PERFECT BEER
Arriving in Munich for a day off was never going to be a particularly bad experience especially as true to form for this tour, I had pre organised a round of golf. This time our host would be the head green-keeper, a certain Günther Mayer at a course called Aschheim Golf Club. The weather was beautiful and the course was fabulous, made all the more interesting in that over the weekend there was a European disabled golf tournament so the whole field were out on practice rounds. The four ball behind us included two one armed golfers, a guy with one leg whose handicap (apart from the leg) was 4 and a chap who didn’t have the use of his legs at all but used an amazing wheelchair device which enabled him to stand and address the ball for his swing. Quite a humbling experience.
After golf, which was punctuated with several Augustiner beer stops, I headed back to the hotel where the band were meeting at 8pm for the annual band dinner hosted by our illustrious promoter Marek Lieberberg. A restaurant called Le Deux was the venue and the food was nouvelle in the extreme but quite beautiful, if very slowly presented.
We were in there three hours. Not really what most of us would have liked in the home of Augustiner and so afterwards, we headed off to one of the many Braühouses in the vicinity and availed ourselves of the most cleansing of drinks on the planet. Surely Augustiner is the best beer in the world, surely.
Show day was a slow start and whilst I was in the gym, sweating the remnants of the cocktail of alcohols consumed in the Augustiner bar and Trader Vics, I heard an almighty racket coming from the street below. The Christopher Street Day (CSD) München Carnaval procession was underway. I aborted the treadmill to grab the camera and get out there in the heat of it all.
The venue in Munich was sweltering but a late afternoon thunderstorm did its best to clear the air and cool things down for us, a bit. The shows in Munich have always been amazing and tonight’s befitted perfectly the final show of our German tour. What a crowd, what a gig. We were all back at the hotel in no time, rearing to go again to the Augustiner bar. The most perfect glass of beer served directly from ice-cooled barrels took us to another place in time and space…for a moment. The after-beer pic..Ian (with Joan’s band), Dirk Powell, Grace Stumberg (Joan’s backing singer), John (John’s dad), Mike, Jim, John, Glenn, Richard and Bridie (John’s mum) At the time this image was taken, Joan had gone back to the hotel.
By wonderful coincidence, Joan Baez was in town and her accompanying guitar player was Dirk Powell. Mike and John know Dirk well and Glenn, Richard and Jim have all played on at least one of Joan’s albums so we all had a fabulous time. Great fun and wonderful to finally meet Joan and Dirk.
Abschied von Deutschland, bis zum nächsten Mal
