Springtime is here again... really?

Another loud and sweaty pussypop evening in Berlin. Aufsturz Club, right in Mitte's core, the Orabnienburger Str., home of the finest hookers in the city (or so we have been told). Thanks god this time we didn't have to carry all our shit down to the club as the other band of the evening was bringing the complete backline. Well, almost, I bought my microbe amp with me, it's sooo cool and so fucking loud you wouldn't believe it.



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)

Homework in the sky

Nachdem letzte Woche der Trobeltom die Schlagzeugparts zu 'Stormy Girl' und 'Toxic' mühelos vorgelegt hatte waren nun gestern das Stonerl und ich am Start um unsere brillianten, bedeutungsvollen, äußerst virtuos und doch schwebend leicht klingenden Beiträge im (leider nicht mehr so genannten) "Skyline-Studio" abzuliefern.



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.

Kurting the Cobain

Two dates have been added: 08.Apr. in Potsdam & 14.Apr. in Berlin, both at the Kurt Cobain Tribute, already a classic in this little band... tickets for 8€ in advance by us or 10€ at the venue. Smells like fun again!

Just one more take, please

Tobi and me went to the studio yesterday to begin the recordings for the new single, although we're not quite sure at the moment what the single might include... we already have Off The Tide and Sometimes, which we did for the Ludgers Fall film back in september, and now it's turn for Toxic and Stormy Girl. We'll see what finds its way into the record in the end...

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).

Clap yer hands, stamp yer feet

I always fancied to play in Hamburg, especially at the Kaiserkeller, being THE Beatles spot still running in the city and me being the super-duper-freaky beatle fan I am. So when the call came that they wanted us there it was like "Wow! Fuck yeah!". And so, we packed our belongings, got into a brand new bus (fuck you, Robben&Wintjes, we found someone better and cheaper and with a better service), forgot all the CDs at home and drove to Hamburg amidst seemingly neverending snowed fields to the city at the Elbe river and the also seemingly neverending docks. I love cities with harbour, probably because I come from one too. But there is something relaxing at the view of water, ships and cranes. Someone once said that for a continental person, the water is the end of the world, for an islander, it's just the beginning. Must be true.

So there we were, on historic ground, where Paul sweated and John swore. Where George played and Pete... well, who gives a damm about Pete Best anyway? The Kaiserkeller is located downstairs from the bigger Grosse Freiheit 36 concert hall, and it's a cozy club with flair, seriously comfy sofas backstage, a better stage than most clubs and cold beers. Groovy. I had been here watching Weezer last year and can only say it's an amazing place, period. It even came with its very own true sailor type, too real to be true, but it was. Well, only one thing was absolutely demented: the fucking ice on the stairs where you load the gear in! Treading on ice, losing your balance and falling on your butt several steps like Homer Simpson with two guitars in the hand is not especially nice, me back and me arse still hurt... d'oh!

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.

On the way back, I simply decided to shut off the brain and let go. I put on my headphones and listened to Phil Spector all the way back to Berlin, a double (or triple?) album called Back To Mono. If you want to know if there was something interesting, just ask the others, I was deep inside "River Deep, Mountain High", "Be My Baby" and all those freaking classic classics. Simply amazing songs...

Love and bruises,

El Niño

Erfurt goes Lennon

Our second appearance at this thingy called John Lennon Tribute after the one we did in January in Berlin. Now it was time to travel to Erfurt, which is just a long bloody way from Berlin, especially if you have to return the same night. After aborting a photo session in front of Erfurt's immense cathedral due to the friggin' cold outside, we decided to bridge the time until the concert sipping coffee, eating at the only Chinese-Thai-Nippon restaurant I've ever seen (talk about inter-Asian friendship, they got it all here, and the food was even great!), and after knowing we were headlining the gig and that it would take ages until we could take the stage, decided to shoot a lot of photos inside the Centrum Club itself. Court photographer Mrs. E.K. came along with us and so we did a photo session amidst black leather sofas, black curtains, golden beers and silly faces. All that until it was our turn.


