The first red flag went up as I was told that i had to send my passport to a travel agency to get my visa for Russia. I was always taught never to give my passport to anyone (US passports are hot commodities on the black market) but I gave my passport up after assurances from Worthy and the travel agent that I would get it back. After a week I got my passport back, stamped and ready. Once I got my tickets, I was ready to rock.

Day 1: Essen

I first took the train to Essen, a city in northwest Germany, where I was to perform at the Techno Classica, a convention for vintage and sports car enthusiasts. My client was the Volkswagen Autostadt, the exhibition hall and museum located at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg. The gig itself was not so spectacular (though we only played 1 set when we scheduled to play 3, which was fantastic), but the cars were amazing. I was genuinely surprised just how many luxury brands Volkswagen now owns; Bugatti, Bentley, Lamborghini, Audi and now Porsche all belong to Volkswagen. My favorite car was the Veyron 16.4, currently the fastest production sports car in the world.

As is usually the case, it’s very difficult to make a room full of mostly men to dance without putting strippers on stage, but the evening was still OK; our client was happy, so I was happy.

Day 2: Moscow

After only 1 hour of sleep I went to the train station and caught the ICE to Cologne, where I boarded my flight to Moscow. The flight itself was relatively short (two and a half hours across two time zones), but comfortable, since the plane was half empty (no one in their right mind flies anywhere at six in the morning). On arrival in Moscow, I got a bit nervous at passport control, being an American in Russia for the first time. However, I got through the control surprisingly fast. My colleague and I were picked up and were driven to our hotel, apparently the largest hotel in Moscow, where almost all foreign dignitaries stay when the visit the city. The Presidents Hotel is the only hotel in Moscow with security checkpoints (like a prison), but a very nice hotel nonetheless. We then were taken to the venue for soundcheck, driven back to the hotel to relax before the show. We performed at a party for Natasha Ragozina, undefeated super-middleweight champion in women’s boxing, a very tall, very strong, very beautiful woman who could kick your ass if necessary. After a very chaotic but fun evening, it was off to the airport the next morning for the trip back home.

Here’s what I learned on my latest road trip :

1. McDonalds really is everywhere.

2.Russian women are (for the most part) really beautiful. And tall.

As I mentioned earlier, Americans grow up with many stereotypes about Russia and it’s people; specifically, our view of Russian women as being either huge (as in fat), pumped up on steroids, or otherwise unattractive. After this trip I can say that some of the most beautiful women I’ve seen to date are in Moscow. There’s a reason why many of today’s supermodels come from Russia.

3. Rich Russians are the kings of bling.

In the span of about 2 hours, I saw 4 stretch Hummers, a ridiculous number of black SUV’s and limousines with armed (sometimes police) escorts, champagne en masse, and more excess than I care to talk about. Russians are right up there with Americans in terms of unabashedly showing off their wealth. No wonder why Moscow is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive city in the world.

4. The air in Moscow is disgusting, but the streets are very clean.

I expected the air to be nasty; I got off of the plane and could literally taste the city (eww!). I was pleasantly surprised by how clean the streets were, however. Pretty amazing considering that Moscow’s population is over 10 million people.

5. Driving in Moscow is an exercise in courage. Walking even more so.

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been more terrified of driving in any other city I’ve been to as I was in Moscow. Traffic signs? What traffic signs?!?

6. Yes, there ARE black Russians!

Chalk this observation up to another one of those stereotypical American views. I saw quite a few Russians of African descent, Africans speaking fluent Russian, as well as Asians and other “non-white” Russians. Russia is of course a huge country, so it shouldn’t have surprised me; it was just interesting to see.

7. America and Russia are not as different as most Americans and Russians may think.

Of course there are cultural differences, and it’s impossible to judge after only being in one city for one day, but it was obvious to see that Russians have many of the same hopes, dreams and problems as Americans do. We all send our kids to school, think about the future, are proud of who we are, and want the best for ourselves and our families.

