Day 4 – First show in Poland ever for TEAM ROCKIT! - Rockstar Club in Turawa, PL

Poland! We're really here. O.K., so it's not the first place that I'd pick to dominate in the rock world, but it's so cool that we can add another country to the list of places that TEAM ROCKIT has played. I love it even more because it's a place that I've never been even after a bazillion trips to Europe. Also, I'm finally not the one that has to translate everything for everyone. I'm as clueless here with Joe and Killian regarding the language. It's like rediscovering Europe when everything is new and different. I want to take a picture of everything, but I'm holding back a bit. Shit, I asked for directions to the club yesterday and the guy could barely get out a sentence although we understood each other. I think last night's show and the next two shows here might be the highlight of the tour for me. I'm typing this now as Joe and Killian sleep on couches. It's weird, they put us in a room with 3 couches at a hotel and like a big table in the middle. See below. We talked for hours with the Foobar guys last night and I think we're growing to like each other. They like the humor of Dave Chappelle so we had that in common and we talked about everything from music to gun control. Wild. Jannek is the bass player and he seems really intelligent with a lot of the same philosphies on touring and/or promotion of bands. He also has this amazing video camera and took some wicked footage of us last night. Damn, it was a real concert with full lighting and good sound last night.

 
1. The "hang" in the hotel after the gig
(animated Joe telling a story, Franzy, and Dennis from Foobar in the back)
2. The morning after Turawa, Poland gig
(Please note the stylish bedding and couches.)

So the gig last night was sort of in the middle of nowhere, but it was close to the town Opole which seems to be a fairly big city in Poland (or at least it looks like it on the map). We played at a place called "Rockstar Club" and apparently it was a benefit for a little 2 year old with cancer. Talk about a downer...holy cow. We had to take a picture with the mom and this little kid. We all did, but obviously not understanding a word of what was said distanced ourselves from the other cause of the evening. There were a total of 4 bands that played last night. I can only remember the name of the 2nd band, Coda, and obviously it was Foobar the band and us. For being in the middle of nowhere, the club was pretty cool. It was a fairly big stage with some killer lighting and good sound. I mentioned to the guys that I felt on fire last night, the drums sounded amazing and I think I pulled out every "riff" I had throughout our set. I don't think these people knew what hit them as they came close to the stage and started pogoing during out set. At the very least, all of the kids there seemed like they had some great energy.

 
1. The Polish band "Coda" on stage at Rockstar Club
2. Foobar rips it up in the background.

We sold a few CDs before we even played which was cool. They have the Zloty here and not the Euro. I love looking at new, interesting money. We didn't change any money, as we thought we'd get paid in Zloty, but the guy was cool enough to have Euro for us at the end. Apparently 20 Zloty is like 6 Euro. That's what we sold our stuff for based on the recommendation of the Coda guys. I set our merch up near a wall that had these ultra old metal posters (check it out below, but the Manowar poster and the super old Metallica poster, still with Jason Newsted is my favorite). It's like we were in a little time warp. We had a good response after the gig and I saw that they had even written something in the local paper about us with photos of Team Rockit and Foobar the band. Obviously we had to wade through the whole "We no like George Bush, but the Team Rockit is a good" stuff, but I think we definitely made some new fans. People signed up on the mailing list without much hestitation. For a Sunday, it was a really decent gig.

We sold a few CDs before we even played which was cool. They have the Zloty here and not the Euro. I love looking at new, interesting money. We didn't change any money, as we thought we'd get paid in Zloty, but the guy was cool enough to have Euro for us at the end. Apparently 20 Zloty is like 6 Euro. That's what we sold our stuff for based on the recommendation of the Coda guys. I set our merch up near a wall that had these ultra old metal posters (check it out below, but the Manowar poster and the super old Metallica poster, still with Jason Newsted are my favorites). It's like we were in a little time warp. We had a good response after the gig and I saw that they had even written something in the local paper about us with photos of Team Rockit and Foobar the band. Obviously we had to wade through the whole "We no like George Bush, but the Team Rockit is a good" stuff, but I think we definitely made some new fans. People signed up on the mailing list without much hestitation. For a Sunday, it was a really decent gig.