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!

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!

Pussypop Anthology, CD 2: Valentine's Karaoke

OK, I have slept for just an hour or two, I'm dead tired and it's hard just to keep the eyes open, but here it goes anyway, today's diary entry.

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)

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!

Pussypop Anthology, CD 1: The Accoustic Years

We've been rehearsing for the accoustic gig at the Hard Cock Café next week a few times, and I never thought I would be so happy doing that gig. Tobi is taking the cajón and a few other things to bang while Timo has taken his Oma double-bass out of the closet to make some noise. I stick to my accoustc guitar, which is the only thing I can do as long as we don't get a grand piano, hehe. And we've been doing some crazy shit with three voices (sounds a bit like a Mexican rancheras group at times...). Let's see how it all turns out on Tuesday (February 14, Valentine's Day for those who care, or are obliged to care), but I'm looking forward to it. Crazy days...

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

Duncker & Uelzen

OK, second try at writing this diary entry. The first one was accidentally deleted while writing it right after the Uelzen gig at the Komma (crappy pc, but nice idea to have a computer with internet connection at the bar.) So let's fucking go.

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

New gig added to the list: Erfurt on February 24, at the Centrum Club, at another John Lennon Tribute. Seems like they liked what we did at the last one...

Online again... geez!

After a few weeks down, FROGCIRCUS.COM is finally back online. We had some problems with the server, but are now over for good (at least we have been told so!).
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.

John Frog & the Lennoncircus

I've just raised from the land of the semi-dead and the arms of Morpheus, and I'm slowly remembering flashes from yesterday night's gig at the John Lennon Tribute. My back hurts and I don't know why, as there was no gear to carry around this time, just guitars and thirst. Great!

We had prepared a few Johnny songs triturated by the mighty frog mixer, and I'm sure a little bit of rock'n roll is what the audience needed after too many slow acoustic versions. So it was time to giv'em something for their money, so with great confidence and a few beers, we took the stage and raped "Norwegian Wood" (aka Der Wäldchen-Song), "Come Together" (one out of five hundred times during the night, ehem), "Any Time At All" and finally, the most heavy version of "Tomorrow Never Knows" we've ever managed to play. We were deaf, but the people wanted that extra push, so we had to come back and do "Weekend Lover", which I'm sure some might have thought was a B-side from Lennon's Anthology or something similarly silly...

Timo had the chance to use the Rickenbacker bass to get the real sound, and I introduced Torcuata (my brand new ES-333 Gibson semi-hollow geeetar) to the world. And Tobi, well, Tobi had to play with the crappy drumset that was there and bite his lips :o)

All in all, a great evening. A lot of fun to be there later on with a few special fans (hi Hanna and Maxi, I hope your socks are dried) ;o) and a lot of cool bands that played some fucking rock'n roll for a change. Lennon deserved it.

The Beatles im Knaack!!! (???)

Es ist mal wieder an der Zeit etwas über die Dinge zu erzählen mit denen sich der allmächtige Froschzirkus so die Zeit vertreibt. Wohl an!

Vor einiger Zeit hatten Stone und ich die Möglichkeit auf Einladung von Jürgen Block (aufmerksamen Mitfröschen als "Allergic"-Mittäter bekannt!) zusammen mit ein paar wirklich außergwöhnlichen Musikern einige Songs der Beatles möglichst orginalgetreu aufzunehmen.
So trafen wir uns eines schönen Tages also im wunderbaren TB-Sound-Studio mit Jürgen, Christian Schwechheimer (Drums), Gunar Heise (Git & Paul McCartney-Gesang) und Andreas Sperling (am Fender Rhodes Piano). Stone sollte Gitarre spielen und außerdem die John Lennon-Parts singen. Der Bassjob war meine Sache.



