Dustin O’ Halloran – Tour Diary
By: Thomas Hannan
Day 1 – Berlin, Germany to Hasselt, Belgium
Early flights are just not my thing, im a late night person, but thistime it was inevitable. Up at 5am Berlin to Brussels, then a drive to Hasselt. My new Berlin string quartet has joined me , some amazing players ( they also play with Kaleidoskop ensemble). Ok lets get this out of the way first, touring is not that glamorous, it mostly includes trying to find time to sleep, getting good coffee, making sure your not missing train/planes, and finding SOMETHING green to eat so you don't get sick, and oh yeah playing your set each night. So Ill try to make this interesting.. but if I ramble about no good coffee don't hold it against me. Sometimes its just the little things..
We played in a really wonderful theatre and also on the bill were my good friends Hauschka, and Nils Frahm... a piano blowout! People really got their bucks woth on this one, everyone played an amazing set, acoustics were just perfect in the theatre, you could hear a pin drop....Hauschka was disappointed as the theatre director would not let him prepare the brand new Steinway they had, so the rolled out a stand up for him, but with his loop pedals and tape delays he created some crazy sounds scapes and maybe the first droned out piano concert I heard. My quartet really rose to the occasion and played beautifully..especially my first violnist Elissa Lee's solo!
After such a great night of music what else do you do ? but have a whisky in the hotel bar.. and hope you can get a few hours sleep. Next stop UK.
Day 2 - Tunbridge Wells, UK
8 am flight from Brussels to London..when an American enters the UK you get treated like a criminal.. why are you here? Are you working ? who are you? What’s your shoe size? After an hour of interrogation I’m in! Then realize I have felt my iPhone on the plane.. ug! Luckily it’s found.. the tour can continue. Sunday in the UK,, no trains to Tunbridge Wells..and only other alternative is a 5 hour bus route! Ok I know getting around the Uk is not easy.. but come on! Its only an hour away! Plan b. rent a car....stay on the left, stay on the left I keep telling myself. I arrive in Tunbridge Wells right on time..it's a beautiful old church converted into a theatre. Soundcheck, a quick soup and then 3pm showtime.. It's the first time I’m performing with my new video that Christina Vantzou has made.. it looks beautiful to finally see it projected. A nice intimate crowd ..and a really nice concert. Drive back to Heathrow to drop off the car, train to London..arrive at my hotel, order room service, and crash into bed.. zzzzz
Days 3 & 4 – London, UK
After a good sleep finally, a day off in London. A walk through Soho to my favourite record shop.. its one of the oldest classical records stores I think in the world? They have this downstairs basement full of old vinyl that they keep in immaculate condition. I love seeing this old classic dudes listening to vinyl making sure its in perfect condition, no pops…and not even listening to the music! But they have a new music section that’s pretty stellar and you can find some really rare recordings of cool early electronic music. Then met my new publishers at Music Sales.. really great people and learned that’s it’s a family run business ( which I guess why every one there still seems to love their job) . The owner still holds written music as the most valuable as that’s how he started. He acquired the entire Beatles printed music catalog back when no thought it was valuable then proceeded to build one of the biggest publishing companies…that’s how you do it! Had a nice chat about releasing my piano books. Then dinner with a friend at the cozy Italian place Negozio Classica which had some actually pretty great Italian food, im a bit picky now after living there for so long…
Next day met my quartet for rehearsal at the Vortex. It was the first time they had played the material so it was a lot to go over…they really stepped up. Sold out show..packed house..and they played beautifully! The London audience we great.. you could hear a pin drop. My good friend Josh Pearson showed up…he has an amazing record coming out this month on Mute. I did some recording him…he is one of a kind, I highly recommend getting his record. Ended up back at the hotel for more room service and a martini.. sometime you gotta live. Turned on the TV and there was some vintage RAI 1 Italian progamming with Mina doing black face..could not believe they were broadcasting this?!… after a good laugh off to bed..London has been good to me today.
Day 5 – Reading, UK
Today went fairly quickly…had a REALLY good coffee in London at a place I can’t remember ( need to find out!) with my publicist Kathleen Adler and then it was off to Reading. A short train ride and I have arrived at South Street Arts Center. A nice intimate theatre in town. My heart sank a bit when I saw the small small upright piano….London’s Steinway was already a memory. This is the hard part about touring as pianist…you can’t bring your instrument, and you have no idea what you’re going to get. Some people will say “oh yeah we have a piano” and then you arrive to some forgotten crumbing relic with broken keys that no one has played in years. And sometimes you get Steinways, and sometimes you get uprights.. but the interesting part is arising to the challenge and making ANY piano work for you.. and even though sometimes you have to work harder…it makes for a focus that can be engaging I think. We had a nice crowd for the show and I did my best on that little thing.. and I think somehow it worked out nicely….an 8AM flight to Poland tomorrow so headed back to the hotel. I love these old British hotels where it feels like you’re staying with your grandmothers. Had a whiskey and zzzzz
Day 6 - Bytom, Poland
Up at 5 am to get my flight to Katowice, John the promoter and I had a nice morning chat about all the good and bad things happening in music today. Listened to the Debussy quartets on the plane, arrived and then a drive Bytom, Poland. It was minus degrees and snow still covered most of the ground, land of never ending winter. The first thing that struck me was this barren industrial landscape. This used to be mining towns, they have all closed and no new work came and the people are incredibly poor. Reminded me of areas around Detroit. My hotel was one of these 1960s socialist style hotels…I don’t why, but I love these. There seems to be a story in every room. I was one of 5 guests in the whole hotel I think. Dogmara the event promoter took me to lunch and then we walked through town to rehearsal, not many people around. The venue was the main villa in the town, an incredible 16th century structure that once belonged to the lord/king? We were practicing in the room we would perform in, this beautiful rococo chamber orchestra room with amazing acoustics. The string players arrived…four young girls from the local school. Honestly I was a little nervous and I didn’t really know what to expect from their playing. All that went away when we practiced our first piece…they played wonderfully! We decided not to use any amplification…its rare thing to get to do this in a room that was designed exactly for this. And nowadays everyone experiences music always through speakers…and you never hear just the real acoustics..so this was our chance. After rehearsal, I was pretty exhausted from all the travel and nearly fell asleep while eating..so back to my hotel for the night for a good night’s sleep for tomorrow concert.
Day 7 – Bytom, Poland
I spent the day walking around Bytom with all these beautiful old buildings in decay. Somehow the city officials thought it best to open a new mall with an H & M and C & A instead of refurbishing the town square. This always makes me sad. But they did rebuild the old villa where I was performing and did a wonderful job on it I must say, so all was not lost. An afternoon run through with the quartet again and then making sure we got the lighting right in the room. I’m probably pickier than most when it comes to lighting, but I think it really effects how people experience music.. esp. the colours. It was a full house with everyone seated and our idea to make the concert all acoustic I think added to the tension. One had to really listen …and I think people having a moment like this is important..it’s an exchange. A really nice concert for me, Czortet Quartet played beautifully,, and the Polish people are really special to play for .. I really felt they were with me the whole way. I think sometimes the out of the way towns can be the best shows.. . there is an appreciation you came all this way. After the show we ended up having a few vodkas…Zubuwka!
The next day I was leaving from Krakow so had to take the train.. the train station in Bytom is one of the most desolate places I have seen in Europe..and photographed amazing… you feel this the history of this city, and its seen some hard times, and hopefully it will see better times to come. A great show to end the tour on …now home to Berlin.
www.dustinohalloran.com
Artists in this article: Dustin O'Halloran