Back To Shore

Every once in a while this summer I thought I should pick up my “Walk the German section of the Camino / Way of St. James” activity again. To get one more of those sections done this year. On the bus on my way to the starting point yesterday morning I pulled up the blog and checked and to my dismay I realized, I haven’t done any walking on that Way this year. The last time I did that was almost a year ago. Ooops.

Part 4: Greven – Schmedehausen to Münster – Dorbaum
(~ 16 km)
Saturday, 17 October 2025

According to my smartwatch I walked an additional 6 km (in the morning from the bus stop to the starting point and in the afternoon to the bus stop and in the city and all that). I’m taking it extra slow today.

Once again it took me a while to get to the starting point. The original plan had always been to mostly use public transport but in this case I opted for a mix: Drive to Münster (90 km, 1h), park the car, take a bus to the main station to get the bus to the starting point, which still took about another hour. It was an early start to get to the starting point about 10:00 in the morning, but all in all worth it.

The sun was out, the air was crisp, but not too cold, the way was once again clearly marked all he way through (and I had a map on my phone as well) and I knew this and my next few sections would be on plain level, which makes it much easier / less strenuous to walk. I had packed my hiking poles just in case, but that was definitely unnecessary ballast.

The path leads through a rather rural setting, the occasional farm or just secluded residences. Lots of fields.

After about an hour I crossed the Dortmund-Ems Canal once again and later on I was supposed to switch back the other side and then cross again 2 km further down. I decided to skip that part and just continued along the canal, because it shortened the way to the countryside restaurant I had picked for my lunch (and restroom) break.

I don’t know why there were two stickers marking the way.

I passed so many more fields and tree lined small roads…

Only towards the end I came through some more “proper” woodland.

At some point – before that – the path led on a narrow trail between two fences (which didn’t make a good photo), between a drinking water protection area on the right and a military training area on the left. For someone of my generation in Germany, who had thought we live in peaceful times and had naive hopes that the military might outlive itself, it felt weird to walk past that. And imagine that German soldiers are actively training for war (or just defending the country).

Of course there was more colourful foliage towards the end of the walk as well.

And the last waymarker I noticed…

… before stepping back into more urban setting and walking about 10 minutes along the residental road to get me to the bus stop for the bus back into Münster city centre. For some food. And books 🙂

Part 03: Lengerich to Greven – Schmedehausen, ~ 16 km, 27 October 2024
Part 02: Natrup-Hagen to Lengerich, ~ 13 km, 13 October 2024
Part 01: Osnabrück to Natrup-Hagen, ~ 17 km, 15 September 2024

I’ve been home from Scotland for a few days now. Most of the time all I did was being lazy and reading the latest Inspector Lynley novel, which I finished late last night. I thought I might start my vacation recap(s) with the main reason I decided to go on vacation in Scotland: Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings Festival VIII in Edinburgh last week. And before I delve a bit more into the wonderful gigs and experiences and my 4 minutes on that Lost Evenings stage, I’d like to share a few words on the fact that the festival will be held in Dallas, Texas next year. 

I had and still have many of thoughts on that. Thoughts which stand in conflict with each other to some degree. Thoughts on Frank’s lengthy statement on why Dallas, Texas of all places and what I thought was lacking from it. Thoughts on how the online discourse about this decision was conducted, at least the bits and pieces I saw. At first I did not want say anything about it online. Last night after all I tried writing my thoughts down, but it turned into a convoluted and preachy piece and was rather passive aggressive towards some of who’ve been commenting about it. And I didn’t like that about myself, so that text was binned. 

In short: I have sort of come around to the idea of it being held in Texas next year. I won’t be going, but I haven’t been to either of the ones held in North America so far and I most probably will never be attending one even if it was held in the most liberal city in Canada.

