Day 10 – Gig in Hildeshem / One the way to Bad Frankenhausen

Last night we played in Thar (pronounced “Taf” in Hildesheim. There are about 100,000 people that live in that city so it definitely wasn’t one of our bigger gigs, but the bar was extremely cool. Chris was the bar owner / promoter. He was a cool rock dude with long hair and played bass in his own band OKA18 (LINK). Again, the hospitality was extended right away with drinks and pizza before we sound checked. There was a killer p.a. in this place for how small it was. Joe was feeling good, I felt the best that I ever felt (before the shots of alcohol started). We didn’t start until 10:30 and we were the only band last night. After that, two girls did some rock DJing together the rest of the night. The set was extremely good; we played about 60 minutes last night with one encore.

Joe was feeling so good that even he got on top of the bass drum for a guitar solo. Normally, that’s been Dave’s job on this tour and definitely did his share again last night jumping on top of stools, his amp, whatever….Dave “hit the wall” last night after our gig. He almost blacked out when we finished and just sat in front of his amp. He’d been drinking a lot up until now on the tour and was simply dehydrated. We had him sit there and just drink water as he sobered up throughout the night. I must say it’s a tiny bit amusing to see someone so young on the road living through these first like lessons of limitation, etc. In other words, Dave found out that even though there’s unlimited free beer at every place we stop, he’s still human and has to take care of himself from time to time.

We sold a few CDs and someone even wanted our poster off the wall to be signed. I love when stuff like that happens. At first we were a little worried about what we were going to get for the gig money-wise. They didn’t charge a cover at the door and they were passing around a hat for the band, but everything worked out in the end. At the end of the night it’s like we all went in different directions. I slept upstairs and a”band room” with a sleeping bag on a bed. Franzy slept in the van and Joe and Dave slept on the couches of the bartender’s apartment. Being warm and having a place with running warm water and a warm room bas been a commodity on this tour so we’ve decided that whatever you can find with those essentials, go for it.

And alas, the tour is almost over. Our last gig is tonight. I must say for only 9 gigs in a row this tour seemed extremely long. We found out that it had snowed 12 inches in Chicago this week. Ugh, I’m not looking forward to going back home to that, but a warm bed will be killer. I will definitely go crazy tonight for this last gig (as we have been every night).

Last night was the gig we needed on this tour. It was the best gig with the most response, 4 encores, and a crap load of merchandise sales. This tour was a good one, but the conditions were a bit more tough, a bit more hard care than usual. We slept in the van twice; we had to deal with certain guarantees not being met. Some shows were a lot better than others and this was the best one to date. It was the first time that I came down from the backstage area and someone was already waiting to buy a t-shirt or CD, BEFORE we played. Also, we had a couple fans that knew us by name and actually knew the words to songs off of ”Duck Duck Goose”. Zille is the promoter here and he does a good job at the White Pig. Many people ask us why we would play in such a small town in Germany. I have to say that I almost like these small shows better as the people appreciate it more. It’s something special) or at least we assume) for a band from the states to come there and play. The opening band was Neversaid from the south east part of East Germany. I liked their music, but they’re definitely more a group that you can get into on CD rather than live. It was a specific type of progressive rock. We’re straight up rock with some punk. I’m starting to be o.k. with the description “punk n’ roll” for our band. Joe was leaping off the bass drum, Dave was going a little too far by riding the monitor and kicking it off the crates that were propping it up, but again, we’re delivering a way better live show with Dave.

After the gig was over, we would normally continue to drink without end, ending up in the backstage area where mattresses had been prepared for the band, but we had to leave at 5 am to make our plane in Frankfurt (3.5 hours away). It’s always tough that last night as there so many mixed feelings about the tour end, but you have to stay up all night to repack everything for the ride home. You’re excited that you completed this journey, you’re bummed that it won’t go on for another 2 months, and you’re excited to get home as well to a warm bad, a shower, etc. All of these feelings run through your head and it’s only been 11 days. I’ll say this, there’s a reason why we’re crazy enough to keep doing this stuff. We believe enough in our band and the response we keep getting to justify continuing to do this. Not everyone understands this, including our former bass player, but in the end we’re not waiting for a huge “jackpot” or pay off in all of this. We see continued success, but it’s truly a part of us and a thirst we have to quench. Stay tuned for July 2007. We already have some festivals that want us. Wow, Germany in the summer….Can’t even imagine what that would be like without winter coats and sleeping bags. Email us with thoughts or additions, I might have missed in this tour diary. Rock!!

"The Crew" European tour 2006
To be continued...Summer of 2007!

  
1. Dave and Joe in the van
2. Dave in front of "Chicago Steakhouse" in Cologne...what the?
3. Weird metal urinals in H-town

  

1. Joe sleeping in airport
2. Dave sleeping in the van
3. Joe sleeping in the van
4. Audwiedersehen!