The sweet sounds of Willy Mason graced my ears last night in Cologne, Germany. I had never really listened to too much of his stuff before, he proved himself unto my musical tastes. The crowd of 50 or so in attendance gave him two encores.

At the concert, I noticed a few things that I'm assuming are typical of most shows featuring North American artists in Europe:

• Not as many people go. Not as many people know the artist. If mellow concerts are your thing, then concerts in Europe are probably your thing.


• If you want to chat with the band, now's your chance. Although my friend and I didn't stick around to chat with Willy and his band, the chance of that happening for the willing is never higher. If you're the only person that is fluent in English in the crowd, you're one of the only candidates for a decent conversation.


• You'll hear all of the songs that you wanted to hear. This might be exclusive to Willy Mason, but his second encore was more of a request-driven jam session. In the words of a famous Kazhakstani diplomat, "Very nice!"

It's pretty obscure, but has anyone else had similar experiences abroad?