Over? 😟
Yes. Those who have been following us know that it has been nearly a month since we're back. Why so silent, you ask?
I tell you.
It's hard to write this post. Unexpectedly so. I kept delaying the inevitable because with this last post we're saying our tour is officially over. And even though it was really hard, it was also really rewarding.
And also, the first tour will always be the most special one. We played 5 concerts, presented 8 Lithuanian programs, recorded Kemaca's album, played robots, and had a few sips of... Well, you know.
What went wrong?
We thankfully didn't have any unexpected disastrous moments, except for the most awful airport woman at Billund. I mean... Some angry people should just not be allowed to work with people. That bth...
But since airports are a topic, Airbaltic has this strange thing where if you're a group (and it was 18 of us and 7 instruments), you have to check in at the airport, no online thingies.
Which means, it takes time and every sax that is a few centimeters too long will be asked to "money, money, money"...
But we planned to be early, and basically arriving 2 hours prior left 15 minutes of free and at the same time very expensive time.
Flights went fine, some slept, some wept. Touchdown in Billund and a short trip by bus to Aalborg also went even better.
The bus driver actually offered us some beer. "If you had a long trip and want some refreshments, come to the front of the bus; here are some cold drinks."You don't have to tell me twice, everybody said.
From there on out, we rolled and rolled and rolled. How we rolled can be read in our previous blog posts. It wasn't a very long tour, but it was intense, and not having a private room to yourself meant no cozy time to have some much-needed rest. People snore, talk in their sleep, and make various other noises. But traveling with 17 people requires some shrinkage of the wallet. Other than that...
Alright, there is one more observation. Audiences. In Aarhus we had packed houses, both during showcases and also during the mainstage festival events. Even though not a lot knew about us. Which means the audiences come for the events not necessarily for the bands, which is a good thing for such newcomers as us.
However places that do not have high audience attendance might be hard to fill out and that happened in Aalborg. We tried a relatively new space a bit outside town, in a spectacular location and it was also Thursday and summer. This is a hard combo to gamble with and we wish there were a bit more people, but... Lesson learned.
What went well?
It all went well. If we had to make a decision to do this tomorrow again, let's go let's go let's go! No questions asked. We found friends there and we felt heard and welcomed. Lithuanian jazz was enjoyed and presented to a whole new audience. We once again reminded everyone (including ourselves) that our jazz scene is very vibrant, different, brave and energetic.
But alone we would have gotten nowhere. Thanks to Lukas (Bjorn Management), Anders (Aarhus Jazz Festival) and Kenneth (Kemaca), the musical journey was just spectacular, and thanks to Lithuanian Culture Council, Lithuanian Culture Institute and LATGA that musical journey happened. Until next talk.
XOXO
Vilnius JJAZZ Ensemble (mic drop)
P.S. No mic drop, to expensive to fix.
P.P.S Leaving with a bad joke is a good idea.
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