zondag 29 april 2012
zaterdag 29 oktober 2011
EUROTRIP: Last leg of the tour
Day 19: Coffee with Freddie in Montreux.
As we are already in Olten, we recieved a warm welcome from Nathalie. We first conquered the routine with loading out the van, soundcheck with Jack and in the dressingroom there was nice pasta and chickensoup that Nathalie's mom made for us. It was delicious! We socialized with the crowd by hanging at the merchsection while the supportband Hot Running Blood was rocking out on stage. As I checked a few songs in front of the stage I turned around and what the... it was almost packed baby! Hot Running Blood are relatively big local band that sounds a bit like QOTSA. Our show went great. Best stagesound so far. The crowd went mental and we shot some awesome footage what will be online soon somewhere.
Here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKiDqUR--94&feature=share
We sold alot of merch that night. All of our limited tour shirts left the table that night. Keep your Ebay internet eyes open for that! After the rock-workout the cocktails and shots were flowing. Olten has treated us good! Afterparty in the bar attached to the venue we drank till lights were turned on and finally hit the sack.
Day 20: Appetite for MENTALity/I'll see you in Manchester when I'm 18
Hangovers are a bitch! Especially after not being able to drink after 3 months. The jack 'n cokes were flowing last night and I guess the lemon cocktail got me over the edge.
Today we have a 3 hour drive (with me behind the wheel this time and Ben's awesome mixtape on the stereo) so we did some sightseeing on our way to Geneva. Where have we been? Montreaux! We went to see the Freddie Mercury statue!
Enjoyed the nice seaview, grabbed a bite and continue driving to the next show. Actknowledge a beautiful city as we drove through it. The venue where we played is a youth/socialcenter funded by the goverment. Lots of kids coming to the show. Soundcheck was pretty long by the way, a bit frustrating because we were forced to keep the volumes low. Owh well. The count of attenders reached between a 100 to 120 I believe. This started to get crazy before the show as I had to sign (a kid called Yann) his Fender Telecaster. His band Last Minute Sex plays in the Blink 182 style. While smoking a fag outside we met Alice and Flora and they went mental over our beards. Joe turn up and they went mental again... and with Ben coming along they went super mental! Unbelievable!
Trying not to let the tiredness get to us we just went with it. Taking lots of pictures with “the new fans” I was pretty pumped up for the show. During our time on stage the kids went mental and lots of them were singing each and every word of the songs. Unbelievable. Off the stage there was room for pictures, chitchat with the kids and finally after years and years another BOOB signing!
Mike, the awesome dude who booked the show took us for a drink at his favourite pub. We had free shots and beer... Finishing off with kebab we headed to our sleeping place (at the bassplayer for Signs of Misfortune's house) I took a nightshower and went to sleep on a lovely couch. 4 hours of sleep. Coming up is a 6/7 hour chickenfeather drive.
Next up: Last show in Le Mans, France!
Last day: 21
Waking up dead early to conquer a 8 hour drive to Le Mans. Funny thing was that this drive was shorter than the 6 hour drive to Olten. Anyway, last show coming up. Everyone is knackered and even I who always gets pumped up for a show, has a hard time finding the last energy left in my body. Once arrived in Le Mans at the English pub “Union Jack” we got a warm welcome from Clemonts and Phil.
We ate some fine french cold food and watch the Liverpool vs. Norwich football game. We were really impressed by the supports: TotorRo, The Forks and Underfuse. Show was awesome... Not our best but we got some really got some nice shots by Anthony Favennec.
At the end I had my “Nirvana moment”
We destroyed everything and I fell flatback on the drumkit.
The Last Note...
Clemonts took us to a cool bar to have the last drink of the tour. Fucking great!
As we are already in Olten, we recieved a warm welcome from Nathalie. We first conquered the routine with loading out the van, soundcheck with Jack and in the dressingroom there was nice pasta and chickensoup that Nathalie's mom made for us. It was delicious! We socialized with the crowd by hanging at the merchsection while the supportband Hot Running Blood was rocking out on stage. As I checked a few songs in front of the stage I turned around and what the... it was almost packed baby! Hot Running Blood are relatively big local band that sounds a bit like QOTSA. Our show went great. Best stagesound so far. The crowd went mental and we shot some awesome footage what will be online soon somewhere.