Classic old school metal posters at Rockstar Club (really study how old some of those are!)

Team Rockit merch - note the sign in Polish if you can read it (we adapt quickly)

I think my experience just now at the gas station can sum up how this experience in Poland has been so far. I tried to buy a phone card and feel like a dunce because I have to ask if they know English. The sweetest lady behind the counter smiled and sort of shook her head as to say "no, but I'll try". After a minute of charades, We figured it out and I bought a phone card that I still don't know how to use (it's just a piece of paper to upload minutes on this mobile phone I bought in Germany). The point here is that people seem really nice here, most things are cheaper than in Germany, and everybody looks pretty decent. Here's how yesterday show went....

 



Fun with Swedes driving and the sign for gig city/town.

We played at a cultural center in the town Tornogorskie Gory. The city was charming with it's older qualities and we finally saw a little what town life is like with some cool buildings and and a super cool place to eat. Upon arriving the red haired "Rousha" (sorry, I should have asked how to spell her name) came out of the Tarnowskie Cultural Center where we were playing. She said we were to eat right away and then we could load in later. Wow. So we walked about 5 minutes through the town and got to a place that smelled like wood was being cut and/or burned in a little house-like place. I love that smell of a fire burning. Anyway, it was all of us, Foobar guys, Team Rockit, and Thomas who joined us for the past 3 gigs,and the promoter Rousha, sitting at a long wooden table. The waitress came out in a long, red traditional red dress with blond hair, who was cute, and took our drink order. Again, all smiles from the wait staff. We were served this traditional big burrito like thing of meat (meaning there was no flour tortillas, but it was shaped like a burrito in meat form). Next to it was some sort of purple kraut stuff and then these small potato like things in gravy. Not bad and very hardy. It seemed pretty similar to the German food, but we were in a restaurant that seemed a little more upscale. After the meal, we went back to the club.

The downtown of Tarnowski Gory (and Thomas in the foreground)
This is a good time to give a huge THANKS to Georg who set up 2 of the 3 shows for us in Poland! (he's live in Herzogenaurach, DE and is the father of Rafi from Bobby B and the Monkey Tree)

The "club" was actually an old theater and doubled as a cultural center for the town. Upstairs music was blaring with some kid dance class, families were sort of bustling in and out of the place for various things. I love that there's places like that in European countries. It's very socialist. We loaded in and sound checked, but the stage was gigantic. It was like playing the Vic theater or something in Chicago (i.e. just the stage, not the size of the venue). The had to be 100-200 seats in the place. That was weird with the whole seats thing for a rock concert, but apparently they do plays and ballets there as well. I got to check my email in the office of the place. Upon loading out the gear we noticed that we left the tom stands at the other club. Shit. The Swedish guys with their GPS (ours doesn't work in Poland) agreed to go back to the venue from last night which was 45 minutes away to get the drum stuff and one of the guys had left their jacket there as well.

Fast forward to gig time. For a Monday it wasn't a bad gig, the sound was great in the big place, and we had a guarantee so money wouldn't be a huge issue no matter who showed up. I would say the place looked half full or a little more sparse. A lot people were there to see the Polish band that opened the show, Mouga. Those guys were pretty good and the singer's voice was good as well. Not totally my favorite style of music, but they could play. They were definitely headed toward the Incubus, Linkin Park, etc. style of music and they did have a DJ dude on stage to play with them. Apparently they talked about "making some big concerts" with 2000-3000 people during the summer at some festival. I could see people liking them in Poland...or elsewhere. The Foobar guys did a good set and we sat right in the front. It was weird when you finished a song because: a)there was so much light on the stage that you couldn't see anyone in the audience b)There was clapping and then dead silence and c)Of course nobody understood fully what we were saying or our banter on stage. Needless to say it was good for Monday.

 


1. Mouga live.
2. Those dainty little sandwiches we keep getting served
3. Joe and his "prop" (peach ice tea really does look like Jack).

