Hamburg, Germany Part 1: Switchfoot
It was a pretty crazy weekend.
Thursday night I boarded a plane to Hamburg and ventured into the unknown (seems to be a pattern). A month ago I heard Switchfoot were embarking on a European tour and as I often do in these cases, I started browsing the internet to see if there were any cheap flights available to any of the locations. As luck would have it, EasyJet was having a promotion and I was able to get round trip tickets to Hamburg for about 65 CHF (just over $50). However, the flight was due to land a mere 10 minutes before the start of the concert, but since there was an opening act, I was unfazed. [though I should mention that had I researched a little bit more before booking my flight, I would have realized that if I left the day earlier I could have seen +44 and if I had stayed a day later I could have seen Ben Folds. Blast!]
Flash-forward to Thursday, when I’m sitting in the airport as my flight is delayed, first 20 minutes, and ultimately an hour. While I probably would have been fine going directly to the venue, I had to first check in with the Franciscans I arranged to stay with.
At last, I landed at about 9:15 and took a cab to Franziskus-Kolleg, which is a Franciscan-run student housing place at the city’s university. I knew the friar’s name that I was to check in with, but nothing more. So when I got there, I wandered around the halls for awhile before finding someone to help me out. I was able to check in and drop my bag off before hailing another cab to get me to the concert hall.
I arrived at the venue, Grünspan, shortly before 10:00 to the beginning sounds of “Awakening.” Whereas most US shows I’ve been to are always jam-packed up to the front, it seems that it’s not such a big deal in Europe so I was able to head right to the foot of the stage.
The band was great, but I could tell they’d been on for awhile already so I wasn’t optimistic about how much performance time was left. As it turns out, I ended up getting to see about a third of the show, which isn’t great, but at least I didn’t miss the whole thing.
The band has definitely grown in their performances. Here, frontman Jon Foreman rushes into the crowd...
...and during the encore of “We Are One Tonight” he jumps off stage, runs across the floor, and climbs to the counter of the bar. Pretty fun stuff.
So afterwards, I hung around for a little while because I didn’t have to be anywhere the next morning (hooray for mini-vacations!). Eventually, Jon came out to talk to folks still around. I introduced myself, conveyed greetings from a family I know here that is friends with his family, and he told me and the others gathered that they would be trying to play a few songs later on at the club next door. Amongst the crowd that was talking to him were a couple American ex-pats named Brianna and Meggan and I headed over with them and their friends.
The Indra (the club’s name) is apparently Hamburg’s first concert venue and the site of one of the Beatles’ early performances. On Thursdays they have an open jam session where all types of musicians head in with their instruments and improv together.
One thing I was never especially talented at was improvising, so I have the utmost respect for these guys (and ladies).
While we waited for Switchfoot to make their appearance, we enjoyed the jazz and I had my first official beer in Germany (with two German guys, Timo and Jonathan)—a Franziskaner, no less.
This sign was hanging on the wall. Despite its use of the despised Comic Sans, I thought it was pretty amusing—who says Germans have no sense of humor?
A bit later, the band came out a were given the stage for a 3-song set. During “Twenty-Four” a flautest joined the band to add her interpretation. It was beautiful, even moreso because it is unlikely she had ever heard the song before or maybe even heard of the band. It’s amazing how musical can cut across cultural divides with such ease.
They were also about to play Bad Religion’s “Sorrow” before someone requested “Let Your Love Be Strong” (and they deferred).
They closed up the evening with “Faust, Midas, and Myself” for which they were joined by various horn and percussion players who riffed along with them. It was incredibly cool to see the band in such an intimate setting, and an event that I’m unlikely to experience again anytime soon.
I had the chance to meet and talk with Jon again and the others in the band afterwards and it was nice to connect with them a bit.
After another drink and a little more music, I figured I should head back to the university area so I could get some sleep. I managed to find my way without any problems, and hit the proverbial hay so I would be ready to explore the city on Friday.
