Karlsruhe

Emanuel was still not feeling so well today. So we slept in, and then spent a bit of time buying some nice Parisian food (where else am I going to get a salmon quiche for breakfast?). We somehow managed to completely lose track of time and didn't end up heading out of Paris until about 2:30. Karlsruhe, it turned out, was quite a distance away. We left at 2:30 and didn't get in until about 9 PM, given that we needed to stop for lunch, gas, and of course the mandatory Parisian traffic jam (or so we heard). The schedule said that we were supposed to arrive around 6ish, but thankfully the venue didn't really care. They said that their clientèle was used to bands showing up late, and sure enough by the time our set started the room had about 35 people or so, which actually made it feel quite full.

Anyways, since Eman was sick, he couldn't sing at full strength. That, and the room was small and the sound system not so big. So we figure our best bet was to play an acoustic set, with mics on all the instruments, no backing tracks, acoustic guitar, and brushes on the drums. This turned out to work marvelously well, and the crowd really loved it, even those who know how we are supposed to sound normally (ie much louder). It turned out to be a very successful set. For instance, in Middlesbrough we had a crowd of over 100 and managed to sell 180 pounds worth of merchandise. In Karlsruhe we had about 35 and sold 165 euros worth. A very good night, for sure. They wouldn't let us leave the stage, so Emanuel had me play some Bach, and had Liz, our violinist, sing an Irish tune. All in all a fantastic evening. A perfect pick-me-up after the disaster that was Paris.