Frankfurt, Jeff Ray
Last nights show in Frankfurt was sort of a slow burner compared to the Fairyland like experience the night before at the Schondorf, (more on that later.). It was a small club called Klub Keller, almost cellar like in aura and aesthetics, with decent sound. I personally was exhausted, and thought we (Radius)played a bit rough but the crowd seem to enjoy it. Lazarus, Nate (sans mask and makeup), and The Durgas all played well. The best part of the show was running into old workmates from Rainbow Grocery, as well as hanging out with x and Ralf old friends of The Durgas, (they have so many on this tour). They introduced us to the local beverage, a sort of Apple cider like alchohol. We stayed in their flat and it is simple and elegant with round grass like carpet on the floor that we used as a mattress. Ralf is a photographer and his photography of buildings and people remind me a little of one of my favorites Robert Frank, which sure enough he had his book, The Lines of the Hand, and print of his on the wall. Another added addition to the wonderful hosts that we have had, and that is what has made this trip so much more enjoyable.
Shondorf, Christopher
We are stuck on the freeway between Frankfurt and Hanover–making the freeway safe for the freeway! We needed recovery time, still lickin’ our wounds from a great all night , nuit blanche at Schondorf. So we decided to sleep in, since Hanover is close enough to Frankfurt…but we forgot a little important detail: easter long weekend…STAU AUF DER AUTOBAHN!!!!!! Ahh, and I thought we had it all covered….but it gives me the opportunity to make this long overdue tour entry. I expected Schondorf am Ammersee to be a tour highlight so far…had really expected nothing less! It was just one of ‘em gut feelings…It was destined to be a great evening and a lasting night because the misty moon kept her yellow belly full, providing us with an extra dose of gravity to keep us on our light feet; because of the great red wine that Ruppi brought up from his infamous wine-cellar – “MEIN LEBENDIGER WEIN”, alive due to its almost champagne-like bubbly manner, ALIVE in spirit! No, this was to be a memorable night because of the very nature it came about! It was meant to be, you see. An idea that came about spontaneously, during Ruppi’s numerous, infamous wine-tasting events that he hosts at his home .We had spent many off days at their family house, during our long tours with A Subtle Plague, always happy and eager to accept their great hospitality and friendly conversations. On one of these occasions, we dreamed up the idea to find a day to play a concert right there in the shadow of a beautiful simple church. A concert to be played in a 400-500 hundred old barn-like house in front of the town cemetery…(in fact it is rumored that there are still two corpses buried right under their kitchen floor…we challenged Nate Denver to wake their ghost; a challenge he happily accepted and successfully so, but that’s another story for a moonless night!) Schondorf is a hobbit-like village situated in the hills of Bavaria, shadowed by the Alps, at the foot of the Ammersee . . . Fast-forward: Munich, at the Substanz, the night before this memorable night. Due to some wasted time spent at the police HQ, the night before, hassled by a skewed notion of speed; suspiciously stuck behind a police car they were stopped for questioning!!!! Ruppi and his sons had to leave their car behind. It appears to be “suspicious” to drive old cars in Bavaria! I should note this to be quite natural, being the birthplace of the best vehicles in the world, if only everyone could afford such luxury… Anyways, the car keys had to be left behind, there wasn’t enough floor-space at our hosts, so we decided to drive to Schondorf right after the Munich concert in our own magic pumpkin, not the prettiest sight on the road either! Ruppi immediately produced some bottles of his famous red wine and before long we realized the sun had risen, snowing…we slept a few hours and then proceeded to prepare for the concert. We set up in a barn-like chamber with low ceiling and a beautiful large carpet; Mark Edwards working his usual overtime to get the sound system working just right; a speedy return back to Munich to recover some left equipment (grandma’s new vehicle definitely made up in speed what the old family car lost the night before); Ruppi, Hai, Flo, and Sebastian working overtime to make this a memorable night, with enough food, beer and wine, music, dance, and good humor; setting the mood for a successful night! Oh what a night!!!! Our host family had invited all their favorite friends (some of which Benjii and I had known since our own childhood) and before long the wine and beer was flowing to the sounds of Christian Pallin; laughter and forgetting was settling in, followed by all the other musicians presenting their various talents; we all had a great time performing; a dj table was set up, and a young local dj started spinning a variety of house, hip hop, electronic, after which his beautiful sister Yana took over; oh it must have been like 4 in the morning, and of our troupe only Mark and I were still up, as well as all of the Berchtolzheim family (our hosts), Andrea from the Substanz, and a few of the brother’s friends; we proceeded to dance into the morning. At about 7:45 I went about waking everyone for our trip to Frankfurt, where we were expected at 3 o’clock in the afternoon! T’was a long
Quick entry:Jeff Ray
We played Knust Monday night, took a day off on Tuesday in this beautiful and hip city, and then played a record store today called Michelle's. Great place.
We are going to Berlin tomorrow and playing the club Ausland. Highlight of Hamburg, going to see AAveakor (spelling??) crazy dance band from Finland. We danced all night to this insane band. The other highlight was visiting the huge Carnival located near one of Hitler's bunker, (now converted to music practice spaces), and experiencing the Wall of Death, where motorcycilist defy gravity by driving sideways along a circular wall. Amazing...
More details later...