Dear friends, the first show with the ERRATICS is over, and I’m heading for a week without any rehearsal session now – quite exceptional for the time being. The weeks before the gig I practised a lot in order to get my fingers trained for four hours of playing, and we had three sessions all in all to get ourselves prepared. The weather, however, had its own plan. The stage was located at the beginning of the pedestrians’ area here in Schweinfurt, close to the Italian ice café Gelateria del Corso. They were sponsoring the event due to their 10th anniversary, and surprisingly they were fine with a blues rock band. I’d rather have expected an Italian cover band like “Il dolci Signori” which I saw last year in Bodenmais where we Platform 6 had a gig at that time. We started around 6:30 pm and played an hour, then had a break of some 20 minutes and got busy again around a quarter to eight. After five or six songs, the sky got dark and it became stormy and cold within just some minutes. A heavy thunderstorm took place, people rushed away into the bars and cafes and we had to stop and get the equipment safe and dry. Some 45 minutes later it was over and we started again, but it seemed that quite a lot of people just stayed where they were or had already left the town fair. We played until half past ten and went for another break before the final round, but then the manager of the ice café decided to let it go and close for the evening, and so we packed our things and left. Not the first gig this year that was spoiled by rain – there’s always a risk when playing open air. But anyway it was fun, the band played hard and tight and I got along quite well with most of the songs. There were one or two weaker ones where I knew I wasn’t prepared so well, but I don’t think anybody noticed that I just played some basic tones and concentrated on the sequence of the parts. My Rivera amp worked fine again. I went to Stuttgart to get it repaired three weeks ago, and it was tube number three in the preamp section which had to be replaced. Now it’s loud and dynamic again. For this kind of music you need a powerful amp with loudness reserves and a certain “punch”. I don’t use any effects or sound modeling, just a guitar, a cable and an amplifier. Consequently, these few parts need to be all right, and that’s why I use my good old expensive and reliable equipment rather than tons of cheap digital crap that offers you hundreds of sounds which sound interesting at home but don’t deliver on stage. I know I’m a bit old school in this sense, but bluesman Juergen, singer with the ERRATICS, likes it just that way. He loves to be kicked in the ass by a guitar solo, and nothing does better in that sense than an all-tube amplifier with its typical dynamic tone. And of course a guitar player that knows how to use it. And so I’m looking forward to the next gig with the guys in two weeks’ time. The location will be Oberlauringen, there’s a club called “Eventscheune” if I remember well, where bikers and rock fans meet at certain occasions, and I’ll be there with the ERRATICS on Saturday 16th. Those of you who have followed my thoughts and reflections over the last years might ask why I seem to step into this blues rock thing again. I admit that it sounds a bit contradictory to all I’ve said about my motivation and musical aims. They’re not out for charity reasons (well, I’m not asking for money when playing with the boys, even if they’re getting some few Euros for their shows; I’m sort of an unpaid volunteer, and I like it that way), they won’t play my songs (because it’s not their preferred type of music), and for quite some years I was just fed up with this old fashioned and somehow stubborn style of music as such. There’s a mixture of reasons. I’m currently having a hard time at work due to something I didn’t experience since long and which follows and accompanies me day and night. My wife, Brigitte, is having a hard time in her job as well, and on top she’s still heavily engaged in the preparations for the federal elections for her green party, even if she abandoned the position as chairwoman of the local section some weeks ago. We’re both full of sorrows and concerns and things to be done somehow, even if we don’t really know how to deal with. In such a phase of uncertainty, playing that good ol’ stuff with the ERRATICS is sort of an anchor for me. And it’s fun. They’ve become really good with their fantastic new drummer and the very young but very talented lead guitar player. I don’t have to be the front man but can stay aside a bit and just do what I love: playing guitar and singing some harmonies. The boys appreciate what I’m doing, I’m even playing in public here and then, it’s loud and intensive, and it’s the blues that’s always been my musical root and fundament. Perfect for the moment, and we’ll see where this leads to. In the meantime the preparations for the SKF After work party on October 5th with Platform No 6 are proceeding as well. We had a rehearsal session last Wednesday and look forward to further ones end of September. I’ll take the opportunity to feature three of my own songs with a part of the High Field Band, supported by Dirk and Manfred from PF6, and there’ll be a special guest with us: Steffi List, local hero and heavily engaged in charity of all kind. We’ll be playing some songs with her and have to prepare ourselves accordingly. That’s all for the moment. I’ll keep you posted. Keep on rockin’! Yours schnoed