Berlin - Day 2 (inc David Byrne)

I had to think hard about which photo to post today.

We started off with coffee and pastries on the balcony. The Minx is an early riser when we're away and she went out to find a coffee shop while I was still waking up. 

After that, she utilised her Map skills once more, taking us to Café Einstein for Fruhstuck, which the Minx had first encountered many years ago, visiting her sister in Germany. The café is old and beautiful but the back garden is amazing: leafy, secluded, just the place to pass a couple of hours, which was fortunate as the Fruhstuck took a (very enjoyable) while to get through. 

Breakfast categorically taken care of, the Minx led us to Hansa Tonstudio. There were no tours on today (first excuse to come back to Berlin!) but it was still amazing to sit in the bar next door and imagine who had walked in and out of those studio doors. Some of my very favourite albums were recorded there: David Bowie's 'Low'; Iggy Pop's 'The Idiot'; David Sylvian's 'Brilliant Trees'; Wire's 'The Ideal Copy'; and U2's masterpiece, 'Achtung, Baby'. Not to mention albums by Depeche Mode and Nick Cave. 

From here we decided to go the Jewish Museum. It's an incredible place to visit and, of course, the story it tells of the Holocaust is horrible and heartbreaking. Reading the individual stories of German Jews during the thirties and into the second world war was both upsetting and disgusting. 

After a while, I could feel myself trying to be less empathic, simply because I didn't want to get any more upset. One can almost take a cowardly refuge in the numbers, which are so grotesque as to be unbelievable. And then I turned the corner to see the piece in the photo, which connected with me in a way that the numbers could not. I couldn't bring myself to step onto it.

*pause*

And after that, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up, have some beer and fizz, and then head out for the actual reason we've come to Berlin, to see David Byrne. Tickets sold out so quickly in the UK and the tout prices were so ridiculous, that coming to Berlin was actually the cheapest way to see him. And I'm so glad we did. 

The concert experience itself was incredible, unlike anything I've enjoyed in the UK. Beforehand, everyone was sat outside in the sun, drinking lager and eating hot dogs, relaxing and chatting, and then we went in for the gig. The Tempodrom is a great venue; not too big but airy and comfortable. We sat through and had mixed feelings about an above average support band and then it was time for David Byrne. 

People have said this tour is better than 'Stop Making Sense' but, of course, marketing people always make such claims. But, like stopped clocks, they are occasionally right, and this was one of those times. By having a full band on stage but with three different people filling the part of a drummer, Byrne was able to have every musician mobile and taking part in the quite incredible choreography. And the choice of songs was fantastic. 

I fine Byrne's music to be so uplifting, anyway, and seeing it live tonight took that to another level. I've seen him maybe half a dozen times before but this was the best. Amongst the songs he played was a generous helping of Talking Heads tracks, including THREE from 'Remain In Light'. Perhaps the highpoint for me was the rendition of 'Blind' from their last album 'Naked' (would recommend). 

And after that, slightly dazed, we made our way home, finding a bar 'round the corner from our hotel for late night beers and nachos. 

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Reading: ‘The Janissary Tree’ by Jason Goodwin