Too Old To Rock'n Roll?!

Roland: The number one musical hero of my youth was Manfred Mann, who somehow appeared to be an old man already at the height of his Earth Band at the end of the Seventies. I remember visiting London in 1980 where a radio station played 'For You' and the voice on the radio explained that "he is quite old now: Forty already!".

Manfred Mann's Earth Band is known in North America pretty much only for their version of Springsteen's 'Blinded By The Light', but in Europe they were a top act in the Seventies and early Eighties filling the biggest arenas. While their albums changed from Rock to Pop over the years their concerts continued to be a tour de force in improvisation: usually the song lengths doubled or tripled in comparison to the album versions, fired by speed changes, solos and moog vs. guitar duels.

Manfred Mann is 73 now and the Earth Band still exists, but nowadays they play smaller cities and venues. When I read that they would give a concert in Appenweier, a mere 30 minutes drive from our home,  I decided to get nostalgic again, being fully aware that this would be a whole 'nother trip than the perfectionist Peter Gabriel concert two weeks ago.

So after surviving a disastrous one hour gig by Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd (another big act in Europe in the 70s) I was not sure what to expect from my old heroes. When they finally entered the stage it became obvious right away that these guys are NOT to old to Rock'n Roll. The two founding members, Manfred Mann and Mick Rogers, seemed to have as much fun as they always did, the new singer did not have the slightest problems with the catalogue, and the rhythm section was as precise as always. Being the keyboarder of the band Manfred Mann is usually stuck behind his equipment but still he managed to dance over the stage a couple of times, even shaking his booty once! Not bad for a guy in his Seventies!

Unfortunately the set list did not change a lot during the last two decades(!), but the band manages to breathe new life into each and every song whenever I see them. But as much fun it was seeing them again, there is always the sad feeling involved that there won't be many more of these opportunities in the future...

Living a Little (as per Billy Connolly)

Billy Connolly said once: There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little.

After yesterday's gorgeous weather we got a terrible thunderstorm last night that kept us awake for hours. We woke up to continued heavy rainfalls, and were somewhat content spending our Sunday playing inside. There was a household to maintain, and laundry to do. But by early afternoon the weather showed a slight improvement, and so we decided to go out for a little hike. We reckoned that the nearby All Saints Waterfalls must carry lots of water after last night's torrential rainfalls.

A short drive on a twisty road would lead us to an empty parking lot. It looked like people had shied away due to the adverse weather conditions. We donned our BC proof wet weather gear, and hiked up the trail (and climbed more than 230 steps).

As expected the falls roared with water. One could barely understand one's own word. There were big and small photo ops along the path, and we often stopped to snap a picture.

After climbing up the gorge for a bit more than a kilometer we ended up in a valley. It was the very same valley that we had visited a few times before but from another angle.

We had arrived on the premises of the monastery ruin of All Saints.

The gloomy light would make for an interesting atmosphere inside the broken walls, and we had a hard time parting with the ever changing motive whenever one was changing the perspective. This must truly be a photographer's heaven.

Eventually we moved on, and visited a little shop nearby that sold local produce such as jams, honey, local handcraft and schnapps in all varieties.

We were curious to taste the regional spirits, and were offered a sip of a pear schnapps and a peach liquor. The alcohol tickled our taste buds. The stuff was very fruity, and - to be honest - it was quite tasty.

Our final loop would lead us to a war memorial built in the mid twenties of the last century. Curiously it was surrounded by deer which didn't shy away upon our arrival. They must be used to visitors.

After recurring rainfalls finally the sun came out at the end of the day. It warmed up to an unbelievable 15C (59F) at five o'clock in the afternoon, and the light was simply beautiful.

We knew just the place to be, and drove up the nearby mountain (almost 1,000m - 3,300ft high). We expected to get to get a spectacular view from here.

And again, we were not disappointed.

Breathtaking vistas!

Sunday started out a bit dull due to the rain, and a certain lack of motivation. But once we had gotten out of our shelter the weather couldn't keep us apart from having a great day. Indeed we lived a little today  ;-)

So - Old!

Roland: From time to time I am getting reminders that I am getting old. One of them occurred yesterday when I drove up to Düsseldorf (a mere four hour drive away from the Black Forest) to join a Peter Gabriel concert by the title 'So - back to front' for a late 25th birthday celebration of Gabriel's 1986 album 'So' (the one with Sledgehammer and Don't Give Up) and the accompanying 1987 tour. Gabriel managed to (inserting Blues Brothers quote) 'get the band back together', and he actually performed with the same musicians that made the 1987 concert so memorable to everyone who had the pleasure of seeing it. 1987... 26 years ago... half a life ago...

I got the impression that it must have been pretty much the same audience, too, as it appeared that there weren't many people under the age of forty around.

Obviously the musicians aged, too (and actually Gabriel himself did not age too well...), hence there wasn't as much jumping and dancing as in the Eighties. Instead we were rewarded with a really beautiful light show with loads of impressive pictures.

It was a good concert (albeit not even close to the original), but the best feature of the event was meeting my old buddies again who were there back then in 1987! And if you think four hours is a long way to drive to a concert: the couple in the middle traveled down from Sweden!

Keep right, except to pass!

Saturday morning we took off to visit our families in NRW (North-Rhine Westphalia). Google map indicates that the selected route calculated 470km (292 mls) and 4h and 45 mins of driving time. We made it within four hours (and that included two pit stops).

Reason of going faster than the suggested time frame is that (some stretches of) the German Autobahn do not have speed limits. Yes, you can go as fast as you dare, and your car allows you to go. 

However, it requires a well maintained (and capable) vehicle, and appropriate driving skills and discipline from all traffic participants including oneself. It is not only about going fast, it is about anticipating within a split second what other motorists might be up to, and always be prepared to react without jeopardizing others and yourself.

The designated driver

In Germany motorists are obliged to keep in the right lane except to pass. If there are more than two lanes, the rule still applies, so please avoid driving in one of the middle lanes if you do not plan on passing. This simple rule will keep traffic flowing, will help avoiding traffic jams, keep everybody safe and also allow for emergency vehicles to pass quickly. 

Whoosh! Make way for us!

The compliance with this simple rule of defensive driving will ensure that traffic participants arrive at their destination in a safe and orderly fashion. Ignorance or inattention will yield to a notice or even be fined. Thanks to most traffic participants we were able to push the pedal to the metal, and made it there and back adding roughly one thousand clicks on the odometer with a total of eight hours of driving time.

 At a Mosel valley rest stop.

On our return on Sunday we arrived well fed thanks to our moms and spent the rest of the evening relaxing watching telly for a change.

A Trip to Lake Constance

We took the Vespas down to Lake Constance. More about the road trip can be found here.

Meersburg

 Pile Dwellings in Unteruhlingen

 Friedrichshafen

The Zeppelin Museum

Artsy statue.

 A storm brewing over the lake.