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My trip there
Zurich, the home of the $35 breakfast.
At the front desk, I was told it was like brunch.
They obviously did not know that brunch is usually a
combination of Breakfast and Lunch food. I did not see any lunch type foods at
all. Food quality was high, but
selection meager. All we can eat, however, when the selection is small, the
incentive to overeat is also low (probably a good thing in my case). By
contrast, the farms in Switzerland are much cheaper. I believe they get some
kind of federal subsidy, which might drive their costs down.
In Niles Ohio, there is a mom and pop dinner, called Yankee Kitchen, where I can get a plate full of breakfast food that weights about 2 pounds (1 kg), costs about $7, comes with a bottomless pot of great tasting coffee, and after eating that, you won't need much food the rest of the day. How about modeling a little bit of that, once in a while.
Most of my music and entertainment interests are from my
era, but I try to keep somewhat current on music and entertainment from time to
time.
I received an email, saying that I was going to need to
show my passport at the event. As the ticket I had received for the Ed Sheeran concert,
had my name on it, and it was going to be verified at the venue, before I was
admitted. Glad I got that email, cause I had received that ticket nearly a year
in advance, and had long forgotten about that event.
I am guessing that is Switzerland’s Anti Scalping policy.
If so, good on them, I wish all countries/states did that.
Central Western Europe had a three week long heat wave,
with most days around 95F (35C), no rain, and no wind. Switzerland is one of
the most environmentally friendly countries in the world, and most of its
buildings do not have Air Conditioning. Not even the larger event type
buildings. I think they have to apply for a permit, and either those are not
granted very often, or the requirements make it cost prohibitive for the one
month or so, that it might be used.
The weather prediction was showing no reprieve from the
heat that week, so I decided to look to see if the hotel I had booked had air
conditioning. It did not, but lucky for me, as I was looking at the
reservation, it was the last day that I could cancel it without a fee. Easy
decision. I booked another that had air conditioning and was very close to the
venue.
My drive to Zurich should have been about 100 minutes or
2 hours with a decent stop. Except on Friday afternoon. I left at 3:30 and
finally got to my hotel at 7:30. Traffic towards the hotel was the worst I have
seen in a long, long time. Turns out, the Ed Sheeran concert that I was going
to on Saturday, was part of a two day stop for him in Zurich. He must be very
popular there. Seemed like everyone in
Zurich showed up for the Friday concert.
I thought it was at an indoor stadium. Turns out, it was
an outdoor stadium inside the city without any attached parking, nor any decent
expressway infrastructure nearby. Built in 1925, when few people had cars, it
was probably a great place for it. Used for Football (Soccer), it has a seating
capacity of 26,000, however during concerts, the entire pitch (playing surface),
is open for standing room. The official concert capacity is 50,000, but they
have hit 75,000 before.
The hotel where I was staying, was less than a block away
from the stadium. I arrive at the hotel,
and the Police are parked out front, blocking the very small parking area for
check-in, and they were motioning me to hurry and move on away from there, as
they were attempting to block off the entire street from a nearby corner to the
stadium, as pedestrian only.
Quite a dilemma, as I had to find some place to park,
that I could, both find the hotel, and return to find where my car was parked
the next morning. Not easy at all, as I
had zero knowledge of that area.
Nothing on the or near the main street, within miles and
miles. The open space counters on the parking garages on the main street,
indicated that there were plenty of open spaces, but I drove through all of
them, at a snail’s pace, behind lots of other cars doing the same thing, and
did not find any success.
I decided to head off on a side street, a mile away to
see if I can find anything at all. I was even contemplating parking in front of
a closed store, and coming back very early in the morning to move my car. I
just happened to stumble upon a parking sign entrance that headed underground. I was hesitant, as there were no other cars
headed that way, but decided to give it a try at the last possible split second
I could, before going by the entrance.
Gee this sure looks like a strange parking garage, as
there was no fence thing, and I did not need to get a ticket on the way in. It
goes under the road, then circles, up, and up, and up, and up, with my, “you
are too close to everything on all sides of the car” alarm, blaring in my ears
and distracting me the whole way up. There were no parking levels, just a
continuous spiral upwards. Like a carnival ride. I end up on the roof of some
ancient, very rundown factory. Looked like it was shutdown many years prior.
