Recording the new album - Day Six

Time flies when you’re having fun. We’re already into the sixth recording day and well ahead of the schedule, six songs are already complete except for vocals, which always come at the end anyway, when the singer is way too tired and ready to go home. We should record the vocals first next time around, hehe.

After being treated once again to the delights of a wonderful salad (so that our stomachs wouldn’t be louder than the guitars), we continued tracking acoustics from the day before, as the various microphones were already prepared for me to mistreat. “Frames Of The Past” was the first, and just after one take and then double-tracking it to get a fatter sound it was in the can.



“Berlin” was a little harder to get, as it’s quite a long number (around 5 minutes) and the guitar groove goes on forever. Probably I didn’t warm up my right wrist enough before it (Tobi had taken the Jenna Jameson magazine home), or probably I was just too damm stupid to get it right, but by the end I had a stiff right arm and it was fucking hurting from going non-stop on the guitar. I just bloody lost the plec as well, couldn’t get a grip, so it got a bit messy there and had to redo the whole thing again after a short pause.

And then, “Into The Sea” was there, probably one of my favourite tracks on the album. We started with the acoustics again, and after finishing them, the workhorse Gibson Songwriter went back into its case for the rest of the sessions, as it won’t be needed. Well, probably, you never know later on. We then added some amazingly sounding clean guitars with the ES-333 into the Peavey Classic 30 and into a 4x12” Engl cabinet… and it was one of those magic moments. For me, at least. It’s such a nice regular arpeggio going up and down that has something of a nursery rhyme in it. I had really a “floaty”, hypnotic feeling doing it (or perhaps I was just digesting the salad, go figure...) But it was nice anyway, I hope it comes through in the song. Fat guitars and the solo came later on, and this is where a Mesa Rectifier and a Les Paul can really do the job. And so, we finished “Into The Sea”, just waiting for the vocals to come. Did I say I liked the song?



We set up several smaller amps again to do some clean guitars on the next batch of songs, mainly the Classic 30, a Mesa 50 Caliber and the pair of AC30’s. For “Berlin”, we also used a few ultracool pedals, among them one from Sovtek called Small Stone. Ain’t that cool? Anyway, then we tried a few different amp setups for “Stroboscope”, not quite sure which one to use at the end, so we recorded all of them and Juergen will have to look in the mix which one suits better. Sometimes having too many possibilities can be a drag, as all of them sound nice, but using one or the other can change the mood completely. Sometimes I remember when I had my first shitty guitar and ever more shitty amp, and I was just so happy with that one shitty sound, as I didn’t know what was out there. Ignorance is bliss, they say, and a little truth is there too.

Before calling it a day, we almost finished “Scent” and its anti-solo (you’ll know why when you hear it) and took a try at “Time” with the Les Paul straight into an AC30 just ten minutes before going, which went surprinsingly well. At least it sounded so to our tired ears, it may all be just complete bullshit when we listen back to it next day. Such things hapen. Quite usually, indeed.

We’re taking a day off (cool) and will be there again on Thursday afternoon ready to frog and roll again. Stay tuned.

Songs done:
“Frames Of The Past”: acoustic guitars
“Berlin”: acoustic and electric guitars
“Into The Sea”: all guitars
“Stroboscope”: guitars
“Scent”: guitars
“Time”: guitars

Recording the new album - Day Five

A new day, a new week, the same little band. Day five of the recording, today just Timo and me there. After a wonderful and way too healthy lunchtime salad we were all really grateful for, it was time to continue the good work. I took along the Explorer guitar, so it was crunchtime for some killer riffs in drop D. Metal mania! “Peaches” was the first to be slaughtered. It’s a fucking fast punk number that I’m glad just lasts one and a half minutes. Otherwise I couldn’t make it. It went really fast, just two takes and in the can.

