Fan-Tour-Diary for the "Left to Lie Tour 2010"
Fan-Tour-Diary for the "Left to Lie Tour 2010"
After the success of our tour diary about the European leg of Bobby’s „Dangerous Summer Tour" last year we decided to do some write-ups again for every show of the European "Left to Lie Tour" in 2010, written by and for fans of Bobby Long.
As a friend of mine wrote recently, this tour might have been better called "In the Frost Tour" just to pay tribute to the topic of "season" and "weather".
We are neither professional writers, nor music critics and we can’t ensure objectivity, that’s for sure, but we try to display our own experiences about each and every show for those who couldn’t be there. And hopefully you’ll all have the pleasure of attending a Bobby show in the near future.
Visit Bobby’s MySpace
Tom Lüneburger (German support act)
19.01.2010 Sinkkasten, Frankfurt
Bobby Long Sinkkasten, Frankfurt
Photo Credit: Sonja
Bobby is back in Germany. And this time he is not alone. Round about 200 fans and the musician Tom Lüneburger, who supports him during his European tour, are with him.
Tom is a German artist from Berlin. At 8.40 PM and then for 30 minutes he played songs from his actually album "good intentions". He played a great mix of slow and faster songs. Everyone seemed to be enthusiasm. He was very thankful for the crowd and left the stage for Bobby.
here is a video of Tom's performance.
9.15 PM Bobby entered the stage and the girls started to scream.
Play list:
1. Hide yours I’ll hide mine
2. Bounty of Mary Jane
3. In the frost
4. Winter tale
5. Sick man blues
6. Who have you been loving
7. A passing tale
8. Two years old
9. Penance fire blues
10. Stranger Song
11. Two tone lover
12. Dead and done
------------------------------------
13. Being a Mockingbird
14.
After the first song he told us that he’s happy to be back in Germany and that he loves the German food.
Everybody could see that he felt good. He was joking and told us strange stories about his live in a tree in London.
Written by: Jenni, Franzi, Sonja
21.01.2010 Lupos Rockshop, Stuttgart
Bobby Long Lupos Rockshop, Stuttgart
Photo Credit: Maike
After the sound check at Club Zentral in Stuttgart Bobby made time for playing a free gig for approximately 25 fans in Lupos Rockshop.
He started out with his new song “Hide yours, I’ll hide mine” and went on with an audience request “In the Frost” - this song caught me the first time I heard an unplugged version of it and since then never let go. It was nice to hear it in this little guitar shop.
After playing “Dead and Done” Bobby surprised us with a sublime performance of “a happy winter/a winter tale” on an electric guitar, lent by the shop owners.
Afterwards he was so kind and took photos with fans and gave autographs and then headed back to the venue of that evening’s show.
Video Lupos Rockshop, Stuttgart
Written by: Maike
21.01.2010 Club Zentral, Stuttgart
Bobby Long Club Zentral, Stuttgart
Photo Credit: Maike
Later that evening an audience of 180 people gathered in the Club Zentral for the show.
Support act Tom Lüneburger started at 8 pm with songs like “station to station” and
“picture”.
The feeling was just right and this evening should fulfil all the promises it gave in advance. Bobby and Tom soon cast a spell over the audience and these two unique performances were melting into one great musical experience.
Bobby started his set with “hide yours, I’ll hide mine” and “the Bounty of Mary Jane” before he dedicated his current favourite “a Stranger’s Song” to the people who helped him out in the road and added “she hasn’t got you”.
Bobby told us about a friend of his who’s mad at Stuttgart because they bought Hitzelsperger, a German football player - or soccer - back from Aston Villa.
He told Bobby to send him back to England....well in my opinion, I guess it won’t make any difference, Germany will always win over England, but anyways, back to music.
The next songs were “The Borough Mill”, a song about England, and “in the frost”.
Before he played “a happy winter/ a winter tale” he explained that even though he played this song earlier that day on an electric guitar, he won’t leave his roots. He was a bit afraid that the audience would react as the one at Newport Folk Festival back in 1965, when Dylan went electric and Pete Seeger wanted so smash the leads with an axe.... surely WE didn’t start booing. Once asked in an interview for a guitar magazine which his most influential guitar player was, whether it was Dylan, or Mississippi John Hurt Bobby answered “Tony Iommy” from Black Sabbath, who was the reason he wrapped the ends of his fingers a month ago and so he dedicated “a happy winter/ a winter tale” to Tony Iommy and even played snippets of “Iron Man” - what a wonderful crossover evening.
The next song was “who have you been loving“, one of the audiences favourites and almost everybody sang along, which seemed to please Bobby, who wanted to go on and on with this song, making it the last one of this evening, however the audience would have done so, but luckily Bobby decided to play a couple more...what a pity if we had missed songs like “two years old“ or “left to lie” and taking us on a roller coaster ride with a cover of “lovin’s for fools” (Sarah Siskind) that brought tears to my eyes before “penance fire blues” with a powerful extended intro blew us all off our feet!!
No need to say how the audience liked the following songs “Two Tone Lover” and “Dead and Done” if you ever heard these songs played live.
Bobby had the lyrics for “Between the Bars” written down. A cover of Elliott Smith which is not only a good song but my absolute Elliott Smith favourite and therefore not allowed to be covered by everybody, but Bobby showed himself worthy to do so and gave it his own special twist - not as fragile as Elliott’s, but more corporeal and longing in equal shares and I have to say I really liked his interpretation.
He closed his set after 90 min with “being a mockingbird” and “a game we’re playing”, a song he definitely should sing more often although I clearly know Bobby can’t play each and every one of his 38 songs that I know by now and I’m pretty sure there’s much more silently sleeping inside.
I saw many new faces in the audience not only in Stuttgart that night but at shows all over Germany and I’m sure Bobby might have won a couple more fans.
Let’s all meet at the next concerts again.
Video Club Zentral, Stuttgart
Written by: Maike
22.01.2010 Schlachthof, Kassel
Bobby Long Schlachthof, Kassel
Photo Credit: Dorothée
Passing the bar part of the venue, we reach a small separate room which is in equal measure high and wide. The light is dimmed already and the first people are waiting in front of the stage and along the walls. The stage, draped in thick curtains and reddish light, is decorated with a piano, lighted candles and tulips. Damn romantic.
