German TV news segment about Hugh in Hamburg:
http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/hamburg_journal/media/hamj11069.html
I have no idea what they're saying, other than something about House music (
that joke is getting old...), but you can hear him say a few words in German at the beginning & see bits and pieces of him performing.
Also, UK appearances are starting to show up in TV/radio guides:
<*> Cheltenham Jazz Festival live on BBC Radio 2, 2 May
<*> Graham Norton Show, BBC1, 6 May (also BBC America 14 May)
<*> Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 10 May
<*> Down by the River, ITV1, 15 May
The best
Go Fug Yourself post ever. Even if my choice only got 4% on the poll.
And, speaking of Rowan Atkinson, I read today that he will be a guest at the wedding because he's a very close friend of Prince Charles. I wonder if Stephen was invited as well.
Gotta agree, though I would have chosen Blackadder III AND Goes Forth is underrated if given the chance. :D
Mods, please delete this post. Thanks.
My little Hugh concert report (to the best of my memory)
Hamburg, Wednesday May 27th
Got to the venue later than I would have wanted; at 6:30 pm. The concert was going to start at 8:00. There were already tons of people waiting. But turns out there were still so many people coming, that we were in the first half of the audience let into the building.
The room was a smaller than I thought. Certainly too small for so many people, IMO, but I'm not a big concert goer. It heated up a lot even before any of the band members came on.
There were very few seating opportunities. A couch booth (the only one not filled with equipment and closed off to the audience) a couple bar stools and a 'ledge' along the wall. All were already taken, of course.We went to the middle of the floor, in about row 10, 11-ish. On the right side were two professional looking cameras.
We still had our jackets (stupidly figured out after the concert there was a coat service). I had mine tied around my hips. There was so little room that later on clapping was almost impossible. Breathing? That's not strictly necessary, is it?
The remainder of the time till the start was filled with what sounded like awful Italian opera over the speakers. It got to the point were several people around me stuck their fingers in their ears. Two attempts at synchronous clapping to get the show to start failed. Everybody was still chatting with their neighbors and trying to find the best place to stand or lean, I think. But all this couldn't lessen the anticipation.
Then the band members except Hugh came on, took their instruments and started playing a what felt like a few minutes, before Hugh showed himself. The small 'stage', which was just a slightly raised part of the floor, was so tightly packed, he had to slide past between audience and piano, to be able to get seated and join in with the rest of the band.
They played that instrumental piece (possibly T.Monk's "Bright Missisippi", as one article wrote???) till the end, then he got up, went to the microphone and said "Dankeschön!" in response to the applause and screaming. "Guten Abend meine Damen und Herren, Jungen und Mädchen." ("Good evening ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.") Followed by an apologetic gesture and "That's it I'm afraid. That's all the German I have." His pronunciation was very good. :-)
He proceeded to say how exciting this was for him and that this was his FIRST. EVER. SHOW. Also that the band had clocked many miles, so that whatever happened with *him*, we were in safe hands with *them*: The Copper-bottom Band.
He sat down at the piano again. "Now I'm over here, so only 15 of you can see me". Which was very true, because the stage was so low. Even though I'm pretty tall, I almost saw nothing of him, when he was seated. When he was playing guitar he was standing though, and that was better.
They started with "St.James Infirmary"
After at little while, between songs, he said he'd promised he'd treat himself, if they got through the first three songs and then someone from backstage brought him a giant mug of beer, which he took a couple of sips from.
When playing, he either had his piano face on, or was smiling at the other musicians, enjoying their skills and the music. At the microphone, with and without guitar, he was looking at the audience and sometimes closed his eyes, especially for the quieter bits of "Battle of Jericho" and "Whale".
I honestly can't say anything about the order of the songs, not even if they played everything from the album, or more, or less (because I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, and because so much was going on at the concert).
Songs that stood out to me more than others were:
"St.James Infirmary" - long, beautiful intro and special, not just because it was the first song
"You don't know my mind" - Many people started singing or mouthing the words. I included, because it's what I've heard most of and it's easy to catch onto. Great atmosphere. I could see Hugh better here and there was lots of arm porn. I liked it better live, than what I've heard of the single.
"Battle of Jericho" - it was quieter, Hugh just closed his eyes and started singing more softly.
"The Whale has swallowed Me" and "Tipitina"
It was very visible and very infectious how much Hugh enjoyed the music and the skills of each of his band members. He had a big smile on his face every time one of the other musicians had their big moments, Whether it be the saxophone, the guitar, the mouth organ or clarinet. All of these 'solos' also resulted in big extra cheers from the crowd, which I thought was great. I think most people were really enjoying the music, and not just the fact that Hugh/House was there and playing.
When he got a bunch of tulips, he joked "I think this is supposed to happen at the end..... Maybe it is the end. That could be a very subtle way of saying 'stop'."
Also: "If you can figure out, by the end of the song, what a 'whining boy' is, you will get one tulip... only one."
After the last song, he thanked everybody, took his tulips and left the stage with the others. Of course everybody cheered for an encore. He came back out and announced they were doing a song that has meant a great deal for him for most of his life. He started playing "Tipitina" with much joy.
