The first show in
Germany was in Koln, where, in 1989 or so, bassist John "Casanova"
Carlucci and I destroyed the dressing room of the Rose Club in a drunken
brawl over a junkie bartender (who, by the way, ended up with me....
John, on the other hand, ended up with 12 stitches). This time was not
as eventful, but it was here that we met up with our fearless tour manager,
Kurt, at Die Kantine club, where he surprised us with a new spacious tour
van, complete with table for food and card game playing. Can't remember
much about this gig other than it was a bit cozier than I'd expected.
The following gig was at Cafe Central in Weinheim. This place had a great
staff and prepared gourmet pasta and Greek salad for us. Igor snuck a copy
of my solo cd to the dj and he played "White Trash Thing" in it's entirety
before the show, instigating quite a few sales, which came as a shock to
me. Guess heartache and despair are universal. If memory serves me correctly
(and it rarely does), my pal Werner (head honcho for Fan Pro, the sci-fi
publishing company) came out to catch the show again (he'd brought his teenage
daughter backstage at BeBeat - a brave thing for a dad to do!) The club (and
the two previous) did almost no advertising, claiming that they felt the
band would not draw, so why spend the money on advertising? No wonder Germany
lost the war. Nevertheless, the amazing backstage resembled a victorian
bordello, complete with generous rider (though no booze - unless perhaps
Igor snatched the whiskey before I did)! I forget the name of the gal who
did sound but she was fantastic.
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By the 6th
show I knew that IBD had really put some effort into the routing of
the tour - as it was a vast improvement over last year's gruelling "Kill
The Fuzztones" tour. The average drive between towns was about 4 hours,
opposed to last years 6-8. With a practically new line-up of 'Tones that
actually enjoyed touring, as well as each other's company, the drives
were not only bearable, but often FUN. Igor kept everyone amused with
enebriated tales of his sordid life, as well as constant bouts with
sexual tourettes. Our last show in Germany (until our return a few weeks
later) was in Osnabruck. We played a "Youth Center" called Westwek
- but I didn't see one audience member under the age of 30! Liquor was
not allowed but Igor snuck us some whiskey nonetheless, and Jana had
brought me a bottle of absinthe from Berlin's Absinthe Shop, making it
possible for us to put on our usual inspired show. By this point the
band was really jelling. Gabe and Roger found their impenetrable groove,
a perfect foundation for Jana's soulful keyboard playing. New kid Vince
started to feel at ease and really began sinking his teeth into the leads,
making it easy for me to feel loose enough to let 'er rip. Fans continually
told me that this was the best line-up yet, and I have to agree!
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