The Southern Blues Kings Czech Tour 2016

Gig List - 20th to 29th May 2016

20th | Pansky Dum Chotebor

21st | Cafe Klub Slavie Ceske Budejovice

22nd | Chrestove Slavnosti Ivancice

24th | Tiskarna Na Vzduchu Prague (Cancelled)

26th | KC Labut Ricany

27th | Kulturni Dum Kralovice

28th | Private Party Budejovice

We decided that we would use our own backline gear for this tour. Last years hired gear was great but we found it all too heavy with flight cases etc. Terry and Jimmie were very kindly sponsored by SONOR and HOHNER respectively. A Huge thank you to Thomas Barth [SONOR Artists Relations Manager] and David Hofrichter [Czech Distributor Sonorista CZ Manager] who very kindly had the Drum Kit waiting for us at our first gig. A big thank you as well to Steve Procter from HOHNER who supplied Jimmie with a whole bunch of Blues Harps.

The Drum Kit was a SONOR Prolite in Silver Sparkle with Maple Shells. Snare Drum [Gavin Harrison Signature Protean Special Edition].

This, our second mini tour of the Czech Republic, got under way on the 17th with Tomas, Ziza and Terry heading off in Tomas’s Volvo Battleship to catch the Ferry across the channel to Calais. It was a 13hr journey and went off without a hitch! Jimmie and I left at 3pm on the 18th and made our way by Taxi to Gatwick Airport to hook up with our 7pm EasyJet flight to Prague. Our flight was an hour late [typical EasyJet] but apart from that everything ran smoothly and Tomas picked us up at around 10pm at Prague Airport.

We kicked off the Tour on the 20th May at our favourite venue, Pansky Dum in Chotebor. It was a disappointing turnout really compared to last year when the place was packed. However, the audience was very lively and appreciative. The Manager, Pavel Paul Halama, was very welcoming as usual and made us feel right at home with a well laden table of eats and loads of liquid refreshment. The “warm up” was local act “Shout the blues Band” and it was great to see Katerina Ramirez again as well as Professional Photographer Romolo Cicutto, who’s photo’s are always first class.

The following gig on the 21st was at Cafe Club Slavie in Budejovice. Nice appreciative crowd - success! Next gig on the 22nd was a lot of fun. We played an afternoon stint at the Annual Asparagas Festival in Ivancice. A lovely big outdoor Stage with a great PA and a good soundman in attendance. There was a great aroma of BBQ and all sorts of food being prepared at the numerous Stalls dotted around the Town square. Ziza’s Dad, Petr Stupka: http://kulinar.cz - who is a well known Chef in the Czech Republic, had his own Stall at the Festival!

Unfortunately the next gig on the 24th at Tiskarna Na Vzduchu in Prague was cancelled due to bad weather. We did however still spend some time in Prague due to the Hotel having been booked etc. It was great to do a bit of sightseeing.

Next up - KC Labut Ricany on the 26th. This was a really nice gig. A proper music venue with a killer PA system and Sandman to match. Nice long room with a big stage, great lighting, proper dressing room etc. Nice big crowd!

Second to last gig - 27th. This was in Tomas’s Hometown, Kralovice and we all had great expectations. Unfortunately the turnout wasn’t as good as expected and we we’re all pretty sad for Tommy who had put so much hard work into promoting this gig. However those who attended had a great time as did we. The last gig of the Tour (doesn’t time fly) was in Budejovice and was Ziza’s Dad’s 60th Birthday Party. He hired a Hotel on the outskirts of Budejovice. We all had rooms for the night which meant we could let our hair down and enjoy ourselves. The food and drink flowed in true Czech fashion.

Apart from the Prague cancellation disappointment, the Tour was a fair success. We have however decided that we should give it a break next year and maybe look at somewhere else in Europe.

Watch this space!