The last tour we did on the "Basement
apes" album in Europe, was the one below. Gluecifer are
not doing any more European dates, until we have a new album
out, end of Jan. next year. This is the only tourdiary we
can provide you with, until we start touring the states later
this year.
Oslo 29/1 17.00.
All the boys gather outside our rehearsalroom, to load the
gear onto the
trailer of our lovely high-decker nightliner, from Beat the
street (or Beat
the meat, as our tourmanager prefer to call the company).
The band, the
five-man crew, and our cameraguy, are all fired up and ready
four another
four weeks of rock'n'roll.
30.01. Groningen
First stop on this tour, Vera in Groningen Holland.
Ever since we came to this city for the first time, five years
ago, on the
Glue/Hella tour, this city has never made any particular impression,
except
for the fact, that they have one of the nicest venues on the
European
clubcircuit. Other than that, a quite non-happening city.
Eat some good
food, play your show, have a couple of beers in the basement
bar, get some
shit from the PC dreadlocked punkchicks, tell them to fuck
off, get on the
bus, and drive to the next city. Yep, no exceptions this time
either, let’s move on.
Eindhoven 31/01
A stupid trend after rock'n'roll, became sort of trendy again,
every shitty little town, added the "rock city"
slogan, to it's name, and tonight it's "Eindhoven rock
city".
Haven't been here in many years. My last memory from here,
was going into this "jack shack", suffering from
a very indecent customer. It was just the worst cum-fest all
over the place, and I remember running out of there, with
a "mission unaccomplished" in my pants.
Tonight, I walk the safe path, "8 mile" is on the
screen, right next to the venue. The movie doesn't really
do a lot for us, except killing a few hours. Well, there was
actually a very good phrase in there, wehn Eminem's black
companion, tell's him that "...free, comes with a big
dick up your ass...". That's very true, nothing in this
world comes for free.
22.00. time to work. Eindhoven proves to be a good city for
rock, and we
have one of our greatest shows in Holland, ever. Devoted rockfans,
and quite a lot of them too. De Effenaar is the name of the
venue, and
tonight, hell yeah, stick to your stupid "rock city"
tag for a little bit
longer, you actually deserve it.
01.03 Haarlem
Playin a city just fifteen minutes outside Amsterdam feels
kinda stupid, as we all know the capitol is a pretty cool
place. Anyway, Holland is the one of the tightest populated
countries in Europe, and if you're some national hero here,
I guess you can go on tour for three months, and you have
an average of a ten minutes drive pr. day. Weird, but easy
I suppose.
Enough beating around the bush, the show turns out very well.
A good crowd shows up, including the second tallest guy in
Holland, and his brother who might
be number three on the same list (we're talking Andrew the
Giant style, just
a bit more healthy looking, I guess) Our friends from Amterdam,
including punk-rock pioneer Tony Slug, were in the house as
well, and of course it turns into another night of heavy drinking,
and stupid behaviour.
03.02.03. Töging
You haven't heard about this place before?, well, you're excused..
It's a
small place outside Cologne, and the reason for us being there,
is because
we were supposed to have a day off, and we've got friends
running a club
called the Silo there. After a good nights sleep in a typical
old-school bavarian hotel, we're ready to ROCK. The concert
is great, around
four hundred kids show up for this low-key appearance, and
we have a blast
on stage, with an audience going crazy. Germany is good, they've
got a lot
of rockfans, and this night's experience, proves that you
can find them
everywhere, even in Töging.
04.02.03. Karlsruhe
Except for the night before, this is the only show we do in
Germany, on this tour. We did tons of shows after the release
of "Basement apes", so we've been pretty much everywhere
in Germany, except for Substage in Karlsruhe. Well, We thought
Germany had enough of us, we were obviously wrong. This place
used to be on the "top five" list, of the clubs
never liked, but after tonight, I'm not that sure anymore.
A full house and a crowd remarkably good looking for being
German, I think I
have to reconsider... Even the nightlife proved to be pretty
decent, the city actually had a couple of good rockbars as
well, which made me even happier.
05.02.03 Zurich
Not much to say about this evening. Full house, nice crowd,
like always in Zurich. And since they're the richest people
in Europe, I have to mention that tonights merchandise, is
killer. I really like the city, the only thing that doesn't
really satisfy, is the nightlife. I've never been to any clubs
in Zurich,
except for the venues that we've played, so sadly enough,
I suspect that there are no good places to go after a show.
Correct me, and please advise, if I'm wrong.
06.02.03. Milano
Busy day, getting up early for a tv-show, and hours of interviews,
as we're back in the club. Then playing a show for 45 min.
only, as it's tv-broadcast thing, from the Rolling stone club.
Boring rockdisco after the show, and instead of hanging out
there, a friend is taking me to a hipsterclub down the street.
Technomusic through the speakers, "hospital loud"
on the Mickey Dee decibelscale, Jesus christ I'm out of here.
