Langenfelder Strasse, Hamburg - 2010-02-09
Our hopes of finding Wi-Fi, W-Lan or internet was not met properly. But now we are sitting on a slow line in Hamburg five days into the tour and so far all have flowed really well and been really, really successful.
It was a great start in Malmö at perhaps Swedens smallest stage, Vinylbaren. Full of people, a nice band called “Turn Off Your Televison”, and quite ok Thai food. This was the only gig where sleeping was not part of the deal. Luckily, we had earlier this week found out that our friend Jonas “Skrållan” Pettersson (studying in Lund) had a two-week hole to fill. So now we have a 1:st driver/Merchman which feels awesome. The night was simply spent in his room in Lunds tightest student corridors.
The next day was a tough one when we had the tour’s longest drive in front of us. Up at seven, thanks for the coffee and hit the road. We rolled over bridges, through the flat Danish countryside and into German territory. The GPS failed but experienced as we are, we had a backup. Also lucky that Rasmus had an excellent sense of smell for “Schtau” (Traffic congestion). Many times Raz nostrils steered us through mile-long queues.
Having arrived in Solingen, which would be our first German gig, we met up with the lovely organizers. The actual club area/stage was pretty small and I felt a bit industrial-underground, but in a nice way. We installed ourselves quickly in the cozy bedroom on top of the club and started to bond with the boys in “Paper Planes”
A few beers later, it was time. With the Berndt letters standing on the DJ booth and the microphones on the floor, we pulled of one of our better gigs in a long time. Really nice atmosphere and yet again with a crowded room. Afterwards there was beer drinking in the merch area and continued partying in the bedroom and on the small concrete dance floor. There were a lot of good stuff going on. Bas-dancing, German folk songs, and tasting of knäcke-bread with cream cheese.
The next morning we woke up in tears in the smoke-filled room about half past twelve. We discovered to our horror that the exotic knäcke-bread and soft cheese with sweet pepper flavor rations was almost gone. Fail. We were close to get a Doppel-fail when Sunday’s gig in Landau had been moved forward and we suddenly had nowhere to sleep for the night. Fortunately, we had to do with the world’s best club organizers, Laura and Dominik, who let us stay for another night.
Really pleased to have received an extra night in Solingen we spent the remaining time to help with cleaning, exploring the city and eat a wonderful, good pasta with tomato sauce. After a bit of chilling, movies and computer we slept hard.
The next morning we packed the car and pointed the GPS at Wretzlar. We found out that Cologne was pretty close and because there was not that many hours of driving we decided to see the sights a bit. We drove there, check out the great churches, ate Chinese buffet and drove off.
We arrived at Wretzlar at he same time as the evening’s other band, Cats In Paris. Their car had capsized down in Paris and they had now tied all the packaging to the roof of their little Ford. Awesome.
After some warm wecome cheers of champagne, soundcheck and packing, it was time for dinner. Our host Siegmar lived up in the village along the cobblestone streets of a crazy apartment. Up through the thousands of rickety stairs we faced rooms filled with everything from carved wooden dools to “Katten Findus” posters. We had a really good dinner and then it was time.
Even this nights gig was a successful one and despite Monday it was still a half-full room. Cats In Paris was alsa a great live act, and it will be really fun to see them again tomorrow night.
Now we have just arrived in Hamburg, filled our stomachs with wook alá fred and been taking a shower for the first time in three days. See you again soon!
/ Emil with Berndt
Read in Swedish @ Kultur Ungdom
