Essen Grend

The directions from Google maps said 3hr 42 mins but in practice we had a very long (five hours) drive up from Homburg to Essen. There are a lot of roadworks in this area which slows the traffic down (reminds me of England).

The drive was north up the Rhine valley from Saarland into the Ruhr. Lovely countryside with many valleys crossed by long road bridges.

Tonight’s show is at the Grend. The building houses a theatre, a restaurant and a proper German music club with stage, lights and an excellent sound system. Juergen, their sound engineer, was very good and gave Ray the opportunity to present his songs on a professional stage with lights as you can see below.

At the end of the first set, a group of long-time fans sang happy birthday to Ray and gave him a cake. He shared the cake with us in the break. It was very good.

Having a late start meant a late finish. Some fans had travelled a distance to see Ray and so there were many conversations after the show. Tonight we stayed in the rental apartment owned by (another) Tom who promoted the show.

Tomorrow is a later start and a shorter drive from Essen to Herne.