It's with some sadness & regret  that I have to announce the final 'closing time' at the 'Meerkotten'  took place during the Summer of 2008  and the 'ausrauming' clearing & emptying of all the bar fittings & fixtures etc was completed on November 30th 2008.  This was a special pub in the Bielefeld area famous for it's 'Bauernfrühstück' or 'farmers breakfast',  a wonderful  (calorific) tasty meal of scrambled eggs, smoked ham &  pan fried potatoes.  We musicians had many a good session there plus any visiting friends (on the road) were always taken there for a meal & a few beers ... I won't namedrop here, but over the years some quite well known people have sampled the delights of this unique establishment. 

As a mark of respect for the last landlord Heinz Neuwöhner & his family who ran the place & have served some excellent beers & meals over the last 40 years,  I 've decided to leave this page here( for some time). It's the only record I have of one of "those nights" back in 2006.
 

 

 

(Remember) The Meerkotten Session 

Bielefeld, Germany, September 2006
 

 
I'd been back in Germany for a couple of weeks when I was invited to engineer the sound at the 'Blues Revue' in Rheda-Wiedenbrück which featured many musicians from different bands etc, we had such a good time that on the spur of the moment we decided to have an raw 'acoustic session' later in the 'Meerkotten' pub on the outskirts of Bielefeld.  The following is for everyone, musicians & public who gave their support to our event plus all the fun &  lunacy it entailed.   A big thanks to you all.
 

 

 

 

 This is an early evening shot of the place we chose to invade! The Meerkotten, a 'rustic' traditional North German country pub better known for it's beer & food than music. In this shot taken around 8 O'clock it still looks quiet  - compared to later at midnight!

 

 OMG... I'm fat & fifty,....ah what the hell !

Here, I'm just running through some new stuff & warming up with Roger Clarke-Johnson before the gig started.  Actually I think we're  about to do some injustice to Jake Thackery's song 'Sister Josephine'.  Having worked with Jake very early in my career I'd been talking to Roger about it and had just supplied him with some old recordings . 

 

 Now here the gig has started, we are playing along with Gerry Hovell  (out of pic, see below) who had kicked off the session with 'The Things We Used To Do' which sort of set the theme for the night.

 

 In this pic Roger Clarke-Johnson & Gerry Hovel are rocking one out in their original duo line up of 'Cool School'.  this was a rare German appearance for Gerry and pleasure for us all to have him singing with us that night.

 

 ''Messers'' Hovell & Spooner,  I haven't a clue what's going on here, but Gerry Spooner seems to be restraining Gerry Hovell for some dubious purpose no doubt! I don't have any pics of Gerry Spooner playing that night but if I come across one I'll certainly post it here. By the way, did I mention that they serve really good beer in this place, take a closer look at the eyes for proof!

 

 Getting a sweat on!    By this time the pub was fairly full & getting warmer by the minute.  I don't know what we're playing here but I'll have a guess at 'Every time that you walk in the room'  or something similar - It could even be Joe Brown's 'Picture of you', there again it could be 'Rain' from the Beatles ..... it's anybodys guess, we played so much that night!

We had guests from near & far, past & present plus some neighbours came along & joined in. Here my neighbour Mike from the next kotten (Cottage) is playing along with Gerry Hovell. Just in the picture (left) are some friendly faces from the old folk scene in Bielefeld which used to be centred around a venue at 'Ferdi's Pizza Pinte` during the 80's & 90's.  We were also very honoured to have Ferdi himself there too!

A shot of Monika & Gerry taken at the end of the night.  Gerry Spooner is sporting our fee for the evening!  This was taken about 2.00a.m. after a brilliant or 'epic' night as Gerry would say. 

These Photos were supplied by Norman Osthus of NORMCAST podcasting & Radio Gütersloh, check out his site at: http://www.normcast.de 
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