What helped me shift my – at first very critical – perspective about Dallas were comments left on one of the many Facebook posts about it. I don’t recall which post and I won’t wade back into the cesspit to find it. But these comments were a reminder that the idea of Lost Evenings had always been to bring this particular festival and all it entails – panels, open mic, fundraising, community, making friends, hearing 84 different Frank songs in a row – to as many people in as many different regions as possible. The fact that a (small) subsection of the larger fan community is willing (and able !!) to travel from all over the world or even just from one coast to the other and by doing that year after year have quickly created a “global / international LE community” is a wonderful side-effect. But possibly – I’m having a wild guess here – that might not have been Frank’s main intention with this travelling festival concept. Again referring to the comments I mentioned above: If gathering the same global community year after year had been the main purpose, he could have just started doing “Frank Turner Festival Cruises”. Which also makes people travel from all over the world to gather in one location – a cruise ship – to experience 4 days of live music and community and all that. That furthermore is an already well established concept and probably much easier to pull off than organizing a festival in a different place each year. As someone who works in the climate action field I object to the festival cruise concept with a passion and I’m very glad Lost Evenings doesn’t fall in that category, but that’s just me. 

So, maybe let’s all take a step back and think for a moment about why Frank wants to do the festival in a different location each year. And consider that it might not (always) be about gathering the same global fan community in a (different) room somewhere each year? 

I have more thoughts on all of it, but this was the one I felt was missing in most of the online discourse I’ve seen.

Stepping off the soapbox now. 

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Lost Evenings in Edinburgh! Plus one of the warm-up shows in Aberdeen. I had a great time all in all. Due to the festival venue being a bit outside the city and our accommodation being on the other side of the city, I didn’t really partake in any of the usual festival community stuff like I used to at previous festivals. I had consider going to the “Writing Panel” on day 2, but I knew the room would be small and getting in would have meant coming to the venue and start queuing before 11 probably. Which meant that I would have to leave “home” before 10. By the end of night 1 I knew that I would be too exhausted to make myself to do that. I admit I wasn’t too keen on many of the support bands or the acts on the NA stage, so most of the nights we didn’t make it to the venue until 7 or 7.30. After Doors anyway. So I didn’t have all that much of the festival community experience this time and hadn’t said Hi to as many people I knew from previous gigs. Next time in 2027, right? But also there was more to do and see in Edinburgh. Some of which will be shared – via photos at least – in a different post later. 

By the end of night 1 my friend and I ran into Bryan from Koo Koo. My friend has known them for years and because Bryan is such a nice guy and because we know no-one really gets embarrassed or shamed during the silly games on stage, we let him talk us into being part of it on the last night. For the next three days I was surprisingly chill about the prospect of stepping on stage in front of 3.000 people and doing a silly “air bagpipe competition”. Yes, we had been told in advance so we spent that Sunday morning browsing some of the tackier souvenir shops on the Royal Mile for cheap accessoires. I still wasn’t too nervous when we were brought backstage and given last instructions plus a few sips of Buckfast to fortify us. I think by then it might have been the adrenaline that kept my nerves calm. Adrenaline because I was about to make a fool of myself by pretending to play bagpipes in a silly Scottish costume in front of 3.000 people. Potentially also being witnessed by Frank & the Sleeping Souls in the wings. And I didn’t really care.

From the first three nights and previous festivals where I saw Koo Koo do similar stuff, I knew that the crowd would be kind and the reaction would be positive. At Lost Evenings we are a community of like minded people after all. So I wasn’t really scared if I looked stupid. I mean, I KNEW I looked stupid, but I also knew no-one down in the crowd would care. It was fun! It was also over before I knew it and in less than 4 minutes we were shepherded back from the stage, while Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls entered the stage from the other side. How absolutely surreal! We took a quick photo with Koo Koo backstage and when we were led back to the space where we left our things I had last glimpse of Callum and then “Eulogy” started. An absolute crazy experience.

I am so glad I stepped out of my comfortzone and allowed myself too look silly in front of 3.000 (very friendly) people. I mean, how many people can say they have stood on and have gotten a round of applause on a Lost Evenings stage? 

