Category: Gigs Abroad

Gigs from Abroad Part 19 – Nuremberg and Bamburg

In 2019 the annual lads trip gravitated over to Nuremberg, a city which is the second largest in Bavaria. It is encompassed on three sides by a huge forest and the other by a vegetation area with the quaint name ‘garlic land’. It had the honour of having the first steam-hauled railway in Germany in 1835 linking it with the nearby city of Furth under the auspices of the Bavarian Ludwig Railway, the route is covered today by the U1 Subway.

Nuremberg vista. Image Credit TripSavvy

There is a dark side to Nuremberg’s past as due to its geographical links to the Holy Roman Empire it was utilised as the location for the huge Nazi party conventions which became known as the Nuremberg rallies, the first taking place in 1927. On 2 January 1945 it was carpet bombed by the allies where ninety percent of the city was destroyed in an hour and was then recaptured in April 1945 after an intense ground troops battle. It was therefore the natural location for the Nuremberg trials that took place immediately after the war in the Palace of Justice which somehow had survived undamaged during the bombing.

The city rose again from the ashes and thankfully there remains many remnants of the walls and towers, and of course there is the obligatory castle! It also contains a bonny and evocative old town area where I recall us finding an excellent bar at the top of a steep incline, and I took a liking to the city itself. Famous Nurnberg alumni include the acclaimed actress Sandra Bullock who was educated in the city via a German mother and American military father who was stationed there.  

Also on that list would be musician Kevin Coyne who had an interesting life commencing from being born in Derby in 1944. Between 1965 and 1968 he spent three years as a psychiatric nurse at the renowned mental institution Whittingham Hospital in my hometown of Preston. Alongside this he was developing musical aspirations in the folk-blues domain and his first band Siren was signed to John Peel’s Dandelion Records label in 1969.

He also had the unusual accolade of appearing at an alternative festival in protest against the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. He once turned down a meeting with Elektra Records to discuss the possibility of replacing Jim Morrison in the Doors. He was pals with Virgin label mates John Lydon and the Mekons and one of his bands contained Zoot Money, subsequently the musical director of the 1987 TV series Tutti Frutti featuring Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson. The other band member was Andy Summers, latterly of the Police.  

Kevin Coyne Razorblade picture. Image Credit rootsvinylguide.com

In 1985, after a nervous breakdown and ongoing alcohol issues he relocated to Nuremberg, where having finally ditched the demon drink, he continued to maintain a prolific recording and touring schedule alongside furthering his books and painting outputs.

His enigmatic approach could be exemplified by the album cover for his 1977 release of ‘In Living Black and White’. On the front cover he is seen smiling and artistically bowing to an invisible audience whilst the back is the same photo from the rear where you can see he is holding tightly an open straight razor. He lived there until his death in 2004. The reason I have catalogued his extended story is that at the end of the day despite opportunities he is the tale of another aspiring underground artist, who could be a mirror of many others who have peppered the musical historical landscape without any meaningful recognition over the decades.

Nuremberg is also the start point for a unique annual music event called the Techno Train Nurnberg. The high-speed rave train leaves the city with DJ’s, punters and high-quality sound systems on board and then travels non-stop for seven hours through Bavaria until it lands in Munich, where an after party takes place. Most definitely not my cup of Yorkshire, but it certainly quantifies as a novel event.  

A common theme on the lad’s sojourns is to always include a day trip and, on this occasion, we undertook a 40 minute train journey over to Bamberg. The old town there contains 2400 timber houses situated in the old town and that has been badged as an UNESCO world heritage site since 1993. The most famous ‘local’ resident would be Willy Messerschmitt, the aircraft designer who had some planes named after him and their most famous band in my view would be the turn of the decade punk band Go Faster Nuns.

Go Faster Nuns. Image Credit youtube.com

Bamberg also had a lot of character, and we had a good sally around and traversed up another steep hill, this time without any reward as the bar we were scouring for was subject to seasonal hours and as a result not open. Back in the town, we visited a bar called Bamberg Mercator Di Sappori and witnessed a local band called Endlich Samstag

Gigs from Abroad Part 18 – Madrid

I have discovered I have a particular affinity to visiting Spanish cities as I love the vibe, bustle, ethos and cuisine and my personal favourite would be Madrid as the buildings and architecture to a degree remind me of Manchester. Our first visit was as part of a backpacking trip across the country in 2003 encompassing visits also to Seville, Zaragoza and Barcelona.

