Summer storms and rocking rivers - July 11

Spectacular night storm
Photo © Ben Fenner

Steve during the show in Bratislava
Photo © Ben Fenner

Steve with Ben Fenner and Roger Salem

Festival Viking

Ben Fenner, Jo and I have just returned from Hungary after a swift series of gigs with Djabe in that land of intellectual thinkers and hardy party goers who celebrate into the night, where the heat of the day lingers until it sometimes explodes into the most spectacular night storms I have ever seen... It has to be said that guitars like their players enjoy the heat of a good summer. It certainly makes the fingers fly. Hungary was hot. They still have real summers there.

Djabe literally at the helm on a boat, I familiarised with the new set in the warm up gig. They wanted me to incorporate acoustic guitar as well as electric. I was only too willing to oblige. Djabe's music covers many styles from Jazz to funk with Ferenc Kovak's gypsy violin material and Miles Davis style trumpet. Sometimes after a flight and a day's drive you feel like you're on a boat, and this time we actually were. The river was our home for the evening with a backdrop of domes, turrets and dramatic cliffs. Stomping into the night on the Blue Danube was extraordinary. Budapest audiences are always open to musical hybrids. They love unrepeatable riffs, dangerous line-ups and unlikely collisions.

Next day - Bratislava. You might be forgiven for thinking that Bratislava sounds like a whole country but it's the capital city of Slovakia, which like both Budapest and Vienna, proudly overlooks the Danube.

By now we were doing a version of Firth of Fifth with Ferenc's violin opening with that famous melody which has been interpreted by instruments as varied as piano, flute, soprano sax, electric and acoustic guitars. An eastern flavoured melody played in Eastern Europe, returning to its roots in front of an audience open to all surprises...

The heat, then the storms! Huge jagged thunder bolts flashing across skies aglow with sheet lightning, followed by an attack of hailstones the size of your fist... an extraordinary sky battle observed from the open road night journey. We frequently slowed to avoid skidding. Then a sudden calm as we climbed out in Budapest, with just the sound of crickets through a gentle warm breeze.

On to the rock festival in Tokaj the following day, beside vineyards and another beautiful river. Shades of Glastonbury or do I mean Glasnost, along with lots of noisy tattoos and near naked bodies along with the odd Viking or two - you get the scene after a thousand years of festivals in the wake of Woodstock. Here our friend Roger Salem from Switzerland joined us and we all enjoyed the variety of music from other bands before blasting into our own show.

Another huge storm enveloped us as we drove away across terrain as flat as the American prairie on to Debrecen, original home of Djabe's Attila and the second largest city in Hungary. The town was in the grip of wedding procession and folk dancing mania all afternoon... Whatever Happened to Baby Jane meets Children of the Corn - a bit like those scenes in Live and Let Die where the trad jazz funeral provides cloud cover for the murder, alongside some wild pagan rites.

As night fell the electric experience took over. Marshall amps rolled out and we strolled on to the stage. It was a dynamic gig with an enthusiastic audience.

A whirlwind tour, two storms and a rock festival. I'm sure Hungary never sleeps. Even though we've left the party is still going on. A big thank you to friends Peter and Kriszta for their wonderful hospitality, Ben for all his help, Attila for organising everything, and all of Djabe for involving me with their ever evolving shows. Until next time... we love you Hungary.

Bratislava above the Danube

Budapest from the boat

Steve with the Djabe boys