02-07-10 Budapest Hungary: 1130 hrs. I have not been in Hungary for a few years. I used to come here quite often in the last century. It was a great place for band shows. The audiences have always been very friendly and I am looking forward to tonight’s shows. I remember once in 1989 I think it was, I addressed some students at a local university before soundcheck once but past that, I don’t think I have ever done a talking show here before.
Tonight, I am in speaking on a boat of all places. Our bus is parked on the highway next to the Danube River and below us is this huge boat with a venue in it called A38. On the side of the boat it says “Welcome on A38, A Place With An Attitude”. Well, we have that to look forward to. The snow is falling down, the sky is gray and it’s pretty damn cold outside. Hooray!
Last night, we were in Vienna, Austria. Good show. I had not done a talking show there for many years, I don’t know why. The audience was fantastic, I hope I get back there again some time.
Since I last wrote here, it’s been a show a night for the most part. There was a day off five days ago in Bremen Germany but past that, it’s the show, the drive, over and over. Since last week, we finished in Sweden, went back to Germany, from there to Switzerland and then to Austria and now here.
The weather restricts movement but somewhat but I have been able to get out to the gym and to hit a few record stores. I am happy with the shows and glad to see the places packed out every night.
Sometimes it hits me how many times I have been to some of these places. Usually, say on a tour like this one, I am older than the driver and crew and have been doing shows for years longer. My references are from the Bronze Age. I have been at this a long time and the years have sped by. I have been doing shows in Budapest for twenty-three years, some of these places, much longer. There’s no doubt about it, this is what I do. I will be forty-nine next week. I don’t see what else I could have done with all of this time. Being out in the world, so far, has been the best thing I have found. There are times when things are not interesting minute-to-minute, like on a tour like this.
1913 hrs. In the venue. One of the more interesting places for a show. It’s an old barge that used to hold coal, completely overhauled and made into a venue with a restaurant on top. Really great place. I went to the gym earlier and got in a good workout. I had to take a taxi each way. Getting one of the four beautiful women to call a taxi for me was hard. I asked if they could call a taxi for me and they all looked like I had asked them to paint my house. If there was a main road, I would have gone out and stood in the snow and tried my luck. After a few sighs and looks of you’re tying to kill me, one of them made the call. THANK YOU. Eventually the taxi came. I got in, I got out. We ate upstairs, very good food. As soon as I got up, the autograph guys were there with many things to sign, before I was even able to push the chair back into the table they were all around me. I guess they were in a hurry. They are the ones who don’t go to the show but download photos of you, have you sign several of them and do something with them later. I always tell them that no one on eBay will care but they are deadset on getting all those photos signed. These men are grim and I always wonder if they live with their mothers.
It’s a 2100 hrs. show. I don’t know how this one will be. Interesting to say the least. Two more shows here and then back to America for quite awhile. With all the things happening at the moment, there will be a lot to talk about. I look forward to it. Thanks for reading this. Henry