ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART ONE : THE TRIP TO HAMBURG

Last minute changes had me going to Zappanale on my own. This did mean that the pre-Zappanale Hamburg show came back up as a possibility.

Checking Ticketservice did not make me happy. Ordering the ticket on-line would double the ticket price. Handling and sending the tickets would cost me about 25 or 30 €. Insane.

Fortunately, my friend and fellow Zappateer Steffen was able to help me out. He still had a couple of spare tickets. Lucky me.

Listening to VLEK (the latest Palinckx project), Nigey Lennon (the first edition of Re-Inventing The Weehl) and Secret Chiefs 3 (Path Of Most Resistance) made the trip to HH OK.

I don't like driving around in a town that I do not know. GPS makes me feel powerless. Subjected. Makes me feel nervous. That said, the "Katharinenkirchhof 1" is rather easy to reach. And it's situated next to the new hip area of Hamburg which makes it perfect to stroll around a bit when you've got a couple of hours to kill.

The St Katharinenkirche looked familiar. I have seen some very fine concerts there: the Ensemble Ambrosius, Sheik Yerbouti and the Bogus Pomp ensemble. If you want to check them out, all three of these concerts got released on CD. All in support for the church and the restoration of the church organ (that Bach once played).

Personally, I don't care about the church, the organ, or even Bach, but I did like the previous concerts. And the CD's.

• bogus pomp feat. napoleon murphy brock: zappa spielt für bach
      (2009, cd, ger, s.j.s.-edition nr.3)

• sheik yerbouti feat. napoleon murphy brock: zappa spielt für bach
      (2010, cd, ger, sjs-edition nr.4)

• ensemble ambrosius feat. napoleon murphy brock: zappa spielt für bach
      (2011, cd, ger, s-j-s-edition nr.5)

This year's St Katharinen concert would feature Dietmar Bonnen, Alexei Aigui and Lothar Burhaus, performing the music of Dylan, Hendrix and Zappa.

Dietmar Bonnen teaches music at the university of Cologne. He has an impressive discography, including various Frank Zappa  compositions.
I remember seeing him in concert in Brussels once, doing a Zappa tribute concert with a clasically trained vocalist. That was great. Still got vivid memories of that one.

The same evening also featured Frank Nuyts' Hardscore ensemble. What a night that was...