We made it to the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava shortly before 1. We were all pretty hungry at that point. Olga had plans for us to meet her friends Patricia and Hayden at a restaurant/brewery in Bratislava... She knows us too well. What came next will never be forgotten as it was both delicious and borderline overload..
First we had some appetizers; I think it's called "Brine" in English... Basically pigs head meat in a clear gelatin sliced thin like lunch meat served doused in vinegar and a great loaf of crusty brown bread. Peter got the smoked pigs neck with Dijon mustard, fresh horseradish, and pickles... I can't describe it in a way to make it sound appetizing but it was all delicious. And then came the mushroom crime soup which might be the best mushroom crime soup I've ever had. The mushrooms were fresh and wild and the cream base was light. Main course was this; roasted duck leg with potatoe dumplings, potatoe crepe and red cabbage... So good. So filling. I had to tap out. I just couldn't finish. I was beyond stuffed...
After lunch I was about ready to collapse into a ball and fall asleep. We took the short 34 min drive to Pezinok where our first gig of the tour is. We found the hotel (an old Closter) and I had to power down hard. So I went full eye mask and white noise and comafied for 20 mins.
We met in the lobby after 5pm and walked over to the club which was across the street (in the increasing wind and consistent rain... First rain in three months) and started to get everything situated. On the 3 min walk over to the club, my 5€ venitian umbrella took a huge shit and basically snapped in half in the wind. Awesome.
Walked up to the club located basically across the street which is also a bar/restaurant. We were to play in a performance space to the side of the restaurant. Met Richard the manager, Mat the sound guy and got set up and ready to roll. Right after sound check the power went out, presumably from the wind. No one seemed to care. Lit some candles and carried on. We were full on prepared to carry on without amplification when the lights randomly came back on.
Had a quick bite of cheese and bread and a couple cold Pivo before our set which started at 815 or so. Had a about 30 beautiful Slovaks waiting for the show to begin. We did our thing and it was really well received. At one point I made a comment about how I would try to speak more Slovakian if I had a Pivo ("Pivo power") and the owner disappears and reappears with a fresh cold one for yours truly. Respect.
We wrapped up about 10:15 after a double encore and got to sit down for a proper dinner. I had some pasta with chicken. I needed something relatively light after that lunch... Pasta is "light" compared to roasted duck.
Before the set we met a local cat named Richard who brought his banjo as he came directly from rehearsal. At some point after the set someone said the words "jam session" and peters ears perked up. What ensued can only be described as a hootenanny... He busted out my guitar, Jeff got the bass working with a speaker from the PA, I had an egg shaker, and we sang. We all sang. The seating was rearranged to make the circle larger and larger as folks still hanging in the space started to draw closer. We went through blue grass, rock, folk all with the really tasty licks of Richard on the banjo. Language barriers dropped and the once slightly reserved patrons opened up and started singing and interacting. It was one of those moments where u look around and wonder how you got there.
Needless to say, we made friends. The manager Richard was beside himself (almost literally) after every couple tunes he would smile and lean over and say "nazdravie" with a crooked smile, his wife was passed out in her chair after passionately singing "wish you were here" by Pink Floyd with peter, and the owner, a quiet stocky tattooed Slovakian bearded cat, kept pulling me aside to share his top shelf rum which I don't think he could even reach at the bar. I don't even like rum, but this stuff was amazing. So smooth. I feel like it was a sign of appreciation. When words fail, try rum.
By all accounts, the jam session lasted longer than the actual set. Picture a room full of Slovaks chain smoking, drinking wine, and singing the Beatles. It was scene. At about 1:15 am, when we finally were allowed to leave (The owner kept telling us we couldn't leave until he played one more song from his computer on the house system... First it was Georgia by Ray Charles. I stopped listening after that), we said our goodbyes, gave hugs, and said our thank you's and made the short walk home.
A great first night. A long one, but great. This is going to be a fun week.
No comments:
Post a Comment