Our A to Z Musical Tour
It seems like only a few weeks ago since we completed our A to Z Tour of Scotland, which took us a few years to complete, with a prolonged break due to the COVID pandemic. That started in Anstruther and finished in Zoar on New Years Day.
What to do next was the question on our minds?
What if we combined some ‘international travel’ with our love of live music?
Let’s get an Interrail ticket. Go to a town or city, find a gig, move on to the next place. Should be all done and dusted in a couple of weeks.
And so, thanks to the wonderful train, bus and tram systems across Europe, we ventured to #Hamburg, #Berlin, #Prague, #Vienna, #Milan, #Strasbourg, #London and finally #Edinburgh.
The venues ranged from small clubs to stadiums, hidden gems to iconic stages.
The music we heard was as diverse as the menus we ate from. A bit of the blues, a bit of punk, some dance, some soul, the best of jazz and the best of alternative rock.
We took time to go around the places we visited, just as long as the walk took into account visiting a local record store for a browse and the inevitable purchase.
Everyone we came into contact with was extremely helpful and made us feel welcome.
As for the music. Just a further thanks to all the acts we saw. An eclectic assortment from the established to the up and coming.
- John J Presley and Zoon Phonanta, Nochtwache, Hamburg
- The IDLES and DITZ, at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin
- Roisin Murphy and DJ Ruf Dug, at Forum Karlin in Prague
- Takuya Kuroda, in the Porgy & Bess Jazz and Music Club, Vienna
- Review here of the gig and by selecting the image below
- Gallus, at the ARCI Bellezza in Milan
- Tom McRae and Hannah Featherstone, at La Laiterie in Strasbourg
- The Black Pumas and MRCY, at The Hammersmith Apollo
- The Jesus and Mary Chain and Aircooled, at The Usher Hall
Every gig exceeded our expectations, and listening to the album tracks on vinyl or on a playlist don’t do the songs justice when you hear them played live in front of an audience whatever size, small or large.
Travelling across Europe in such a relatively short time took it out of us and makes us even more appreciative of the efforts and sacrifices the acts and their travelling support crews go through when they themselves are on tour with even more punishing schedules.
So many highlights. So many memories. Thanks to everyone involved.
I’m a fairly reluctant traveller as there’s so much more still to see in Scotland. On the evidence of the past few weeks though I think I might just make an exception when travelling and music is so closely aligned.
All comments welcome so that we can improve what we are publishing!