“Stitch The Memories” came straight after, as it had the same guitar tuning and similar sound and feel. But I was especially looking forward to recording this one all the time. It’s got a fat bluesy riff going most of the time in three different parts of the stereo panoramic and then a totally melodic chorus in the middle before it becomes a screamer at the end. Explorer deep into a Mesa/Boogie running through two different cabinets and there was the sound, exactly as imagined. Loud, fat, dirty and mean. Groovy… Then after some overdubs with the Les Paul we had it ready for the vocals, which can be quite fun to do in this song. When we do them later on, I mean, for now we’re rather concentrating on the guitars and shit.



And as we had the mighty Explorer at hand, we decided to finish up with “If You Only”, for which we already had recorded some guitars last week, but was left incomplete waiting for some extra guitar double-tracking with a different sound. I think we got it pretty well.

By the time we had done these three, the body (and especially the ears!) needed a little bit of a slowdown. After discussing a bit which song would be next and which guitars and amps would be used, we decided to start recording some acoustic guitars. It was not exactly early (rather fucking late already) and it was the right moment for a more mellow approach before going home for the day.

After testing several tube microphones which looked like spiders from outer space (they probably were, too), we started doing some rhythm tracks for “What’s The Voltage William?”, just for the sake of having that extra crispy percussive sound going in the background. Together with the overdriven ones, the song is simply killer, looks like we have an opener already. Yuhu!



Change of microphones again, and into a rather speedy version of “Scent”, where acoustics have more weight (they carry the whole song actually) and then some bits of “Stroboscope”. I was simply amazed at how cool those bloody tube mics sound when heard through headphones, they pick up every single minimal noise and nuance of the guitar… I just didn’t want to stop. But as it was already half past late and if we arrive later than midnight we lose the crystal shoe and our cars turn back into pumpkins, we decided to call it a day. A night rather. And off we went. Goodnight.

Songs done:
“Peaches”: all guitars
“Stitch The Memories”: all guitars
“If You Only”: guitar
“What’s The Voltage William?”: acoustic guitars
“Scent”: acoustic guitars
“Stroboscope”: acoustic guitars

Recording the new album - Day Four

Zzzzz...hmmm?... Oh, you're there! Oops, sorry, just snoozing a little. Well, the fourth recording day came and we conveyed at TB in the afternoon to continue recording guitars.



After inspecting Jürgen's copy of The Beatles Complete Recording Sessions: The Abbey Road Years by Mark Lewisohn for a while and desperately wanting to take it home, tapes were ready to roll, and nothing better than starting a fresh new song, "If You Only". That's when Timo, casually passing by, suddenly asked "What?? Oh please don't tell me it's actually a G#... Shit!!" So, well, yes, we wouldn't argue over half a note, so he had to re-record the song again, this time with the right note on it.

We did several takes of the main riff guitar with the Les Paul and redid them again just to be sure they will kick ass when we double them with the mighty "riff-machine" Explorer. It didn't take that long, so we decided to start and finish a complete song, and the choice fell on "1976".

Wow, that was the beginning of the amp parade... the cool thing about Jürgen is that he really loves to experiment with different combinations of amps, boxes, guitars, pedals, preamps, more amps and a lot of crazy shit you wouldn't believe. You can see he loves that adventurous spirit of those Beatle sessions back in the day when he searches for sounds. He won't just settle for one or two cool sounds and use them for the whole record. Instead, every song has got to be a little gem with recording tricks and special touches. Not bad indeed.



Anyodds, as I was saying, we started with '76, tracking clean and "not completely clean" guitars with the ES-333 and also the Les Paul for the dirtier parts and the metal frenzy at the beginning and ending of the song. Timo and Tobi, who had arrived by that time, probably had a good time laughing at my faces when I turned up the Rectifier full to the right and at completely insane volume. True metal never dies, baby! After the take my hair was combed back from the wind and I had the face of someone who has seen the other side and has returned. Amazing. About five different amps used for the song, how cool is that?