In the end the room is filled with about 180 people (I asked the woman at the entrance). Sold out! Not bad!
It’s time for Tom Lüneburger to enter the stage. He tells that it’s fun to be on tour with Bobby, which he is for about a week now. He plays songs like: Good Intentions, Station to Station, Yesterday is Gone, This Year and Pictures.
After a short break Phil Taylor prepares everything for Bobby to come, which he does on the instant. Mr. Plaid Shirt takes a seat on a bar stool. But there are technical problems. “Where is my guitar?” The amplifier doesn’t work. Phil and Tom had to help to solve the problem by changing the wires. The first songs of the evening are Left to lie and A Stranger Song and goes on with The Borough Mill and In the Frost.
Sometime between the songs he grabs his beer and said: “Germany has really good beer and a lot of other things. I’m sick of drinking Bud Light in America!”
The next song, A Winter's Tale, is dedicated to Tom. Once again, as we know our Mr. Long, he plays whole new melodies on his beautiful Gibson guitar before he actually starts playing a song. Here and there we can hear some notes of Two Years Old and I’m excited to hear one of my favourite songs.
But apparently just playing music is too boring, so we have the horror to attend, Bobby’s story time:
“…we were talking yesterday with people I’m travelling with in this car around this European Tour and say all was going well, we hadn’t had any problems and then, all of a sudden, last night the lights of the car stopped working on the motorway and we did 150 km/h or something stupid. So we drove like this for 3 hours, and I've been the driver, so...” The people are laughing as he is too and the story goes on. “I found a little dog, called Rusty; we played for a little bit. No, I'm lying, I’m just a liar. This song is called Who Have You Been Loving.”
Now Bobby tells us that he was writing Hide Yours. I’ll Hide Mine during recording his album and put the song down in step two. The next day some kid recorded it himself and put it on youtube, which Bobby thought was great. So he plays the song for him.
After this new song he played So Tear Me Up.
And then the legend... wait for it...diary story of the “sex song.” Before he even said a word, you can see how uncomfortable he is with what is coming up.
One has the feeling that he doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry!
"A very horrible story of pain and woe and agony and sex and drugs…. (You really feel his agony!) I'm not crying it’s just this image in my head... I walked in this house (of his mate) and I hear one of my songs playing (laughs)… and he walked down the stairs, all red-faced and he has been having sex during my song, which I found really weird. (At this point he is really embarrassed, and I have the feeling he just wants to disappear)... I felt invaded. I felt like I was there. It's like having a threesome... with my voice... This is the sex song and it’s called Two Tone Lover.” (The whole story, if you want to feel with him: here); Bobby starts to play the song, but he just can’t go on. He has to stop. He said he is sorry, but he couldn’t play Two Tone Lover right now. Instead we heard Penance Fire Blues.
“I’m going to do a cover... I don't often do covers. I have quite a lot of songs not finished or not quiet finished...and lyrics fly every day... This one is a song from one of my favourite singers Elliott Smith.... (Bobby looks to the audience, laughing. A girl catches his attention) Do you want some water...she is about panting down there...this is called between the bars” (one can hear a loud “yea...” from the same corner. Bobby stops once again, laughs and checks what’s going on) is that the same person? No it’s a different person!?”
And then, finally, he plays this cover song. My favourite one, especially with his voice!
The next song is Being a Mockingbird followed by Dead and Done where the audience sings along as usual. The last song is Dublin. Bobby wishes everybody a save trip home and wants to come back soon. Last but not least he wants to sell some of his stuff: “I’ve got some CD´s and stuff and t-shirt’s and bags and tooth brush holders, helmets, about everything…”
Bobby leaves the stage accompanied by lots of applause. Nonetheless the first people leave the venue. Hellooooooo! What’s going on?? Unfortunately the people left can’t get him to do an encore.
Anyway, it was a wonderful and funny evening with lots of nice people and an amazing Bobby Long.
Written By: Dorothée
28.01.2010 Wabe, Berlin
Bobby Long Wabe, Berlin
Photo Credit: Anne
BERLIN. Imagine a darkened room full of nervous and giddy girls waiting for a certain someone. Certain someone who stood in the room even before the concert started, unnoticed by his fans...
This time the anticipated concert started without a massive delay. The supporting act Tom Lüneburger impressed the more than 200 viewers with his awesome voice. He really doesn’t have to take a step back behind main act Bobby Long, as he is just as talented, but a little more hesitant.
After finishing with a beautiful love song, Tom was rewarded with a huge applause.
Shortly afterwards Bobby already started, much to the dismay of many girls who were still outside, trying to get new drinks. Not that they could hold a grudge against Bobby.
Once he was on stage, a couple of too enthusiastic girls started screaming and holding up a rather embarrassing poster. After asking them to please be quiet (which they obviously didn’t hear) Bobby started his act. After beginning with “The bounty of Mary Jane”, he began his usual talking - this time telling us about the “vodka game” (change the glass of water on the nightstand of your victim to pure vodka - “gin works, too”) and his snake, which escaped for two weeks after six months of living in her little house. Bobby added that he didn’t spend much time in his flat as long as the snake wasn’t back in her “cage”.
But obviously he wasn’t afraid. You didn’t think that, did you?
The fan girls wouldn’t stop screaming and laughing, so Bobby figured he’s “probably gotten into a hen night here, right?”
Moving on with the concert, the talented musician told us “Berlin’s special. I’m here a lot - a lot of few. And I keep getting free stuff.”
The song “In the frost” was introduced by his dislike of snow. This is understandable as he was “bombarded by snow balls by children when he arrived in Berlin”.
Throughout the show, Mr Long kept whistling. He didn’t knew why either.
Finishing after 14 songs with “Dead and Done” (with the harmonica and the audience singing along) and “Dublin” Bobby left the stage with a short monologue.
