Antillectual

Tourreport January/February 2009

This is the tour report for our first tour of 2009. Taking us to Eindhoven, France, Switzerland, Italy, and back to Switzerland, France and Raalte. Besides the band Etjen from Just like your mom, toursupport was helping us out on this trip. It was for the first time since May he was coming along with us.

January 28, 2009
Venue: Effenaar
City + Country: Eindhoven, Holland
Other bands: Only Crime, No Use For A Name

First day of the tour is in Holland. And what a show to start the tour… We’re supporting Only Crime and No Use For A Name. Now I have to be honest; NUFAN is one of those bands I’d listen to everyday ten years ago. And it’s fun to play with your youth heroes.
The show itself wasn’t too good. We played on one of the biggest stages we’ve ever played and we all had the feeling it wasn’t going too well. But on the other hand, we were having a blast because so many friends came out to see us. Especially some old friends who we hadn’t seen in ages. It’s always great to catch up!

January 29, 2009
Venue: The Soap Box Club
City + Country: Laxou, France
Other bands: Expect Anything

I got up early because I had to stop by the garage and put winter-tires on the van. I kissed Suzette, Jippe and Raaf goodbye and off I went. After the pitstop at the garage, I picked up Willem and Riekus in Nijmegen. Next stop was Luik where our friend Etjen was waiting to hop in the van.
Etjen is a good friend of us who has been with us on trillions of tours. He has his own toursupport company (Just Like Your Mom Toursupport) and is on the road pretty much all the time. We both have busy schedules so this was the first time he would come along again. We were all really looking forward to it!
The drive to Laxou wasn’t too long, but I was tired because of all the stops. We arrived at the Soap Box Club and it was the perfect venue. A small stage, food and drinks waiting for us, beds upstairs. Ah, those beds… I was so happy to lay down for a minute before playing.
Alex (Youthway Records, The Twisted Minds) organized the show and he did a great job. Unfortunately there weren’t too many people, but some have traveled for an hour just to come and see us. It was flathering to hear. We had a good time.

January 30, 2009
Venue:
City + Country: Cirié, Italy
Other bands: Notfound

Again we had to get up early; a long drive to Italy was waiting for us. A good seven hours in the van, yay!! We had some breakfast, loaded the van and headed to the country of pizza, strong coffee and insane driving.
The drive was long, but beautiful. Coming from (probably) the flattest country in the world, I’m always excited to see mountains. And I just love to stare at the landscapes passing by, with some music on the background.
We met up with an old friend; Fabio from Notfound did a show for us two years go. The venue was a cultural place where a lot of things were happening. They had meetings, theatre-plays, kids playing tablesoccer and random punkshows. It was nice. It was the first day in Italy so we had to eat some good pasta. And good pasta was served!
I never understand how they make it. I try my very best to make the pasta like that and it seems so simple. But somehow the Italians have some secret I can’t discover. The pasta is so tasteful with only a few ingredients. I figured I might never discover their pasta-secret so I just decided to enjoy the jolly good pasta for what it is. I finished my plate and went for a refill.
It was a free show and the best thing was that there were all sorts of people at the show. Not only the average punk-kids, but also some hiphop dudes checking out the loud noise and the average people who just were interested in what was going on. 
The show was really nice. A lot of people were interested, some already knew our music but also a lot of the people had no clue who we were. No one was walking away, so I guess that’s a good thing. We played loud and fast, I liked it.
The show ended at a reasonable time, which is not always the case in Italy. Shows tend to start really late, and when you’re playing last it’s no exeption to play at 02:00 a.m… but not this show. Thank you very much!

January 31, 2009
Venue: Kirchgemeindehaus
City + Country: Davos, Switzerland
Other bands: endless speeches and long talks… and a violin player.

I’ve been to Davos once to protest against the World Ecomic Forum (WEF). It’s a forum where all the worldleaders come together how they can exploit the world in the most effective way. The protest was a pity because at the day of action the cops at the foot of the mountain blocked all activists. We arrived in Davos the day before, but it was frustrating that our ‘comrades’ were getting their asses kicked while we were surrounded by military police, snipers on rooftops and more muscles from the state. What a democracy…
In the last few years there weren’t a lot of protests against the WEF. One of the reasons is because what I’ve just explained: it’s pretty much impossible to get close to the bastards. So I was kinda excited to hear some people are organizing something in Davos again. We were asked to play after the demonstration and it sounded like a great plan.

As we were getting closer to Davos, more and more police cars were at the side of the road. More men and women in uniforms with guns. More mustaches. And eventually we were stopped. What a surprise…
They asked us for our pasports and they wanted to check what’s inside of the van. When they saw the instruments, their response was: “Oh, you’re the band that’s playing. No problem, go ahead. Have a nice show.”

WTF….

By then we were suspicious. Maybe the cops were shooting us in the back as soon as we drove off and would make it assume we wanted to run. Or we were playing at a party-politician gathering. It was the latter.
We arrived at a church where all the protestors where. Some punk-kids, mainly “normal” people. We went inside and met up with Jurge who set up the show. He explained what was going on. They just had a good demonstration with around two hundred people. And there were speeches and discussions. At the end of all that we would play.
We went inside and there was a guy in his fourties with a beard talking about something in German. People were silent and listening.

Four hours later…

There was another guy in his fourties with a beard talking about something in German. This time he had the lamest powerpoint presentation ever. People were still listening. One old lady was asleep. Ugh.
I had the feeling we weren’t in place. I thought this would be a powerful and inspiring day to show the leaders high up in their ivory towers that there are people who actually give a shit about life on this planet rather than number on a bankaccount. But this was a bit sad. It was called an action day, but I didn’t see any action apart from the amazing diner that was prepared in the kitchen.
Now let’s be clear about this. I do think it’s good they organized this day. I mean, there were the average people listening to what was being said. So that’s a whole lot better than do nothing at all. It’s just not my approach. And I doubted if we were in place.
Finally we set up everything. It was a relief to see the chairs in front of the stage were removed. It was a relief to see quite a lot of young people came from everywhere all of a sudden. And it was a relief quite some people stayed. We played and we had fun. People were dancing and singing along to our songs. It was good. Very good indeed!
Now for those who don’t know it, we also have a political bookdistro
at our shows. And it was nice to see so many people interested in the anarchist literature we brought. Obviously there were some frowned eyebrows, but overall the reaction was very good. Thanks to Jurge for this adventure!

February 1, 2009
Venue: Happy Hour Rock Bar
City + Country: Lodi, Italy
Other bands: Los Fuocos

I forgot to say the trip to Davos was absolutely breathtaking. The landscape was completely covered in snow, wonderful. And as we drove to Italy again, we could enjoy the view once more.
Lodi was a last minute show. The owner of the club where the show originally would take place was arrested. Incredible. So we were happy to hop on this show. And again the show was starting quite early for Italian standards. And again the show was free entrance.
We met up with our good friends Ste, Dami, Dani and Sarah. Ste and Dami are from No Reason Records who released our record in Italy. And Sarah is taking care of us. She cooked the best meal… sort of quich and pizza as a side dish. As a desert she made chocolate cake and cherry pie. Holy shit!!
We played first and that was probably a good idea. After the show I collapsed. If we would’ve played later on the evening, it would’ve killed me to death. There was this noise band playing after us with a drummer, a guitarist, a saxophone and a whole lotta screaming. Not my thing.
The last band was a sort of a snotty Hellacopters. Quite nice actually.
 

February 2, 2009
Venue: Lazzaretto
City + Country: Bologna, Italy
Other bands: Linterno

We stayed at Dami’s place after the show in Lodi and after a good espresso we headed to Bologna. A city where we hadn’t played in a couple of years. A city where the shows were very good at the times we did play there. A beautiful old city. A city with towers that are about to tumble and fall…
We got there early because Claudio wanted to show us the city. We walked around and enjoyed the city, the food and the coffee. Claudio was really friendly and very talkative. A bit too talkative for his own good so to say… He managed to insult an English woman in a bar, and get away with it. What can I say? “Italian style…”
I was looking forward to play in Bologna, but it was a mondaynight. Like always, the shows can be rough on weekdays… but not in Bologna. We were having a good pasta at the squat where we were playing. We were having a good time with the guys from Linterno. I didn’t notice the venue was already open and when I walked in, the place was full. Wonderful. I was getting more and more excited to play, especially when I ran into Enrico, our friend who organized the first shows in Bologna. Linterno played special cover just for us: 7 Years by Undeclinable. A song we all grew up with.
The show was amazing. The place was packed; people enjoyed the set and were asking for more. There was this one guy with a Face To Face tattoo so we couldn’t resist playing Ordinary. People were singing along, perfect!

