Team Rockit Germany tour diary - November 22-December 03, 2006

Day 1 - November 22nd-23rd - plane ride to Germany / pick up gear/ Ride to Uster, Switzerland.

WE MADE IT! I seem to always start out these tour diaries with that. It’s a great sigh of relief to have worked so hard to get here for a mere 10 days. We played a major summer festival to get the majority of the cash for the flights back in September (something we didn’t have last time). We lost a member (don’t even get me started on Mark), but gained a cool new one – DAVE! Although it was only a year since we were here last, it seems a lot longer as we have a new record as well. This time a COMPLETE album (not an E.P.) specifically to help a German release. We have a label here in Germany now (One and One Records), AND we don’t have a band member anymore that needs a hair straightener AND a hair dryer on tour (which ended up blowing up our converter last time –aren’t you privy to all of the good stuff by taking time to read the tour diary!). The payoff continues to be amazing. It’s like family now to see our driver, Franzy, and our booking agent, Matte at Last Resort Music.

It was flawless getting off the plane without running into any security problems this time…i.e. without Joe almost dying on the plane (yes that actually happened – read tour diary #2), AND we event got a little help at the airport from a friend of the band, Katie, who happened to be there (crazy coincidence) to help waive the $50 fee for my baggage being overweight. All good signs, all good omens for this tour. I’m feeling good about this one, our 3RD tour in Europe.

  
1. Day breaks over Europe.
2. The joy of "duty free".
3. Back on the road with Franzy, our driver.

Day 2 - November 24th - Review of first show at Rock city in Uster, CH

Half hung over, still tired, beautiful Swiss Alps, ah yes, the tour has begun. We rocked Switzerland for the first time last night. It was very cool to say the least. Franzy’s other cool punk friends came out, Matt and Monique. Matt has a cool record label called TSOR – The Sound of Rebellion. They were from Zurich and Basel. Haeger from Rock City, the promoter at the club, was extremely cool. The venue was in a basement of a building. Again, I’ll say it now and will shut up for the rest of this tour diary as I mention it in every European tour diary, the hospitality continues to amaze me. I’m almost mad now at how bogus the conditions to tour in the states can be. We arrived at Rock City last night, loaded in the gear and BIER was waiting (along with some “snacks”). We ate across the street from the venue where a great meal (rice, vegetables, & Chicken) was waiting (again, pre-paid exclusively for the band). Even after the gig, Haeger invited us into his home, where we could sleep for the night, and had additional beers waiting in a cool little bar he had constructed in his basement (a lot of basements going on this evening). This was about 20 minutes away from the club in the middle of nowhere.

 
1. Joe and Dave at Rock City
2. TEAM ROCKIT live in Uster, Switzerland.

We played with two local Swiss bands: Noodles and Onkle Floyd. Both were pretty good. Onkle Floyd was belting out covers from The Who, The Police, and AC/DC. Weird to see how the international language of rock lives on. Sometimes we see bands in Germany trying hard to get close to an English language cover tune, but Onkle Floyd was actually quite good with the crowd singing “Roxanne” at the end of their set.

I think we were all a little tired from the flight and jet lagged, but we still delivered quite a show. It’s hard to tell if people are going to dig our brand of hyped up rock, after hearing mellower bands, but the crowd was definitely into it. We had a small little mosh pit of kids going crazy up front. We did have a “Zugabe” (encore) of two songs. Because the bands before us whipped out some covers, we did play a Ramones cover and an AC/DC cover. I think Dave definitely brings a more live element to our stage show. He jumps around a lot. It definitely was a good start and the perfect venue to start the tour off.

We woke up this morning to great weather and a view of the Swiss Alps. After breakfast at a local restaurant, we are on our way to Herzogenaurach in Germany and will probably stop at the “Rheinfalls” in Schaffhausen. It’s a huge waterfall were the Rhein river spills out(?) of Switzerland.

  
1. Our rented van.
2. High-tech Heating System.
2. Mysterious "Asschapel" patch/shrine pinned up in van.

Day 3 - November 25th, 2006 / After Herzogenaurach – on the way to Munich

Waking up in a cloudy haze can get old pretty quick. It’s our friend Mr. Daniels (Jack that is) knocking at the door.

Last night was a great show for a lot of reasons. It was our 3rd time playing at the same venue in a small town named Herzogenaurach. Smiley, a tall early 20 something dude, is the promoter for this club called Rabatz. He always does us right in the way of accommodations, food, and payment. He plays in a band called Ragin Diarrhea. Yes, hilarious name, but nothing that the name suggests. Thomas, an older guy who helps out and manages the place, made a killer spaetzli with meat, gravy, and potatoes. Franzy ate a plate of vegetables with potatoes, did we mention she’s vegan? We saw fans that came to the last two gigs we had here. I can’t explain how cool it is to see someone walk in the venue with your band’s t-shirt on and a is able to sing the lyrics to your songs!! We definitely have a few fans like that now. The guys from the band Phoney McRing Rings came to the gig. We played with them the last time we were here. Totallly cool people. One of the guys had a Good Riddance shirt with a picture of George Bush and a Me First and the Gimme Gimmes zip up hoodie to boot (both good bands). The kids here just seemed very honest and heart felt when you talk to them. When they say they really like your band and will come any time you play, they mean it! Someone said they were debating driving 3 hours to come see us tonight in Munich. That’s crazy, but ultra cool.

Upon heading out this morning. We hooked up with Marco from Deafcon-X. This guy is also very cool and give us access to killer discounts at the Addidas outlet that Herzogenaurach is some-what known for. Thanks Marco!!

We played with a band called Random Hero last night. Very cool kids. They were like 17-20 years old. For being that young, they definitely had some good songs. Very poppy, but good melody. We hung out with the singer Fabian and the bass player, Uwe, until the wee hours. Fabian said something kind of funny, but profound that I often think about. He asked how old we were. When I mentioned I was 30, he said he has huge respect for anyone over 28 who tours and does music, but at the same time finds it very foolish. It’s a good point, You have to be crazy to do this at times. It’s fun, it’s great, but the conditions for a small amount of cash can be trying so you truly have to love what you do. Are we too old? Are we on the border of “why are you still wasting your time with this?” In some people’s eye, I’m sure that is the case, but I hope I can still jump in a van to go play a show when I’m 80.

Thanks to Smiley, thanks to double the amount of fans that came out to see us. Thank you to Herzogenaurach.

A side note to the evening was that we opened Franzy’s present from the band, a bottle of good American whiskey. You can only imagine what happened after that. Let’s just say it ended with me not remembering that Dave and I were looking through drawers for beer. I apparently gave Dave some Euros to go buy more beer at the gas station. By the time he got back, I was passed out.

 
 
1. H-town fans
2. Fabian and Uwe from Random Hero.
3. Franzy, the bartender, and our friend Mr. Daniels.
4. What Herzogenaurach is known for.