Bliss with ancient music

Although I had just seen Elfenthal at the end of December, I traveled to a place near Celle to see them again on Saturday. I arrived a little early and joined a queue already waiting. When I read on the poster that the concert was sold out I felt very lucky I had bought an online ticket just a few days earlier!

 

As the first rows were completely reserved I was lucky to get a seat beside the aisle from where I had a good view to the stage, even from the 10^th row. The sound at the culture club was fantastic.

There was a guitar player/singer with a kind of country & western music first as support, but he couldn't really catch the audience. I truly felt pity for him.

Shortly after 8 pm Maite Itoiz and John Kelly came on stage and started the program with a very slow song from Hildegard von Bingen, a German medieval healer. Although most of the audience was there just because they like music without knowing the 2 persons on stage, everybody listened closely and was obviously impressed. Most of the songs were from different ages and different countries, mostly collected by ancient kings and monks. Some are on the Elfenthal CD, some I had heard at the last indoor concert in Lichtenberg in 2014, but there were also some brand new songs I had never heard before.

The audience seemed to clap longer with every song and when Maite had finished the song for her book, the applause would hardly stop. Her smile proved her joy!

Her German is improving with every concert, but whenever she misses a word in German, John has to help as a walking and talking dictionary. Their little conversations and explanations about the songs were so cute and by the end of the concert everyone just loved them. I let myself get carried away by the music, forgetting everything around me and just felt the peace and beauty of the sounds of the opera voice, harp, lute and guitar as well as soft drums, played by John.

If it had not been for some friends hoping for some captured moments as photos or videos, I would have let the camera in it's bag, as I didn't feel like watching through the lenses. Still – now I'm happy I have some lovely memories of that evening.

Listen to one of my favorite songs here 

The last song of the evening here

Suddenly the concert ended but with clapping constantly we got an extra song before we had to return to reality. As I was in no hurry I had a coffee and talked to some other visitors, expressing our gratitude for the concert and finally I could even talk to Maite & John, telling them how much everyone had enjoyed the concert – and getting a good advice from John to keep practicing on my harp.

Luckily I have a nav gear to lead me safely home over country roads, through spooky forests and motorways.

Fantastic start into the concert season of 2016!

Right now I should do lots of things instead of typing, but my thoughts are still filled with memories of Saturday and the annual concert of "my" band Dunkelschoen.

At about 2:30 pm I arrived at the old church in Schonungen. It's not used for church services any longer but for concerts (as it has a wonderful acoustic) and exhibitions etc. As it's my job to sell the merchandise for Dunkelschoen, I spent the next 2 hours to decorate my stuff at leisure.

 When I was happy with the display I enjoyed the practising on the stage, the music and the friendly banter while I could enjoy the view from different parts in the church.

After some food and change of clothes it was time to get ready at the door. I assisted in selling the tickets and collected plenty of hugs from regular visitors who have become friends.

During the first songs I stayed on duty, but then I went to my seat in the first row to enjoy the concert - and take some photos. Shorty before the break I went back and got ready for the customers who needed not only CDs, but also garments, jewelry and button.

 During these winter concerts in church, Dunkelschoen play far more ballads and slower pieces than usually - and the audience feels the magic and listenes closely. Even the many children are quiet and enjoy the magic feeling. On top there are some old songs which never made it onto a CD - and this year there were also 2 brand new songs that will be on the next CD. Of course there are also dance songs, but here the audience rather stays seated and claps their hands along. It's always a very special atmosphere and everyone is full of gratitude to have been there.

Here you can listen to two songs.

After the bonus songs the audience is invited to sing along a farewell song. It starts with all instruments and then the musicians come together to sing with their fans. That's the moment when I'm expected on stage as well and it's a fantastic feeling!

It was well past midnight by the time all visitors had left and all my stuff was back in it's boxes. Still, the band hardly wanted to leave but rather talked about the wonderful concert. At about 1 am I was taken back to my hotel - where I felt still far too excited to go to sleep.

Do you want to listen to the farewell song? Click here

A different start into the new year 2016

Usually we spend New Years Eve at home, meeting neighbours outside at midnight. When I went to the special Christmas Market in Dortmund with Dunkelschön I started thinking of spending New Years Eve 2015 there. As the weather was fair enough (cold but dry) it took little convincing to get my husband to agree. 

We travelled to Dortmund by train and stayed in the Youthhostel which isn't far from the main station. As I had been there 5 weeks before I knew the way by Underground and we arrived just after opening in the park. The first band, Corvus Corax, was already on stage:

Then we explored the huge market area - I had not seen everything during my stay with Dunkelschön! There were many craft stalls, different food and drinks and big tents with sofas to relax. Before we went in front of the stage again to enjoy Omnia from the Netherlands, we sat down at one of the big fires. It was like an adventure in a different world.

After the concert we got some coffee to accompany our home made traditional cakes we had brought from home.

Our daughters had taken plenty of the cakes to their parties as well!

After getting some sparking honey wine (never had that before) to drink at midnight, we marvelled at the lake which was illuminated wonderfully and as there was no wind, the lake looked like a mirror where the trees seemed to grow into the ground.

While Corvus Corax played again, we were lucky to get a seat at a fire again. The place was getting crowded and it was just more comfortable beside the flames. 

It was there we welcomed the new year while the next band started to play on stage. There were no fireworks allowed in the park, but we could see some of the fireworks over Dortmund.

The moon was looking down on us when we left the party at about 2:30 am listening to the last music on our way through the park. We even found the bus stop, where the night line collects people even in New Years Night and managed to get onto the bus. It saved us a 30 minutes walk in a strange city.

After breakfast we left the next day, travelling savely home by train. And yes, the trains were all on time!

Extended Christmas

As our children had both spent much time abroad in 2015 and we also had our holiday in Ireland - I invited our whole family for Boxing Day, so we could show photos and tell about our adventures. As we had just an extended breakfast, there wasn't too much work and it was a wonderful relaxed day! Mind you - all food except honey and milk was vegan!!

Because of this unusual Boxing day we had our anual Christmas Dinner on the 27th of December - it still felt like Christmas. Afterwards my family had to accompany me on a 3 hour drive through wonderful country side to Peine where the Christmas market was still open - and John Kelly and his wife Maite Itoiz were giving a very special concert of Old Music, just the 2 of them. Some people had expected John's sister Maite Kelly who often is on TV and were disappointed. But the fans of John and Elfenthal enjoyed a very special evening.

The concert was interrupted when some chimes at the town hall played Christmas songs. Maite & John invited the audience to sing along and joined in themselves - although Maite doesn't really know the lyrics of German songs as she grew up in Spain. Still it was fun - have a look here.

This is one of their more famous songs, click here.

After the concert most of the audience stayed for autographs and photos together with Maite and John. I already have my pics with them, but had brought some home made cookies for Maite. She was delighted! 

Leaving Peine we made a little detour as we had our daughter's bulky Xmas presents in the car and took the stuff to her besitter in Hannover. So it was a very full day with plenty of lovely memories.