Listening back to the track we were all grinning silly for a while, but before going back home for a break until next Monday, I just wanted to finish "Voltage" and get the solo recorded so that at least we had two full songs in the can ready for vocals next week. A quite "creamy" solo, you will hear...

So, first week finished, a LOT of the work done, and now over to three days of rest for our ears. Time to change strings to the SG and Explorer to bring them in, time for Jürgen to get a few other amps (!), time to disconnect. And mostly, time to sleep.



Songs done:
"If You Only": rhythm guitars, bass
"1976": all guitars
"What's The Voltage William?": solo

Recording the new album - Day Three

Timo was already there when I arrived today in the afternoon, he was checking out yesterday's bass tracks and deciding which ones needed to be redone before going into guitar mode. It's not exactly a tremendously adventurous or creative thing (it's actually quite boring listening just to drums and bass), but as with a house, you have to check that the foundings are solid enough before starting with the decoration.



At this point I must again express my utmost fascination with Jürgen and his ears. It's incredible what the guy can listen in a take, song or whatever. We'd be thinking "oh, great take, so cool", and he'll just nod and mumble "that finger accidentally hit a string while changing the chord". And we'd listen to it, and, exactly where he said, there was some minimal noise... incredible. Watching him edit and tweak knobs is a show by itself. Reminds me of those kids in front of the game console hitting knobs and twisting buttons at incredible speed and still getting to the next level. That's Jürgen more or less, all ten fingers on the sound desk or the keyboard, concentrated look, and in the blink of an eye he has edited the song to a reasonable thing from the mess he had before...

Then it was time to record two songs from Monday and redo a few from yesterday. "No Better" was especially fun to do for Timo, as he always remembers the right progression and key changes...



When we had finally got what we wanted with the rhythm tracks, it was finally time to start with guitars. About fucking time! As it was already late enough, we decided to start with an easy one, and the choice fell on "What's The Voltage William?", which could be a nice opener as well.

Recording guitars is where Jürgen has more fun at, which is really nice for me. We just did two rhythm tracks, one with the Les Paul into my Peavey Classic 30 and the Orange box, and the stereo track with the Les Paul into TWO Vox AC30 (a really vintage one and a top boost one) running in stereo with distortion provided by a Marshall Guv'nor pedal. Amazing how those little cheap pedals can sound... After just one take we decided to hold it there until the next session. The song really kicks ass already now, can't wait to hear it finished with vocals and shit.



Anyway, another productive day. Three days and already into guitar recording mode... yuhu!!

Songs done:
"Berlin": bass
"Scent": bass
"Stitch The Memories": bass
"Stroboscope": bass
"Follow You Around": bass
"No Better": bass
"What's The Voltage William?": bass, rhythm guitars

Recording the new album - Day Two

Yawning and desperate for coffee we arrived (too) early in the morning in Treuenbrietzen after picking up yet more shit from the HQ, ready for a long day of frog'n roll. Timo was already there, so "unfortunately" we saved our backs from unloading more bass amps, guitar boxes and things.



After the first cups of coffee it was time to start with the serious stuff. Banging on the drums for a few minutes to get warm while Timo was setting up his gear to record and I was going into my aquarium like a goldfish, we were ready for the tapes to roll. Well, actually it's not tapes, it's a hard disk system, but sounds cooler.

"Time" was the first victim of the day, and it went quite smoothly, just the usual two takes and ready it was. "No Better" wasn't that easy to nail, especially the ending that Tob always felt he should play on and on and on. Oh, and Timo didn't hit a single right note too! :o) Jürgen was shaking his head all the time and I couldn't help but laughing, so it was wrong notes by me too... thanks god I was just doing the pilot track and not actually recording anything.

