Eruption

It was really worth waiting. The half-year passed as nothing and May 30 was here and I was on the road to Vienna. Weather, typical for last days by us, was absolutely bad, but we did not mind. A cup of red Moravian wine warmed us for our whole journey to the final bus stop, which was Viennese Prater.

Since we had enough time, we took a walk into Vienna center. Actually I was never here. So we visited several churches, bought an ice cream and did not forget to take a cup of coffee in well-known Café Hawelka. This old shabby café exists in Dorotheegasse 6 (Dorothy Alley) since 1936, when Leopold Hawelka opened it. It remained no changed till now. So we visited it too. “Zweimal Kleiner bitte,” I said to a waiter. Thus you have to order coffee, if you want an espresso. In other I recommend you to try also Melange or Mokka. I guarantee, you will not regret.

Time passed slowly and thus we set out to our destination. Since it was far form Vienna center, we use local metro, here it is called “U-Bahn” and it goes on the surface. The Austria Center is located behind the Danube in an area, where there are a lot of modern buildings including the residential houses. Just here, it took place that, because of we came to Vienna – an opening concert of 20^th Jazz Fest Wien 2010.

After an initial chaos of the organizers, when they guided the viewers to the bad directions to the concert hall, and after the festival opening speech, some support came on the stage. I have forgotten its name. And it was not surprised, it was total catastrophe. Five same or better said, five same sounding songs put many viewers off, so that they left the hall to take a bit to eat.

But the main one came later. It got dark in the hall, the music started to play and he rushed in. The next concert of the world tour “The Pursuit World Tour 2010” had begun. Jamie Cullum presented his the most new songs from the homonymous album The Pursuit and also from two previous albums Twentysomething and Catching Tales. He enchanted the whole hall, btw. the capacity is 3000 people, and he brought all of us to the boil, which had no any analogy, and he kept it, in fact, till to the final finale.

After end of one song, the whole band including Jamie set out into the hall middle to the twentieth line and thy played one song here in the center among the viewers. All stood up to see them. Some stood on the chairs. This, what came after, it was like some wild dream. The moment Jamie and the band members returned back, the people mass followed them and surrounded the stage. It was given an encore, the song “The Wind Cries Mary”. The wild ride came then. Jamie sang and danced like a dervish on the stage, the band played and when the viewers joined the rhythm, it was nearly an inferno.

Due to a frequency of people mass stomping the hall floor, and maybe even stage itself, begun to vibrate. The technicians had to hold the speaker towers with power to prevent a possible fall into the people. The floor shook in a foreboding of an eruption. The horrified organizers run around and communicated with each other with walkie-talkies, but the euphoria of the crowd had not stopped. The vibrations were not only to feel, but they run through the whole body, which resonated the music sounds at the same time. The vibrations were also visible. It was that, when the imaginary piano strings in the stage background begun to shake too.


The par excellence finale finished with the huge eruption. It was the eruption of big applause, scream and flashing cameras and mobile phones. It was the eruption that longtime did not stop. Then all calmed down and went silent and Jamie sung his last song, nice ballade. There was only he his piano on the stage. The way home through dark Vienna, Niederöstereich and South Moravia was only feeble reflection of that, what it happened before.

…

The words are only feeble rehash of that, what I experienced. Who did not see, he/she will not believe. So, settle for two videos from YouTube.com. The first one is a small official cut form the Jazz Fest Wien 2010 organizers and the second one is above mentioned The Wind Cries Mary from one viewer.


(Sources: Austria Center Vienna, Café Hawelka, JamieCullum.com, Jazz Fest Wien 2010, YouTube.com)