February 3, 2009
Venue: Lio Bar
City + Country: Brescia, Italy
Other bands:

I woke up from working people drilling and pounding as if they had to remove the Berlin Wall. Good morning to you too! We headed off to Brescia on an easy drive, stopping by Ikea. Ikea is really the new hype among us. Let me explain.
Ikea is always next to the highway. I don’t give a shit about all the nice house lighting or the latest sofa-design. It’s all about the cheap restaurant Ikea has. Always organic, always with vegetarian/ vegan options. And best of all; always with free refill coffee. Dandy.
We arrived quite early in Lio Bar. It was next to the railway. Nothing much around. Tuesday. Would this be a good show? I honestly had no idea…
Lion (the owner) opened up and offered us cup of coffee. A real sweet guy. He explained how they are doing live-music since a couple of years now and it’s going really well. The venue looked amazing and Lion made us feel at home.
We had all the time in the world to sort out the merch, do some emailing and reading in the books we brought. It was good to relax a bit. This tour I’m reading From Dusk Till Dawn by Keith Mann. No, it’s not from the Quintin Tarrantino film. This book is about the Animal Liberation movement, mainly in the UK. It’s inspiring and easy to read. I recommend this to anyone, vegan or not.
I was doing the merch and more people were coming in. Nothing spectacular. Then Etjen came rushing to me with excited eyes. “You really should take a look outside”. So I stumbled to the door, opened the door and there were around two hundred people outside. Holy molar…
We started playing and I don’t think any more people could get inside the venue. It was hot. It was fantastic. People went nuts. And again we played the Face To Face cover ‘cause people were asking for it. This time I played half of the song crawling on the audience. Insane. It’s a Tuesday! Don’t people have to work/ study/ eat garbage from their neighbours trashcan the next day? Not in Brescia I suppose…

February 4, 2009
Venue: Tiki’s Bar
City + Country: Geneva, Switzerland
Other bands: none

I was really impressed as I walked in the Tiki Bar. I’m not trying to sound like Quentin Tarantino, but it reminded me of that scene in Pulp Fiction where John Travolta and Uma Thurman are going to this diner. She orders this five-dollar milkshake and such and such… Anyway, I was impressed. Everything was really clean and it had a perfect sixties feel. Peg welcomed us and I was already looking forward to the show. Luc (owner of the bar) came in after some time and ten minutes later we got probably the most interesting meal ever… it was sort a vegan happy meal! It was a small pink Cadillac with French fries and a vegan burger in it. Served with ketchup and vegan (non-) alcoholic beer. Fantastic! It made the whole scenery complete!
We were the only band playing that night. No local support. On a Wednesday. Hmmm… but more and more people started coming in and by the time we started playing, it was quite crowded.
The show was fun. We heard from our friends of Smash The Statues the police shut down the show when they were playing in the Tiki Bar a week before we were there. I’m glad the bastards left us alone.

February 5, 2009
DAY OFF

We decided to drive to Etjen’s place, Oostende (Belgium). It was a long 11 hours drive, but it was definitely nice to sleep in Etjen’s comfortable house. Especially the vegan chocolate Maureen (Etjen’s girlfriend) brought from her work! Not to mention the incredible English breakfast the next morning. Oh, just like your mom…

February 6, 2009
Venue: Les 4 Dames
City + Country: Valenciennes, France
Other bands: Midway Home

It was time to say goodbye to our good friend Etjen. Again it was good to have him on board, Just Like Your Mom did his job more than great!
We have some good memories in the north of France. However, we’ve never played in Valenciennes before. We arrived in the city and it was nice. We decided to walk around a bit and found out most city centres are the same with the same fucking H&M, FNAC and Bodyshop. Ugh…
When we came back, Rom (promoter) also arrived. Rom is also playing in Midway Home and I was looking forward to see them live. The venue was really small and cosy. When the first band started playing, it was already crowded. I got more and more pumped up for the show.
By the time we started playing, the place was packed and everyone started dancing, some were singing a long. All and all a jolly good time!
But by the third song the owner of the bar laid down a piece of paper in front of us, saying the neighbors would call the cops if we continued to play after the song. Bummer. We were having a
good time; the audience was going nuts. It was simply impossible to stop! So we just kept on playing until the owner came and really apologized. The guy was really nice to us and we didn’t want to get him in trouble. It was a short set, but good. Hopefully we can come back soon and playing a longer set.

February 7, 2009
Venue: Pedro Pico Pop (festival
City + Country: Raalte, Holland
Other bands: Midnight Menace, Striking Justice, Mala Vita, Kudra Mata and more…

What a day. We had to drop off vans, pick up merch, drop off merch, get to Nijmegen and such and such… It ended up driving for six hours. But when we arrived at the festival, it was all worth it. This festival was really well organized.
It started six years ago by some punk kids who just wanted to organize something for themselves. It grew to this festival with the capacity of 1500 people. And those same people are still involved. Amazing… they really know how to take care of the bands, of the volunteers, of the audience. They keep the entrance low (only five euros) so everybody can come. And it seemed that everybody was involved; whole families!
We were in somewhat of a rush because we really wanted to see our friends from Midnight Menace. I’ve never seen them before (it was only their fourth show) and they were playing in the afternoon. We ran and were just in time. They played a good solid set!
We played in Raalte years ago, in a squatted farm. Now (years later) I saw quite a few familiar faces that were also at that show. A lot of those people are still involved with the punk/ DIY/ squatting/ activist movement, doing amazing things. This proves that not only good things have to start in bigger cities.
The show was a bit chaotic for me. Before we knew we started playing and I had the idea the sound wasn’t very good. Willem had the time of his life, so that was nice to see. I looked at Riekus and he was hitting as if his life depended on it. Or so it seemed. That motivated me more and more. I stared into the audience. People were moving. Familiar faces staring back at me. It got me more and more excited. By the end of the show, I was having the time of my life!
I guess this was an amazing end of and incredible tour. The day before we played in a small bar, completely packed. The next day we played in front of a thousand people. I was exhausted but more than satisfied.

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This is the tour report of our last tour in 2008, through the United Kingdom. For this trip we brought Pieter and Boris to help us out with left side driving and pound counting merch sales. This is Yvo's first tour after his paternity leave. He kept a diary of everything (and more) we experienced. Enjoy!

12 December
Venue: Bedford Park
City + country: London, UK

It is just one of those days. Everything goes wrong. The whole world is against you; you’re against the world. That day there’s a battle between you and the tour-gods. You know it’s a losing battle, but you won’t go down without a fight. It is just one of those days.
We got up really early and drove off from Nijmegen, Holland. It was a long drive to the tunnel (from the North of France to the UK). We arrived early, got on the train and drove to London. So far, so good.
We had all the time in the world when we arrived at the venue, so we had a cup of coffee and decided to go and see Buckingham Palace. We decided to go there with the van. On a Friday-afternoon. In the centre of London. Worst idea ever, anyone? It took us forever and we ended up not seeing the fucking palace, and driving back to the venue. Everyone was tired and cynical.
The show started and we were only playing with local bands. Six of them in total. We played last and there was hardly anyone left. The show wasn’t very good. But the people who were there had a good time. Our friend PJ came out to hang with us, sing with us and drink all of our beer. Edd (from Last Hours) stopped by to say hello as well, and have nice talks about Propagandhi.
After the show we loaded in, drove off… and found out we had a flat tire. So there we were, in London at three o’clock at night, changing a tire in the rain. Keep in mind we got up at six o’clock in the morning. That’s not funny, that’s fucked up. Even in retrospect. Fuck the tour-gods!

13 December
Venue: The Fawcett Inn
City + Country: Southsea/Portsmouth, UK

After the best start ever, we needed sleep. We slept ‘till two in the afternoon, which felt actually really good. It was like I was reborn. Goddamnit, three cheers for whoever invented sleep. I think it’ll be pretty big in the future.
Before we could get going, we head to buy a new tire. And luckily there was a shop under the place where we slept. So the tour-gods were with us again… And off we went, to Portsmouth! I heard good stories about the shows there so I was looking forward to the show. Besides, we’ve never been there.
And everything was true, the show was amazing. We played with good bands (especially Above Them knocked me of my socks!), El (the promoter) was taking very good care of us with good food and some drinks. The show was quite crowded and everybody was simply having a good time. Alain came out to the show, which was cool. Alain lives in Switzerland and helped us out several times with shows. Unfortunately I’ve never met him in person. It was quite funny to meet up with him on the other side of Europe. We played a good set (I think…), people were standing in front and one guy stole the show with his lovely dance-moves. I believe his name was Kevin.
We stayed at Harry’s place where I saw the biggest jar of Marmite ever! I was in heaven! And Harry told me you could buy it pretty much at every supermarket. So I had my mission on tour; get me one of those!