Short ciggie pause and into "Into The Sea" and "Frames Of The Past", both going really easy. You could notice which ones have been played live over and over again. And Tobi changing snares and hi-hats all the time to try out new sounds depending on the songs... "If You Only" saw the first sparks of energy jump around, I wish we had recorded my screams at the end of that one, really kewl metal. Bang! Same with "Stitch The Memories", three takes and ready. And just before going for lunch, "1976" and "Peaches", both done in the blink of an eye. Especially "Peaches", which runs for exactly... the blink of an eye. We tried it at a superhuman speed at first, but sounded way too sloppy so we redid it at a simply fucking fast tempo.



The most bizarre experience of the day was the place where we went for lunch: an Asian food corner which also served döner kebap, which meant they had mixed the best (and worst) of both cuisines into a... well, funny blend to say the least. They were absolutely astonished as they saw 5 people walking in at the same time, I think after that they closed the place for the day.

Treuenbrietzen is a small place, all cobblestones, no asphalt. Probably the birth rate among bicycle riders has been steadily going down for years, but no one seems to care. Absolutely nothing to do, except recording. The TB Studio is located in a backyard where you would never guess it, and probably that is what makes it so special. In the middle of nowhere, you have this absolutely incredible studio, packed with all kinds of gizmos, amps, huge sound desks, and everything for the modern (and not so modern) musician. It's quite cozy, I must say. And no distractions too... well, what can you do there anyway except working on the songs?



Back in the place we were all lying around on the couch, not wanting to do anything but sleep a long siesta. Too much Turco-asian food can have that effect on active people like us. Tobi had to have yet another ciggie before going into the recording mode again, and to really shake things up, we started with a slow number named "Berlin" which took more than the usual takes to get done, mainly we were all snoozing around while doing the song. It wasn't such a good idea to do slow songs right after lunch, believe me... "Scent" followed and went definitely better. Afterwards, "Stropboscope" and a remake of "Off The Tide", which we had decided to re-record for the album, not using the previuos tracks from the Soja Studio in September, mainty to give the songs a sense of unity and all that shit. This was done with closed eyes, even the bass player nailed it. :o)

Before going home (it was already seven or so), we took a chance on a song called "Vertigo", which we were not so really sure about, as we had never rehearsed it before. After a few takes it was clear that we had enough songs for this album ready to work on, so we left it for the next one. A pity, 'cause it's a nice one, but perhaps not so fitting with the other ones.



An extremely productive day, I must say. We have now all the drum tracks and mostly all basses ready (with Timo trying cool things with the 5-string MusicMan StingRay, the Fender Precission and the Rickenbacker 4000/1 he borrowed from a certain singer).

Songs done:
"Time": drums, bass
"No Better": drums
"Into The Sea": drums, bass
"Frames Of The Past": drums, bass
"If You Only": drums, bass
"Stitch The Memories": drums, bass
"1976": drums, bass
"Peaches": drums, bass
"Berlin": drums
"Scent": drums, bass
"Stroboscope": drums, bass
"Off The Tide": drums, bass

Recording the new album - Day One

OK, so here it goes. Today, Monday August 7 we were due to start the recording of what should be our fourth record. The place? TB Sound Studio in Treuenbrietzen, about 60 km from Berlin.



Today it was mainly loading in all the shit we're bringing with us, drums, guitars and so on. So it was just Tobey and me, tomorrow all of three of us will be there from the early hours of the morning.

Jürgen (our producer and wizard behind the knobs) had to spend quite a while fine-tuning the kick drum sound, but in the end he did a fine job, and it "kicks" ass (get it?) It was quite late when we actually started recording the first drum tracks for "What's The Voltage William?", and a certain drummer needed more than the usual two takes to get it nailed, ehem, but he scored back by doing "Follow You Around" in a blink of an eye.



Then, after setting up drums, amps, guitars and mics for three hours and actually only one recording, we took the road back home and here I am now, begging for some sleep but happy as a child with the perspective of spending the next few weeks doing a new album...

