22 May 2006
Back to Spain!
27 April 2006
Whiskey Soda, gig review
Online rock magazine Whiskey Soda has posted a concert review of the Kurt Cobain Tribute. You can read the complete article by clicking here. But the, ehem, most interesting part is reproduced below :o)
19 April 2006
Springtime!
And oh yes, I've got a few brand new songs ready! Aaah, it should be spring more often...
16 April 2006
(Kurt 2)

Ein fröhliches Fest wurde Schauplatz eines schändlichen Verbrechens. Friedlich den Geburtstag des verstorbenen amerikanischen Rocksängers Kurt Cobain feiernde Besucher eines Beat-Konzertes wurden Leidtragende sinnloser Gewalt.
Wie aus einem am Tatort zurückgelassenem Bekennerschreiben mit der Überschrift "Setlist" hervorgeht bekannte sich wiederum der millitärische Flügel der deutsch-spanischen Mafia, eine unter dem Decknamen "Die Frösche" operierende Fraktion, zu dem Attentat.

Wie der Präsident der Berliner Polizei auf einer Pressekonferenz am Freitag Abend bekannt gab setzten die Terroristen auch bei Ihrem neuerlichen Anschlag auf das Berliner Kesselhaus neuartige Waffensysteme ein, welche noch Tage nach ihrem Einsatz zu gefährlichen Gesundheitsstörungen führen können. Diese sogenannten Schallkanonen führen bei direktem Beschuss unmittelbar zu Störungen des vegetativen Nervensystems, so u.A. zu Hypertonie, Tachykardie, Bewusstseinseintrübungen und Epileptischen Anfällen, welche mit unkontrolierten Zuckungen einhergehen. Als Spätfolge ist bis jetzt vor allem ein vermehrtes Auftreten von starkem Tinitus bekannt. Vereinzelt aufgetretene Hörstürze scheinen jedoch nicht im direktem Zusammenhang mit dem Attentat zu stehen.

Der von Augenzeugen dokumentierte Fall eines gebrochenen Beines dürfte jedoch eine unmittelbare Folge der durch die Schallkanonen ausgelösten Epilepsie sein, und geht somit ebenfalls auf das Konto der Terroristen. Das Bundesinnenministerium rief alle Bürger des Landes auf bei auftretenden Symptomen sofort einen Arzt aufzusuchen und sich bei den zuständigen Behörden zu melden.
Völlig unklar ist bis jetzt ob der am selben Abend im Keller des Kesselhauses aufgetretene Brand in Beziehung zu den Anschlägen steht. Bis jetzt ist nur bekannt das eine der deutsch-spanischen Mafia nahestehende weibliche Person unmittelbar vor Ausbruch des Brandes auf der Damentoilette in unmittelbarer Nähe des Tatortes gesehen wurde. Wie die Berliner Polizei mitteilte wird ein Zusammenhang nicht ausgeschlossen.
Trotz eines sofortigen Großeinsatzes der Polizei und der Berliner Feuerwehr sind die Täter flüchtig. Der leitende Ermittler der Berliner Polizei, Inspektor Hatzenbacher, teilte auf der Pressekonferenz mit das die Terroristen wahrscheinlich als Zivilisten getarnt das Gelände der Kulturbrauerei verlassen haben. Die Fahndung läuft. Hatzenbacher bat auf der Pressekonferenz um die Mitarbeit der Bevölkerung und stellte Phantombilder der drei Attentäter und der mysteriösen weiblichen Person vor.
Der Regierende Bürgermeister von Berlin verurteilte die Anschläge auf das schärfste.

