Once we got the car parked (which isn't as easy as it sounds when the entrance to the courtyard is barely bigger than your car) and stuff dumped in the rooms, peter and I jogged off towards the castle and gardens for our exercises. That's day #7 on tour, if you are counting at home. We were surprised to see hundreds of kids hanging out in big packs. I think it was some part of the Volksfest or maybe some student event. (I found out later, all the kids were celebrating finishing the abitur) In any case, we tried to find a quiet corner of the field to do our exercises in peace. We only had a few cat calls from rambunctious German teens, it's fine. My psyche isn't that badly bruised...
Back to the hotel for a serious power down. I mean like multiple hours. Tonight is show #6 of an 8 show run and I think I needed catch up on some rest.
Walked over to the venue at 5:15 still a little in the in-between world of sleeping and awake. First order of business was an espresso when we made the ten minute walk to the club. Karlsruhe is interesting; it kind of reminds me of Berlin but like so many German towns feels very new. The huge castle and gardens where Peter and I did our exercises was destroyed in the war, so the buildings look newish. And the fact that Karlsruhe was a "designed" city only adds to the new aestethic. Streets radiate out from the castle like a sundial, very ungerman in a way.
We were stoked to see our homeboy Matthias behind the console tonight. He did our sound in Kappelrodeck and it was really really good. He said he was going to come to the show, but we didn't realize he was going to work it. That immediately put us at ease. The venue is a new building, probably built in the 70s, but with a great sound system and stage and shares the space with a cafe. Our sound check was quick with Matthias behind the board and then it was dinner time. We were served salad and then homemade chicken curry with veggies and rice which a great change from normal pre-gig fare.
I was surprised tonight to see so many friends; Rafael and Dominik (and friends) from Klausenbaurnhof in Wölfach, as well as a couple couples from various past tour stops... We had some friends in the crowd and that's always good.
Jojo opened the show and we joined him for his tune "who in this world" which now has full instrumentation... I told him we need to make an album of his tunes so stay tuned for that. Jojo & the tSR trio, coming out soon!
Our set felt really good. Performance wise it felt solid. Of course, at the beginning of the set I said "it's nice to be in Stuttgart" which isn't the town we are in (I've literally never made that mistake in my life) but once I got over that embarrassment, I feel like the show was good. We swapped some tunes around which gave it a new feel. Got the encore call and did "bid you" from the floor which always turns heads. Candle lit tables and pin drop silence always helps too.
After the set, we chilled at the cafe and got caught up with Rafi and Dominik and their friends, two of which are exchange students from the states on the Congress/Bundestag scholarship; the same scholarship that I got in '94 that took me to Aachen and started a life long love affair with Germany... Their lives will never be the same...
Said our goodbyes and walked to the hotel and had a beer in the hotel with Peter as we both sat basically in silence and tapped on our phones. Wifi hadn't been very prevalent this tour so sometimes you gotta take advantage and dig in. Another great night in a cool new club. Thank you Stuttgart!!?
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