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I stopped doing gig recaps years ago, so I won’t be starting with that again, but here is a tiny recap and some memories from the five shows I’ve seen while I was in Scotland. I went up to Aberdeen for the first warm-up show on Sunday 21st. The main reason for that was that it was my show #75 and I wanted that to happen at a smaller, more memorable place than the first night of Lost Evenings. It’s nerdy and silly, I know, but what can I say. I also had a chance to briefly chat to Frank after that gig, which is always nice and I admit I had hoped for that being possible after the smaller gigs.

That warm-up show was about half of the setlist of night 1 – Back in the Day. I admit I had expected a few more proper vintage rarities and B-sides that night and all, but it was still a amazing start to the festival. Frank wore a kilt! 

Night 2 – Acoustic Duo will be stored in my memory for a loooooong looooong time. Afterwards I said, that it might have been my favourite Frank Turner show so far, 12 years and 77 shows in. And I stand by that! Not necessarily because it was the perfect setlist, as there are always a few songs I don’t care for as much as I do care about others. But even the songs that weren’t among my favourites I liked fine. The magic of that night was that the whole room knew and sang along to all the words to all the good old classics. The songs about community and friendship and resilience. The old anthems about keep fighting the good fight (Thatcher Fucked the Kids, Love, Ire & Song…) There also were most of my favourite songs from No Man’s Land (Jinny Bingham, William Blake…). Not all that many people knew all the words as well as I did, but that didn’t stop me from singing along from the top of my lungs. I usually can only do that in my car. What a perfect, perfect night! 

Night 3 – Positive Songs For Negative People and songs from that era. It was great show as well, because the album has a few great singalong songs and it comes with a lot of memories. That album tour was the first proper one after I had discovered Frank in late 2013 and thus holds a special set of memories.

Night 4 – Bagpipes (see above) and a Greatest Hits Set and also some of the new album stuff, which all in all always makes for a great night. 

All in all a great weekend and the memory of night 2 will definitely help me through potentially darker times for a while. Thanks for that Frank Turner. 

Lyrics: “Pass It Along” – Frank Turner, 2011

It’s been a bit over a week since I joined about 10.000 people on a pilgrimage to Alexandra Palace – the only not royal palace in England (according to the man on stage, I haven’t verified it) – to see Frank Turner play his 3000th show. Three thousand! That sounds like a lot. And it is, even though there are supposed to be bigger bands who have played even more. I do think though, that those bands have been around for even longer than Frank has been doing this as under his own name and not as part of a band.

Anyway: I’ve been along for the ride since show 1447, so you could say I’ve been along for over half of it! Which only is a valid statement if you consider the number of show or the length of time, of course. Frank played his first solo show 21 years ago. I first saw him almost 12.5 years ago, which is over half the time ago. I’ve not seen half of the shows. Only 2.46 % of his total. Or 4.76% of the ones he played since my first show. But numbers don’t mean anything really. (It’s been my show 74, for those who are interested)

These days at a regular (not festival) gig I try to be up front at the barrier more often than not, but I knew I would not consider that for this show. I also was coming with a friend, who isn’t interested in being up front, so we stayed back near the sound desk. And to be honest, I was fine with that, because 10.000 people in a standing room is a lot of people in a vast space. I don’t know if it’s still a bit of underlying “Pandemic PTSD” but the crowd that night made me a tiny bit anxious. Fo no reason really, the corner where we ended up in, was not rowdy at all and a good place to be. 

I admit for some reason I had expected a bit more of a “greatest hits” set for this celebratory occasion, but I can see that for Frank himself it also made sense to treat this one as almost a regular gig. He does this for a living and he is still touring the latest album, so the set mostly was a regular current tour set, which was fine by me.

