Henrik Freischlader UK Tour (Page 4 of 7)

Very nice review, from someone who knows his stuff.

Duncan,

I can't wait to read your review.  It has been painful to read about the low turnouts to his shows, but I guess you have to start somewhere to build a following.  Henrik is clearly the best guitarist on your side of the pond and he'll get the recognition eventually.

Curby

.....well I hadn't heard of this guy until last week and saw him live at the Flowerpot in Derby about 5 hours ago.
The few of us who turned up (about 40) were privileged to a stunning performance from Henrik and his band......

I also hope that in the future they receive the recognition they deserve and I will be there for sure when they do return to the UK, spread the word around guys and and I'm sure they'll succeed and this tour will surely be one to remember in many years to come.........

'Street Team' probably works just as well here. So much English pervades German language these days  . There isn't really a recognised term as such I would say. 'Strasse Mannschaft' would work I guess. Guenther or one of the other German fans here would better translate it. My German just about gets me the right bread rolls in the bakery

Shame about the low turn outs but for the first time there it was to be expected. Here he is still playing small venues, but sold out sometimes over 2 nights. It will take time. But if a following can be established, perhaps through an English speaking forum, like here, future tours would be more successful.

It is a crowded market, so only the special with a twist in their performance style will succeed. Henrik has that and charm in spades. I wish he wasn't as loud as he is sometimes as that is a turn off (for me) as I don't like to have to listen through plugs all the time. Thats just a personal thing and I wouldn't want it to detract from the quality of his writing and playing.

I for one will be seeing him again and trying to encourage other potential fans.

25!! I didn't realise it was that low. I wonder if it would have been a good bit higher if Gerry Jablonski hadn't had to cancel. Those that didn't go missed out big time. I hope they got some sales at the merchandise table.

Yes the crowd in Aberdeen was disappointing, after being told an estimate of around 40, I was told the final figure for ticket sales was 29, not good but slightly better than 25. I’ve no doubt the fact Gerry Jablonki’s band could not make the show impacted heavily on tickets. More positive was the news from Dundee. Henrik and the band were playing an afternoon show in Dexters, with ticket sat a cut price £2.50. The band were unsure about an afternoon show, but it worked. There were over 80 people at the show, and by accounts they played a storming set and Henrik spent 30 minutes after the show signing CDs and merchandise. With this news I had high hopes that Edinburgh’s show might do ok with word spreading and some promising to travel down to see him again.
Sadly though it was not really to be. There were 46 paying customers at the Voodoo Rooms, around 55 in the crowd in total. While some had travelled from further north to the show, there was a lack of recognisable faces from the Edinburgh blues scene. The show did clash with a show by Robin Trower elsewhere in the city, however apparently that was not too well attended either. In fact the attendance level put the evening on a downer for me, having put so much work into it, so I won’t give a blow by blow account of the songs, but the setlist was the same as Glasgow, other than Messiah closing the show instead of Foxy Lady. The highlights for me were The Memory of Our Love and Breakout. The band did seem to be a little too loud which did mean Henrik’s excellent vocals were slightly slow in the mix, surprising as the sound was done by Martin Meinshafer. Bad Dreams has been shortened to a more manageable 20 minutes, rather than over 30 in Glasgow. The band seemed to get a good reception from those there, including quite a few younger fans, but it appeared the longer instrumental moments were not favoured by all. Actually I’d have thought some of Henrik’s more immediate shorter song like She Ain’t Got The Blues and Nothing To Lose might have been favoured as while the more recent songs are more musically expansive, they are longer. Sadly there did not appear to be many merchandise sales throughout the evening. Hopefully on reflection it’s a solid foundation from which to build in future years, perhaps with a national booking agent, in better economic times.

Duncan - I would like to thank you for all your hard work bringing Henrik over to the UK. Hopefully word will spread from those who were at the gigs that HF is a class act. My 2 mates were certainly most impressed and they had never heard of him before.

Kenny

Get him to the USA!!!