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| AUTHOR:
PAM PUBLISH DATE: 29th April 2002 |
 Chris' Favorite Street? |
| WHO
STOLE THE SWEETS ? Chris Farlowe & The Norman Beaker Band In Schwerin, The Speicher Club / April 4th, 2002 |
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Just a couple of hours
drive down the E24
from
Hamburg
and we are in
Schwerin, a small town in what was formerly East
Germany. We found the Hotel really easily thanks to Chris' navigation skills. Either it is good luck or great skill but he always seems to find his way! Firstly, you have to forget all your preconceptions regarding Eastern Europe. Schwerin is an extremely clean and attractive town with lovely old buildings that have been sympathetically restored. It has a really grand, old railway station, a neat market square (there was a market there when we arrived) and a smart new shopping centre with a great supermarket (really cheap beer on offer here!). The town is built around the shores of a series of lakes and there is a magnificent lakeside Schloss which houses a museum and art collection. |
| My kind of shop! |
| It is a shame we weren't able to spend longer here and
explore the town more thoroughly. We did however manage to do a bit of shopping
and found an intriguingly named shop and street - see the photos above! The gig was at 'The Speicher Club' which was only about a mile away from where we were staying but on the opposite side of the lake. A small ferry took passengers across the lake and we were looking forward to using it to get to the club. Unfortunately the ferry service stopped at six o clock and we had to hitch a lift in the van (thanks for squashing up for us lads - excellent driving (as always) from PB!). |
 Nowhere else to go on the fret board, Norm! |
 What the! |
The Speicher Club was in a really old building that had been converted from a former police station, a fact that made us a little uneasy! A really stylish conversion; the bar area was a showcase for modern furniture with tables and chairs of the most bizarre designs (see our photo below of Norman 'modeling' one of the exhibits!). |
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| Take a bow guys | Group photo for the Press |
| Backstage the
furniture was equally interesting - in the dressing room were a couple of old
dentists chairs -
Chris
made himself quite comfortable in one of these; that is
until
Adrian
asked him 'Is it
safe?'
In the hall, a
sizeable crowd were filing in and the bar was really busy. We
managed to get a decent place at the front of the stage and waited for
the action. |
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Chris
then started his set with 'Blue
as Blues Can Get' and kept the same bluesy mood by following it with
'Lonesome Road'.
Two great live numbers which are always well received, especially by sax fans in
the audience. As always, 'Stormy Monday' received the custom treatment from Chris, ad-libbing that the Band were 'staying at the Schloss' (a bit grander than the usual 'itty, bitty' cockroach infested room where they are usually said to be staying!). 'Tough On Me, Tough On You' sounded fantastic tonight featuring some truly amazing playing from Dave L and an awesome lead guitar solo from Norman. |
| Nice Hat Norm! |
| For the audience, a
really special moment was
when
Chris
sang 'I Think It's Gonna Rain
Today' unaccompanied. Despite it being
a largish hall with a busy adjacent bar area, you could have heard a pin drop -
eleven out of ten to
Chris
for a virtuoso performance and top marks to the
audience for their courteous conduct. Finishing the set with 'Out of Time', there was a huge ovation and they came back on stage for an encore of 'Miss You Fever', and ended with an energetic version of 'Cry To Me'. Afterwards, Chris and the band chatted and signed CD's and autographs (you wouldn't believe some of the things they are asked to sign!) and posed for photographs for the local press. Then it was a bit of a wind down with a couple of beers and then back to the hotel for some 'shut eye'! |
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| All
photos by Adrian & Pam |
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| Set 1 | Set 1 cont | Encore |
| 1. Option On You Baby
*NBB 2. You Can Talk *NBB 3. Blue As Blues Can Get 4. Lonesome Road 5. Stormy Monday Blues 6. I Don't Wanna Sing The Blues No More 7. Tough On Me, Tough On You |
8. All Or Nothing 9. The Guitar Don't Lie 10. Shaky Ground 11. I Think It's Gonna Rain Today 12. Handbags & Gladrags 13. Out Of Time |
14. Miss You Fever 15. Cry To Me |
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