reubens (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} reubens) wrote,@ 2005-11-11 10:44:00 |
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does anybody read this anymore? where are all your posts?
“See you later John!!” Ryan yelped as we left John behind in London. We were being whisked away to the airport after our show to catch a 6am flight to Germany. The airport was a real scene at 3:30 in the morning, there were hundreds of people sleeping everywhere. We stupidly opted not to sleep seeing as how our flight was boarding in 2 hours (big mistake). We flew on Ryan Air Europe’s low cost carrier. They offer super cheap flights but be very cautious, they advertise that they fly in and out of large well known cities but in reality they fly in and out of farms usually located an hour or more outside of large well known cities. Total bullshit. We landed our ignorant asses an hour and half bus/train ride away from where our rental car was. Still no sleep we picked up our car drove an hour to our hotel and totally crashed for like one whole hour.
We showed up at our first Germany show (in Essen) with Olli Shulz & der Hund Marie like a bunch of sun blazed zombies asking where we could plug our computer in. The show went over OK however no John/drummer equaled no feeling, we must learn to try harder or least look cooler while trying. It was a bit of a tough show for us considering that we hadn’t practice a set without John in 3 weeks. But we made it through the audience was very patient and nice.Two positive things on the day: 1) we were excited to find out that all the rumors of German hospitality are very true. First things first, let’s take a brake. In the U.S. you arrive to rush a sound check, in Germany you arrive to a deli tray, fruit, cheese, coffee and more. Later the club also supplies dinner and hotel rooms. 2) we were very excited and relieved to find that Olli (guitarist and singer) and the band Andrew (drums), Dennis (bass) and Max (guitar) are all very cool guys also their crew Wooler and Riener. They made sure to give us a warm German welcome and that we were all comfortable. Despite the lack of sleep we had a great time with the guys that night and were really looking forward to the rest of the tour.
Our second show was in Karlsruhe we were well rested and determined to make this punk rock karaoke show rock. The club was really cool. It was an old underground subway station that had since been closed hence the name Substage. Unfortunately there were problems with the PA and our sound check was reduced to a ten minute line check. Much like the first night everything went OK but we still were not happy with how the backing drum tracks were sounding. The tracks just were not loud or big enough. Once again the audience was lovely and interested to see what we Americans had to offer. After the show we hung out with Olli and the gang and got to know all of them a little better. Seriously good people with great stories, Olli use to drive the Weakerthans and many other bands around Europe when they came over to tour. We talked a lot about music and shared stories of concerts we had seen.
The third show was in Switzerland and since the GPS in our rental car only worked in Germany we decided to convoy with Olli. This was fun because we got to hang out with these guys even more and anyone who has ever toured knows how much of a tour actually takes place at truck stops. I can’t believe I forgot to mention the Autobahn the myth the legend it’s all true you can actually drive as fast as you want, it’s truly awesome. The club was on the second floor of a building over looking a giant lake with mountains in the background. I don’t think we’ve ever played a club this scenic in the states. Contrary to what John thought we were eating better than ever and drinking wine with our meals. Sound check went really well and we were excited to play, we finally had it all figured out. Somehow between sound check and the show the front of house sound man forgot everything we had told him only 2 hours prior. During the show we were hearing the drum tracks thru our monitors however for some reason he failed to put them thru the mains, meaning we could hear our backing tracks but the audience could not hear them at all. Once again our plan of taking Europe by storm was foiled, but this time we were pissed off and determined to never let it happen again. The show ended very late. We all slept very little, but not as little as Ryan. Ryan stayed up nearly all night talking to a girl at the club that he ended up making out with. Description was rated PG. Still waiting for rated “R” Ryan to appear.
