Team Rockit Germany tour diary - April 7-17 2005

Day 1 - April 7th/April 8th - plane ride to Germany / pick up gear.

Nervousness set in as the day started, did we have everything? Would we get stopped in the airport by security crazed cops for being a band with gear? We had to get rid of one guitar at the airport because the bungee cord contraption we had arranged didn't work/couldn't be checked in. Having "Rock n' Roll Abortions" spray painted on Joe's guitar case (that's his other band) probably didn't win us any points either. It was do or get stuff left behind, and the acoustic guitar had to stay too.

The flight started out good, I was a bit worried about Joe as he took something to knock him out and it REALLY knocked him out. I'm talking drooling, lack of comprehension, etc. YIKES! Upon waking up (after the showing of 'National Treasure') Joe and Mark got into an immediate fight about who had the artwork idea for our album "Duck Duck Goose." It didn't matter to me at that point. We have saved up 1.5 years of gig money to go on this tour/trip and they were now yelling at each other, calling each other foul names - loud actually, in the dark on the plane.

After passing through customs again without problems - PHEW! we started the long wait. Our driver, Franz, said he wouldn't get there until 7:30 and our plane landed at 5:30am. Upon calling him at 7:15am to see if we were in the right place, he said there was traffic and it would be another hour- MAN! I just wanted to get on the road.

 
1. Customs didn't care much for the guitar case.
2. Franz, our driver.

Day 2 - April 8th - Review of first show at Barfly in Sonthofen

We all seem to be in a great mood today. Franz, our driver, showed up and seems to be a very nice person. He's toured with many bands and has a very "I've seen a lot, but I'm not cocky" attitude. In Sonthofen, which is a resort-like town in the mountains of Bavaria, we stayed in a quaint German ski chalet-type apartment off the beaten path. We were fed dinner - a small pizza for each of us. Not that Pizza Hut shit, but real pizza similar to what you get in Italy. The show was at a basement dungeon-type venue called Barfly. There are so many things to say about the show last night, but it can be summed up with a few key moments. The band that opened for us was "Silent Decay". They were the epitome of "Korn-like" metal - very good through, with great stage presence. They were a little standoff-ish even though they let Mark use their bass amp. Oh yeah, the bass amp that we rented didn't work and one of the bass speakers was blown- joy. We're driving to Munich now and will visit a music store first to try and remedy that.

 
1. Barfly in Sonthofen, Germany.
2. View from our ski chalet.

Back to last night's show, we actually sold shirts before the show and upon arriving in Sonthofen. Also, there was an ad and a nice, large review of TEAM ROCKIT with photo in a local magazine. The show itself was great. The crowd was totaly into it, hooting and hollering for more. I definitely was a bit sloppy, but we had 3 ENCORES!!! We signed a ton of autographs and it was Daniel (the promoter)'s birthday, so at midnight we launched into "Love Me Two Times" by The Doors (which he wanted to hear after we jammed on it during soundcheck.) We did play a good amount of covers, and it was more of a party atmosphere. After selling some merch after the show Mark and I started to drink heavily. The beer in Germany is amazing and legendary for good reason. They have a purity law here that demands ultimate freshness and pure ingredients, which is incredible because you wake up the next day with almost no ill effect, unlike American beer which guarantees a hangover. Despite rip roaring drunkeness, we loaded the gear fine. All of the arguments Mark and Joe had earlier in the day seemed to have washed away. It's great to be back in Germany.

 
 
1. Joe backstage with a member of Silent Decay.
2. Matt with a Team Rockit fan.
3. Mark and the bass player from Silent Decay.
4. Team Rockit and Silent Decay, with Daniel the Promoter (center, vomiting).