Day 14: Hamburg
Welcome
Yesterday we returned to northern Germany for a show in Hamburg.
We allowed ourselves a cordial lobby call of 10.30am and it felt good to have a few hours of sleep under the belt. The hotel breakfast spread had plenty of choice, but I focused my attention on the cereals section. Atop a large split-top, live-edge oak table I placed my tiny white bowl which contained muesli, chocolate granola, raisins, chopped almonds, desiccated coconut, dried banana chips, milk, and blueberry yoghurt.
The drive to Hamburg had us back on Bundesautobahn 24 which took us northwest, right through the centre of the North German Plain. Undulating farmlands spread out from the road in each direction populated with evenly spaced rows of crops, massive wind turbines, scattered copses of trees, and the odd opportunistic deer.
Germany’s second largest city greeted us with a warm afternoon, a weather condition that won my approval because I am a lover of wearing shorts. As Mathias drove us through St. Pauli, I spotted a familiar sight. It was a huge concrete structure, 75m wide, and 50 metres tall, with a scruffy collection of shrubs dotted over a terraced rooftop that is clearly still a work in progress. I had walked past this building on our last trip to Hamburg and I knew that it was the Feldstraße bunker, built during the Second World War as a platform for antiaircraft guns defending the city, and also used as a bunker to protect the population from Allied bombing. I was surprised though, when we pulled into the carpark right next to this building, and even more surprised when I found out that we were to be performing in the music venue that is located on its top floor.
After meeting the venue manager and getting a quick tour we were equipped with a couple of cargo trolleys and began the load-in, a process that was accomplished through a very old freight elevator that led to a corridor right next to the stage. On the ground floor, just around the corner from the elevator shaft we got to see one of the dazzling spiral staircases which run up each of the building’s four corners. It must have been terrifying to climb as the hand railings were not a feature when they were originally built.
There was a lot to like about this venue. The hospitality was first class, with a comfortable green room and a food spread that was as comically large, as it was diverse. A narrow wrought-iron spiral staircase led up to a cosy mezzanine equipped with a bed, ready to play host to a weary traveller, if needed – and it was needed yesterday afternoon. The two windows looked out to the northwest, providing a great view of the St. Pauli and Altona-Altstadt districts. All the staff were friendly and generous, going out of their way to make our afternoon as pleasant as possible.
You can see here how thick the concrete walls of this bunker are - up to 3.5 metres in some places.
The sleepout on the mezzanine.
The bottom floor of the Feldstraße Bunker housed a bouldering gym and that was a sure way to make three members of our touring party very happy. Before soundcheck, and then again after soundcheck we headed downstairs for a climb, and made sure our hands and bodies were very well used.
Tristan checks the drums for sound.
It was good to have a night where everything worked. Jonathan was able to borrow a soldering iron from the venue and carried out a repair one of the cables from the split that had broken a few days previously, bringing us up to 100% operational capacity. It was Lande Hekt’s turn to experience some foul luck though, as the clutch on their vehicle ceased to exist, and they had to find a rental car to make it the rest of the way to Hamburg.
Gabe and the author use tape to fix a broken microphone case.
Impressively they still made it in time to play their set, and they delivered an excellent performance in spite of what must have been a stressful afternoon. Na Noise opened up the show once again, and this crowd in Hamburg loved what they were hearing. It was a sold-out show, and for a Monday night it felt particularly bubbly. Our set was marked by some excellent mistakes, perhaps induced by weariness, perhaps because we were just having too much fun.
Lande Hekt.
Na Noise.
Our accommodation was just outside Hannover, so after the show we drove south for an hour, taking a good-sized chunk out of the next day’s drive. As with most airport hotels Leonardo Hotel Hannover Airport had a great collection of artworks lining the corridors to reflect its adjacence to this major piece of transport infrastructure. Please enjoy this small collection by an anonymous photographer who will never enjoy the credit they deserve.
Here is Tristan’s latest video diary.