Here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKiDqUR--94&feature=share
We sold alot of merch that night. All of our limited tour shirts left the table that night. Keep your Ebay internet eyes open for that! After the rock-workout the cocktails and shots were flowing. Olten has treated us good! Afterparty in the bar attached to the venue we drank till lights were turned on and finally hit the sack.
Day 20: Appetite for MENTALity/I'll see you in Manchester when I'm 18
Hangovers are a bitch! Especially after not being able to drink after 3 months. The jack 'n cokes were flowing last night and I guess the lemon cocktail got me over the edge.
Today we have a 3 hour drive (with me behind the wheel this time and Ben's awesome mixtape on the stereo) so we did some sightseeing on our way to Geneva. Where have we been? Montreaux! We went to see the Freddie Mercury statue!
Enjoyed the nice seaview, grabbed a bite and continue driving to the next show. Actknowledge a beautiful city as we drove through it. The venue where we played is a youth/socialcenter funded by the goverment. Lots of kids coming to the show. Soundcheck was pretty long by the way, a bit frustrating because we were forced to keep the volumes low. Owh well. The count of attenders reached between a 100 to 120 I believe. This started to get crazy before the show as I had to sign (a kid called Yann) his Fender Telecaster. His band Last Minute Sex plays in the Blink 182 style. While smoking a fag outside we met Alice and Flora and they went mental over our beards. Joe turn up and they went mental again... and with Ben coming along they went super mental! Unbelievable!
Trying not to let the tiredness get to us we just went with it. Taking lots of pictures with “the new fans” I was pretty pumped up for the show. During our time on stage the kids went mental and lots of them were singing each and every word of the songs. Unbelievable. Off the stage there was room for pictures, chitchat with the kids and finally after years and years another BOOB signing!
Mike, the awesome dude who booked the show took us for a drink at his favourite pub. We had free shots and beer... Finishing off with kebab we headed to our sleeping place (at the bassplayer for Signs of Misfortune's house) I took a nightshower and went to sleep on a lovely couch. 4 hours of sleep. Coming up is a 6/7 hour chickenfeather drive.
Next up: Last show in Le Mans, France!
Last day: 21
Waking up dead early to conquer a 8 hour drive to Le Mans. Funny thing was that this drive was shorter than the 6 hour drive to Olten. Anyway, last show coming up. Everyone is knackered and even I who always gets pumped up for a show, has a hard time finding the last energy left in my body. Once arrived in Le Mans at the English pub “Union Jack” we got a warm welcome from Clemonts and Phil.
We ate some fine french cold food and watch the Liverpool vs. Norwich football game. We were really impressed by the supports: TotorRo, The Forks and Underfuse. Show was awesome... Not our best but we got some really got some nice shots by Anthony Favennec.
At the end I had my “Nirvana moment”
We destroyed everything and I fell flatback on the drumkit.
Clemonts took us to a cool bar to have the last drink of the tour. Fucking great!
donderdag 20 oktober 2011
EUROTRIP: It's starting to take it's toll
Day 14 - 18: Is it on?
We woke up in Emmen en outside the sun was shining!
Great day to get back on the road.
Next stop: Amsterdam The frontman of The Drawbacks hitchiked to amsterdam on our bus. We first thought that the GPS gave us the wrong directions but as we went back for petrol and came back to that spot we drove a bit further than the gypsy camp we drove through. This big gate opened up and a different squad area we arrived in that connects to a harbor. Probably the biggest squad I ever been to. I've seen a big one in Slovenia on the Antillectual tour last year but this is quite bigger to be honest. Anyway, a warm welcome from Burke, putting up the gear, great food, weird support act (free jazz soundscapish stuff). We played a nice show... Felt more like practice. After the show there was a jamsession band which featured the old bassplayer from Daybreak, Thin Air (last period) which was a pleasant suprise. Some english sailor offered us to sleep on the boat and me and Joe slept in the van in the harbor next to the boat.
