4 November 2012

The tour went on. We drove up to Stattenheim, where we had some unexpected musical guests: Carlos the mini doberman…

and a little chap on the mandolin.

Chris and I started our concert, and suddenly we heard mysterious noises from the crowd. Was it a plane? Was it a train, no it were the Stattenheim-Chihuahuas!

And the very center of attention: Carlos, who came walking on stage while Chris was singing a very serious song. After that we spontaneously burst out in the good old song Speedy Gonzalez. Lalalala

And here he is, the first Midget (vertically challenged) Dobermann, to ever share the stage with Magna Carta: Carlos

Well guys, It’s been a wonderfull tour. The music was good, great people on the road, Chris all inspired to make the Fields of Eden album…
This tour was more than a tour, it was a journey to new inspiration. And we found it. Thank you South Africa. And thank you Terry Potter for driving us safely and Bogsy for the potato-energy fuelled concerts.

I’m signing off for now, there will be some more movies and pictures coming up, but for now I’m going home, where new adventures await…
Thank you Magna Fans,

Love,
Laurens Joensen

And to quote Chris:
There’s no turning back, the road goes on for ever…

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20 October 2012

Ready for the road

We are ready for the big tour. Terry is driving us in his Landrover Discovery, a riding fortress, so comfortable that Chris takes a little nap right away.

At a nice stop in the mountains we meet our new band member: Barry Babboon playing lead banana.

Then it’s on to the George Arts theatre, where the lovely Bea shows me the costume room. I feel at home right away, my theatre spirit awakens and before I know it I’m wearing a kilt.

O Chris, come and join me in the forest! Ivanhoe!

Bea and her father are the support act

And the entire George crew after a wonderfull show.

And here he is in full splendour, with hair provided by the theatre: Tourmanager Kevin Boyce, better known as Bogsy Malone. After our first touring adventure we returned to Cape Town to the appartment in Muizenberg. I have brought my mobile studio and Chris and I recorded four brand new demo tracks for the new MC album ‘The fields of Eden’

After the serious recording work we recorded a track called ‘Snore of the ages’ a birthday present for our host Ulrich. I secretly recorded his legendary snore one night an Chris and me turned it into a psychedelic track. On the photo you see Chris and Bogsey doing a vocal bagpipe drone. Listen to the track right here: Snore of the ages

It was Ulrich’s birthday so we gave him a kilt and the song ‘Snore of the ages’. Look how happy he is:

Then we went to Jeffrey’s Bay, Surfer spot number one in South Africa. We had a great concert. We put a new song in the  set: ‘Walk away from heaven’. A beautiful lovesong. I think it has a hit potential. Here we play it for the first time:

Afterwards I met Goldie, the oldest coolest surfer in town. Imagine ZZ Top on a surfboard, something like that. Next morning I was picked up for my first surfride ever. And here’s the proof:

Then on to Port Elizabeth, and what an lovely support act, the talented Fay Gatley, and her great guitar player Hugo ‘Pat’ Kleinhans

This was it for now, we’ll keep you posted,

Love,
Laurens Joensen

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11 October 2012

Chris and I are doing pretty OK in our beachside house. Chris has been planning and writing most of the time, and I had the time to play with some local musicians. Johnny Ray, the local blues hero took me to the strangest bar I ever saw, The G-Spot.
It was like walking into a David Lynch movie. But, the music was good and we had a blast. This was the only picture I shot that night, but it says all about the atmosphere.

The next day our faithfull Uckers took us to a lovely outdoor seaside fishrestaurant.
I think we had at least seven courses of fish. After that we played a tune.

Two old friends, Ulrich and Chris and the table mountain in the distance.

On Monday I had a recording session with Eric Omba, from Congo. We met in the local music bar “The Melting Pot”, where we jammed. He’s a wonderful guitarplayer and singer and he plays a mean rumba on the guitar.

And me enjoying the African sounds…

This weekend we leave Cape Town for two concerts: George and Port Elizabeth. Our driver will be Terry Potter, with his big white Landrover. So we will be safe on the road. It’s an eight hour drive to George.

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4 October 2012

Our Faithfull Irish driver Bogsey and his wife took us on a wonderful trip around Cape town. We came to Kalk where we saw their light in a small fisherman’s church.

Then we had some lovely delicate Snoekhead and chips.

We met Jeremy the local Fisherman and his boat

Then we went on a flyer campaign to promote our Steenberg concert, which was unfortunately cancelled today due to bad weather. Still, a nice picture of Bogsey and his wife. The next day it was off to Zone radio. We were on the radio for two hours, playing and Chris telling Rock and Roll stories. It was a blast.

Listen to the show on internet through this link: http://www.zoneradio.co.za/

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2 October 2012

After our arrival we played two really nice concerts. The first one was at Stellenbosch wine country. For me it is really great to discover that I can speak Dutch with the people here, they speak Afrikaans, which is very related. The night after that we played Die Boer, a nice blues venue in Cape Town. The sound was great thanks to  our soundman that night, Werner. Chris and  I are really cooking. Our guitars like eachother too. Chris brought the Gibson jumbo with the deep bass end (big bottom) and I brought my Martin 000-28 with it’s silvery light tone. They just blend beautifully. The set we put together is really perfect for two voices and two guitars. Lots of folk, bluegrass and ballads. The people are loving it.

On Monday our faithfull driver Uckers took us on a tour around the Cape. We were driving up the mountain when suddenly there was a Babboon alert.

Chris was attracting the females of the group and so a babboon ranger gave him a pamflet with instructions how to deal with them.

We went up to Cape Point where we spotted two Souhtern Right Whales. Amsterdam seemed so far away…

We drove on to the village of Scarborough where we had coffee,cheesecake and Oysters,

Oh beautiful South Africa

On Tuesday we played a packed concert at the Barleycorn, the bar on the rugby fields of the Villagers. The we met local guitar hero Johnny Ray (on the left) and radio presenter Richard Griggs who plays Magna Carta on a regular basis on his radio station. We will be in his program coming thursday morning at 10.00 am. Check it out on: www.zoneradio.co.za

We will keep you posted!

Yours, Laurens Joensen

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28 September 2012

A big adventure is about to happen. Chris invited me to come on a big tour in South Africa. I got on on the plane in Amsterdam and flew in to Manchester where Chris picked me up from the airport. The plan was to rehearse two days before we would fly to SA. Before we went to Chris’ house he gave me a beautiful sightseeing of his birthgound, the Yorkshire Dales. Through heavy rain and fog we drove over Greenhow Hill, the spooky hill from the Magna Carta song. Chris told me about the haunted houses on the hill and about the leadmining history. Then he took me to an agricultural show in Pateley Bridge, big tents, cattle, sheep and dogs were looking very unhappy in the pouring rain. Still it was a very nice experience to see the rural life there in Yorkshire.

Cathy, Chris lovely wife joined us and we set of to Skipton, to have a delicious Sheperd’s pie on Chris’ longboat called the “Seasons”. Afterwards we set of to Hudderfsield, the home of the Simpsons. We rehearsed for two days and put together a wonderfull set for the SA concerts.

After a thirty hour journey we arrived in Cape Town were we where picked up by our loyal chauffeur and our Irish mascotte Uckers and Bogsey. We loaded the guitars in our driving fortress “The Chariot” and we were driven to a beautiful seaside appartment.

We had our first concert in Stellenbosch, the wine country. It was great. I must say I’m very impressed by the dramatic scenery.

We will keep you posted throughout the tour.

Love, Laurens Joensen