SBG BLUES BLOG

Ratings: S - Sound, A - Audience, P - Personal, F - Food/Drink

	Datum		Ratings SAPF		Venue		Comments and Stories
JULI 2006
	29.07		SAPF 7799		Cafe Wassermann		This is a nice venue. Idyllic setting next to a lake, man you could play to the mosquitos all night long. Next time B needs to learn proper Austrian.
	30.07		SAPF 6899		Cafe Sita		New place in Passau (impossible to park in this town on sundays - lots of places for physically challenged but they don't seem to want to park in Passau) and a good try to bring the blues to the edge of town.
AUGUST 2006
	03.08		SAPF 5788		Villantis		Cocktail place with a few fans thrown in.
	05.08		SAPF 6776		Baderstrand am Inselsee*		We decided not to take the Marshall but used C as the backdrop for the white crate amp.
	08.08		SAPF 6776		Atlantik Pub		This was the first Tuesday gig B has done in ages and it was surprisingly well attended with fans from as far away as Thuringia!
	26.08		SAPF 5884		Stadtfest*		The band before us had 3 truck loads of gear. We were meant to have a PA but you can't get too much from 10" speakers. As they say 'nichtdestotrotz' it was a great evening.
SEPTEMBER 2006
	01.09		SAPF 6888		Ebersberg		This was a marriage of bavarian and scottish cultures and there was B playing and singing and breaking the ice. 'Es kam gut an' - without haggis.
	05.09		SAPF 6776		Atlantik Pub		Another Tuesday hit with polish blues fan Martin the woodsman from Hessen/NRW
	06.09		SAPF 6883		Kiek In		Second year at this cultural establishment. Some jerk tried to criticise the audience during the interval for not grooving along. Hallo! Nobody left and you can't dictate how people want to enjoy themselves.
	09.09		SAPF 6778		Küsters Hof		This is a well hidden venue. You can have a lovely drive round the lower saxony countryside, visit the Steinhuder Meer (the ocean as a fan said), drive round the lower saxony countryside up and down round and round. Ok I admit we don't have a navi system. Eventually you arrive and are greeted like a dead fish. After this inauspicious start the evening went surprisingly well. Well surprising for a dead fish.
	21.09		SAPF 4665		Star Club Leipzig*		The location is fantastic and we get to stay in a pad in the same building overlooking the spires of Leipzig. the joint itself is pretty chic with a great sound system. unfortunately SBG could not use this system because the sound technician was in Jena! We tried the phone number on the mixing desk an we got an sms six hours later (2 a.m.) 'Hi, ich bin in Paris'. all of which helped to provide a great sound for SGB. Oh and the F rating includes a paella with salami! On the way to this gig V heard his first Johnny Copeland album and we discussed the inauguration of a new SBG blues award. This award would be given to certain individuals who with their special attributes throw a spanner in the workings of our music heroes. This week has thrown up two candidates for this award which will be called Miststück des Jahres
	22.09		SAPF 5698		Mollsladen*		On the way to Magdeburg T discovered an extraordinary small lake by Gerlebogk. Yes Gerlebogk. It looks like it had it's heyday in 1971 and now you expect to find pieces of soviet artillery under the sand. The water quality was incredible but no fish! Mmmm. Two of our heroes took a dip and are still able to talk about it. Moll's Laden itself is a friendly place. Unfortunately the public do not really want to hear - as in listen - any music. The correct phrase is probably 'berieselt werden'. Ironically, if they had to pay more money (ok they probably wouldn't turn up) they would listen more. However, if your paying less than the price of beer to get in, then the tendency is to listen to the beer. Also Molls Laden has volume broblems with a neighbour, which meant extra time with the 1932 National Duolian (Boom Boom, 'Rainbow Coloured Day'!!) and we were still too loud, which caused the sound limiter to fizzle - lovely effect. However, we struggled through to 2 a.m. without intervention from the local constabulary
	24.09		SAPF 9374		OXIDENT		Florent, the guy who does the booking, still manages to get one of the best solo sounds for B.
	29.09		SAPF 7586		Tir na nog		The 1964 Ampeg Reverberocket has been given a new lease of life by tubeman Christo and the 15" Concert speaker did the job in this Dresden pub. Once or twice a year B checks out the east Saxony cultural 'Biotope', stretching from Gorlitz to Chemnitz and Merseburg to Pirnau. This is not particularly fertile 'Blues land', never the less some of the artists are excellent
	30.09		SAPF 7774		Literatur Weinstube		Thuringia is THE 'Blues Land' in Germany as far as SBG is concerned and B had a nice evening in Apolda, including a drive around town on the back of a 1952 Cossack 'Molotov' bike with chair. Amazing how the 22 HP (PS) machine got about 600 kg up to 52 km/h. Thanks to the young man (Gerd?) for the ride.
OKTOBER 2006
	01.10		SAPF 7899		Liliput*		After a frustrating long drive (red lights at three in the morning with no traffic should be banned) and a couple of hours sleep B hooked up with T & V to entertain the folks in this Charlottenburger rocker kneipe. T also came off a heavy schedule however, 'der macht nur Theatre' and V? V lost a battle with his alarm system and arrived over an hour late. Super. The major event concerned T being invited for a whisky because of his, quote, 'Telecaster bass'.
	02.10		SAPF 6897		Die Alte Brauerei*		This was actually a birthday party for Holger (42) who runs this youth club. It took half an hour of 'Telecaster terror' (the red one) and then soothing National nuances to bring the audience round to boogying with the 335. However, by two in the morning V was surrounded by his fans. 'Can you 'Screwdriver'' asked one 16 year old acolyte. Some english teacher in north east Brandenburg did not check this guy's homework. He was trying to say 'Do you know 'Screwdriver''.