Only a few cars up there. Some of the cars were abandoned there, as they were
covered in thick dust, and their license plates had been removed from them.
Maybe a police impound lot?
I have the new Volvo and not too many newer cars were up
there. In fact it was sparsely dotted with cars, and only a few spots had
reserved signs on them. I had my reservations, but I was exhausted and very
hungry, and it met the base criteria, of about a mile from the hotel, and very
near the main road. I parked near one of the few, nicer looking cars, loaded up
my 25 pounds of gear, and headed out on foot.
A quick survey of the surroundings revealed 4 possible
options for exit. Turned out, the only exit to the street was as far away from
where I parked as I could have gotten. Lucky for me, there was a working
elevator, all of the way, down to the street level.
From the outside, the old offices for the plant, were
rented out as kind of low rent looking office spaces. Still about 92 degrees
out, with no wind, and the sun was just about to set. I tried to walk mostly in
the shade, which offered little reprieve from the heat.
All of the spinning up to the roof made me lose my
bearings. As I exited, I looked for something that I would have seen briefly as
I was entering, to help me find the main street. Nothing looked even remotely
familiar. A 50/50 chance that I would randomly pick the right direction sounded
good at the time. After walking a block and then back tracking, I was
rethinking those odds. In the Navy we called that 50-50-90. Meaning, if you
have a 50/50 chance, 90 percent of the time, you are going to pick the wrong
one.
There was a street car tram running down the main street
(that is how I knew, the other street I tried, was not the right street), but I
didn't have any Swiss cash on me, and they don't take Euro's. So I thought,
well it's only a mile, I'll see how the knee feels on the walk. My knees love
heat, so they were OK.
I look far down the road and see what appears to be a
street blockade. That must be for the concert, so that has to be the right
direction to walk.
I walked close to 3/4 of a mile and should have picked up
on the clues. No loud crowd sounds, no police, not many people outside, no
music. I reach the blockade and it was
for road work. How could I be so stupid?
Nearby, was a Harley dealer, in a small storefront. It was
closed, but there was an old leather couch sitting out front, that was calling
my name. Eager for a break, I sat down to rest and contemplate my next chess
move.
I decided to just take the tram illegally in the opposite
direction. I had my hotel printout, so I was going to fake the dumb tourist, if
caught. At that point, the $80 or so fine, would not have bothered me a bit. At
that point, I would have gladly paid $80 for a ride in a shopping cart, being
pushed by a bottle collecting vagrant (unfortunately, no vagrant’s in Zurich,
that I can ever remember seeing).
One and half block’s in the right direction was a tram
stop. I mustered all my remaining energy and made the trek there. The only
available spot on a tram bench, was near a women, who was fussing with her
makeup. As I sat down, the sweat was showering off my brow, my shirt was more
wet than dry, and my underarm smell, might have been strong, especially with no
wind.
She made it a point to look at me in a deliberate manner,
and she didn't look happy. I slowly looked away, thinking; Honey, if I could
feel any worse right now, your silent tantrum might have an effect me. After
what I have been through, it’s just another feather on the stack. Jesus said
that I don’t have to let anyone else’s anger towards me, affect me, and at this
moment, I am invoking that right, as one of his admirers.
The tram finally came, then she made it a point to wait
until I sat down, so she could dramatically head far away from me, and sit
frustrated like, facing away from me. Thank you for not facing me.
Next problem. Which tram stop to get off at? I was
driving, so I didn't look for a tram stop near the hotel. No wanting to take
the chance, I got off at a stop, that
was about 1000 feet before the hotel. As I approached the entrance on foot,
with the last few breaths before going into heat exhaustion, I could see the
tram stop that was 50 feet away from the hotel entrance. It was kind of hidden,
because it was in the middle of a roundabout, and did not look like a normal
tram stop.
Air conditioned lobby and a crate full of apples near the
front desk. I dropped my gear with a thud, and pounded down 3 apples in about 6
bites. When dehydrated and the body temperature is high, hunger disappears.
Apples are perfect, a bit of sugar, lots of juice, and easy to digest. The dude
at the front desk was looking at me a little funny, as I was sticking another 6
apples in my backpack. If there was more room, I might have taken even more.
