bands
Busking on Alexanderplatz
This band was great. Have a close look at the drum kit. Its made from discarded plastic bottles and buckets. It was a new form of recycling I guess. We spotted them on the outskirts of Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
Monument to the musicians
This monument remembers the street musicians of Warsaw. Small bands like this one were very popular before World War 2, and today are hardly to be heard. The monument is in the Praga area, across the river from Old Town. Besides the monument, there is not much to see in Praga (at least not that I could find). But it made for a nice loop in one of my Warsaw runs.
If you have a Polish cell phone, you can SMS to 7141 with the text KAPELA and the tune number (from 1 to 100), and the band will play the tune (the track list is on the drum).
The Changing of the Guard
By chance we saw this this elaborate ceremony at Prague Castle. While I have called it “The Changing of the Guard”, I am not convinced that it is since it happened around 9:25am, which is completely off-schedule. However it was quite impressive to watch.
Here are a few pics.
Standing at attention
On guard
Marching
Followed by the bikes.
Prague Castle Band
I am not sure if these guys are an official paid band or just buskers, but they were there all three times I was in the Prague Castle area. They are really good and sell their CD’s as well. I bet that if you visit the castle they were be there playing their tunes.
Update: here is a photo that my friend Hugh took of them in 2002, seems like they have been there for a while.
Robin Auld at De Waal Park
Yesterday afternoon Lois and I went to watch Robin Auld playing live in De Waal Park. Robin has been around forever (ok since the 80’s), but he is an integral part of Cape Town musical history. We had not seen him play for ages, so it was a treat. I think we last saw him at the Masque Theatre about 2 or 3 years ago. Anyway he has a few more gigs in Cape Town before he heads back to the UK, so head on down if you can.
De Waal Park has music every two weeks or so, and the best part (aside from an excuse to go and have a picnic on the lawns under the trees) is that the concerts are free. Just arrive and enjoy the afternoon (Arno Carstens is in two weeks).
