Lee's voice was finally back to its full force! How unfair was it, that he was sick for a long stretch of that tour and only got better when it was over? I'm sure though, that those who saw a show and didn't know he was sick, never really noticed any voice "problems".

Apart from that, there was nothing new in Frankfurt. Nothing that hasn't been said about his amazing musical talent, outstanding voice, qualities as entertainer, storyteller and audience charmer. Always funny and engaging, exchanging witty banter with the crowd, you can't help but having that genuine feeling that both artist and audience have euqally as much fun.

Which is the secret of every good show.

Last song, as always, was Smile. But instead of smiling I couldn't help but tear up a bit. I dread last songs of last shows on last tour days so much ... sigh.

Okay... of course it wasn't the very last song. There were still the two with Paper Aeroplanes. This time they performed Newport Beach again unplugged in the middle of the room.AMAZING!

And that was it.

As I said in the blog title... this might have been everyone's favorite show of the tour. Very nice venue that was packed, wonderful audience, flawless performances, great atmosphere... couldn't have been any more perfect and a better ending of a wonderful, and I'm sure very successful, tour.

Many people stayed after it was over. Lee's line at the merchandise table was once again very long, so many wanted not only CDs or bracelets but also a photo with him... same goes for Sarah & Rich. They also received lovely presents from some of their biggest fans who had been following for a handful of shows.

I had bought a CD and wanted to get it signed from them, but then there was Bob who had come over to chat them up. And he kept going and going and going and going. Bob had obviously a lot to say, totally ignoring the fact that there were people lining up to have their stuff signed. Sarah & Rich were friendly and polite... but at some point Rich made a sublte sign that there were people wating for them. Otherwise Bob would still be standing there talking I guess. But there was still Lee, right? So he went over to him to see if he could have a little talk with him. :-/.

The nerve of some people.

Anyway... our little group (Petra, Christine & Melanie from the PA camp, Heidi & Stefie from the LMD camp) stayed until the bitter end. Everyone had their photos taken with everyone, we had group photos taken... CDs and posters were signed, presents given away, there were big hugs, big smiles, big thank-you's, big good-bye's and some tears.

[Note from Stefie: thanks to the lady from the entrance, who gave spare posters to everyone who wanted them for free.]

And then it was time to leave the venue... but no one really wanted to leave, so we all decided to have a drink somewhere and drive over to BarCelona, crammed into Petra's little car (hello Fridolin!). Arrived there about 15 minutes before kitchen-closing-time but were still allowed to order something. Must've been close to 1am when Andrea Bocelli's Time To Say Goodbye blasted out of the speakers. At first we didn't think much of it, but then we were given paper cups for the still unfinished drinks and boxes for those who hadn't finished their meal yet. They were practically kicking us out LOL. Which was alright though. We had showed up a tad bit late and it was actually nice of them to still cook 5 meals for us.

Paula & Christine drove us back to our hotel before they started their two-hour-drive back home. A grand ol' time was had by all... I think the little get-together has saved everyone from being all too sad that the tour had now come to an end.

Back at the hotel it was a bit of a weird feeling, knowing that tomorrow we could sleep in. (Sort of... breakfast was only 'til 10am LOL)... that there was no need to plan the next day... or to be at the next destination on time... no need to think about the blog just now, would certainly do it from home...

Did I mention that tour endings suck?

Okay. So this was the last blog post about an actual show. But this is not the last blog post in general. There will be one more, where we will be posting some more photos, videos of performances and storytelling, a little résumé, some statistics... whatever qualifies for a "last post".

Pics from Frankfurt:

Look at what he wrote on our posters. How sweet is that? Brought more than one tear to our eyes. Thanks so very much, Lee!!! You're very welcome. Supporting you is a great pleasure :-).

"Happy Birthday" and a perfect whoo-hoo during Billy Bean (or whatever the name of that song is...)