“Most of the time I’m depressed, moping around and trying to get the hair out of my eyes [most girls were laughing here, which confused Bobby, as it wasn’t really meant as a joke until now]. No, I’m joking. But thanks for not throwing things at me [who does that?]. Berlin - this was one of my favourite shows in the last seven months. Honestly, I’m not saying that often. I never said that before.”
After leaving the stage under a thunderous applause, Bobby came back with a new and obviously unfinished love song. Another great evening with Bobby Long ended with the possibility of buying (this time already signed) posters, CDs and other merchandise. You could grab Tom’s EP and posters as well.
If you didn’t catch the talented English man this time - according to reliable sources (thanks again, Phil, for always being so nice) his first studio album is going to come out in June/July 2010. Afterwards he’s going to tour the European capitals, centring on Berlin, in late September and the whole of October.
Written by: Anne
30.01.2010 Sargfabrik, Wien
Bobby Long Sargfabrik, Wien
Photo Credit: Nicole
We were driving with 5 Girls and great mood to the venue Sargfabrik. Usually I am the one who can't quit talking but right before we arrived I couldn't talk anymore, I was pretty excited. We found a parking spot close to the venue, and I was so excited how the venue will look like and how many people would be there. I'd say the Sargfabrik is a cool old location, but it was a bit like a better youthcenter. A lot of people were already there, everyone were really excited. I'm not that good in guessing, but I would say we were around 100 people. We went inside and found a spot close to the stage. Less then 5 minutes later my friend said "cap from right" I turn around and Bobby enters behind Phil. He went straight behind the stage. Around 20.15h the first singer entered the stage Tovt (Trouble over Tokyo) and I was pretty stoked. Great gentle voice and I had goose bumps. Sadly he just played 4 songs. Would have liked to hear more. After that the great Tom. He was a bit shaking and my friend said too that he didn't look so good. Well and then Tom said, that he drank 7 coffee in 2 hours, I would be shaking after that as well. And than finally the moment had come, Bobby entered the stage. I heard the first sound and I was blown away. He was awesome like always, but the concert developed to be a bit chaotic. One of the string rips and Phil is bringing him Tom's guitar. As he is bringing it back he stumbles and almost falls down. Bobby couldn't stop laughing. He continues playing but another string rips again. Phil wants to get the guitar back, but somehow the cables of the guitars were tembled, after they got the guitars apart again, Bobby walks to the front of the stage again and hits his head against the mic. He hinted to crash his guitar on the floor, just like a rockstar. We laughed a lot during his show, and the time went by way too fast. The audience was great. While Bobby was singing they were silent and listened to the songs, but really cheered between the songs. After the gig we talked a bit with Tom"Ole ole MSV" and with Phil. I didn't regret driving to Vienna, on the contrary, it was more than beautiful.
Written by: Nicole
31.01.2010 Backstage, München
Bobby Long Backstage, München
Photo Credit: Yvonne
Dressed in the polka-dot-shirt, Bobby Long entered the stage of snowy Munich. The 200-person-audience enjoyed the songs and the little stories about his nephew, Munich and the champions league and the nudist colony in the English garden.
Setlist Backstage, München
Photo Credit: Yvonne
Sad Woman Blues
In The Frost
The Borough Mill
Left To Lie
My Darling Belle
A Winter Tale
Hide Yours, I'll Hide Mine
Who Have You Been Loving
This Strange Love
A Strangers Song
Penance Fire Blues - (Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed)
Two Tone Lover (dedicated to Mona)
Dead And Done
(House Of The Rising Sun) - Two Years Old
Mary Jane dedicated to Tom (his least favourite song)... somewhere in between.
Nice video, which summarises it all here
Written by: Amelie
04.02.2010 Altes Pfandhaus, Köln
Bobby Long Altes Pfandhaus, Köln
Phot Credit: Ansch
So the gig was at the “Altes Pfandhaus” in Cologne. Pretty nice venue, very artistic with pictures of musicians and all, it was really nice.
There were already a lot of people sitting and standing in the room when we arrived, more than 200 people as we got to know and fortunately a lot of guys (not just three again ^^ )…
There was a guy from Cologne who started the evening. He was pretty good and funny, tried lifting the mood and get people to sing along which worked kind of…
After that Tom came “on stage”, played his beautiful songs and talked to everyone a lot. He’s actually pretty funny. He said that he’s gonna marry Bobby and that they’re going to move in together. ;)
Then it was time for Bobby.
It was once again beautiful and the time went by way to fast. Bobby really liked the venue. He said he always wanted to play in a venue like that.
He really talked a lot during his performance. And again we had quiet some laughs. During the show he told us about his grams who just moved into another city and he dedicated “in the frost” to her.
He also told the really funny story about his little nephew. Who likes to answer the phone and skype, but won't talk to you (just sings and dances) until his mom comes to get the phone. Bobby told us the story about the time when his little nephew answered skype naked. It was a really funny story.
The setlist:
Bounty of Mary Jane
Left to Lie
Who have you been loving
Hide yours I'll hide mine
The Borough Mill
In the Frost (dedicated to his grand mom)
A winter tale
A stranger Song (dedicated to Mona)
Sick man blues
Cover Song (unfortunately we didn't catch the title)
Two tone lover
Penance Fire Blues (again with a beautiful intro)
Two years old (dedicated to Tom)
Dead and Done
Dublin
The sweetest part of all was when he started playing the harmonica during “Dead And Done”. So awesome plus really impressive how he can do all that stuff together….
He dedicated "A Stranger Song" to Mona, she was with him and Phil throughout the whole Tour and drove them from city to city. He imitated her talking (swearing) in English what was pretty funny.
We’re really happy that Bobby’s fan base is growing so much. So thx a lot for your support!
You can watch the whole show at our Youtube Channel
We hope you like it.
Written by: Kage & Ansch
05.02.2010 Freiheit&Roosen and Logo, Hamburg
Bobby Long Logo, Hamburg
Phot Credit: Maike
It was a cold and snowy Friday in Hamburg when Bobby played his second show in our city.
