Green Room Series, Week #4 - Let’s Celebrate Music!

Hey,

I hope you’re doing well! We just finished having breakfast at the hotel. It’s 11:50 am on Sunday and the vibe is quite incredible after what has been such a memorable day that ended at 4 am, the same as it did when we first played the Fête de la Musique in 2022. 

It was so great to drive here from Cologne yesterday, listening to Alex’s new faithfully-built traveling playlist, with each song coming in as a delightful surprise filled with all kinds of sounds, moods, and spirits, leaving you with exclamation marks as well as question marks! The beauty of art and music, especially when curated by Alex, is that the spectrum is quite wide and free from all conventions! Is there a better way to kick off a music celebration day?! I don’t think so. 

This festival in Luxembourg truly is one of a kind! I was so happy for Alex to be back on the Why Not stage, where we had the privilege to perform precisely 2 years earlier. We just got out of the van on the festival site, and the official event photographer was so glad to see us again that she hugged and welcomed us all in grand style, telling Alex how she’s been patiently waiting for this moment to come! What a great way to start this day! 

John – the festival founder and now our friend with whom we ended the evening in the festival’s backstage area talking about music, people, culture, and how this amazing festival came to life out of a very fragile idea – saw us performing in Hamburg during the Reeperbahn festival back in September of 2019 as we were playing a 20-minute set (one song; Summertime Departures) at 2 pm on a Saturday. He was simply passing by and noticed the humongous amount of music gear that was on our stage as we were 7 musicians behind Alex and he, John, admitted to me last night: ”I told the friends I was with: ‘Look at this band, they have way too much gear! This is insane!!! That means this concert will either be a complete disaster or a masterpiece… I have to see this!!!’” 

My guess, after playing his festival twice, is that we weren't so bad after all! :) With a human kindness, he called me after learning that Alex had undergone heart surgery: “You’re always welcome to my festival as soon as Alex is ready!” What a treat to drive to Dudelange and celebrate what matters the most to us; music and community! 

I will never forget last night! No Music No Life! 

Next stop; Lublin, Poland, on June 30th! Looking forward to our first time in that city!!! 

Let’s be great to one another!

Your Host and Friend, 
Jeff