Rehearsals completed with John Beck we were now in the lap of the Gods! I flew to Frankfurt on Thursday night arriving in Karlsruhe and glass of wine in hand by midnight. I couldn’t but help think about the upcoming gig on Thursday in what we had been told was an open air festival in Rome! We’d prepared a 90 minute set which we thought more than enough to deal with a festival headliner slot.
I spent the days leading up to the event trying to sort out the Amazon Germany deliveries which were becoming a frustrating lesson in how to unravel red tape in 3 different languages and finding a way through a maze of automated responses. John Reid was on point duty with Simone and I on regular party calls with him on Google trying to make sense of it all. It was supposed to be easy. It wasn’t!
Baden airport as the clouds bore down
There was only one food and drink outlet and everything else was closed. Not that there was much of anything else anyway! I went for a sandwich and a couple of miniature bottles of wine that managed to fill the paper cup I was given. At 6 Euros a bottle I would be drinking slowly. The one thing Baden airport had going for it was an outside smoking area so I took up a position there and hunkered down with my book. Yatta and the others had already arrived at the hotel after getting lost with their driver. I recognised the mad laughter and my request for a sea view and a jacuzzi added to his hilarity. At least we were all in a good frame of mind to deal with it all. The skies darkened just as the crackly tannoy announced the strike in Rome and “indefinite delays”. There was a storm coming in and I didn’t want to be stuck here for hours or taking off between bolts of lightning. The heavens opened and I bought more wine. Again forward thinking from Yatta had bought me “priority boarding” and a reserved seat, 1A, right at the front with leg room. The skies cleared and I finally got on the plane just after 10. The Italians meeting me knew about the delays so I slumped back into the seat with my book and let it all happen. I have to admit it was one of the better Ryanair experiences although another couple of bottles of wine during the flight dented the wallet but enabled me to catch some zeds on the way down.I woke just as the endless carpet of lights that is Rome appeared in the window.
selfie on the 7th floor
I’d been told a few weeks ago that the venue had changed from an open air to an indoor and then that venue had changed because of “health and safety” issues to the club I’d seen the web site pictures of. It looked to all intents and purposes a night club and it looked very shiny! The fact that we had an environment under our control would help but as always any gig in Italy is a step into the big unknown and things don’t always mean what’s said on the proverbial tin! Not only was it now an indoor show but it also wasn’t a festival and we were the only artists on the bill! The 90 minutes we had were going to have to stretch a bit further.
The hotel was a round tower, reminding me of a smaller version of the Capitol records building in LA. It was pretty stylish and modern which meant that it took me about 10 minutes to work out how the lights worked and I still ended up shutting the bathroom door as I couldn’t figure how to switch them off there. The curve of windows had electronic blinds who’s switch I eventually found but they only went halfway up meaning I couldn’t open the windows unless I removed a blind from it’s runners. A previous occupant had obviously had the same idea so I followed his example and opened a window inwards under the partially torn blind. I hit every combination of bedside switches until I was in darkness.
Up at 11am and fruit from the trolley for breakfast. A bottle of still water stolen from a used breakfast tray in the corridor and downstairs for coffee and a band meeting. I re jigged the set-list with the guys, John B confident he could deal with the alterations and add ons. We had a longer soundcheck than anticipated later that afternoon but crew were already at the venue taking equipment down and prepping the hired in gear. I wasn’t needed until around 3.The weather was scorchio!
map in a room next to the chapel of remembrance at the American cemetery showing the advance through Italy from Sicily
the initial landings at Anzio and Nettuno January 1944
The allies took 43 000 casualties with 7000 dead, the Axis forces 40 000 with 5000 killed in a space of less than 5 months.It was an horrendous place on earth to be in early 1944 with nearly 300 000 troops from both sides committed to battle by the time the allies broke out of the beachhead to meet up with the advancing 5th Army group and take the deserted city of Rome left by the Germans as they moved to consolidate yet another defensive line further North. Debates have raged amongst military historians as to the effectiveness of the Anzio landings. Accusations of flawed conception ,gross ineptitude, bad planning and execution as the allies landed and instead of forging into the surrounding mountains consolidated the beachhead and missed the chance are often raised. So are accusations of glory hunting as American generals turned North to Rome to be captured on movie reels rather than eastwards to block and capture the retreating 10th German Army who would regroup and hold them up for another year in Northern Italy. It remains a contentious episode.
view to the memorial chapel
a lonely flag on the grave of a dead soldier placed by a living relative or aging comrade.
to
behold. To give it it’s proper name, the Sicily- Rome American war
cemetery, takes in about 77 acres and contains the graves of nearly 8000
American soldiers killed during the Italian conflict with the chapel
inscribed with the names of over 3000 missing personnel. It was somber
reading the gravestones as I walked alone in the manicured grounds on
sun bleached lawns and under the shaded relief of the cypress trees.I think what struck me the most were the surnames on the gravestones. I recognised Scottish, Irish, English, French, Scandinavian, Polish, German and Jewish family names all serving together under the American flag from across every State of the Union and in every corp.The occasional small American flag or wreath placed at the foot of gravestones reminded me that this wasn’t an old conflict and that the cemetery was visited by people who served in that war. It was a haven of tranquiity in a loud and bustling Nettuno and we all spent some silent time walking in amongst the headstones. We made our way up to the memorial chapel where the missing were inscribed on the wall. I came across a Robert Dick who was from New York and who served with the US Navy. He couldn’t have been family as it was the Campbells from Glasgow on my grandmothers side who moved over to the Chicago area way back in the early 1900′s but just seeing that name, the same as my father’s, carved in the cold marble touched me somewhere deep.We paid our respects and wandered around the building visiting the “map room” where large diagrams on the walls gave a brief overview of the Italian campaign and the Anzio and Nettuno landings.
the bomber’s reach from Foggia airfield complex
the memorial chapel
comrades in arms
We had one more visit to make on the way back as I wanted to visit one of the small British and Canadian cemeteries known as Beachhead Cemetery. It was completely different from the American memorial. Instead of the long curved ranks of crosses that stood proud from manicured lawns splayed out from the central avenue that hit you with “shock and awe” with the sheer size of it all, the numbers, the scale; the British and Canadian cemetery seemed far more personal.
The entrance to Beachhead War Cemetery
I think what made a profound difference were the roses growing at the foot of every headstone and the pergolas brimming with flowering wisterias and dripping with water thrown by sprinklers dousing the lush close clipped lawns.It felt more welcoming and engaging and a genuine place of rest for those interred. The shaded walks and the living flowers providing an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility.
The main memorial at Beachhead Cemetery
the essence of peace and tranquility
The temperature was now hitting 35 degrees and we were running late. I had a soundcheck to negotiate.The journey was relatively quiet as we took stock of our surroundings in a very different light. I thought of getting a photo of the hoarding sporting Roger Waters in rock star pose and decided against it. After all I’d seen that morning it just felt wrong.
for anyone interested in discovering more about the landings and the battles around Anzio and Nettuno you can go to this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Shingle