We had to be on the road at 7:30 AM so we could make it to Wien (Vienna), Austria in time for sound check. The drive from Rorschach, Switzerland to Wien is about 8 ½ hours. The drive was long but very beautiful, green mountains with beautifully fall colored trees. Again we had a great time convoying with our new German friends. At a truck stop Andrew, drummer of Olli Schulz, offered to play a couple of songs with us at the show. Of course we were interested. We pulled up to club to find Olli horsing around with some dude. As it turns out they weren't horsing around at all this guy wanted to fight twelve of us so he could keep his parking spot in front of the club? What a dip shit! Of course we quickly changed his mind and sent him packing, which he did so by burning rubber and giving us all the finger. It made us all feel very at home in this foreign land. The soundman was a great guy, he understood our situation and wanted us to be happy and sound good. Finally we were happy! The computer sounded huge and Andrew played two songs with us. We were all extremely pleased. We stayed at this great hotel owned by two crazy brothers who are huge music fans. Supposedly everyone has at one point stayed here even the Beatles and they had a picture of Howe Gelb in the lobby. How cool is that?
Nurnberg was our last show with Olli. The show was well attended and the sound was great again. There was a lot of drinking taking place this night which all culminated in us joining Olli and the boys on stage for a 15 minute improv jam of a song all about the Boogeyman. The crowd went from thrilled to slightly entertained to dumbfounded to bored and we still had 7 minutes left of our weirdo jam. For the first time on this tour the club owners were not the nicest people and so we were all in a hurry to leave for the hotel. This is where we had our farewell party and once again stayed up the entire night.
The next three shows we were on our own. Bremen is a very cool small college town that looks really old except for the high tech super trains running down the middle of every street. The show took place upstairs at a club called the tower bar which looked like a castle on the inside. It was explained to us that it was indi rock dance night down stairs and that the show would be free for anyone to check out. We were all a little worried that the allure of sexy sweaty dancing would be to strong to resist and that no one would come upstairs. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that was not the case. As many people as could squeeze into the small room did and it made for a very enjoyable fun show. Oliver the owner was a great guy and at the end of the night he told us your hotel/apartment is on such and such street but he couldn't remember the exact number. He told us, "the key will be under a flower pot, good luck". At 4am we found ourselves searching every flower pot on the street but when we finally found a key under a flower pot we were no longer anywhere close to where Oliver said the hotel was. We made the decision that this must be the place and went in. Oh yeah this is important, in Europe there is no one working at the front desk except for in the morning. The hotel was really nice with a balcony overlooking acres of gardens. When we woke up we went downstairs to check out only to find out that we in fact were not at the right hotel, we had slept in someone else’s room. We had a broken conversation with a German woman who was upset but couldn't understand us so she just smiled and waved us goodbye.
Before heading to Hamburg we decided to check out Bremen a little more. At one point Chris was taking pictures of a cow when he tripped and fell into a barbed wire fence. We decided he should go to the emergency room to get stitches for at least one of the gashes. He was in and out of there in 45 minutes with some new stitches, bandages, and two tetanus shots and the whole thing only cost 50 euros. European health care rules! The show in Hamburg was in an area called the reaperbohn where all the red light districts are. All the prostitutes dress in snowboarding clothes even the boots and a hip pouch. Actually a very strange site to witness. Why do they have a uniform? We were playing by ourselves and with no dance night to draw people we were sure that no one would show. However, about 50 people did and they even made us play an encore. At this point we are all falling in love with Germany. The crowds are just the most considerate bunch of music lovers.
In the morning we walked around Hamburg. I wish we had more time here it is a very cool looking city with a lot happening. Before the wall came down this was Germany's media mecca. Anyway onto Berlin. The show went very well, Olli and Dennis showed up to support us. We also got to meet Philip the man who booked this leg of the tour. He was a really great guy funny down to earth and he took us all out to a fancy dinner (John would have loved this restaurant). After the show we hung out and talked to all of our new German friends. Everyone we met was just such good people we are really going to miss all of them. It was finally starting to hit that this was the end of our five week adventure so it was definitely a little sad. In the morning we told my brother farewell (Mark if your reading this I'm really glad you were with us the whole time and thank you) ate breakfast in Berlin flew to London for lunch and were safe in John's arms in Brooklyn for dinner. Crazy! Overall this trip gets a 9 out of 10 from me I feel revived and lucky to have had the opportunity. Thank you so much to all of our new friends from England and Germany we were very fortunate to have met y'all!