The next day we had tea on the boat and headed off the citycenter to grab a bite, coffee, do some sightseeing and ofcourse: shoppin'! Me, Joe, Ben and Andrea stranded in a nice australian restaurant and enjoyed a proper english breakfast. Joe got totally wacked because the waitress spilled his diet coke all over his pants. BAM drinks for free, that is how we roll. Later Joe and I headed off for envelopes and stamps, as the people over in Amsterdam are as fuck. Made me realise why I still don't like that city so much. So, done shopping, Andrea got on her plane and we are back in the van. Off to Chemnitz. Because it's another day off we had to camp somewhere in the middle of the journey. At the moment every penny that goes out is a penny spend and not coming back. This is the point where you realise how important every show is and if a show gets cancelled (like the one in Hamburg) it effect the finances for the rest of the tour. The camping cost more than we thought as the website said it would be cheaper. We rushed our way to get there as we arrived 10 minutes before closing. To finish this day we held a midnight BBQ. I couldn't sleep (ice cold feet was one of the reasons) so I took a walk, phoned Elcke for just a talk and getting things straight in my head... and I was off to sleep.
Waking up in a cold van but the sleep got me warmed up again, we took off for the last 3 hour drive to Chemnitz. We got there way too early and with some luck we bumped into the bartender so he showed us the bandhouse. We checked out the citycenter and got back to the venue to set up the gear and merch and sat down for the famous Subway to Peter meal. Fried mushrooms! God, how darn lovely are those fried mushrooms. Loads and loads! Tonights show was good! Nice turn up, good merch sellings and nice drinks afterwards... and ofcourse the traditional shnaps. A goodnight sleep and shower ahead.
The next morning Ben, Joe and me went out to the citycenter to do breakfast at Backhaus, some souvenirs shopping, clothes for me and get the fuck on the internet. Haven't been on for 3 or 4 days... owh what a pity haha. So coffee, internet... Bamn! On the way back we did some grosseries and chilled with eachother for the rest of the night. A big massive thank you to Subway to Peter for letting us play, the great food and letting us spent two night at the bandhouse. I wanna come back here more often if that is possible. Love for Chemnitz. Tomorrow my first Swiss gig ever and from what I heard, it's a big show. Stoked!
Texting till 4 in the morning... Got up at 9. We cleaned the bandhouse in Chemnitz, did some grosseries and we were off to Swiss! This 9 hour drive made me so darn tired. But it's worth it. At the time of writing am in the dressingroom with descent wifi. We enjoyed a very good pasta made by Nathalie's mom. The venue is very cool and it's very pleasant already.
To be continued...
We woke up in Emmen en outside the sun was shining!
Great day to get back on the road.
Next stop: Amsterdam The frontman of The Drawbacks hitchiked to amsterdam on our bus. We first thought that the GPS gave us the wrong directions but as we went back for petrol and came back to that spot we drove a bit further than the gypsy camp we drove through. This big gate opened up and a different squad area we arrived in that connects to a harbor. Probably the biggest squad I ever been to. I've seen a big one in Slovenia on the Antillectual tour last year but this is quite bigger to be honest. Anyway, a warm welcome from Burke, putting up the gear, great food, weird support act (free jazz soundscapish stuff). We played a nice show... Felt more like practice. After the show there was a jamsession band which featured the old bassplayer from Daybreak, Thin Air (last period) which was a pleasant suprise. Some english sailor offered us to sleep on the boat and me and Joe slept in the van in the harbor next to the boat.