07.02.03 San Dona
Weird thing going on in Italy, most of the venues are so off-
beat, you won’t understand, even how the italians find
their way to the shows. This time we wake up, totally in the
middle of nowhere, and "agriculture"
is the keyword. No matter what, the kids actually do find
their way to this
one as well, and we have another good one. Our Finnish merchandiser
Oskari
is not that happy about the turn-out on his table, and he
starts yelling at
people in a language impossible to interpret. Our cameraguy
has his 30th
birthday, which means we have to party, eventhough there's
nowhere but this club we can hang out. We try to make the
best out of it partywise, but to be honest, it doesn't really
work out.
08.02. Ravenna Rock planet
Actually been here before, a few years ago, so I'm not very
surprised, waking up, in a dead seaside village.
Anyway, the life around this club itself, is
pretty loud, so no matter how weird it's located, it has proved
to be a good place for a rockshow. The owner of the club is
an asshole, he holds the doors for one hour extra, so the
line outside is getting so long, it draws a lot of attention
to get even more people into the place. No matter what, hat’s
off for the crowd, they’re patient enough not to make
any trouble of it, and they’re super-enthusiastic, and
remarkably good-looking (Oskari the merchandiser, swore he
was gonna move to this city, and just live in a tent right
outside the club, just because of the girls)
Having had Spain as my favourite country for years, I'm slowly
getting into the Italian style. They're friendly and devoted,
and quite cool in their own way, and they make excellent food.
10.02.03.
Booked by a long-term glue fan, at a venue in his hometown
Massa. This is another seaside village, but this one's on
the Tuscany side.
Honestly we don't really expect a lot, as this was supposed
to be another day off, but instead of doing nothing, we decided
to do something. Well, what can I say, we're being taken care
of in the nicest ways by our friends, but it still feels like
we're back in the days, and on the level we toured four-five
years ago. We have fun playing the show though, 150 people
are there, and the vibe is quite unpretentious, within the
band.
In the middle of the show, Raldo ask's if he’s excused,
so he can go to the
bathroom, and get's the green light from Biff. One minute
later as the rest of
us are jamming, Biff is inviting the whole crowd to go and
get Raldo out of
there, so there we have a procession of italians, led by their
grand master
Biff, banging on the door screaming "Raldo, Raldo",
in their funny italian
way, until the poor guy comes out. It doesn't get any less
absurd when Biff is
having a speach in Norwegian, during the middle part of "Black
book lodge". Tonight's topic? the importance of the youth
centres today, and stories of how
they used to be, back in the seventies. The band is laughing
their asses off, the crowd looks so confused you feel sorry
for them, Biff is strutting, thank god we have this on videotape.
12.02.03 Barcelona
Another leg in the country of Spain, and first one is the
capitol of
Catalunya. Meeting up with our great friend Senen, familiar
to many of the
readers I suppose, it feels good to be back. Kinda shitty
club, but the vibe is good. For some reason all the boys are
tired and want to go back to the
bus after the show, which makes me the only one, to hit the
bars for some
local fun. It's allright, I'm being taken care of by my spanish
friends, and
I stumble back for the 5.00.a.m buscall, next stop is the
beautiful city of Valencia
13.02.03. Valencia
The day is nothing but a mess for our american tourmanager
Dave Burton. The typical south-European "manãna"
culture, as we prefer to call it, is over-
represented. This means, noone's there to take care of you,
nothing shows up on time, and you spend your time waiting,
and waiting, for some asshole to
show up and do his job. Anyway, when the day sucks, and everything
feels
wrong, the show usually turns out to be a blast. This night
is no exception,
and we have a sold-out venue, with a rabid crowd, singing
along to all their favourite glue-tracks. Dave Burton is happy
again, and having seen more than a hundred Gluecifer-shows,
he's telling us, this one will stay on his top-three list.
14.02.03. Madrid.
This city has given me, some of my best and worst experiences
ever, both on and off stage. Waking up a couple of years ago
on the street, totally lost, no
money, broken creditcard, bruises all over my body, and a
taste of fear in my mouth. An incident obviously belonging
to the worst-category.
On the other hand, some of my best tour memories, are from
the venue we're gonna play this evening, called El Sol, a
nice club in the middle of the red-light district. After a
superb dinner with our long-term friend and Spanish promotor
Kike Turmix, we're ready to rock the house. The Madrid crowd
are once again not letting the mighty glue down, and they’re
getting what they asked for, and more. Finishing off tonights
success at an aftershowparty, at the Electric bar in Malasana,
I'm still convinced, as I'm walking back to the bus, Madrid
is my favourite European city..
15.02.03. La Couruna
Playa club can't be a more suitable name, the club is on the
beach, and it's
a really nice one. Bummer, even Spain has it's winter, bathing
and beachlife
is out of the question, only our bassplayer Stu is man enough
to dive into
the Atlantic mid february. Killing more than twelve hours
in this city,
having absolutely nothing to do, we're more than eager to
hit the stage.
