Farewell Nigel (for now)
The final show in another run of five-in-a-row took us to the cradle of the motor car, Stuttgart. Home to Mercedes Benz and the beloved Porsche, Stuttgart is a densely populated area interlinked and surrounded by a series of smaller towns. Of course Stuttgart offers so much more than just the Porsche factory as it is spread across a variety of hills (some of them vineyards), valleys and parks, yet to me, I simply recall the time spent visiting the Porsche factory in the late Eighties. They were manufacturing the 959 at the time and watching their engineers mounting its engine was a sight to behold. It just didn’t look like it was going to fit. But it did.
After much lazing in the room, Mike and I went down to the venue earlier than some of the others who took what is normally our ‘tourly’ pilgrimage to the nearby Hugo Boss outlet. I resisted.
So to the venue and a sound check, the first we’ve done in a while it seems. We ran through a song that Nigel has been playing with us in the past week. Nigel Hitchcock has been our guest for this run of German shows and tonight is his last with us for a while. Thanks Nigel, it’s been great having you out.
On to the early showtime of 7:30pm and we took to the stage once more to yet another sold out venue and excitable audience, who once more went crazy at the end. It’s an incredible feeling to look out into the crowd and see all those beaming faces at the end of the show. Off the stage once more, we shot into the cars, off to the airport where we flew home for 2 days off before returning to France on Tuesday. The weather has been spectacular in the UK and all the signs are that the heatwave is here to stay.
pics Martina Weselowski
