germany, the last day (08-03-2010) club moments, bremen. the grand finale of our tour. it was a full house, with everyone chilling by candlelight. eased north kicked off the show again with a stellar set, good job guys! despite the swirling sub-frequencies, our set went pretty well too. lori joined amit erez his song 'postcard', and eased north and the 6 faces helped us out with 'no definition' as well as 'muddy waters'. the stage was full and a good time was had by all!
we'd like to thank heiko grein, for booking us this tour, making sure we soundchecked efficiently, and taking such good care of us in general!
we'd like to thank fonds pop over zee for making this tour financially possible-without them we would've been zu fuss!
and a very special, heartfelt thank you to everyone who came to see us play: germany, you are a wonderful audience, and we hope to come back soon! if only for the bread.........auf wiedersehen!
germany, day 17 (07-03-2010) we hit the town today on our bit of free time and checked out 'das viertel', the fun, artistic quarter of bremen. we also saw the 'schnoor', the old shippers houses which are made for mini-people who didn't eat enough fruits and vegetables while at sea. beautiful. some of the passageways were only big enough for one person to pass through. fun!
at night we played a fun gig in quelkhorn, together with felicity urquhart, all the way from australia. we had a really fun night with her and glen, guitarist/husband-thank you guys! who knows, maybe we'll meet again someday, we can talk gear some more.........quelkhorn is a neat place, the stars were crazy bright and the food was delicious.
on to our last gig tomorrow night!
germany, day 16 (06-03-2010) ingmar's birthday! we decided to go to bremerhaven (where our gig was that night) early, because it's on the coast and we were hoping to enjoy the seaside and have a drink in honour of our dear guitarist. this was a bad idea. the weather was total crap, with blowing snow and icy fog, and after freezing our asses off we found a place where we could have a drink. except that drink cost twice as much as elsewehere. we feigned haste, excused ourselves and found a normal cafe. sorry, we're simply not ok with paying 4,80 for a cup of coffee. we are the underpaid, after all.....
on to the venue, which was a movie theatre! really cool. the gig went really well, there were lots of people, and lots of cd sales. one woman gave me a sketch of myself, which she had drawn during the show! and then she played a special birthday song for ingmar on his guitar. very memorable!
germany, day 15 (05-03-2010) hannover. really cool place, and a memorable night. a gentleman in the audience stood up during our set to make a spontaneous speech to us and the rest of the audience about how much he was enjoying our music, that it had really touched him, and almost made him cry! wow. he really meant it too. and he wasn't drunk. nor a family member.
after the show, we sang happy birthday at midnight for ingmar, whose birthday was (obviously) the next day, danced to the jackson 5 and made a stunning photo series of a multi-talented tiger and a slightly over-creative bass player. thank you hannover. more info
germany, day 14 (04-03-2010) still in hamburg. had a great breakfast, included in the deal. awesome. the people were uncommunicative but very generous with the food! and the coffee was great, which is very important.
we headed into town to make a delivery on the reeperbahn. broad daylight, nothing on the hand, no funny stuff. we walked back towards the altstadt and caught a glimpse of the rathaus, beautiful! but downtown was a bit too rich for our blood, so we headed back to st. pauli. cool cafes, nice shops, down to earth. we met up with nils at astra stube to pick up our stuff and head over to freundlich + kompetent for the 2nd leg of our hamburger mini-tour.
this place reminded us of the tiki bar in rotterdam, very tropical. definitely friendly too. a bit noisy though, which was a shame.......but, we experienced a unique event, which made our day: we sold a cd + ep to a gentleman - not after the show, but after the SOUNDCHECK. legendary.
germany, day 13 (03-03-2010) hamburg, again. this time at the astra stube, peacefully located directly underneath an s-bahn track. ah, tranquil bliss.
show was really late, we only started around 1am, but the hardcore fans stuck around and it was a really nice show. it helps when you eat a fantastic a meal beforehand at a great vegetarian place. loved it.
we'll sleep in the artist flat tonight and play hamburg again tomorrow!
germany, day 12 (02-03-2010) gottingen, blooming bar! lovely, lovely.....beautiful people watching and listening, an encore of muddy waters in which ingmar played his best solo yet on a wooden coffee table, and the beautiful beate who took such good care of us in her cosy home in the countryside. thank you again beate!
after the show, we checked out the sonderbar and got our asses kicked by their pinball machine.
the day after the show we headed back into gottingen, a lively university city, to check out the old town, which is also beautiful. overloaded with esthetic pleasures, we jumped back into the cars to head up to hamburg, slightly less beautiful, but no less lively........ more info
germany, day 11 (01-03-2010) sunday. a day of rest. or, a half day of rest for us. we took a trip to the laundromat, founded circa 1955. fokking cool.
sunday night took us to the katakomben in achim. a cellar bar with carpeting! half of 'the cedar' was there to play a surprise short set, which was great! they were in town from bristol to play at a wedding (!) and it was great to meet you, emma and neal. especially great that lori got to watch canada win gold in men's hockey at the olympics with a fellow canadian. emma simply asked the bartender to put the tv on zdf so we could witness sydney crosby's gold medal-winning goal in sudden death overtime. woot!
oh, and the show was really nice too...
germany, day 10 (28-02-2010) today, we finally had some time to check out the city of bremen where we've been living for the past few weeks. we left the car at home and headed into town by tram to find the illustrious musicians of bremen. after strolling around beautiful city squares and buildings, we found them, living on the street in downtown bremen. clearly, the music industry in germany is as tough as anywhere. very disheartening.
