Jeremy's Benelux tour notes day four
Today we slept
in till past noon before Gert picked us up at 3pm to drive 1 hr to Antwerpen.
We arrived in town a little early, so Gert drove us thru the diamond cutter's
part of town, showing us the bldg where he works, explaining Diamond business'
exoudus from Amsterdam (quote from Gert: "Strange thing, the dutch liked
the germans and we did not, so the Jewish diamond merchants came here")
etc. Then we parked and took a stroll through a neighborhood to soak up
some local color...lit w/red. Back in the van, and to the prison, where
we played our best received show so far. many thanks to soundman Fred.
The captive audience of apprx 60 persons of both sexes were led in and waited
patiently for us to begin. The response when we played was tremendous, enthusiastic,
and unforgettable Huge roar demanding encore, which we, of course, delivered.
After the show, Herwig, the facilitator of activities, took us to the
guard's mess hall for a lovely meal of veg soup and beef curry w/rice and
choc mousse for dessert. Then a tour and description of the prison, visiting
rooms etc.
tomorrow: day off in Amsterdam followed by Tues show in Amsterdam with
the Anacondas.
1/9/05 - Jono
Sunday evening
09.01.05
Antwerp state prison. Oh. my. god.
Pretty cool actually. I awoke this afternoon at 1pm, 2 hours before
Gert picked us up. I still managed to prepare breakfast for the boys. Jeff
is a little tired of eggs. Oh, well.
We drove into Antwerp, a beautiful old city. There is some ancient architecture.
The buildings in Belgium, like San Francisco, are flat-faced up against
the street. But the streets curve in a medieval fashion and the buildings
curve right along side. Plus, the gables are all different. Apparently they
did not number the buildings until Napoleon came along and kicked their asses
and so the only way to define houses was by gable and facade. Along the
Schelde river stands many old assay houses and warehouses.
Diamond cutting is the main industry here and there is a huge Jewish
population in full Hasidic regalia, and they weigh and determine quality
of all diamonds (from Africa!). Gert has a day job polishing diamonds and
he showed us the building he works in. Nothing is open on Sundays so we
didn't really bother to stop and look around. He has an agenda and we follow
it.
However, we were early for the prison gig so he took us to the red light
district. Talk about depressing! Pat Pong in Bangkok was pretty bad and
so was this, women in little window-fronted closets in skimpy outfits. More
depressing are all the men strolling around. Jeremy was intrigued. Not me.
We then went to the prison. We waited outside for a while and then entered
and met Herwig, the pony-tailed entertainment coordinator at the prison.
We moved our equipment inside and suddenly went into a pseudo-lockdown mode.
We were informed that it was a maximum-security facility and that murderers
and rapists would be in the prison population. Do not wander off and do
not get lost. Yes, sir!
A few inmates were on hand to move equipment. We were led upstairs and
we all got real nervous. Oddly enough, the warden has a real sense of humor
and purchases old movie posters of American prison movies (Escape from Alcatraz,
O Brother Where Art Thou?) and they are on all of the walls. Herwig pointed
out that their prison is quite humane. Prisoners with children can have
an entire two hours, complete with a clown to entertain. There are conjugal
visits, etc. The sad thing (maybe not) is that prisoners are encouraged to
maintain a fiction for children that Daddy is in the hospital or at work.
I almost cried thinking about it. Georgia and Stella visiting me in prison...
We met the sound man, Fred. He spoke English. He talked glowingly about
going to the New orleans Jazz Fest. He really wanted to go to SF for the
North Beach jazz fest. Suddenly I realized - he was an inmate! He mentioned
that he was in New orleans when his wife called to tell him to come home,
he had been cooking the books somewhere and the IRS (or whatever it is)
was searching his office. Well, he had a plum gig.
They brought in the female prisoners first (a coed prison) and then
the male prisoners. They announced us and then we went on. We played well,
Jeremy was a tad grumpy and then I broke a string - drag! Fortunately,
they had a bunch of guitars in this back room full of musical equipment
(we were using their drum set). I ran back and grabbed an identical Fender
guitar but without the whammy bar. Quickly, Gert and Fred came up, grabbed
my guitar, went backstage and changed the string. Rock on, nothing like
guitar techs behind bars!
A few songs got the prisoners rocking! Ultimately it was our best crowd
yet, what one could jokingly refer to as "a captive audience." And it
was Jeremy they loved! We finished, came back for an encore and they applauded
with thunder! Herwig came out and yelled, "Shut up!" Whoa, keep those prisoners
in line.Very few were Belgian, most were guest workers from Eastern Europe
or Morocco. The women were dancing in the aisles and Herwig said that they
were exposing themselves to us! It was too dark for me to see and no one
else noticed but the female guard had to go and maintain order.
After the show, they served us a delicious curry and rice with soup
and a luscious chocolate mousse with shaved chocolate mixed in. I believe
that the prisoners cook the food. We ate with the guards. Then we got
a tour of the facility. It was built in 1850 and has been remodeled and
built up many times since then. We were not allowed to mix with the prisoners
(thank god) but we saw all of the floors and their respective wards. Then
we left and returned.
Tomorrow we must get up early (7:30 am) and go to the Herentals train
station. That will take us to Antwerp. There we will connect with a train
to Amsterdam. We made reservations at a hotel that Gert recommended. Most
importantly, it is a safe hotel. Gert is lending us a voltage converter
and is very insistent that we do not lose it or get it stolen. So it is
in our best interest to do what he wants us to do as far as that goes.
He covets an orange extension cord I purchased right before the tour. I
will gladly make a gift to him of it before we leave.
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