The next day we had tea on the boat and headed off the citycenter to grab a bite, coffee, do some sightseeing and ofcourse: shoppin'! Me, Joe, Ben and Andrea stranded in a nice australian restaurant and enjoyed a proper english breakfast. Joe got totally wacked because the waitress spilled his diet coke all over his pants. BAM drinks for free, that is how we roll. Later Joe and I headed off for envelopes and stamps, as the people over in Amsterdam are as fuck. Made me realise why I still don't like that city so much. So, done shopping, Andrea got on her plane and we are back in the van. Off to Chemnitz. Because it's another day off we had to camp somewhere in the middle of the journey. At the moment every penny that goes out is a penny spend and not coming back. This is the point where you realise how important every show is and if a show gets cancelled (like the one in Hamburg) it effect the finances for the rest of the tour. The camping cost more than we thought as the website said it would be cheaper. We rushed our way to get there as we arrived 10 minutes before closing. To finish this day we held a midnight BBQ. I couldn't sleep (ice cold feet was one of the reasons) so I took a walk, phoned Elcke for just a talk and getting things straight in my head... and I was off to sleep.
Waking up in a cold van but the sleep got me warmed up again, we took off for the last 3 hour drive to Chemnitz. We got there way too early and with some luck we bumped into the bartender so he showed us the bandhouse. We checked out the citycenter and got back to the venue to set up the gear and merch and sat down for the famous Subway to Peter meal. Fried mushrooms! God, how darn lovely are those fried mushrooms. Loads and loads! Tonights show was good! Nice turn up, good merch sellings and nice drinks afterwards... and ofcourse the traditional shnaps. A goodnight sleep and shower ahead.
The next morning Ben, Joe and me went out to the citycenter to do breakfast at Backhaus, some souvenirs shopping, clothes for me and get the fuck on the internet. Haven't been on for 3 or 4 days... owh what a pity haha. So coffee, internet... Bamn! On the way back we did some grosseries and chilled with eachother for the rest of the night. A big massive thank you to Subway to Peter for letting us play, the great food and letting us spent two night at the bandhouse. I wanna come back here more often if that is possible. Love for Chemnitz. Tomorrow my first Swiss gig ever and from what I heard, it's a big show. Stoked!
Texting till 4 in the morning... Got up at 9. We cleaned the bandhouse in Chemnitz, did some grosseries and we were off to Swiss! This 9 hour drive made me so darn tired. But it's worth it. At the time of writing am in the dressingroom with descent wifi. We enjoyed a very good pasta made by Nathalie's mom. The venue is very cool and it's very pleasant already.
To be continued...
zondag 16 oktober 2011
EUROTRIP: Tour du Netherlands
Day 13: Emmen ROCKS!
After a nice night in the mukkes and the part who carried on in De Scooters, the awakening ment we are back on the road!
Finally back in the van!
Huize spoorloos is a squad in Emmen who has a foodbank, shop with free stuff and a venue. The Drawbacks were our support and we played a very good show! Good sound, good vibe, kids danced and liked it! Thanks to Niels for the great sound. I slept in a nice bed and chilled out in the internet room, with some coffee.
Next up is Amsterdam!
After a nice night in the mukkes and the part who carried on in De Scooters, the awakening ment we are back on the road!
Finally back in the van!
Huize spoorloos is a squad in Emmen who has a foodbank, shop with free stuff and a venue. The Drawbacks were our support and we played a very good show! Good sound, good vibe, kids danced and liked it! Thanks to Niels for the great sound. I slept in a nice bed and chilled out in the internet room, with some coffee.
Next up is Amsterdam!
zaterdag 15 oktober 2011
EUROTRIP: Exploring LionCityHole
Day 10/11/12 Outta here!
The last half of our stay in holland (my house) the foreign part of the band gets the chance to explore the city overhere. With everything that is a sin in gods eyes we have been experiencing in these "off" days. But to balance that again Joe and Nick did 2x2 seminars on the uni! Extra tourmoney to fill up the loss we got from that fucking Hamburg show.
If you ask me this has been the greatest week/tour ever! They guys havin a great time in my city, I victorized some issues and on thursday we finally continued the thing we all do this shit for. SHOWS!
On Thursday we went out to my friend Dennis to get tattoos and after that we all went off to Groningen for the show in the Platform Theater. Sound was bad, songs were played too fast and the spark was't there. The extention crew made it bare-able! On our way back to Leeuwarden we had some minor problems with the van. lights & tires. Fixed it at a gasstation.
