I love to go a-wandering …

….. along the mountain track
and as I go I love to sing
my knapsack on my back

(altogether now) 

Val-deri,Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha 
Val-deri,Val-dera. 
My knapsack on my back.

This German song was a hit for the Stargazers in 1954.  Ask your granny.

Apologies for slowness in commenting and replying.  The wifi here is not only slow, it switches off at 10.00pm.  

We take a break from rehearsals to get some fresh air in the forest.  Then back to work (see extra).

It’s wednesday and our first gig tonight is cancelled.  Or rather, the venue is and so there’s a lot of frantic phone calls.  We’re offered a ‘music pub’ in a town not too far away, so take it.

We arrive about 5.00pm to set up.  OMG, it’s a dive.  Outside a crowd of kids are drinking cans of beer and smoking,  Two policemen turn up and one loosens his tie, takes off his hat and lights up.  Must be some sort of community policing initiative.

The inside of the pub is dark.  Very dark. The ceiling is painted black, the walls - or rather - what we can see of them, are painted dark grey and I’m going to need a head torch as we negotiate a warren of passageways, bringing the gear in.

The walls are covered - and I mean covered - in framed posters and photographs of bands - mainly Pearl Jam.  I hope this is not what they’re expecting - we’re more scones and jam.

We’re supposed to start at 8.00.  By 5 minutes to the place is empty.  At 10 minutes past 8 it’s still empty.  The landlord brings us plates of fresh pizza and glasses of beer.  Quietly.

We decide to go on at 8.30 and treat it as a rehearsal. Then about 8.20 a few people come in, sit at the bar and order cups of tea and hot chocolate.  This is more like it.  By the time we go on, we have a crowd in front of us.  The beer and tea flow and when we finish - at about 11 o’clock - they’re dancing.

We sell a few CDs, get lots of slaps on backs and handshakes and the landlord grabs my hand and says we can come back anytime.

It’s about 1.00am when we get to bed.  That’s one down and four to go.  And I’m losing track of the days.