Thursday 13 March 2014

Every journey ends with a single step.

Because of the severe traffic problems in Sao Paulo, it was decided it would be better this morning to take me to an airport closer to us, and then I catch a bus to the one I am meant to depart from. The bus has a dedicated lane and so will get me there on time, where a car could not. Here, bus lanes make all the difference.
Last night I had undertaken a series of emotional goodbyes especially to Thiago and David who all said it was not a goodbye, for we are a family now and that I will be back.
Demente had dropped me off at the bus station and we talked in a similar way, we would not let the threads that bind us drop away, it was too important for that.
Then he drove off and left me alone with...

Isabela

It was the 5th July 2013 outside the Das Nyx venue in Bonn Germany, she was in Germany to visit her sister and her husband who was working in a nearby town. So knowing I was doing a solo gig not far away, they came to see me. Outside, after the show, we all had a great time chatting and laughing and then Isabela said to me.

"Would you be interested in playing in Brazil?"
I said "yes" (but there is a million miles between a declaration of interest and something happening, and the logistics was something I could not even comprehend). I can think of so many times that things like this have been suggested for other parts of the world, by other people, and then never happened.

But this was Isabela

She said she had never done anything like this before but she thinks she might know a few people who could make this happen. Now, I avoid offers of gigs or tours by people who have never done it before, because it is opening yourself up to potential nightmares. I could easily do without the hassle.

But this was Isabela and I trusted her.

She had come to see me play in Harlow, London, Blackpool, Venice and now Germany, she had become the Neurotics greatest fan and now she was about to hand over to me, one of the greatest experiences of my life and turn from fan to friend.

Isabela, Thank you!

And thank you too, the chain of people that made it happen, Demente for the Sao Paulo leg and all those that helped him pull it together, and Gilmar for the Brasilia leg and all those that helped him. I just could not believe how lucky I was to have two fine bands and luckier still that they became two fine groups of friends. Thank you all.

Isabela waited with me to make sure there would be no confusion on what bus I got on, and finally it arrived. After I had loaded my guitar and bag into it, we hugged.

I don't remember what I said, it was barely the scrapings of what I felt. I was tired and over emotional and somewhat overwhelmed.

I said my final goodbye and I was gone, but she was with me until I landed in Britain, they all were, in my heart and in my mind.

At Heathrow with little more than an hour's sleep out of twenty four, I wandered with my trolley, disorientated, looking for the way to the 'Heathrow Express' but getting out of the lift on the wrong floor. I was in Departures. I needed to get back to the lift again.

I took a single step to the left.

And I came face to face with the coffee shop that I, and around five other people, spent the early hours of the morning all those weeks ago, trying to stay awake, waiting for the first 'Check in' to open.
Then, the concourse was empty and I was a cold and anxious man, now as hundreds of travellers swarmed around me, I stood in the same place...

A man transformed.






1 comment:

Camisetas / T-shirts said...

Thank you Steve, it was an honor and a pleasure, see you soon back in Brazil! grande abraço!!! Demente