‘They seek him here, They seek him there, in Regent Street and Leicester Square’. Or in my case, Vienna, Prague, Pershore, Cambridge and Berlin (which will never rhyme however hard I try), as I flit backwards and forwards between two or three alternative lives. There was no Royal Package in Budapest, so I flew back to the UK to see my lovely wife (wonderful) and spend an intensive day running through DGM and tour accounts with Nicky while double-dating in the next room with Alex as we previewed items for the forthcoming DGM releases. Add a quick dash of a college dinner in Cambridge (a unique event as I was able to attend with my father, my best man and his father), and then land back in planet Crimson for our three shows in Berlin.
I have crept away for a little Alfresco diarising – on the bridge over the river Spree with the Berlin Cathedral in the background (geographical information courtesy of my wife who just analysed the photo from 655 miles away – a perfect snapshot of our strangely connected/disconnected existence).
The college dinners run on a seven-year cycle, so there is a temptation to use them (if you tend to unhealthy self-criticism and introspection) as a “self-review” period. “God! How did they manage to get all that done!? Do these people never sleep!? Am I doing everything I wish?!” Most of all it’s just a privilege to be in such wonderful surroundings. Totally wasted on all these 18 year old students, who are quite happy with sex, drugs and rock n roll (plus the odd lecture) without the astonishing architecture.
Not that Prague looks too shabby:
Or the venue :
And then, as Midge Ure says "Oh Vienna!" Although he probably didn't have this photo in mind. A witty art director at the Belvedere used this statue to fill the medieval rooms with smoke to protect the murals - emerging in great wafts from you-know-where, and appealing to puerile diairists.
For the grownups, there are also photos of the concerts:
"What we hear is the way that we hear."
