This week, Anna Phoebe gets an eyeful of Bryan Ferry’s arse, sees Aerosmith in London, finds out how expensive Helsinki is, loves Barcelona…oh, and then there’s some rubbish about a World Cup game! Check out all the past columns here.

Sitting on my little balcony in Berlin surrounded by green leaves and twittering birds. It feels a million miles away from the land of rock.  It is, of course, a great time to be in Germany (or, indeed, to hastily adopt my German side)! I watched yesterday’s crushing defeat of the England team on a street cafe in Kreuzberg  – the part of Berlin where there is a seamless flow between young hip musicians/designers, mixed with punks stuck in the 80s and Turkish immigrant families. Each German goal was punctuated by fireworks blasting off into the air and deafening cheers from up and down both sides of the  streets. I actually got rather into it!!

Not quite as much, though, as I got into Aerosmith’s show at the O2 in London a couple of weeks ago – they were on FIRE!  Their stage set was relatively basic compared to most arena acts, and so it was left up to the band to deliver the show. In my opinion, between Steven Tyler and Joe Perry they most DEFINITELY succeeded. Perry’s playing and showmanship were flawless – and his singing on Stop Messin Around sounded great.

But it was the leathery Tyler who oozed raw animal magnetism and barely stood still for the entire set. He swaggered around the stage in his fringed shirt and clingfilm tight silver trousers, twirling the mike stand over his head with the signature scarves trailing down, rubbing up against Perry playing air guitar and turning his tightly packaged bottom to the audience, giving us a cheeky hip thrust.

His voice was incredible – he hit every note, including the high falsetto at the end of Dream On. The only SLIGHTLY odd moment was when he was on all fours with his face thrust into the camera (and thus projected onto the HUGE screens) licking his lips for what seemed a little TOO long…

A few days later I was in Helsinki for the first Roxy Music show. Watching Bryan Ferry (from behind!) kick into action and strut his stuff was a treat – there were a couple of moments during the show where I shared a secret smile with myself.

Roxy Music takes me back to my early teens when my parents used to play their records – who would have thought I’d be playing the organ part on Love Is The Drug a decade later? Rather bizarre!

Helsinki was kind of a strange place - REALLY overpriced when it comes to alcoholic beverages, and a strange mixture of bars either filled with metal fans or completely filled
with balding men in suits. It has to be admitted that I  didn’t try their famous elk sausages, but I don’t think I’ll be rushing back to spend holidays there.

Barcelona, on the other hand is a completely DIFFERENT story. I don’t know HOW I’ve managed to not go there before – what a FANTASTIC city! All the old winding streets  heading up to Los Ramblas, the fabulous weather, the gothic cathedrals and incredible architecture, the delicious food, the BEACH, the hot weather, and the fact we were staying in a super luxurious hotel right down by the marina…it all helped propel this city to my top five world destinations! I will definitely go back.

We played that night on a bizarre line up which included  Roxy Music, Dizzee Rascal, The Chemical Brothers and various DJs. I didn’t stay until 3am to watch The
Chemical Brothers take to the stage, but instead went with the band to  a bar owned by (Roxy guitarist) Phil Manzanera’s friends called Margarita Blue. I completely ignored Phil’s warning of not drinking more than two of the blue margaritas; they were just TOO tasty!! If you ever find yourself in Barcelona look this little bar up – it’s definitely worth a visit! (http://margaritablue.com).

Right. I’m off now to get my bike fixed and then I might cycle to one of Berlin’s lakes for a spot of sunbathing! A few days of chilling here, and then off to Geneva on Thursday for a Roxy gig. We’re playing at the Montreux Jazz Festival, which is meant to be great – we’re on the same bill as Melissa Auf der Maur – I’ve wanted to see her live for ages!

Inspiration Track For the Week: Barcelona by Freddie Mercury

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