14 December
Venue: The Hobbit
City + Country: Southampton, UK

I slept in the van that night and it was actually quite okay, not too cold indeed. We had to leave early unfortunately, but the reason was all worth it. We arrived at the house of Rich (the promoter of the all-dayer) and he was making an incredible lunch. Something with mashed potatoes, beans, in the oven, vegetables, drewling dutch kids, hmmm and aaahhh. Rich had an overwhelming record collection, shelves full of books I’ve always wanted to read, posters of shows with Tragedy he put on… awesomeness!
Brito was also joining in for lunch with us. Brito is from Holland as well and on tour, as well. Really nice people.
The all-dayer was a real ALL-DAYER. There were over ten bands playing and we were second to last on the bill. I checked quite a few bands that were playing and some I really enjoyed. Especially Brito and Wreck Of Old ’98 were good! What I liked most about the show was the whole atmosphere. People were having a good time; the venue was beautiful with a garden in the back. Plus some kids were doing insane graffiti on the walls. I also spotted some Banksy clones, but just slightly different.
I didn’t play the best show of my life because I had some trouble with my sound. The day before water fell over my sansamp-pedal and now it wasn’t doing what it should be doing…
but the show was great. I had the idea nobody knew us when we started playing, but really gave us a chance.
We also sold quite some books that day. There was one guy who was interested in the whole phenomenon of direct action. He wasn’t an experienced activist at all, and he was wondering why people were so motivated and determined to fight for a bigger cause. We had a long interesting talk. I love interactions like that. It reminds me why we are singing about subjects we care about, why we bring books to punk-shows.

We slept at Sam’s house. Sam brought a shoebox full of old zines with him to the show, for free. It was from a friend who wanted to get rid of them. I picked up some old HeartattaCks, always good reading material. I think it’s pretty safe to say Sam and I share the same music interest: old nineties screamo, some good heavy hardcore, some d-beat…
His roommates were playing this videogame where they had to shoot nazi’s, with From Ashes Rise blasting out of the speakers. Beautiful.

15 December
Venue: Cavern
City + Country: Exeter, UK

In the morning I was introduced to Peepshow. Peepshow is an English comedy in the vein of The Office, but different. But the same, but different. It’s about two friends who have shitty jobs and get in awkward situations. Hilarious. I’m not gonna try to explain it, just give it a shot if you’re into English humour.
Anyway, after breakfast we hopped in the van to Exeter. Before the tour I also heard good stories about The Cavern, about all these bands that have played there (Face to Face, Converge, the Bouncing souls, A Death In The Family, Leatherface, Fucked Up, The Kaiser Chiefs), I had no idea what to expect. We arrived there and it felt like home. Everybody was hospitable, cool kids running a great venue. The venue was in the middle of the city centre, next to a hipster coffee shop where they served organic coffee and had vegan items. I was already looking forward to some breakfast/ lunch there…

I still had to fix my bass-pedal. The sound-guy advised me to put it on an amp that got really hot so the pedal could dry on the inside. I gave it a try and it actually worked. Hooray for the sound-guy!
Chris (promoter) and his friends cooked a nice meal for us, and I was wondering if people would show up. It was a Monday-night and those can be tricky… but the place was pretty filled when started playing, so that was great! On top of that, our friend Tom stopped by with his friends. We talked for a long time about his American friend who’s now in jail for protesting against the Republican Party. It’s a ridiculous but sad story, too much to explain. If you’re interested, please read this: http://helpdavemahoney.blogspot.com/

We slept at the house of the promoter; he lived with his parents right outside of Exeter. The house was huge and beautiful, in the middle of the countryside. A typical English scenery with hedges, fog and cold wea
ther.

16 December
Venue: Light Lounge
City + Country: Basingstoke, UK

Today we had some time to wonder around in Exeter. we stopped by this record store of somebody who was at the show. He was just starting up his own little punk record store. I always love it when people are following their dreams…
And I had to stop by the coffee-place next to the venue, just to check out the options. I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed because they only had one vegan sweet dish and it was kind of expensive as well. So only coffee for me…

We played in Basingstoke that night. We played with an awesome eighties metal band in the vein of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. They had it all; a skull of a deer with light bulbs in the eyes and a smoke machine. Leather jackets, leather pants, high screams and twin guitar solo’s. Sing-a-long tunes and clap-a-long parts, inside jokes and headbanger moves. Karrion! Best band we’ve ever played with, definitely! http://www.myspace.com/karrionuk

17 December
Venue: The Cooperage
City + Country: Newcastle, UK

Today we had one of the few long drives ahead of us. Today the GPS system failed. We had the right address but GPS send us in some suburban neighbourhood. Luckily Pieter had been to the venue once before.
The Cooperage is a beautiful old venue/ pub. It’s built on a hill and it has several storeys. It looks like it’s been built 300 years ago, a venue where you can get lost in. Did I mention it had several floors? Did I mention we were playing on the top floor? Did I mention we have heavy equipment to carry to that top floor? I know, I’m complaining. And it wasn’t that bad at all, especially since a lot of people helped carrying stuff upstairs. But I just like to complain, it’s a thing that I enjoy.
So when we were eating our delicious meal (vegan chilli in the oven, with rice and such…), young teenagers were getting ready for their karaoke party. Believe me, it was as weird as it sounds. There were fourteen-year-old kids getting completely wasted, puking over the stairs where I just complained about, and yelling at me in the most hilarious drunken English I’ve ever heard. Quite amusing.
The show itself was good. It was cold and there weren’t too many people, but it was good. There was a good intimate atmosphere. After the show the guys from ONSIND came up to me and it appeared we had some mutual friends (Vincent from Kiel). They told me that they kind of miss political bands, they’re not around much. In a way I agree; sometimes it’s like punk and hardcore is simply filled with bands that sound angry and pissed off. But somehow I miss the point where they are angry about…. Now I’m not saying that every band has to be political (personal subjects can be as angry and pissed off as political subjects) but I always enjoy when bands explain their songs/ music/ motivation. I want to hear bands that are driven. I want to hear bands that sound like they’re going to kill themselves if they don’t play music. Those bands play music because they have to, they must play music. There’s no other option. Okay, now I’m rambling.

But you get it, right? Good.

To put things in perspective; that night Pieter and I walked to some supermarket to get vegan bacon and coffee (I know, best combination!) and talked about funny films and good films. Those are not one and the same. For example; we agreed “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” is one of the best films ever made in history. But it’s not funny. “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” is a funny film. But not good.
And then there’s “Anchorman”. Somehow everybody is all about that film. Pieter loves it too. I saw it and I was not amused. Not at all. Two hours of my life in the trashcan. That night I put on “National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon”. That was funny. But not really. And definitely not good.

18 December
Venue: 1in12 Club
City + Country: Bradford, UK

We had breakfast in a vegetarian café, just down the street where we slept. I had a huge hamburger and some good coffee. I don’t think you can start your day better than that.
Bradford was next on the list. The 1in12 Club has been a social centre for years and years. I love going to places like that. They had a great venue (again, on the second floor goddamnit!!) a radical library with tons of titles I have on my to-read list. They have a vegan café. It’s incredible.
Luke (promoter) cooked us a nice, spicy curry and that night we played with Captain Hotknives. He covered The Clash’s White Riot, but he made White Rice out of it. It was actually quite funny. His other songs were also pretty funny. http://www.myspace.com/captainhotknives

19 December
Venue: The Cowley Club
City + Country: Brighton, UK

We had to get up early because Luke had to go to work early. That was okay since we were going to Brighton! Everybody was excited. Four hours later, we arrived in The Mekka of Vegan Treats and Hipster Kids. We decided to have breakfast/ lunch at the Dumb Waitor. I hadn’t been there before, but according the Pieter it was a good place for breakfast and not very expensive. It turned out to be a good choice indeed.
After that we wondered around in Good Ol’ Brighton. I came to the conclusion that there isn’t that much to do when you want to save money. I mean, they have great record stores, good bookstores and nice fashion stores. But I really don’t need that. Even when we passed Vegetarian Shoes I didn’t go inside because there was no use. We passed Red Veg (vegetarian Mc Donald’s, but really good and PC) and I didn’t want to grab a burger since I was still full. So we decided to stop and get back to The Cowley Club, the social centre where we would be playing that night.
Ariadne was doing the show and it was very good to see her again. I know her for some years now and we get along really well. She moved to Brighton some time ago so I don’t get to see her very often. That made this show extra special. We couldn’t stop talking, there was so much to catch up that there was hardly enough time.
The show itself was nice, but there were not a lot of people. Too bad. The other times we played in The Cowley Club, it was packed. Oh well, better luck next time.
This time everybody had gone home for the holidays. Another thing that really struck me. Those English people take their Christmas bloody serious! Everywhere we came I was blinded by Christmas lights, Christmas heads, Christmas this and that… fuck that shit! I mean, one time in the year we should think of the poor and love our neighbour and blablabla. First of all, fuck that one day! I have a plan; let’s eat each others brains, spit on each others head, fight our neighbours to death for one day. So the rest of the year we can get along.
Second; we don’t think of the poor. We stuff ourselves full with fancy food.