Like last time he had a showcase at the record-store Freiheit&Roosen but this time it was really crowded. His support Tom Lüneburger played first, about 3 songs. (You should check him out, he’s really good! His Myspace)
Next Bobby fought his way through all the girls and started with ‘Cold, cold loving’.
He worried about messing up the next one, his new song ‘Oh Carrie’ but as you can imagine he didn’t, it was beautiful.
Last song for the afternoon was ‘A Stranger Song’.
Afterwards the guys had to hurry to the sound-check at the Logo.
Shortly after 9 pm Tom opened the evening and played a great set, including songs you can find on his MySpace like ‘Good Intentions’ or ‘Station To Station’.
Between the songs he told us, he really likes Bobby and that they will get married. About 40 minutes later, Tom finished and Bobby, welcomed with a thunderous applause, took the stage. He said that he’s really happy to be back and likes the venue.
He started with ‘The Bounty Of Mary-Jane’, went on with ‘Left To Lie’ and asked us to throw some coins or jewellery on the stage if we had stolen it somewhere on the internet, as it was the first song you could buy. One girl threw her bracelet on stage which he hung up on the microphone stand.
Before playing ‘Hide Yours, I’ll Hide Mine’ Bobby told us the only bad thing about Hamburg is all the ice on the streets and how he fell down about 3 times that day. Hereupon he had a little conversation about winter and white stuff falling out of heaven with an audience member.
Next song was ‘The Borough Mill’ which was followed by a story about how he and Phil got lost in Cologne. ‘In The Frost’, ‘Sick Man Blues’, ‘Who Have You Been Loving’, ‘A Winter Tale’, ‘A Stranger’s Song’ and ‘The Rattle and Roll’ were next, followed by ‘Two Tone Lover’ which he dedicated to Tom because he was great to tour with, but he had to interrupt himself after the first line by saying that it sounds quite gay and he should have picked another song. Bobby went on with a great ‘Penance Fire Blues’-Medley which he started with Sam Bradley’s ‘Even Thought Of Leaving’ and ended with Muddy Water’s/Willie Dixon’s ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’. The supposed to be two last songs were ‘Two Years Old’ and ‘Dead And Done’ but we were able to get him out again for an encore of two songs, ‘Dublin’s There For Me’ and ‘Being A Mockingbird’.
Somewhere between the songs Bobby told another funny story about a fan that got a tattoo of his face on her backside.
All in all it was a funny, crowded (approximately 250 people) night, filled with great music.
Written by: Lisa
06.02.2010 Perron 55, Venlo
Bobby Long Perron 55, Venlo
Phot Credit: Maike
His last show of the "Left To Lie European Tour" was in Venlo, Netherlands on the 6th February 2010.
The show started at 9.30pm. Fortunately - because we just decided to attend his show and drive from Hamburg to Venlo at 4pm in the afternoon and it was a long and very confusing way to get there. So we arrived just in time - too bad we missed the fantastic support-act Natascha Leonie.
The Perron 55 was two-storied. In the basement were a smoking lounge and a bar. Upstairs the stage and another bar. The venue wasn’t overload but all in all there were nearly 200 people.
Bobby started his set with "The Borough Mill".
He wasn’t that talkative this night, it looked like he was deep in thoughts or something - he played all his songs with a deep ease and seriousness.
The audience on the other hand was very talkative but Bobby wasn’t initially taken aback from his doing.
He went straight on with "A Stranger Song“, "In The Frost" and "Afternoon To Afternoon".
Then he started with a Robert Johnson cover "Crossroads Blues" that turned into "A Winter Tale".
Next songs on the list were: "Being A Mockingbird", "Who Have You Been Loving", "Two Years Old", "Penance Fire Blues", "Two Tone Lover" and "Hangman".
I’ve never heard him play this song before, he didn’t dedicate it to someone but it seemed like he played it for someone special - it was very soulful!
His last song for this night was "Dead And Done" with an amazing cover-intro from Bob Dylans "You’re No Good".
So far I know he never started "Dead And Done" with a cover-intro but I think he definitely should do it more often cause it sounds fabulous.
Solely because Phil and Bobby had to catch a flight early next morning in Hamburg Bobby left the stage and the venue very quickly and didn’t play an encore.
Written by: Juli
03.03.2010 Relentless Garage, London
Bobby Long Relentless Garage, London
Phot Credit: Yvonne
On March 3rd Bobby played in the course of the Little Howdy Do Festival @ the Relentless Garage in London.
Due to the fact it was his last show so far in Europe and we still have no idea when he’s going to be back we decided to attend the show and kinda say "goodbye".
All in all there were 8 bands playing at the festival, so the venue was separated in Main Room and Minibar.
Bobbys show was in the Main Room. There played also 6 Day Riot, Megafaun and Kitty Daisy and Lewis.
In the Minibar played at the same time Thomas J Spight, Matthew and the Atlas, Pete Roe and Gideon Conn.
We arrived at 6pm, right before the doors opened.
Bobbys set was scheduled at 8.50pm. So we had some time to check out the other bands which were all fantastic.
The time before he entered the stage he stood in the back of the venue in the audience. (Well placed in front of the women restrooms and the bar. ^^)
Bobby was recognized by some fans, (I hardly identified him, because he finally got a new haircut... ;)) he talked to them very friendly, he was also willing to take some pics.
But he wasn’t bothered by anybody, he seemed very relaxed.
Bobby entered the stage nearly in time after a short guitar tuning by Phil.
He said "Hi" and started with "Hide yours I’ll hide mine".
The Main Room was crowded (round about 400pax) and the vibes were fabulous and the audience very supportive...
Bobby dedicated some of his songs to British pop singer Cheryl Cole.
(I don’t have a clue why and I think he doesn’t neither he just said he loves to dedicate songs to her.)
Bobby played 7 songs and after "Hide Yours I’ll Hide Mine" he went on with "Who Have You Been Loving" "A Winter Tale" "In The Frost" "The Borough Mill" and „A Stranger Song".
His last song was a new and very slow version of Penance Fire Blues, I’ve never heard it in this pace before - it was gorgeous.
When he finished he left the stage quickly, just to appear a few moments later with some friends at his favourite place near the bar to have some beer and gave his support to the other artists.
