ANTILLECTUAL 25y: February 10, 2006!
20 years of Riekus
Show went well!
February 10, 2006 marks my first show ever with Antillectual, at the Friese in Bremen. It was the first of 2 shows we’d play that weekend with Aggra Makabra, whose singer Benny would put on a couple of more shows for us in Bremen in years to come. Leading up to the show, I was supposed to join the band on a short trip to France with Bob still on drums, so he could show me the ropes. However, those shows fell through and the only preparation I had for my first show would be 2 weekends of band practice in Beek, at Willem’s parents’ house. I believe we spent 4 afternoons in Willem’s father’s study room working on a 45 minute setlist and that was it. Needless to say I felt a little nervous going on stage that day in Bremen. What didn’t help either was an intimidating drone of sound escaping from the basement, which reminded me a bit of a jet engine. I was later told that was a local band named Mörser who practiced in the basement. 2 songs into our set I realised we were doing fine, I finally felt some relief, and I actually enjoyed playing the rest of the show. Alea iacta est!
Not from that actual show, but the Apr 2006 tour
Not only was this my first show with the band, it was also my first time meeting Etjen and the first time he would help us out as a driver / tour manager / jack of all trades. Etjen and his signature camo-covered Volkswagen Transporter would go on to tour with us and he’d help out tons of other, way bigger bands on the road, in the kitchen, and many other places to this very day. Our first encounter was a little odd though. I believe Etjen had been out drinking shots of Jägermeister with Bambix the night before and although I’d never seen him before, I was quite sure he wouldn’t look as pale and shaky on an average day. When Etjen informed us he wasn’t feeling too great, Willem kindly offered to drive the first shift on the way to Bremen and from there on it was smooth sailing.
Etjen (L) and Yvo
The Just Like Your Mom van in Nice FR.
After the second show at Lobusch in Hamburg I was in awe of the impressive 6 story squat building, with its windows covered with some sort of fence made of old bike frames welded together. Wandering around the building from one room to another, I eventually ended up opening a bathroom door, only to quickly close it again with a mumbled “Entschuldigung..” as soon as I realised there was someone sitting in the bath tub, bare naked. This later turned out to be Etjen. How the hell was I supposed to know what he looked like naked? We had only met the day before! And no, he didn’t have the signature big grey beard back then, in case you were wondering.
Dordrecht