Berlin and Broken Fingers

We arrive in Berlin in time for an afternoon off. After all the heavy food we have been eating, a trip to a Vietnamese restaurant was just what the doctor ordered. We had the cab drop us off at Monsieur Vuong. I could tell by the crowds of fashionable 20-somethings  clogging the front door  that this was a hot spot in the neighborhood. We had hopes the food would be good because it got a rave review from Platzman but I had no idea it was going to be the BEST Pho (and spring rolls) I have ever had. In Germany of all places. Our group of nine crowded around a table that was obviously meant to seat four. Our dishes crashed and clanged in no particular rhythm while we inhaled our food in a very un-European manor. Oh Americans. We decided to walk back to the hotel because it was such a beautiful day, plus  there was a greater chance of finding dessert. We did. And it was delicious. 

There was a little shanty town set up behind our hotel with a vintage flea market, one of my favorite things in the world. There was 60s deco jewelry, German copies of Michael Jackson albums and baskets of antique games and toys. After our journeys, Wing and I returned to our hotel room to relax and nap. We had a huge bed but ended up falling asleep on a chair that was not nearly big enough for the two of us. We both woke up an hour later, well rested with necks kinked. 

For dinner, we went to a family-owned Cuban restaurant across the street from the hotel. I think what happened was the family had set up food for themselves so they could watch the futbol game but when they saw us stumble in out of the cold, charitably let us join them, charging us 10 euros to share their food. We sat next to our waitress  and her coworkers as we all chowed down on the spicy self-serve cuisine. It was difficult to get any service, a drink order or our check but I appreciate them let us crash their party. 

The day of the Berlin concert I decided to pull a hermit while the boys had a full day of promo, including a Funky German television show. The show, while quirky, is apparently  very popular and could very well be responsible for the album and songs doing so well on German iTunes charts. Dan ended up having to sing a couple songs in a higher key then he was used to so he went to the doctor to make sure everything was ok with his vocal chords. There was a little irritation on the back of his throat so the doc thought it best to give Dan a steroid shot before the concert. 

 So this is one of those wacky shows that things just sort of go haywire. 

(1.) While the intro is playing, right before the band goes onstage, Wing runs backstage to ask me to find him nail clippers. I couldn't find any so I pass off a file to his guitar tech. This gets a less than pleased reaction from my husband.  It's not my fault, I thought if he was planning on clipping his nails while simultaneously playing guitar, filing shouldn't be too different. After that was nixed, I ended up rummaging through Ben's luggage to find clippers. 

(2.) Dan gets starving half way through the set so Martin, their tour manager, asks if I can make Dan a sandwich. The only bread we have is a hard-crusted German baguette which I don't think he'll have time to chew onstage , there are no condiments and the only meat we have is left over hamburger patties from dinner so we make him a  hamburger and cream cheese wrap in a tortilla. I'm not proud of it but it gave him the energy he needed. 

(3.) I'm watching the encore from the side stage and notice the Dan's rocking out is becoming increasingly violent. I did not take this as super strange, I have been watching him perform for years and he is consistently a genuine with his emotions, wild-eyed and in-the-moment kind of performer; however, I usually feel more passion and less anger evoked through his "rocking." During the final seconds of the song, "Nothing Left to Say," Dan starts pacing at a quickly between the bass drum and stage right. On the final note of the song Dan barrels his 6'5 body towards the drum and punches it as hard as he can, as if to brake right through it. The drum does not brake. But two bones in his hand do.

Later, Dan described his onstage emotion as " angry for no reason" which we later attribute to the Steroid shot  that he received earlier that day for his throat. He went back to the doctor and was given a heavy, clunky cast and the strongest pain killers they could offer him: 400 mg of Ibuprofen. Why could't he have gotten injured in Amsterdam?