Hello folks! Greetings from Princesse Grace Avenue in Monaco.
From St. Petersburg to Monte Carlo - the sublime to the ridiculous! The concerts in Russia were wonderful and it was a moving and humbling experience to be able to play there after so long. People were telling me they had waited thirty years to see me play. Better late than never! They also told me that because the old Soviet regime prohibited western rock music, they made illegal records called "Bones" because they were produced using old x-ray film and sometimes you could still see the x-ray photographs! I wouldn't mind having one of those. We travelled by night train from Moscow to St. Petersburg and it was sad to see the poverty of the people at the stations. We left Moscow Central at midnight and all the people there looked exhausted - almost beaten. They have given so much and suffered so much over the centuries the Russian people. I hope with all my heart that better times will come soon for them.
And so we arrived (eventually) in the very fleshpot of Europe, the tax haven Monaco. The three gigs here are among the strangest I have ever had playing as we are for billionaires in a sort of lounge. I have to play so quietly in front of these old fogeys and you just can't do White Room under these conditions. As far as I can see most of Monte Carlo is covered in poodle crap! -Weird. Sorry if I sound grumpy but I can't wait to get to Germany where we play some real concerts in front of real people!
By the way the strangest gig I ever played was Streatham Ice Rink with The Creams where the audience actually skated by every so often!
I'll be in touch from Germany.
Best wishes
Jack