Jeff(just filling in for John)Bufano
“See you later John!!” Ryan yelped as we left John behind in London. We were being whisked away to the airport after our show to catch a 6am flight to Germany. The airport was a real scene at 3:30 in the morning, there were hundreds of people sleeping everywhere. We stupidly opted not to sleep seeing as how our flight was boarding in 2 hours (big mistake). We flew on Ryan Air Europe’s low cost carrier. They offer super cheap flights but be very cautious, they advertise that they fly in and out of large well known cities but in reality they fly in and out of farms usually located an hour or more outside of large well known cities. Total bullshit. We landed our ignorant asses an hour and half bus/train ride away from where our rental car was. Still no sleep we picked up our car drove an hour to our hotel and totally crashed for like one whole hour.
We showed up at our first Germany show (in Essen) with Olli Shulz & der Hund Marie like a bunch of sun blazed zombies asking where we could plug our computer in. The show went over OK however no John/drummer equaled no feeling, we must learn to try harder or least look cooler while trying. It was a bit of a tough show for us considering that we hadn’t practice a set without John in 3 weeks. But we made it through the audience was very patient and nice.Two positive things on the day: 1) we were excited to find out that all the rumors of German hospitality are very true. First things first, let’s take a brake. In the U.S. you arrive to rush a sound check, in Germany you arrive to a deli tray, fruit, cheese, coffee and more. Later the club also supplies dinner and hotel rooms. 2) we were very excited and relieved to find that Olli (guitarist and singer) and the band Andrew (drums), Dennis (bass) and Max (guitar) are all very cool guys also their crew Wooler and Riener. They made sure to give us a warm German welcome and that we were all comfortable. Despite the lack of sleep we had a great time with the guys that night and were really looking forward to the rest of the tour.
Our second show was in Karlsruhe we were well rested and determined to make this punk rock karaoke show rock. The club was really cool. It was an old underground subway station that had since been closed hence the name Substage. Unfortunately there were problems with the PA and our sound check was reduced to a ten minute line check. Much like the first night everything went OK but we still were not happy with how the backing drum tracks were sounding. The tracks just were not loud or big enough. Once again the audience was lovely and interested to see what we Americans had to offer. After the show we hung out with Olli and the gang and got to know all of them a little better. Seriously good people with great stories, Olli use to drive the Weakerthans and many other bands around Europe when they came over to tour. We talked a lot about music and shared stories of concerts we had seen.
The third show was in Switzerland and since the GPS in our rental car only worked in Germany we decided to convoy with Olli. This was fun because we got to hang out with these guys even more and anyone who has ever toured knows how much of a tour actually takes place at truck stops. I can’t believe I forgot to mention the Autobahn the myth the legend it’s all true you can actually drive as fast as you want, it’s truly awesome. The club was on the second floor of a building over looking a giant lake with mountains in the background. I don’t think we’ve ever played a club this scenic in the states. Contrary to what John thought we were eating better than ever and drinking wine with our meals. Sound check went really well and we were excited to play, we finally had it all figured out. Somehow between sound check and the show the front of house sound man forgot everything we had told him only 2 hours prior. During the show we were hearing the drum tracks thru our monitors however for some reason he failed to put them thru the mains, meaning we could hear our backing tracks but the audience could not hear them at all. Once again our plan of taking Europe by storm was foiled, but this time we were pissed off and determined to never let it happen again. The show ended very late. We all slept very little, but not as little as Ryan. Ryan stayed up nearly all night talking to a girl at the club that he ended up making out with. Description was rated PG. Still waiting for rated “R” Ryan to appear.
