North America Guitar Tour - spin off
Lemgo
July 25, 2008
When I woke up, it was already light outside. There was a clock, but it was set to a random time, which is common in rooms that aren't used regularly, my cell phone wouldn't turn on, and the clock on my MacBook was still set to Japanese time, so I had to calculate the time difference. Even though the night was short, I figured that it wouldn't be long before the upper floors started moving, judging from the way the sun was rising, so I decided to take a shower first. It was a stylish glass-walled shower, but there was non-uneven floors between the shower area and others. I thought I was careful, but when I finished taking a shower and looked at the floor, water was overflowing not only in the shower room but also in the corridor outside. I wiped it up with any towels I could see, but it was a big mess in the morning.
When I had finished cleaning up, Mr. B came downstairs, so I showed him the pile of wet towels, explained what had happened, and apologized. After looking around, he said "Don't worry, it's breakfast, so come upstairs" and invited me to go up to the third floor and have breakfast. He was explaining something to his wife in German, so I guess he was telling her about the shower room incident. His wife also told me not to worry, and to put out any laundry if I had it. It's been piling up since Prague, so it's a relief.
After breakfast, I went down to the first floor to write my diary, and Mr. B came down and said he would take me to the town of Lemgo. On the way, he told me a lot about the history of Lemgo. Apparently he had exchanges with Japan in the past. His mother lives on the street behind the main street, so we went there first. Mr. B is already in his late 50s, so his mother should be elderly, but she was a sturdy old woman who didn't look that way. He said she would also come to my live show that evening.
I left my car there and went to the street, and first went into the bank. It is a modern bank that doesn't look like a rural bank, and all the indirect lighting that effectively creates the space and it was designed by his company. As I was walking out of the bank, he pointed to a flyer posted in front of the store and told me to take a look. It was a flyer for my live show. Looking closely, I saw the same flyers posted in front of stores all over the place. About a month ago, he asked me to send him a photo I had taken recently, and I sent him a photo I had taken with a self-timer as soon as I woke up, and there I was all over the main street as soon as I woke up. It was too late to send a better photo, even though I wish I had sent a better one.
We decided to have lunch at a cafe in the middle of the street, and as we were munching on coffee and sandwiches on the terrace in front of the store, several people said to me, "We're looking forward to tonight." I was very grateful.
After lunch, we returned to the car and headed to a guitar shop on the outskirts of town that his acquaintance runs. It was surprising that there was a guitar shop in a town of this size, but it turns out they also make guitars there. I was allowed to play the guitar that was just finished, but it had a heavy sound typical of Germany, and if I played it too much, it would drown out my Jose Ramirez, so I played a few songs and then put it back where it was. It wasn't for sale, but if he did sell it, it would be worth about 1.2 million yen. At this time, I remembered the euro coin that Mr. Domon gave me in London, and decided to use it to buy some Hannabach medium gauge strings. When I handed him the bag of coins, it seemed like it was a little short for the atmosphere, but he gave me three sets that he had in stock. Actually, a few days before leaving Japan, I had just switched from the Spanish Augustin that I had been using for many years to the German Hannabach, so I wanted to get them while I was in Germany.
As expected, my poster was in front of the store, having just woken up. After that, we went back home and I practiced for a while. I had only played a little at night the day before, so I needed to regain the feeling in my fingertips. However, perhaps because I had eaten a proper meal in the morning and afternoon, I found myself sleeping in bed with my guitar in my arms. Mr. B came down after 4 o'clock and told me to get ready and go outside because we were about to head to the venue. It was overcast during the day, but at this point the sky was blue. I decided to take his steel strings (Lakewood) with me just in case. I've mainly been playing nylon strings for the past few years, but since it was a solo live performance, I thought it might be a good idea to change the tone a little (I ended up not using it).
The venue was a little outside the city, and it seemed like it had been closed for at least the past few days due to summer vacation. When we arrived, tables and chairs were being moved around, and Mr. H arrived there, set up the PA, and stuck a contact microphone on my guitar with something like gum. I practiced for a while to get the sound out, but Mr. B seemed a little uneasy. I didn't think about it that much at this point, but for him, tonight's live performance was a big event that could be said to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. It's rare for a visitor from the far east to come to the tranquil rural town of Lemgo, and it's rare for such a visitor to perform live with just a guitar. He was full of worries, like I usually do, like "Will the customers come?" and "Will the performance be a success?" But I was relieved when he said "30 people will come."