I didn’t ask if those were for the guests or not. The
next day, Chef Gunther might have been livid at the produce supplier, for
delivering him a partially full crate of apples.
I mentioned to the dude at the front desk, that they
should complain to the Police that they were blocking the entrance to their
hotel.
From his reply, it sounded like complaining to the Police
would not be meet with favorable results. Dude, do you have a Mayor. Cause
Mayor's make the police budget, and Mayor's love tourist revenue to help them
run the city.
The hotel had my email address. How about a simple,
"Mr. Kimpel, we are very excited that you choose to stay with us. I see
you are checking in on the most F$%#^d up day of the year. If you are driving,
may I suggest that you check-in before 1500, or after 2100 when the street crowd
is low, or park your car in garage X and take the tram to stop Y right in front
of our hotel.". I would stay at a hotel that did that, over and over.
The hotel staff did have the air conditioning on in my
room (I think the front desk dude sent someone ahead of me to turn it on), so
it was nice and cool, but I still headed directly into the shower. All clean, I
was trying to turn the heat down to get colder water, but it was a strange
regulator, and seemed like every way I turned it, it got hotter.
Figured out, that it actually turns all of the way
around, and the coldest part was not marked. Water takes a while to get to the
shower head, so in my frustration, I was constantly turning it past that point.
I got the temperature to what felt cool, but when I got out, by body heat was
still fairly high. Took me about an hour more in the air conditioning for my
body temperature to feel normal. By then I was starving, but my body just
wanted to rest in the air conditioning. So I just laid there, relaxed, and
enjoyed a few more apples.
Not the best time I have ever had. But learned that I can
still preserver a lot of discomfort and confusion, with a clear head and keep
most of my composure. And over all, a few days in Air conditioning, away from
this heat wave, was priceless.
The day I went to the Ed Sheeran concert. Sunset was
around 2130 (9:30), predicted 92 degrees (30C) and little wind. It starts at
1830 (6:30), but usually at these events there is an opening group, then
another sometimes really good group after that, and the main act does not start
until around 2130 (9:30) or later. By midnight, the prediction was 86 degrees.
I decided to leave the hotel around 2030 (8:30), just to
be on the safe side. I was in my seat by 2100 (9:00), and go thing, as the 2nd
act was just finishing her last song.
The roadies cleared the stage quickly, and smiling Ed
started about 15 minutes later.
He played non-stop for over 2 hours. Solo, just him,
without anyone else on stage, other than the guitar tech, who occasionally
brought him out a fresh guitar. I think Ed has a few songs that require a
different tuning, so he changes guitar’s, instead of re-tuning them on stage.
Awesome concert. Well worth all of the hassle I went
through to get there.
Ed Sheeran
I am not a huge fan of Ed’s music, but I am a huge fan of
the wholesome and down to earth image that exudes from everything that he does.
Ed is from England, but looks more like someone’s Irish
skateboarding/surfing cousin, then a major entertainment industry superstar.
Well known for projecting a scruffy fashion statement, he
recently stepped up his game, by buying a piece of a fashion firm named “Hoax”
and sometimes called “Hoax UK”, founded in 1994, near his hometown of Framingham,
in Suffolk England. They are a skateboard themed company that sells both boards
and clothes. There entire line of attire consists mostly of tee shirts, hooded
sweatshirts, and hats all with the “Hoax” logo on them. Kind of the dude’s
version of “Pink”. They have a female type T-shirts, and some swag, but I can
imagine those are high sellers, as the “Hoax” logo is very masculine looking.
Wholesome Ed has always supported his roots. Ed most likely had a large selection of women
he could chose to spend time with, and get a very quick Yes. After a few
soiree’s with women, who in my opinion, were fairly posh, he hooked up with a good
female friend, that he fancied, from his small hometown school. Cherry was an
athletic, field hockey star. Good enough, that her athletic ability, award her
university scholarships. She is very beautiful, just not posh. They make a
great looking couple, as she appears to be good, with Ed being who he really
is.
My History
I can relate with that. Not being a superstar, nor a
celebrity. But there was a time when a very wealthy women, showed much in love
with me. No clue what she was thinking, but she kind of picked me, and she made
the first move. She was way out of my league, so I was a bit hesitant from the
start, but she just kept trying.
