We have recently arrived back in old blighty after our first German tour supporting Humming Records label mates Flashguns. We had an amazing time and here's a little about our magical German mystery tour..
We set off from home in our shiny new hired bus and on to Dover to ride the under sea train to Calais..
First stop was Hazelwood Studios, Frankfurt. A beautiful warehouse building housing our makeshift beds in the office for the night.. amazing place as it was, but distinctly lacking in food stuffs so it was a quick dash back in the van to get to the Übermäßig Markt to pick up some smelly cheese and crusty bread before it closed.. not forgetting the fantastically cheap good German beer!.. then back to the studio, cheese and crisp sandwiches, beer, cards and indoor bicycle riding.
On the morn, after little sleep we set off to the first date in at Klub Drushba, Halle. Nice little venue reminiscent of our old haunt in Southampton 'Lennons'.. the place was rammed, our set went well and we had a great time.. we watched Flashguns from the Dj booth through the thick haze of cigarette smoke then one of us had to stop drinking to get our van back to where we were kipping for the night.. That night and the next morning was a bit of a blur of pet frogs, chat roulette piano man and bratwurst.
The countryside on the way to Lido, Berlin is beautiful.. the wind turbines silently dance on the hills as the sun goes down and our heads are full of anticipation for the biggest gig of the tour.. We pull in to the outskirts of Berlin excited, and some of us wearing burger king crowns..
Lido is a beautiful venue, an old cinema if you've never been, big stage and red drapes either side of the stage.. We had a fantastic time playing for Kerrera Klub's Interpol aftershow party that night, great crowd for both bands and it was great to exercise our sound at a bigger venue.. the night was a blast. After the gig, we jumped on the U-Bahn to the Interpol after party at Cookies as they were playing Tempodrom.. the party was crazy, it went on past 6am and was like the underground vampire disco scene in Blade.. but without Wesley Snipes.
Our day off the following morning in Berlin saw a leisurely stroll around the flea market at Mauerpark while our feet slowly turned numb and our hands developed frost bite.. That evening falafel, beer, table football and cigarettes.. still can't quite get used to people smoking indoors. Several large continental lagers and a little shopper bike later, it's 5am and we are outside Mega Grill.
The harsh light of day brought us back in the van to the Prinzenbar, Hamburg.. A quick stop off at Jörg's farm to pick up some diesel, meet the cows and drink the best damn coffee in Germany..! then we are weaving down country lanes and through quaint villages towards our final date of the tour. Prinzenbar is a pretty and romantic venue with different levels, red drapes and decorated with stone cherubs, chandeliers and grape vines.. some would say reminiscent of the Aztec zone of Crystal Maze..
Hamburg was a great night, our gig was really enjoyable and the night out drinking after was ace.. The road in the red light district where women aren't allowed was worth seeing and the bar after played some good tunes but the bloody mary shots weren't such a good idea.. back to the artist's flat above Prinzenbar for a private party of endless songs and banging of feet (sorry neighbour below)..
After a hilarious sleepless night and with awful hangovers, we begin our long drive back to the Eurotunnel frequenting roadside service delights along the way.. Fuck the Autobahn at night in the rain! It. Is. Crazy.
We knew our journey back would be somewhat lengthy, we did not however, anticipate a 5 hour long stay at the Eurotunnel terminal departure lounge in Calais, awaiting the release of our detained bass player in passport control.. sinking countless cheap, foul vending machine coffees in an effort to stay awake for the drive on home turf and deliriously transfixed by the crazy bubblegum machine in the children's area, we are eventually called up to the tunnel.. back as a four piece, we enter the undersea train once again.
6am, Asda carpark, Folkstone, -1 degrees, stolen sandwich, sick and a stray cat.. Home then sleep.
Thank you to Flashguns for having us, Colin, Jörg, Peter & Vivien at Humming Records for making it possible and Carsten at Hazelwood Touring for organising it all.
See you in February 2011 Germany.. x
Humming Records - Berlin
Love.
R.D.
Thomas.
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Amazing pictures! I was in this hotel before a year thorough last minute travel with my family. It is fantastic hotel very good for enjoying vacation with the family.
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