Denmark/Hamburg 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Days 5, 6 & 7 - Holidays In Hamburg
Left Sonneborg and headed for Hamburg for three days R&R. We'd seen Copenhagen on a previous trip, so we tought Hamburg might be a nice idea as we were already close to the German border. Two hours after leaving Denmark we were at our hotel in the city of Hamburg, in the middle of the red light area.
We were staying at a hotel on the famous Reeperbahn, where the Beatles played at the Star Club back in the early 60's. Unfortunately there is only a plaque in written in German to commemorate the Beatles days in Hamburg. The original Star Club burned down 10 years ago.
Hamburg is a fantastic city and we made the most of our time there, seeing just about everything from the Reeperbahn itself to a trip on the riverboat. Clive explored the railway system (well you know what he's like!). Kate and Andy did the bus tour, hopping on and off and exploring. Neil, Andy, Mark, Natasha, and Trevor went for a jog around the harbour, and we all met up on the first evening and watched Manchester United play the European Cup.
The food was terrific and not expensive. The weather was mostly warm and sunny and it was great fun because we don't often have the opportunity to get together socially on the daily theatre tour in the UK.
Iain didn't feel too good on arrival in Hamburg and called the doctor who recommended that he was checked into a local hospital. He had an infection in his leg and the hospital wanted to keep him in for treatment and observation. Trevor and Gary visited him, the Hospital was superb, Iain had his own suite and was being looked after very well. They wanted to keep him in for a few days more, so we left him and took the bus back to Denmark on day 8.
Day 8
We travelled back to Denmark via coach and ferry to our next venue - the Super Arena and Ballerup. This venue is an indoor sports arena and cycling track, and you can see from the pictures it's huge. We rearranged the show, and Ollie Gray, our side-stage monitor engineer stepped into the breach and played guitar. He had rehearsed himself and we had a couple of hours to run through the show. He did a fantastic job and the audience went crazy again. It was a great effort all round, but all praise to Ollie for being cool in the situation. Neil had to work extra hard with some added PA equipment, Ferdy the truck driver and Natasha stepped in on spotlights (brilliant!) and Sam called the show, operated the lights and engineered the monitor desk, well done Sam and everyone for what turned out to be a terrific night!
Pictures below of the cast waiting for the ferry, Sam doing his stuff, the super arena inside and out, and some tourist attractions in Hamburg and Denmark.
Never a dull moment on this tour, we'll keep you informed on all fronts...
Trevor
We were staying at a hotel on the famous Reeperbahn, where the Beatles played at the Star Club back in the early 60's. Unfortunately there is only a plaque in written in German to commemorate the Beatles days in Hamburg. The original Star Club burned down 10 years ago.
Hamburg is a fantastic city and we made the most of our time there, seeing just about everything from the Reeperbahn itself to a trip on the riverboat. Clive explored the railway system (well you know what he's like!). Kate and Andy did the bus tour, hopping on and off and exploring. Neil, Andy, Mark, Natasha, and Trevor went for a jog around the harbour, and we all met up on the first evening and watched Manchester United play the European Cup.
The food was terrific and not expensive. The weather was mostly warm and sunny and it was great fun because we don't often have the opportunity to get together socially on the daily theatre tour in the UK.
Iain didn't feel too good on arrival in Hamburg and called the doctor who recommended that he was checked into a local hospital. He had an infection in his leg and the hospital wanted to keep him in for treatment and observation. Trevor and Gary visited him, the Hospital was superb, Iain had his own suite and was being looked after very well. They wanted to keep him in for a few days more, so we left him and took the bus back to Denmark on day 8.