15 April 2006
Acoustic thingy
After the two quite successful Cobain tributes in Potsdam and Berlin and the support gig with The Quill from Sweden (thanks to everyone who came to see us!), Stone & Tobi will be appearing at an acoustic evening at Berlin's Arcanoa (Am Tempelhofer Berg 8, 10965 Bln-Xberg) along with Neonkrieger, who called us on a very very short notice to play with them. Starts at 21:30 h, costs just 3,-€. A few brand new songs will be played for the very first (and perhaps last) time, so don't miss it!
08 April 2006
Potsdam Lindenpark (Kurt 1)

A lot of friendly faces tonight, cool bands with whom we've already shared a few gigs (Axone, you are the funniest guys around, cheerrs man!), and also our followers from The Krams were there too (Hi if you're reading!). Lindenpark seems like the perfect venue, cool stage, great backstage and a fucking bus in the middle of the place, amazing. Pity we couldn't stay longer, but we'll have another chance to see the other great bands next week in Berlin at the second leg of this yearly tribute to Mr. Cobain, Kurt Donald (yeah, the guy that used to play in Dave Grohl's band before).
OK, now I have to leave... I told you I was in a hurry.
El Niño Stone
Currently listening to: Led Zeppelin (Live at the BBC), Velvet Revolver (Contraband), Alice In Chains (Box set), Johnny Cash (American Recordings I-IV)

06 April 2006
Hot 'n tasty chez Lindamulagey Suraj Tyronne Silva
He told us on his drum workshops and shows in Germany and Sri Lanka, where all the benefits go to children of poor families there. He's sort of a superstar at home, with sppearances in the top TV shows and all the craziness that goes with it, like getting love letters from girls all the time, and not having to go through customs in the airport, and so many other stories, it was so fucking funny we were rolling with laughter. Tyronne has become something like a holy man, studying buddhism and different other views of life. Deep shit, man.
I'm so glad that he's doing fine again, he deserved it after having to quit drumming for some time, which is his absolute passion. He's the only drummer I haven't kicked out of the band indeed, that must be something :o)
Did I already say that the food was delicious? And oh yes, he's got a website running, check it out bvefore you go to bed tonight: www.tyronnesilva.com.
03 April 2006
Springtime is here again... really?

We had prepared a shorter set than usual, but as we found out we were headlining, we hastily rearranged the setlist and included a few crowd pleasers. Just after the soundcheck we had a few hours to kill and went to Tobi's pad, which is just a short walk away from the club, and had a few laughs watching "Goldeneye" on the telly. They make pretty cool car scenes by the way... the Aston Martin was a way too cool car, pity that they changed it afterwards to a BMW (I mean, nothing against it, I would have done the same if they gave me one, but y'know, it's not the same though).
Then it was time for rockandroll. After the other band (State Of Emergenzy [sic]) did their set, we took the stage (raised just about 30 cm) and blew a few minds away... I fucked it up completely at the beginning of Throwing Up, for a few seconds I was playing completely wrong notes and kept thinking the guitar was out of tune or something. Of course it wasn't (hey, it's a Les Paul!), just my fingers had decided to do a little step-dancing on the fretboard meanwhile. Nothing better that holding it, laugh out loud and start over again. Fucking pros we are...

We included a very very brand new song tentatively called "If You Only", which, I must say, rocks the shit out of me. The lyrics aren't finished yet (some attentive ears might have heard an, ehem, odd line here and there), but it's a pretty contender to be in the next album. Songs keep piling up to be recorded, we already have quite a bunch, I'm totally looking forward to record them and share them.
After finishing with "Toxic", we had to return the curtain calls and improvised "Breed", which wasn't rehearsed at all (and so it did sound at times, sorry, but hey, it's fucking Nirvana, they couldn't play either!). By the way Nirvana, next Saturday in Potsdam, another edition of the Cobain tributes at the Lindenpark. ¿Qué será, será?
El Niño Stone
Currently listening to: the BBC World Service, Metallica (Master Of Puppets), Therapy? (Shameless), Weezer (Make Believe), Best Of Ennio Morricone, Elliott Smith (Figure 8).
PS: Oh yeah, and we actually played "Peaches" at the Aufsturz (the place where it belongs). It's always a pleasure peaching a little bit there... :o)

