Day 3 - November 26th - Review of TR show at "White Pig" in Bad Frankenhausen

1. TEAM ROCKIT & The Starfuckers!

We are on our way to Matte's house for an off day. Last night was great. We played with a band called The Starfuckers from Karlsruhe. They were extremely nice people. The club, called White Pig, in Bad Frankenhausen, East Germany, was also pretty cool. Zille was the name of the bar owner who started us out with a beer and shots upon arrival. Again we got dinner (chili tonight), a sound check, place to sleep, and even breakfast the next morning. I'll stop being totally in awe about this, but it's really hard not to take notice of it.

Now about the gig itself, The Starfuckers had what seemed like 10 shirts, buttons, CD's, a slick little merchandise set up with rope lighting. It seemed a little bit much, but they did jam. Very straight rock ala Jet or Buck Cherry, but still entertaining. The drummer Pete (stage name) knew just about everything about classic and metal rock bands as Joe and him laughed about the best beginning ever of songs. He thought that AC/DC's "Back in Black" took the cake with the crunching 8 count on the guitar and drums, although Venom's "Buried Alive" made the top of the list as well. Peter's crowning jewel was doing an interview with Ronnie James Dio, now that says a lot about the kind of true rock this kid was a student of.

We did tear ass with four "zugaben", or encores at the show. We pulled out all the stops and even whipped out some AC/DC and our infamous Black Sabbath medley as the band before us was really into them. The crowd over the last two nights seemed to perk up when we played "She Wants Us to Stay" or "Sunday Sweater." We had them going crazy by then end. I think they like that we're a little all over the map with rock, punk, and even some sort of mellow and/or funky stuff. We signed a decent amount of CD's and sticks, but as usual there are always one or two crazy drunks in front of the stage that you have to love. Last night it was a punk guy with a Mohawk who had the OI! patches on his jacket. Crazy stuff. He was the "geger Nazi" punk type (against Nazis).

I have to reflect a little bit on the van conversation yesterday. Apparently, our driver, Franzy, lived in a van at one point and has a friend that is currently doing that. My first reaction was "holy shit, what a scum," but the more I thought about it and heard her side, it's not a totally crazy idea. She wants to do it again but when she can afford a van. The upside is no rent, a mobile house, and perfect for someone in a band. Not being attached to any material possessions, like a home, is appealing.

Back to the gig, the "after party" was definitely cool with beer flowing, tequila shots (with an orange and cinnamon, weird) and cheesy 80's music that everyone was dancing to by the time 3AM rolled around. Some drunk had a shirt on that said "Fuck America" written in the Coca Cola script. This partly disturbs me because what I think he's really trying to say is "Fuck commercialism." Maybe not, but there he was in these American type jeans listening to rock music and drinking coke-like products. I understand that we're not the most loved people or country, but it does get old having to defend your country, every night on tour, to a new set of people who are just itching to talk about how much they hate America and George Bush.

  
1. Leaving TEAM ROCKIT graffiti wherever we go!
2. Joe outside the bar.
3. Take me to your leader!

We spent the day exploring some famous German caves near Bad Frankenhausen. You really can't believe how dark and quiet it is when you turn off the lights underground. The cave tour was in German so I don't think Mark and Joe got too much out of it, but I think the point that you are in a deep, dark, hole comes across in any language!

 

1. Cave tour in Bad Frankenhausen, Germany.
2. Amazing cave rock texture.
2. Franzy on an underground stone throne.

We stayed with Matte at his girlfriend Tina Jackson's apartment. We broke out another bottle of Jack Daniel's and partied until the wee hours, laughing and talking about all things music. Tina and Matte are wonderful hosts, and we always appreciate the trouble they go through to make our stay in Germany as comfortable as possible. It is safe to say that we have become great friends, and that they have joined the TEAM ROCKIT family too. It was great to have an off day, since we didn't have one last tour. If only the weather was nicer, it's COLD here in Germany!