	13.10		7899		Desert Penguin**		Duo time with 'Pete Gavin & Pick Stevens' playing blues hits of the 20's, 30's & 40's. Cruised down-the-road-apiece on the left to Kulmbach to fill our ears with the 'frankische mundart'. Been a while since those rolling r's and hearty outbursts have reached the old lug holes. We were treated to the 'Stammtisch' in Kulmbachs oldest 'Kneipe' and as B attacked his 'Schauffeler(?)' and T carved up his 'Schnitzel' they heard all the Kulmbach gossip about Ecki's new hip. Mats, the landlord, is extremely musician friendly and his girlfriend sings along and laughs at all of the jokes (both of them), all of which helped to provide a good time.
	14.10		7785		Black Raven**		On the way to Hoyerswerda checked out Meissen and Senftenberger lake as part of Redox Records tourist program. The drive was notable for a speeding 'blitz' in some miniscule village in Sachsen. As we were driving with 55km/h and both pointing at the camera it should be an interesting foto - watch this space. The Ampeg Reverberocket (made 1964) was tragically damaged during this drive - one of the original bakelite chicken-head knobs broke. Sod the road. Thomas, our 'gastgeber', pointed out the mirth aroused by a slight misreading of our promotion. B and T are now known in Hoyerswerda as blue shits. Nevertheless, apart from the originals, the modernest piece of music we did was probably 'Bring It On Home', a Willie Dixon song which first appeared in 1959, a version featured on the soundtrack to David Lynch's 'Mulholland Drive'.
	20.10		8758		B 14*		First time in 'Oberpfalz' among the 'Moosbuffel'. 'Huh, huh, huh' approximately - very contact friendly people. Good gig.
	21.10		9869		Spontan*		Down to Heng's place in downtown Deggendorf (you have to pronounce the gg as a k!). Heng has the biggest hands so when he claps it sounds like 20 people. He claps a lot. Almost forgot to play 'Man Love' but Heng reminded us.
	28.10		8859		Alte Zollstation		My host, Frans, started up this culture cafe and quit his job at the Amsterdam university. I've heard something like this before. The concert went well then we had a jam session with African drums and Frans blowing some didgeredoo. Wild. The didgeredoo was in the key of D, which was useful to know. Really enjoyed 'Ost-Friesland', the people were much more friendly than most of north Germany.
	02.11		7304		Pepper		No comment.
	10.11		7848		Kulturscheune		Getting there was fun. Some joker sent me in the wrong direction and then there was no mobile contact. Aaaargh. Arrived 20 minutes after the start of the gig and it was so full one had to fight to organise a stage.
	11.11		7787		Speicher		Started this gig with a minute's silence. Maybe that was why it worked out so well.
	17.11		8778		Heimathaus*		Good gig. Lately we seem to be attracting the would-be-divorcees. Next day we checked out the surreal landscape of the 'Staudamm' - a lake with hundreds of cut-off tree roots poking out of the water. Pleasant afternoon in Erfurt, although the big bell ("Maria Gloriosa") did not ring.
	18.11		8789		Zum Jungfernsprung*		Played here a few times. The host - Udo - seems to like our music. This time he was a bit down as he's been having a lot of hassle with bureaucracy. A neighbour has been complaining about the volume. Udo has reduced the volume outside but now they are controlling the volume INSIDE! The maximum should be 85 dB, which is in range of loud talking. He still managed a round of 'pfeffi', a truly horrible schnapps with a taste somewhere between peppermint and bird piss, but the evening was relatively low key.
	24.11		9685		Kulturschmiede		More hassle finding the venue. This hall-like room had amazing acoustics. The stage set B way above the mere mortals. Playing here felt so good.
	25.11		SAPF8688		Silberlinde*		This was the pub for a 'Garten Kolonie', a place with allotments and sommer houses. The evening's fare was 'Eisbein', which is boiled or roasted pig's foot. After this they were treated to SBG playing get to-know-you blues. A very decent subdued program with the Marshall amp so quiet you could hear the cutlery. Luckily a few fans had strayed to this backwater along the original Berlin wall, so we had some fun. It's also good to have a host, Frank, who's in to rock and blues.
	30.11		SAPF8788		Wirtshaus zu Asbach		However you look at it, blues in Bavaria is a tricky proposition. This gig was sparsely attended but it seemed to go down well. Pity I had to pass on T's birthday celebrations.
DEZEMBER 2006
	02.12		SAPF8467		puballapub		"Do you play any 'Dire Straits'". The sort of question B loves to hear at a gig. Funny thing is that the answer is yes, but the folks in this raunchy, drinking hole would have paid even less attention. Luckily there were a couple of fans, which made life easier; it was also good to play loud without any problems!
	07.12		SAPF8772		Rickenbackers*		Chance to maintain contact with the Berlin scene.
	08.12		SAPF8777		Alte Kachelofenfabrik		'Kleinkunst' in the provinces. Relatively full house wanting to experience some blues!
	11 &12.12		Not Applicable		Cubetone Studio		Two days in the studio. Monday was set-up day checking the sound and perfecting one song - '32-20 Blues'. Tuesday we laid down twelve songs. The only new song 'Still Stop The Traffic' complemented new versions of 'Love & Desire', 'Hound Dog Dream' and 'Pater Noster Boogie'. The other numbers came from the standard live programme - 'Take This Hammer', Midnight Special', 'Kind Hearted Woman Blues', 'Railroad Blues', 'Bring It On Home', 'Death Letter', 'Stop Breaking Down' and a couple of others I can't remember at the moment. Good experience. V led the way with the click track and our 'man-at-the-desk', Alex, wrapped it all up with his 'Pro-Tools'.

*Pete Gavin & shAnghAi blues gAng.

** Pete Gavin & Pick Stevens aus Shanghai.