Warsaw Is Lost

The only sad thing about Berlin, for me, is the Police..  The only time I see them is when they are stopping buskers!  There are people selling drugs on the streets and they don't seem to bat an eyelid.  But start playing music and they are on you like flies.  Last Sunday at Mauer Park they were ahead of me every few steps and every busker I went to see were just getting told to stop by the police.  But the real sadness for me is the loss of Warschauer Strasse.

It's in the middle of a busy road and S Bahn with no shops or appartments to complain, it is a very loud and noisy spot and last year it was the best stage in the world.  I would excitedly go there most evenings, watch the sun go down and see some of the best buskers in the world ply their trade.  Alice Phoebe Lou, Infidelix, James Tuft, Thor Rixen, Giorgia Job, Alice Hills, David Gaffney, Zicamen and many more brilliant and of course some not so brilliant street artists.

It was a great night of entertainment and a good collection of people.  There were always people rolling a joint that you could have a few drags of and a Sterni for ein euro was a few steps away and there was such a great vibe there.  When we got back here last Autumn I would go until November shivering and still find people playing, but come mid November it was just too cold to stay, and I started dreaming of Spring, as I always do when life comes back to everything.

So, this Spring when I got back I had the same excitement to get there most evenings and hear some great music.  But there was a difference now, a darkness had started to creep in.  The bottle collectors were fighting with eachother, as were the buskers.  There were many fucked up people starting fights and it had a very different atmosphere.  The police were stopping nearly every busker who was playing and there was this sad energy to the place.  I kept hope and still went there quite a bit, but when there is no music, there is no light, just the darkness of the area.

Now it seems all the buskers have dispersed and found U Bahns and other place to play.  But I will always hold a special place in my heart to the Spring and Summer 2015 at Warschauer Strasse where it was the best stage in the world and I met so many incredible and beautiful people.  The last time I went there, there were 5 police cars parked there and a bunch of sad faced buskers who are made to feel like criminals for bringing light and music into a dark noisy place.