But before we get to that, I want to start today's blog with some bitching. What else can you do when there are people who decide to buy tickets to a show and then, instead of watching the artists on stage, engaging in a really loud, distracting and irritating conversation at the bar, all that accompanied by people behind the bar making some equally annoying noise.

I'm talking about the show in Münster at Sputnik Café on Thursday, April 9th. And this is not a complaint about the audience in Münster in general, mind you! Apart from those six obnoxious idiots, everyone else was there to enjoy Lee & Paper Aeroplanes and to have a good time.

I want to point out though, that this was the absolute exception of the rule. Not just on this tour but in general. We've been to a lot of club shows all over Germany in the past years and we know for a fact, that people usually come to enjoy a show and save their conversation for later. 

Those six in question couldn't even be bothered to shut it after being asked to tone it down a bit by several other people. So rude!

But let's concentrate on the positive things because there are a lot of them. First off we could once again put some faces to names. We've met one of our new Street Team members, Rabea, and her friend Nadine, and also Karin, who was lucky to have hosted a private concert in her living room before and could tell an amazing story about it. If you ever have a chance to host a show in your living room... do so! Ladies, it was a real pleasure to meet you all! :-)

Paper Aeroplanes opened the evening in Münster with their beautiful set. Loved when Sarah thanked at the end "those who were listening" ;-).

By the way... after first Rich, then Lee, then Mona got sick as dogs on this tour, Sarah obvisoulsy couldn't stand to be the odd one out and had caught a cold the day before. Thank God her voice wasn't affected though and she sounded as wonderful as ever.

Lee was met with a big applause when he took to the stage and he opened with the usual Joanna followed by the first little chat with the audience. And this is what happened then:

Thank you Münster! That was really sweet!! And Lee... I'm sure Mum's birthday present is waiting for you when you get home ;-)

What followed was the usual mix of...

• his own wonderful songs (thank God You're Not Her made a comback to the setlist again!)
• The Best Coversong in History of Coversongs, where the audience delivered a perfect "whoo-hoo-hoo" during Billie Jean (or "Billy Bean", as one reviewer of a newspaper wrote in his report. Roflmao!! Don't you just love that? I will call it Billy Bean from now on!
• Mingling with the crowd for This Is My Story.

And of course there were the very funny and entertaining stories about selling his DNA in Texas, the difficulties that an Englishman faces in Germany with our language (wanting to buy a guitar Ständer but ending up with the phone number of the pretty sales person, or getting into trouble on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg by [not] claiming he's fronm Serbia).

(Videos of him telling all these stories will be sent in a seperate "end of tour" post at... well... the end of all regular blog posts.)

During all this, the noise from the back was sometimes hard to ignore and Lee addressed this with a "sorry if I have interrupted anyone's conversation" at one point.

But don't worry. The fun everyone was having couldn't be ruined. He closed his own set traditionally with Smile, before returning with Paper Aeroplanes for the final two songs A Girl in New York and Newport Beach. The latter was not performed unplugged down in the crowd this time. You need a silent audience for this. Too bad that little groups of people ruin things for the majority. The song however sounded nothing short of wonderful performed plugged on stage :-)

Later at the merchandise stand Lee received birthday presents (that hopefully helped him get over the missing present from Mum a little bit) and hugs from fans, he sold EPs and CDs... and some more of his DNA ;-)

Thanks Münster, see you in Frankfurt, Lee!

Let's get to the photo section now. There are no photos of the city of Münster this time because it was a looooong drive from Greifswald and no time to do some sightseeing. Too bad for those who haven't been to Münster though... it's a really beautiful place! Next time then.

Instead I'm posting some graffiti art photos. The Sputnik Café and surrounding buildings are all covered with graffiti. I love good graffiti and I love to take photos of graffiti, so... here are a few. (For those not interested in graffiti... please scroll down. For all the others... remember to click the photos to enlarge them.)

Some took that the wrong way that evening...

And now, Ladies & Gentlemen, Mr. Lee Mac Dougall for your viewing pleasure :-)