On the road to Baden Switzerland around 11:30. Pretty drive; a little over an hour and a half. Bought our vignette for Switzerland just short of the border and then got waved through the border control. Traveled west across the southern shore of the Bodensee, skirted north of Zurich and then NW to Baden.
Baden is pretty quintessential Swiss; castle ruin on the hill overlooking a small town center perched above a wide river that cuts the valley in two. Neat pastel colored houses sprinkled up the opposite side of the banks. A clean pedestrian shopping area with clothing shops and cafes. The sun would periodically make an appearance and folks were enjoying the sun on these first days of Spring. Like Germany, Spring is visible all around with wild flowers and tulips all around. On first glance you might even confuse the two. As we were hungry, we started searching out cafes and Döner joints and noticed the prices; 9 Francs for Falafel?! And look over there, McDonalds... Let's just see what that costs... 12 Francs for chicken McNuggets?! You are telling me, people are paying 13 bones for some nuggets?!
Scenes of Baden.
We walked around town until about 330. We were scheduled to meet the promoter at the club at 430 but all attempts to reach him failed. We would have loved to find a cozy spot to relax before the show. Maybe shower. Maybe nap. We were staying at the promoters house that night because hotel rates are bafflingly exorbitant but we didn't have his home address. We were a band seemingly lost at sea; unorganized in an organized city. It was disorienting and frustrating actually. We are used to everything going exactly as planned. Where all details and logistics are organized to ensure a good show and maximum comfort and ease. I mean, for contrast, we've toured in Italy where it's like a 9pm show is listed but you don't start until after 11. It's part of the culture, we get it. But this was different. I needed a moment to myself to lower stress and find calm, so I walked to the cafe patio and had a coffee and found my inner gratitude and a couple deep breaths. "It'll be cool."
Another thing I noticed while walking around was that I didn't see a ton of smiling. I didn't feel a ton of warmth on the streets. I felt like everyone was wearing their business face. That of course changed once we met our promoter Nic at the club (Club Joy) in the Baden Casino. I was napping in the car when he roled up around 430. This cats a musician, promoter and all around sweet guy. He immediately put us all at ease, maybe just me. Wasn't long after that that our fearless leader Tommy showed up with the PA which we threw together in minutes. Early gig tonight; 6 PM hit with three 35s.
The room started to fill shortly after 6 with an appreciative and at times chatty crowd. Nic warned us before the gig that folks can be chatty; they aren't used to a listen room environment at this venue. Even with the warning up front, I was happy with the response. Unlike in Shruns, they interacted when prompted (even when not) in songs like Crumble and 1000 Little Pieces and Printemps which we had our friends Tales of Two (acoustic duo based in Zurich) join us for. Also Peter's friend Janine showed up, so it was nice to have some familiar faces in the audience.
After the show we walked to the restaurant attached to the casino where we had red wine, steak with a balsamic reduction sauce and roasted potatos. We also met Christina, Nic's wife. After dinner we walked to Nic's house which is about 200 meters from the casino in the old roman part of the city. The Romans had thermal baths here and Nic lives on, literally, Roman Street, complete with old Roman columns dotting the narrow cobblestone path. His place was super vibey; three floors with one of the dopest rooftop terraces I've ever seen. We chatted over red wine in the kitchen for a couple of hours listening to jazz on the radio. It was after one when the band and Tommy all crashed. Just like old times, all of us in one room, two on air mattresses.
Can't win them all... At least they got the names right...
A very interesting day. An atypical day by many standards. And if you can imagine, it ended with red wine, in the Roman quarter of Baden, Switzerland, on a rooftop terrace...
My life.
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