Written by: Juli
After the success of our tour diary about the European leg of Bobby’s „Dangerous Summer Tour" last year we decided to do some write-ups again for every show of the European "Left to Lie Tour" in 2010, written by and for fans of Bobby Long.
As a friend of mine wrote recently, this tour might have been better called "In the Frost Tour" just to pay tribute to the topic of "season" and "weather".
We are neither professional writers, nor music critics and we can’t ensure objectivity, that’s for sure, but we try to display our own experiences about each and every show for those who couldn’t be there. And hopefully you’ll all have the pleasure of attending a Bobby show in the near future.
Visit Bobby’s MySpace
Tom Lüneburger (German support act)
19.01.2010 Sinkkasten, Frankfurt
Bobby Long Sinkkasten, Frankfurt
Photo Credit: Sonja
Bobby is back in Germany. And this time he is not alone. Round about 200 fans and the musician Tom Lüneburger, who supports him during his European tour, are with him.
Tom is a German artist from Berlin. At 8.40 PM and then for 30 minutes he played songs from his actually album "good intentions". He played a great mix of slow and faster songs. Everyone seemed to be enthusiasm. He was very thankful for the crowd and left the stage for Bobby.
here is a video of Tom's performance.
9.15 PM Bobby entered the stage and the girls started to scream.
Play list:
1. Hide yours I’ll hide mine
2. Bounty of Mary Jane
3. In the frost
4. Winter tale
5. Sick man blues
6. Who have you been loving
7. A passing tale
8. Two years old
9. Penance fire blues
10. Stranger Song
11. Two tone lover
12. Dead and done
------------------------------------
13. Being a Mockingbird
14.
After the first song he told us that he’s happy to be back in Germany and that he loves the German food.
Everybody could see that he felt good. He was joking and told us strange stories about his live in a tree in London.
Written by: Jenni, Franzi, Sonja
21.01.2010 Lupos Rockshop, Stuttgart
Bobby Long Lupos Rockshop, Stuttgart
Photo Credit: Maike
After the sound check at Club Zentral in Stuttgart Bobby made time for playing a free gig for approximately 25 fans in Lupos Rockshop.
He started out with his new song “Hide yours, I’ll hide mine” and went on with an audience request “In the Frost” - this song caught me the first time I heard an unplugged version of it and since then never let go. It was nice to hear it in this little guitar shop.
After playing “Dead and Done” Bobby surprised us with a sublime performance of “a happy winter/a winter tale” on an electric guitar, lent by the shop owners.
Afterwards he was so kind and took photos with fans and gave autographs and then headed back to the venue of that evening’s show.
Video Lupos Rockshop, Stuttgart
Written by: Maike
21.01.2010 Club Zentral, Stuttgart
Bobby Long Club Zentral, Stuttgart
Photo Credit: Maike
Later that evening an audience of 180 people gathered in the Club Zentral for the show.
Support act Tom Lüneburger started at 8 pm with songs like “station to station” and
“picture”.
The feeling was just right and this evening should fulfil all the promises it gave in advance. Bobby and Tom soon cast a spell over the audience and these two unique performances were melting into one great musical experience.
Bobby started his set with “hide yours, I’ll hide mine” and “the Bounty of Mary Jane” before he dedicated his current favourite “a Stranger’s Song” to the people who helped him out in the road and added “she hasn’t got you”.
Bobby told us about a friend of his who’s mad at Stuttgart because they bought Hitzelsperger, a German football player - or soccer - back from Aston Villa.
He told Bobby to send him back to England....well in my opinion, I guess it won’t make any difference, Germany will always win over England, but anyways, back to music.
The next songs were “The Borough Mill”, a song about England, and “in the frost”.
Before he played “a happy winter/ a winter tale” he explained that even though he played this song earlier that day on an electric guitar, he won’t leave his roots. He was a bit afraid that the audience would react as the one at Newport Folk Festival back in 1965, when Dylan went electric and Pete Seeger wanted so smash the leads with an axe.... surely WE didn’t start booing. Once asked in an interview for a guitar magazine which his most influential guitar player was, whether it was Dylan, or Mississippi John Hurt Bobby answered “Tony Iommy” from Black Sabbath, who was the reason he wrapped the ends of his fingers a month ago and so he dedicated “a happy winter/ a winter tale” to Tony Iommy and even played snippets of “Iron Man” - what a wonderful crossover evening.
The next song was “who have you been loving“, one of the audiences favourites and almost everybody sang along, which seemed to please Bobby, who wanted to go on and on with this song, making it the last one of this evening, however the audience would have done so, but luckily Bobby decided to play a couple more...what a pity if we had missed songs like “two years old“ or “left to lie” and taking us on a roller coaster ride with a cover of “lovin’s for fools” (Sarah Siskind) that brought tears to my eyes before “penance fire blues” with a powerful extended intro blew us all off our feet!!
No need to say how the audience liked the following songs “Two Tone Lover” and “Dead and Done” if you ever heard these songs played live.
Bobby had the lyrics for “Between the Bars” written down. A cover of Elliott Smith which is not only a good song but my absolute Elliott Smith favourite and therefore not allowed to be covered by everybody, but Bobby showed himself worthy to do so and gave it his own special twist - not as fragile as Elliott’s, but more corporeal and longing in equal shares and I have to say I really liked his interpretation.
He closed his set after 90 min with “being a mockingbird” and “a game we’re playing”, a song he definitely should sing more often although I clearly know Bobby can’t play each and every one of his 38 songs that I know by now and I’m pretty sure there’s much more silently sleeping inside.
I saw many new faces in the audience not only in Stuttgart that night but at shows all over Germany and I’m sure Bobby might have won a couple more fans.
Let’s all meet at the next concerts again.
Video Club Zentral, Stuttgart
Written by: Maike
22.01.2010 Schlachthof, Kassel
Bobby Long Schlachthof, Kassel
Photo Credit: Dorothée
Passing the bar part of the venue, we reach a small separate room which is in equal measure high and wide. The light is dimmed already and the first people are waiting in front of the stage and along the walls. The stage, draped in thick curtains and reddish light, is decorated with a piano, lighted candles and tulips. Damn romantic.
