it/s not my imagination
So for the longest time, we are hanging in berlin, doing the p/berg thang, doing the advance Europe(ie talk to germans,brits and scandihouligans and pray for the best everywhere else. Everyone starts reappearing around sept 5 and they get straight into rehearsals, ready for the big berlin show.
Sept 7 berlin postbahnhof SOLD OUT
Day 1 and hometown show jitters. We do all of the requisite cross loads and get out to the extreme east to crack the cases again and start from scratch. It is our first day with richie, our german promoter rep, and my hopes are that all is good, as we are in germany for quite a few days. Ingo from the loft is there, we remember each other from some yyy shows. So I feel like we are in good hands.
The gaste liste is out of control, but I do manage to say a quick hey to jochem from neubaten, and I see the boy from brazil, an old friend from nyc. The show is typical hometown show, too many people with too many expectations. I lock down in the production office, which is where I will be for the following 6 weeks. I miss the opener, as they will be with us for the next while and hang out front for a bit, looking for anything distracting.
The girls take the stage to a tumultuous roar, and proceed to knock it out of the park. You could tell that the locals must/ve dug it, as they were throwing everything imaginable on stage(except themselves, of course). 1 down , 28 to go. They roll their rock upstairs for a bit, before heading over to rio en masse for dj conny/s after party. I hit for 6, anticipating the polish border at 8 am, which we pass with flying colors.
Sept 8 warsaw off
It takes 13 hours or something to get there, we eat toasted cheese and read our books all the way. As squid said, ‘what is this, a fucking library’. It is everyones first trip to Poland, but peach and sam, so we are all excited, especially the Rochester boys, who would have some polish blood. By the time we get to Warsaw, I am wrecked, though. I manage to finish ‘fast food nation’ eat some, and pass out waiting for the lo speed internet.
Sept 9 warsaw wyscigi race track
A festival show on the outskirts of Warsaw at an old communist era horse track. Very cool, me thinks. The weather is glorious, a chamber of commerce type of day, and we are inside in case it rains, in the concourse underneath the grandstand. We spend the bulk of the day going in and out of catering which is top shelf to be sure. The peach has all sorts of interviews on hand which she knocks out with help from our local ‘pilot’. I even run into a kid that ran the counter for years at kasias polish diner on n8th st in bburg. That was a nice surprise. The show runs late, but who cares as there is an hour changeover. It is 60 minutes tonight, basically the set sans encore. It is a very strong show, the crowd is very enthusiastic, but hit the road in time to kick off with daft punk. I spend the evening trying to get myself paid, which is an adventure in itself. But I take my hat off to piotr,monika, marek, and marija, as it was their first year doing the festival. It can only get better, and it was good to start with. Unfortunately , we did not run into the mercury rev guys, as their plane from Helsinki was delayed.
Sept 10 berlin off
Another 13 hour drive, and we park the bus in pberg near peaches house, and myself and the Australian get the hell out of dodge. We go for wine and pizza on oranienburgerstrasse, move on to Schwarz-sauer on kastanienallee for irish coffees and more red wine and mates of the Australians, then on to a social club for still more red wine in a pay as you go scheme a la sonnys in red hook, before hitting the bus call, where people are missing and then some rum and cokes and everything goes pear shaped as it does often at 3am.
Sept 11 hamburg ubel and gefaerlich
We awake outside a concrete bunker near the feldstrasse u bahn. The club is located upstairs, in what was once an old bunker that withstood repeated demolition attempts.
The lunch spread is top shelf, a real carribean vibe, as I think the chef is from Colombia. Nice to see richie again, and we all pile around a big table to mac off for the day. The peach has tons of interviews with german tv, so we keep out of the way. I am loving the club, it is kinda dirty and punk rock, but also very civilized and wine barrish, with amazing views of hamburg. I sit out the support band once again, and by the time it is our turn for stage, the place is teeming, a smoky mass of sweaty people. And they are frisky. I think hey now spots his bit in the front row on the first song and he will not be way laid. I do the decent thing and give him a couple of aftershows. Conny has his whole berlin posse and a few hamburgers, the show is rocking and the crowd is loud, the are well able for it. The shit hits the fan later in the set as our in ear systems shits the bed, and she trips and flails into the drum riser. It looks very painful. She gets through the rest of the set, we put some ice on it and call it a night. The Berliners and hamburgers have their party, hey now gets his bit, and we roll our rock towards Copenhagen.