After rehearsal, I went outside and walked around the store. There was a field behind the store, and several horses were grazing. It was a very tranquil scene. There were hardly any houses along the road leading to the store. Of course, the customers came by car, and I was a little worried that there might be some drunk driving on the way back, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do. When I returned to the store, several customers had already arrived, and the owner gave me a polo shirt, the store's uniform. This became my stage costume for the night.
Soon after, a woman who was a reporter for a local newspaper came and took a photo of me, Mr. B, Mr. H, and the owner of the bar, and then I talked with Mr. B for a while. It seems that the live performance that day will be featured in an article.
Slowly, more customers arrived, and before long, the bar was full, so chairs and tables were set up outside. I was worried about whether the sound would reach the outside, so I went outside and found an amplifier there as well. Apparently, two AER amplifiers can be connected in series. At this point, my worries about attracting customers disappeared, and the only thing left was whether I could liven up the atmosphere. I later heard from Mr. B that there were more than 120 customers in total.
In the evening light, the live performance began with a greeting from Mr. H (in German). At first, the audience's expressions were a little stiff, but they loosened up with each talk between songs, and by the effect of beer had made some people humming along to my play. During one song, I asked for some clapping, and a woman clapped on every beat, so after I tried again several times, the atmosphere relaxed all at once. The first half finished in about 45 minutes as planned, and by the time we took a break, it was completely dark, like dusk.
After a 20-minute break, the second half of the set started at 9 o'clock. The audience was completely relaxed, and halfway through, I could clearly hear the voices singing along with the performance, and it gradually became like a singing cafe. Some guitar players may dislike this kind of thing, but I don't mind it at all. When I said "Next is the last song of the night" around 10 o'clock, I thought it would be an encore of a few songs, but I ended up playing until almost 12 o'clock without a break. It's a real struggle with the repertoire. If it's background music, people can overlook some roughness, but that's not the case at a live performance. In my case, once I start playing, I remember it, so I just need to think of "what to play," but this is quite difficult. As soon as the song started, I would think about what to play next, and when I couldn't think of anything after the song ended, I would think about it while I was talking.
I never expected to have such a big hit in Germany, so the whole evening, including the live performance, felt like a dream. Both Mr. B and Mr. H looked very happy. Mr. B seemed surprised that I talked a lot. Before the live performance, it was hard to talk to the customers, but after the show, perhaps because of the alcohol, people from all over called my name and treated me a drink, and I was able to talk to many people, little by little. Some of them even came from Sweden.
店After thanking the manager and the staff, I went to Mr. H's house in Mr. B's car, and after carrying my equipment to the guitar room in the basement of his house, I opened my MacBook and borrowed his house's Wi-Fi to check my email. There was a huge amount of spam email, almost two days' worth. I was leaving Lemgo the next morning, so this was my farewell to Mr. H and his wife. When we got back home, it was already almost 2am, and we both quickly went to our respective bedrooms. As I sat on the bed in the middle of the spacious living room, I felt instantly tired and fell asleep.
*People who appear in this article are listed by their initials until we can confirm their identity.
Contents
Introduction
Until Departure
Seattle
To California
Day Off
Sunnyvale
To La
LA 2 Days
To Tucson
Albuquerque
To Colorado (beginning of Miracle)
Berthoud
Denver
to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City 2 days
To Texas
San Antonio
Georgetown
Dallas
Houston 2 Days
Benton
Nashville (CAAS)
Roswell
Tampa 2 Days
Miami
Orland 2 Days
Myrtle Beach
Chapel Hill 3 Days
Kingsport
To Indiana
Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
To Staten Island
Manhattan
Phillipsburg
Nazareth (Martin Guitar Factory)
To Massachusetts (end of Miracle)
Methuen
To Montreal
To Buffalo
Meadvill A Day Before
Meadvill Ghost Hotel
Detroit
Chicago
Minneapolice
Spin Off #1
Spin Off #2 "EU Tour IN 2008 / Until Departure
Czech 1
Czech 2
London
Liverpool
Chesham
To Germany
Lemgo
Ingolstadt
Bregenz
To Italy
Florence
The Last Gig
Going Home