Robbi Robb writes about the tour
The opposite of gravity
When a group of people can come together and infuse themselves into one mind and one understanding with each one maintaining their own coloring, then we have magic. That was how this tour was for me - totally magical. From the very first rehearsals Joey and Richard turned out to be so tight and so creative - I would quite confidently say that they were the most expensive rhythm section on the planet. Eric dug in and found the whole world of open spaces wherein he could explore and stretch the tonality of the songs. For me it was a challenge at first because I was always in control of the silences and now, when I would go for silence, there would be a sound there. Fortunately Eric has the capacity to find beautiful sound in silence. Also I found I had 'three piece' reflexes. Having played as a three piece for so many years it is a natural reflex to strike the guitar as if playing the second guitar part. Now I had to still that reflex so as to leave more space for the second guitar. Eventually the two guitars would melt into one wall of sound and the music would lift up and become bigger than both of us. Yann, although one might say he seemed overly cautious, this was a blessing. As the days went by he blossomed more and more as he sank his teeth into the percussion and rhythms. There was very little I had to tell or ask of the band members - they just played it right from the very start.
Then there is Kelly. Kelly said he would come on tour and we spoke a bit but at the sound check of the first night I was shocked and heartily surprised when all of a sudden I heard the Texan accent booming across the room. There was Kelly! My main man!! Kelly came with his own make up and costume and it was clear from the beginning that he was drawing us all into a unity of purpose. It was only right that he should go out every night into the audience and draw them in with his make up and his antics and his chanting so that, by the time we started the show, there was a unified feeling in the room.
Then there was the surprise of all surprises; sitting at the back of the bar at sound check in Stuttgart was a
big man with a red hat. After the sound check I walked over to the bar and the man said Hey China
and lo and
behold there was one of my best china's from Africa: Tim Parr. Now that was a pleasant surprise
I couldn't believe he pulled it off to come all the way from Africa to be with us on tour. I feel so loved by him.
Furthermore I hurt my back (a slipped disk or some sort of lower back trauma) and Tim Parr laid his hands on me -
I have never ever felt such heat coming off someone's hands in my life before - and the heat penetrated to the
bone and I could feel things were getting back into their own blissful nature ... just before the last gig he did it
again and I walked on stage absolutely pain free! So not only is Tim one of the tastiest guitar players in the world
but he is also a true healer! Nice thing to discover in a friend after twenty years or more of friendship -
I love you Tim and come again soon!!
It was very special to have Andre coming to the shows with his djembe. Such a long time relationship we have had over the years centered around the website and now finally we got to share that long awaited beer and to jam together!! I was especially pleased that he had the courage to come onto stage at the Rock Hard festival and jam with us - good job Andre - good job!
Another special addition to the crew was Johan who was within days renamed Sparky. Sparky did a most excellent job of keeping the show moving along gracefully. Hope to work with him again in the future. And then there was John and Catherine and Phillip who just brought an incredible amount of joy to the tour. John was especially efficient in just catching the ball whenever we needed an extra hand. I always love having him around, what ever I do; his presence is very grounding for me and his service to the greater good of all is always prevalent. Tracy, Kripa and Cynthia joined us later on and brought a freshness of love and dancing. Oh by the way Catherine will now be giving dancing classes on the Robbi Robb almost falling down technique - ha ha ha ... and oh yes Hannah Harp was missed by all! - well maybe next time ...
Every man and woman should have the good fortune to turn all their sufferings and sorrows into such an inward joy. This inward joy is the fountain head of which is the opposite of gravity. Music has the ability to transform all your subtleties into the opposite of gravity. It lifts you up beyond your emotions to the sphere of gentle fragrances and steamy indulgences ... music in the right hands can conquer millions, music lifts you up and sets you to dance ... yeah music is the opposite of gravity ...
It this feeling of gravity-less that I felt so often on stage. Times when the music leaves you and goes up into a place that you never even expected when you rehearsed or wrote the songs. I've heard this happen very few times in a classical conductors life but it happened almost every night on this last little tour.
Special thanks goes to Sabine and to Holger for making it all possible ...