Beth had a Phd from a prominent Ivy university, along with a
mater’s and undergraduate degree from name dropping technical universities. She
was a technology director at a large company, with 80 people under her
direction. She always dressed very swanky, and lived in “Kamm’s Corners” (a suburb
just west of Cleveland Ohio). Two of her neighbors where Cleveland Indian’s
pitchers. Another was one of the stars of the Cleveland Lumberjack’s (Ice
Hockey team that was part of the IHL)
We would go to all of these posh events, which were very nice,
but just not me.
Once we attended a play with the two Indians pitcher
neighbor’s. One was married to a complete knockout, and the other was courting
a complete knockout. Nearly everyone in the place was gawking at them. Not the
women, the pitchers’. Straight dudes
gawking at other straight dudes. What’s up with that?
I probably could have hooked up with her, and been set for
the rest of my life, but I politely backed away. She chased for a while, until
I told her, it just was not going to work for me. I didn’t dread the lavish
things that we did, but it didn’t make me happy either.
Another negative trait, was that she would often act like I
was more intelligent than she was, and maybe that wasn’t an act, but it most
definitely was not true. Maybe someone gave her the bad advice of, “you are
never going to attract a man, if he thinks you are more intelligent than he
is.”.
I just wanted natural, and not much there, seemed natural to
me. She was a “Kamm’s Corners” girl, and I was more of an “Ohio City” boy. “Ohio
City” is the oldest suburb of Cleveland, where the early mill workers lived. A
kind of hip place now, but in my day, most of it wasn’t so hip.
Back to Ed
Ed dropped out of school when he was 16 to busk, and lived a
homeless life in London for a time, before landing some gigs at small venues, then working
up from there. At one point, he bought a one-way ticket to LA, and after about a month of sleeping on different peoples couches, he ran into Jamie Fox's manager, and that culminated in a meeting with Jamie Fox, that helped him early on.
Somewhere along the line, he commissioned several sweet
tattoo’s. I normally don’t fancy tat’s, but his tat’s are very colorful and
whimsical in an ultra-artistic way. I really
like them on him, on me that would never look right.
One of his influences is Joni Mitchell. I can see several
parallels in them. Her repertoire kept expanding and she experimented with lots
of styles, interesting rhythms, and many interesting topics in her 50+ year
career. I hope Ed is headed in that
direction, but I could see him being the type to have kids, then concentrate on
family, and drop out of public view for a while. Whatever path he takes, I am certain it will
be a wholesome one.
The Concert
Ed said that most of the dudes who attend his concerts these
days, fall into two categories. 1. The ones whose girlfriend’s drug them there,
and seem to complain a lot about the traffic on the way (no clue what he is
talking about). 2. The super dad’s like his father, who take their kid’s to
music that appeals to their children, even if though they don’t necessarily
like it (I believe that Ed was and maybe still is, an Eminem fan, and I think
his father might have taken him to an Eminem concert and/or some other rap
concerts). Wherever the reference, he
shows a fondness for family and his roots.
I would have to say, if you don’t know the words to at least
on Ed Sheeran song, “Where the hell have you been?”. I think every women in the audience, knew every
word to every song, and they loved to sing along with him.
Ed say’s, if you don’t sing good, then just sing very loud,
that will make up for it. He is right. For about a year, I attended church with
a woman who was tone deaf, but that didn’t stop her from singing loud. It is
really hard to sing next to a tone deaf person, but the joy in her eye’s was
enough to make me feel good. Tone deaf people are imitating what they hear when
they listen to music, just like anyone else is. But what they hear sounds like
someone beating pots and pans together. Amazing that they can get enjoyment out
of that.
One of the great American Classical Composer’s, Charles
Ives, was inspired by a person in his dad’s church choir (his father was the
choir director), who sang very loudly out of tune. Charles wrote some very
strange music, but he was very wealth and could afford to pay great musicians
to play it.