Um sich dem einzigartigen Sixties-Sound trotz Harddiskrecording und modernster Technik anzunähern blieben Explorer und StingRay5 natürlich genauso zu Hause wie Digital-Preamp und 400 Watt Bassverstärker. Stone spielte eine semiakustische Gitarre und ich spielte einen Rickenbacker, ein wunderbares Instrument welches dem ehemaligen Frogcircus-Drummer Miguelo Arencibia gehört. (Thanx for that, mate!)



Zusamnmen mit einem entsprechend "getunten" Schlagzeug, Gunnars Stratocaster und dem Sound aus Vox AC 30 und einem Fender Twin waren wir schon ganz gut dabei.
Den Rest übernahmen Andreas mit dem supercoolen Fender Rhodes und Jürgen, der mal wieder tief in seine scheinbar unendliche Ideen-Trickkiste griff.
Gefehlt hätte nur noch diese dicke, alte Bandmaschine aus der SAE.... Aber auch so waren dann in kurzer Zeit drei Songs fertig aufgenommen.
"Dig A Pony", "I've Got A Feeling" und "Don't Let Me Down" sind es schließlich geworden.
Wirklich erstaunlich wie gut diese fünf Typen, die sich teilweise überhaupt nicht kannten sofort perfekt miteinander harmonierten.
Es war uns eine Ehre und ein Riesenspaß mit euch zu spielen!

Nach diesem Ausflug in die Vergangenheit hatten wir dann die Möglichkeit letzten Mittwoch den Knaack-Club in Berlin zu rocken. Natürlich wieder mit dem kompletten Frogcircus und einer guten Stunde Frog'n Roll!



Die Ausicht auf einen Gig mitten in der Woche stimmt einen ja meistens nicht allzu optimistisch, aber diesmal wurden alle Erwartungen übertroffen. Das Knaak war gepackt bis unters Dach und die Stimmung prächtig.
Und einige (eigentlich fremde) Gesichter in der ersten Reihe habe ich wohl nicht zum esten Mal bei einem Frogkonzert gesehen!? Wir hatten auf jeden Fall eine Menge Spaß zusammen.



...Unser letztes Konzert war schon ein paar Wochen her, und diesen Augenblick in dem Stone mit "What's The Voltage William" begann und ich auf Trobel-Tom's Einzähler wartete werde ich wohl nie vergessen.
Verdammte Gänsehaut, man!! Ich liebe es einfach mit dieser kleinen Band zu spielen...

bis zum nächsten Mal grüßt euch
Timo

Hard Rock Café Berlin

I must say I don't really remember much of this gig. Perhaps it's because it's already over a month ago and lots of other things have happened, but as no one else writes about this one, here I go with a few flashbacks...

- Our second time at the HRC Berlin, and a much better gig than last one, this time with a real drummer, hehe.
- A large group of visiting students from South America (mostly Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela) made the gig quite memorable, especially between songs. The loudest rounds of cheers they ever had at the HRC, or so they said to us afterwards.
- Banners of Corona beer hanging behind our amps, and not in front of, as they would have expected.
- A very slippery and freaking dangerous floor backstage.
- A few covers to integrate with the environment: Oasis, Audioslave, Beatles and Little Richard (I just LOVE to scream Long Tall Sally!)
- It wasn't possible to free some of the hanging guitars from their chains and carry them back home, but at least we tried with other things instead.



As far as I know, there's one more Hard Rock gig coming up in February (acoustic this time), perhaps I should write then...




Love and shampoo

Stone

Mudd (Cavern) Club

Last Friday we felt what it should have been like to play the Cavern Club in Liverpool way back in 1961. The Mudd Club, located in Berlin's heart and soul Mitte, is as cool as the old Cavern. It's small, it's damp, it's got a vaulted ceiling and it's way too loud. Simply great! We were on the bill with the Italian band Verdena, which I recommend to take a good listen, their latest album being "Il Suicidio Dei Samurai", including some really great tunes (Luna and Elephant being my favourites.)