29 March 2006
Homework in the sky

Da wir unsere Hausaufgaben immer sehr ernst nehmen waren wir beide natürlich bestens vorbereitet auf die teilweise neu arrangierten Songs. (bester Dank geht an dieser Stelle an Patrick für die gut nutzbare Pilot-Spur des Probematerials :-)
Ebenso hatten wir natürlich sämtliches erforderliches Equipment parat. Selbstverständlich in doppelter Ausführung um eventuellen Ausfällen der hochempfindlichen Tontechnik vorzubeugen. (hier möchte ich mich ausdrücklich bei Stone bedanken, der sogar daran dachte meinen Effektkoffer mit ins Studio zu bringen :-)

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung durch die Fa. Peavey Electronics Corporation (Meridian, USA), einige Röhren der Fa. Mesa/Boogie und die Gitarrenwerkstätten Gibson und MusicMan/Ernie Ball waren diese so trefflich einstudierten Tracks innerhalb kürzester Zeit aufgenommen.
Und die beiden Songs pussypoppen das die Wände wackeln, das kann ich euch versprechen.
fröhliche Grüße vom Bassssssssss.........
Gewinnspiel:
Und hier die heutige Hausaufgabe für Euch. In obenstehendem Text wurde bei der Zensur nur ein einziger Satz gefunden der keine Lüge enthält!!! Der-oder diejenige welche(r) den richtigen Satz findet und als erster im Forum ( www.frogcircus.com ) postet erhält das allererste Exemplar der neuen Single sofort nach Release signiert und versandkostenfrei zugesand.*
Viel Glück!
*Mitarbeiter von SOJA Music Ltd. und der Frogcircus G.b.R, sowie deren Angehörige sind von der Teilnahme ausgeschlossen. Der Rechtsweg ist ausgeschlossen.

26 March 2006
Kurting the Cobain
23 March 2006
Just one more take, please
So it was turn to do some mighty drum recordings by Mr Fröhlich, who decided this time he would follow the hippy trend and record barefoot. Gee, what a Cheese Festival that was! After our engineer Patrick finished miking the drumset and preparing a mic and amp for my guide vocals/guitar, we started with Toxic for what it seemed like 20 takes until we got what we wanted... we had been doing the wrong verses for ages, so it was a little tricky to remember all the new parts, but we got it in the end. About fucking time, if I may add. Now I know what Hetfield must feel everytime he has to record with Ulrich some drum parts, haha... (nah, it must be even worse when he guys have to listen to me going over and over and over the same solo for a million times and never getting it right.)

After we had Toxic in the can it was time to do Stormy Girl, which went much much faster. Two takes and ready it was. Sweat, blood and stinky feet, bro! Now let's see if we finish both songs next week, still bass, all guitars and vocals to do, and then we'll have the four songs in the can ready to be released.
Another fine frog'n roll evening.
Stone
Currently listening to: Queen (Live at Wembley), Ramones (Loco Live), The Smiths (Strangeways Here We Come & The Queen Is Dead), Paul McCartney (Chaos And Creation In The Backyard), Verdena (Il Suicidio Dei Samurai).
14 March 2006
Clap yer hands, stamp yer feet
After the soundcheck we went outside to take a stroll down Hamburg's red light district. Walking through the Reeperbahn was cool. In fact, it was more than just cool, it was cold. Fucking freezing to be more accurate. But the whole St. Pauli area has something interestingly wicked about it that makes it unique. In front of the club, in the middle of the whore clubs and strip bars, a church ringing the bells in the middle of the night. Perhaps trying to refrain some souls from sinning? Who knows, but it was a freaky view (and sound) anyway. Unfortunately it was way to cold to do a proper research of the Reeperbahn's, er, charms, so we walked back to the club ready to rock. Or roll.