He closed with "Gute Nacht, Hamburg", another sip of beer, a thumbs up, a huge Thank You and then he left.
The long drive to Hamburg, the long standing and heat were very exhausting, but I'm so glad we went. It was a great experience and I enjoyed it a lot.
„My“ Hugh Laurie concert went a little different. It all started after the release of the news that Hugh was coming to Germany. I have a special card for the German railway and so, I knew I wanted to try my best to get a ticket. First I intended to go to Berlin, but then they said he’d play in Hamburg first, and I was all for it.
I warned Vicodin as my partner in most Hugh-related crimes to look for the ticket release, and I suddenly got the message: Tickets are online for sail. To make sure I got two, I took the phone and called. Yes, they had two tickets for Hamburg, but no sitting places there available. Who cares? It’s a small place chances to come near him are so even better. I risked all my money, paid with my regular bank account and all I had to do is get me calmed down enough to be able to sleep. At 2am I finally could manage that. Getting up at 6.30… You can’t have everything.
At work I told a friend of mine, a nurse, where I was planning to go. She got curious, so I brought her promo snippets, “Guess I’m a Fool” and the link for the Hugh Laurie behind the scenes and the NO concert. She was not an especially big Hugh Laurie Fan before, but after my CD she was all for it, got all excited and bought the ticket for her. Her daughter went all jealous…
Where to stay after the concert? After all, I needed 5 hours with the train to go to Hamburg, returning after the concert directly… No way! Vicodin knew the answer: Cafe Keese has a small hotel. Great! I rented the last room for three. Yey!
I had a little ‘talk’ with my colleagues and changed some scheduling and I was ready to start.
The said nurse got heavy back pain… Had to take sick leave and some hard core meds… No way could she go like that. Hoping to get better wasn’t quite the best treatment (the doc wasn’t much better help, so her daughter, who envied her the whole time got the deal.
THE day came, and first thing there were some exciting moments, forgotten tickets, driving back, taking the later train… No matter, we had plenty of time on our hands.
Went in the hotel, and on the stairs we met a guy, clearly American, quite shy and uncomplicated, after a couple of words he said, clearly (for me at least) one of the team (no, he never mentioned anything about being a musician, he only hinted that we are heading for a great time. I almost fainted later when I saw him with the sax: I knew it!
After a small stroll in the city, getting a nice lunch, we went back to get ready. Shower, quick make up, the nice clothes, my new high heels (I NEVER wear high heels, but I’m tiny, and I definitely wanted to rise my chances to see anything). We joined the line after 6 pm and there already were people standing and waiting. A lot of them. The rumors said there were only 100 places in the Café, but they must have gotten that wrong. Well, we got wiser… Definitively round 400 people must have been there. Sharp 7pm they opened the doors… We were quite near the stage, something like the fourth line. Terrible old Italian operetta singers from the loudspeakers, we already threatened to attack the guy.. Whoever choose the music, must have been into sadistic pleasure.
And then he came, and the time stopped. First he looked quite stiff, scared even. I guess he must have been scared. After his German greeting, he won us all with his mad pronunciation skills. The first tunes, St. James Infirmary… Great piano stuff, he felt comfortably very fast. I couldn’t see a lot of him directly, but near me a girl was filming, and I could see him all the time on her screen. Sometimes directly, when the people in front of me were standing the right way. But I could hear him and. Boy, he was good! Shy, most of the time hiding in the corner, but soo great! My friend’s daughter caught a serious crash on him…
They all brought quite a few new songs, not from the album, and we went all delirious from happiness. He went more and more comfortable, sung even sweeter, smiled with his band, and never missed an opportunity to show them of (and boy, they were all good). I loved the shy say wonder man, who could play tow sax at the time, played a variety of other blow instruments, and, as Hugh joked: “He can blow every single blow instrument there is and, if you stay the right way, he might blow you”. He went quite red after that, we all laughed and afterwards he got a solo number with Hugh on piano supporting him. Aww!
I loved Hugh on piano, I loved him with the guitar on the front (I could see him brilliantly there), but I was melting when he sung “The Battle of Jericho”, bare handed, almost all of the time with his eyes closed… I can’t ever get enough from that song, like ever. I love the song since I was five (and I don’t count me as a big blues fan, not at all, until Hugh re-introduced me to this great music style), and the only blues singer I loved before was Rey Charles (What can I say, Piano is such a great instrument, and together with his voice… ).
Another impressive performance was “Let Them Talk”. THAT was such a winner, a bit lower key, a bit coarser voice, if I get a record of that song, I’ll hear it all the time as my new N. 1 or 2.
What can I say? The first day back on the job was very stressful, a lot of acute patients kept coming and coming, I was running up and down the hospital, and still… My grinning sticks with me, three days later.
By the way, my colleagues act all jealous now, after they saw a short reportage on TV, they are impressed with the music.
I am happy. Smiling, singing, listening to my records… Awww!
to21be & visitkarte, thank you for sharing details of your wonderful evening with Hugh and his band. Does his band have a name, I wonder? And I am sure this will be the one concert that Hugh will remember forever because it was the night he lost his concert virginity.
