Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium"The Blue Room Tour" Sept. 2000
Back on the road again after a too long quiet spell! While awaiting the release of "The Blue Room" I hadn't been working much, prefering instead to save it all up for the fall Blue Room 2000 tour. I did use that off timewell though, writing more than 10 new songs this past summer in my Concarneau home but that's another story. For now though I was excited to be back on the road as I really do love performing live and with all the new songs to choose from it would be fun and challenging for me musically as well. My good friend (and now ex-Blind Doctor) Alain LeCloirec would share the driving chores and help out with my guitars and merchandising for the first 8 days and, as always , it was good to have his company.
Generally speaking the shows were around 2 hours in length with a short break in the middle. I was playing my Froggy Bottom 6-string plus the 12-string, the dobro and some harmonica.' A note of thanks here to KGB who booked this tour and who have been my German booking agents for the past 3 years but are now closing their booking doors to pursue other ventures. I wish both Ludger and Christian the best of luck into the future.
Sept. 8 - Alain arrived in Paris with his car on the 7th where I had been visiting and we would begin our journey early on this Friday morning. Alain had had a difficult time getting from Concarneau to Paris as this was during the time period that the truckers were striking to protest high fuel costs and gas stations were running out of supplies. Bretegne had been especially hard hit by the shortages. Alain had filled up with gas in Concarneau before he left plus a jerry can in the trunk which we eventually needed to use to clear the French borders. The strike hadn't spread to Belgium yet (although it would later !) and we knew that if we could just drive the 2 hours to the border from Paris we would be ok.
My first show was in Hannover which is located basically in the center of Germany. But before getting to Hannover we had to stop in the center of Cologne and pick up my rental car that I would use for the whole tour. This took us some extra time and then we drove up to Solingen where we found a safe place to leave Alains car and THENoff we drove like madmen to Hannover. This was all on a Friday and, of course, we had to deal with all the traffic and traffic jams that go along with Germany especially on a Friday. I think we left Paris around 08H00 and arrived at the Chez Heinz club at 20H00. That's a long drive time and we were both tired, thirsty and slightly stressed when we got there. I had to immediately begin my soundcheck, and then change clothes and get ready for a 9PM show. To be sure I was feeling rushed but a super nice crew and audience made the evening an enjoyable one for all.
Photo: Peter PrickenSept. 9 - Hattingen - Well, I have played in a lot of different kinds of venues over the years but this one certainly was new. I played on the same stage as the Rolling Stones! Ok they were just paper statues of the Stones but they were life size and I sat right in the middle of Ron, Mick, Keith and Charly. It was such a lifelike exibition that they even had bottles of wiskey around the stage and upon opening one I discovered that it was the real stuff and so I had to sample some.
Actually it was kind of a cool place to have a show as it was an exibition of guitars that was located in an old castle. The people running the place did not want to disturb the exibition and, of course a show happens on the stage so……….. Anyway I put a bag over Micks head and went on with the show. The KGB boys, Alain and I went out for some good Spanish food afterwards and I fell asleep that night in the Formula 1 bed watching a nice recent concert of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Sept. 10. A day off and so Alain and I decided to make the 1,000K drive to Wein where our next show would be the next night. Originally we were going to make the drive in 2 days but we decided to get it over in one so that we could have one whole day in Austria's capital city. Thinking that it was a Sunday and that the German autobahns would not be so crowded off we roared in our little VW Lupo. Hours later we encountered our first stau (traffic jam) and that would not be the last. I think we spent about 2 hours on this warm and sunny day just stopped with thousands of other cars. We arrived around 10 that night in Vienna and immediately went in search for a cold beer. Not so easy in Vienna on a Sunday night. Another long, long day.
Sept.11 - Vienna-Perhaps my 4th time at the Chelsea club and once again a wonderful musical evening was had by all. A great friendly and warm audience really makes playing this club special. There's not so much live music in this part of the world and folks here seem real hungry for it. 3 encores was not even enough but the evening did end although hot and sweaty for all. I think I sold 30 CD's this night! A great club located underneath the tram tracks. Thanks Rainer!!
Sept.12 - Another day off and so it was back up towards where we had begun 2days before but this time we split the distance and spent the night in a cheap hotel near Augsberg. We ate dinner that night next to a table of 6 tall and beautiful French woman. I was convinced they were strippers but Alain thought they were some kind of singers. Cultural difference between him an d me I guess.
Sept.13 - Solingen - My second time at a little roadhouse located (Steinenhaus) in Solingen. The show was promoted by Fritz Kappner who is a great supporter of live music in this part of Germany. I was settling into a nice playing groove by this night and feeling very good about myself and the evenings. I still think Germany has the best audiences for me in Europe. I had very good ribs to eat on this night as well. Hard to find in Europe to be sure.
