Update Day 5 - Krems
Guten abend! Or good afternoon! The Monks show took place Saturday night, October 13, and it was a great night. The church they played in is this old, old kirche (church) built in the 1300s, I believe. Beautiful stone arches, 100-150 foot ceilings, these long, floor to ceiling windows with long, draping curtains hanging down them. I don’t ever think I have seen curtains that long! And a lot of the glass is still very old, it has that wobbly, water effect when you look through it. This church is definitely NOT baroque style as is the cathedral in Gottweig Abbey; it is too spartan and simple, too smooth for that. It is from a time much before.
The day was mostly devoted to the show – soundchecks, stage preparation, blocking out photo spots on stage front and back (though later you will find out my preparation turned out to be unnecessary…). I did get to walk around Krems for a little while before we had to go back to the hotel, it is such a beautiful town.
So, let me tell you just a bit about the stage crew. There is the handsome Joe I included in my photos, he is very agreeable, not very loud or pushy for a festival coordinator. You might almost call him a little shy or reserved, but he seems to be always relaxed and in complete control. And he has time to talk to any concerns, no matter how big or small or how important the person.
Then there is the absolutely amazing Lise, pronouned Leesee. Her full name is Lisolotte. She is probably in her mid 30s (my age), with short blonde hair and a charming smile, very beautiful in an unassuming way, and one of the most capable production managers I have ever seen in action. Nothing went by her, no detail went unattended. You needed something, poof! It was there. She admitted to me that she thrilled on the intensity of that lifestyle, the hectic deadline building up to frantic levels, working all hours of the day leading up to the show, then the long relaxation afterwards. I told her newspaper life was very similar; we had some good laughs about that!
Then there was the sweet and unfailingly calm Julia, who was the personnel handler (her title escapes me). She made sure we were happy, though honestly it didn’t take much (at least from my vantage point we were not very demanding.... others may have been...;0). She set up the food backstage, handled press info, etc. Julia (pronounced Yulia) lives in Vienna, and travels by train every day to her job.
And there was Bernhard the stage hand and a slew of other talented, capable stage hands, runners and drivers (who I mentioned before), all who were very helpful and welcoming, and several who helped me try to solve a last minute problem with interest and care. I wish I had gotten everyone's name, i honestly tried, but it took quite a crew to pull this festival off. I was impressed with the entire production - if I lived in Austria, I would try very hard to work for that group of people.
Other people who were part of our large group included: Bruno the sound guy, who is originally from Basel, Switzerland, lives in Cologne, France, and seems very adventurous and joyous in life (he was hired to work both shows with the Monks, and traveled with us to Frankfurt), he also delights in partying until dawn; Hans Joachim (yo-a-kim) Irmler from the band Faust, who is apparently quite famous in Austria (has black, bushy eyebrows and a thick head of hair, very hearty laughter, is very fun and intellectual to chat with and likes to flirt!!); and Simone, the lovely young woman from Basel, Switzerland (no affiliation with Bruno, it was another happy coincidence), with whom Wendy and I had an hour-long conversation about the differences in our culture, and what she would love to see if she came to the U.S.
The first acts were more experimental music, including Bob Rutman, an experimental precussionist/musician and screenprinting artist from Germany who played a mix of self-made instruments with a bow. He was about 70 years old, I think, and very “avant garde.” I liked him immensely. The other act was a young female group called Nista Nihje Nista, which means Nothing Not Nothing. They were unusual experimental as well, it is very hard to explain, but one of the musicians is the daughter of Joachim from Faust. It was fascinating to watch, I don’t know that you could get as much from an album as you would with a live performance, because these ladies had a lot of energy and the desire to forge new ground …
The Monks were the main act for the night. The show went great, with only one glitch (and it was my glitch, not the Monks)! My camera broke during the first song. Grrrr. So I have no good pictures of that show. Lise and the stage hands / technicians tried valiantly to help me fix it, but no go. (thank you so much, Lise!) I was frustrated and upset for about 15 minutes, and then just gave in and used my little Sony point-and-shoot and enjoyed the rest of the show.
And let me tell you, these men can still rock!! It was quite the scene, with a packed house of mixed fans old and young, jumping and dancing to this proto-punk music from 1965. The energy was amazing. There is a fascinating chemistry between Eddie, Dave and Gary - after years of not playing with each other they still seem to move so well together on stage, and take great pleasure in the experience with each other. Though Roger is sadly no longer around to play drums with the Monks (RIP, Roger), and Larry the keyboardist chooses not to, Len (drums / percussion) and Mike (keyboards and vocals) are excellent compliments to the original mixture and do a wonderful job of helping to round out the group.
After the show, we hung around backstage for quite a while, drank all of the wine and beer (imagine that!), and then we went to this wine bar around the corner to party with some of the other musicians (we were hoping to party with the stage crew, but had to call it a night before they were finished breaking down the set). It was a very lively bunch, I can tell you, with an insane mixture of German and English in loud, laughing tones. Peter our driver was waiting patiently for us to leave, but around 3:30 I think his patience snapped. He had to get up in the morning to work - and we had a train to catch at 1pm - so he started herding the group out (in a very patient but insistent manner). Sorry, Peter. Thanks for your calm in the eye of the drunken storm.
We got back to the hotel around 4, and the stars were as crisp in the sky as I have ever seen. I think the air in Austria is cleaner than in my mountains in Boone. I have never seen stars so bright. I didn’t even have to search for the Pleidaes, it was extremely clear and easy to spot. I have good visuals of the stars where I live, being in the mountains in North Carolina, but I swear I have never seen them as crisp. And I was sober that night.
The next morning was travel day to Frankfurt, but before we left, Gary, Cindy and I (who have adopted me as their “trip daughter”) went on a walk through the wine fields. It is absolutely beautiful country, and the weather couldn’t have been better. We walked up to an area which on the sign claimed to be the site where they found the Venus of Willendorf, the oldest known sculpture in the world, I believe. Cindy is currently trying to do some research on the Venus. I have a rock from that place, the wine growers Franz and Isolde (remember them?) gave Cindy several. I took a few pics of that area, and of my room, which looked off into the garden, and beyond to the wine fields and up to the Monestary. Herr Burger and his wife, proprietors of the hotel, came out to wave goodbye as we drove off.
Next up - Frankfurt! -->