rock'n'rill

A three-part weekend

The Troublemakers at U&D 2011, photo by Andreas Malassa

Whew, back home in Munich from a BIG weekend.

Drove up to Berlin on Thursday. My record label Blue Rose had a raffle last year for their anniversary and Frank from Berlin won a house concert with me. Frank and his wife Claudia, however, had never organized a house concert and don’t really have the kind of apartment that allows for that kinda thing.
So they asked a friend of theirs who manages a hospice to host it and then asked me whether I’d be ok playing in a hospice. I also stayed there amid the 14 or so patients in palliative care. It certainly brought back memories of my mother dying of cancer and my friend and mentor Duane Jarvis spending his last days in a hospice.

Part I
The gig on Friday was part of a summer barbecue for the hospice workers and their family, patients were invited, of course. The concert was moved indoors into a nice room with good acoustics so I played without amplification. I was very happy to be joined by Berlin artist Trailhead. He sat in with me on Folsom Prison Blues, played two of his own songs before we ended the first set together with Dylan’s Girl From The North Country.

Trailhead had to run and after enjoying the BBQ, I played the second set by my lonesome. I had a good time and went over very well. It was a balancing act which songs to play in this location (Singin’ In The Cemetery and Dying Bed were not performed) but all in all it worked very well.

And after the concert proper I played a few more songs for those hospice workers who had been working and had not been able to attend the actual gig. That was very nice, too. I tried a new song in this relaxed atmosphere. Sold a whole bunch of CDs, too.

Part Two
It was very nice to be free all day Saturday. I finished reading my enjoyable Martha Grimes thriller and went to the movies to see The Lincoln Lawyer. A well-made, entertaining, suspenseful movie.
And then I met my friend Martin Abend for dinner and to see John Mellencamp play the Tempodrom. Mellencamp’s albums Scarecrow and The Lonesome Jubilee where my Bible back when I was 15, 16, 17. He had an amazing run of five very strong records until Human Wheels. After that, he tried working with DJs and hiphop rhythms and I had found Steve Earle in the meantime.

Glad to say that Mellencamp’s last three records have been a return to form. Martin didn’t know much about Mellencamp but tagged along since I had scored two tickets.

It was a really good show that covered a lot of ground between blues, folk, country and rock, ranging from solo & duo performances to five-piece and seven-piece formations (fiddle, accordion/organ, two guitars, bass, drums & Mellencamp). Some of his older songs had received very interesting new arrangements (Jack & Diane as a country number), some classics remained largely intact (Check It Out) and there was a cool ebb & flow in the set. Some lesser known songs, then a crowd pleaser, then some newer stripped-down material and then a stretch of five or six rockers at the end. It was a really good show, the only thing missing was some true enthusiasm from the band. I think there had been some technical difficulties with guitarist Andy York’s amp. I couldn’t hear any problem but still, technicians/roadies kept fiddling with it between songs. There was only one encore but still … very worthwhile!

Part three
I got up early on Sunday morning to make the long drive back to Würzburg for a band gig at my favorite hometown festival, the Umsonst & Draussen.
We had planned to have Boppin’ B. sax player Frank sit in with us as a tribute to Clarence Clemons (Bruce Springsteen’s longtime sax player had passed earlier that week). Unfortunately, there had been some schedule changes on the main stage due to an artist’s cancellation and it was impossible for Frank to be at Boppin’ B.’s soundcheck and on stage with us at the same time.
So we played without him and dedicated Springsteen’s “If I Should Fall Behind” to the Big Man.
I have to say that the tent we played in was unbelievably hot. Must’ve easily been close to 40 degrees celsius in there. Therefore we had a good-sized audience but it wasn’t packed.
Add to that the lack of soundcheck at the festival and you’ll know why it took us a while to find our groove. I’d say the second half of our 60-minute set was pretty good. We also got an encore - a festival rarity.

It’s too bad I missed Boppin’ B.’s entire set. We hung out with them after the gig. Gotta say that they’re some of the nicest folks I’ve ever met.

Next weekend: The International Songwriter in Visby/Sweden with two gigs and a songwriting workshop. And then: Family vacation. Woohoo!

27 June 2011 ·