TR Tour Diary #2
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Day 9 - December 2nd - Review of TR gig at Gleis 1 in Eisenach
Last night we played in East Germany again in a town called Eisenach. The club was called
"Gleis Eins" (Track 1), a play on words since it was located in the same building that the
train station was in and apparently the club is new and has only been open for 6 months. Two
brothers run the place, Jorg and Uwe Zimmerman. They both used to be sound men and opened
up this club together. They definitely know how to treat bands. Pasta for dinner, amazing
sound at the club, full fridge of bier for the bands, AND we stayed in a hotel tonight.
Very cool.
1. Our tour van in front of Gleis 1.
There were two bands that opened from Eisenach. The first band,
Reinhard Cooper, was
interesting. They were like Primus meets Zappa meets Ween. I'm not saying they were as
talented as those bands, but still interesting. I don't know if people knew what to make of
them. The next band, TonVerbal, was good, just probably straight rock though. The drummer
stood up for some reason when he played.
By the time we had to play, I think we had all drank four to five Sternburg Biers. And,
we're not talking 12 oz. we're talking half a liter. It didn't seem to matter though as we
hit the stage like something fierce. Joe started way up on this monitor and jumped down
during the first song. Somehow Joe whipped a bier in Mark's direction in the first 5 minutes
of us playing which exploded and shattered on stage. He jumped onto my bass drum more than a
couple times. I thought we were on fire. It was a really decent stage with great sound. I
think people just get into us right away as we come across with a ton of energy like it's
our last gig on earth. That's how I'm going to feel tonight. Our last gig in Germany on
this tour. It's sad because people actually appreciate us here when they get a chance to
see us.
After the gig some drunk dude who didn't know English started saying some real bullshit to
Joe. Joe eventually said some stuff back and the guy was stunned. Maybe he should have learned
what the words "Fuck You" mean before using them. The guys from the first band wanted us to
go back to their place to party and jam some more. We tried to find the place, but had no
luck. One thing I have to note from this gig is that there was this guy there who was
an OI! Punk. Franzy had told us the whole week that those fascist people still exist, I
didn't believe it, but there he was a drummer from and OI! punk band. He seemed cool enough
as he brought two CDs, talked drums for 15 minutes, and then sort of went on with his
business. Some one referred to him as an "SS guy" - Holy crap. I didn't want to be around
that shit, but what could I do. He seemed nice enough. I'm still amazed that after two wars
they still have this problem in Germany.
We sold a decent amount of merchandise and even the soundmen bought CD's and T-shirts, which
we took as a huge compliment because they see tons of bands. Mark signed one of the gloves he
wore during the set for a drunken female fan, who had gotten up on stage and tried to take the
glove off Mark's hand during the gig, while we were playing! Crazy. She then proceeded to make
out with our driver Franzy.
 
 
1. Team Rockit @ Gleis 1, Eisenach, Germany.
2. Matt, lookin' like Red Barchetta!
3. Mark in the dark...
4. Joe the schweineficker.
We're on our way to Lauden-Konigshofen. The last gig of the tour. Joe & Mark were just
looking at the cat book Joe bought. Joe loves his cat and talked with Franzy last night for
two hours about their pets.
Day 10 - December 3rd - Review of TR show @ Kulturschock in Königshofen
I'm sitting in the plane as I write this last tour diary entry for TEAM ROCKIT,
Germany Tour #2. To say last night was a great last gig would be an ultimate understatement.
Königshofen is a small town of about only 3,000 people, but it is close to Lauden with another
12,000. It's also conveniently located near Wurzburg, quite big German city. Upon leaving for
the gig and checking out of the hotel we headed towards Königshofen and made a stop in Wurzburg.
Our first stop was the Media Market which is similar to Best Buy, but just seems a lot bigger
for some reason, or at least this one was. Joe picked up a bunch of cool jazz, some AC/DC, and
even Kiss for a friend because the Kiss logo is different. They can't have anything that
resembles the "SS" logo in Germany so the letters look bubblier. I never noticed that until now.
I picked up a killer CD case, which I've never seen before. It was like a small tiny metal
file cabinet for CDs. We still had time to kill after Media Market so we just drove to the
center of Wurzburg and walked around. This was the first time on this tour that we had a chance
to actually "sight see." We walked around the "Weiknachts Market" (Christmas Market) and sort
of stumbled into this extremely old church which is typical in Europe with the massive domes,
ceilings, and huge stained glass windows. It's hard to even explain how big it was. The
acoustics were amazing as well. Joe dropped his water on the wood pew in there and it made the
most massive sound. We couldn't stop giggling as it was typical for the punk (Franzy) and
band to be in this church disturbing the peace. Mark and I both ate a bratwurst from one of the
outside stands at the Christmas Market. I don't know if it was because they cooked it outside,
or because we were at the right place at the right time, but we both agreed it was the best
damn bratwurst we ever had.
 
1. Stained glass in Wurzburg, Germany
2. Vaulted ceilings.
Upon arriving at the club, I was surprised at how small the place was. I couldn't believe
they could afford our guarantee tonight, but apparently the place we played at called
"Kulturschock" gets help from the city, they don't have to pay rent there, and utilities are
included. I was amazed that we were in the middle of nowhere and then suddenly 50-60 people
came out of the woodwork for the gig. We were the only band tonight and basically did our
own sound, although it was perfect for the little room. Matte came again with Tina Jackson
(our two most favorite people in Germany) and the crowd really seemed to like us. We played
for practically two hours straight, with at least four "Zugaben" (encores). I think we played
almost all of the covers we knew, even repeating "Beat on the Brat". There were a ton of people
smiling ear to ear and going a bit crazy during the set. This brings me to the most important
part of our touring in Europe. I don't know if it's just a lack of good bands in Germany,
or if they simply appreciate music more, or if they just aren't as many concerts, but the
reaction we got on this tour was phenomenal. They always cheered extremely loud after each
song or went crazy like in Dipol, and this is the one thing I will miss, at least until the
next tour!
 
1. Giant clay oven for heat at the gig.
1. Team Rockit @ Kulturschock, Königshofen, Germany.
Upon finishing our sets we sold a good amount of merchandise for the amount of people that
were there to see us. After everything was loaded out we sat and drank our last bier with
Matte & Tina Jackson. I was gushing about how special these people are but I've never met a
booking agent who checks up on us daily to make sure everything is OK and who is up for us
staying at his apartment multiple times. Tina Jackson, Matte's girlfriend, seems to really
understand how things work and the hours a booking agent has to put in to be successful.
We'll truly miss them until the next time around. Hopefully we'll be back next summer 2006 with
a few "open air" festivals where we can promote the new record. This has to be the best tour to
date.
1. Matt, Joe, Mark. Front row: Franzy, Matte, Tina Jackson!
We got to bed at around 4AM after carefully repacking everything for the flight today. We
definitely had less merchandise, but more cool stuff that we acquired. The next goodbye would
be to Franzy. This would be the hardest one for us as she became part of the "TEAM" over the
last 9 days. It was only 9 days, but seemed like a month. I talked with her on the way to the
airport getting my last chance to speak a lot of German in. We all knew she was someone special,
someone intelligent, but had punk attributes, while not freaking out about any small things.
She never asked for anything, always helped with the gear, and even helped us with communication
when needed. We can only hope we get so lucky next time. Until 2006.
Love, TEAM ROCKIT!
1. Mark, Matt, Franzy & Joe.
TR Tour Diary #2
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