(Sorry that I shouted at you)
I have NEVER been at a concert like this. I am mind-blown. It’s… I can’t find words for all the emotions that are flooding my system.
Okay. The location. It was a bar. plain and simple. a stage was build with Maximilian’s piano and Felix’s guitars at the far end.
we come in twenty minutes before the show was set to start. we sit at a table and I look to my left and there is Felix. what a gorgeous man. he was eating a meal, enjoying a glass of wine. I knew who he was, but I was too shy to talk to him. (later I wasn’t shy anymore… and no, I didn’t drink 🙂 )
the bar fills slowly, very slowly until there are +/- 40 people (later we counted how many we were). 30minutes after schedule, Felix and Maximilian walk through the ‘crowd’ and on to the stage.
from where I sat, I couldn’t see Maximilian, but hearing was enough to touch me. BUT Felix… wow, he really threw me of my chair. he has such a range of voice and he is such a small man. where does he get his voice from? I fell in love today…
the music was perfect. emotional. the location was intimate. the audience was reserved.
mid-concert Felix left the stage for Maximilian to take over himself. he sang one song and another one and at the third he messed up. he stopped playing, stopped singing and since I didn’t see him, I could only hear his heavy breathing. It was as if he was crying. I would have loved to jump up and take him in my arms. tell him that everything was alright. he tried again and again until he finally stumbled through the song.
after that, he got up and read a chapter of his book ‘the rise and fall of Maximilian Hecker’ and you could see tension slip from his body again. he seems so shy and unsure for someone who does this for almost 15years.
Felix rejoins Maxi on stage again. he comes into the bar and he sings, without a microphone, he sings while walking ‘through the crowd’ (past the people sitting, watching and waiting) it was amazing. then he sings a song that was originally meant for Robbie Williams, who didn’t like the song. It was way too complicated for Robbie to sing anyway 😉 . I can tell you that. and it was perfect for Felix.
another 3 songs and it’s already the end. they play 3 encores and after that, Felix leaves the stage to set up a merch stand, Maximilian sings the song he messed up earlier again. he seems to be a perfectionist.
the lights come on and Maximilian runs out of the bar. he runs and doesn’t come back for 15min, while Felix is selling Maxi’s CDs, book, vinyls… it was strange.
We walk up to Felix too, my friend to buy a CD and I to get my ticket signed. (Felix signed with a dedication *swoon*) we talked a little (yes, me and my friend, we were the last ones in line) about languages and music and I asked him if he had a professional vocal training, which he denied. and he asks if I thought that because he sounds like and angel. (yes he does, but he must get that a lot) but it was more the range he has, from deep to very high, almost opera that was inspiring. he laughed shyly and thanked me.
next, we went to Maximilian to get our things signed. I said to him that he played a real good concert even with the slip-ups. he looks me straight in the eye and starts to stammer. what slip-up did you mean? the big one or the smaller ones. I said the big one, the smaller ones we could simply forget. I told him that I didn’t see him from where I sat and that it sounded like he was crying and the moment it left my mouth I cursed myself. but he still talked and I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. it was really awkward. a real foot-in-mouth moment. It reminded me that I better keep my mouth shut when nervous… Did I really just tell Maximilian Hecker, that I think he is a crybaby?! NOOOOOO!! that wasn’t my intention.
my friend made fun of me, that I broke poor Maximilian Hecker. I was joking. wasn’t he? insecurities? where are you tonight? oh- there you are! I missed you! NOT!
at home I started my laptop and went to twitter. I follow him, he follows me too, he follows most of his followers. I send him a DM, apologizing and reassuring him, that it was a very very good gig. 5min later I have a reply: thank you so much for your kind words. love, Maximilian
(loose translation)
now, I can sleep in peace. If he is really that shy and insecure, than I made his day. I am sure of that. he plays a not-so-great concert, with 36 people (we counted them) and I slap him like that. I am a bad person. at least he accepted my apologies. I can’t believe that I said that to him. You sounded like you were crying… please earth, swallow me whole. or turn back time so that I can undo that moment.
I am SORRY Maximilian. (and if you ever come across this post, please let me know… there are many ways to contact me, some of them are listed at the ‘about’ page and the other possibility would be facebook. (provided you still have our messages)
go see those gifted men. they are passionate, they are fun and they know what they do. WOW! 🙂
good night and read you later
reflections of an unquiet mind 