[Heeplist] German gigs (longish post)

[DAVID M SHERROD]

Thanks Pete, next time send money and I'll come along, ha ha, Dave S.

Pete Wharton <heeplistpete at ntlworld.com> wrote:
>Just so Bob W doesn't feel left out :)
>
> 
>
>Mike had left the Isle of Wight about 8 am and arrived at my house around
>10:30. He'd seen on the way up that there were some delays on the London
>orbital motorway ,the M25, around the junctions we needed to get to, so we
>decided to head off for our flight a bit earlier and take the back roads to
>the airport. After Mike had time for a quick drink and freshen up, we set
>off in my car as that was the one I'd booked into the car park, Mike being a
>car salesman wasn't sure which one he'd use to get to me. As it happens, the
>expected delays didn't materialise and so we got to Stansted airport in
>plenty of time. We got some food at the airport as we didn't know when we'd
>be eating next. Surprisingly our flight was on time and when we arrived in
>Nuremberg, there was the wonderful Mr Wagner to greet us and drive us
>around. As we had time before the gig, we decided to head into Nuremberg
>city itself for a little wander. A beautiful place, just a shame we were too
>early for the Christmas market there which is a highly recommended visit.
>There were a few market type stalls around though and as we went past one, I
>saw they were selling Nuremberg Bratwurst, which are smaller than others and
>more tasty they say. We each had a roll with three Bratwurst in and then I
>spied a stall selling Gluehwein which Mike insisted we have :) It was very
>nice to sit outside eating and drinking and catching up, even if it was with
>coats on and under a blanket. Having finished those we strolled back to
>Rich's car and off to the gig venue. The venue in honesty was not great. A
>longish walk uphill in what used to be the zoo gardens I think.
>Semi-circular and concrete everywhere. For some reason the bar was at the
>far side of the hall, so we made our way over there and got a beer. The
>support band were  Rock Antenne  and the sound was loud and mushy. At this
>point we were found by 2 of the German Heepsters, Nina and Angie, so we
>decided to adjourn to the other room where the merch was and we could hear
>ourselves talk. When Heep came on we decided to stay at the back of the
>venue and at least get the best of the sound even if the view wasn't great.
>Credit to Daniel the sound man for doing a great job under the conditions,
>though Davey's bass did get turned up to about 12 briefly during Speed of
>Sound. The set is the same as previously posted for Vienna, you don't expect
>Heep to change a set during a tour :( There was a good reception for the new
>tracks. They played all of Magician's birthday, Bob, pretty much as on the
>CD. Though I don't like the way they do the altercation between the good and
>bad magician, where Bernie takes the role of bad magician and Phil the good
>magician until the end where Bernie does the bit about the impenetrable
>fortress of love as well, like they did at MBP with John Lawton. It's just
>wrong. Either Bernie does it all or Phil has to be bad magician, otherwise
>it just doesn't make sense. Magician's Birthday is introduced as old style
>prog how Heep used to do it in the 70's and then they do What Kind of God as
>an example of how Heep are still writing epic proggy type songs.
>
>After the show we got to go backstage and meet up with the guys and have a
>bit of a chat for a while before leaving for Rich's place just outside
>Nuremberg where we were staying. Rich insisted we pick up some beer on the
>way back to have a drink at his place. This we did and sat having a good
>chat with beer for me and Mike and whiskey for Rich. Not quite sure how I
>managed to get through 4 bottles, but it was about 3 am before I got to bed.
>For some reason I couldn't get to sleep for ages. Oh yes, that's right it
>was my roommate Mike's snoring keeping me awake :)  He sensibly had taken a
>sleeping pill and worn ear plugs! I think I finally drifted off about 5 am
>for a few hours before being woken up. 