Ed has only one white man dance move, which is a kind of
awkward hip sway combined with a short, delayed jump (not really a jump as his
toes never leave the ground), but it fits him well. The best white man dance
moves in my opinion are anything Cyndi Lauper does. She has dozens of White Man
dance moves in her repertoire and they all make me laugh. I don’t who that was
dancing in Ed’s body in his “Thinking out Load” video, but that Ed has left the
building. “Thinking out Load” is probably one of my favorites, as it is very
old school soul, both in topic and composition. I think a lot of that had to do
with Amy Wadge who was the co-writer. She is a young singer-songwriter from
Wales with a very old country soul. I love Amy’s music. That is the only song
Ed sing’s with an Electric guitar. It is a beautiful natural wood finished
solid body electric, but he still play it like an acoustic guitar. Ed was once
interviewed in Germany, and the interviewer, said to him, “Your music before
“Thinking out Loud” was such shit!!! What happened???”.
Just Ed and a loop-back station. At first I thought maybe he
was trying to save some money, by not having a backup band. But he also has to
work a lot harder. Can’t take a break at all, always has to be doing multiple
things at the same time. And he played straight for 2.5 hours without a single
break. A loop back station, is a device
that allows him to record something, like 8 bars of music, then play it back
and record another stack on top of that, to overdub drums, and backing
harmonized vocals. Thana Alexa is a modern jazz artist with the voice and looks
of a goddess, who works the vocal loop-back, about the best I have ever heard,
but she usually also has a band too. The problem with loop-back, is that it
takes a long time to get into the actual song.
As I was watching this performance, it reminded me a lot of
Joe Pass. Joe Pass is usually in the discussions of the greatest Jazz guitarist
of all time. Joe looked like someone’s normal Sicilian Uncle who could flat out
play a hollow body Gibson guitar. Joe could play the bass line, the chord’s,
and the melody all by himself without a loop back station. As he was ripping
through a fast melodic line, he would hit the chord right in a comping rhythm.
Joe would play entire concert with just himself, and he said that really took a
lot out of him. Never could tell though, cause Joe never broke into a sweat.
Another non-loop back great, was Jazz pianist, Art Tatum. Art died in the
1950’s, but I remember hearing all the old timers talk about him. Art could
play a different song in each hand at the same time, and we could hear the
bass, chords, and melody of both songs simultaneously. Ain’t nobody ever going
to top those two.
Ed started off the concert with “Castle on the Hill”, a very
up-tempo tune that really gets the crowd going. A reference to the Castle in
Framlingham where he grew up. The tempo has a very youthful exuberance that
plays well into the words about experiences related to growing up in a small
town, then reminiscing about it as an adult, on his way back to visit, knowing
that many of the people who had stayed there, went through lots of struggles. Makes a great video, as do most of his songs.
Then he followed with a few rap tunes. I don’t know how to
rate rap, but Ed seems to have a lot of variety and artistry in his
delivery. Some are mostly rap, some are
slower songs that build into some seriously fast rap versus. He has a really
nice falsetto rap at comes out sometimes, that I almost never have heard from
anyone else. Some slow rap, that is almost song like. Some I really like, and
some I don’t care for, but then that is art at its finest.
He threw “The ‘A’ Team” in the middle of the rapaganza. A
Team, is about a young women who struggles to get by, and eventually ends up
selling her body on the street, to support a crack addiction that was brought
upon her attempt, to escape the life she has. A real tear jerker. Ed will be
singing that song the rest of his life, caused it was his first hit, and he is
therefor, feels obliged to always sing it. Ed donates money to a charity that
is dedicated to help street prostitutes get off of the street. Back in the day,
I used to see a lot of that in the Combat Zone in Boston, and it affected me as
well.
He kicked into “Galway Girl”, a Gaelic dance influenced
tune, about a carefree Irish Girl from Galway Ireland, who had a pendence for
whiskey, and a good time. It is
intermixed with rap, but when he launches into the chorus, “You know, she
played the fiddle in an Irish band. But she fell in love with an English man…
”. The whole crowd starts jumping like Gaelic dancers. I love that song. Man, I
want, to go, to Galway :)
Most of his songs are up tempo but he has a few down tempo
songs that he played back to back, to give the audience a bit of breather. He
played “Happier”, a somber song about seeing someone from afar, a month after
he had done something that broke their relationship up. She seems much happier
with the new Bo, then she seemed with him, so he is using that to try to make
himself feel a bit better about what had transpired. Occasionally the sound
engineer turns on a bit of echo chamber to his main mike, that sounds great in
the slow, mostly a cappella cadenzas, where his great voice really shines.