Our trip to a staggeringly hot Seville took place about a week after the Uefa Cup final between Porto and Celtic and I think the Irish bars were probably still restocking and recovering! Zaragoza was intriguing despite the train station having moved location since my Rough Guide tome was published, however we had a couple of challenging circumstances in Barcelona that probably meant we didn’t see the city in its best light.

The history of Madrid dates back to the ninth century and the extensive Ferrocarril Metropolitano (Metro) was subsequently introduced in 1919 which now provides easy access to the Aeropuerto from the city. They suffered a terrorist attack in 2004 when 118 people perished from bombs placed on busy morning rush-hour trains. Famous madrileno include Penelope Cruz, Placido Domingo, Julio Iglesias and the excellent garage rock band the Hinds.

Our mode of transport on the 2003 trip was the uber efficient trains including the AVE on the Seville to Madrid leg completed in under 2.5 hours, a train so punctual they begin to compensate you if over 10 minutes late! We visited the Prado Museum, had an aperitif on Plaza Major and basked on the vast El Retiro Park. The cultural highlight though was via a train trip to nearby Aranjuez where we visited the Royal Palace there which was an astonishing place to behold.

We stayed near the Puerta del Sol suburb which contained a rabbit warren of dusky streets with a suite of fabulous bars and tapas restaurants to weave in and out of. We also paid homage to a superb rice restaurant called Arroceria Balear Pozuelo.

A young David Beckham in PNE shirt. Image Credit www.bing.com

Whilst we were in the city there was blanket news coverage of David Beckham transferring from Manchester United to Real Madrid. Quite often forgotten is the fact that his first ever professional appearances were when he was briefly on loan to my team Preston, a fact he graciously referenced within his Sports Personality of the Year acceptance speech. We chortled though when the reporter referred to them as ‘Preston Norte End’!

We visited again a few years later and this time ensured we included a trip out to the old walled city of Toledo. As you exit the train and peer up the hill to the city you could imagine you are on a ‘Game of Thrones’ set.   

In May 2019 we returned for our third and most recent visit though the trip started in chaos from the point we landed, as our suitcase had the brazen temerity to not arrive with us. Emergency shopping trips and considerable hassle ensued, but after many phone calls, we finally managed to reconnect with the missing suitcase three days later.  

Our carousel looked like this! Image Credit bigstockphoto.com

Just prior to traveling I identified that the prestigious Madrid Open tennis tournament coincided with our visit, so we headed out to La Cala Magica to attend. It was a superb set up and we saw Petro Kvitova and Elise Mertens competing, however we unfortunately could not gain access to the court where the best named tennis player ever, Juan Martin Del Porto was playing. I had a close sighting of Novak Djokovic and a more distant sighting of one of my sporting heroes, Rafa Nadal. One thing Gill and I both observed and commented on was that all the players were astoundingly lean and generally very tall.

As ever, I scoured the lists and managed to locate a gig taking place at Madrid Sala Caracol which is located in the Palos de Moguer suburb.  Prior to the gig we visited a terrific bar across the road, where on a muted TV they were showing Liverpool’s remarkable comeback in a Champions League semi final against Madrid’s arch enemies Barcelona. In those circumstances I thought the locals might be animated, but they were very chilled and almost ambivalent about it.  

Madrid Sala Caracol. Image Credit ideasala.blogspot.com

The Caracol was a small stylish venue with vibrant lighting and an unobstructed view to the stage. Previous bands to have played there over the years include New Model Army, Editors, Suede, Mark Lanegan and even Mogwai on an early tour way back in 1999. It operates traditional Spanish opening hours from 5pm to 5am, but thankfully our gig didn’t have an am start time attached to it.

We were there to see a six-piece country rock band from Texas called Whiskey Myers who released their debut album ‘Road of Life’ back in 2008. They received a significant boost when they were featured on the ‘Yellowstone’ TV soundtrack and were also in one episode playing on stage. They put on a decent set but were a tad country lite when I was hoping for a bit more of a ‘Crazy Horse’ crunchy sound from them.