In the end the room is filled with about 180 people (I asked the woman at the entrance). Sold out! Not bad!
It’s time for Tom Lüneburger to enter the stage. He tells that it’s fun to be on tour with Bobby, which he is for about a week now. He plays songs like: Good Intentions, Station to Station, Yesterday is Gone, This Year and Pictures.
After a short break Phil Taylor prepares everything for Bobby to come, which he does on the instant. Mr. Plaid Shirt takes a seat on a bar stool. But there are technical problems. “Where is my guitar?” The amplifier doesn’t work. Phil and Tom had to help to solve the problem by changing the wires. The first songs of the evening are Left to lie and A Stranger Song and goes on with The Borough Mill and In the Frost.
Sometime between the songs he grabs his beer and said: “Germany has really good beer and a lot of other things. I’m sick of drinking Bud Light in America!”
The next song, A Winter's Tale, is dedicated to Tom. Once again, as we know our Mr. Long, he plays whole new melodies on his beautiful Gibson guitar before he actually starts playing a song. Here and there we can hear some notes of Two Years Old and I’m excited to hear one of my favourite songs.
But apparently just playing music is too boring, so we have the horror to attend, Bobby’s story time:
“…we were talking yesterday with people I’m travelling with in this car around this European Tour and say all was going well, we hadn’t had any problems and then, all of a sudden, last night the lights of the car stopped working on the motorway and we did 150 km/h or something stupid. So we drove like this for 3 hours, and I've been the driver, so...” The people are laughing as he is too and the story goes on. “I found a little dog, called Rusty; we played for a little bit. No, I'm lying, I’m just a liar. This song is called Who Have You Been Loving.”
Now Bobby tells us that he was writing Hide Yours. I’ll Hide Mine during recording his album and put the song down in step two. The next day some kid recorded it himself and put it on youtube, which Bobby thought was great. So he plays the song for him.
After this new song he played So Tear Me Up.
And then the legend... wait for it...diary story of the “sex song.” Before he even said a word, you can see how uncomfortable he is with what is coming up.
One has the feeling that he doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry!
"A very horrible story of pain and woe and agony and sex and drugs…. (You really feel his agony!) I'm not crying it’s just this image in my head... I walked in this house (of his mate) and I hear one of my songs playing (laughs)… and he walked down the stairs, all red-faced and he has been having sex during my song, which I found really weird. (At this point he is really embarrassed, and I have the feeling he just wants to disappear)... I felt invaded. I felt like I was there. It's like having a threesome... with my voice... This is the sex song and it’s called Two Tone Lover.” (The whole story, if you want to feel with him: here); Bobby starts to play the song, but he just can’t go on. He has to stop. He said he is sorry, but he couldn’t play Two Tone Lover right now. Instead we heard Penance Fire Blues.
“I’m going to do a cover... I don't often do covers. I have quite a lot of songs not finished or not quiet finished...and lyrics fly every day... This one is a song from one of my favourite singers Elliott Smith.... (Bobby looks to the audience, laughing. A girl catches his attention) Do you want some water...she is about panting down there...this is called between the bars” (one can hear a loud “yea...” from the same corner. Bobby stops once again, laughs and checks what’s going on) is that the same person? No it’s a different person!?”
And then, finally, he plays this cover song. My favourite one, especially with his voice!
The next song is Being a Mockingbird followed by Dead and Done where the audience sings along as usual. The last song is Dublin. Bobby wishes everybody a save trip home and wants to come back soon. Last but not least he wants to sell some of his stuff: “I’ve got some CD´s and stuff and t-shirt’s and bags and tooth brush holders, helmets, about everything…”
Bobby leaves the stage accompanied by lots of applause. Nonetheless the first people leave the venue. Hellooooooo! What’s going on?? Unfortunately the people left can’t get him to do an encore.
Anyway, it was a wonderful and funny evening with lots of nice people and an amazing Bobby Long.
Written By: Dorothée
28.01.2010 Wabe, Berlin
Bobby Long Wabe, Berlin
Photo Credit: Anne
BERLIN. Imagine a darkened room full of nervous and giddy girls waiting for a certain someone. Certain someone who stood in the room even before the concert started, unnoticed by his fans...
This time the anticipated concert started without a massive delay. The supporting act Tom Lüneburger impressed the more than 200 viewers with his awesome voice. He really doesn’t have to take a step back behind main act Bobby Long, as he is just as talented, but a little more hesitant.
After finishing with a beautiful love song, Tom was rewarded with a huge applause.
Shortly afterwards Bobby already started, much to the dismay of many girls who were still outside, trying to get new drinks. Not that they could hold a grudge against Bobby.
Once he was on stage, a couple of too enthusiastic girls started screaming and holding up a rather embarrassing poster. After asking them to please be quiet (which they obviously didn’t hear) Bobby started his act. After beginning with “The bounty of Mary Jane”, he began his usual talking - this time telling us about the “vodka game” (change the glass of water on the nightstand of your victim to pure vodka - “gin works, too”) and his snake, which escaped for two weeks after six months of living in her little house. Bobby added that he didn’t spend much time in his flat as long as the snake wasn’t back in her “cage”.
But obviously he wasn’t afraid. You didn’t think that, did you?
The fan girls wouldn’t stop screaming and laughing, so Bobby figured he’s “probably gotten into a hen night here, right?”
Moving on with the concert, the talented musician told us “Berlin’s special. I’m here a lot - a lot of few. And I keep getting free stuff.”
The song “In the frost” was introduced by his dislike of snow. This is understandable as he was “bombarded by snow balls by children when he arrived in Berlin”.
Throughout the show, Mr Long kept whistling. He didn’t knew why either.
Finishing after 14 songs with “Dead and Done” (with the harmonica and the audience singing along) and “Dublin” Bobby left the stage with a short monologue.
