The talented ladies of Della Mae (would that be Della Maes or Dellas Mae?) will be providing a travelogue of their European tour here at Bluegrass Today. This first installment comes from mandolinist Jenni Lyn Gardner.
Hello Bluegrass Today Readers.
I hope you are all well! I am currently writing from the bunk bed in our Sprinter van as we fly down the autobahn somewhere in Germany. The new Nickel Creek album is pumping through the speakers, sun is shining, and there is an arsenal of chocolate and pickled asparagus on board with us. We are approaching the half way point of a 2 week European tour with stops in 12 cities and 8 countries. So far the shows have been going well! We have toured in Germany and played in Switzerland twice now, so we are seeing some familiar faces at our shows which is super awesome!
The opening night of the tour was spent on stage at The Borderline in London, England. It was underground and had a rock club vibe to it. Boy, what a way to start off the tour! From the moment I walked into the room it felt special, and later I learned that the great song writer, Townes Van Zandt, had played his final shows there on a two night stand. Amazing!
Some of you might be familiar with the movie Broken Circle Breakdown. If so, the venue De Roma in Antwerp, Belgium might ring a bell. It’s the stage in which some of the performances in the movie were filmed and where we played our second show of this Euro tour. The stage was huge and the lights that shined on it were beautiful. We enjoyed some of the nicest people and best food while we were there!
Each place that we have played so far is unique and different in its own right, but I must say that the most enthusiastic crowd we played to was at the Muehle Hunziken in Rubigen, Switzerland. Two stories of balconies and a standing only dance floor on the first level allowed for a view of smiling faces from every direction.
The people at the show were music lovers and cheered and clapped for us at the ending of each song, and they would not stop until we came back TWICE to play more songs at the end of the night. For the final encore we walked out in to the middle of the room and played music as they held hands and danced around us. It felt magical.
While getting to tour in all these new and beautiful places is wonderful, it truly is the music that we play and the people we meet along the way that make the journey memorable.
Jenni Lyn
Stay tuned for more updates! Visit www.dellamae.com for a show near you and follow Della Mae on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all of the latest news and updates.