This would be Alains last night and he would leave early the next morning for the long 13 hour drive back to Concarneau. Now I would be truly solo!
Sept 14 - Holtzminden - This is a little village located 40 minutes from Beverungen and that is where my record company lives. So it was a good chance to stop in and say hello to everyone in the office, find out all about the new babies since the last time I was there (soon to be 1), raid the CD library, do my laundry and visit with the "Glitterboys". I certainly always want to do a good show for these guys and the night was special I think with lots of smiling faces and friendly vibes. Rembert especially worked hard to make this night successful.
Sept.15 - Sondershausen- Another long drive today but the beautiful sunny day helped to make it enjoyable. My second time to this music and art venue (Café Arte) located in the old mining community of Sondershausen. My daughters birthday and after the show I called her and wished her all the best.
Sept.16 - Dortmund - Back towards the west on the same road today to perhaps my favorite German club located in Dortmund the "Subrosa". For some reason I always play well here. Also the club has an artist apartment just above the stage so I can relax and enjoy myself a little more here. A "homey" stage feels like my frontroom and a packed and friendly audience of friends and fans ensured a good time for all. I do look forward to my return here!
Sept.17 Cologne - Into the basement of the ABS club again but I understand that this would be the last time as I hear that the collective of people who bring my kind of shows to Koln is disbanding. Sad news indeed and not just for me either. After the show I ended up at a little micro-brew pub and spent a couple of hours listening to some great rockabilly and early rock and roll songs. Sorry I can't remember the name of the pub or DJ but if you read this thank you for the fun night!! I slept that night at a friends house and the carpenters arrived the next morning at 07H30 to remove his front door and begin their work day. I left at 08H00. Ah Cologne!
Sept .18 - A day off for me but a short drive of about 90K to up near the Niederlande border made it an easy day and after checking into the hotel I slept for the next 6 hours. A good day to rest and a sleepy little town to do it in.
Sept.19 - Wesel, "Karo" - the opening of a new music venue is always a special occasion and tonight was to be no exception. A city supported youth center located in a nice old building and under the watchfull eye of my friend Matthias should be a success. I wish them all the best and it was an honor to be the first act on their music schedule.
Sept.20 Heythusen, Holland - At least 3 years since my return here and long overdue. TomTom club looks really great these days and both Frits and Ine should be congradulated on all the hard work and effort that it must have taken to develop this club and especially in such a little village. To their credit they have survived and from the looks of their up and coming band schedule I'm not the only musician that enjoys playing here. Hopefully I won't have to wait another 3 years for my return.
Sept.21 - Assen- It was almost exactly one year ago that the Blind Doctors and I were in Assen but then we were playing the Take Roots Festival and this time I was at "DeWitte Bal" the club of the festival promoter (the festival this year would happen one week after I left). I think this must have been about the 5th or 6th time that I've played here and Tiemes continued support has been an important ingredient in my ability to survive as a touring musician. A great and appreciative audience makes this a must play room for songwriters. Bravo Tieme!
Sept.22 - Bad Frankenhausen - A long drive (7 hours) back over some of the same roads I'd been over a week before (why do booking agents do that to us??. Tonight show was in the theater of a little museum but very cool indeed. The Panorama Museum sits atop a large hill (duh) and after my first misgivings about the evening it all turned out well.
Sept.23 - Langenau - It seems boring to say another long drive but that was just what it was. There was a booking problem with this last German date but the kindness of the promoter saved the day and I had a short set opening for the headline act "One Fell Swoop" from St. Louis. Too short a set for the friends that came to see me but I was lucky to have a place to play at all for this night.
Sept. 24 - Bruxelles - I drove like an maniac today as my sound check was a 16H00. In all I drove the 650K in 6 hours, only stopping for gas and short rests (and in a Lupo no less). Tonights show was part of a two week long music festival that happens every year and I certainly wanted to get in front of a large audience as I am not so well known in Belgium although we are working on changing that. Tonights headliner on my stage was Andy Cairns from Therapy!. I only had a 30 minute spot but I played strong and loud and won over a much younger audience than I usually get the chance to play for. Thanks to NADA my booking agency there for setting this night up.
That's it my friend. All in all it was a very good fall tour for me and I really did not want it to end. I was well received everywhere and my heartfelt thanks to all those who came to the shows, worked the venues and did the business parts. Certainly it is my job and responsibility to bring a good show to the stage each night but most certainly a good or magical evening is not made just me the performer but by the audience as well. I have been very fortunate to have such an audience and the nights where magic was present were many. All thanks to you that made it all happen! God bless.
