Todays Biography (luneburg) Getting off the plane at Hamburg I found myself looking desperately for a sign, not a spiritual one but one that looks like a train with an arrow next to it. I did and followed it to a platform where trains only went in one direction, with one being on the platform, I got on and decided to see if I had gambled correctly. Without a minute passing a gentleman with silver hair asked me if I needed help with directions, he asked me in German, at this stage I didnt have the courage to try and reply in German, I dont speak German, so I said it in Full English, accent to boot. Its ok he says I speak English also. I told him I was travelling to Luneburg, but I pronounced it badly and it took 3 goes before he could understand where I meant. He told me in perfect time consuming detail how to get there and we began chatting about my tour, we joked about the weather and how the English and Germans fight over towel space in Mallorca. On arrival to hamburg main station, the kind gentleman took me to the correct platform, what he didnt tell me, and Im not complaining, is that the train platforms are spread into different sections so I found myself waiting for a train that had already arrived, once I had deciphered the signage I walked frantically to the correct part of the platform and watched it slowly depart. I sniggered sarcastically to myself and attempted to read the timetable, to my joy, departures were set out in order of time, so it was easy to find the next train and I waited for 30 mins or so before getting on a double decker (cool!). I phoned Bjorn, house concert host, to let him know my arrival time, he said that someone would probably come to pick me up. I arrived with a spring in my step, I was really looking forward to getting started, a friendly faced bearded chap approached me, it was Bjorn and he didnt seem disappointed at my grey hair. We walked the pretty way to his apartment, we talked about the weather, well of course and about boating life, the tour, luneburg etc. When I arrived, he showed me to my room, it had a bed and a door, I was happy, already people were there, waiting for the concert, I had arrived late so it wasnt long before I started playing. We decided that I should play on the balcony, it was warm enough after all, Bjorn had laid out a table with a bottle of beer and water on it, also a guitar stand, I could tell it was going to be a nice gig. I practised for 5 mins or so in my room and then Bjorn introduced me to the audience, it was well attended event with about 25/30 people all ready to listen. I played three songs and people clapped politely, to be honest, I was unsure wether they were enjoying themselves or not, so I asked. Yes! they exclaimed enthusiastically, great I replied and I started to relax into it, I played well for a further 3 or 4 songs, on the last Amsterdam I stood and put my back into it, gave it some stadium style performance, this went down well, I tried my best to explain that it was time for the interval. It took a while as they sat looking at me wondering why I was no longer playing, using the word break seemed to clinch it. I spoke about my tour with an enthusiastic music teacher and he had a go at playing my biscuit tin banjo, slightly annoyingly, his picking style was better than mine. Round 2 came about pretty quickly and in this half I decided to do the hard sell on CDs. The second set was smooth, it ended with 3 encores and appreciation reflected well in takings and sales. Bjorn was the best of hosts, he reheated some noodles and sauce that had been expertly cooked by another housemate and we talked about the concert and how successful it was/felt. I made my excuses and went to bed, ear plugs in. Great start, Thankyou Luneburg. X
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 09:38:48 +0000