“Most of the time I’m depressed, moping around and trying to get the hair out of my eyes [most girls were laughing here, which confused Bobby, as it wasn’t really meant as a joke until now]. No, I’m joking. But thanks for not throwing things at me [who does that?]. Berlin - this was one of my favourite shows in the last seven months. Honestly, I’m not saying that often. I never said that before.”
After leaving the stage under a thunderous applause, Bobby came back with a new and obviously unfinished love song. Another great evening with Bobby Long ended with the possibility of buying (this time already signed) posters, CDs and other merchandise. You could grab Tom’s EP and posters as well.
If you didn’t catch the talented English man this time - according to reliable sources (thanks again, Phil, for always being so nice) his first studio album is going to come out in June/July 2010. Afterwards he’s going to tour the European capitals, centring on Berlin, in late September and the whole of October.
Written by: Anne
30.01.2010 Sargfabrik, Wien
Bobby Long Sargfabrik, Wien
Photo Credit: Nicole
We were driving with 5 Girls and great mood to the venue Sargfabrik. Usually I am the one who can't quit talking but right before we arrived I couldn't talk anymore, I was pretty excited. We found a parking spot close to the venue, and I was so excited how the venue will look like and how many people would be there. I'd say the Sargfabrik is a cool old location, but it was a bit like a better youthcenter. A lot of people were already there, everyone were really excited. I'm not that good in guessing, but I would say we were around 100 people. We went inside and found a spot close to the stage. Less then 5 minutes later my friend said "cap from right" I turn around and Bobby enters behind Phil. He went straight behind the stage. Around 20.15h the first singer entered the stage Tovt (Trouble over Tokyo) and I was pretty stoked. Great gentle voice and I had goose bumps. Sadly he just played 4 songs. Would have liked to hear more. After that the great Tom. He was a bit shaking and my friend said too that he didn't look so good. Well and then Tom said, that he drank 7 coffee in 2 hours, I would be shaking after that as well. And than finally the moment had come, Bobby entered the stage. I heard the first sound and I was blown away. He was awesome like always, but the concert developed to be a bit chaotic. One of the string rips and Phil is bringing him Tom's guitar. As he is bringing it back he stumbles and almost falls down. Bobby couldn't stop laughing. He continues playing but another string rips again. Phil wants to get the guitar back, but somehow the cables of the guitars were tembled, after they got the guitars apart again, Bobby walks to the front of the stage again and hits his head against the mic. He hinted to crash his guitar on the floor, just like a rockstar. We laughed a lot during his show, and the time went by way too fast. The audience was great. While Bobby was singing they were silent and listened to the songs, but really cheered between the songs. After the gig we talked a bit with Tom"Ole ole MSV" and with Phil. I didn't regret driving to Vienna, on the contrary, it was more than beautiful.
Written by: Nicole
31.01.2010 Backstage, München
Bobby Long Backstage, München
Photo Credit: Yvonne
Dressed in the polka-dot-shirt, Bobby Long entered the stage of snowy Munich. The 200-person-audience enjoyed the songs and the little stories about his nephew, Munich and the champions league and the nudist colony in the English garden.
Setlist Backstage, München
Photo Credit: Yvonne
Sad Woman Blues
In The Frost
The Borough Mill
Left To Lie
My Darling Belle
A Winter Tale
Hide Yours, I'll Hide Mine
Who Have You Been Loving
This Strange Love
A Strangers Song
Penance Fire Blues - (Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed)
Two Tone Lover (dedicated to Mona)
Dead And Done
(House Of The Rising Sun) - Two Years Old
Mary Jane dedicated to Tom (his least favourite song)... somewhere in between.
Nice video, which summarises it all here
Written by: Amelie
04.02.2010 Altes Pfandhaus, Köln
Bobby Long Altes Pfandhaus, Köln
Phot Credit: Ansch
So the gig was at the “Altes Pfandhaus” in Cologne. Pretty nice venue, very artistic with pictures of musicians and all, it was really nice.
There were already a lot of people sitting and standing in the room when we arrived, more than 200 people as we got to know and fortunately a lot of guys (not just three again ^^ )…
There was a guy from Cologne who started the evening. He was pretty good and funny, tried lifting the mood and get people to sing along which worked kind of…
After that Tom came “on stage”, played his beautiful songs and talked to everyone a lot. He’s actually pretty funny. He said that he’s gonna marry Bobby and that they’re going to move in together. ;)
Then it was time for Bobby.
It was once again beautiful and the time went by way to fast. Bobby really liked the venue. He said he always wanted to play in a venue like that.
He really talked a lot during his performance. And again we had quiet some laughs. During the show he told us about his grams who just moved into another city and he dedicated “in the frost” to her.
He also told the really funny story about his little nephew. Who likes to answer the phone and skype, but won't talk to you (just sings and dances) until his mom comes to get the phone. Bobby told us the story about the time when his little nephew answered skype naked. It was a really funny story.
The setlist:
Bounty of Mary Jane
Left to Lie
Who have you been loving
Hide yours I'll hide mine
The Borough Mill
In the Frost (dedicated to his grand mom)
A winter tale
A stranger Song (dedicated to Mona)
Sick man blues
Cover Song (unfortunately we didn't catch the title)
Two tone lover
Penance Fire Blues (again with a beautiful intro)
Two years old (dedicated to Tom)
Dead and Done
Dublin
The sweetest part of all was when he started playing the harmonica during “Dead And Done”. So awesome plus really impressive how he can do all that stuff together….
He dedicated "A Stranger Song" to Mona, she was with him and Phil throughout the whole Tour and drove them from city to city. He imitated her talking (swearing) in English what was pretty funny.
We’re really happy that Bobby’s fan base is growing so much. So thx a lot for your support!
You can watch the whole show at our Youtube Channel
We hope you like it.
Written by: Kage & Ansch
05.02.2010 Freiheit&Roosen and Logo, Hamburg
Bobby Long Logo, Hamburg
Phot Credit: Maike
It was a cold and snowy Friday in Hamburg when Bobby played his second show in our city.
Like last time he had a showcase at the record-store Freiheit&Roosen but this time it was really crowded. His support Tom Lüneburger played first, about 3 songs. (You should check him out, he’s really good! His Myspace)
Next Bobby fought his way through all the girls and started with ‘Cold, cold loving’.