They really like to eat in Poland as well. After the huge lunch, the promoter brought in some sandwiches later on. Then, after we were finished with the gig, she said we were having "supper" at like 9:30pm back at the hotel. Whoa. A side note on our performance...we played some other songs in the set list that we don't normally do. They went over ok, but could have been a little tighter on those. I could image us playing a huge place back home on a stage like that. Killian was running around and Joe was going crazy as well on top of pulling out the "tricks" (i.e. guitar behind the head, jumping off stuff, and using the mic stand as a slide). Not to get sentimental here, but it's about now in the middle of the tour that I notice that Killian and Joe are very brother-like to me and how you create a kinship when having these types of experiences. Killian raised his glass later in the evening and did a little thank you toast. That stuff means a ton. The "supper" back at the hotel after the gig (and by the way, the gig started at 7 and ended by 9:30 or 10p) was the meat, bread, cheese combo that we've come across everyday on the tour so far, but the place was nice to sit at and have a ton of beers all night. We were drinking the Polish beer "Lech" and "Tyskie." Not bad stuff. The evening divulged into Joe telling jokes and everyone busting out laughing. He's super animated on this tour. The Swedes told a few good jokes too, but we were also talking about music, our favorite bands, best shows, etc. It was a great way to end the evening. We ended up going back to the Team Rockit room to hang out. The Swedes had bought some vodka earlier in the day at Tesco (which is like the Wal-mart of England that made it here). More talking, more drinking...passed out....and on our way to Warsaw today. I'm super excited to see what the city looks like.

 


1. The view from our hotel window.
2. The "Olympic Hotel" that we stayed at.
3. Picture with the promoter, Rousha (Margaret) in Tarnowskie Gory

Wow man! Poland turned out to be a great place for gigs over the past 3 days. Last night we played in Warsaw at a place called Progresja. We had to be there at 2pm for load in (!!). It seems like all of the shows in Poland start very early. The funniest part was that we were there at 2:30, and the first thing out of the sound guy's mouth was, "You late." It's wild because then we proceeded to sit around for the next hour or so while he started to put the P.A. together. We didn't sound check until like 4pm. Oh well, the place was great though, it was a huge room with a cool bar up front by the entrance in a different part of the building. Joe sized it up as a school that had been turned into a club. The location of the club was smack dab in the middle of some sort of military campus. I'm always a little worried about having a big place with very few people there as it looks ridculous, but man did the opening act/band, Soulburners, really come through for a Tuesday! There had to be 100 people there for a week night which was pretty impressive. The sound was amazing and it felt like a true rock show with some cool lighting as well. Joe was freezing leading up to the gig and I felt like I was doing damage control for everyone leading up to the best part of the day (when we jam, rock, explode, sweat, etc.). They served us pizza and we met the owner, Marek, as 5pm rolled around. Neither the sound guy or Marek could speak any English, but we seemed to get all of the answers we needed about set time, soundcheck, etc. through Peter who was a big burly door dude that became our translator for the day. We also had time to hit up a Tesco, which is like Wal-mart. That place literally has everything. We bought beer for later in the evening as the club didn't provide it (which was cool as the beer is pretty cheap here) in addition to some random stuff like a battery for Killian's bass.

 
1. Driving through Warsaw at dusk.
2. The club we played at in Warsaw (Progresja Klub)
3. Tesco - the Walmart of Poland (originating from England) where they sell everything.

The Soulburners opened the evening and had brought a ton of people as it was their record release show. The drummer, Artur (and no, I didn't miss an "h"...that's really how he spelled his name), spoke English well and was wearing a Yankees jacket and a Yankees backpack. They started around 8pm and actually were pretty good. The singer looked like the spawn of Lemmy from Motorhead. He was also really cool, spoke English well, and his bandmates referred to him as "General Burner." I loved that and thought it was hilarious. He was also really cool to Joe after we played later in the evening. I would say they truly were straight up rock and they even had a female join them on stage for backups. Ah yes, they also had a keyboard player as well which can sometimes limit the heaviness of a band. Either way, they seemed super cool as people. They were selling merch like crazy before they went on and they had some cool two colored t-shirts with a snake on the front and the words "gonna burn your soul." Pleasant, right? But it fit in with the rock theme of the evening.