He sang his very slow, “I See Fire”, the song he was
commissioned to write for “The Hobbit”. His emotion really comes out in that
one, and people respond by singing along with that as well. Probably one of my favorites,
of his ballads. Not for way he sings it, but for him as a person. He takes a
lot of flak from the people who want Ed to be one sided and always up tempo and
fun. I think it shows depth, and honesty, and the willingness to put out
something that he believes in, despite what other people think. Plus, he shows
some really nice guitar playing skills on that one. But I would like to hear
the cello and violin that is part of the studio version.
Then onto “Perfect”, the autobiographical song he wrote
about him and his current and hopefully only Finance. Awesome song, about a
popular Tom Boy, who hangs out with mostly dudes, and while he and her are good
friends, see seems to be more friendly with several of the other dudes, so he
shy’s away and keeps distance. Till one day, sometime later, they meet, and she
appears to turn her attention to him in more than a friendly way. Now he is
proclaiming to never give her up. If that don’t work, ain’t nothing ever going
to work. That would be a very difficult song to sing, if it ever goes South.
Ed, hey brother, it is time to get off of the road for a while and firm that
promise up.
He followed that up with another Gaelic inspired dance tune,
about his Grandmother and Grandfather on his dad’s side. His grandfather was a
protestant from Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and his grandmother was a
strong Irish Catholic from Wexford in Southern Ireland. Stereotypical Irish is
hot headed and very opinionated, and they seldom cross religious lines, but
they overcame that to have a 66 year marriage until his grandfather passed away
a few years ago.
Then onto another way up-tempo tune called “Sing”. It
reminds me a lot of Scottish Singer Rod Stewart’s, “If you love me and you want
my body? Come on baby let me know!!!!”. Very similar tempo, feel, and context.
After those two up-tempo song’s ,I know it is near the end.
Good performers usually ramp the audience up near the end. A kind of ploy, to
get them hyped for an encore. If they
end on a ballad, the audience feels tired, and might just walk out. So when it
is a bit quiet for a while, and they start ramping it up, they are about to
end.
First Encore song was “Shape of You”. A mid tempo, kind of
standard solution, pop-rap tune, that is very catchy. About a dude who is in
love with the visionary aspects of a women.
Second Encore song was “You need me, I don’t need you.”. A kind
of HipHop Rap. That was a song in Ed’s first studio album “+”. I think it is
about an Artist telling his label, to go pack sand, over something they wanted
him to do. Ed’s Cousin (Jethro Sherran), is a rapper that goes by the moniker “Alonestar”,
and I think Jethro penned in some additional lyrics that Ed might or might not
have sung this time. I am not that familiar with this song.
The Ending
On my walk back to the hotel after it was over, I could see
that the Politzi had blocked off the fronts of all of the buildings along the
main street, except for their main entrance’s. When I arrived at the hotel that
night, lots of police and the Hotel Manager were dutifully making sure peace
was kept. I was thinking that something bad had probably happened at a concert
once there, and this is the solution to keep people safe. Good on them, even if
it did cause me a lot of trouble getting there the evening before.
I can remember once in Boston. I was walking with a good friend
named John. Just two young white dudes enjoying a stroll on a nice mild summer evening.
Mostly quiet, but out of nowhere, a large crowd engulfed us. I was noticing
that we seemed to be the only white people in that crowd. Turns out, a
Commodores concert had just let out. I was perfectly fine with that, until
someone behind us, grabbed John’s arm, slowing him down, and yelling, “Hey Man!!!
You got a wallet?”. John probably only
had about $5 in his wallet, but he knocked the dudes arm away and turned around
to confront him face to face. That was when a different, big black guy, hit John
in the face, with a cane. They were not
messing with me, so I looked around, and just on the other side of the street were
several Boston Policemen, just watching. I ran to get them. The cop I was talking
to, looked at me and said, “Dude, we ain’t go’in in there!!!”. So I went back in myself, gabbed John’s arm pits,
and drug him to where the Police were standing. They covered until an EMT
arrived to take John to the hospital. I rode along with them. It ended up to
not be very serious, but there was lots of blood and his head was black and
blue for quite a while.
Photo Blog (click to view) Some cropped pictures might not show without selecting a size (I need to fix that someday)
Thank you for reading.
I'll see you next time,
Craig