Ned Luberecki and Stephen Mougin are touring this month in England, and Stephen is sending along a travelogue of their time across the pond. Day 6 turns involves a happy ending.
Well, the show we had scheduled for Saturday got cancelled a few weeks ago so the Fishman folks added a stop to our in-store demo tour!
We drove a couple hours south to Poole to play in Absolute Music. What a store! They mentioned in email correspondence that we’d be set up in the “cafe,” little did we know that it was an actual café complete with a barista, comfy seating, and full lunch menu… INSIDE the music store! They have rehearsal halls, a recording studio, and two levels of store separated by related items. It’s like Sam Ash or Guitar Center, only less cluttered (and WITH latte’s!).
The rep met us at the car and helped us load in and set up. The beautiful thing about our Fishman rig is that we can setup and soundcheck a full PA in about ten minutes, if we’re not rushing! We played a couple of sets for the fine customers and answered a pile of technical questions from the sales staff. Another ten minutes and we were back in the car, programming the SatNav (GPS) for the hotel that Ned booked the night before. Job done!
We didn’t know what to expect out of the hotel, except that it had 2 beds with an “en suite” toilet and it was cheap. Suspiciously cheap. Much to our surprise, it turned out to be fantastic. MUCH nicer than the place in London!!
A short walk to a FINE Indian restaurant and we were done for the evening.
Starting tomorrow, we’ll start a new bluegrass travelogue report, from Stephen’s wife Jana Mougin, who is touring in Europe on a Fragment 30th Anniversary reunion tour. Jana’s family in the Czech Republic are keeping an eye on Mojo and Jana’s young son for the duration.
