Thursday, August 10, 2006

The Vienna connection Part 2 - The private concert

Where did I stop last? Ah, yes. The day after the party. As you could read in Part 1, OrangeX and I actually slept through the “private concert” given by Konrad "Bones" Windisch, Christoph Schellhorn and Sascha (Links only in German. Sorry) after they had finished a gig in a club nearby. We were told that the music during the night was so loud, that Pinki expected the police to knock at his door any time. The party and music went on until about 7 am.

The next morning OrangeX and I woke up quite rested and found Andrea in the kitchen and then Pinki rolled in to join us. They had slept only about two hours, or so. All of a sudden, Andrea called us all over to the terrace where we saw this and this great picture (photos by Pinki) and sorry, blogger won't let me again.

Christoph and Sascha had fallen asleep on the terrace furniture. I still wonder how Christoph could even breathe in that position! Believe it or not, we then (noisily) started cleaning up, folding tables and benches, clearing away empty bottles, etc. and it took both boys about 10 minutes before they even opened one eye. I had already prepared coffee (they needed it more that we did) and when I came back with the cups, they were already helping out to clean-up the mess of the evening before. We sat down at the table, and Pinki offered to make breakfast for all and came back shortly after with a huge pan of scrambled eggs “à la Pinki”. Everybody dug into it and enjoyed the more than welcome meal.

It didn’t take long that Christoph reached for his guitar and started playing, and Sascha took over the second voice. For the next 1 ½ - 2 hours, we had a second private blues/jazz/bluegrass jam session. It was just fantastic! It’s such a pity that “Bones” wasn’t there, too. What fascinates me the most is when musicians are so concentrated and in their element, that you can literally see the different emotions going through them as they play. Christoph is one of them. He lives the music and music is anchored deep in his soul. I can tell you one thing: this talented young man is 23 years old and I’ll bet he’ll be up there with the big lead guitarist names sooner than we think. So keep your eyes and ears open! HA! And we bought both his CDs and had them dedicated.

After the boys left, we sat around wondering what we’d do for dinner, so we decided to take it easy and go for a meal at a local restaurant about 15 minutes walk from Pinki’s house. There are some really beautiful mansions there. Wiener Neustadt used to be a weekend getaway for the Viennese folk to be able to relax and enjoy some countryside.

We came back home, tummies filled and satisfied but still tired from the week before and the party. It was a beautiful warm summer night, so we went on the terrace, lit a few candles, put on nice background music and laid back on reclining chairs to enjoy a last drink, chat a bit and gaze at the starry sky. We had quite a laugh when Pinki's left legt went a bit crazy (muscle spasms) while reclining. Sitting in a wheelchair all day, he keeps a pretty fixed position ,so when he stretches and his body weight is shifted, his legs start to shake. He's a complete paraplegic at level T8 (8th vertabrae of the thorax), so has no control whatsoever over it. The funny thing is that you totally don't expect it. It's like:"Hey! You can move your leg!" Not!

Anyway, more to come this weekend. All about our short trip to Wiener Neustadt and Vienna... and a certain bar. Oh, and for now, you'll find photos of our day here.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi cs, i laughed a lot when i saw the picture where i´m in the sunchair ... you really did a good job with the photoshop ... no more "accesory" (is it the right word?), ha, ha!!! and one more funny thing: when i do the comments here on this page, it´s specially for me ... look at the symbol on the right side from "wortbestätigung" ... ;-)

CanadianSwiss said...

I always do a good job with photoshop! ;-) The funny thing was that I noticed the "acessories" only after I had put up the blog and the photos, and I was hurrying to make the necessary canges.

And yes, I had to laugh and wondered what the wheelchair was for on the word verification, too. They should put up the sight impaired logo. It's not because you can't walk that you can't see either! :-)

Unknown said...

that was a great recap! And look I'm not that far behind in reading.

Love the pics. Can't wait for more!

CanadianSwiss said...

ET: It's probably just because I lack of time to write. See? We keep the same pace. Heheh :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi C-S!

Well, playing and sleeping... and then doing it all over again! That's what I live for. Not the gigs. It's these All-Night-Sessions where the music comes from... Glad you liked it!!!
I'm really grateful to know people like you. And Pinki, of course. We were at a good place!
Hope you had a good time after we drove home. - The Designated Driver: "It's important to have tools with you. I never leave home without a screw-driver!"
Greetings to OrangeX

Best wishes, chris

Ginnie Hart said...

So see, you got your concert after all, AND you got to sleep, too :) Chris reminds me of my nephew, Pete, who is 24/25 by now. I know what you mean about their musical abilities. You DO see them making it big-time some day. May all the gods pay attention! I loved the pics, especially of the guys sleeping.

I had to laugh at your comment to Pinki about his not walking meaning he probably also can't see. He probably doesn't hear very well either, right! God almighty. What's wrong with these people!

CanadianSwiss said...

Chris: What a great surprise! :-D You were just AWSOME! I hope you get to do gigs in Basel soon. Maybe at the Atlantis? Yeah. The night sessions are where your soul play to please you, and not necessarily the public. I know you will make it real big. Hope to meet again soon!

Ginnie: Yes, I remember seeing your nephew on your family get together. And I know you understand music ;-). Talents like that are just bound to make it.

Haha! The wheelchair sign on the word verif! Too funny! I think I'll have to write a blog about this.

Barry said...

Hi,

Glad to add your blog to my roll! Through you and TBF and a few other Basel bloggers I've managed to get a flavour of life over there before moving! Really looking forward to it now!

CanadianSwiss said...

Barry: I hope you feel at home upon your arrival at the end of the month. :-)

Anonymous said...

CanadianSwiss: Oh Yeah, great idea! Just been to the Atlantis-Website... Of course I can try and look out for a gig there but I will need another venue for a gig to get "sort of a tour".
Just email me when you're in Austria - maybe we can meet up again to have some breakfast! ;-)

CanadianSwiss said...

Chris: The Atlantis is known Worldwide. That would be a great opportunity. I'll check out other possible venues for your "Swiss tour". Breakfast?? Anytime... but only after another night music session. O-X will be delighted! ;-) We'll have to stock up on eggs, though. Heheh...