20 December
Venue: Le Baron
City + Country: Caudry, France

This was going to be the fourth time we played in Caudry. It was definitely one of the best times. This time it was the last show of François (the promoter) and the small pub in the middle of nowhere was packed with tons of kids. Everybody was having a blast. François will take some time off with doing shows because he wants to focus on other projects. He helped us out a lot of times and hopefully we still get to see him every now and then.
Our friend Bertrand from Le Havre also came out to the show and it was nice to see him again.
We played with Fire At Will (from Toulouse) and they turned out to be really nice guys. Their set was full of energy and that motivated me to play
as well! Despite that fact, our set was okay. We’ve had better shows. But I was also pretty tired. I didn’t play the best set ever, but I had a good time.

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This here is our tourreport of the second transatlantic tour, covering central europe from sept 5th – sep 21st. We are on the road with Jena Berlin from Philadelphia. 'We' is: Willem, Pitter, Riekus ( = antillectual), Erik (Driver), Chad (merchguy Jena Berlin), Jon, Dave, Zac and Jeff (=Jena Berlin)

4 sept, nijmegen / schiphol airport / gent
The day starts early because we're picking up: a driver, a tourvan and and a bunch of Americans. Erik (the driver for this tour) and I (Riekus) head off to schiphol airport and Willem heads for Gent (BE) to pick up the van. Jena Berlin arrive safely at the airport and seem a little tired / jetlagged. No wonder: they've been on a plane for 8 hours without sleep and 6 hours time difference. When we get home in Nijmegen they crash out on the floor immediately, which gives me some time to pack and arrange some last minute stuff. In the evening, we go out to get the guys sleeping gear, douchegel and the like, and we take them out to the local punkpub de Bijstand.

5 sept, OHK, oostende, BE
other bands: second base
After a short rehearsal with our bassplayer for this tour, Pitter, it's time to pick up the gear and head for Oostende. We've played the OHK before and had a great time back then. Besides that, Ken and his friends of Bobby in a Volvo are arranging the show and have always done a great job. Last but not least: this will be our first time to  see Jena Berlin play. Enough ingredients for a night to look forward to… Still, i don't really feel like i'm on tour yet with all the hassle beforehand and playing a town we know pretty well. The show is not too crowded , but afterwards the tour-feeling kicks in: we're on the road and playing! Our good friend Etjen of Just Like youir Mom offered us to sleep in his appartment, while he is out on tour himself. As always, a delicous breakfast has been arranged.

6 sept, Kingstown café, le Havre, FR
other bands: Nightingate
When we arrive in Le Havre, we meet promoter Bertrand in traffic. The Kingswotn Café is a pub located in a narrow steep street that leads to the harbor of le Havre, a nice place to see! The young guys and girl in Nightingate play a solid set and then it's up to Jena Berlin. The crowd seems well into it and Dave has a little thing going on, borrowing hats from the audience. When we play our set, again the audience shows its appreciation. Awesome! At Bertrand's place, as we expected, some friends of his drop by and we end up talking and having some drinks until deep in the night.

7 sept. Day off, le Havre (FR)
After a good nights sleep and breakfast we head into town. Eventhough we've played le Havre before, i never got to see any of the city. It appears most of the city was bombed during WW2 and had been rebuilt in the 50's. Not particularly my favorite style, but when we get down to the shore the fun begins: one of the largest free openair skateparks of france is situated right by the beach. As is sit down and watch the hurdle of kids skating, bmx'img and whatnot i realise how calming it can be just to watch some people enjoy their sports. Some really young kids are hanging out and trying their best to learn the tricks by heart. Very enjoyable!

8 sept. Day off, le Havre / Toulouse (FR)
We get up early and head for Toulouse, where we will meet up with our friend Pierro and have a show on tuesday. We decide to avoid tollways (that can be extemely expensive in France), resulting in a 13-hour drive through the beautiful landscapes of france.

9 sept, le caravan serail, toulouse, FR
other bands: rentokill (AT), openightmare (FR)
After a long session of getting 9 smelly people showered we head out to downtown toulouse. Pitter stays in Pierro's beatiful countryside house to arrange tours for his other bands. Downtown, we visit some records stores, skateshops, churches and the like. Toulouse is one hell of an impressive city, dating back as far as the middle ages. Impressive to me, even more impressing to our American guests.
When we drive up to the venue, we realise the name 'caravan serail' is exactly what it is: a pub / karaoke bar amidst all kinds of outdoor / camping / caravan stores. We finally get to see the band of Pierro, who has been putting up shows for us since 2006. On top of that, we get to meet up with our Austrian friends in Rentokill again. They're also touring. After some comparing of tourvans, some weird incarnations of football on the parking lot and a fine meal, the show is on.

After the show, we head back to Pierro's house, have a few drinks with Rentokill, hug and say goodbye. How wonderful it is to meet friends all wherever we go!

10 sept, sonic, Lyon, FR
Other bands: Next Friday (FR)
We take the long drive up to Lyon without toll. It's a long but beautiful drive through the french countryside, woods, tiny roads; just plain beautiful. When we arrive in Lyon the venue turns out to be a boat, in the middle of the river Rhone. Beautiful location, awesome venue, but above all: smelliest river ever! The stench of the river would actually overpower the smell of 9 young men in a van. We meet up with our old friends Flo and Next Friday, who will be opening the night. Jena Berlin take a walk downtown and we try to get some rest, and food. By 9 o clock the place is getting crowded, eventhough the show is supposed to start at 8. French timing is what it's called. Next friday open the night with some fine melodic punkrock, and the place is warm as hell. When we walk off stage we are soaked to the bone, but as satisfied as a toddler on the potty. 5 of us go to sleep at Flo's appartment, the rest decide to go down to Nicolas of the Twisted Minds' house to have a drink or two. Somewhere around 3am the drinkers roll into the van and face a short night. Next morning we gather at Flo's appartment and enjoy some breakfast, showers and the regular morning stuff.

11 sept, acropolis, Vimercate, IT
The drive down to Vimercate – just 10 km. from Milano – is, again, a long one. We drive into something that would be best described as 'basketball court' or 'sportspark', and our label 'bosses' Ste and Dami welcome us to Vimercate. We are the only bands playing, it's an outdoor show and the first night of what is refered to as 'beer-fest'. Sounds good, right? We get served some delicious fresh pizzas and chat with the guys of No Reason Records. The show is not so crowded: a lot of people are just there for their friends, drinks and not particularly interested in the band. Those who are enjoy the show, and Chad (JB merchguy) finally brings his signature "huge mosh" during our set. After the show some of decide to sleep out in the open air, since the weather is so good. Next morning we wake up just in time to avoid the rain and head for Austria

12 sept, Triebwerk, Wiener Neustadt, A
other bands: astpai (A)
And again a long drive today. It's good to see the Astpai guys again and to be back at t
he Triebwerk. We played there in summer 2006 and it's a really inspiring place to be, the core of what is called "Neustadtpunk". Jena Berlin and Astpai have played a few shows together in the states so it's pretty much a bunch of friends getting together again. Today's show is a benefit for animal rights activists that were arrested a while ago. So we're having a get-together with 3 fine bands at a lovely venue, playing for a cause. punkerrock than thou! The show ends up being well attended and we all have a blast on and offstage. We crash at Zock of Astpai's house, where friendship is celebrated until early in the morning.

