Sad Losses in August †

Wayne Fontana (born Glyn Geoffrey Ellis, 28 October 1945 – 6 August 2020
English rock and pop singer, best known for the 1965 hit "The Game of Love" with the Mindbenders.
A message from Marty Wilde:
"Wayne Fontana and I are probably best linked by the fact we enjoyed some of our greatest music successes during the 1960s.
In 1968 we both took part in the Knokke Song Festival in Belgium representing the UK along with other artists. Wayne sang a couple of Les Reed's songs "Gina" and "24 Sycamore". I had my own song, "Abergavenny" that year. For our efforts, the UK came in at third place. Thank You for the fond memories, the fantastic songs and for being Wayne Fontana - RIP."


Fips Asmussen (eigentlich Rainer Pries (30 April 1938 – 9 August 2020),
Hamburger Jung und König der Possenreißer
Er gehörte zu den Vätern der Comedy in Deutschland, sein Markenzeichen war das Matrosen-Outfit. Fips Asmussen war auch im hohen Alter noch auf Tour.

Trini Lopez (Trinidad López III) (May 15, 1937 – August 11, 2020)
American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of "If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits included "Lemon Tree", "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" and "Sally Was a Good Old Girl". He designed two guitars for the Gibson Guitar Corporation, which are now collectors’ items.
Lopez died on August 11, 2020, at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California. He was 83, and suffered from complications of COVID-19.


Jack Morris Sherman (January 18, 1956 – August 18, 2020)
Der frühere Gitarrist der Band Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack Sherman, ist im Alter von 64 Jahren gestorben.
  

Justin Townes Earle (January 4, 1982 – August 20, 2020)
US-amerikanischer Singer-Songwriter und Musiker. Der zweite Vorname des Sohnes vom Alternative-Country-Musiker und Schriftsteller Steve Earle ist eine Hommage an den Singer-Songwriter Townes Van Zandt, Mentor und Vorbild seines Vaters.

Uli Stein (26. Dezember 1946 - 28. August 2020)
Der Cartoonist Uli Stein ist im Alter von 73 Jahren gestorben. Das gab seine Stiftung am Freitag in einer Pressemitteilung bekannt. Demnach starb Stein bereits vor einer Woche in der Nacht von Freitag auf Samstag unerwartet in seinem Haus bei Hannover.Stein litt bis zu seinem Tod an der Parkinson-Krankheit.

Steve Earle & The Dukes, Columbia Club Tempelhof - 06 June 2013

Columbia Club Tempelhof
Steve Earle & The Dukes played the C-Club in Berlin on 6 June 2013 which is the Columbia Club next to Tempelhof Airfield. The Club opened in 1951 for the US Air Force and saved mainly as a cinema for “all US personnel and their guests”. The cinema closed in 1994, however, opened again in 1998 and served as a music club since then.

The Mastersons are husband and wife, singing and playing together. Chris Masterson, git, pedal steel git, vocals

Eleanor Whitmore, git, fiddle, vocals, mandolin, piano and anything with strings.


Steve Earle & The Dukes are:
Steve Earle, guitar, piano, banjo, harmonica, vocals
Chris Masterson, guitar, vocals, pedal steel guitar
Eleanor Whitmore, guitar, fiddle, vocals, mandolin, piano
Kelly Looney, bass
Will Rigby, drums

The Steve Earle gig was a complete sell-out, and I was lucky to get a last minute ticket. It was Steve's only gig in Germany, and I met people coming from other parts of the country e.g. Lower Saxony and also some from Duesseldorf. Support was done by The Mastersons, description above, who are much more than a simple opener and definitely worth being checked out. For more photos of The Mastersons and Steve please click on the relevant pics above.

The gig was fantastic, Steve came out after the show (after keeping us waiting for quite a while), and signed albums, shook hands and posed for photos. Also, I had a chat with The Mastersons who were very kind and fan friendly and kindly signed my set list.

I didn't write a review but am referring to a  review by Nate Hertweck on a Steve Earle gig in May 2013 at Williamsburg Music Hall (Brooklyn), which reflects very much my experience of the Berlin gig. Thanks to Nate, also for listing the encores which are not on my setlist: 

First Encore:
"Remember Me" (this one was for Steve's autistic son and very touching)
"City Of Immigrants"

Second Encore:
"New York City"
"Wild Thing" (Chip Taylor cover)
"The Revolution Starts Now".