Resume:
What I saw:
Melody Gardot (of course!)
Jill Scott (of course!)
Sun, storm, rain, thunder and lighning. people driving like nutters....
Wonderful landscapes
the expression of my mans face change with every song that shuffled through the IPod (OMG alice cooper!!! Oh Shit is that the pipi longstockings theme!?!?!?!)
Good friends
What I heard:
Melody Gardot (of course!)
Jill Scott (of course!)
Rain and storm
My all time favourite songs shuffling through the IPod
My man gasping and laughing and singing along to Doris Day (that was a tad scary, I admitt...)
[I might add if you are just here for the concert recap you might either scroll down or be in it for the long haul :D]
How Everything Began:
Once upon a time...
somewhere in april my man called me up at work. We had been to see Zaz a few days before and had decided to "do something like this" more often.
I was more or less on my way to the Netherlands, sitting on packed bags just finishing my last half shift at work before I could leave to Duisburg and from there to Bourtange, NL.
All I got was a link and the question "wanna come along?"
It was a link to the Stuttgart Jazz Open ticket website, prominently featuring Melody Gardot.
Melody Gardot is, and has been, a very important artist for me for quite a while.
So of course I wanted to come along!
We quickly checked the date and my man ordered the tickets.
whilst I made my way 250 kilometers north and 200 years back in time :)
In bourtange I mentioned the concert tickets at the campfire and a friend mentioned that we could crash with him. I live 445km away from Stuttgart, he lives IN Stuttgart so that seemed like a nice idea.
A plan was formed.
And this weekend, finally Executed.
The Trip:
We left on saturday morning around 10. and drove straight to stuttgart. which turned out to be a 5 hours drive.
YAY...
When we arrived with my friend we were sweatty, sticky but in high spirits. Till we found out if we wanted to be there for the opening we had about 30 minutes to freshen up....
So farewell shower... A quick wash up and change of clothes and we were ready to go.
Sadly, after the long drive and due to the warm day (and continuing back problems) I had to leave my nice (and quite expensive) italian heels in the bag. *sniff*
So my man was suited up and I had a nice blouse a nice skirt and yellow dockers.... well...
We drove in by train and took a nice walk to the palace where the concert would be held.
During the drive we had some bad weather so we were really relieved to find blue sky and burning sun in Stuttgart.
Well partly.... me and sun... we still have our differences.
I'll never get how one person (me) can have bad reactions to sunlight on so many planes...
Mentally I was cursing that I didn't bring the nice, dark, wraparounds I usually wear for such weather.
We strolled through town, grabbed a bite to eat and then entered the compound. We found our seats (and of course they were spot on in the sun...) and met with another friend who also had a ticket. we decided to grab a drink and sit in the grass for a while, talking till the concert would start.
The Concert:
Was an Experience!
To my shame I have to admitt I hadn't heard from Jill Scott ... but that's something that'll change soon.
She has an enormous presence on stage. a really good voice and you feel how much she enjoys her music.
And of course how much her fans enjoy it. She really had the crowd in the palm of her hand.
Intermission
The "Main Act"
(sorry for the blurryness but well...)
By the time Ms Gardot entered the stage the sun had sunken deep enough that I could swap the (nonprescribtion) shades for my regular specs hoping the blurry spots on stage would get a bit more in focus.
Looking at those photos in hindsight I have to say they give a rather good impression of how the world usually looks to me...
She was amazing, but then, I think I am biassed ;)
Knowing her music so well I had to remind myself a few times that it was live and she actually was there on stage, singing and it wasn't a tape.
But there was something different.
Partly because the music was a different style than what Jill Scott hat performed earlier.
The crowd gathered closer together.
Seats in the middle section which had been empty were filled, so the people could see her at the piano
(for me it was a bit like playing where is Waldo)
She moves slower, more focussed, her gestures are smaller, her voice, strong and confident can become faint and volunerable.
The crowd leaned in more.
And there was the headscarf issue.
Don't get me wrong I like headscarfs I wear them too, from time to time...
With the outfit she changed into after the first few songs and the scarf she appeared more distant. The image broke when she told an anecdote about french aiprorts and revealed quite the good soprano when channelling Maria Callas.
But this aside we got the impression she was hiding behind her stage outfit.
A good part of her face covered by the shades, all her hair hidden under the scarf....
I think it's an occupational hazzard but I have a thing for faces and impressions. (yeah comes with the job, and the way I execute this job...)
One notices how much she loves her music, singing, and playing the various instruments. Sometimes a huge smile flashes across her face. And the way she talked to the audience... wow.
It was a strange mixture, this stage persona and the woman surfacing from time to time.
But that didn't kep me from enjoying the music, on the contrary I made it my special game.
Leaning back against my man, from time to time lighting a fag (it was an open air no one bothered me lighting up), watchting the (slightly blurry) person on stage and submerging in the music.
The Aftermath:
We decided against the hunt for an autograph in order to reach our train, which we missed. (of course)
So we hopped on the next one, along with a bunch of Die Ärzte fans who had been on a slightly different concert... yay...
We made it home by midnight.
Again, or better still, sticky and exhausted but, again, in high spirits.
I didn't feel up to the challenge of taking a shower, I prefered sitting in the room with all the fans and talking a little to our host.
The night we spent in true fashion on a marass with an army blanket. and thanks to the open roof window we managed to get the blanket soaked, too.
Just like on any given event LOL.
The Day After:
Truth be told I didn't feel up to another 5 hours drive. My back still hated me for the first one and the time spent on that chairs at the festival.
I had, beforehand, checked in with a close friend in Wiesbaden.
Wiesbaden was about half way home so a perfect spot for a break and an even better opportunity to meet a good friend.
So after breakfast we packed our stuff and headed out.
Due to the hot weather and my black car I decided to travel light in my cosack pants and a sloppy tshirt...
The shower finally postponed to when we'd get back home... (the morning wash had to be enough lol)
Typical after event routine somehow...
*coughs*
we hit Wiesbaden around lunch time. it had gotten warm and warmer already and we were happy to leave the car for a bit to spent some time in Biebrich and take a little strole through the park.
(impressions here)
We stopped for a nice icecream at the rhine waterside and enjoyed ourselfs.
The last 2.5 hours drive were okay. my man and me were joking, singing along to old songs, taking in the scenerie...
and of course hit the next thunderstorm close to home this time.
After a little drive though dinner we made it home by 6pm.
And for i guess no one read this far i can tell you now:
and I finally got my shower!!!!
LOL
And now I'm sitting here, in my bassetti kimona, sipping tetleys decaf, eating cookies... smelling fresh of lavender and sage...totally content.
I had a marvelous weekend with my man and a lot of good friends.
And a weekend where I could take a step back and just enjoy for a change.
I should do that more often...
But then; Melody Gardot should give concerts in germany more often...
I should be honest; I just have 1 week of work left to go before I head out to Spain, so I shouldn't complain.