Songs done:
"What's The Voltage William?": drums
"Follow You Around": drums

New album recording start date set

Recordings for the follow-up album to "Allergic" will start on August 7th at the TB Sound Studio in Treuenbrietzen, near Berlin. Twisting the knobs and producing will be Jürgen Block (Keimzeit, Die Prinzen).
This will be Frogcircus' third album after 1999's "Acid Jokes" and 2005's "Allergic".

Fashion-Frogparty im Sage Club

Gestern wars also soweit-DAS Event im Sageclub,der Star FM Rockgarten mit dem Froschzirkus auf der Bühne.Großartig.

Werden wir wahrlich in schöner Erinnerung behalten,wenn sich auch wieder Freud´und Leid zugleich die Hand reichten.



Das Leid zuerst? Ok... :

- 16 Uhr Aufbau und Soundcheck bei 30 Grad Aussentemperatur,50 Grad Clubtemperatur und 80 Grad Bühnentemperatur exclusive Scheinwerferbeleuchtung-durchnässt bis auf den Leib,obwohls doch eigentlich noch garnicht begonnen hat.
- Bereits ab 19 Uhr füllt sich der Laden mit schönen Frauen.Denn ne Modeschau ist ja auch noch geplant für 24 Uhr-Underground Fashion verschiedener Labels der Punk-, Lack&Leder- und Fetischindustrie.



Wie?Das führe ich unter "Leid" auf?

Na klar- die "vergebenen" Männer dürfen nicht, die Single-Männer können sich nicht entscheiden.
- Mein ganz persönliches Leid: Blutblasen an fast jedem Finger,zurückzuführen auf 290 Grad Bühnentemperatur während der Show (22.30-23.20 Uhr) und entsprechend durchnässte Gliedmassen.
- Hektischer Bühnenabbau nach der Show zwecks Platzmachens für die Fashiongirls.Abtransport der Instrumente durch c.a. 500.000 schwitzende Leiber,die unsere Show verfolgt haben,dementsprechend nass sind vom rocken,von der auf 387 Grad angestiegenen Clubtemperatur und vom ansteigenden Hormonpegel nach dem Erblicken erster Models in knappen Kostümen.
- Ein weiteres ganz persönliches Leid: Nach der Show reisst c.a. 150 Meter vom Sage Club entfernt der Gaszug meiner Amelie (Anmerkung d. Red.: Das ist meine Vespa,nicht meine Freundin),also schiebe ich nachts um 01:00 Uhr meine ganz persönliche Liebe etwas fluchend von der Köpenickerstrasse in die Kastanienallee zu meinem Roller-Spezi.Kenner wissen die Distanz zu schätzen.Anschliessend laufe ich nach Hause.Was für ein rühmlicher Abgang eines Rockstars.



Nun gut- genug gelitten.Nun zur Freude:

- Der Sage Club is geil
- Der Sage Club hat guten Sound,sowohl nach draussen als auch auf der Bühne.Dank an den Haustechniker!
- Der Sage Club hat nen Pool.Ich war drin.Geil. Körpertemperatur von 45 auf 37 gesenkt.
-Der Sage Club hat nen schönen,grossen,wirklich sauberen Backstageraum.
- Dort steht ein voller Kühlschrank.Der funktioniert.Es gibt Wasser und Bier.Alles was Rockmusiker brauchen.Die Krönung: Nach unserer Show ist der Raum gefüllt mit halbnackten Models.Hey- mit etwas Fantasie sind das all unsere Groupies,die darauf warten,von uns befruchtet zu werden...(war das jetzt zu laut gedacht??!)...Spirituell befruchtet meinte ich natürlich.
- Im Backstagebereich steht ein bequemes Sofa.Nach dem Pool-Bad freue ich mich ganz persönlich über 90 Minuten Schlaf darauf.Und das bei sicher nur 19 Grad Raumtemperatur.
Welcome to Paradise! (wären nur die oben aufgeführten "Groupies" schon da...)
- Es gibt BBQ im Sage Club.Beziehungsweise im wirklich schönen Outdoorbereich des Clubs.
Persönliche Empfehlung: Das Steak!
- Im Sage Club springen viele hübsche Frauen rum (sollte hier halt dann doch auch aufgeführt werden).
- Die Show hat super Spass gemacht, sowohl Stone,Timo und mir als auch unseren treuen Fans (wie immer 1000 dank!!!).Aber auch neuen Gesichtern hat man den übergesprungenen Funken angesehen. Und DAS ist die größte Freude, die man uns bereiten kann!
- Gleich 4 neue Songs unserer kommenden Scheibe ham wir präsentiert.Da sie sich schön ins Set eingefügt haben, das Publikum gewippt,getanzt,gebangt oder gar mitgesungen hat,kann ich im Namen des ganzen Frogcircus sagen:

