Munich, Frankfurt & Marburg - 28th, 29th, 30th March 2014
We left Ljubljana in hot sunshine, after a great night’s sleep and a well-earned rest. It was the perfect timing for a day off, after a run of seven gigs, but we were all looking forward to playing again in Munich. The journey back to Germany took us through the most beautiful mountains, skirting west of Italy and up through Austria. Leila and Zoe were so excited about the snow that we took a rest stop in the heart of the mountains, and they threw themselves down in it. Lucky that it was still warm and sunny!
We arrived at the venue in Munich in good time; again it was a former military building, I think maybe a hospital, but there were different blocks of buildings across the grounds. It was a really cute venue, and the organisers made us really welcome. It had the Friday night gig buzz, and the room was packed with happy, dancing people. It’s the first time on tour that I really got a sweat on, and felt like I knew everything well enough to really let go and bounce around on stage.
I ended up trying the Hell beer, which is made by Augustine monks. In fact, it’s not the pope on the picture at all, but rather a generic holy man, and Hell means ‘monk’ in German. I like the other interpretation better though. A few sips in and I could feel it! Luckily I only had time for one at the end of the night, after drinking much more sensible Pils for most of the evening.
We stayed with some lovely people, who always put the band up in Munich (and who said they would be offended if we ever stayed anywhere else). They have a hand-drawn picture of the band up on their kitchen wall from a previous visit, made of stick-figures that Zoe, Leila and Steph drew of each other back when they were called (Hooker). Martin, Elias and Lisa looked after us so well, even cooking bacon for breakfast (the first time we have had it since being out here, due to many places we have stayed being strictly vegetarian or vegan, which has also been amazing and very healthy). There was just something magical about the smell of frying bacon on a Saturday morning though, and the weather was getting even warmer. We all ate outside in the sunshine, drinking real coffee and talking about Germany, England, Bavaria (of which Munich is the state city, like the county town) and the inevitable fall of capitalism from its own weight.
Political talk was balanced out by a good, long session of Guitar Hero on the X-Box, complete with bass and drums, which was a great start to the day. We all got to play on each, and the drums were the hardest for me, but I really loved it. Martin was incredible on the drum kit. It’s fun to do as a band, and I remember when Guitar Hero first appeared, it was always set up backstage at festivals for the bands to play on. I once watched the guys from Smashing Pumpkins having a go at a festival in France that I played at, and it was funniest when they fluffed the notes. We left that house reluctantly, but were soon excited to be on the road again, heading to Frankfurt.
We left a little later than planned, so we were cutting it a bit fine to get to the gig. We have got used to that feeling now though, so we were mostly relaxed, and accepted that sound checks would need to be quick and that we’d need to be really on it getting everything loaded in. We found the venue, Café Exzess, down cute, winding streets and a lovely-looking area. Frankfurt struck me as a city with lots of technology, very clean and lots of sheer lines. A bit like Singapore, but also with older buildings and more traditional architecture thrown in. There are a lot of sculptures around the city, and parks with fountains.
Café Exzess was a real surprise in the context of this city; graffiti, DIY, an underground cave-like venue. The load-in was via a lift that looked like it led into a mine shaft, and unfortunately a lamp had set on fire down in the venue so it was filled with a smoky, plasticky haze that put me on edge. Of all the times I’ve been calm and focused on this tour, this load-in nearly made me lose my bottle. Luckily Leila was steady as a rock, and talked us through getting the heaviest, longest flight case on top of that precarious lift ledge. We ventured through dimly lit stone rooms, trying not to imagine what was past the darkness of openings to the left and right of us, and got everything to the stage in one piece.
We set up, still aware that we were late and that load-in had been more complicated than expected, so we had lost even more time. Sid, the promoter, seemed relaxed about it all though, which helped, and as there was no sound engineer as yet, he took us upstairs for food. Sometimes you need to expect the unexpected on tour, and learn to go with the flow, which is what we did. The food was gorgeous, home-made houmous, bean dip and flat breads with plenty of fresh veg. And of course another different German beer, which has never failed to taste amazing.
