The U.K. Subs at Dürer Kert in Budapest, Hungary on 16 December 2023.
There is a bit of a story behind this gig in Budapest, so bear with me as I recount what occurred. 🙂
Me and my mate James got to Budapest the day before the gig, and we ended up meeting Steve and Stefan from the Subs for a few beers that evening. The next day we had a wander around Budapest, and visited the birthplace of Tommy Ramone of the Ramones (born Tamás Erdélyi), before heading to the venue.
After arriving at the venue, we discover a quiet bar upstairs that not many people seem to have discovered, where we can sit down and have a few beers without much of a queue for the bar (initially). After a while, I need a piss, so I go to the toilets behind the bar on the same floor. As I go in, who do I find going into the crapper? Mr. Charlie Harper himself. 🙂
It turns out that the backstage is on the other side of the corridor to where we are sitting, and the toilets are between the 2. I decline to shake his hand, given the circumstances. 🙂 Charlie suggests that I go and say hello to Yuko backstage while he uses the facilities. He even asks the security guard to get a backstage pass for me and James. He still hasn’t done his business. I go and see Yuko and as I come back, I see Charlie waiting for me in the corridor and he asks me how to get down to the stage front to see the support bands. I tell him that we will wait for him in the quiet bar.
After 15 or 20 minutes, Charlie appears in the quiet bar and comes and sits with us. He says that he prefers to stay where we are, so we sit and chat for a while. Various people come up to say hello, including the guy in the first photo below who presents Charlie with the shirt that he puts on, which the guy has made specially for him.
Charlie invites us to watch the show from the back of the stage, which means that I have a very different and unique viewpoint from which to take photos. It’s great to see the gig from the back, but I wouldn’t want to do it too often, as I miss the experience of being up at the front in the thick of things.
