Bucuresti & a few hours in Istanbul...

One of our esteemed hosts in Bucharest was called Manny…. who immediately got on very well with Maxi due to his similar penchant for fast cars and nice guitars….

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It turned out that Manny had a bar not far from the hotel and tonight was the night that his band got together to practice….

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So, after some dinner at the hotel barbeque, Manny’s wife and best friend came to lead the way….

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…for Maxi, Dave and LSK…

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The bar was called ‘The Garage’ and the atmosphere reminded Maxi of his Soul Food Cafe days…

…after an amazing jam by the resident band URMA… … LSK thought it would be nice to do a little number for them in return…

Seeing how there were only the 3 of them, they decided on ‘In The End’… …a quick memory jog on youtube gave Dave the riff and Maxi his second verse…

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Then a free for all session went on into the early hours of the morning…

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Maxi on Drums!

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Beer, great music, fantastic people… One of the best nights out in ages!

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The next day left a quick hour to look round a tiny part of a wonderful city…

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Then it was time to head off to the festival….

(temperature 39 degress)

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The dressing rooms were well air conditioned but the shower in the middle of the room left little privacy!

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Luckily the temperature dropped ever so slightly as the sun descended….

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Maxi & Blissy had two press interviews to do….

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And maxi got given some local hand-made sunglassess!

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Then it was time to head to the stage….

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SHOWTIME!

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Afterwards found a very happy band, properly pleased at the “beautiful” response from the Romanian crowd…

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A little chill and a beer, to wind down, and it was off to hotel for bed and an early start…

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Early next morning at the airport brought dismay when the airport had canceled all flights due to the annual airshow…!!

"surely they knew about it if its an annual event...?!?"

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Half the day later… the band & crew boarded the plane to Istanbul, Turkey… where it was a slightly cooler 36 degrees…

And arrived with only an hour to spare, before their presence was required at the festival site to meet and greet a few fans…!

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Then a lucky Maxi reaped the benefits of Blissys extra strong keyboard fingers…

"ooh, he's well knotted up"

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Stan catches up on some ironing

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Sudha warms up her drumming weapons

…then time came to gather beside stage for showtime…

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Aftershow, with not much in the way of facilities or entertainment, LSK tried to amplify his i-phone to the room…

…A sing along soon ensued…

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To the bar to the bar to the bar bar bar… was the chant that echoed round the hotel lobby upon return from gig…

Then another 4hrs sleep was attempted, before another early start to catch another flight…

…except this one had the delight of home being at the other end…!

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A quick cigarette on the airport veranda…

…and the weary travellers were more than ready to depart…

Constant journeys by car, bus, plane and ferries, and very little sleep, leaves people in uncertain and sometimes unstable states of mind…

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