As time ticked on, we wondered if we would be getting a sound check, but finally Sid came back to say that we had a sound man, and there were people out on the street waiting to get into the gig already. So we rushed downstairs and plugged everything in, while I tried to avoid the spiderwebs hanging just in front of my face above the bass amp. It was truly the stuff of my nightmares, but I checked myself and had a motivational speech with Zoe, where we just decided to enjoy the whole experience. In fact, once I’d got over the fear and the initial stress of arriving at the venue, I looked around and realised what an incredible, unique place we were in. I’ve never been anywhere like it before, and although some places try to emulate this kind of vibe, it was the real deal. The club soon filled up, with a great mix of people, and when Steffen played they really supported him and danced, cheered and smiled.
I was even looking forward to using the lift on the way back up, and we played one of the best gigs of the tour on that little stage in a labyrinthian cave. It was the first time we didn’t have monitors for the stage, so it was like being back in our rehearsal room. I think it’s the mark of a good band if you are able to play without monitors and still do a great show. We loved the place, the people and everything about this gig after all.
Even better was the place we stayed in after the show. Sid took us back to the house; I say house, but that doesn’t sum it up. As with most places we’ve stayed on this tour, it’s a huge shared building of many rooms and lots of outside space. We had a ten-bed bunkroom especially for visiting bands, and if I ever have a place big enough myself, I want to have something like this in it. I’ve definitely slept well on this tour, usually being the first to pass out with happy thoughts of the day in my head. Both of these places, the venue and the house, are apparently quite famous on the punk/DIY scene and I feel lucky to have been there, as with every gig and place on this tour.
We woke up to streaming sunshine again, and a lovely breakfast of bread, cheese, guacamole and fresh onions. European coffee is in another world from what we get back home, and I think my eating habits might change if I can keep this feeling when I’m back in the UK. Into the van and onto Marburg then, earlier in the day so we could enjoy the sunshine before the gig.
Marburg is only a couple of hours from Frankfurt, and the old town is full of tudor-looking, medieval buildings. Fun then, to find a punk rock scene café tucked away just behind a grandiose church, on one of the cobbled, steep streets. There were plenty of people out and about enjoying the weather, lots of bikers for some reason (maybe this is a good biker stop-off when touring Germany?) and quite a few people who looked to be tourists. We stopped for an afternoon pint and chips (well, I did!) and had a good laugh just chatting. It’s been such a good group of people to be on tour with; Zoe and Leila are loads of fun and really inclusive, which I’ve appreciated a lot this whole time we’ve been away. I’ve never once felt like I’m on the outside, but an integral part of what we’re all doing together here. Steffen is just brilliant, and Dana is ace too. I feel like I’ve made some great new friends and I hope we all stay in touch.
I’m talking like it’s nearly over, because Marburg is my last gig with the band before Steph flies out to join us in Cologne. Steph has played bass in the band for years, and is a really good friend of mine, so when it turned out that she couldn’t do the first half of the tour it worked out perfectly that I could stand in for her. I learnt the songs over a month and four rehearsals, and I feel like I’ve been living it 100% since we decided that I’d be doing it. I don’t feel sad that it’s my last gig, and it doesn’t feel like an ending, because the tour is still going on for another week after this. We also arranged it so that I could stay an extra night and watch Steph and the band play in Cologne, and have a celebration all together before I make my way back to the UK.
Zoe and Leila dedicated my favourite song to play, ‘Part Of You’, to me during the set (which was really sweet) and we all really went for it in terms of playing and performance. It was a brilliant way to end things for me, and they also arranged shots that we drank on stage, with a full café of people cheering us on. For a Sunday night, the dancing was amazing, and after the gig we were plied with Schnapps, whisky, different shots and a massive Fusball session. Germans are bloody good at that table football game, sometimes it was going so fast you couldn’t see the ball at all. Combine that with ace music from the DJ (there was a definite moment around 4am when the entire place erupted into a full mosh to ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries) and I can mostly remember laughing, water fights and shots with lemon covered in coffee grounds.
The hangover hasn’t quite landed yet today, and I’m hoping that all the coffee, juice and water I drank this morning will stave it off. We are staying in a shared block again, with a full-length balcony that we’ve all been enjoying in the mild weather today. In a couple of hours we’ll be on our way to Cologne, to meet Steph and start the final leg of the tour. I can’t wait to see her, I know she’s going to have the best time out here, as I have, and it will be ace to pass the baton to one of my best friends. I hope I don’t cry!
