Thorsten and Olli joined the circus again. And tonight itīs Bielefeld. Thereīs really - and I mean really, really - nothing to write about Bielefeld in terms of history or sights. It seems itīs just there. But what Bielefeld lacks in character its inhabitants sure make up for in terms of partying.
This was one crazy show. Singing - line dancing??!! - shouting - some more line dancing??!! - and then again from the top. Cool!
Hereīs a picture of the party after the show!!
And during the show! Steffen and Olli used the gig wisely!
And here itīs Olli with two happy customers.
And since itīs Halloween tomorrow some of the guys already tried out their costumes. These four dress up as "Thorsten".
Tomorrow weīre off for our last show in Hamburg. This is going to be great - ticket sales are already through the roof and there wonīt be any holding back with the screaming and yelling and drinking and singing and shouting. After all Thorsten doesnīt have to sing the next day so who cares if he canīt speak the next morning. It has been a crazy ride so far - and we are glad for every minute we were able to spend on the road.
Day 8: Saarbruecken! Awesome again! But different awesome!
OK this was a first. Usually the turnout is pretty great during this tour - but not so in Saarbruecken. To be honest - letīs say we now know 15 people on a first name basis here. But it was still a great experience. After all we could really play out our entertainment qualities and we are pretty sure that each and every visitor had fun. And speeking of all the visitors here is all of us with all of them:
Definitely a show to remember!
thorsten, olli and steffen
Day 7 (and some of 8): Osnabrueck (and off to Saarbruecken!)
No internet yesterday. From Krefeld we had a short ride to Ibbenbueren where again we visited some large music store. But this time it was open and we didnīt have to meet in some seedy parking lot. The One Fine Day guys got new tubes for their amps. So we spent half a day waiting for them get installed and then it was off to Osnabrueck or Osna as the locals call it.
The club was inside a huge skatepark so Roman and Thorsten used the time to fall down a lot. Hereīs the "backstage area":
Then the "show from hell" started. Actually the show was great and the audience had a great time but what could go wrong did go wrong from our side. First Romanīs amp (with the new tubes) blew up and since Thorsten and Roman both use the same amp a replacement had to be borrowed from another band. Sound kinda sucked from there. Then it was an endless story of broken strings, broken guitars and broken tuners. But as I said - the people didnīt seem to care and it turned out to be a great night and with the help of backliner Axel nothing is a problem!
- Gotta run - soundcheck is up. More in a minute.
OK- back again - itīs loud! --
So, where was I? Yeah a great night! From Osnabrueck we started the drive to Saarbruecken. But with a detour through Münster again to pick up a spare amp for me and Roman. Great opportunity for a snack at 2.30 am.
Saarbruecken is the capital of the Saarland which is the German Delaware. But after a night and a bit of sleep on or next to the highway we were rewarded with a beautiful ride through the Mosel region - the German Napa Valley. Accordingly itīs wine instead of beer tonight. And just in case you wondered this is what you like after spending a night on and then later next to the autobahn.
But bad news reached us today as well. A show had to be canceled because of reasons unknown to us. So Thorsten and Olli will use the time to go home for two days (a regular - off-day is ahead anyways) to get some sleep and pampering. Thorsten caught a bad cold on the way so some time to recharge is needed.
Then we finish up in Bielefeld and Hamburg. Canīt wait.
More to come after tonight's show.
Thorsten, Olli and Steffen
Last night was great and it even got better after the show. The people of Bonn are extremely nice and really know how to party - even on a Monday night. So Thorsten and Olli spent a night out and were not only greeted with love when they finally
made it back to the Winnebagos at 5 in the morning.
But anyhow - today is the first day without a huge drive so we took some time to check out some sights in Bonn. Bonn used to be the provisonal capital back in the days of the two Germanys. After the reunification Berlin became the "real" capital again and Bonn was left with some of the administration. Because of this past Bonn has a lot to offer. So we went an checked out the old governmental district and the Museum of German History. Pretty cool. We even took turns speaking in the old parliament - but nobody seemed to listen. Here itīs Thorsten and Steffen in front of the museum.
Then we took off to Krefeld were we are currently enjoying a beautiful autumn day in the heart Germany. Krefeld is sort of like Pittsburgh or Detroit and has a great charm to it.
What a great evening we had in Bonn. Again time is short - so just the highlights:
a 10 hour ride lead to getting in and immediately getting on stage - it was great - people were shouting along - nobody got hurt - Steffen surfed the crowd from the stage all the way to the merch booth and back (during One Fine Dayīs show) - Bonn is awesome - tomorrow time for touristy stuff!
