Walked through the mighty, neon-drenched Ikebukoro. The Caparison guys had
picked a special restaurant for us this evening. Very special.
It was a truly bizarre, Tyroler-kind of place, the waiters and waitresses all dressed up
in lovely, corny German folk clothes. They served beer in tankards so big you could go for
a swim in them. The food was excellent, a real treat. Couldn't help but think of the
hilarious movie Top Secret and Val Kilmer's crash course in the German language: "I
want a schnauzer to my wiener-schnitzel".
At the table next to us there was a group of happy fellas celebrating their friend's
birthday. The restaurant's own musician (and overall entertainer it later appeared)
played countless, tremendously inspired (to say the least) versions of "Happy Birthday"
on his accordion. All while we got served sauerkraut and monster sausages.
As if this didn't get us into Alp-state enough, the inspired musician climbed up on The
Pipe Organ from Hell. (Don't know if "organ" is the right word here, it was more like an
organism. A strange musical instrument with wires attached to the multiple keyboards and
on to everything from a tiny drum kit to a zany trumpet). The dedicated man played us a
variety of Beatles and folk music songs, to our great amusement.
All of a sudden he stood behind Lyndon and Alan with a bunch of balloons. He handed me
one and insisted I blow it up. I tried so hard I almost puked. It didn't happen a damn
thing. (And I am supposed to be a singer, strong lung capacity and all that. Sure, sure…).
Without any effort at all he not only filled the rubber thing with air, he also created
a perverted, very orange poodle out of it and gave to Lyndon.
Alan got himself some kind
of balloon spiral. I believe this was his silent vengeance on us for laughing at his organ
(the instrument). He must have found peace because he abandoned his pipes for a small
electric piano and played classical music for the rest of the evening (with an occasional
Beatles-tune every once in a while to keep us happy).
I ordered some squid and we talked about the Jules Verne classic "A Thousand Leagues Under the
Sea" (which scared me to death when I was a kid). This conversation blew into ridiculous
proportions in no time: "A Thousand Poodles Under the Sea! Starring Lyndon Laney as Captain Nemo
and Mattias Eklundh as the giant octopus".
Tom and Roy talked about Fender Telecasters while Nobu managed to drink an impressive number of
beers. The Telecaster-discussion became so intense and lasted for so long everybody got very
curious what the hell it was all about (since half of us didn't much Japanese). Both Tom and
Roy were so absorbed by the six stringed subject they still would have been talking about
"floating pick-ups" if it wasn't for Alan who broke the Fender spell by shouting: "Hey! We
are your guests here! We are supposed to be entertained!" Everybody cracked up by this sudden
outburst and we ordered coffee before heading back for the hotel. I think we all had great,
very unorthodox evening. At least I had.
Said goodbye to Alan and Lyndon in the lobby. They were bound for an early flight to China
the day after. Both were extremely nice lads and extremely supportive. When I told Lyndon I
was so honored to be among the big guys like Iommi, Paul Gilbert, Satriani, e t c, he quickly
replied: "But Mattias, you ARE one of the big guys". Got dizzy again… We promised to keep in
touch and went to bed.
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