After soundcheck we all went to an "American diner" kind of restaurant near the club, and as usual in all those kind of hip places, the service really sucks and it's way too slow. I even managed to disappear and go for a beer somewhere else inbetween... Typical. For this gig we had rehearsed a very brand new song by the title of "What's The Voltage William?" to start the show. Voltage was written a few years ago but I'd never played before. The stupid title came when former drummer Miguelo and me were talking about REM's "What's The Frequency Kenneth" as one of the silliest but somehow cooler song names ever, when I said "Yeah, I'm gonna write one called What's The Voltage William so that it sounds like two nerds in a physics laboratory." And so I did, and a few weeks later I had finished the song. I wasn't sure about the title at all, as the lyrics are about something else, but Timo liked it, so we kept it. Anyway, the songs rocks.



The rest of the gig went quite well, except for the final chorus of Throwing Up where the Orange box from the Verdena guys got fucked up and we had to finish the song in a drum'n bass style. Always open for new sounds, this little band...

Then it was Verdena's turn, and man, was it LOUD!! Already during thekir soundcheck, the owner of the club (a fragile-looking old guy) was asking the sound tech if it was possible to turn the goddamm thing down a bit, or if that would affect the sound. Great! I love it when owners or neighbours start complaining about the volume, it's so very fuckyouthisisrockandrooooollmotherfucker!



I finished at a friend's flat near the club at 5 a.m. with a few other Spanish friends, sipping a cool Mexican-style Bailey's made with tequila and coffee and listening to (and worse than that, providing) a neverending series of the worst jokes ever. But it was a laugh anyway, and I went home with a silly grin, a sore throat and ringing ears. Just as it should be.

Love & shampoo,

Stone

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...

Elbow Inc.

October started with good news. My left elbow ist fucked up. I got hit with one of Timo's flight cases in Schönau and somehow the liquid bag that works as a lubricant between the bones is inflamed (bursitis olecrani). Great huh? That means, total rest of the left arm until further notice and no guitar playing at all. Fantastic, as we have the next gig this Friday! The doctor said she wasn't sure if I could play the gig, so it's still undecided...

This is how it looked yesterday...


And this is how they left it today. If this goes on, tomorrow I'll look like The Mummy...

Schönau (by Stone)

Diesmal ging's nicht so früh los. Gottseidank, ich hatte Party die Nacht vorher und war nicht besonders froh, schon wieder um 8 auf der Matte zu stehen. Erst um 13 Uhr war die Karre bei unserem Top-Dealer Robben & Wientjes bestellt (die komischerweise immer mehr und mehr wie "Die Autohändler" vom Fernsehen aussehen...). Soweit so gut: wieder einen Mercedes Vito (Aaaarrgghh!!), aber glücklicherweise diesmal mit einer richtig funktionierenden Kupplung. Aber Busse bestehen ja bekannterweise aus noch mehr als nur Kupplung, wie wir erst später auf der Autobahn merkten.

Soja und der Trommeltobi waren schon längst unterwegs nach Schönau als der Bajo und meine Wenigkeit sich im vollgeladenen Auto auf den Weg machten. Und natürlich meldete sich Räuber & Wieners auch diesmal mitten auf der Autobahn: "Öl Hi". Was sich wie ein finnisches Schimpfwort anhört leuchtete auf einmal im Auto. Nach mehreren lauten "Fuck!", "Det ist wohl nicht wahr, oder?", "Die Scheißkisten, eey..." stellte sich raus, dass unser Vito viel zu viel Öl im Motor hatte. Guter Job von den R&W Mechanikern... (Seufz). Also hieß es an der nächsten Tanke anhalten und nachschauen, und klar, wenn man schon mal da ist, Futterreserven für die Fahrt mitnehmen (übrigens, ganz nett die Damen an den Raststätten. Ob die auch noch eine Sonderausbildung zu dummen Suppenhühnern bestehen müssen, um da zu arbeiten?)

