EuroTour 2013, part 5: Nice and Paris

After the last show in Verviers, I flew to Nice in the South of France for a well-deserved week on the beach. I have been there before and couldn't wait to go back; I was not disappointed  :)

view of Nice and Villefranche, France

right across the street from where I stayed in Nice, France

To see all my pictures of Nice, visit my Dropbox folder

Croissy-Sur-Seine, France

After a magnificent week in Nice, I took a train to Paris to meet up with friend, guitarist extraordinaire and my double, Jacques Friedmann. 

The Dynamic Duo in rehearsal

  
Jacques and I are preparing a CD of us as a duo: 4 of Jacques' originals, 4 of mine, and 2 Genesis covers. 
We spent a week rehearsing and will continue the project via Internet and subsequent visits.

taking a break from rehearsal

Jacques has brilliant original songs which are not being promoted presently. I will be putting them on my website



To see all my photos of Croissy-Sur-Seine, visit my Dropbox folder

EuroTour 2013 part 4: Verviers

After my two days relaxing in Brussels, I took the train an hour east to Verviers, where I would play the last show.

Hall in Verviers, where I have played with TMB, apparently  :)

 I guess you know you've played a few shows in your career when you think you've never heard of a town before, and then you show up, and not only do you recognize every building around you, but you realize you've played there before! 

I made my way through town to the Spirit of 66, where the gig was going to be.

You can see me on the playbill down at 01/07 --- somebody decided to call the show 'Genesis Revisited' (not me) --- I think they were confusing me with Steve Hackett's tour!  :)















Anyway, the owner and technician were very friendly and we started setting up the show.

Here you can see the iPad I had at my side during the show. I used foot pedals to change the visuals at the right time. 

This was the splash screen for the top of the show.

 The Spirit of 66 is a wonderful classic rock club with lots of wooden furniture, and where the walls have endless stories to tell. 

I love this kind of environment, what a great vibe. Here is one of the doors in my dressing room.




 

 Here you can see the piano mover getting ready to set the piano up, with the club owner standing on stage and the technician down in front.

Soundcheck , photo: Martin Christgau

 Here I am playing in soundcheck. It was so nice to have a Yamaha C7 to play; it is the same piano I have at home.

 

 

Can Utility & The Coastliners,   photo: Martin Christgau

I got a great surprise when Martin Duimel and his wife Jacqueline showed up from Holland. Martin has been a hardcore supporter, has produced shows for The Musical Box, and organized my first European solo show in Holland back in 2008.

To see all my pictures from Verviers, visit my Dropbox folder

EuroTour 2013, part 3: Switzerland and Belgium

After my wonderful stay in Italy and the great show in Padova, I needed to get to Blonay, Switzerland in time for the second show the following night. We knew it would be tight, but I arrived 15 minutes before the show! So there was no tech, just me and the piano, but we had a great time anyway!

w. Viviane and Patrick Golaz, Blonay, Switzerland.

My hosts, Viviane and Patrick were very warm and friendly; it was a very enjoyable evening with the concert taking place in a community center in the middle of Blonay, a very small town nestled in the mountains near Lausanne.

w. Roger Forgues and Stefan Kaufmann, Blonay, Switzerland.

A lot of the local population was at the concert, as well as some serious Genesis fans from far away!

time to eat in Blonay.

There was local food and drink after the show!

The next morning, it was time for two days off in Brussels, Belgium.

The Apocalypse (Shiels) Brothers in Brussels

At Brussels airport, my new friend Paul told me I would recognize his kids because they were carrying a Genesis time signature.....

I love Brussels and was looking forward to relaxing there. My hotel was right in the middle of things, just off the Grand Place, where there are numerous incredible buildings like these.....

Brussels is a particularly great city for both shopping
and eating

w. Paul Shiels in Brussels

My Irish friend Paul took me to a killer Thai restaurant in Belgium. Now there's a rich combination!






If you would like to see all my pictures of  Brussels, please visit my Dropbox folder