A local band and few beers and a Jägermeister later, it was our time to take the stage. Not such a bad attendance for a monday night, by the way. Our manager said we keep turning into a quite heavy band onstage, and I can only corroborate the view. Lately, we seem to get rid of a lot of aggression and energy while we play, and the best is, we have FUN. Well, at least Timo (headbanging!) and I did, Tobi was rather fighting not to lose more sticks. Haha! He kept throwing them away as if his hands were washed with butter or any similar lubricant (did we miss something Tobey?). At one point he looked more like John Bonham smashing drums with his bare hands with broken and fallen sticks all around, what a view! After the gig we were too tired to do anything else than to grab a beer, pack our stuff, get in the bus and safely drive home before it got too late for those of us who had to stand up early the next day.
El Niño

27 February 2006
Erfurt goes Lennon

We did just 5 Lennon songs, and it was a pure BLAST from start to finish. Didn't hear much (the Orange amp I had there wasn't exactly tempered) and Tobi's drums kept falling. It was rough rock and roll, dirty and very heavy. As a coup-de-grâce, after the last note I decided to smash the cymbals over and over and over again with my fist as a last goodbye to such a rowdy gig. I was fucking bleeding and my right hand looked like a tomato, but it was fucking FUN!!!

And now over to the recording studio the next week or so to start doing more crazy frogshit before the film comes out. Then it'll be time to prepare more new songs and put'em on tape for all you froggers out there!
21 February 2006
Support gig with The Quill announced
Frogcircus will be supporting Swedish rockers The Quill on April 12 (Wed) at Berlin's Knaack Club alongside Samavayo from Berlin, presented by Trinity Concerts. Tickets for €11,- and gig starts at 21h.
And remember that just two days later (April 14), for the third year in a row, we have been invited to play at Mastermusic's Kurt Cobain Tribute in Berlin (Kesselhaus, Kulturbrauerei). Smells like some fun!
15 February 2006
Pussypop Anthology, CD 2: Valentine's Karaoke
Back to the Hard Rock Berlin (third time around), and as we'd learnt something from the previous times, we decided this one was going to be a not-so-loud one, thus, we prepared an acoustic set, put on our sunday suits and got ready to rock, er, pop. It was also Valentine's Day, so as there was no way escaping the rose sellers, the kitschy red hearts and the heart-shaped pralines, we said, fuck it, let's do it, we have the perfect excuse. And so we did.
We looked like three gangsters going to a cemetery to watch their worst enemy be buried. Timo looked especially frightening with his striped suit and his double-bass, I thought, any moment he''ll bring out a Kalashnikov, a bazooka or something like that from behind it.

So at half past eight we started our show, which was our soundcheck, which was our show. You get the idea, right? A funny "sound" onstage, where no one could hear himself, but somehow we're getting used to it. We can now even sing in tune all three without hearing shit (by the way, the boys did a GREAT job helping me sing Sometimes, thumbs up!). Middle down the gig was time for Why Cow? to be slaughtered, and that's exactly what we did with the bloody cow... First off, I put the capo in the wrong place, but as I didn't hear shit, couldn't even notice and played it all wrong. And then, around the second verse, my G string blows up (I mean my guitar G string, not a G-string thong, you dirty minds out there!). So there I am, one string missing, playing only complete fucking wrong chords the whole time, forgetting the lyrics while trying to put the broken string aside so I can continue playing, getting it all even wronger. I look to the left and see Tobi doing his thing, keeping the beat. And then I just look to the right and see Timo with hysterics and his whole head totally red from laughing and I just thought, "fucker, here I am in deep shit, and you bastards just laughing your asses off!" So that was the time that I too started laughing incontrolably and couldn't even finish the fucking song at all... Man, one thing that I love in this little band is how much we laugh, you couldn't pay enough money for moments like this.

Anyways, after I had to change the string onstage, we continued the show and played a few brand new songs for the very first time. Vertigo and Stroboscope. Just rehearsed once, but nailed them both. Great! We also played some tunes from Acid Jokes we hadn't played in years, like Sand On Me and Black Monday. It was cool to do Sand again after so long, was a bit like going back to the old days in Spain.
But enough blabber. What I'm here really for is to tell you about the karaoke session we had afterwards. We stayed at the HRC a little bit longer than we should have, and suddenly, there were microphones and TV screens with karaoke running, and so we said, sod it, let's have some fun! Tobi did a cool version of Stone Temple Pilot's Plush and Ricardo managed to get me shouting to Can't Buy Me Love. But the very star of the night was Serena, our manager, who decided it was time to show us who the real singer in our group was... man, did she do a show! Just before the end Tobi and me got up there again and did a sort of duet mistreating Otherside. Next time I am at a karaoke, I just want to sing Roots Bloody Roots from Sepultura or Monkey Wrench from the Foos and blow the fucking place away... hehe.
What more can I say? It was fun, as it almost always is, even with the string story and having to carry almost more shit (sorry, Kram is the word) to play an unplugged than what we usually carry when playing electric. I'd like to do a proper acoustic recording sometime in the future, 'cause it sounds amazing and it still grooves...
Yours etc,
El Niño Stone (currently injecting coffee in the veins)