>
>After a hearty breakfast kindly provided by Rich and his lovely partner
>Ulli, we set off on the long drive to Essenbach for the next gig. It
>wouldn't have been quite so long if Rich's sat nav system hadn't decided
>country roads were quicker than motorways :) By the time we got to Essenbach
>the light was fading and the chill and mist was staring to settle in. We
>found the venue, and could hear the band soundchecking, but could see no way
>in. We decided to drive round to the other side of the venue and there we
>saw Peter Weber the merch man and Vic the van driver. We went in and caught
>the end of the soundcheck. This venue was completely different to the
>previous night's in that it was a large sports hall with raised seating to
>one side. They did seem to be having a little trouble with the sound from
>Davey's bass, but they got it sorted in the end. 
>
>We then headed off for our hotel. A nice little place, a guesthouse come
>restaurant come social gathering place. After settling in we headed to the
>guests' restaurant. Lovely pumpkin soup they served. Mike and Rich had the
>day's special of ghoulash and noodles I had my favourite of Schnitzel. I
>only mention this because apparently the Germans call anything like fusilli
>pasta, noodles whereas noodles to us Brits is more like your Chinese egg
>noodles, long and thin. Regrettably I had to let Mr Wagner get away with
>this ridiculous concept :) Only because he did advise me I was putting sugar
>on my schnitzel not salt!
>
>After our meal we headed back the short distance to the venue, it was very
>busy for parking as there seemed to be a coincident event on at the music
>school opposite the venue. We picked up our guest passes and made our way
>into the venue. The support band was the same as the previous night, but at
>least this time the sound was good, so we stayed and watched. They were a
>covers band. Musically quite good, but I didn't rate the male vocalist and
>he was completely outshone by the female singer. Still, it boded well for
>Heep's sound. Around 9:30, Heep came on. The numbers in the venue weren't
>that fantastic, though it looked worse as the venue was bigger. I'd say 600
>tops. The sound was excellent tonight, so we took advantage and made our way
>to the front. The infill speakers really helped. The set list was the same
>as expected and they were performed well. Only annoying bit (apart from the
>MB interplay being wrong again) was some young drunken idiot who decided to
>push his way in-between the people at the front and very nearly caused a
>fight by us until he was finally dragged away by his friend. 
>
>Again we were lucky enough to get backstage and have a chat with the band.
>It took a while as they had to deal with the VIP guests first and Bernie was
>still sitting round in his underwear until told to get a move on by Scampi
>and Martin Darvell, who was also there for tonight and tomorrow. We had a
>couple of beers with them before they left and then when they had gone had
>another one with the crew who could finally relax. Fortunately it wasn't far
>back to our hotel, so there was a vague chance I could get some sleep
>tonight. 
>
>Arising early, well it felt early, we again had a hearty breakfast before
>setting off on the really long journey to Mannheim for today's gig. Rich
>checked the map before we left so that he didn't have to rely on the sat nav
>and I had it with me to check the route. It was a pretty uneventful long
>motorway journey in the main, listening to all sorts of differing music. We
>got to a motorway junction and despite my protestations that it wasn't the
>planned one, Rich decided to listen to his sat nav and follow this route,
>convinced it was the right planned road. Again I was shouted down in his
>best Teutonic fashion :) Eventually we decided to stop for refreshments and
>Rich wanted to check the road atlas to see what I had been on about,
>convinced I was wrong about the road we were on. I wasn't and in shame the
>German had to concede navigational defeat to the Englishman :) 
>
>Anyway we decided to go and check into our hotel and grab some rest instead
>of going to the sound check. We'd arranged to meet Nina again at our hotel
>at 6:30 and get some food. I didn't sleep, the room was a bit cold and when
>I tried to up the temp, the climate display just kept saying error. So I
>went to reception to mention this, only to be told that that control was for
>the air con and only worked in summer, there was a radiator by the window to
>use in winter. Feeling somewhat abashed I went back to my room and  found
>the said radiator hidden behind a curtain so I wasn't surprised I didn't see
>it. As I came out of my room to meet the rest, I got some satisfaction when
>Mike asked me if my room was cold as he couldn't get the heating temperature
>adjusted in his. Kindly I told him of his error and how I had discovered it.
