Uelzen stories

My agenda said: "Friday, October 7, 2005. St. Mark and St. Julia" and written below in blue ink the words "Gig - Uelzen, Café Komma". That meant that another dose of powerpop was on the way...

Robben & Wientjes fucked it up once again (and counting). Instead of giving us the 4-seat bus we'd ordered, we got a 3-seat one, which left our manager in Berlin waving us goodbye with a handkerchief and a tear rolling down his face, unable to come with us as planned. During the trip to Uelzen (about 263 km from Berlin, and way too far away from any highway), the CD player puked the following mix of records: Rage Against The Machine, Joss Stone, Foo Fighters, Britney Spears, 49 Stories, Alicia Keys, Slipknot and a few others I can't remember right now. The total schizophrenic mix, I know, but we love it.

When we arrived in Uelzen it was already dark and we were dreading that we were too late, which we were in a way. Before that, we drove through the worst smelling town ever, Neustadt-Glewe, which must have something like a puke factory, as it terribly smelled like puke for too many kilometres. It was so bad we decided to close all windows and breathe Tobi's socks, which isn't precisely healthy either.

Anyway, after our nostrils were again functioning, fast soundcheck (or KlaKo) and a real cool location. The Komma is located in the heart of Uelzen, and is the top rock spot in town. The best bathroom signs ever: on each door, a car license plate with the words "Elvis" (gents) and "Ushi" (ladies). Simply unbeatable. And an owner who knew more Spanish bands than I did, incredible Knut.

At exact 10, it was showtime. A fucking tight set, an incredibly loud crowd with a nice share of lovely girls and some heavy frog'n roll to offer. My elbow gave me slight signals of "hey buddy, calm down or I'll start aching again" but fortunately resisted through the gig. Hot, sweaty, loud from both sides, like a real cool gig must be. Great audience, I'm wishing to return asap now that a lot of new Allergics are spinning in a lot of peoples CD players there...