Javor

Despite setting my alarm for 06.00am, I woke up at 04.18am & couldn’t get back to sleep again. When my alarm went off, I got up and got ready for the long drive. After a decent breakfast, both Magic Buses pulled out of the B&B Hotel car park at 08.00am sharp.

We headed north out of damp rainy Budapest, picked up a dual carriageway & and couple of hours later we were in Slovakia, a new country to my list of countries visited. We managed to have taken a different route to the other Magic Bus, which had crossed at a different border 15 minutes earlier. We stopped for a comfort break and I asked Ramon to swap seats with me because he genuinely is asleep for 70-80% of the journey.

We continued through Slovakia on main roads and not the hairpin bends of the minor A roads through the Carpathian Mountains. Our route was longer, but much quicker. We passed Kosice and discovered we were less than 50 miles from the border with Ukraine. We raced through the snow covered countryside in the Carpathian Mountains, with me now facing forward, & very soon we were in Poland.

A second comfort stop was made at a supermarket & we marvelled at how cheap everything was. We bought snacks that caused a mess in the back of the bus & then continued on to the Swing Hotel in Krakow arriving at 3.45pm. We were at least 15 miles ahead of the other Magic Bus.

I checked in and relaxed in my room. Messages on the WhatsApp group suggested a pre-gig beer bar to meet, but no time was set. Lee and I met at 5.20pm, but then realised the suggested bar was 3 miles away. We decided to walk towards the venue for tonight’s gig & hopefully stop in a bar on the way.

It turned out that our walk consisted of walking through a shopping outlet, over a bridge, then down the runway of Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport, a disused airport in Kraków, Poland, one of the oldest permanent airfields in Europe,

The airfield has its beginnings as a military airport established in the borough of Rakowice in 1912,[1] one of the most modern and largest in Poland at the time. It was built for the needs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire along with an army garrison. In 1917, the airfield became one of the stopovers in the first European air mail service linking Vienna with Kyiv and Odessa. The airport was in continuous use to 1963, until the relocation of the Kraków passenger airport 16 km westwards, to the village of Balice.

We didn’t find a bar, so we waited 12 minutes for tonight’s venue, the Kwadrat Klub to open. Once the venue was open at 6.00pm, we secured an alcove with a table and comfy seats, then imbibed in a few cheap beers. Other Magic Bus occupants arrived and we learnt that the other bus had taken a scenic route over the Carpathian Mountains and had had a nice lunch at a historic lodge with views.

The support Polski Zespot were not great. They started sounding like an 80’s electronic band, but did improve to sound more Goth

The NMA gig commenced and it became clear that Justin Sullivan was still suffering with his loss of voice. I went down to the edge of the mosh pit. I think the beers helped! During the performance, I acted as a guard for Jack’s 1st foray onto Red’s shoulders, then I held his right leg steady for ‘Green and Grey’ & ‘High’ in the encore. (Note to self- avoid Green and Grey - the song is too long. My arms were aching). The encore consisted of ‘No Rest’, ‘High’ & ‘I Love The World’.

After the show, we again had the obligatory photo, then discussions took place as to where to go to next. It was decided to have another beer at the venue. Jack introduced me to Rob, one of the ex-traffic cops he had mentioned, who it transpired left the police in the 90s on medical grounds. He now lives in Holland after meeting at a NMA gig and marrying a Dutch girl.

We were nattering away & l saw the NMA bassist, Ceri Monger, appear and start chatting to people in our group. He was laughing and joking whilst selfies were being taken. I couldn’t break away from my conversation without appearing rude. Michael Dean, the drummer, then appeared followed by Dean White, the other guitarist. They were chatting, posing for photos and signing autographs, particularly on records and cd’s that people seemed to magic out of thin air.

I was then chatting with Jack, when unexpectedly (and quite unusually) Justin Sullivan came out from backstage with his vape and started interacting with those of us still in the bar. Jack and I watched on whilst people gathered around him, including Lee, who got a selfie with him. Lee then came over to us & loudly said “I should have told him that he damaged my phone”. Probably in earshot of Justin.

Lee had told us in the Magic Bus about an embarrassing incident he had had at a Justin Sullivan gig about 9 years ago in Gillingham at a small venue. After a few beers, he tried to take a photo of Justin Sullivan mid performance. He was struggling with the zoom on his phone and to take a close up photo he misjudgedly shoved his phone in front of Justin’s nose. With the end of his guitar, Justin thwacked the phone out of his hand and the phone went spinning across the stage. For a split second he thought about getting on stage to retrieve it, but sense kicked in and he went to the back and waited for the show to end before an embarrassed Lee asked for his now damaged phone back.

Lee was recounting the story again to Jack, who was trying to tell him to stop digging a hole for himself. It transpired that Jack had been at the same gig and remembered the incident well, as did a 4th person who had joined us. Apparently everyone else in the crowd thought that dickhead deserved it!!!!

Talking of photos, I tried to surreptitiously take some photos of Justin on my phone, but I got caught out when some Poles now with him asked me to take their photos with him on their phones. I suddenly became their official photographer. I could and probably should have asked for a selfie myself, but instead I just shook Justin’s hand. (I’m too old to appear like an excitable groupie!)

Scottish Louise, who is in the other Magic Bus, I am led to believe is also a good friend of the band members. She was still talking to Dean White in the venue foyer when we left.

Jack, JP, Lee and myself got a taxi back to the hotel.

Song of the Day - Magic Bus by The Who.

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