After the show numbers countdown Frank came out with just his guitar and played the first two songs solo with a lot of old photos from the early days shown on the screens (behind the stage and left and right). Even though I wasn’t a part of the early days I got a bit sentimental / borderline weepy. I did not cry though. But the opener “The Ballad of Me and My Friends” is such an iconic anthem for a lot of us people in that crowd that night. I met so many wonderful people through being a fan of his music in the past 12 years. I share so many memories with so many of those people. Memories of gigs and trips and chats and lockdown livestreams. Deep conversations about why we are all doing this, how much his music and his lyrics mean to us and why. Conversations about how his music and the communal experience of singing those songs together helped and still do help all of us in one way or another. It never ceased to amaze me and I’m so glad I was able to become a part of this community. To let myself be a part of this community. Leaving my comfort zone and all that. 

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see all that many of those people at the gig or over the weekend. I did mention the 10.000 people and my anxious mind, right? I wasn’t really in the right state of mind to linger around for long after the gig. But I knew they were there with me in spirit.  

The second song was ” I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous” and by the end of that the Sleeping Souls joined Frank on stage. For this one they still had the montages of early day photos going on on the screens and yes, of course there was an image of Jay (“Beans on Toast”) at the appropriate time. Of all the others probably as well, but I don’t know those (faces) at all.  

Next up was “I Still Believe” – and no, this won’t be a song by song recap review post, don’t worry – but this one is the song that started it all for me all those many years ago. In the summer of 2013 was mindlessly skipping TV channels one weekend afternoon and caught this bit of live footage of a festival. Didn’t know the band, liked the song. Liked how the singer danced around after the first verse. Decided to keep watching and paid closer attention to the lyrics. The rest as the saying goes is history. 

As stated above, a pretty regular current tour set followed. I’m so glad he’s still playing “Haven’t Been Doing So Well” from the last-but-one album. There are many songs and lyrics which mean the world to me for some reason or another, but this song might have had the biggest impact on me, as it made me seek help and have therapy for about 18 months (April 2022 – August 2023). It was life changing and I try not to throw that term around lightly when it comes to Frank Turner. As laid out in the intro to this “My First Ten Years” post . 

When he played the opening chords for “The Road” I guess, many, many people got their phones and cameras ready to catch one particular moment. I was such a long way back that I didn’t. I’m sure the whole gig will be available to watch again on a streaming platform or DVD at some point. But of course I also held my breath for it and cheered after the slight pause and updated lyric

And the nights, three thousand nights I’ve played, a thousand more to go,
Before I take a breath and steel myself for the next three thousand shows.

The encore started with “Undefeated”, which is a great song in general, but of course was made even more special that night because… 3000 shows. And after that they brought it home with classic “let’s jump and dance and sing and have a great time” songs: Polaroid Picture, Get Better, Four Simple Words. 

That night and also on my way back home from London the next day and this past week I on and off pondered how much I have changed through these last 12 years in general. I’m not going to bother dissecting how much of the change was through the music, the lyrics, the gigs, the people or just change through life in general. I can’t make that distinction and I don’t know why I should.

With the same conviction that Frank states that he’s a touring musician, these days I can state that I am a Frank Turner fan and probably will be for life. It is a (huge) part of who I am. Not in the possibly slightly obsessive “chronicle every gig in detail on my blog / watch a few interviews to excess / parse every word in all the lyrics and interviews” kind of way it still was a couple of years ago. But in the broad “being a fan of his music changed my life for the better” kind of way. And I will be forever and ever grateful to Frank, his crew and his fanbase for that.    

Post Script:
One of the reasons this post took me so long to write / publish, was that I really struggled to deal with the negative, nagging Gremlin voice in my head, who was trying to ruin this memory for me. The Gremlin voice shouting all the things that didn’t go as planned and went wrong, counting off all the circumstances that were a bit annoying. Hammering home the fact that of course it all didn’t go as silly little fangirl me with tons of issues, had imagined it in some back corner of her mind. Shouting that the whole trip was as stupid and insignificant as in general I am as well. That kind of voice.

I’m proud to say that I did manage to shut her up in the end. It just took me a while, hence the delay in putting this post together.