12 February 2006
Be my unplugged Valentine
This Tuesday, February 14 is Valentine's Day. To celebrate it, we'll be playing a very special accoustic gig at the Hard Rock Café in Berlin. It starts at 20.00 h sharp, it's for free and there are going to be a few surprises, like for example, two brand new songs and a complete reworking of your froggy favourites with accoustic guitar, double-bass, cajón and other crazy percussion. So, please, be our Valentine!
09 February 2006
Pussypop Anthology, CD 1: The Accoustic Years
And for those out there who've been listening to the MP3s on the website and found the "outtakes" cool and have asked for more of that, I've put up a few home demos at www.soundclick.com/stone1976. Some might find it interesting, some might not, we don't give a shit. They're there anyway. Of course, there is also one for the band at www.soundclick.com/frogcircus, that one with more serious shit.
Love and garlic,
El Niño
31 January 2006
Duncker & Uelzen
The Duncker Club in Berlin is a very cool place, with a room flooded in red light somehow reminiscent of a whorehouse more than a rock club (but then, whores and rockers, we're pretty much the same anyway...) In this gig, we had the worst sound EVER, on and offstage, it was a formless mass of decibels no-one at the sound desk was apparently able to control, not even turning amps down, up, sidewards and backwards... Tobi and Timo were especially happy with it, with broad smiles and cheering face. I'm joking of course, ironic mode ON.
A lot of unknown faces, yet somehow familiar that keep coming to our gigs. Either they like us or they suffer from alzheimer and never remember they've seen us before. I prefer to believe the first one. And then a lot of friends who brought new friends and kept shouting at the end for more. Well, giv'em what they want, right? So there goes Tomorrow Never Knows for the very second time ever. Heavy, fucking heavy, man.
After loading all the gear yet again in the middle of the coldest night in a long time and freezing our asses off, back to bed for a few hours before heading back to Uelzen again. We were quite happy to play the Komma again. Knut, the owner, did his best to reschedule the gig and we found ourselves celebrating the place's 20th anniversary with two other bands. On the way there (this time just with guitars), the complete Guns N' Roses discography and Verdena, and a fucked up navigation system that didn't hinder us from arriving very late at the venue. Arrival, and five minutes later show. A hit'n run underneath the stars, as someone would later sing. We rewrote the setlist on the spot and just played "in-your-face" songs, blowing away the first rows. After us, Skapes, a local band releasing their new record, kept their friends happy while we enjoyed a few drinks before heading home again in the middle of the, oh so cold, night. The Komma in Uelzen is funny place. It's small and has quite funny corners, still it has a GREAT sound for the band and the audience, and what's more important, a great bunch of people working there who always make you feel comfortable. Completely different to what we had to endure the night before in Berlin, especially regarding the sound.
Well, another rock n' roll weekend, who can ask for more?
Erfurt gig
30 January 2006
Online again... geez!
In the meantime, we've entered a new year, and done a few cool gigs, including a Lennon tribute which was a blast, I guess we had so much fun as the audience did. Next stop on the agenda is an unplugged gig at the Hard Rock Café in Berlin (our third visit there) on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), but don't expect us to go soft and romantic, even on that day! We'll seriously kick ass again, promise!
Plans for this year include getting back in the studio and record a brand new album, shoot the video for "Off The Tide" (which is also coming in the film "Ludgers Fall" sometime this spring) and keep on hopping around the stages as we've always done.