Warnleuchte immer noch an, aber Auto lief, also fuck it, let's go. Nächstes Mal mieten wir die Autos bei Clever & Smart ... CD an, und die neue Nada Surf Platte hoch und runter gehört. Sehr empfehlenswert.

Wie auch immer kamen wir in Schönau an, trotz einem im Trabi mit 20 km/h fahrenden Opi vor uns, der sich auch nicht ganz so leicht überholen ließ, der Sackerl! Schönau (wie jedem bekannt ist, Ortsteil von Ralbitz-Rosental in Sachsen) hat Vieles zu bieten, aber der Platz hier ist knapp und wir wollten beim Wesentlichen bleiben, also müsst ihr es selber herrausfinden... Aber wie der Trobeltommi sagte: "Die Location topt wieder Alles". Wahre Worte.

Beim Anblick des Discolands staunten wir nicht schlecht. Eine richtig coole Location, tolle Bühne, Spitzen-Backstagebereich... nur Gutes. OK, aber damals wussten wir noch nicht wie LAUT es da drin sein konnte. Ein Paar Stunden später war uns das klar. Kurzer Soundcheck, um uns mal festzulegen, in welcher Tonart wir heute spielen würden, und ab in die Natur bis zur Showtime vier Stunden später. Tobi ging direkt ins Bett nebenan, um ein Paar Stündchen Schlaf zu kriegen, bevor er am nächsten Tag den Berlin-Marathon laufen würde. Über die Ergebnisse soll er selbst hier demnächst berichten...

Also entschieden wir uns (Ricardo, Timo & me), einfach zu Fuß im Dorf was zu Essen zu suchen. Oder, naja, vielleicht doch im Nebendorf muss es was geben. Komm, es kann nicht so schwer sein. Fuck, hier ist absolut nischts... also zurück zum Bus, und ab in die Zivilisation nach Bernsdorf zu einen echt coolen Italiener mit zwei sehr schmackhaft besetzten Kellnerinstellen. Gut dass wir nicht bis dahin gelaufen sind, wie Ricardo wollte, wären bestimmt von Elchen, Werwölfen oder wilden mutierten Eichhörnchen gefressen worden und keiner hätte es gemerkt. Und ab wieder nach Schönau (wie jedem bekannt ist, Ortsteil von Ralbitz-Rosental in Sachsen) um zwei Sets im vollen Hause zu spielen. Aber irgendwie waren wir ungefähr wie Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future, wenn er auf der Party Gitarre spielt. Irgendwie hatten wir das Gefühl, aus einer fernen Zukunft dahin gekommen zu sein, wo sonst Bon Jovi, Liquido oder Nena zu hören waren. So große Augen in der ersten Reihe hatte ich lange nicht mehr gesehen... oder in der letzten.

Also zwei Sets von Zukunftsmusik wurden gespielt, viel wurde geschwitzt, CDs trotz des Zeitvortex verkauft und unter den dröhnenden Bässen gelitten. Tierisch laut... kein Wunder, dass beim Versuch uns mit den Schönauer zu unterhalten, nichts verstanden wurde. Obwohl, naja, vielleicht hatte das mit der Lautstärke in Schönau (wie jedem bekannt ist, Ortsteil von Ralbitz-Rosental in Sachsen) nichts zu tun. Wer weiß.

Nach dem letzten Crash, sprang der Trobbel aus seinem Hocker, verabschiedete sich von uns im Blitztempo und weg war er Richtung Berlin (wie jedem bekannt ist, kein Ortsteil von Ralbitz-Rosental in Sachsen) um noch ein paar Stunden Schlaf vor dem großen Marathon am nächsten Tag zu kriegen. Und der Rest konnte sich noch ein bisschen länger im Zeitvortex umhören (gar nicht übel), bevor man wieder alles in unseren Kotzen & Heulen Mercedes Vito einpackte und den spannenden Rückweg nach Hause fuhr. Erst um 6.30 war ich im Bett. Und die Bässe dröhnten noch in meinem Kopf...