Hamburg, Berlin, Denmark, Sweden, and Camp Folk Explosion:. Jeff Ray
It has been awhile since we have been able to interrupt the flow of the tour to sit down and write in the diary. Too many overnight drives, from one city to the next. When we get to a city we have often been subjected to a mixture of awe, chaos, and simply trying to deal. Well, now I am writing this while we on the ferry to Finland, and have about 8 hours of boat time to reflect back. We are located in an almost crevice like sitting area, that both looks over the cheesy gambling bar, and through the window, the mass expansion of the Finnish sea .and the .. all our sleeping bags, and stuff are lodged in between the seats. We have taken over the area, and Benji describes it perfectly as Camp Folk Explosion.
Thinking back….
Hamburgh… Knust.
Hmmm I will let others comment about our experience at Knust. The sound person, Marta was wonderful, but the show was on an Easter Sunday, and… was not so well attended. Early before the show, Nate, Trevor and I checked out the huge gaudy city carnival, which was located beneath large concrete bunker, built by Hitler, in which the walls were so thick with concrete, it was almost impossible to destroy, so it is now a practice studio for musicians. While wondering around the carnival I saw that they had the Motorcycle Wall of Death, which is a cylindar wooden building, with a slight incline on the bottom which allowed precision motorcylists to ride sideways on the wall. This spectacle that thrilled me as a kid, and probably was wisely eventually outlawed in America. We were all amazed, as three different cyclist did there sideways tricks, defying gravity, and totally blowing our mind. Good stuff…
We had the next day off,
off, was more of a day to relax… We did pick a great city to have a day off. Leena (a friend of Benjii and Christopher), and I, hung out in her neighborhood and went to a local flea market where I bought an old Grundhig microphone, and enjoyed checking out the same sort of junk you can get just about any flea market across the world. My new friend bought a arm band radio that actually worked. We tried to tune in the local underground radio that we had listened to earlier on that had played some great stuff…
In the evening we met everyone at a club where the band, Aavirika.,(spelling?) from Finland was playing. I don’t think we danced so much in our lives. Such an incredible band. We noticed that Beulah and Preston School of Industry were also playing a couple of night later. Both of the San Francisco bands, were ironically shadowing allot of our tour. Nate and I sent send cryptic messages via, tour poster, and to Nate and I friend Eli Crews, and Myles… And.. an even weirder irony is that normally the bass player, in Preston, Dan, is The Durgas’s bass player back in San Francisco. Small world.
Tuesday, we played a record store called Michelle’s (were I picked up a copy of the new Mum album, which is pretty good), and was owned by such nice and cool people.
Thanks to Martina, and Leena. Martina helped us with our show in Krefield, (moe on Krefield later...) and came to see us in Hamburg. A dedicated fan and friend...
Onto… Berlin…
Berlin, if I remember correctly, was a good show. The crowd, the place, the city all contributed to a good night. Ausland, was the name of the venue and Christopher in a moment of déjà vu realized that it was the exact spot, then a squat that A Subtle Plage had played there 10 years earlier. The people who ran this club were mostly volunteers and all were very cool, particularly Elizabeth, who ran the place with a nice smile and firm resolve.
The place was packed, Christiane of the wonderful East German restaurant, Walzwerk, in San Francisco, was there as well. She was visiting friends, family, and perhaps was culling from her roots more inspiration for her restaurant. A friend of one of my best friends back in San Francisco, showed up as well and graciously wished me a happy birthday. Yes, it was my birthday, and kept the information low key since, I would rather put the attention on a good, show, and be able to appreciate the people, and place that surrounded me. A birthday, cake, party, song would of cut through the atmosphere like a shrill barking poodle. I was happy to be with friends, playing music, with musicians that I respect and like, in an incredible city. It was one of my best birthdays I have had. Berlin has an incredible energy. We were only able to explore a bit of it, and it was East Berlin where we were at and supposedily most of the best clubs, art and music venues are located. After our experience, I certainly believe it.
Copenhagen. We arrived in Christiania, Copenhagen exhausted,. Don’t really have time or energy to explain completely the history of Chrisitiania is about but… quickly… it was a armed forces compound that was abandoned and had been taken over by squatters in the 60’s. The people established there own brand of anarchist rule, turned buildings, into cafes, schools, bike shops, grocery stores, etc… as well as built houses around the perimeter of the small lake. Eventually it had become a haven for those who wanted to get away from the slilted society that we live in and there was an acceptance of people who were different as well...there was a tension in the air, the Hash Pusher alley had been torn down a few months before and the present government, which is a bit on the conservative side, were sending the jackbooted police to walk around the area to keep things in check. Sure the drugs and public drunkenness maybe give off a bad vibe but the idea behind the community seems to remain strong, and seems to be a … now it was close to war zone. The show was set up by my friend Beninigne, who believes in Elves, and I interviewed her… (on the tour I am trying to document people who believe in elves for a potential Headlands project,
Malmo. Was one of my favorite cities, shows, and experience on the tour so far. A few of my good friends were there, Anna, Cecilia, and Therese, I met a new friend, Helia who helped run the club and also happened to be a singer and sang with Radius that night. We had to leave though for Stockholm after the gig, so our time was short.
Stockholm. Kulturhuset. www.kulturhuset.stockholm.se . A Swedish Culture center that houses presents much art, theatre, film, and... music like our crew.It was huge on the outside, (and in), (bigger than the San Francisco Main Library)ominous, but once we got inside, inviting and pretty cool to play inside of a Library, and next to a window that overlooks the city. Thanks to Anna, Sabrina, and of course Christian for helping put this show together.