Wie immer war unsere Freude weeesentlich größer als das Leid.

So we´ll keep on rockin`....

Cheerio,

der TrommelTobi

P.S. Amelie war heute morgen schon wieder repariert. Olaf- Du bist mein Hero!

P.P.S. Italien ist Weltmeister.

Postbahnhof, School's Out!

Hmm?... What?... Oh, you're there! Sorry... yeah, well, we did that gig yesterday. It was school holidays start in Berlin and there was this, er, event for young and old, with a lot of rock'n roll, beer and fucking heat! Oh, yes, and a lousy organization from the promoter, not keeping the stage times and all that. A usual gig.




We were a little down as we had just received the news that our gig at the Monsters Of Rock gig in Bulgaria had been cancelled due to the City Council's tight time limits, and that a lot of the other bands had also been cancelled in order not to throw the whole festival away. To make it worse, I almost broke my beloved Paulina right before the start, and thanks god it's still alive and kicking. It just bloody fell down, so much for security locks, but anyway... Awful sound onstage, although we got word afterwards that it was really cool outside over the PA, but I got so fucking upset by the shitty amp and monitor sound I had there that I finished up hitting cymbals and mic stands just to let go.



Played a brand new song, "Frames Of The Past" which we'd rehearsed once or twice, and are probably going to record when we enter the studio next month. Songs keep piling up, I guess it's going to be difficult to choose down to 12 songs or so to release.

OK, and next week at Sage Club, Star FM; Rock Night. I just hope the stage sound is better than yesterday. Well, it must be, it couldn't be worse. The best of the evening were, once again, our fans. Yes, my friends, we have some, and I must say, the bloody fucking best ones around, you hear? And THAT, my dears, is what makes all this worth.

In love with my guitar,

Stone

España 1 - Francia 3

Aaaahhh... fuck it! The frog-eaters kicked us out of the tournament, dammit! OK, next time around it will be better, we got a very good and young team. Now, back to writing about music and this crazy little band...

We'll be entering the studio for the follow-up to "Allergic" in August, right after the Bulgarian Adventure. Got a million new songs ready and are really looking forward to starting doing new shit in the studio with this line-up, the best we've had in years, believe me.


Now off to bed, da-da...

España 1 - Arabia Saudí 0

Back to the old habits, Spain played with a complete reserve team, and that's what it was: a training more than an actual game. Boring for 90 minutes, but main thing is we won and are now group firsts, meaning that next Tuesday we're playing against France in the next k.o. round. Geez, that's a difficult one, even though the French are playing mirerably and are a bunch of aged stars, they're quite dangerous too... By the way, wasn't this a music blog?

