Tuesday (Dienstag)
Rob and I make our way in the van to Harwich (the seaside town they forgot to close down! – apologies if you’re from Harwich but it ain’t nice is it?). It’s pouring with rain but we’re feeling excited about the road trip ahead. We arrive early at the ferry port and thankfully drive straight on to the ferry. The bloke at passport control asks ‘What’s in the van?’ We have great delight in telling him ‘ We’re in a band and we’re on tour mate!’
A nice meal in the restaurant, a couple of beers and we’re snoozing the night away for the rest of the crossing…
Meanwhile, somewhere in Gloucestershire…
Mike and Shane are making their way to Birmingham Airport for their flight to Dusseldorf to be picked by Time For Action’s Michael, our tour guide and promoter for the next week…
Wednesday (Mittwoch)
Rob and I awake from our slumbers to a spring-like Hook of Holland and make our way to Hamburg. We arrive shortly after 3pm to be greeted by Shane, Mike and Michael who had arrived 15 minutes before. Rob quickly spots an Irish Bar and leads us in the sinking of pints of Guinesss with worrying frequency.
The club, Hafenklang (www.hafenklang.de), isn’t open so we go for a wander and find a music shop where Shane entertains us with a drum solo on an electronic drum kit. I learn all about St Pauli football club from Michael who still hasn’t told me whether they are better than his team Freiburg!
The staff at Hafenklang look after us incredibly well ( as do all venues) making us a lovely Tofu thai curry. The ‘medium’ hot curry nearly blows our heads off – thank heavens we didn’t ask for the ‘hot’ version!
Ably supported by the excellent Rivas (still can’t believe it was their first gig!), we crash through our set delivering our version of ‘79 Mod to an enthusiastic audience. New song ‘No Compromise’ kicks off procedings and sets the tone for the whole tour. A rejeuvenated ‘Freedom Fighter’ is well received as is ‘Through Your Eyes’. We encore with ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘My Generation’ to great aplomb! Special mention to ‘Hamburg Dave’ who sets a trend for the next three days…
Thursday (Donnerstag)
A four hour drive and we’re in Berlin for the second time in two weeks. We use our time constructively on the journey writing a new song en route! East Berlin is an extremely interesting place, contrasting totally with with the affluent west-side. I make a mental note to come back and explore some more.
The ‘Rock n Roll’ hostel (www.rocknrollherberge.de) is a really cool place to stay – it does exactly what is says on the tin – rock n roll of the punk variety is the order of the day. The barman comes up trumps at 3am after the gig and cooks us up hot bowls of chilli!
Cortina Bob (www.myspace.com/cortinabobberlin) is a great venue with a compact stage. The Not Amused (inc ‘Berlin Dave’) (www.thenotamused.com) provide great support and also launch their new record on the night. During the soundcheck it becomes apparent by the lack of tunefullness coming from my vocal chords that something has happened to my voice over night – I now sound like Rod Stewart! The show must go on and we soldier on manfully. Mike more than makes up for my lack of voice putting in a sterling performance. Once again the crowd are great – Berlin Dave, Lemmy and the drummer from The Not Amused causing chaos down the front!
Friday (Freitag)
We get up Friday morning desparately looking for drum skins for Shane and medication for me. Rob and I go to the local supermarket to buy breakfast. I summon up my best school-boy German to ask “Ist ein Apoteke in der nahe?” (Is there a Chemist nearby? – or something similar) to be told there is one just across the street opposite the supermarket. I feel a prat. The Chemist sorts me out with some anesthetic spray,some Strepsils and Fisherman’s Friends. We’re off to Heilbronn.
German roads are fine but my god Berlin to Heilbronn is a long drive! Rob does us proud on this and all the driving all week ( Thanks mate!). About 4 hours in we get off the Autobahn to look for a petrol station. We end up in Bad Berneck an ‘Alpine’ looking town not knowing where the hell the next petrol station is. Mike finds the only English speaking person in town who directs us 300 yards up the road to the filling station. After stopping for something to eat at a very accomodating Burger King (10 out of 10 for the staff 0 out of 10 for the food!), we realise that if we had stayed on the motorway there were services at the next junction!
We finally reach Heilbronn and the supurb Stereo Total club (www.stereototal-hn.de). We are introduced to Harald and Franke who welcome us into their home for the evening. Their hospitality is unsurpassed on the tour and we are very grateful. We are now set up to give in my opinion our best performance of the tour. ‘A Taste of Honey’, ‘Good Enough’ and ‘Growing Up’ all go down especially well. Rob has a great gig and is asked by ‘Heilbronn Dave’ if he is gay. I hold Rob’s coat, Mike holds Rob down and Shane quickly changes the subject. ‘Heilbronn Dave’ doesn’t realise how lucky he is!
We finally get to sleep at 6am and we’re up and at ‘em again 4 hours later – on our way to Cologne for the final leg of the tour…
Saturday (Samstag)
We are pleasantly surprised to find a photo – shoot taking place at the Apropo Club (www.club-apropo.de) when we arrive. A bit of quick thinking by Shane ensures that the model is soon wearing a ‘Q’ T-Shirt and holding a copy of ISSUES. Photos will appear on a website near you soon.
Floorshakers Inferno is a cool Mod Club night and we are honoured to be asked to play at it. Some very stylish people in the audience. Our voices are fading fast yet we still deliver a stonking set complete with 4 encores!
It was really excellent to be playing to such appreciative audiences across Germany. Special thanks to Michael (Come Aahhnn!) and all the venues. We couldn’t have asked for a better week.
A well earned rest beckons!
Check out some pictures from the Cortina Bob show:
For more info, pics etc go to the following links:
http://www.united-mods.de/concert_march_09/Seiten/concert_pics.html
http://modmaetzchen.twoday.net/
http://www.stimme.de/echo/sonntag/echoszeneso/echoszeneso/sonstige;art6957,1478028 (after)
http://www.stimme.de/heilbronn/kultur/sonstige;art11930,1478626 (before)
Take it Easy, I will be
Tim
nobody thought to pack any ’sensible clothes’ (apart from Shane who produced a woolly hat and gloves on Sunday – very Rock ‘n’ Roll!).
