Ok, so Friday was a long time ago. I mean, like two whole days ago. But I don’t remember what we did during the day until we left for Herdecke around 2 ish.
The ride there is actually not bad even though it is a near 3 hour drive with traffic and construction. Coming from L.A. traffic, really nothing is comparable that I have found - and yeah, that includes Boston. The one thing that is tight on the Autobahn is when they are doing construction, they will make the lanes smaller and crowd them together on the same side of the divided highway and it can get tight.
Nathaniel is waiting for us in Herdecke at the Shakespeare Pub. He’s a Brit who has lived in Germany for decades now and he has that understated British type of humor where he says something quickly and dryly and then waits for you to respond. Sometimes it’s so quick you miss it.
I can feel Matt sizing up the venue with a bit of “you dragged me halfway around the world to play this tiny pub in the middle of nowhere?” The Shakespeare Pub is an old style British pub here in Germany. They pour beautiful Guinness pints*, serve up fish and chips, have a meeting room, extra second floor area, two small beds for traveling musicians and is weirdly built for the kind of rock and roll we do. Nathaniel has upgraded his PA system and it’s actually the same one Matt has back home and connects with a tablet and you can dial all the things in. It’s nice.
It’s too early for food at the Shakespeare Pub and we walk over to where I’ve had some great spaghetti bolognese But the sign on the door says they are on vacation for another two weeks. Wandering around the downtown area we find another Italian restaurant and eat there. It’s still just 5 pm and we aren’t rocking until 7:30 so it’s good to get some food in our bellies.
Our set up time is really quick. I take some extra time with the tablet controls and try to eq our vocals and acoustic to their optimum sweetness. Even with the finger swiping EQ controls it seems harder than with traditional knobs.**
I’ve been playing the S.P. For a bunch of years now. The first time was with Riddle & The Stars and it was so hot that we played acoustically outside on the sidewalk and that was back in…2015 or so? The next time back I couldn’t remember it and was so confused because, sure, there’s places you can’t remember playing but once you’re in the room - things come back to you and it was here that none of that happened until a fan (wearing a Riddle & The Stars shirt) reminded me that we had played out on the street the year before and then it was like - Oh, yeah. I have not played IN this venue yet, I played outside this venue. Got it.
Now I know that might just seem like whatever, you’ve played lots of shows why are you making a big deal out of not remembering it… I explain it to Tracy and she has not been here since that first time. She can’t remember it either. I explain the statue of the woman on the street eating ice cream and the statue of her husband taking her picture. Nothing. I tell her about the place, about performing outside. Nothing. We get there and it’s still not coming back to her until she sees Nathaniel and then she’s like “Oh yeah!”
Matt has no memory of ever being here because he has never been here.
So.
Philipp is a fan of mine going back to 2019. He lives here in Herdecke and is working on his guitar playing and songwriting. He speaks excellent English and would study by watching Friends and How I Met Your Mother episodes. For real, great way to learn a language! Tonight he has brought his mother and father to see us. We message each other throughout the year and it’s great to see him again.
The couple that first saw Riddle & The Stars here back in 2015 have also just arrived. They tell me that they have to leave early because they are going on holiday but wanted to come by and see us first. With that I decide we are starting early! If they have to leave early, I’m not going to make them wait for us.
When we start playing there are about six people in the pub and I can fully feel Matt’s thinking of “urgh, one of those gigs…” but then the folks from outside come in and we end up playing to a packed house all night. We took a break, everyone went outside, had a smoke and a drink, started our second set and they all came back in. We ended up doing 3 sets, played from about 7:15 to 10:15. I ruined my shirt with sweat, it was drenched. We told stories, rocked and had a fantastic time. Ending our set to chants of “Zugabe!”***
And we closed it out with one more song. It was so long ago I don’t even remember what we closed with.
This room with Matt’s stripped down cajon kit, Tracy’s small bass amp, my acoustic and second signal/effected acoustic signal and voices was such the perfect room, space sound for us. We got as loud as we could with what he had and it was never too much for here. We played with great dynamics and really was just a perfect combination.
When we first arrived, Tracy was admiring the art on the wall. Nathaniel told us that it was a local artist who is also a musician. That local artist came to our show and we connected and they said next time we are in town if we want to stay at her place, they would put us up. And we talk to her talk about water color and acrylic and styles and how we paint. It was just amazing.
Then this guy Jerry Kelleher came over. He was from Ireland but lives here now and was just a charming old Irish dude. I took a picture of him and sent it to my friend Gail Kelleher - see if they’re related.
Now this part is going to come off as a bit of a slight to our U.S. based fans but it really is not. Our fans our great because they listen to us and are also annoyed by folks chatting and talking through our songs. Matt said something at the end of the show like “so that’s what it’s like to have everyone listening.” And then “I think this may have spoiled me against playing at home.” Paraphrasing but you get the gist. Packed room. All listening. It’s addictive.
Packing up takes forever as we are chatting, taking pictures and selling cds, vinyl and te shirts. It’s a good problem to have. I clearly did not bring enough t shirts.
The ride back to Bremen is long and slow. Our rental car is a Jeep Compass. I don’t like it. It’s noisier than it should be on the road, the dashboard and map screen lights can’t be turned down any lower and they’re still so bright that I end up putting a shirt over a lot of the dashboard just so I can see the road, turn off the other screen and on top of that - the headlights are aimed so low, it feels dangerous to go over like 50 mph on the autobahn! That and the Apple Car Play thing that does the maps on the screen works about 60% of the time. Same cable, different cable, don’t matter, will work, won’t work - no rhyme or reason.
/car rant
It’s a long drive back to Bremen. We could’ve stayed the night at Shakespeare Pub but there were only two beds so, we didn’t feel like punk rock style sleeping when our big beds were waiting here.
Tomorrow we play Heike’s Garden - Some folks have dreams of playing Madison Square Garden or Boston’s TD Garden. For me it’s Heike’s Garden.
*That is mishandled by the bartender when handing it to Matt and shatters all over the floor right where Tracy stands. I saw it and it was weird. Like just before handing it off the bartender did this like shift of hand like he looked away or something. And this was verified by when he went to hand me an Apfel Schorle and just before handing it off, kind of shoved it into my hand. I’m just saying, the lost Guiness was not entirely Matt’s fault, maybe 20% his fault.
**”Give me knobs or give me death!” ~ some soundman somewhere probably
***One more song.