Salon Ost

Erst hatte ich ja Angst es würde total in dieHose gehen, da wir wieder einmal eine größere Pause zwischen den Gigs eingelegt hatten und die fällige Generalprobe am Abend vorher wieder Erwarten völlig problemlos, einige Blasenbildungen, nein ich rede nicht von Fellatio, jetzt mal ausgenommen, verlaufen war, ist es aber nicht, da auch der Gig, direkt nach dem Abfiff des WM-Spiels gestartet und von den Anwesenden, da Abwesende dieses schließlich gar nicht können, innerhalb kürzester Zeit in eine fette Party verwandelt, ohne größere Zwischenfälle verlief, so das uns, oder zumindestens mir, es vorkam als ob das Konzert in zehn Minuten vorbei war und ich den ganzen langen Weg nach Hause brauchte um das wieder abzubauen was von einer guten Freundin der Band als "Viel Energie" bezeichnet wurde, wobei ich mich im Nachhinein noch köstlich über den, total übermütig und ausgeflippt, auf der Bassdrum balancierenden Gitarristen unserer kleinen Band amüsierte und zu der Feststellung kam das die kleinen Gigs manchmal die Besten sind, was natürlich nicht unser Verdienst ist, sondern der von unseren Freunden und Fans, die jedes Konzert zu etwas besonderem machen.

Amen.

Timo

España 3 - Túnez 1

Phew, that was near! After behing behind 0-1 for 80 long minutes, the Spanish guys turned the game around in 5 minutes. Incredible, but that goes to show there are no easy rivals in a World Cup, and that even after coming from bashing Ucraine, a second-rate team like Tunisia can make your day pretty fucked up... but anyway, we're in the next round.

It was great watching the game with a lot of other Spaniards, including Diana, Patri and some Argentinian friends who also came along to suffer wit us :o) Berlin is incredible theses days, the city filled with people from everywhere sporting their colours in a incredibly civilised way, more like a huge party that anything else...

OK, and now to bed, it's late and I have a very interesting book to read.

España 4 - Ucrania 0

Sitting in Leipzig right now, hot as hell out there and thirsty for beer, lots of beer, or at least something cold and liquid. Beer perhaps. Spain has just played the first game of the World Cup, and guess what, WE FUCKING WON! About time if you ask me, normally they play like idiots at these kind of tournaments, but this time they played a great game, loads of goals and a great show in all.

There are thousands of Spaniards here right now, all is in red and yellow. And a lot of girls too. It's been surprising how many girls are following the World Cup this year, and with the heat they all look so... so... well, so very undressed, it's evil.

PS: Tobi should have written the diary entry for the last gig in Chemnitz, but he's been too lazy :o)

Back to Spain!

We have secured our first gig in Gran Canaria as a full band in almost six years. So it's back to where this all began, fuck yeah! On September 28 at the Paraninfo in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, starting no earlier than 22 h, as usual over there... are we happy or what!?

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)

Springtime!

Yes, indeed! Spring is back in Berlin!!! About fucking time! The trees are getting their green again, the sun shines, you can walk in a shirt and we have blue sky in the mornings (although it later gets a little cloudier, ok). I'm feeling well, thank you, and no, I haven't had lysergic acid.

And oh yes, I've got a few brand new songs ready! Aaah, it should be spring more often...

(Kurt 2)

The Froggy Times

Deutschland

...!!!EXTRABLATT, EXTRABLATT!!!...

Neue grauenvolle Anschlagserie traf Deutschland mitten ins Herz

Augenzeugen berichten: "Es war die Hölle auf Erden"

Nun ist es schreckliche Gewissheit! Nach dem kleinerem Attentat im Berliner Knaack-Club am Mittwoch, bei welchem die Gäste der schwedischen Rockband "The Quill" ins Visier der deutsch-spanischen Mafia gerieten und verheerende Opferzahlen zu beklagen hatten, wird nun der 14. April 2006 als der berüchtigte "Grüne Freitag" in die deutschen Geschichtsbücher eingehen.

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.

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!

Potsdam Lindenpark (Kurt 1)

"A hit 'n run underneath the scars". The Titanium line could be the perfect summary of tonight's gig in Potsdam, the first of two Kurt Cobain tributes this month. We came, played, and left in the blink of an eye. Timo had to leave early in order to follow his love affair with medicine, so we all went together after the last note. Remembered me to the Beatles' tours through the US back in the 60s, hitting town and leaving right after.



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)