Monthly Archives: November 2009

The second edition of the European Songs of the Soul Tour wrapped up Monday night with a concert to a full house in a monestary in Graz, Austria.

Concert Hall / Monastary in Graz

The crowd of about 300 was among our most enthusiastic.? It was a special night because it was the last and also because things had changed a little from previous shows.? Some folks had to bow out of that concert because of it being on Monday.? Among them, I was graciously invited to play bass with Arthada’s Group.

Arthada's Group with special guests

It was good fun, in spite of having had very little rehearsal.?? I personally had a very nice experience performing, because after enough shows, I was not so nervous,? I didn’t think about what I had to play so much, and I could concentrate on making each performance an offering.

The previous was somewhat of a hometown gig for me as I have spent most of the last 2 months in Salzburg.? This was for about 550 people in what was our hippest concert hall.? We’ve played very classy and stately halls on this tour but this one was the coolest.? Amphitheater seating, brick walls and industrial ceiling.? After the concert Harald and Andrea from the Heart of Joy Caf? hosted a party for all the crew and musicians.? It was really fun to get together to relax a little without worrying about soundchecks and what not.? This is typical of the generosity of The Heart of Joy.

Party at the Heart of Joy Caf? - Salzburg

Pizza, Pretzels and Quiche kept coming out of the kitchen well into the evening.? On Tuesday I ran into some people who attended the concert and they thanked me profusely for a really great experience.? Always nice to hear, of course.

On Saturday in Ljubljana,? I was completely charmed by a city I knew next to nothing about.?? This was one of those halls that is extremely classy and prestigious.? Not everyone who wants to book a concert there is allowed to do so.? The city also has the kind of charm one finds in Salzburg or Heidelburg, with small pedestrian cobblestone streets and a castle up on the hill.? The welcome we received with our hosts was really great.? We felt at home in Slovenia.? I think the crowd was about 500 there also, but I forget.

Ljubljana from the castle

I do know that over the 10 concerts in 9 days there were 6000 people who attended these concerts.? The amount of work and dedication required to put together a project like this one makes my head spin.? And I really do feel that offering spiritual music to the world at large like this (entry was free of charge for all concerts) really goes a long way to making this planet a better place to live.? I am truly grateful for having had the opportunity to participate in such a unique project.? More of theses concerts are planned for the relatively near future, so keep your eyes peeled…

The Slovenska Filharmonija Concert Hall in LjubljanaThe Ljubljanica River in downtown Ljubljana

The Songs of the Soul Tour is past the halfway mark and we’re having a great time!? Vienna was our marathon day which included driving from Budapest and doing 2 concerts (5 and 8pm).? There were a lot of tired faces at the end of the day.? We even had a midnight cutoff to vacate the venue after the show, so it was intense right to the very end.? In spite of all that everyone still had smiling faces.? Yesterday Nov 6, we played our Maribor concert in Slovenia.

Billboard for the concert in Maribor

Another very appreciative audience of about 500 people.? We also had friends coming in from meditation centres all over the Balkans.? I was very happy and surprised to see my friend Purnendu who drove in from Belgrade.? Tonite is Ljubljana.

Soundcheck in Maribor (1)

Soundcheck in Maribor (2)

Every city that is hosting concerts is doing an awesome job welcoming us, making sure that there is plenty of food and drink available all day for soundchecks through to the end of the concert.? Maribor finished the night with pizza.? Like I told Ales, one of our hosts:? I love Slovenia!

Slovenian Countryside

We just finished our 4th concert of the tour here in Gyor, Hungary.? The Hungarians have been a fantastic crowd.? Budapest is to be noted as the biggest Songs of the Soul audience, estimated at 2000 people.? Security kept would-be concert goers away because of fire regulations.? It was a really fun concert with people hanging out in a mezzanine all around the convention-centre type of building.? There were no chairs up there so folks were standing, leaning against the wall, meditating cross legged or lying down.

Not a great photo but it shows what it was like in Budapest (pre-concert)

The whole thing had a really great happening feeling about it.? Abhijit and I played our 2 songs as a duo like the every other night and the Gandharva Loka Orchestra ran out of material as the crowd kept asking for more.? Tonite in Gyor it was a similar situation for our 400 (ish) crowd.? Bratislava was a really slick performance on our part and the crowd was also very appreciative.? Japaka who was in his hometown came up for one song with me.? That was really fun.? I don’t have much in the way of pictures as I am always backstage.? Sorry!? Next stop:? Vienna for back to back concerts.

Last night was the official start of the European Songs of the Soul Tour in lovely Zlin, Czech Repuplic.? Zlin is a relatively small town of about 50 000, but the welcome was huge and the crowd for the concert was 600+. Maybe it’s the proximity to the full moon, but it was one of the smoother and most enjoyable concerts I’ve had the honor of being a part of.

Set up on stage before the start

I think the team is really getting it’s groove on.? The technical people are working like anything and we’ve now done maybe 15 or 20 concerts like this one.? I hope that this is a preview of what is to come for the next 8 concerts.

I didn’t get a chance to hear everything but off the top of my head I think I Matthijs’ piano performance and Agnikana’s Group were stand outs for me.? The finale with Gandharva Loka was very fun also.? We played two songs and at the request (Standing O) of the crowd played a rocking (in the dynamic spiritual sense) third piece.? The said crowd seemed to indeed be very appreciative.? More posts to come (depending on Slovakian, Hungarian and Slovenian Internet).