Sept 7 berlin postbahnhof SOLD OUT
Day 1 and hometown show jitters. We do all of the requisite cross loads and get out to the extreme east to crack the cases again and start from scratch. It is our first day with richie, our german promoter rep, and my hopes are that all is good, as we are in germany for quite a few days. Ingo from the loft is there, we remember each other from some yyy shows. So I feel like we are in good hands.
The gaste liste is out of control, but I do manage to say a quick hey to jochem from neubaten, and I see the boy from brazil, an old friend from nyc. The show is typical hometown show, too many people with too many expectations. I lock down in the production office, which is where I will be for the following 6 weeks. I miss the opener, as they will be with us for the next while and hang out front for a bit, looking for anything distracting.
The girls take the stage to a tumultuous roar, and proceed to knock it out of the park. You could tell that the locals must/ve dug it, as they were throwing everything imaginable on stage(except themselves, of course). 1 down , 28 to go. They roll their rock upstairs for a bit, before heading over to rio en masse for dj conny/s after party. I hit for 6, anticipating the polish border at 8 am, which we pass with flying colors.
Sept 8 warsaw off
It takes 13 hours or something to get there, we eat toasted cheese and read our books all the way. As squid said, ‘what is this, a fucking library’. It is everyones first trip to Poland, but peach and sam, so we are all excited, especially the Rochester boys, who would have some polish blood. By the time we get to Warsaw, I am wrecked, though. I manage to finish ‘fast food nation’ eat some, and pass out waiting for the lo speed internet.
Sept 9 warsaw wyscigi race track
A festival show on the outskirts of Warsaw at an old communist era horse track. Very cool, me thinks. The weather is glorious, a chamber of commerce type of day, and we are inside in case it rains, in the concourse underneath the grandstand. We spend the bulk of the day going in and out of catering which is top shelf to be sure. The peach has all sorts of interviews on hand which she knocks out with help from our local ‘pilot’. I even run into a kid that ran the counter for years at kasias polish diner on n8th st in bburg. That was a nice surprise. The show runs late, but who cares as there is an hour changeover. It is 60 minutes tonight, basically the set sans encore. It is a very strong show, the crowd is very enthusiastic, but hit the road in time to kick off with daft punk. I spend the evening trying to get myself paid, which is an adventure in itself. But I take my hat off to piotr,monika, marek, and marija, as it was their first year doing the festival. It can only get better, and it was good to start with. Unfortunately , we did not run into the mercury rev guys, as their plane from Helsinki was delayed.
Sept 10 berlin off
Another 13 hour drive, and we park the bus in pberg near peaches house, and myself and the Australian get the hell out of dodge. We go for wine and pizza on oranienburgerstrasse, move on to Schwarz-sauer on kastanienallee for irish coffees and more red wine and mates of the Australians, then on to a social club for still more red wine in a pay as you go scheme a la sonnys in red hook, before hitting the bus call, where people are missing and then some rum and cokes and everything goes pear shaped as it does often at 3am.
Sept 11 hamburg ubel and gefaerlich
We awake outside a concrete bunker near the feldstrasse u bahn. The club is located upstairs, in what was once an old bunker that withstood repeated demolition attempts.
The lunch spread is top shelf, a real carribean vibe, as I think the chef is from Colombia. Nice to see richie again, and we all pile around a big table to mac off for the day. The peach has tons of interviews with german tv, so we keep out of the way. I am loving the club, it is kinda dirty and punk rock, but also very civilized and wine barrish, with amazing views of hamburg. I sit out the support band once again, and by the time it is our turn for stage, the place is teeming, a smoky mass of sweaty people. And they are frisky. I think hey now spots his bit in the front row on the first song and he will not be way laid. I do the decent thing and give him a couple of aftershows. Conny has his whole berlin posse and a few hamburgers, the show is rocking and the crowd is loud, the are well able for it. The shit hits the fan later in the set as our in ear systems shits the bed, and she trips and flails into the drum riser. It looks very painful. She gets through the rest of the set, we put some ice on it and call it a night. The Berliners and hamburgers have their party, hey now gets his bit, and we roll our rock towards Copenhagen.
posted by david burton at 9:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home