Thursday night I boarded a plane to Hamburg and ventured into the unknown (seems to be a pattern). A month ago I heard Switchfoot were embarking on a European tour and as I often do in these cases, I started browsing the internet to see if there were any cheap flights available to any of the locations. As luck would have it, EasyJet was having a promotion and I was able to get round trip tickets to Hamburg for about 65 CHF (just over $50). However, the flight was due to land a mere 10 minutes before the start of the concert, but since there was an opening act, I was unfazed. [though I should mention that had I researched a little bit more before booking my flight, I would have realized that if I left the day earlier I could have seen +44 and if I had stayed a day later I could have seen Ben Folds. Blast!]
Flash-forward to Thursday, when I’m sitting in the airport as my flight is delayed, first 20 minutes, and ultimately an hour. While I probably would have been fine going directly to the venue, I had to first check in with the Franciscans I arranged to stay with.
At last, I landed at about 9:15 and took a cab to Franziskus-Kolleg, which is a Franciscan-run student housing place at the city’s university. I knew the friar’s name that I was to check in with, but nothing more. So when I got there, I wandered around the halls for awhile before finding someone to help me out. I was able to check in and drop my bag off before hailing another cab to get me to the concert hall.
I arrived at the venue, Grünspan, shortly before 10:00 to the beginning sounds of “Awakening.” Whereas most US shows I’ve been to are always jam-packed up to the front, it seems that it’s not such a big deal in Europe so I was able to head right to the foot of the stage.
The band was great, but I could tell they’d been on for awhile already so I wasn’t optimistic about how much performance time was left. As it turns out, I ended up getting to see about a third of the show, which isn’t great, but at least I didn’t miss the whole thing.
The band has definitely grown in their performances. Here, frontman Jon Foreman rushes into the crowd...
...and during the encore of “We Are One Tonight” he jumps off stage, runs across the floor, and climbs to the counter of the bar. Pretty fun stuff.
So afterwards, I hung around for a little while because I didn’t have to be anywhere the next morning (hooray for mini-vacations!). Eventually, Jon came out to talk to folks still around. I introduced myself, conveyed greetings from a family I know here that is friends with his family, and he told me and the others gathered that they would be trying to play a few songs later on at the club next door. Amongst the crowd that was talking to him were a couple American ex-pats named Brianna and Meggan and I headed over with them and their friends.
The Indra (the club’s name) is apparently Hamburg’s first concert venue and the site of one of the Beatles’ early performances. On Thursdays they have an open jam session where all types of musicians head in with their instruments and improv together.
One thing I was never especially talented at was improvising, so I have the utmost respect for these guys (and ladies).
While we waited for Switchfoot to make their appearance, we enjoyed the jazz and I had my first official beer in Germany (with two German guys, Timo and Jonathan)—a Franziskaner, no less.
This sign was hanging on the wall. Despite its use of the despised Comic Sans, I thought it was pretty amusing—who says Germans have no sense of humor?
A bit later, the band came out a were given the stage for a 3-song set. During “Twenty-Four” a flautest joined the band to add her interpretation. It was beautiful, even moreso because it is unlikely she had ever heard the song before or maybe even heard of the band. It’s amazing how musical can cut across cultural divides with such ease.
They were also about to play Bad Religion’s “Sorrow” before someone requested “Let Your Love Be Strong” (and they deferred).
They closed up the evening with “Faust, Midas, and Myself” for which they were joined by various horn and percussion players who riffed along with them. It was incredibly cool to see the band in such an intimate setting, and an event that I’m unlikely to experience again anytime soon.
I had the chance to meet and talk with Jon again and the others in the band afterwards and it was nice to connect with them a bit.
After another drink and a little more music, I figured I should head back to the university area so I could get some sleep. I managed to find my way without any problems, and hit the proverbial hay so I would be ready to explore the city on Friday.
Labels: Germany, Hamburg, Switchfoot
posted by Aaron at 12:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home