21st august 2007 - mohac

"not one moment in life may have such significance for someone that they cannot forget it any moment they choose; by the same token, each moment in life must have so much significance that one can remember it every moment."
kierkegaard; "either-or"

this is my sixth time here - fourth time by ship, the third time on this journey and in a week's time we will be passing one more time as we go upstream. slowly but surely I am making myself at home on the danube. however because you can't put down roots in water, finding my place is different. the water, the river, creates a simultaneity of time and place for and with everything that lives with and in it. only what I know from flying is comparable. but in that case it is not as sensuous and multidimensional, but more spiritual and pictorial.

mohacs, I have been looking forward to this concert like no other. why? I don’t know exactly. because I was moored here for 3 days last september and had the opportunity to tuck into the fish soup and local wine when engine damage on the "dürnstein" meant that I had to continue the journey by car? because I have fallen in love with the charm of mohac? because I prefer to play in little towns rather than metropolises? because the concert venue, the ferry wharf, is the ideal place both nautically and for the audience?

since a lot on this journey has happened differently from what was envisaged, and the disappointment of budapest still lingers, I am curious to see what the evening will bring. I have dismissed besh o drom without hesitation. nobody needs a burned-out, disinterested band. so we play a long set. we play for two and a half hours. the weather is perfect, the scenery fantastic and the audience too.

when we sit together that night at the big table in the village square and have a glass of wine, I feel as though something is missing. the guests - with whom we always sat at this time and, with a successful concert behind us, made plans for the future. but you don't have to have everything. when I go to bed the starlight falls across my face. without lifting my head I see four stars through the cabin window.