Day 8
We travelled back to Denmark via coach and ferry to our next venue - the Super Arena and Ballerup. This venue is an indoor sports arena and cycling track, and you can see from the pictures it's huge. We rearranged the show, and Ollie Gray, our side-stage monitor engineer stepped into the breach and played guitar. He had rehearsed himself and we had a couple of hours to run through the show. He did a fantastic job and the audience went crazy again. It was a great effort all round, but all praise to Ollie for being cool in the situation. Neil had to work extra hard with some added PA equipment, Ferdy the truck driver and Natasha stepped in on spotlights (brilliant!) and Sam called the show, operated the lights and engineered the monitor desk, well done Sam and everyone for what turned out to be a terrific night!
Pictures below of the cast waiting for the ferry, Sam doing his stuff, the super arena inside and out, and some tourist attractions in Hamburg and Denmark.
Never a dull moment on this tour, we'll keep you informed on all fronts...
Trevor
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Days 3 & 4
We hadn’t been to our third town, Holsterbro, for four years. I (Trevor) remember the theatre as we had played it on the “Cliff The Musical” tour of Denmark 2004. The theatre has been refurbished and we had a great night, the best so far. We’ve adjusted the show and it now suits the Danish audiences very well. They particularly like Laurel & Hardy because it needs no translation. We’ve dropped Tell Laura, Eddie Cochran, Bill & Ben, and Rainbow, and taken out other songs they didn’t know. We’ll keep the show as it is until the end of the tour.
Day four, a three hour coach journey to Sonderborg, playing to yet again another sell out crowd in a brand new theatre, in fact, the only two shows before us were Art Garfunkel and Steven Seagal. After another fantastic meal in the theatre the show started at 7:30pm, and the crowd was even better than lastnight. It was almost like playing to an English audience. The reaction was great, and luckily the boss of the agency that brought us to Denmark, SHB, was watching. The show couldn’t have gone any better, and we are already planning a return visit. Now we have three rest days, and in the morning we’re all off to Hamburg in Germany. We’ll attempt our next blog while we’re there.
Best wishes,
Trevor
Day four, a three hour coach journey to Sonderborg, playing to yet again another sell out crowd in a brand new theatre, in fact, the only two shows before us were Art Garfunkel and Steven Seagal. After another fantastic meal in the theatre the show started at 7:30pm, and the crowd was even better than lastnight. It was almost like playing to an English audience. The reaction was great, and luckily the boss of the agency that brought us to Denmark, SHB, was watching. The show couldn’t have gone any better, and we are already planning a return visit. Now we have three rest days, and in the morning we’re all off to Hamburg in Germany. We’ll attempt our next blog while we’re there.
Best wishes,
Trevor
Friday, April 20, 2007
Two Shows In Denmark
Our first night in Esbjerg was a big success, the agency are based here and so was an important start for the show. The Danish audiences are a little reserved and we made allowances for the language barrier. It was a big suprise to see Roy and Barbara from Cambridge in the front row. Everyone was happy with the show and we made some adjustments for the show tonight. Most of the cast and crew went to the Irish Bar after the show to celebrate the first nights success. Everybody was in bed before 4am (Just), and the leaving time in the morning was 9am. It was a 3 hour journey to Aalborg, our next venue. The show was completely sold out (1500) and Trevor had to meet the sponsors of the show and chat about the story of 'That'll Be The Day'. The show was a big success and everyone had a great time. We had a company bonding session, drinking lots of local beer and schnappes. The Danish people treat us very well and these trips are always fun and a nice change from the routine in England. The local press photographer took some great shots, see photos. We go to Holstebro tomorrow, leaving at 11 o'clock, bring it on.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Denmark 2007 The Advanced Party.
Hi Everyone,
Here in Denmark in Esbjerg on the day before the first show. Eight of us arrived here straight after Chelmsford and the others will hopefully be here tomorrow for the gig. We had a chance last night to sample Esbjerg's hospitality and we headed for Jensens Bofhus which specialises in spare ribs. The menu offered an 'All You Can Eat' deal which Neil And Ollie took advantage of. They ate and ate and ate and ate and managed to equal, through sheer determination and hunger, the restaurant's record of six racks of spare ribs each! washed down with copious amounts of local brew. Then it was off the the Irish Bar 'Paddy Go Easy' for more celebratory drinks. Well done you boys for keeping up the Great British standards of consumption. A stone heavier, they waddled back to the hotel and polished off a bottle of Jack Danniels finally passing out at 3am. They'd been to the trough once too often and have made pigs of themselves, they will be ribbed for the rest of the tour.