>We mentioned this to Rich who laughed and asked if we had not read the label
>by the climate control. He didn't believe there wasn't one there to read
>until we went back to my room and showed him. Back of the net, Germany 1,
>England 2 :) 
>
>We then went and met Nina and her friend Katrine and had some food in the
>hotel. Service was a bit slow, so by the time we'd finished and all piled
>into Nina's car for the short drive to the venue, the first support band had
>already started. As we had been warned, this again was not a great venue. A
>plain rectangular box shape with metal support girders the length of the
>venue, down the middle and then the sponsors had put some beach sails in the
>arena which also blocked the view. First support(21 Octayne I think)  were
>pretty good and then there was Voodoo Circle whose guitarists had also been
>involved on the Rock meets Classic tour with Mick And Bernie. Again, very
>listenable. The sound wasn't fantastic and being a small venue it was quite
>crowded at the front, though not as much as the stage shot makes it appear.
>Again we decided to stay at the back and get the best of the sound. Set was
>as before, very well executed and the crowd were very responsive especially
>to One Minute.
>
>The crew weren't hanging around long tonight as they had to set off on a
>long drive and had to change drivers en-route. We did eventually get
>backstage as again the band were dealing with VIPs first. Nearly didn't
>though. We were sitting waiting in a side room with one of the crew when
>Katrine came back from being outside with Nina and told us we were going.
>The crew man thought she meant the band were ready to see us and went one
>way followed by Rich. Katrine went another way followed by Mike and me (she
>was quite pretty after all). Unfortunately Nina had decided in a huff to
>give up waiting and was going to leave. Well as we couldn't really leave
>without Rich, fortunately we all went back in and found the crew man who
>directed us to the band area. Bernie was outside with some guests and asked
>how the show was, whereupon I said I wished he and Phil would sort out the
>MB interchange. Ooops, didn't get understood properly as Bernie thought I
>meant they weren't doing it well. Anyway we went inside the band's room
>where Mick immediately thrust a beer in my hand :)  Of course the others
>then ask how we thought it went at which point Bernie pipes up about my
>comments on Mag's Birthday and I am then duly harangued by all :( The band
>were very chatty although I did seem to end up chatting to the
>aforementioned guests who had been left outside the room. So we had a few
>beers with them before they left. Kindly Mick gave me a bottle of beer to
>take home for the road as they left.
>
>Nina dropped us off at our hotel and the bar was still open though it took
>ages to find the barman. So we had a beer and a whisky and I did have Mick's
>bottle to finish too, so again it was about 3 AM before we went to bed. 
>
>The next morning was still an early rise as we had the longish drive back to
>Nuremberg for Mike and I to get our flight. It did mean though that we would
>get a chance to visit briefly the Technical museum at Sinsheim on the way
>back. This is a truly fascinating place if you have any interest in old
>cars, bikes, artillery, tanks, trains and planes. Lots of US cars on
>display. You get to go inside a lot of the planes which are up on the roof
>including an old Air France Concorde an the Russian equivalent the Tupelev.
>There's even a Douglas DC3 where you can take a slide down a few levels from
>the plane's exit door. So of course Mike & I did :) A great place to visit
>if you ever get a chance.
>
> 
>
>Regrettably we then had to leave for the airport. A great weekend was over.
>Heep were great, the new stuff went over well I think. Not everyone's ideal
>set list, but it is what it is. Always great to meet up with Heepsters as
>well and Rich Wagner is a very great host and travelling companion, even if
>he doesn't know what road he's on :)
>
> 
>
>I did remember to ask Mick this time about the Koko DVD. February he told
>me. It's done and in the hands of the label. Why they decided not to hit the
>Christmas market with a November release he didn't know.
>
> 
>
>Cheers,
>
> 
>
>Pete
>
> 
>
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