Next day (friday) Joe and Nick did 2x2 seminars about forming your product and one on how to set up a proper tour. But overall it's an D.I.Y. seminar. While Joe and Nick were earning tourcash, my mate Ben picked up Andrea (his girlfriend) from the station 'cause she flew out from the UK to see the last 3 dutch shows and then again head back home. How cool, I call that love.
Johanneke offered us to eat at her place before the mukkes show, she made lovely burrito's and we all had a good time. Ravens was so much better than last night. Joe: "that's how you do sound" hahah (you wont get it, but I do)
We played our best gig to date for this tour and I recieved the: you nailed it! We'll let get it on with this tour then! After the show we chilled a bit and I got the van, to load in, and went off home with Ben and Andrea. The rest enjoyed their last night in town. Something broke on my laptop for the internetconnection so I probably wont be on much but i'll try to give you enough update while being on tour.
Off to Emmen.
The last half of our stay in holland (my house) the foreign part of the band gets the chance to explore the city overhere. With everything that is a sin in gods eyes we have been experiencing in these "off" days. But to balance that again Joe and Nick did 2x2 seminars on the uni! Extra tourmoney to fill up the loss we got from that fucking Hamburg show.
If you ask me this has been the greatest week/tour ever! They guys havin a great time in my city, I victorized some issues and on thursday we finally continued the thing we all do this shit for. SHOWS!
On Thursday we went out to my friend Dennis to get tattoos and after that we all went off to Groningen for the show in the Platform Theater. Sound was bad, songs were played too fast and the spark was't there. The extention crew made it bare-able! On our way back to Leeuwarden we had some minor problems with the van. lights & tires. Fixed it at a gasstation.
Next day (friday) Joe and Nick did 2x2 seminars about forming your product and one on how to set up a proper tour. But overall it's an D.I.Y. seminar. While Joe and Nick were earning tourcash, my mate Ben picked up Andrea (his girlfriend) from the station 'cause she flew out from the UK to see the last 3 dutch shows and then again head back home. How cool, I call that love.
Johanneke offered us to eat at her place before the mukkes show, she made lovely burrito's and we all had a good time. Ravens was so much better than last night. Joe: "that's how you do sound" hahah (you wont get it, but I do)
We played our best gig to date for this tour and I recieved the: you nailed it! We'll let get it on with this tour then! After the show we chilled a bit and I got the van, to load in, and went off home with Ben and Andrea. The rest enjoyed their last night in town. Something broke on my laptop for the internetconnection so I probably wont be on much but i'll try to give you enough update while being on tour.
Off to Emmen.
dinsdag 11 oktober 2011
EUROTRIP: How to fill a gap...
Day 7/8/9: Another thousand miles down the road...
I woke up in the bus, somewhere in belgium after a awesome night.
We geared up after a nice cup of coffee with Chris from Pushed too far and his mum.
Off to Hamburg!
While we drove 5,5 hours to Hamburg we stopped for a proper meal and a shower. The weather has been bad so far on tour but that won't kill us. We arrived at the Bar 227. It's a squad and the barlady just arrive too. We set up the gear, the supportband was there right away. So far so good. But after dinner and soundcheck they told us that the show has been cancelled. We can't force 5 people to drink themselves to death for 200 euro's... Without thinking we loaded the van, got some booze and headed home earlier than expected. Roundabout a thousand miles, a "pitstop" in Hamburg and the national anthem of The Netherlands later I'm back on my own ground. Tired as fuck but sleeping on my own couch, I love it!
The next day I set up a few seminars for Joe and Nick to earn some money to fill up the loss we made with Hamburg. The rest got busy with our first tour webisode!
That night the English section of our all time hero's team went out for a drink, so I could chill with Bernice. Be on my own a bit. After I dropped her off at home, I drove a while through the city with music on the headphones and through the rain. I loved it! Am enjoying that life is giving me new highlights, new future perspective, continueing laughters and sharing a wonderful tour with four adorable buggers!