Today (Wednesday 18th) our two heros surfaced just after lunch skipping breakfast and only drinking coffee which Neil and Ollie said tasted like pigs swill. It was time to walk off some of the excess pounds they'd put on, and joined by Sam, Trevor and Jules walked some three mile to Esbjerg's famous landmark 'The Four White Men'. The statues can be seen by incoming ships miles out to sea. See pic.
And finally... Jules trip as already been eventful. She had to re-pack at the airport having once been refused for excess baggage. On arriving at Esbjerg, she promptly left here bag on the bus, then at the hotel, took ollie's suitcase, as well as her own, leaving her hand luggage in reception. Went off shopping (again) spending her complete budget in one shot. The exchange rate must have confused her as she was convinced she had lost £35 remembering later that she had spent it having returned to the restaurant searching for the lost cash.
Report on first show and the days antics to follow...
Trevor
Here in Denmark in Esbjerg on the day before the first show. Eight of us arrived here straight after Chelmsford and the others will hopefully be here tomorrow for the gig. We had a chance last night to sample Esbjerg's hospitality and we headed for Jensens Bofhus which specialises in spare ribs. The menu offered an 'All You Can Eat' deal which Neil And Ollie took advantage of. They ate and ate and ate and ate and managed to equal, through sheer determination and hunger, the restaurant's record of six racks of spare ribs each! washed down with copious amounts of local brew. Then it was off the the Irish Bar 'Paddy Go Easy' for more celebratory drinks. Well done you boys for keeping up the Great British standards of consumption. A stone heavier, they waddled back to the hotel and polished off a bottle of Jack Danniels finally passing out at 3am. They'd been to the trough once too often and have made pigs of themselves, they will be ribbed for the rest of the tour.
Today (Wednesday 18th) our two heros surfaced just after lunch skipping breakfast and only drinking coffee which Neil and Ollie said tasted like pigs swill. It was time to walk off some of the excess pounds they'd put on, and joined by Sam, Trevor and Jules walked some three mile to Esbjerg's famous landmark 'The Four White Men'. The statues can be seen by incoming ships miles out to sea. See pic.
And finally... Jules trip as already been eventful. She had to re-pack at the airport having once been refused for excess baggage. On arriving at Esbjerg, she promptly left here bag on the bus, then at the hotel, took ollie's suitcase, as well as her own, leaving her hand luggage in reception. Went off shopping (again) spending her complete budget in one shot. The exchange rate must have confused her as she was convinced she had lost £35 remembering later that she had spent it having returned to the restaurant searching for the lost cash.
Report on first show and the days antics to follow...
Trevor
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
500 Miles!!
Hi all,
Last week while we were in Yeovil we filmed a new piece to put into the show!!
As we did the 'spoof' of Amarillo last year we felt it was only right to have a bash at this years Comic Releif hit '500 Miles'
It was a great afternoon with plenty of laughs!!
A big thank you to everybody who showed up and helped us create this pice of madness
It turned out to be a great piece of video that you will all be able to see at the shows now.
Here's a few photos from the filming.
Last week while we were in Yeovil we filmed a new piece to put into the show!!
As we did the 'spoof' of Amarillo last year we felt it was only right to have a bash at this years Comic Releif hit '500 Miles'
It was a great afternoon with plenty of laughs!!
A big thank you to everybody who showed up and helped us create this pice of madness
It turned out to be a great piece of video that you will all be able to see at the shows now.
Here's a few photos from the filming.