13 sept, Zone11, Hallein b. Salzburg, A
Other bands: Astpai (A)
After some laundry and a great austrian breakfast (vegan spreads go!) we and Astpai head for Salzburg, or Hallein, which is just outside Salzburg. The venue is beautiful, a mix between a bar and a youthcentre. Unfortunately for us, the hall we are playing is on the first floor, so we enjoy some back-wrecking exercise. Astpai open the show and there's a good crowd gathered in the place. In the meantime we get a confirmation that we are doing a last minute show in Zürich on tuesday. The crowd really seems into the show and we get a lot of good reactions afterwards. We say a long goodbye to our friends in Astpai and end up sleeping at 2 houses: at Kristoff's parents and at a guy named Ozzy. No bats were harmed in the process of sleeping. The next morning we are treated to again a wonderful breakfast.

14 sept, Lifetripstudio, Gornja Radgona, SLO
This show was set up pretty last minute by our friend Dario of In-sane. It's going to be the last show ever at this squatted former kindergarten in a small village in the North of Slovenia. Over the past years, Dario and his friends have set up some sweet shows at this place, but seeing as Dario is moving to Ljubljana and the local government isn't really co-operative, the place will be shut down. While setting up gear and doing soundcheck we witness the first ever show of Jesus Fire Dick, an experimental noise ensemble involving Dario, Dave, Jeff and yours truly. As the place fills up, we find ourselves playing to a handful of friends of Dario and have some nice dancing and singalongs going on.

15 sept, Tovarna ROG, Ljubljana SLO
Other bands: Alliance (SLO), The Black Heart Rebellion (BE)
Driving into Ljubljana, we realise this must be one hell of a beautiful city. The Tovarna ROG is part of a huge squatted area, a former bike factory. During dinner (delicious chili), we have a talk with Slovenian National Television, who happen to be shooting a documentary about the autonomous area. They want to know what our impression of this place is compared to Dutch and US squats. Apparently, squats are far less common in Slovenia than in Holland. Truth be told: this is one hell of a nice area, providing a venue for bands, a social centre for the homeless and a skatepark for, well, skaters! With a belly full of chili, we head downtown to explore the wonderful city, get some postcards, contact-fluid and hang out at H&M, the regular stuff. The show draws a crowd i wouldn't have expected on a monday, approximately a hundred. After the show we drive down to Dario's new house just outside Ljubljana and crash out. But not before we make a stop at the local snackshop to enjoy something called 'burek' or 'fried death', which would haunt Dave's bowels for the next 24 hours and took a year off of Jon's life. The next day would be a long, loooong drive to Switzerland.

16 sept, Dynamo Werk21, Zürich, SWI
This show was arranged somewehere when we were already out on the road. It doesn't get more last-minute. Our friend Alain got in contact with Dynamo and basically made the show happen. Dynamo is a huge building by the riverside of Zürich. It hosts a venue, a gym, metal-workshop and loads more; a fine cultural centre. Again, we face a crowd larger than we would have expected and even special guests from the states. Jeremy and Eric of Jumpstart Records just flew into Munich for the Bierfesten and decided to come down to the show. We suffer some technical difficulties, but other than that the show goes down really well. To top it off, the DJ treats us to some fine classics such as "love in an elevator" form Aerosmith. Not everyone is equally siked about Aerosmith, but still a fair portion of Huge Mosh is brought. The people of Dynamo are so kind to let us sleep in their backstage and serve us some good coffee and chocolate the next morning.

17 sept, Feierwerk, München, GER
Other bands: we fade to grey
Finally a decent short drive up to München. The drive is so short that we arrive before Alexander, the promoter, gets to the venue. Apparently there is two shows going on tonight: we play downstairs while upstairs Maria Taylor is playing. We have some wonderful vegan hachee for dinner and wait for the locals to arrive. We fade to grey open with a solid indie / post-punk set. Once we start playing Pitter's mic seems to  be broken and would remain broken for the rest of the set, even though the soundguy tried his best to fix it. Too bad, but nothing some improv can't solve. It's nice to see some familiar faces among the crowd and we end up talking to a lot of people, even a girl that hosts an undergound radio show. We crash at Alexanders place and get up early because he has to get to school. We finally find the time to look up a postoffice and send out some cards before we head for Mannheim. We will spend the night there at the youthcentre, where we unfortunately don't have a show. 

18 sept, Mannheim, DE: day off
Our friend Litty couldn't help us out with a show, but he was so kind to offer us a place to stay at the Juz Mannheim, the local youthcentre. Fortunately, there is a VOKÜ (public kitchen – good and cheap food) going on. Some of us decide to drive up to the Paint it Black / Blacklisted show in Trier. Word has it that a lot of new friends were made on the way up and down..

19 sept, Buntes Haus, Celle, DE
Other bands: overdraft (DE), One Strike Left (DE)
The day starts out with some great news. While brushing my teeth i get a phonecall from Yvo. Yvo couldn't join us on this tour because he and Suzette are expecting their second kid. And yes, Yvo has good news: on the evening of the 18th their second son Raaf was born, mom and kid are doing fine. Awesome!
When we arrive in Celle, it takes us a little while to figure out where the venue is, eventhough we are driving on Sat-nav. The venue is located on a huge space with at least 4 concerthalls and apparently there is also a Kiss coverband playing one the halls tonight. Why are we doing a show? Kiss! Anyone? Anyway, we are playing one of the smaller halls and there is quite a crowd gathering. Overdraft bravely open the night as we recover from another incredible vegan chili. Next up is One Strike Left, then us and Jena Berlin. The rest of the night is kind of a black hole in our collective memory, as we got way too many drinktickets…

20 sept, Merleyn, Nijmegen, NL
Other bands: Brat Pack (NL)
Hometown show, finally! Zac finally reunites with his long-lost burritos before we head over to Merleyn. It's almost scary to see so many familiar faces a
fter 2 weeks of mainly new kids. As always when coming back to NL, i feel pretty weird hearing so many people speaking Dutch around me. The show is very well attended. Apparently, our marketing-scam ("one time opportunity to see Pitter in action") worked out fine! Jena Berlin meet up with Fritz of AssCard Records, who are releasing their new LP in Europe and Brat Pack open this fine evening. I don't exactly recall when i last saw Brat Pack, but as always i'm amazed how well they sound. Jena Berlin pull off a great show and truth be told, i'm also really satisfied with ours. Too bad we have to pack up really quick because the venue is hosting a dance night after the show. This however gives us the opportunity to head down to the Bijstand to celebrate their 25-year anniversary, yell along to rock classics, get bummed out the DJ will not play Aerosmith and eventually ending up in our beds pretty late.

21 sept, JC Metteko, Mechelen, BE
Other bands: The Sedan Vault (BE)
Somehow i feel weird about doing this show after having done the hometown show. It's like coming home, but not quiet. Anyhow, we arrive in Mechelen well on time and some take the time to explore this beautiful city. Generally, i think we are all pretty tired and our friends have a long night at the airport to look forward to. Not the best conditions for a full-blown show, but we'll just have to deal with it. We open the show and i must admit i've never felt so utterly miserable playing: being hungry and tired on stage are not my favorite pass-times. Still the show goes well apart from some technical difficulties. Luckily, we get fed after the show and i start feeling a lot better. Jena Berlin are not so fortunate: after their show most of the dinner is gone.. Joran and his friends try their best to satisfy the hungry Americans with some croques-monsieurs (AKA tosti ham kaas) and meanwhile The Sedan Vault set up their gear and embark on a synthesizer-fed indie / prog journey. When it's over, we and Jena Berlin exchange some merch, grab our bags and prepare for a long drive: first dropping off the promoter and  tourvan in Gent, then heading to Schiphol Airport, where JB's flight will be leaving early next morning. On the way up to the airport we have one of the weirdest experiences: we have been touring all over Europe, including non-EU countries (Switzerland), countries that have only recently joined the EU (Slovenia) and parts of countries that have a reputation of, let's say, "strict police patrol" (Bavaria, Germany), yet we have not been pulled over by the police once. Until now. At the Belgian-Dutch border, we are escorted to a parking lot by a motor officer for passport-check. Luckily, the police seem to be more interested in some small talk than actually interrogating us. I don't even have my passport on me, but it seems fining me never came up in the police's mind. After a 5 minute cigarette-break with the police we continue our trip to Schiphol, do some hugs and good-byes and head home, where we lay our hungry, exausted heads to rest somewhere around 5:30 am.