It's a late one, from 01.30-02.45, we're rocking La Coruna,
right there on
the beach. Good one, but except from the show, this city didn't
have a lot
to offer, next time I'll make sure we play here during the
summer.
18.02.03. Lisboa
After a couple of days off, days spent with our beloved ones,
we're ready to
do our first ever appearance in Portugal. Was this a great
experience?, well not really. Nice 1200 cap. room, but having
only 200 people inside, it feels kinda empty.
19.02.03. Porto
This night as well, we’re suffering from the same problem
as the night before. The only difference is, tonight we’re
playing the coolest club I’ve ever seen, and I’ve
seen a few hundred. Weird, in a creepy riverside area in Porto,
you have such a fantastic place, the coolest winecellar you’ve
ever seen, turned into a rockclub. Anyway, next time I prefer
playing smaller, and more primitive venues, packed to the
edge.
20.03.03. Bergara
Back in more familiar surroundings, Sala jam is a great club
in a small Basque village.
The place has been going on for a long time, and attracts
people from all the bigger cities around,f.i. Bilbao, and
San Sebastian. The cool thing about our audience in this part
of Europe, is that they’re more into dancing, than stage-diving.
Honestly I prefer looking at hot chicks dancing in front the
front row, instead of half-naked, sweaty (german)males, throwing
beer, as they're trying to get up on stage. We're having a
blast up there, and we’re ready to move on the the last
leg of the tour, a part we’ve not been looking forward
to, four dates in France
21.03.03.La Roche
Believe it or not, a great crowd meets up, ready to rock with
their Scandinavian master.
Only one bad thing happens, and that's during the first part
of the set, an over-excited guy grabs Biff’s leg and
bites it so hard, Biff has to stop singing for a little while.
As the guy is being led out by security, he does a funny number.
As he’s passing by the merch-stand, he pulls down his
pants and farts at Oskari’s direction, before he kicks
down the front door, and goes straight into the policecar
waiting outside. Except from that, our first night in France
is great, and I’m not worried about the next three.
22.03.03 Clermont Ferrand
Nice city. Some of us, are walking around town trying to find
the red-light district. A creepy looking guy points out the
directions, but all we get is a gaybar, and a 50-50 homo,
and S&M shop. We’re out of there, headin’
back to the venue. Tonight we’ve got no less than three
supportbands, we excpect the worst, and the worst is pretty
much what we get. Finally, the stage is ready to receive the
main act, and it’s easy to see that the frogs are into
it. We’re not allowed to leave the stage before we’ve
been through a couple of old numbers“God’s chosen
dealer” and “Rock’n’roll asshole”,
or “röcknröll esshöl” as the frogs
pronounce it. Me and our soundguy Martin goes out to the bars
after the show. A 35 year old female physician, proves to
be a huge Gluecifer fan. She tries to pick me up, using all
the cheapest tricks in the book, even offers me a ride with
her car the next day, so we can spend the night together.
Believe it or not, I prefer sharing 25 square meters on wheels,
with ten other guys, jesus, what is the world coming to.
23.03.03. Paris
La Nouveau Casino is one great club, and I’m instantly
looking forward to the show, as I get in. An early Sunday
evening show, is what we’re gonna do, and we’re
gonna do it properly. Todays supportact is a funny one. Five
French guys, mid-forties, U.K. ’77 punkclothing, and
the funniest lingual combo I’ve ever heard, cockney
with a thick French accent, or was it thick French with a
cockney accent, fuck, I’m confused. Anyway they turn
out to be nice guys,...off stage that is.
We’ve done our share of Paris shows during the years,
and finally it feels right. The place is packed and we’re
ready to give the audience a show they’ll rememeber.
We blast through our set, including six encores, and the response
is huge from the beginning, to the end.
We’re not the only rockband to have listed France as
European shithole #1, but after these dates, we’re pulling
it back. If you have the right people working for you, and
you can back it up with a good rockshow, even France will
lay down and surrender.
24.02.03 Strassbourg
Being so close to the German border, you can actually smell
the bratwurst, we know there’s gonna be a lot of haggling
at the merchstand tonight. Last show on the tour, and we have
a 24 hour drive in front of us straight after. Well, that’s
not the best motivation to when you hit the stage, but Gluecifer
are professionals, and there’s no need to worry. All
I can remember is a cramped room, hardly fitting more than
250 people, and five guys on stage, sqeezing out all they
had left, in their alcohol-marinated bodies.
Touring is a strange thing, it's addictive, it never takes
long before you wanna hit the road again, no matter what it
put's you through. Be sure, we'll be out there again, as soon
as we have a new record up our sleeve.
This was also pretty much all we did, and
what is to be done to promote “Basement apes”
in Europe. Touring the states on this album during the fall
is the next move, before we have another album ready for you,
end of January next year.
See yah,
Captain Poon ! |