Somewhere else in the city is something toooootally different happening. Buggers getting their groove on. Hittin' it hard. The guys got hammered and had good times, as of what I saw on the videocamera haha. Ben came in like BAMN! First thought was my room will be destroyed... I seen him on stage next to me. It's a animal! Joe's laughing over the phone while and hurting my stomach. Damn.
The next day I spend some hours at school, Nom de Plume came down to my house to meet the rest of the Helsinki crew. After that we kinda chilled with games, House and Comedy Central.
Cozy hard to hard on "The Motherfocker"
Tomorrow: Rehearsals!
I woke up in the bus, somewhere in belgium after a awesome night.
We geared up after a nice cup of coffee with Chris from Pushed too far and his mum.
Off to Hamburg!
While we drove 5,5 hours to Hamburg we stopped for a proper meal and a shower. The weather has been bad so far on tour but that won't kill us. We arrived at the Bar 227. It's a squad and the barlady just arrive too. We set up the gear, the supportband was there right away. So far so good. But after dinner and soundcheck they told us that the show has been cancelled. We can't force 5 people to drink themselves to death for 200 euro's... Without thinking we loaded the van, got some booze and headed home earlier than expected. Roundabout a thousand miles, a "pitstop" in Hamburg and the national anthem of The Netherlands later I'm back on my own ground. Tired as fuck but sleeping on my own couch, I love it!
The next day I set up a few seminars for Joe and Nick to earn some money to fill up the loss we made with Hamburg. The rest got busy with our first tour webisode!
That night the English section of our all time hero's team went out for a drink, so I could chill with Bernice. Be on my own a bit. After I dropped her off at home, I drove a while through the city with music on the headphones and through the rain. I loved it! Am enjoying that life is giving me new highlights, new future perspective, continueing laughters and sharing a wonderful tour with four adorable buggers!
Somewhere else in the city is something toooootally different happening. Buggers getting their groove on. Hittin' it hard. The guys got hammered and had good times, as of what I saw on the videocamera haha. Ben came in like BAMN! First thought was my room will be destroyed... I seen him on stage next to me. It's a animal! Joe's laughing over the phone while and hurting my stomach. Damn.
The next day I spend some hours at school, Nom de Plume came down to my house to meet the rest of the Helsinki crew. After that we kinda chilled with games, House and Comedy Central.
Tomorrow: Rehearsals!
zondag 9 oktober 2011
EURO TRIP: That shit needs to be nailed man.
Day 6: Showtime!
After what happened last night we got to bed in the bus and Joe got his tent up. It was freezing cold in the bus but at least we knew not to expect a riding relax chair aint gonna crash into us or anything. I just slept a few hours but felt pretty fucked up in the morning. Its been years since I slept in the van while being on tour!
Anyway... We practiced on stage roundabout 12:00 just to see what needs more practice and if the set is in a logical order. went pretty well even tho I feel the pressure but I dont worry. As the festival started I sometimes went to the van and practiced for a bit and that payed off! Saw a few cool bands like Pushed too far (Belgium metalcore like Mundane) and To the bone (sounded like a The Bronx/QOTSA coverband) who played for like two hours!
The fans got some sticks, skins and picks.
Chilled in the van and got to sleep.
Off to Germany!
After what happened last night we got to bed in the bus and Joe got his tent up. It was freezing cold in the bus but at least we knew not to expect a riding relax chair aint gonna crash into us or anything. I just slept a few hours but felt pretty fucked up in the morning. Its been years since I slept in the van while being on tour!
Anyway... We practiced on stage roundabout 12:00 just to see what needs more practice and if the set is in a logical order. went pretty well even tho I feel the pressure but I dont worry. As the festival started I sometimes went to the van and practiced for a bit and that payed off! Saw a few cool bands like Pushed too far (Belgium metalcore like Mundane) and To the bone (sounded like a The Bronx/QOTSA coverband) who played for like two hours!
Chilled in the van and got to sleep.
Off to Germany!
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)