Days 4 – July 4 , 2003
Celebrating the 4th of July
I woke up on the morning of the 4th to the sound of Eric and Norbert writing a song for the 2003 Cultural Capital. Unfortunately there are no recordings of this number, but it is a very interesting piece. Starting as a dirge, we work our way thru a handful of chords and lyrics. The piece only has one part and runs for about 8 minutes with an excruciatingly gradual increase in tempo. By the time we’re at the end it is a fantastic blur of guitar and vocal insanity at light speed.
We joked about celebrating the independence of the US by leaving the country. The irony was that we spent our time witnessing the birth and growth of a new republic. Even if it was a farce.
The truth is, I learned a lot about freedom being here. A friend from Germany said to me many years ago that America is a strange place. For a free country, it sure has an awful lot of rules. It wasn’t until I came to Austria, I realized how right she was. No cursing on TV, no smoking in bars, no protesting against the church, no bad mouthing the President.
I agree that in other parts of the world you could be shot for calling the President an embarrassment. Things in the US are not that severe. However, there are many artists and celebrities that have been blacklisted and can’t get work because they simply voiced their opinion opposing the war in Iraq. This is supposed to be one of the fundamental rights of being an American.
We are called bad Americans by the media when we speak out against the government. I beg to differ. A bad American is one who blindly follows the leaders and does not question or criticize their actions.
Oh yeah, and let’s not ever forget that as Bush preaches to the world about making bringing forth democracy and liberty and such, like the US, the US is not a democracy. It never was. It is a Republic made up of a bunch of little democracies. This is why Bush, who lost the popular vote, is now our president. If we were a true democracy, he would have lost that election.
The XY Files
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| Another view of Acconci an der Mur and the people coming in for this day’s events | |
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The main event for on both 7/4 and 7/5 was a reenactment of the Austrian equivalent of America’s Most Wanted. The XY Files is a long running show that apparently has the absolute worst re-enacted crimes. The theater group did a great job of capturing the spirit of those types of shows mixing video and live performance. |
Club Acconci
Club Acconci is a sort of Tonight Show meets Vegas Lounge. The host (played by Michael Otrowski) wore a slick white suit, captains hat (sometimes a large white feathered pirate’s hat) and strutted about like Elvis. His lovely assistant (played by Martina Zinner) wore an elegant pink evening gown and was there to try and keep some order of sanity.
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| Man the beer is good in Graz! | |
They had some romantic tension to work through as well. At one point he chases her to the topmost part of the island. As the theme from Titanic played, they embrace in the wind. Later they sang a duet of Islands in the Stream.
Guests included Country Liz (played by Elisabeth Holzmeister), an Austrian girl who lived in the US and fell in love with a cowboy but didn’t like cows. Now she has returned to Graz to tell her sad story of a failed relationship. Mauricio (played by Lorenz Kabas), a drunk Italian police officer with a passion for singing. Thankfully our lovely co-host was there to catch him as he fell or dropped the microphone.
 Our host for Club Acconci |
 Norbert was the house musician |
My Band Ya-Ne-Zniyoo’s Graz Debut (of sorts)
Eric and I were the only serious performers of both nights. The first night we played the indoor café due to the threat of rain. We did a couple of Ya-Ne-Zniyoo tunes and Norbert joined us for a rendition of Nick Cave’s "Ship Song".
We had no drummer or bass for these first 2 shows. So I came prepared with some of my electronic do-hickies and trusty little Traveler guitar. If ever a musician made a good purchase, it was when I bought a guitar with a full scale fretboard that fits in my suitcase!
 Eric crooning [h.gilles] |
 Me and my li’l guitar [h.gilles] |
At the end of the set, we were asked to sit on the couch and have a cocktail for the remainder of the show. So while our host and hostess were singing Islands in the Stream and chasing each other around to the theme of Titanic, I was sipping fairly large glass of vodka.
 aaahhh … so happy [h.gilles] |
The finale of Club Acconci was a group slow dance. Norbert was my partner. I’ll never listen to "How Deep is Your Love" by the Bee Gees the same way again.
Discovering Toast
After the show, we ended up at a bar called the Eckhaus. A cool bar that gets its name from the fact that it is on the corner (Eckhaus means corner house). Their slogan is "Cool Drinks – Hot Music" and it is a popular hang in town. A cave-like space with an arched ceiling, it is a nice combination of basement bar and lounge.
| Select images from the Eckhaus website | |
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This is the place where I discovered toast. Toast? You may ask. Well it’s not what you think. I had the same reaction when proclaimed, "I’m hungry" and was asked if I wanted an order of toast. I’m thinking, I don’t think a piece of bread with butter will do the trick but beggars can’t be choosy.
Well, out comes this thing that is basically a triple decker grilled cheese with ham. Only instead of grilled to a greasy delight, it’s toasted. It quickly became my new favorite bar food. Dip it in some ketchup and it puts buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks to shame. I need to find a way to bring this trend to NY.
 July 2003 |
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| 13 | 14 | 15 | Graz Links | |||