Gig 1: May 20 – Session Werk, Walldorf

I’ve performed in many, many venues in Germany over the last 15 years or so; from bars, clubs and restaurants, to city and village festivals, to huge open-air concerts with thousands of people. From seaside hangouts to ski resorts in the Alps, I’ve played almost everywhere, especially in Baden-Württemberg (where I live), which makes it hard to believe that there are quite a few venues that I have never performed in. One such place was the bar belonging to the well-known music store Session Music, located in Walldorf, near Heidelberg. I’d been asked to perform there with the house band off and on for five years, but I never had time until recently, when friend and colleague Stefan Breuer asked me to perform there with his band. The emcee of the the night was another colleague, a singer named Gonzo. I knew most of the musicians in the house band from other bands that I’d performed with, but this was the first time I played with this particular formation, and we had no time to rehearse together, which made me a little nervous. The interesting thing to me was how full the club was (it’s a huge venue), despite being hot outside, a holiday and the UEFA Cup Finals being on TV.

Gig 2: May 21 – King Kamehameha Club, Frankfurt am Main

My spot. I LOVE this club, Especially in the summer. It was packed (as usual), and this particular night there were three front singers, which is rare. Considering that it was also very warm outside on this evening (even at eleven o’clock) and there are four other clubs on the same street as the KingKa, having so many people on that night was truly amazing. Again, it’s a testament to the hard work we put into making Thursday night a success.

Gig 3: May 22 – Restaurant Nizza, Frankfurt am Main

Change of pace (or so I thought): A wedding reception in a fancy restaurant on the banks of the Main River. A rather small gathering, only about 50 to 60 guests, all extremely stylish, with the ladies in their gowns and the men in either suits or tuxedos. What they lacked in comfort, however, they more than made up for in endurance, partying well into the early morning, way after we had finished our show (the father of the bride was particularly amusing). Even at 3:00 AM, the weather was still warm enough to engage in various outdoor activities.

Gig 4: May 23 – City Festival, Bad Homburg

My favorite gig of my little tour; a duo gig in one of the town squares of Bad Homburg, just me on vocals and my colleague Jan Stürmer on acoustic guitar. Very relaxed yet very challenging; our job was to entertain a large group of spectators (up to a thousand people at any given time) over a three hour time span using just our voices and a single instrument. That is music-making in it’s purest form, and we were successful in our mission.

Gig 5: May 24 – Radio RPR1 Family Festival, Bingen

After having performed four days in a row, I was exhausted. The last thing my body needed was to perform outside on the hottest day of the year. Being the soldier that I am, however, that’s exactly what I did. My final show of the week was in Bingen, a city on the banks of the Rhine River. It was 33° Celsius (91° Fahrenheit) outside, which is very hot by german standards. The bad part: we had to perform four sets during the day, starting at 1:30 in the afternoon. The festival was not very well attended, perhaps due to the extreme heat.

Summer Madness

What all five shows had in common was the effect the excellent weather had on people’s ability to enjoy themselves. Sunshine and warm temperatures are known to activate feelings of happiness and pleasure in humans; it’s no coincidence that more alcohol is sold, more concerts are attended, and more relationships are either begun or made permanent through marriage in the warm-weather months than the cold-weather months.

Unfortunately, it also tends to deactivate our sense of fashion, especially color coordination, in many cases. In that respect, summer-like weather also deactivates our sense of shame, which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your point of view. I’ve been witness to people dressing in ways I’ve only laughed about on really bad sketch comedy shows or soft porn movies on cable TV. Simply AMAZING.

So, what have I learned from my latest road trip?

1. NEVER book a hotel room in a big city on the side of the building facing the street.

2. If you’re confident in your abilities, it doesn’t matter if new to a situation or not.

3. The warmer it is outside, the more willing people are to make total fools of themselves.

4. The passage of time is relative when you’re in good spirits.

5. Just because it’s warm outside doesn’t mean that the party’s dead inside.

6. Take time to appreciate not only what you do, but where you do it.

7. Sandals and socks are NOT CUTE.

8. Big t-shirts and sport leggings are WORSE.

9. If you’re going to wear a sleeveless top and sport leggings, at least be in shape.

10. Just when you think you’ve done it all, you quickly realize that you haven’t.

Judging by what I’ve experienced on this latest road trip, it’s going to be a very interesting summer indeed.