I watched some of Foobar, but Joe said they were truly on fire last night. They were feeling it too and we were super happy to be playing in front of a decent size crowd on a Tuesday. Who would have known? We took the stage around 10pm and were really ready to go. It's weird because you truly go through these daily ups and downs as you can sleep longer than normal, but for some reason you feel tired, you never know how the night's going to go, and it's a ton of waiting (like 90% waiting, 10% playing), but it's the best to tour. Although I didn't think we were the tightest, we all thought we had the best show so far through, just based on the sound, our energy, and how cool the place was. By the way, Joe just threw out the garbage. He wanted me to note that as it doesn't always happen. Anyway, we started with a cover of Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" last night as we saw a dude with a super limited edition Motorhead shirt that was kind of a like a Motorhead "dress shirt." It had a collar and was red and black with the Motorhead mask patch on the front and back. Apparently there were only 500 of them made and it cost the dude 100 Euro for that. Joe has sworn that if he finds that shirt in Europe, he'll buy it. Back to the show....we just felt "on" and were hammering the audience over the head with the rock. By the time we ended with the Blur cover of "Song #2" that Killian sings, the crowd really gave us their approval with some great screams and clapping. Both bands also sold a lot of merch last night! We were signing CDs and really having a great time after the gig. We also finally met the booking agent guy that helped us out with the gig, Jerry. He was super cool as well and said that a few of his friends or colleagues really enjoyed the show. He seems super intelligent trading by day, booking bands in between work, and also having a radio show and a blog. His English was already really great and he said he self-taught himself mostly from reading song lyrics. Nice.

 
 
(From left to right starting at the top)
1. Foobar soundchecking at Progresja
2. Soulburners on stage
3. Progresja full on a Tuesday night!
4. "Lemmy" / "General Burner" and his adoring fans.

After the gig we were in a great mood and slept in the basement of the club. It was kind of a small room with radiators that didn't work and one L-shaped couch. At first it seemed a little rough, but we had bought some candles, pulled the mattresses of out the van and the Swedes had their own air mattresses (they refer to them as "Luftwaffe" which is funny as that's "Air Force" in German). This was the best part though as we were all so happy and Joe brought his guitar amp down to jam some tunes. We were singing random old songs at the top of our lungs like "Cecilia," the Beatles, "I Got My Mind Set on You" by George Harrison (truly just joking around), and out of no where we hear this banging on the door. This huge Polish dude with a shaved head and black suspenders stood in the door way. He was pissed and barking out some stuff that we understood as, "Hey dummies, the concert's over, go to bed or I'll kick your ass." We talked back in English saying we'd turn it down, but the second the guy left we busted into laughter. It was like something out of a movie and it was only midnight. Hilarious. That was the talk of the evening for the next 30 minutes or so (i.e. how this dude could have kicked all of our asses in a few quick movements). Did he live in the building? Was he a military dude? We'll never know, but it makes a great tour diary topic!

The dressing room, basement, and our sleeping quarters at Progresja

I woke up this morning with a mild hangover and we loaded the van. It's an off day today with a ton of driving (about 600km) to get to Berlin, but Franzy knows some people we can stay with for the day off. It's already 6:40pm and we haven't even hit the German border yet. I love Berlin and am super stoked to be playing there tomorrow, especially with a whole day to enjoy it. One final note is that we had to pay to use the bathroom on the road at a gas station. I hate that, but it's pretty common here in Europe. In this case, the door wouldn't even open until you put one "Zloty" in the door contraption. Weird. One note for those touring in Poland, make sure you have some more Zloty for the tolls when going back to Germany as they screw you on the exchange rate if you only have Euros. Lesson learned. AND make sure you gas up in Poland and buy all of your tour food there as it's much cheaper than in Germany. Take notes.

 

1. Old school street cars in Warsaw
2. Mmmmm...turkish Kebab or "Doener" in German
(there's a place that sells these on every corner it seems)
3. Franzy and her Chiquita Banana woman look (a 6 hour drive produces photos like this)