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Tourreport April 2008, with Smash The Statues

Day 1: Hannover, Germany
Venue: Kopernitkus

I was really excited about this tour because finally we were hitting the road with our friends from Smash The Statues. We’ve been talking about this plan for years now and now we’re stepping in the van together.
We’re heading to Scandinavia and I’m excited about that as well. I’ve never been up there and I was looking forward to it. There are a billion amazing bands from Sweden (Adhesive, Refused, Satanic Surfers, Nof Fun At All, Millencolin, The Indecision Alarm and so on…), now we get to see where they get their inspiration from. Personally I think they these magic poisons in the water. If you drink it from birth, you’ll end up playing in a great band.
First we’re playing two shows in Germany, the first show is in Hannover. It was a good four hour drive. I like Germany a lot. It kinda stole my heart last tour in January when we had a good ten day tour in that huge country. And now we’re in Hannover, in a tiny venue below a railway. We were the only two bands, it was cold, the food was good and there were a lot of dogs.
There weren’t a lot of people but it was packed anyway because the place was so small. Everybody was dancing and having a good time when we played which was nice.

Day 2: Neumünster, Germany
Venue: AJZ
Other bands: Alert

Another short drive, I like it. It took us three hours to get to Neumünster where Vincent from Alert welcomed us. We met him in January and it was good to see him again. The venue was really nice, typical German AZ. Everything is really well arranged, the food is amazing, posters and flyers of Anti Fascist Action and other radical action groups on the wall… I always feel at home in places like this. The posters on the walls showed us the history told us the history of this place and that quite overwhelming. Bands like Propagandhi, Hanson Brothers, RKL, Satanic Surfers and Boysetsfire have played here.
There was a problem though. There was a nazi-pub two blocks away from the venue and it was raided by anti-fascists just some weeks ago. It was a saturday night, the next day the nazi’s would celebrate the birthday of Hitler and were making their way for some revenge. It was quite possible it would come to a confrontation…
We had talks about the situation. Of course nobody was looking for a fight, but what to do when it actually would come to a fight? Personally, I don’t know what to do. It’s stupid to act like a macho and say to kick the shit out of the nazi scum, but I’ve never been attacked by those morons. I guess nobody knows how they react unless they’ve been in a situation like that before.
One thing’s for sure, this situation made the show pretty intense for me. All the bands had talks about fighting fascism and everybody was ready to give everything they had that night. I played if my life depended on it. There’s no better place to be than to be on stage I guess. Eventually the nazi’s didn’t came to the show. Later that night some anti-fascists raided a house where nazi’s lived but we all heard it the next morning.
There’s quite a big problem with nazi’s in Neumünster and it’s great to see so many people are fighting back. I think it’s very brave to act and stand up for a truly free society where there’s no place for fascist scum. Not now, not ever again fascism!

Day 3: Halmar, Sweden
Venue: IKEA
Other band:

This show was really last minute. Johann did a very good job organizing it. It was going to be our very first show in Sweden and I was looking forward to it! I couldn’t care less if it was a last minute show, I couldn’t care less it was an eight hour drive; it was a show in Sweden! The show was in a small pub and I was told that normally only sailors and nurses come here… weird fetish but okay, I love a man in uniform.
Like I said, Johan did an excellent job, the food was delicious and quite some people showed up for a last minue sunday show. The sleepingrooms were decent as well so that makes me extremely happy. Now for those who have never been on tour might find it stupid I keep on getting back to the food-issue. In pretty much all the tourreports I write, food is mentioned more than often. One reason is because I’m vegan. Most vegans I know (myself included) are obsessed by food. They talk about food all the time, about what’s vegan and what’s not. New cookies and the latest recipes are discussed. It’s a worldwide web of insanely obsessed food addicts. I’m no exception. I’ll eat everything that’s vegan, just because I can. It’s stupid, I know, but it’s the truth. Somebody said to me one time I was a fat kid trapped in a skinny body. I couldn’t agree more… I would be five time the size I am now if I ate everything. So basically veganism saves me from that. In that way you could say it’s a sellfish thing to do… Now I wouldn’t go that far. But yeah, I’m a food obsessed vegan. And I love it! There! And the food this night was awesome. Falafel with potatoes, lentils and salad. BOAH!
We played first and it was kind of a tough crowd, but interested. So that’s all fine by me. Two kids from Holland were there as well. He was studying in this town, she was visiting him. Nice.

Day 4: Halden, Norway
Venue: Feelgood
Other band: FORK

For the very first time in Norway, yay! It took us quite some time to get to Halden, but we made it safely. And the drive was absolutely beautiful. Roads in Sweden and Norway are completely different from the roads we have in Holland. In Holland we have highway that are packed with thousands of cars, stuck in traffic jams. In Sweden there are hardly any highways in the first place. Second, you don’t see so many other cars passing. It’s pretty quiet and all the roads are passing lakes and rocky (you know what I mean right…) landscapes. Holland is a small country where all the nature has to make way for houses and officebuildings. We drove for hours in Sweden without seeing even one big city. I find it breathtaking.
Magnus was the promoter of the show and everything was arranged nicely. It was a monday night in a fairly small city so I didn’t expect too much of the show. Some really young kids stopped by to watch what was going on and they obviously were having a good time. Unfortunately they had to be home in time so the audience was all gone when we started playing….

Day 5: Oslo, Norway
Venue: Paragrafen Pub
Other band: FORK

The past few days we had  to get up early because the drives were quite long. But today we had all the time in the world. Today we could sleep as long as we wanted. Today we drove to Oslo in two hours and walked around in Oslo for hours. We drank coffee in the sun on a terrace. We talked about how we’re putting ideals into practice. Hunk (gutiarplayer of Samsh The Statues) explained how he’s working for the Socialist Party in Holland. I’m not a big fan of political parties, but it was interesting to hear how they are organized and what they are doing.
I always love days like these. Everybody’s doing what they want and I get to know everybody a little bit better by talks like these. And when I realize I’m in Oslo because I’m there to play with my band, I can’t help but smile. I mean, we’re working our asses of the to go on tour, to arrange everything. It’s all done by ourselves and by the people who share the love for the music, for the politics.
I’ve reached a point in my life where there’s no more space for ‘fucking around’. What I mean is that I have to make concious decisions and stick with them. I’ve done that for a long already, but now it feels there&rs
quo;s a no point of return. I’ve decided not to have a ‘normal’ 9 to 5 job. I’ve decided not to live a life where certainty is garantued (if that means anything at all in the first place…). I’ve decided to follow my heart, to chase my desires and my passion.
These are all subjects that are not unknown for a lot of people in the punk/hardcore scene. We all know them, we all sing about it. But for me it’s a bit different when I was five years younger, still studying, working parttime jobs, live in a cheap appartment with friends. As I’m getting older, I see people from my age taking the safe road: steady job, buying a house, a car and so on. I play in a band and try to get by. No certainty. No safeplace. The only thing I know is I’m sticking to my dreams.
I’m making crucial decisions as well, on a different level. I have a beautiful son, and in September our second child will be born. Again, I’m sticking to my dreams. Parenthood is one of the things I’ve dreaming about ever since I can remember. I’m happy and proud to have such a amazing son, and I’m doing it together with the most inspiring person I’ve ever met in my life. And together we’re trying to sort things out so our kids can have the childhood they deserve, with parents who are sticking to their ideals. To their dreams.
This is supposed to be far from a tourreport. But for me this also includes being on tour. This is what I’m thinking of when I’m on the road. I can talk about how great the show was and the lovely people we’ve met. That’s all part of it, as well as these thoughts I’ve been describing. And especially when you’re sitting in Oslo, drinking coffee with my best friends.

I forgot to say anything about the show. The show was nuts! It was one of the smallest stages we’ve ever played and the venue was packed. And all that on a tuesday night! Awesome!

Day 6: Karlstad, Sweden
Venue: Tolvmansgatan
Other band: Endslikethis

And we’re back in Sweden! The venue was one of those youthcentres that we have in Holland as well. Clean, all the facilities, excited youthworkers, and some sixteen year old volunteers. The load in was at four in the afternoon, soundcheck at five, diner at six. Me love yes! This is something different than, for example, Italian standards where the first band starts after midnight. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it can be a bit exhausting from time to time… Not in Sweden, oh no. Here the show starts around eight at night, and the last band stops at ten. Goddamnit, I sound like an old fart…
Anyway, I met up with Jonas who was the promoter of the show. He was also playing in Endslikethis, who were playing their first show this night. Jonas was working at the youthcentre as an employee, and he was obviously good at his job. Or he just knows how to take care of touring bands: good food, coffee, drinks, backstage. Everything was simply perfect.

