June 1: B&P Tour Day 2 - Hamburg Germany

There’s a certain amount of surrender when you’re a control freak who has DIY & DIED her whole life and then you go into a brand new country, with your brand new label and let them guide you. But once you get over the shock of it all, there is so much to enjoy. Old boats, disco balls in trees, refugees from Kiev sipping beer in the sunshine, piles and piles of colourful papers and albums in a record label office..

We’ve come in at the same time as Carwyn Ellis, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Wales who is best known as being in The Pretenders’ touring band. He hasn’t been in Hamburg since before the pandemic, so it’s been great to have him with me and Michael as Helmut, who runs Legere and his partner Wiebke, take us around.

The big-scale operation that is Def Leppard has been contrasted by a very lovable indie scene here in Hamburg…reminding me of the indie days of Toronto. Talk in German swirls around me and the wind here is chilly by the riverside. I didn’t pack warm clothes for this part of the trip…so Wiebke lent me her cashmere sweater. I explained to her that when Canadians borrow things we are in agony because we think we are inconveniencing someone. She said, “Oh that’s silly. Just take it and run.”

Maybe this is the new motto I will adopt.

We went by Ramona Records which is a pressing plant where Helmut’s 7 inches are pressed. They get pressed on no apparent schedule (only one that suits the owner) but it was great to see where Carwyn’s single got pressed. (“She’s In La” comes out tomorrow, so watch for it.)

I’m not allowed to post these photos on social media but …. because we are in the backstage I can post them as long as they stay private.

Later we will drop by the Angels of Libra practise so I can check out what bass I will play tomorrow and more importantly say hi to the band. They are on the bill tomorrow as well.

This smooth little family is so nice to be a part of. To walk through an office in a foreign country and see my albums in stacks, among Young Gun Silver Fox albums and others, was a beautiful breathtaking sight - one that I was not sure I would ever see again.

On the personal front, I pulled my shoulder in the night. My right one, so trying to rest and not aggravate it as I will need my arm to play the songs I guess. The jet lag isn’t quite over yet so the first few days of any travel are a bit touch and go. Days like this I am glad I am not a trapeze artist like Pink. My set tomorrow is 45 minutes so in some ways it is a joy that not all the pressure is on me to carry a whole night.

But Spain…that’s another story!

PS. The Def Leppard album is #1 at Classical / Classical Crossover in the US. Very proud to be a part of it and still glowing from it quite honestly.

Tomorrow: My First Ever Solo Show in Europe