So here I am. It is Saturday 12 June about half past five at the backstage entrance of “Het Paard van Troje”. After entering the building several employees of the theater introduced themselves to me. I had never been to “Het Paard van Troje” before and from the front you cannot see how big this theater is… It all makes quite an impression to me. While I am looking around, the members of Hot Water show up. The reunion with Donovan and his manager Marcel is extremely cordial. Most band members introduce themselves.

How long does it take to unpack a harmonica? The sound check takes long, but it is absolutely not unpleasant to “taste” the atmosphere behind the scenes. Especially the bassist makes huge impression on me. During his sound check he plays a few jazz standards for advanced listeners on his bass guitar. It appears that all musicians are great performers! At half past seven we have  to leave room, because from that moment the audience can walk in.

My “personal fans” and I have a short meal and then we “disappear” between all the Hot Water fans. There are about 150 enthusiastic fans in the room. Some of them I already met at Pier 32. Most of them knew already that I was going to play a song. In the room there are no chairs. The audience stands for the stage and in the back there is a bar to buy your drinks.

To my big surprise I am invited on stage after the first song. It might be interesting to know that I did not no which song or songs he wanted me to play. Marcel wrote in his email that the most logical song would be Going Home, because in the original version there is a harmonica, but Donovan starts a song called “Fat Cat”. The song does not bring “complications”.

The people around me in the audience find it quite amazing to stand next to a harmonica player who has just played with Hot Water. More and more I realize how popular Hot Water must be. In the meantime, the concert continues. The music is contagious and some people are  dancing. There is no break during the concert and nearly at the end I am invited again to play a second piece. It appears that this “Going Home”. A simple, but great song.

Hot Water does some extra’s at the end. They play “Laduma” again. This is the official world championship soccer song from South Africa. They have recorded 32 versions for all countries involved in the game. For each country the star players are mentioned in the song…

Around half past ten the show is finished. A lot of fans stay in the room and the members of the band mix with the audience. After a nice conversation with the management, the bass player and Donovan it is time to go. Hopefully we can play again. The concert has been a great show!