Day 7: Märsta, Sweden
Venue: Garage
Other band: Strangler

The Garage in Märsta was such a new venue that it smelled like new furniture. The owner of the place seemed to be a bit bitter at first, but turned out to be an nice guy. The whole venue was pretty huge with a lounge bar, a dancing and a rockbar. We were playing in the latter of course.
I was wondering if any people would show up, because we heard all these stories that this city was nearly dead when it came down to a scene. Last Days Of April came from this town, and that’s about it.
It all didn’t matter much as soon as we got a plate of food in front of our noses. The venue also had sort of a tapasbar and an employed chefcook. He definitely did his very best at cooking a nice vegan meal. Goddamnit, it was good!
When Strangler (the first band) started playing it was pretty crowded to my surprise. Fredrick set up the show and was also playing guitar in Strangler, he also did his best to get as many people to the show as possible. And it was a vinyl-night: i don’t think we’ve sold any cd’s, only vinyl.
On stage I lost my shorts during the second song and finished the set only with my boxers on. I’m not complaining, it was refreshing indeed!

Day 8: Katrineholm, Sweden
Venue: Paladium
Other bands: Naive, For The Record

We woke up quite early, just to get in time to Geir from The Indecision Alarm. He had invited us to come over to his place to hang out, to eat vegan magnum icecreams and a whole warm buffet. It was good to see him again. It was even better to see that Tom (from Smash The Statues) and Geir are secretly brothers, only they don’t know it. We arrived, Tom jumped out of the van, ran to the door, opened it up and started yelling to Geir in their own ‘Arnold- language’.
Geir has been on tour a lot with a bazillion bands, so he knows how to take care of touring bands. Apart from a freezer full of those lovely icecreams, he made coffee as soon as we arrived. And he asked us if we’d like to have a piece of applepie with that coffee, homemade by his wife Veronica. “Oh, and some nice vanilla sauce with that perhaps?”
…
Does the pope shit in the woods? Of course! So ten minutes later we were sitting on the backporch, stuffing ourselves with applepie and coffee. In the meantime Geir was preparing diner…
Geir lives in the suburbs of Katrineholm in an very nice house, with a lot of green surrounding it. He said it can be a bit depressing in the winter, but now it’s absolutely lovely. I’m a real sucker for these places. Within a blink I start dreaming away of how cool it would be to live there… Of course I romantisize it to the fullest, but fuck it. I see myself living there with the family, having Geir as my neighbour. We could fight over cutting the hedge, and than make it up by having a nice bbq.
So Geir prepared enough food to feed a whole village, demanding we would eat it all. It was so good, so good… I don’t know how to describe it. Imagine your favorite dish, that times ten and you come close. Not quite there yet, but close.
At the show we met up with the rest of The Indecision Alarm, it was awesome to see them again. And of course there wasn’t enough time to catch up with all the stories. I was really glad to Niklas’ son Albin. Only seven months old but he seemed to have a good time. And Micke was there with his son Felix as well, a bit older than Albin though…
The show wasn’t really good to be honest. It was in a venue that was too big and oversubsidised. But I didn’t really give a shit because it was simply nice to meet up with friends I don’t get to see much.

Day 9: Lund, Sweden
Venue: Hemgarden
Other bands: Car Chase Terror + Atlas Losing Grip

Most of the times on tour we’re playing with really good bands, it happens we’re playing with shitty bands too. Sometimes we’re playing with a band that completely blows me away and leaves me with nothing but excitement. And goosebumps too. Atlas Losing Grip was one of those bands. From the first second they were blasting their wall of sound, hardhitting drums, shredding guitars and melodic vocals. The music was definitely inspired by the 90’s melodic skatepunk (me like yes!). It was tight as hell and before I knew it, it was over. Seeing them play motivated to play myself even more!
Atlas Losing Grip wasn’t the only good thing about this show. Pretty much everything about this show was great. It was perfect. Gustav (promoter of the show + guitarist of ALG) took good care of us in every single way. The venue was really cool, the people who were running the place were very friendly… I had the feeling we were friends with the ALG from the moment we shook hands. And above all, I met up with the guy I had the biggest crush on ever since I saw him for the first time: Andy!
It all starte
d when I was doing the Typewriter Distro with my girlfriend at the Funtime Fest 2005. Satanic Surfers was one of the bands on the bill. I was looking forward to their show since I’ve never seen them before. The Satanic guys walked into the venue and among them was the cutest guy I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was Andy (although I didn’t know his name of course). I grapped my girlfriend, looked her in the eyes and said: “if I ever get the chance to make out with guy, I WILL do it.” Suzette started laughing, saying she’d understand. She started making jokes and daring me to talk to him. Of course I was too scared to do it.
Years went by and again I saw him at a Satanic Surfers show in Holland. Again I didn’t dare to talk to him. Again I saw him standing there with his cute eyes and lovely smile. He was wearing thick black glasses and “I-don’t-really-care-what-I-wear-but-in-the-mean-time-I-know-it-looks-good-on-me” clothes: tight worn-off jeans and an old faded black shirt from some obscure crust- and/or metalband where I can never read the name of…. simply gorgious!
Fast forward: I was talking to Geir about his time on tour with Satanic Surfers and I confessed my crush on Andy to him. Geir giggled a bit, saying Andy might come to the show in Lund. Before I knew it I said he should text Andy. And Geir wouldn’t be Geir if he didn’t do it….
Fast forward: I walked downstairs in the venue in Lund and all of a sudden I saw Andy standing there with Julien (drummer of ALG). There was no escape anymore. What could I do? What should I do? I took a deep breath and took a step towards his direction. And another. I walked up to Andy and introduced myself to him. He smiled and said hi.
Of course it was a bit akward in the beginning. Of course Andy had no idea what to expect. This whole story was blown up and gotten uot of hand a bit (with a little help of myself, I admit. My bad.). But within minutes we were talking about records and books, so it was all good.
Apart from becoming friends, nothing exciting happened. I’m happy with the relationship I’m in, and if I may quote Andy: he ‘doesn’t drive on that side of the road’. He’ll always be my Swedish sweetheart, just like Gijs is my Dutch sweetheart and Dave’s my American sweetheart. It’s always amazing to meet new friends!

Day 10: Hamburg, Germany
Venue: Fahrstrasse 105
Other band: The Partimers

This is the last show of the tour and we’re playing in a familiair place. We’ve played in the Fahrstrasse in January, a tiny venue in the basement of a beautiful house. It feels like home from home. There were about thirty people at the show and it was pretty packed, so you can imagine how small the venue is. The atmosphere was really nice. Our friendsVincent and Sophie from Kiel came out to the show and surprised us with delicious muffins! It was also good to see people were interested in the books we’re selling. Aspects like that make a show perfect.
I could really feel it was a sunday show. Everyone was in that lazy sundayafternoon mood, and I was amazed people actually came out to see us because outside the weather was really nice. I couldn’t blame people choosing to hang out in the park above going to a punkrock show.
After the show I had nice talks about nineties screamo bands (like Circle Takes The Square, Pg. 99, City Of Caterpillar and so on). The conversation started when I saw a girl wearing a Yage tshirt, one of my favorite bands of all time. I said I really liked the band and she responded in Dutch, which was a bit weird. It turned out her mom was Dutch…
This was really good last show. We had a blast with our friends from Smash The Statues. I had good time seeing them ripping every night. Thanks to everyone that helped out, gave us food, a floor to sleep on, everyone that came out to the shows. We hope to be back in Scandinavia soon!

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Pictures of the tour

Day 1: Paris, FranceVenue: Palais Bar
Other bands: Burst One’s Side + Nothing More

The tour really started at a gestation in Belgium. Riekus noticed some boxes of chips next to the gas pump. We checked it out, suspicious as we are. No one was around. This must be a trap to put punk bands in prison. The cops must know that every touring punk band lives on chips. But we simply couldn’t stand the temptation of taking a few bags… Yes, we are indeed weak. I checked them again. Yes, they are vegan approved. No, nobody was looking. I grabbed two bags and put them in the van. Rebel me!
A guy came up to us and ruined our criminal adventure when he told we could take as many bags as we wanted: the date was expired. We ended up driving off with a huge box of chips.

This was the third time we played in Paris and it was the third time Chris from Bad Bear organized the show. It was good to see him again. It was also good to see the people of Burst One’s Side again. Even for a Wednesday night, it was a good show.
Nothing More played first and they reminded me of the Descendents. They had a really good sound and they were a three-piece, which’s always a plus. Burst One’s Side play sort of modern hardcore/ punk. An awesome 88 Fingers Louis cover made their set perfect!
It was the first show of the tour and I could really feel it. I mean, I played well, and it was nice to see a lot of people sang along with the songs. But it wasn’t completely fluently. On the other side, we had a lot of fun.

We stayed at Chris’ house again, right outside of Paris. We could use a good sleep, because the next day would be a long drive.