saturday night was polyester night in oldenburg. the place is only a few years old, but they reliced it to make it seem like a dusty old bar from the seventies. morton and martin took good care of us and the crowd was fantastic! thank you oldenburg! and thank you morton for playing a swinging mix of 90's hits at the afterparty so maxl could get his groove on. and oldenburg, in turn, thanks you maxl. more info
germany, day 9 (27-02-2010) hot shot records in-store. out-store. we had our first ever experience with the world--renowned 'lloydhof reverb', and all i can say is: wow.
on to the townside hostel, another home game in bremen. the place was packed! ease north played another great show, and the six faces were there again to give us their rendition of muddy waters. fantastisch! wunderbar! thank you!
after the hostel show, the boys hit the 1-2-3 eurobar here in the neighbourhood for some beers and were met with a very friendly reception, especially franzl, whose name promptly appeared on the mailing list. anyone interested in the happenings of the 1-2-3 eurobar can simply contact franzl for the latest.
on to oldenburg tomorrow, to 'polyester', our very favourite fabric.....
germany, day 8 (26-02-2010) our car faked its own death today. please don't do that again, car.
on to osnabruck and the big buttinsky. great food, cool people, complete with balloon artist as mc. we are meeting very interesting people on this tour.......this venue was in a passage with a movie theatre, whose employees did not allow us to photograph the retro popcorn stand. why? we're not sure. what are they trying to keep from us? if anyone has any information regarding suspicious activities involving the popcorn stand at the movie theatre on the johannisstrasse in osnabruck, please contact us.
germany, day 7 (25-02-2010) today we played in a church! it was heavenly, no reverb necessary. thank you to the pastor and his wife for treating us to pizza in the rectory after the show, which was amazing! very cool experience. we definitely want to come back here someday! thank you god. more info
germany, day 6 (24-02-2010) today we packed our bags and drove for 5 hours to get to our gig in frankfurt at the levi's 25 hours hotel. mist, rain and construction saw us get there late, but we set up quickly and played our shows with flair and verve. but, the best was yet to come......thanks to everyone at the hotel for taking such good care of us, especially miriam, who brought us to the now legendary '24 hours' bar that only has music if you feed the jukebox. and feed the jukebox we did..........franzl und maxl were like two fat kids in a candy shop. the moral of this story is: it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. thank you scooter.
we got to stay in the hotel for free, complete with the best breakfast ever: freshly-baked organic bread, fair trade coffee, homemade jams, pancakes with real canadian (!) maple syrup, a self-serve juicer for organic orange juice........need i go on? then we hit the town for a walk around frankfurt, enjoying our first ever gay church, among other things. as soon as we find an internet connection faster than the speed of melting glass we'll upload all sorts of visuals. all you need is just a little patience....... more info
germany, day 5 (23-02-2010) today, franzl und maxl strapped on the speedos and frightened the poor children at the local pool. this activity will be repeated on thursday.
meanwhile, lori, ingmar and amit got up at an ungodly hour to play at the bremen airport, followed by recordings at center tv, and a promotional video while riding in a taxi through bremen. very cool!
the show tonight in bremen was packed! we had the best opening act ever: local students who played one of our own songs for us! the film of this awesome rendition of muddy waters will be uploaded asap so everyone can enjoy it as much as we did. those kids sure clapped like the dickens...... more info
germany, day 4 (22-02-2010) fair cafe. great crowd, great coffee, great cake. thank you schortens! best backstage ever-it blew our minds. there are no words. just play there, and look up when standing at the bottom of the stairs. you will understand.
on to delmenhorst, those crazy, football-watching, smoke-loving delmenhorsters. thanks for the memories! jens, thanks agains!
germany, day 3 (21-02-2010) yesterday we went to hamburg! first we played 'balcony tv', which is quite literally tv that is filmed on a balcony overlooking the reeperbahn. we played 'muddy waters', with the five of us huddled together on their tiny balcony. it should be online in a week or so, on www.balconytv.de-check it out!
then we played at the superbude hostel, also in hamburg. special thanks to kitty, the lovely hostel hostess, who really helped us out a lot!
on the way home, frans got stopped by the police and had to breathe in the policeman's face so he could check for alcohol, which is clearly a very accurate system. luckily frans had just devoured a whole bag of paprika chips, which competely masked any (possible) scent of beer that frans may or may not have drunk earlier that evening.
now we're off to schortens, in the north, and then racing off to delmenhorst-later! more info
germany, day 1&2! (20-02-2010) we're here, in germany, in bremen. deep gratitude goes out to fonds pop over zee in the hague for sponsoring our 2010 german tour! without them we'd be walking......got to the apartment yesterday morning to meet our songs & whispers booking agent, heiko grein, who has fixed us up with a great place for the coming weeks! thank you heiko. with the aldi around the corner, next to a bakery, we're set! german bread is soooooo much better than dutch bread. seriously.
the first show, still on dutch soil in groningen was fun-our opening act was a salsa lesson. we asked to join us for the rest of the tour but they respectfully declined. thank you to laurens and his lovely wife (and especially his lively kittens) for letting us sleep over.
amit erez from israel, with the whom we'll be touring, eating, sleeping and driving for the next 3 weeks, played a great set, which bodes well for the tour! imagine being stuck with someone whose music you really hated........not the case here! good to see you again amit.
the first german show last night in schwanewede was cool! we got spoiled by the chef at dinnertime, and with our bellies full of quality german fare we played to a very attentive crowd. you could hear a pin drop.
now we're off to hamburg to play balcony tv, and then the superbude hostel. read all about it tomorrow!
coming soon: backstage footage of an acoustic version of groninger blues.... more info