Milla Time!

MUNICH

After 2 days in Berlin, TFE was off to Munich. I had a solid nap in back of the van before we stopped for lunch midway through our 6 hour drive. This pit stop was actually on top of the highway. Literally. You park, take an elevator and head up to the buffet which overlooks the high speed German highway.
Divertissant!!
Europe definitely maximizes any space possible; on the highway AND in hotel rooms. Ha

Tonight we are playing the Milla in Munich, a real dark basement club. It's definitely one of the cooler venues we've played so far in Europe.

Milla Club, Munich

After soundcheck we ventured across the street to a cozy Italian restaurant called Hey Luigi. Here's there's a real Italian chef! We chowed down on some delicious salads and pasta. It was really good. I recommend it.

The Milla filled up and we played to pretty much a full room, with some more friendly people singing along to the lyrics. Jon ran out into the crowd and did his anthemic trumpet blow out during Old Piano - always a crowd favorite!! I recorded the show.  Upon listening to it the next day, I realized there were some discrepancies in the tempos of certain songs.

Drummer "nerd out" part:
In certain styles of music, a few bpm fluctuation in tempo won't make a drastic difference in the overall vibe of a performance. In pop music, I'm starting to realise that a slight difference in tempo makes a big difference to the overall grooves and parts of the song. Those parts are the recipe for the song and they are built upon a groove to a unique tempo which makes all those parts work together.  Speeding up a groove creates a different feel and consequently could lead to different parts and/or accompaniment to the vocals. I guess this is true of all music in a way, but I bring it up because I noticed that most of the songs that night @ Milla were performed a bit on the bright side. The same parts now had a different feel due to the change in tempos. What's even more intriguing as a drummer is the connection between how a tempo feels when you play it and how it feels when you listen back to it. Clearly in this example, there was a disconnection, because I remember thinking that the songs felt settled and comfortable while I was playing. I was in control of the grooves. But then when I listened to it I felt like the grooves were a bit edgy and "on top" feeling. This is an interesting concept, something that I think all musicians struggle with. How you feel when you're playing and how the listener feels are two very different things. I could write a whole blog post just on this... Anyways, in resume I guess I could just say that every musician should record themselves. Listening back to a live performance will bring to light many things you can continue to develop.

Day 2 = Day Off!

It's almost the end of the tour, and we finally are graced one complete day off.  After a good night's sleep, a morning jog and some killer coffee at Josefa, the nearby cafe, the Franklin crew headed out on some rental bikes to explore the many sights of Munich. Our first stop was the 17th century Nymphenburg Palace or "Castle of the Nymph", a Bavarian Palace just outside of the downtown core. I would say this is a must-see in Munich with the enormous green garden in the back of the property, the ducks and giant swans in the ponds, and the impressive inner ballroom of the Palace. For 6€ you can go inside and take a look, and it's well worth it.

TFE crew @ Nymphenburg Palace

Ballroom of the Nymphenburg Palace

We headed off on our bikes again into downtown to search out some more touristy sights including Marienplatz and the nearby Viktualienmarkt (huge fresh food market) as well as a few legendary Munich beer gardens. The highlight was definitely the beer garden in the English Garden. The English Garden is one of the biggest urban parks in the world  with tons of trails for jogging and biking and a 7000 seat beer garden. Pas mal!! Needless to say, we popped in here for some sights and a few giant one liter beers.

beers in English Garden

Our last stop for the day was some dinner at the Augustiner Bräustuben right across the street from our hotel. This is an epic Bavarian restaurant with traditional food and draught beer. Meat, meat and more meat w potatoes and gravy. Try it! Throw a few pints on top of that and you've got yourself a recipe for sleep. Fek, bonne nuit. One last stop...Zurich.

Final Rant:
After Berlin, Munich is probably my second favorite city in Germany. The vibe at the Milla venue, the good food, and all the touristy sights made this 2 day stop pretty great. It was definitely a great idea to rent bikes and cruise around. If bikes aren't your thing, you can hop on one of those touristy bus things for 22€, but that's not really not my vibe. It was also perfect weather when we were there making it a pretty special visit. Hope we get to go back!

What to see and do in Munich:

Food:
Hey Luigi
http://www.heyluigi.de

Augustiner Bräustuben
(traditional Bavarian restaurant with good beer)
Landsberger Str. 19, 80339 München, Germany

Josefa Café
Westendstraße 29, 80339 München, Germany

Wanna be a tourist?...

Rent bikes.

Nymphenburg Palace
http://www.schloss-nymphenburg.de/index.htm

Marienplatz
(ancient city square)

Viktualienmarkt
(food market)

Accomodation:
Meininger Hotel
(pretty cheap, decent hotel in downtown Munich)
Good for groups. Clean showers!

MEAT!!