Day 2: Toulouse, France
Venue: Cave De La Notte
Other bands: Owngame

The drive was long indeed. I had a good chance to read in my book I brought along, “De Eeuw Van Mijn Vader” by Geert Mak. Some Dutch history lessons are learned here. And I was looking forward to play in Toulouse again. The other times we played there were simply amazing. The city is beautiful; it has a great D.I.Y. scene. This time it wasn’t our friend PierrO who organized the show, but Remi from HardcoreShows Toulouse. A nice vegan meal was made, and it tasted damn good after a long trip from Paris!
The show was in a small basement in the middle of Toulouse. Parking was almost impossible, but luckily we had Etjen from Just Like You Mom Toursupport as our driver. He can squeeze the van in every possible small parking spot available, he even likes doing it.
The show was really nice. Quite some people showed up, and really enjoyed our set. We played a lot of songs from the new album, and some were already singing along. That’s a good thing I guess.

Before the show we did an interview for a local zine. We were asked several questions about the new album of course. One of the questions was what events inspired us to write the album. And that question really made me realize I write mainly about events or subjects that bother me, that make me angry. I don’t feel the urge to write about happy subjects at all. Does that make me a cynical, grumpy asshole? I don’t know…

Day 3: La rochelle
Venue: WBC
Other Bands: LHF, Borderline, Nil Novi

I don’t know what to write about this show. We played with a noise rock band, a young punk band that had their first show ever, and an old rock band. We had nothing to do here. Completely nothing. The promoter of the show was the nicest guy ever, but also had no idea what to do with us. He already booked the show and because somebody else’s mistake, he was stuck with some Dutch punk band who don’t eat meat (not even cheese!) and keep asking questions about sleeping places, time schedules and backlines. The poor guy. I’ve never felt so out of place and uncomfortable.
We played last, and there were ten people remaining to watch us. We dedicated a song to Steve though…

Day 4: Angouleme
Venue: Le Mars Attack
Other bands: Penalty, Primal Age, None Shall Be Saved

We woke up in the venue in La Rochelle, got some breakfast and headed out to Angouleme. This show was also really last minute and we didn’t know what to expect. When we arrived we were overwhelmed by the venue. Everything was really well arranged, the venue itself was quite big, the backstage was filled with food and drinks. But nobody knew that we were playing… We were put on this show very last minute (the day before) and we could play a short set. Again, the promoters of the show were the nicest people, and I felt very uncomfortable and not in place. We played on a metalcore-show… We got food and a place to sleep, but no money. Better than nothing, that’s true. But it’s pretty fucked up to arrive in such a nice place in this way. I’d love to play there a decent show, not come and spoil somebody’s metalcore-party.
The set we played was short and fast. And I liked it. I watched the other bands and it was nice to see that Primal Age had this nineties vegan straight edge message. I can imagine it’s pretty hard to be vegan in France. The other bands were really not my thing, but they were definitely nice people. Thanks to Niko for taking care of us!

Day 5: Day Off

We woke up pretty late because we really could use a good sleep. We checked on the internet all the cheap Formula 1 Hotels on the way to Portugal. The tour booker of the tour text messaged us we could stay at his mom’s house for the days off. That was two hours out of the right direction. Besides, later he let us know we could stay there for only one day. Thanks, but no thanks. We’ll take it from here. Good luck, all the best, and have fun with the rest of your life. Bye!
So finally we weren’t dependent of somebody else, and it felt damn good. The next stop would be Bayonne, than Valladolid (Spain), than Faro, Portugal.
The ride to Bayonne was around five hours and we didn’t take any toll highways because we had all the time in the world. We passed through some really beautiful French landscapes. It was like we were on a holiday, but without the pouring rain.
We had great pizza though.

Day 6 Day off, again

We drove today. A lot. It sucked. Especially because we’re in Spain right now, without even playing one single show in the country. We made it to Valladolid safely and we had falafel. Hooray!

Day 7 Day off, again

We drove a long fucking way to get to Faro. We met up with Rafael, the promoter of the show tomorrow. We could stay at a little beach house right outside of Faro. The weather was simply beautiful and we could jump in the ocean from the porch outside of the beach house. This definitely made up for a lot of driving. It was really like a different world! Two days ago I was walking around in my winter jacket. Now I had my shorts on, thinking whether or not to plunge in the ocean. Being in a band has his advantages for sure.
We met the people of Partime Killer as well, we were playing two songs with them. Nice Finish guys who like to drink a lot.

Day 8: Faro, Portugal
Venue: Arcadia Rock Bar
Other bands: Partime Killer, Punk Mantega, Pee Jamma

Sometimes you play at bars or venues that are simply impossible to find. They seem to be hidden somewhere in between different dimensions, far out of reach from every GPS-system. Arcadia was one of those bars. It was in the middle of the city center of Faro, and we couldn’t find it. No street signs, no names of the bars at all. We just waited at the point where we thought it would be, basically next to the headquarters of the Hell’s Angels. We parked the van in the small alley and hoped we were at the right address.
Luckily a small young lady came w
alking towards us and asked us if we were the band: she was the owner of the bar. And within 30 minutes other bands, promoters, food and PA systems arrived. Everywhere in the alley doors opened and bars and cafés appeared, a completely different sight from when we arrived.
It was a Wednesday, it was our very first show in Portugal. We didn’t know what to expect at all. The bar had the perfect size for a weekday show: not too big, not too small. When the first band started playing, the place was pretty crowded already.
I didn’t play the best show ever. I mean, we had so many off days that I was completely out of the routine of touring. It was nice to see people enjoyed the set though.

Day 9: Guia (Albufeira), Portugal
Venue: FNAC Store
Other bands: –

This is without a single doubt nominated for the ‘Weirdest Show Ever’-award. The show took place in a Fnac-store, it can compared to a Virgin Mega Store. It was in a fancy shopping mall. In the back of the store there was sort of a small diner where we would play. I had no idea what I was doing here (it’s sort of the anthem of this tour by the way…). On the opposite of the stage I could see the children’s books section. People were buying the new Jack Johnson dvd, as it was playing on big flatscreen tv’s in the store. What a fucking douche bag is that Jack Johnson guy by the way!
Back to business: the show was hilarious and depressing at the same time. I really played a good, solid set. But here we were, in the belly of the beast. This was everything that capitalism represented. So it was kind of ironic to play songs like ‘Sponsorship For Life’ or ‘Another Guide…’. I guess this is what selling out feels like…

Day 10: Cascais, Portugal
Venue: Lotus Bar
Other bands: Mr Shrink, Breakloose, Partime Killer

We said goodbye to our small beach house where we stayed the last couple of days and we headed out to Cascais. I was really looking forward to this show because Joao from Infected Records would be at the show. He released our album in Portugal, booked the shows in Portugal, and was working his ass off for us. And as soon as we met, we were friends. I guess that happens sometimes…
We were also playing with Partime Killer and it was good to hang out with them as well. It was the same with Joao; you know immediately you’re friends. When you talk about favorite bands, about touring, about recordings, about daily life in general. They certainly played a good show and I enjoyed their set a lot.
When we started playing, the venue was pretty crowded. I had the time of my life on stage, it felt good to play the show. I had the idea the crowd liked it as well.
Now I have to mention the great pasta we had for diner. All the credits go to Joao’s mom for making an incredible vegan dish!

Day 11: Entroncamento, Portugal
Venue: lareira bar
Other bands: Just Under

It was the last day of tour and I was excited to play the show. I had a really good feeling about the last couple of shows so I couldn’t wait to hit the stage again. There was some confusion before we left since we found out there are two towns in Portugal with the name Entroncamento. But after some text messaging we headed out for the right one.
We arrived at a nice bar, a nice venue. Again the diner was fantastic! And the coffee was perfect as well. Strong, but great indeed. These people knew how to treat a band. All these ingredients have result in a blasting show…
A great show it was. The place was pretty crowded (again!) and everybody seemed to love it (again!).
Before the show we had nice talks about Portugal. Some history lessons were taught, and I found that Portugal was under a fascist regime until 1974. Now I’ve learned about fascist leader in Germany, Italy, and Spain. But I don’t really know anything about Portugal… it was very interesting to hear more about it.

After the show we packed everything and we drove back home. It sounds so easy; drive home. But we head over 2200 km ahead of us. Etjen packed the van so we had a small bed in the back of the van so some one could sleep there. Another person could sleep on the backseat and two were sitting in front. All credits to Willem and Etjen for driving. And Riekus for his farts that smell like a sewer.

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