Gera: Honorary Street Team Member Nominee

People in Gera might not do a lot of things, are not getting married, don't have children, maybe don't even have sex... that's at least the impression you could get judging from the answers (or lack thereof) to Lee's questions at the show in Gera... but people in Gera hang posters! A lot! In fact, we haven't seen so many posters anywhere on this tour. In most cities we didn't see a single one. In others maybe one right at the venue. But Gera was graced with posters over and over. This is just one of many examples.

Thanks Gera. You rock! ;-) It still doesn't hurt to leave little flyers with tonight's show date here and there though. Lamp-/trafficlight-posts do the job, as well as menu holders in cafès/restaurants.

So easily done while enjoying an Eiskaffee at the same time. (Not to confuse with iced coffee/blended ice coffee). Eiskaffee in Germany you get mostly at ice cream parlors, rarely also in other cafés. It's made with regular coffe that was brewed hot, then cooled down, plus one or two scoops of vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream. (Also available as Eisschokolade, where they use chocolate instead of coffee.)

Is there anything else to see in Gera except posters and ice cream parlors you ask? Well... Lee asked the same thing on that evening and the answer was... dead silence. Wasn't clear though, if there was no one from Gera in attendance or if the Geraers don't know what's to see in their own town or if there actually isn't anything to see. I can tell you though, what we saw - hairdresser shops. I don't think I've ever seen as many salons on a square mile as in Gera. Amazing that they can all coexist.

Then there's the St. Salvator church (construction was completed in 1720)

... buildings with nice details ...

... gorgeous mansions....

... and often this: a typical sight in many East German (former GDR) cities.

Or this one. You can buy it for a ridiculous amount (20.000 Euro) but you probably have to invest 20 Mio. Euro to restore it. :-(

Typical old and new together.

Beautiful details... wasting away.

Kitty cat on observation post.

The place to be tonight.
 

The COMMA is not only a concert/event location, there's also a very nice restaurant inside. We arrived a bit early so that we'd have the chance to have a light pre-show dinner here. We were later joined by fellow tour companion Melanie (huge Paper Aeroplanes fan who's seeing six shows on this tour... check out her unofficial fanpage on Facebook ) and two of our new ST members, Nicole & Thomas and their friend, also named Nicole. It was soooo nice to meet everyone of you!! Same goes for ST member Claudia whom we saw later inside where she had secured her 1st row seat.

We also had the great pleasure and opportunity to meet The Man himself before showtime. He's as nice, friendly, sweet and funny as you'd think he is ;-). We want to thank him very very much for taking the time to chat with us for a bit!! :-)

Lee was 2nd this evening (yay!) and was in great form and spirits, as always. I didn't write down the setlist, but there weren't any big changes to the ones I've posted already.

Due to our meeting with Lee we arrived when most people had taken their seats already. It wasn't such a bad thing after all because it gave us the opportunity to move around a bit (without disturbing anyone's view) and getting photos from both sides of the stage. Usually you take your spot at the stage when you come in and don't leave it and you take your photos from the same spot. But the shaping of the room and the fact that it was a seated show allowed for a bit more diversity this time.

The show ended with the usual two songs that Lee & PA perform together. Well... almost. Because, whatever else people in Gera might be up to: they do not only hang posters, they also cheer and applaude until the three come out for an encore (thanks again Gera!). They played Tales From Britain, Lee's song from his new EP.

A truly wonderful evening comes to an end... but not before the bunch who had met before came together for one last drink at the bar, after everyone had bought their merchandise and had their photos taken with Lee. He even joined us all for a couple minutes to raise his glass with us... yes, he's as awesome as that ;-). We were in fact the last one's who left the building, with the staff locking the door behind us. Kudos to them for their patience and for not throwing us out.

Thank you Nicole & Thomas, Nicole, Claudia, Melanie (who sadly had to leave before we others joined for a drin... next time, Mel!)... and last not but least Lee, the main reason we are all here and why we have all met... and hopefully meet again!!

The next pic was taken after Sarah said she needed a guitar pick and asked if someone had one for her. I don't think that anyone really thought that someone in the audience could help out, but in fact a guy in the front row brought one. Mental note: always bring a guitar pick to a show... you never know if the artist is in need of one ;-) Lee was so kind to take it and hand it over to Sarah.

Last pic was taken at the merch table after the show.