We had to be on the road at 7:30 AM so we could make it to Wien (Vienna), Austria in time for sound check. The drive from Rorschach, Switzerland to Wien is about 8 ½ hours. The drive was long but very beautiful, green mountains with beautifully fall colored trees. Again we had a great time convoying with our new German friends. At a truck stop Andrew, drummer of Olli Schulz, offered to play a couple of songs with us at the show. Of course we were interested. We pulled up to club to find Olli horsing around with some dude. As it turns out they weren't horsing around at all this guy wanted to fight twelve of us so he could keep his parking spot in front of the club? What a dip shit! Of course we quickly changed his mind and sent him packing, which he did so by burning rubber and giving us all the finger. It made us all feel very at home in this foreign land. The soundman was a great guy, he understood our situation and wanted us to be happy and sound good. Finally we were happy! The computer sounded huge and Andrew played two songs with us. We were all extremely pleased. We stayed at this great hotel owned by two crazy brothers who are huge music fans. Supposedly everyone has at one point stayed here even the Beatles and they had a picture of Howe Gelb in the lobby. How cool is that?
Nurnberg was our last show with Olli. The show was well attended and the sound was great again. There was a lot of drinking taking place this night which all culminated in us joining Olli and the boys on stage for a 15 minute improv jam of a song all about the Boogeyman. The crowd went from thrilled to slightly entertained to dumbfounded to bored and we still had 7 minutes left of our weirdo jam. For the first time on this tour the club owners were not the nicest people and so we were all in a hurry to leave for the hotel. This is where we had our farewell party and once again stayed up the entire night.
The next three shows we were on our own. Bremen is a very cool small college town that looks really old except for the high tech super trains running down the middle of every street. The show took place upstairs at a club called the tower bar which looked like a castle on the inside. It was explained to us that it was indi rock dance night down stairs and that the show would be free for anyone to check out. We were all a little worried that the allure of sexy sweaty dancing would be to strong to resist and that no one would come upstairs. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that was not the case. As many people as could squeeze into the small room did and it made for a very enjoyable fun show. Oliver the owner was a great guy and at the end of the night he told us your hotel/apartment is on such and such street but he couldn't remember the exact number. He told us, "the key will be under a flower pot, good luck". At 4am we found ourselves searching every flower pot on the street but when we finally found a key under a flower pot we were no longer anywhere close to where Oliver said the hotel was. We made the decision that this must be the place and went in. Oh yeah this is important, in Europe there is no one working at the front desk except for in the morning. The hotel was really nice with a balcony overlooking acres of gardens. When we woke up we went downstairs to check out only to find out that we in fact were not at the right hotel, we had slept in someone else’s room. We had a broken conversation with a German woman who was upset but couldn't understand us so she just smiled and waved us goodbye.
Before heading to Hamburg we decided to check out Bremen a little more. At one point Chris was taking pictures of a cow when he tripped and fell into a barbed wire fence. We decided he should go to the emergency room to get stitches for at least one of the gashes. He was in and out of there in 45 minutes with some new stitches, bandages, and two tetanus shots and the whole thing only cost 50 euros. European health care rules! The show in Hamburg was in an area called the reaperbohn where all the red light districts are. All the prostitutes dress in snowboarding clothes even the boots and a hip pouch. Actually a very strange site to witness. Why do they have a uniform? We were playing by ourselves and with no dance night to draw people we were sure that no one would show. However, about 50 people did and they even made us play an encore. At this point we are all falling in love with Germany. The crowds are just the most considerate bunch of music lovers.
In the morning we walked around Hamburg. I wish we had more time here it is a very cool looking city with a lot happening. Before the wall came down this was Germany's media mecca. Anyway onto Berlin. The show went very well, Olli and Dennis showed up to support us. We also got to meet Philip the man who booked this leg of the tour. He was a really great guy funny down to earth and he took us all out to a fancy dinner (John would have loved this restaurant). After the show we hung out and talked to all of our new German friends. Everyone we met was just such good people we are really going to miss all of them. It was finally starting to hit that this was the end of our five week adventure so it was definitely a little sad. In the morning we told my brother farewell (Mark if your reading this I'm really glad you were with us the whole time and thank you) ate breakfast in Berlin flew to London for lunch and were safe in John's arms in Brooklyn for dinner. Crazy! Overall this trip gets a 9 out of 10 from me I feel revived and lucky to have had the opportunity. Thank you so much to all of our new friends from England and Germany we were very fortunate to have met y'all!
Jeff(just filling in for John)Bufano
