On the attack in Frankfurt
Apologies in advance if this posting is gibberish, but I'm in Frankfurt and it seems that sugar is the staple ingredient in every item of food. So I have a sugar high that would rival any 3 year old who's just downed a can of coke!
So, why Frankfurt? I flew in to see a band. Quite apart from always wanting to say I flew to another country for a gig, this band is easily Australia's funkiest and best live bands in ages - the Cat Empire.
So, flew in 2 days ago after horror trip from Stanstead in London. I have long since gotten over my fear of flying (which would manifest itself at inappropriate times on flights when I would say, just that bit too loudly, to my travel companion "we're all going to die". Indeed I famously vomitted on a check in desk in Melbournce once after heavy turbulence over the Tasman strait.) Fear of flying as an Australian kind of limits your ability to travel, so embracing the buddhist philosophy that death is not something about which to be scared, I have no fears about taking the cheaper dodgy brothers carriers that litter the UK and Europe. Taking said dodgy bros flights however can end up in unexpected adventures, mostly relating to where you touch down. While you may have booked say London to Frankfurt, when we touched down in Saarskard I did have that moment of"hmmm. That was unexpected".
All passengers were huddled into a room, for 2 hours, where the only announcements made were in German. I had no idea what was going on. Was the plane faulty? Was this our final destination? Where we still going to Frankfurt? If I got up to pee would they all hide completing my surreal experience?
Eventually they reloaded us and we got into Frankfurt about 5 h
ours late, still it was at least where I was expecting to be so no harm no foul by my reckoning. As I went through customs, the nice German guard gave me a good once over, stared deeply into my eyes, muttered something in German and then took me into the special room, where they quiz terrorists and drug runners. I obviously am neither, but faced with the prospect of meeting Wilhelm's tough love glove I have to admit that I really wish I had learned the words "Australian" and "consulate" during my 2 hour lay over in the unknown town.
Wilhelm spent about ten minutes staring at my eyes, then my passport, then my eyes... and then said in broken english my eyes looked to be a different colour in the photo and set me free. It was like a condensed version of "the trial"!
And so to Frankfurt and the Cat Empire.
I've only seen the Cats once before live - at the East Coast Blues and Roots festival when even the gods wanted to hear the entire set and held off bucketing down rain until the last chord of their encore.
So trying to explain their music, especially to Germans with english as their second language is hard work. It's sort of cuban/salsa/reggae/ska/hip hop/jazz/blues fusion. In short, it's the type of music to which you have to dance and that makes you smile.
As they are relatively big in Australia, I was expecting a crowd of aussie backpackers at the gig. However when I arrived to find a throng of Frankfurt locals, some dressed up, some with face paint (why?) I figured my expectations for the evening were going to a bit off. It seems that nearly everyone in the audience, or of those I spoke with, had either been travelling through Australia or had had a mate who had, who had burned them a copy of an album and so they were there to hear the boys live. Indeed a couple staying at my hotel had seen them in Perth when they were travelling around Australia and had driven over to see them from France. We all laughed about how far some people will travel for their music!
Harry was in his jazz element, really driving the band into some fantastic ad libbed scats and call and response that the crowd loved and Felix gave us a few fantastic choreographed dance moves in addition to stellar performance.
All in all they played for about 2 hours, with no breaks and the energy and enthusiasm they started with didn't waver. I think they're just about to finish their world tour, but seem to tour fairly regularly. If you're looking for a great night out where you'll end up smiling for hours/days after, you can't go wrong with them!
As for me, I can tick off flying into another country to see a gig. Although I wouldn't mind seeing the Scissor Sisters in Paris... this could become addictive!
Oh, this is a pic of Frankfurt. I'm sure the city is great, but really I'm here for the music!
So, why Frankfurt? I flew in to see a band. Quite apart from always wanting to say I flew to another country for a gig, this band is easily Australia's funkiest and best live bands in ages - the Cat Empire.
So, flew in 2 days ago after horror trip from Stanstead in London. I have long since gotten over my fear of flying (which would manifest itself at inappropriate times on flights when I would say, just that bit too loudly, to my travel companion "we're all going to die". Indeed I famously vomitted on a check in desk in Melbournce once after heavy turbulence over the Tasman strait.) Fear of flying as an Australian kind of limits your ability to travel, so embracing the buddhist philosophy that death is not something about which to be scared, I have no fears about taking the cheaper dodgy brothers carriers that litter the UK and Europe. Taking said dodgy bros flights however can end up in unexpected adventures, mostly relating to where you touch down. While you may have booked say London to Frankfurt, when we touched down in Saarskard I did have that moment of"hmmm. That was unexpected".
All passengers were huddled into a room, for 2 hours, where the only announcements made were in German. I had no idea what was going on. Was the plane faulty? Was this our final destination? Where we still going to Frankfurt? If I got up to pee would they all hide completing my surreal experience?
Eventually they reloaded us and we got into Frankfurt about 5 h
The Cat Empire - music is the language of us all
Wilhelm spent about ten minutes staring at my eyes, then my passport, then my eyes... and then said in broken english my eyes looked to be a different colour in the photo and set me free. It was like a condensed version of "the trial"!
And so to Frankfurt and the Cat Empire.
I've only seen the Cats once before live - at the East Coast Blues and Roots festival when even the gods wanted to hear the entire set and held off bucketing down rain until the last chord of their encore.
So trying to explain their music, especially to Germans with english as their second language is hard work. It's sort of cuban/salsa/reggae/ska/hip hop/jazz/blues fusion. In short, it's the type of music to which you have to dance and that makes you smile.
As they are relatively big in Australia, I was expecting a crowd of aussie backpackers at the gig. However when I arrived to find a throng of Frankfurt locals, some dressed up, some with face paint (why?) I figured my expectations for the evening were going to a bit off. It seems that nearly everyone in the audience, or of those I spoke with, had either been travelling through Australia or had had a mate who had, who had burned them a copy of an album and so they were there to hear the boys live. Indeed a couple staying at my hotel had seen them in Perth when they were travelling around Australia and had driven over to see them from France. We all laughed about how far some people will travel for their music!
Harry was in his jazz element, really driving the band into some fantastic ad libbed scats and call and response that the crowd loved and Felix gave us a few fantastic choreographed dance moves in addition to stellar performance.
All in all they played for about 2 hours, with no breaks and the energy and enthusiasm they started with didn't waver. I think they're just about to finish their world tour, but seem to tour fairly regularly. If you're looking for a great night out where you'll end up smiling for hours/days after, you can't go wrong with them!
As for me, I can tick off flying into another country to see a gig. Although I wouldn't mind seeing the Scissor Sisters in Paris... this could become addictive!
Oh, this is a pic of Frankfurt. I'm sure the city is great, but really I'm here for the music!
Romerberg, Frankfurt
