viseu, portugal

after leaving moscow we have two flights. first into zurich then on to lisbon...this of course always concerns me when it is not a direct flight. i'm perpetually worried about the gear making it to the next city....the flights were fine and i passed out for the journey...once in lisbon, i found that my flight case did not make it in...and, in my tired state of mind i lost it...i was very upset, thinking that it was still in moscow....our show was in 6 hours and we had a 3.5 hour van ride to the theatre...the person at baggage claim was very nice and helped me find the bag was in zurich and would be here in 90 minutes...so we had a glorious lunch outside by the waterside in the warm bright sun of lisbon...later we picked up my case - all intact...the road will make you sweat, let me tell you.

so the journey begins...we end up finally in viseu...

i go directly to the theatre to set up...we soundcheck...then back to hotel for a 5 minute shower and change...the show is ok...for me it was terrible (better than how i felt inside)...aside from not sleeping in a bed for 48 hours, the production really annoyed me...really bothering the vibe...mix wasn't happening in my monitors throughout so that made it a struggle for me and the lighting consisted of bright white landing lights and spots....no colouration that i can recall...always bright...so no vibe on stage really....but, we made it thru the show...but i wasn't too happy with my playing that night....not a great way to end this short tour...but 3 out of 4 to me were really great fun with london being our best....tomorrow we travel back to lisbon in evening then depart back to philly in the am.....as always, jorge and crew here in portugal are absolutely wonderful...they continue to make our stays our home away from home...now time to sleep in a bed.

moscow, russia

moskow state gogol's theatre

today rest late as our time zones are upside down by now....then off to red square...just an amazing moment to stand there by the kremlin and look across....so much history...kinda breath-taking..never thought i'd ever be here...but there you go, life is an amazing journey...you never know where you'll go.....

gig worries: the promoter has let me know that he can't find the akai mpc2000xl drum machine that i need for tonites show...but has some other beat machines, so i will have to do some programming at soundcheck...but everything works out eventually, even the power transformers, that almost didn't happen...it was a funky show with live visuals. the crew there loved it and participated by clapping along and dancing...the vibe was wonderful...show ended and we left the theatre at 3:30am....back to hotel to check out and on to moscow airport to fly to portugal....first to zurich and then into lisbon where jorge janela will be awaiting our arrival in about 7 hours....sleep only in the plane.


thanks to konstantin for the amazing fotos from our performance in moscow!!!

moscow, russia

ukrainia hotel north tower rm 9627

nice flight in to moscow airport...and an uncomfortable wait around there while our promoter was busy stuck in the ridiculous (at times) moscow traffic...eventually, we piled all of our luggage and gear into a small van and headed on to our hotel...built in Stalin's time...a massive 850 room skyscraper...with around 1500 hotel guests...this place was like a small city, complete with a sizeable group of prostitutes at the hotel bar available for your every want and need. it was a trip. it seemed like the content of radio and tv here was still fixed in the 1980's as Whitesnake was still big here...same with tv programation...after settling in we went for a late dinner and then back to the hotel for more sleep....tomorrow showtime 12 midnight...

watch tv here in horror as GWB wins the US election...quite bizarre watching this from russia...
this is big news everywhere we go.. and no one seems too excited by the re-election results...

london, UK

jazzcafe
a late flight out from brussels airport to heathrow...
heavy traffic makes us late for soundcheck...then
a tasty meal at our favorite spot - wagamama's...
tonites show was one of those magical moments
of performing where everything is quite blissful.
almost like the music played itself and to such an
enthusiastic vocal audience...it just made you play
even better...andy hamill (4Hero) joined us on upright bass for '4 minutes of fun' along with julian
ferraretto on violin...this night was perhaps one of the best shows that ursula and i have ever performed....an aftershow meltdown with andy, julian, and friends at an ex-vicarage with red wine, water, and fresh dates....tomorrow off to russia...

brussels belgium

mercure royal crown rm. 310
back to a hotel in brussels that we always stay when we are here...located near the center...our time here
is to rest before going on to london for a show at the jazzcafe.
downtime included seeing concerts by lonnie liston smith and bebel gilberto...some great restaurants and of course the wonderful belgian ales....
mostly still jetlagged. it's cold here...so alot of sleep
is in order.

brugge belgium

concertgebeow brugge
tonites show was in a beautiful new concert multiplex with several theatres where the 'music
in mind - a festival of imaginative music' was being held. this festival featured an evening of bands from denmark (most notably: under byen) a cinematic band that was reminiscent of mum and bjork, nitin sawhney, xploding plastic, and a tribute to nick drake amoung countless acts...our show was quite nice...very relaxed to a seated audience...a successful evening...and enough time to see some other music.
brugge is quiet an amazing city and we spent a good part of a morning exporing it's streets and shops....next stop on to brussels for some days off.