It had been about 10 years since we played in France!
15 Years since we had played in Belgium!
FRANCE * GERMANY * BELGIUM 2005
The tour started in Paris at a place called the One way cafe. This place wasn't what you would call “ideal” but we didn't cry :-) The sound was terrible and we had to stop the show three times because the wrecking pit was surging forward and knocking over monitors and microphones!
We met our touring partners The Voodoo Devils and their manager Romain and we were ready to roll.
Next town......If the Paris show was a nightmare then the gig in Toul was a dream- We arrived at the house of Armande and Yves Kemp who organized the gig.(special thanks!)
After a coffee we went to see the club. The Chez Paulette was a great club,one of the best, the sound system ,lights etc. were all top notch. They even had a professional staff to run the place! can you imagine? :-) After our sound check we went to the hotel where we each had our own room!Things have not been that good since 92! From the hotel we could see the Saint-Etienne cathedral. The show was great- always great to play on a big stage with great monitors. Best show of the tour for us.
On to Rennes- the Mondo Bizzaro club has a reputation for being THE place for cool music-.The band posters on the walls will give you a good idea of all the great bands that have played here. The only problem is the size.. very small stage which forces us to put Chris in the back instead of up front. The place was very hot! There was a great party after the gig but we had to leave right away as we had a very long drive the next day.
Belgium- The place where we played our first gig in Europe back in fall of 1987.We haven't been back to Belgium since 89!- The gig was on a Sunday and started in the afternoon.We saw many old friends at the show. The show itself was a little strange- they had the house lights on and it kinda sucked playing like that- I hate when I can see the whole audience :-) but again we didn't cry :)...after the show we hung out and talked with our friends.(Thanks She-Cats!-Drunkabilly)
Monday- Sarrebrucken Germany- right on the boarder of France in fact the gig was in Germany but the hotel was in France!- The Garage was a small place and again they had those lights on (note to club owners-TURN THE LIGHTS OFF!)The gig was ok-cool guys backstage after.
Two days off .We went to Strasbourg where we got to stay in an apartment of a guy named Julien who was moving and therefore had a vacant apt. for us.
We did some laundry which is always fun in Europe :) and walked around the town etc.Not much to report just taking it easy. (thanks Julien)
Thursday on to Munich. The people at Shake Your Ass really know how to organize an event. We played at the Monofaktur in the summer with the PR3 and it was packed on a Monday. This time the club had totally been remodeled and they were putting the finishing touches on the place when we arrived. Monofaktur is by far one of the hottest places to play.The air-conditioning was not complete so it was like a sauna in there. The crowd was great as before with tons of hot chicks in the crowd! Its easy to put on a great show when you have hot chicks!(Thanks to Mike Moronic! and Ahyan)
Friday- Strasbourg- We had some fun on the way back to France when the German police pulled us over(they don't need a reason)and searched us. The Zanzibar has to be one of the smallest clubs we have ever played- it is in a basement and it was packed and hot-and it was REAL loud- Chris’ ears are still ringing-They actually have a decibel meter on stage and if it gets to a certain level, the power shuts off and the cops come!- I tried to get that thing to pop but no luck:-)we made lots of mistakes and I had a hard time getting into the gig-it was a real mess- but I guess the audience didn't know :-)
Saturday night last show in Montbeliard- Big stage! Not many people in a big room.It took a few songs to get the sound sorted out. I couldn't hear my voice in the monitor and as usual the sound man told me to turn my guitar down ha ha(its always MY fault)
After the show we hung out and drank a few beers (as it was the last show;-)
(thanks to Productions Impossible!)
Next day we drove back to Strasbourg and got on the train back to Paris.
Saw all the touristy things in Paris and paid about 60 bucks for two pizzas and two drinks on the Champs Elyees...but hey, its Paris :)
Special thanks goes out to Romain Blandre and The Voodoo Devils for putting up with us!
Thanks to all the promoters and all the opening bands and mostly the fans many of which came to several shows on the tour.
Thanks to Armande and Yves for the pictures!