Thorsten got all excited because he found a bakery with his name!
I've been holding off on making a posting because I haven't had the time to edit photos from the shows last month. Partly, that's because my laptop has had the screen smashed and I'm not able to work on visual stuff on the road. I wanted to post the photos, but I think that will have to have to wait.
On other fronts, things have been insane here. It's been a both very difficult time and a productive one.
I was made "redundant" by the college in September and then, after the college realized they actually needed me to teach, rehired. My work at the college allows me to stay in the UK on a work permit.
Being made redundant meant that I would have to leave the country. So, the college figuring out it made a mistake meant that I could stay. As you might imagine, it was a bit up and down. Then, I had to make teaching plans for a semseter and deliver my first teaching session within a week. It was (to put it mildly) a lot of effort to get it right.
Oppositely, I've been hired to teach an entire module on the MA program at Birkbeck University London (BBK). That's both exciting and intimidating. The students at BBK are very interesting people and all relatively high flyers. It's an enjoyable thing to do and a good opportunity. Things seem to be going well and I'm really glad.
I've been working on a plan with the band. We're doing non-tradtional kinds of gigs and trying to figure out how best to take if forward. I've got a few photos I'll post relatively soon. I think as you view the photos and see the shows, you'll be able to get what I mean by "non-traditional." In basic terms, I'm done with playing in bars as much as possible. I guess I've been spoiled by house concerts and art galleries etc.
I'm just wanting to get my press packs together and start sending them off to festivals around the UK. I hope to be playing as much as possible in the summer.
I've just let go of my previous press manager. I'm going to be filling that slot for a time.
I'm hoping to convince the folks at the label to do a T-shirt. I'd like the design to include a graphic on the back of the shirt which depicts the silhouettes of myself, my bass player Ben and my violinist El. If I could, I'd fly them back to the states so you could hear em'. They're great musicians and I'm really glad to have them working with me.
Last, I'm back in NYC and Woodstock in December to mix the new recording. I'm not going to announce anything right now, but there is a working title and tentative release date. I'll let Jed and the folks do that announcement when the time comes.
Hope you're all doing well and thanks for the messages,
Best,
Michael b
So we made it to the capital okay. After a night of partying in Greven and Munster
we were treated to a great breakfast! Erik - One Fine Dayīs drummer - is from around Münster so the 11 of us dropped by his momīs house to shower. His mom - and grandma - were so nice to also make all of us breakfast and give us the perfect start into the day. Which we desperately needed - after all it was a 6 hour drive to Berlin.
Show - again - was awesome. Steffen didnīt break anything or hurt himself. Too bad we didnīt get to see too much of the city. Berlin after all is THEEEE place. At least according to the locals.
Tomorrow itīs off to Bonn - former capital of Germany. And that means driving exactly back to where we came from today. And trust us - the Autobahn is not that exciting!
Andreas - the guy in charge of the venue - is so kind to let me use his computer real quick so just the facts:
long drive - met with some guy selling instruments in a parking lot near the highway - picked up some gear - looked like a scene out of movie - Greven is beautiful - venue and people too - great show - Steffen broke the stage and cut his leg - he likes to show the scar to everyone - rock n roll injury - we are on our way to Berlin tonight - have to hury
What a great day and show we had in Flensburg - the most northern city in Germany (itīs almost in Denmark). And even though it is getting cold around here the sun was shining on the Flensburg sound and gave us a great view to remember.
But the view was nothing compared to the people we met. Like the local support Ludwig Van. Not only did they really kick off the show beautifully with their great indie rock/pop mix - they were also awesome to hang out with before and after the show. Just as awesome as the rest of the audience in Flensburg. And even though their Handball-team sucks pretty bad (Kielīs arch enemy) the people of Flensburg are the greatest. Hereīs Steffen with a bunch of them.
And they sure knew how to rock in flensburg, too!
Today weīre going south to Greven/Münster and itīs terra incognita for us.
We are getting ready to seriously rock tonight. And starting off in our hometown Kiel-Beach will give us another day in our own beds. However, from tomorrow on it will be 10 guys hitting the road Winnebago-style - and we are not going down for the winter. We hope to post some pictures of our rolling homes today.
As far as prepping for the tour goes we are still packing our stuff trying not to forget any essentials: iPod, earplugs and maybe a pair of underwear.
CART
