Posts Tagged "train"

There are certain undisputed truths about being a pro musician in Europe, particularly in Germany, where I work most of the time: you’re always asked to do more than you want to; you’re always treated well, but never as well as you think you should be; and the cleanliness of the bathroom in your hotel room has more of an effect on your performance at the gig than you would like to believe. On this past five day road trip I travelled to the towns of Bregenz, Austria (directly on Lake Constance, the body of water shared by Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Mannheim, Cologne and Hamburg, a total distance of 1909 kilometers (1186 miles), all of it by train. I performed three shows with two different bands: the Bregenz gig was for a conference of IT...

If I ever needed proof that the smartphone is quickly becoming the 21st century’s version of the Tamagotchi (those widely popular and extremely annoying “digital pets” from the 90′s), I found it on Saturday while waiting to catch my train back home. On a beautiful, warm, bright Saturday morning, I was shocked and intrigued by just how many people I witnessed (myself included) hunched over, faces buried in the tiny screens occupying the palms of their hands. Based on my very unscientific observations, it’s quite easy to tell which type of current smartphone people are using: - If they’re hunched over while flicking with their left or right index finger in different directions, or sporadically rocking from side to side or forwards and...

I feel like the gang in the movie “The Warriors” must have felt as they fought their way through the streets of New York, desperately trying to get back to the comfort and safety of their home turf; they had to endure numerous hardships until they got back home (the movie was reportedly the basis for the hit song from the Beastie Boys, “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn”). The same thing could be said about my last two days on the road, albeit in a far more positive context. It was a typical two-day blitz; Thursday afternoon I take the train to Mannheim (about 150 km, or 95 miles from where I live) to my teaching job at the Popakademie, teach until about 9 PM, take the train to Frankfurt to my regular gig at the King Kamehameha Club, one of Germany’s most...