He worried about messing up the next one, his new song ‘Oh Carrie’ but as you can imagine he didn’t, it was beautiful.
Last song for the afternoon was ‘A Stranger Song’.
Afterwards the guys had to hurry to the sound-check at the Logo.
Shortly after 9 pm Tom opened the evening and played a great set, including songs you can find on his MySpace like ‘Good Intentions’ or ‘Station To Station’.
Between the songs he told us, he really likes Bobby and that they will get married. About 40 minutes later, Tom finished and Bobby, welcomed with a thunderous applause, took the stage. He said that he’s really happy to be back and likes the venue.
He started with ‘The Bounty Of Mary-Jane’, went on with ‘Left To Lie’ and asked us to throw some coins or jewellery on the stage if we had stolen it somewhere on the internet, as it was the first song you could buy. One girl threw her bracelet on stage which he hung up on the microphone stand.
Before playing ‘Hide Yours, I’ll Hide Mine’ Bobby told us the only bad thing about Hamburg is all the ice on the streets and how he fell down about 3 times that day. Hereupon he had a little conversation about winter and white stuff falling out of heaven with an audience member.
Next song was ‘The Borough Mill’ which was followed by a story about how he and Phil got lost in Cologne. ‘In The Frost’, ‘Sick Man Blues’, ‘Who Have You Been Loving’, ‘A Winter Tale’, ‘A Stranger’s Song’ and ‘The Rattle and Roll’ were next, followed by ‘Two Tone Lover’ which he dedicated to Tom because he was great to tour with, but he had to interrupt himself after the first line by saying that it sounds quite gay and he should have picked another song. Bobby went on with a great ‘Penance Fire Blues’-Medley which he started with Sam Bradley’s ‘Even Thought Of Leaving’ and ended with Muddy Water’s/Willie Dixon’s ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’. The supposed to be two last songs were ‘Two Years Old’ and ‘Dead And Done’ but we were able to get him out again for an encore of two songs, ‘Dublin’s There For Me’ and ‘Being A Mockingbird’.
Somewhere between the songs Bobby told another funny story about a fan that got a tattoo of his face on her backside.
All in all it was a funny, crowded (approximately 250 people) night, filled with great music.
Written by: Lisa
06.02.2010 Perron 55, Venlo
Bobby Long Perron 55, Venlo
Phot Credit: Maike
His last show of the "Left To Lie European Tour" was in Venlo, Netherlands on the 6th February 2010.
The show started at 9.30pm. Fortunately - because we just decided to attend his show and drive from Hamburg to Venlo at 4pm in the afternoon and it was a long and very confusing way to get there. So we arrived just in time - too bad we missed the fantastic support-act Natascha Leonie.
The Perron 55 was two-storied. In the basement were a smoking lounge and a bar. Upstairs the stage and another bar. The venue wasn’t overload but all in all there were nearly 200 people.
Bobby started his set with "The Borough Mill".
He wasn’t that talkative this night, it looked like he was deep in thoughts or something - he played all his songs with a deep ease and seriousness.
The audience on the other hand was very talkative but Bobby wasn’t initially taken aback from his doing.
He went straight on with "A Stranger Song“, "In The Frost" and "Afternoon To Afternoon".
Then he started with a Robert Johnson cover "Crossroads Blues" that turned into "A Winter Tale".
Next songs on the list were: "Being A Mockingbird", "Who Have You Been Loving", "Two Years Old", "Penance Fire Blues", "Two Tone Lover" and "Hangman".
I’ve never heard him play this song before, he didn’t dedicate it to someone but it seemed like he played it for someone special - it was very soulful!
His last song for this night was "Dead And Done" with an amazing cover-intro from Bob Dylans "You’re No Good".
So far I know he never started "Dead And Done" with a cover-intro but I think he definitely should do it more often cause it sounds fabulous.
Solely because Phil and Bobby had to catch a flight early next morning in Hamburg Bobby left the stage and the venue very quickly and didn’t play an encore.
Written by: Juli
03.03.2010 Relentless Garage, London
Bobby Long Relentless Garage, London
Phot Credit: Yvonne
On March 3rd Bobby played in the course of the Little Howdy Do Festival @ the Relentless Garage in London.
Due to the fact it was his last show so far in Europe and we still have no idea when he’s going to be back we decided to attend the show and kinda say "goodbye".
All in all there were 8 bands playing at the festival, so the venue was separated in Main Room and Minibar.
Bobbys show was in the Main Room. There played also 6 Day Riot, Megafaun and Kitty Daisy and Lewis.
In the Minibar played at the same time Thomas J Spight, Matthew and the Atlas, Pete Roe and Gideon Conn.
We arrived at 6pm, right before the doors opened.
Bobbys set was scheduled at 8.50pm. So we had some time to check out the other bands which were all fantastic.
The time before he entered the stage he stood in the back of the venue in the audience. (Well placed in front of the women restrooms and the bar. ^^)
Bobby was recognized by some fans, (I hardly identified him, because he finally got a new haircut... ;)) he talked to them very friendly, he was also willing to take some pics.
But he wasn’t bothered by anybody, he seemed very relaxed.
Bobby entered the stage nearly in time after a short guitar tuning by Phil.
He said "Hi" and started with "Hide yours I’ll hide mine".
The Main Room was crowded (round about 400pax) and the vibes were fabulous and the audience very supportive...
Bobby dedicated some of his songs to British pop singer Cheryl Cole.
(I don’t have a clue why and I think he doesn’t neither he just said he loves to dedicate songs to her.)
Bobby played 7 songs and after "Hide Yours I’ll Hide Mine" he went on with "Who Have You Been Loving" "A Winter Tale" "In The Frost" "The Borough Mill" and „A Stranger Song".
His last song was a new and very slow version of Penance Fire Blues, I’ve never heard it in this pace before - it was gorgeous.
When he finished he left the stage quickly, just to appear a few moments later with some friends at his favourite place near the bar to have some beer and gave his support to the other artists.
Written by: Juli