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Swiss Big Foot Tour 2006

Dates:

January-February 2006

Line-up:


Charlie Morris. Photo by Jacques Dubler.
Charlie Morris

Marco Jeanrenaud. Photo by Werner Gantenbein.
"Speedy" Jeanrenaud

Dave Clarke. Photo by Jacques Dubler.
Dave Clarke

Markus Baumer. Photo by Jacques Dubler.
Markus Baumer


Gigs:

23 Jan
School
Martigny

26 Jan
's Gwölb
Watt

27 Jan
Key North
Schlieren

28 Jan
La Cintra
Fribourg

2 Feb
Dublin's
La Chaux-de-Fonds

3 Feb
Bar de la Ferme
Nyon

4 Feb
Taco's
Lausanne

10 Feb
Alte Post
Wangen b. Olten

11 Feb
Blues Crew
Oberschan

16 Feb
Brasserie 17
Interlaken

17 Feb
Alte Mühle
Langenthal

18 Feb
Au Bon Vin
Chardonne

28 Feb-3 Mar
Hotel Eiger
Grindelwald
(Charlie solo)

Radio:

Radio Suisse Romande
Live Interview

Best Audience:

Oberschan (again!)

Why Big Foot?

Speedy bought a fantastic CD called Badlands, by Marty Stuart. The song Big Foot, about a Lakota Sioux chief, tickled our fancies.

Road Warrior Award:

Dave takes the award again this year, for flying back to England at 6am, immediately after a gig...twice! Speedy wins an honorable mention for scoring the old folks' van (and beating them down on the price) when his car crapped out, averting disaster at the last minute.

Memorable Consumables:

Homemade piggy sausages in Chardonne, and local Swiss wine everywhere.

Hangin meat in the back room

Dave and Speedy eating their sausages

Click to read about the new CD, Folkie

Playin on the Beach, the new CD from the Charlie Morris Band

Click to order The Bluescoast Sessions

Click to order Live in Fribourg, DVD/CD set from the Charlie Morris Band. Recorded live in Fribourg, Switzerland.

Click to take a walk in The Forest.

Click to listen to Ten Tall Tales from the Charlie Morris Band.

Click to check out The Scene.

Click to visit the Gator n Chips Pub.

Click to order Still got 'em, from Charlie Morris.

Click to learn more about Bluer Than Thou, Charlie Morris's first CD on BluesPages




Charlie Morris Band on stage in Switzerland, 2006. Photo by Sarah Clarke.

As usual, we had a ball on our latest Swiss tour. Short and sweet this time, just 12 gigs. But that included some real kickin shows, including record crowds at several of our favorite clubs, as well as a couple of new venues.



Markus Baumer on piano at Nyon. Photo by Jacques Dubler. Charlie Morris at Nyon. Photo by Jacques Dubler.

This was our third time at the Bar de la Ferme in Nyon, run by the Paleo Festival crew. As always, we had a great time with Denys and the posse. Our pal Jacques Dubler took some excellent photos.



Charlie Morris Band plays at a school in Martigny CH

Once again, we presented a program at a local high school. Charlie gave a talk on the history of Blues (with Speedy translating into French), with lots of musical examples.



Charlie Morris Band in their old folks' van Dave Clarke operates the wheelchair lift

The tour was fairly free of nightmares, but at one point Speedy's van broke down, so we rented a van from an old folks' home, complete with wheelchair lift! Just the thing for aging rockers! As the van pulled out for our daily excursion, you could hear the old duffers moaning:
"Me bag's leaking!"
"It wasn't like this in the war!"



Napoleon Washington sits in with Charlie Morris Band in Lausanne

Our pal Napoleon Washington came to our gig at Taco's in Lausanne. He sat in on slide on a couple of tunes, and a good time was had by all.






Speedy does his patented walkabout drum solo in Interlaken. Photo by Sarah Clarke.

As always, Speedy's walkabout drum solo (TM) wowed the crowds!



A sellout crowd at the Blues Crew, Oberschan Werner and Donatella groovin in Oberschan

Once again, the Blues Crew in Oberschan was the highlight of our tour. This was our third appearance there, and it was a full house. The people here really know how to have a good time, and Werner and Donatella know how to treat a band!

Big fun in Oberschan. Photos by Werner Gantenbein.

Everybody has a smile on their face at the Blues Crew!



Dave dancing with some Blues Brothers. Photo by Sarah Clarke.

We played a new place called the Alte Muehle in Langenthal, which turned out to be another sellout crowd, and a splendid gig. About a hundred Blues Brothers (and Sisters) showed up to help the party along. Here Dave shows them some dance steps.



CMB at Au Bon Vin Swiss vines CMB at Au Bon Vin, Chardonne. Photo by Sarah Clarke. Dave and Speedy in Chardonne

The last gig of the tour was at a small but famous restaurant called Au Bon Vin, in the wine village of Chardonne. It was a mellow gig, but lots of fun. A fantastic audience ate up lots of pork sausage with cabbage and drank lots of local wine.