Alice is back in Berlin. She spent the winter at her origin – in and around Cape Town, South Africa.
In her facebook posts you can see, how excited she already was prior to her departure back to Berlin. She is about to have her first busking session today at Mauerpark – kind of right where she left last year. So that circle is about to close right about now.
After i could transform an intense, internal rollercoaster-tohuwabohu into some clarity and relaxation, i return to the Mauerpark to search for Alice.
Her standard spot is not taken, neither can i see or hear her around. So i take a walk threw the park and watch all these musicians playing – or setting up their equipment. Lots of known faces, as well as new ones. All the migrating birds seem to be back by now.
So i went one time threw the park – and back, not knowing what to do next. Then, still in some kind of waiting mode, i could hear quite familiar sounds – voice and guitar – coming from outside of the park, right at Eberswalder Straße:
Rebel Rose!
Alice placed herself right on the pedwalk, fence in the back, rental bike station to her left. There are not so many people stopping at first, that spot somehow seems more tight and restless in comparison to her regular stage. But i don't care and take a seat on the pedwalk somewhere between bike lane and pedestrian crossing.
After a few songs more and more people stop to listen, the bike lane is already full of people by now. Her set is irregulary accompanied by bike riders ringing their bells. By the way they ring their bells you can tell how stressed they are – on this bright and shiny sunday. Alice's music is creating a small public chaos, people have to adapt to the packed place – i like that.
A strange guy with a bike and two dogs found his spot in front of me [not standing in my view, though]. One of his dogs is barking kind of hysterically, over and over again, just wouldn't stop. Not even after some songs. The dog's owner – wearing a cowboy hat – doesn't seem to care at all. I agree to interfere into life and try to calm that dog. So i walk towards him [in german language dogs are male] and caress him.
He bites me in the hand.
Hmm.
I check my emotional state – agree to that i am calm enough for which it should work – and try again. There is quite some insanity in this dog's eyes … as if he was possessed.
I tried three times. That made three bites into my hand.
Hmmm.
So this does not seem to work.
What else?
Alice just finished one song … and in the middle of the break i had the idea of speaking to the dog … my mind says, that it would make no sense to talk about the music when there actually is none, but i didn't care and continued:
»Man, this is such wonderful music…«
caressing his back once again, putting all my love and compassion into voice and hand.
That worked.
He's quiet.
For now.
With quite a relaxed voice the dog's owner says
»Now she got it.«
While lifting up my two-meter-body back into upright, Alice starts her next song. »The Acrobat«, a cover song by Angel Olsen.
There is a personal connection to this song, so it moves me even more than the other ones: Tears rush into my eyes. I can feel all the cells of my body boiling. Somehow it feels like a warm and intense, small, yet mighty volcanic eruption.
Observing that, and listening to Alice, the dog's guy starts to speak to me: