THE CURTAIL OF THE TRAIL : PART 3
berlin is the final show for the german tour.
we should have ended here.
the crowd in berlin is stunningly alert and laid back at the same time. very sweet. i love it here. so much history with rainer and all the adventures over the years we had here. somewhere there is a big eyed cuda bear scrawled on a chunk of berlin wall, probably now in japan.
however, one last show in holland looms. its a 9 hour drive.
that does not make sense for a last day on the road and i had a feeling about adding from the start. but steve talked me into it. he wasn’t wrong. but something didn’t feel right about it.
the band woke early and drove while i hung back, had a meeting with the berlin agency and then would fly in later.
took the train to the airport outside of town, but failed to get off at the correct stop. how did this happen? am now standing in the middle of nowhere way south of berlin. its getting dark and there’s nothing around. no station, no shops or cafes. nothing.
way out in the country. no way to make the plane now. called the agent but she said taxis won’t even come out this far. next train is in an hour back to berlin. i stand there freezing happy to at least have a coat on. there’s no way to make holland now.
the band is there by now and set up and warm.
i’m out here freezing in the dark on a country road beside a desolate train stop. my phone is down to one bar of battery and 83 pee (less then a pound) of UK phone time left to send or receive texts.
the agent calls with info of a last chance plane at another airport, if all lines up, there are slim odds to nab a cab in time once i train back to civilization and maybe make that other plane. but as i stand out here in the middle of nowhere, it all seems like the tour has already ended itself. its very quiet expect for the siberian wind. dark like the end. nothing and no one. empty. still.
- —- – –
we are due on stage at 9:30 in utrecht.
i walk into the venue at 9:32
the band is waiting smiling. the danes have come a long way feeling comfortable in my delay world. the crowd is lovely. the last set full and rich with the zen of playing a set of music like it’s the last time ever. to enjoy every beat with them, every tone.
its good to be warm again too.
the plane home is waiting in the morning.
the end
Howe, you’re tour diary reads like a heroic journey through the Twilgiht Zone. it reads like a cliff hanger. You’re just trying to stick to your schedule, but you’re beset with illness, bureaucratic screwups, missed appointments, weird/surreal events, and shady characters. Just tell yourself that it’s a manufactured illusion because…it is. The “House of Games” has bought a controlling interest in Reality (at least, Urban Reality) so now bizarre odd experiences have become the new normal (at least for artists and musicians; they’re very suspicious people!!)
…but then again, I don’t want to add to the weirdness with odd email posts! Your diary is a great read, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Welcome back to Tucson