Our next stop after Paderborn was Horn-Bad Meinberg. This little village is the home of Andrea’s Glücksmasche, a shop for knitting supplies. The special thing about this store is that next door the owners Andrea and Ingo opened a café where they host workshops, book readings, and concerts. We got in contact with Ingo through a webpage called SofaConcerts. We wrote him a message asking if he might have an open spot for us this year. He later admitted that they were fully booked until 2021 but wanted to host us so badly that they delayed their summer break for one week to be able to host us beforehand. We really, really appreciated this opportunity. Especially because it was the first gig of this tour that we secured. Once that gig was fixed we booked others around it. So thank you Ingo for giving us a starting point!
The first thing Ingo did was offer us some coffee and drinks while he was transporting the tables from the café into the shop next door. It was nice to have a little chat with him and a moment to relax after the drive. It was a nice calm welcome for us. When we arrived we could park right in front of the café which was perfect for bringing in all our instruments. While Ingo was facing all the chairs towards the big window of the café we set up our instruments right in front of it. The café holds around 30 people and 25 seats were already reserved for the evening so in the end we played a sold out show. The audience was from Paderborn, Bielefeld, Detmold and Horn-Bad Meinberg. Some of them come regularly while others came for the first time. But all were very excited and supportive. It was a very positive and fun vibe.
After the concert we drove to Andrea’s and Ingo’s place in Detmold which was only 10 minutes away. Unfortunately, Andrea could not attend the concert because she had another meeting. But after eating her wonderful ratatouille for dinner and having some great conversation, we offered to play some songs for her. They have an old piano in their living room since their daughter used to play (she is now a very talented fashion designer. They showed us a few pictures of her collection and we were stunned). Joe had the idea and brought his guitar and trumpet and we played a few songs for Andrea. She was so happy to have gotten the chance to hear us after all, and we were more than happy to play for her. Both Ingo and Andrea are such kind, warm people. We really appreciated their hospitality.
The next day Andrea needed to leave early to Dortmund to pick out new fabric for the store. Some people might consider this work but Andrea was looking forward to it. She really enjoys working in her little shop. It’s not common to meet people that love their work so we were very happy for her for finding her passion and being able to live it. Ingo took the day off to show us around Detmold and invited us for a little drink at the market place in the city center. Shortly after, it was time to leave for our next concert in Bielefeld, 45 minutes away.
Thank you Andrea and Ingo, for this wonderful opportunity and your generous efforts. We really appreciate it and are looking forward to seeing you in two years for Ingo’s Birthday Concert!
– L
Joe & Linda 