8.6.2010 Wien - Porto

Finally a tour that begins without our eyelids screaming from the sensation of something akin to having burning oil poured into them as we are rudely awakened by a 5am alarm. Our trip to Porto had a very comfortable start with a check-in in the early afternoon at Vienna International Airport. We flew via Mallorca and the dreamy, slow landing over the island had us wishing we were staying longer than the time it would take us to change planes for our onward flight to Porto.
We checked into our hotel with larger than average rooms, just a couple of hundred meters from the Casa da Musica where we would be performing tomorrow. A modern design with an annoying key card system for the lifts to the underground rehearsal room. The hall has a reputation for being strikingly beautiful with a great natural sounding acoustic. However, we wouldn’t be setting up there until the next day as we still had a rehearsal to master, arrangements of Mahler songs that we will be performing in Viktring in Corinthia, Austria, on July 9. mathias also wanted to use the time to refresh a couple of the numbers from the Third Dream program so the rehearsal was concentrated and intense.
As our stomachs began to growl it was decided that recommendation from Joris of a restraurant in the downtown area would be reserved for most of the band.

A small group, of exactly two, decided to forgo a taxi trip in the pouring rain and try the Churacharia directly opposite the concert hall. With a coal grill in the window glowing receptively, we began a carnivores delight. Our double table was laden to breaking point with an unusual cut of tenderly grilled beef, local sausages, black beans that were to be mixed with rice and flour mixture to thicken and a strange grassy side order. A bottle of the local red wine, and number of generous brandy’s later, we found ourselves meeting up with the returning “downtowners” at the hotel bar. They had survived a similarly meat heavy meal and so our thoughts returned to the consummation of digestives to ease the approaching night’s sleep. We were to regret this the next morning,

9.6.2010 Porto

While some band members took advantage of breaks in the rain downpour to visit the old city center, the brandy recoverers hid in darkened rooms nursing bruised cerebellums until our soundcheck in the late afternoon. The hall is spectacular. 

A simple rectangular room, seating around 1200, with avant-garde glass features set into the walls, and according to Martin, the mother of all mother’s sound systems. We detected a sense of contentedness in his voice as he did a soundcheck with the individual instruments. The onstage sound was a bit over acoustic without an audience but the local monitor technician did his best to satisfy our needs.

We were invited to a pre-concert dinner in the very funky restaurant on the seventh floor. With multi coloured rectangular panels as a feature and soft mood lighting, we enjoyed a wonderful three course meal that finished with a chocolate eaters delight.
It was a 10pm concert start which meant an effective midnight start (Vienna time) for those not playing in the small line ups in the first half. The hall was more than half full and the audience sat close to the stage. mathias practiced his introduction by the stage door, remembering that we are now in the year 2010. Perhaps it was just the lateness of the gig because the response from the listeners was terrific, but the show finished for one of the very few times without an encore.

It was Alegre’s fiftieth birthday!

After we stumbled down the metal stairs for the last time - why design a concert hall where the dressing rooms are two floors below the stage and the only access is via a long, steep, stainless steel stairway - it was time to celebrate. We left the fluorescent lit canteen and continued to a club near the hotel. The music was loud and not particularly inspiring and most of the band stood outside partying. Thanks be to Martin for hijacking the DJ’s desk with his iPod and laying a groove. mathias was observed, head shrouded in a scarf, stepping up the tempo on the dance floor. It was going to be a rough start for some band members the next day.

10.6.2010 Porto - Wien

The perpetual rain had broken and with a 2pm departure it was time to check out the city. Porto has a modern metro network, obviously an attempt to revitalise the city’s economy, and it was only a short trip into town.

The downtown area has many grand buildings, harking back to a time where the city was an important trading post. Founded in the 4th century, it has lent it’s name to port wine (Vinho do Porto) that is produced in Vila Nova de Gaia, a city just across the river. Many of the magnificent buildings in the twisting streets of the city center and the large opulent squares are fading memories of better times. There are however signs of renewal and the city will undoubtably regain some of its former glory as the renovations continue.
With everyone seated on the bus to the airport, Alegre suddenly remembered he had left some instruments in the hall the previous night. He dived into a taxi for the 200 meter trip to the hall then ran around like a headless chook trying to gain access to the backstage area, forgetting that it might not be that easy on a public holiday. A very sweaty and out of breath Brazilian was happy to see the bus waiting for him next to the concert hall. It’s not the first time he has done something like this, and it certainly won’t be the last. You only turn fifty once!