And so to Leipzig by train, direct from Hamburg, a 3 hour journey made all the more easier by the comfortable Deutchbahn trains, and the Neu! and Can soundtrack in my headphones. Well, when in Germany.....
Hold on tight, its gonna be a long trip...
Leipzig is the largest city in the Saxony region, and is famous for its music and culture (it was once dubbed 'the Paris of the East'). The city was once home to the composers Bach and Mendelssohn and is the birthplace of Wagner. Its an extremely grand city, which is immediately apparent by the opulence of its train station, once the largest in Europe. It has two main entrances and exits, and it is extremely easy to get lost inside of it, which we did as soon as we disembarked the train.
After maintaining our composure and finding our way out of the station, we managed to hail a taxi to the venue for tonight's show at
Noch Besser Leben. The stage was the upstairs room of a cool bar, frequented by a mixture of hipsters and locals playing chess. The walls were full of old photos from East German days. The room was probably one of the smallest we played on this tour, but it made for a cosy atmosphere.
As we set up our gear for the soundcheck, a strange man suddenly appeared. I didn't hear him enter the room, he was just there. He spoke no English, and beckoned us over to a table where he laid out three photos of Alison and I, including the Left Outsides logo (copyright Karl Sabino) which looked like they'd been hastily put together on photoshop. He had a pen and wanted us to sign them. I bet they'll make him a fortune on Leipzig Market next week. I assumed this was a set up by Mike and Matt, but apparently not. He left the room as mysteriously as he entered. I never actually saw him leave either, which worried me a bit. One minute he was there, the next he was gone, a bit like the the shopkeeper in the kids cartoon programme 'Mr Ben' except with a beard, a beer belly and a German accent.
The soundcheck was one of the best we've ever had, made all the more easier by the fact that there was no soundman - he was running late. Personally, I've never really seen the point in having over elaborate soundchecks. Just check that the equipment is working and that's all there is to it really. So thats exactly what we do, and that leaves us plenty of time to taste the local beer. We quickly find a cinema bar across the road and we get stuck into the erdinger weissbier. This beats weak Fosters lager any day of the week. There is also the interestingly named Duckstein, and Lagerbier Hell.....
No ducks were harmed in the making of this beer
Whilst necking our German beer we get talking to one of the locals, a very small man called Klaus, who worked at the local art gallery. He was tremendous company and regaled us with tales of old Leipzig from times gone by. He was charming, and we enjoyed Klaus's company very much indeed.
Leipzig by night, outside the venue
And so to the show. Quite a crowd had gathered, some had seen our feature in the local Leipzig paper and came to check us out. The cosy atmosphere made for a intense show, and the sound was awesome (well, it would be wouldn't it?). We debut a new tune for the encore, the traditional North East English mining disaster balled, 'The Trimdon Grange Explosion', taught to Alison and I by our dear friend Ben Phillipson back home. It goes down well.
After much merryment and more weissbier we are shown to our accommodation for the night, next door to the venue. I won't dwell on this too much, besides to say that it'll be a lovely room when it gets finished next year.....
More soon, stay tuned...
Mark
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