European tour w. Miss Mofet october 2003

11/10 - On our way to Corefest 5 in Holland.

Yesterdays gig in Roskilde, Denmark (which was the first one on this tour) was a clear display of chaos. The Paramount is a hangout for local crustpunks and musiclovers and the place sort of has that same kind of vibe. Having driven around in circles for quite some time we finally found it and started loading in our gear.

The aroma in the air in Paramount was...interesting you might say. Alot of smoke unfortunally, but the food was good. No coffe though, too bad. We had brought some instant coffe with us, but since we couldnt get any hot water either we had to make due without any caffeine that night.

After a soundcheck in the classical punkmanner (that is: nothing works) the Miss Mofet boys started their part of the show. They played hard, a really cool gig. We jumped up on stage right after. I had some electrical problems with my guitar, but it went ok anyway. Good crowd and a fun gig to play. We did our best. Doing gigs on the floor, without a stage, is great! We met alot of nice people there too, a good start.

Now, weve been driving the whole night. Not much sleep. Were all quite dirty. Would like to find a shower and a few gallons of coffe and I would be allright. Doesnt seem very likely though.

We went shopping for breakfast a while ago. Me and Marko were impressed by the discipline and organisation in the supermarket we visited. Everything was very neat, tidy, symmetrical and colourcoordinated. Cool as hell! I like Holland so far.

We were called in to play an encore yesterday in Denmark. It felt good, but kind of strange. I have no idea of what to expect of tonights gig? I just hope my guitar works properly. Have to get some sleep tonight. On a floor preferably. A bed is no use thinking about, ha ha.

11/10 - 22.55 pm, Delft, Holland.

We have just packed in all our stuff in the van and learned that the young Dutch man, whose quarters were occupying tonight, wont leave until 01:00. Everybody`s tired...or, some of us are tired. A few of the Mofet boys are partying and scamming on the local birds. Im feeling rather unclean and tired. Tonights show didnt go as well as yesterdays. Small stage, but a better on-stage sound. We even had stage monitors this time, wohoo! Miss Mofet kicked serious ass tonight. Really good! The other bands weve seen has not impressed us one little bit unfortunally. Alot of germans concentrating their music mainly on double-bass drumming-macho-hardcoremetal. Utterly boring.

Now, weve got two hours to kill before we get to shower and sleep. Crap. Alot of nice girls around here, but I just dont have the energy to care. The smell of marijuana is everywhere. Were totally restless and bored out of our minds at the same time. Thats a bad combination, but the group moral is still relatively high. The architecture in Delft is fascinating. The city is surrounded and pierced by an intricate system of canals. All the houses are very small and built together along the streets. We have so far found 4 cathedrals, really old and magnificent. Our heads are spinning from looking at them. You really feel like a fucking tourist. We dont see this kind of stuff at home. We make some futile attempts to read some Dutch newspapers. Hopeless. Major syntax error. I could see myself living here. Amazing scenery everything seems to be in order and the people seem very friendly and open. The coffe is not too shabby either.

12/10 - 17:30 (?) Germany

En route towards Nalbach, Germany. Behind schedule and lost as always. Got stopped in customs between Luxembourg and Germany. Pretty unsettling situation, but it went ok. We got searched and had to show our passports. Who said the borders in EU are open? After a confusing inspection of the tobacco snuff that Toni and Johannes had on them we were sent on our way. Now, were looking for tonights place to play.

13/10 - Midmorning Nalbach, Germany

Now we are officially done with Nalbach, a very, very small village. Yesterday was interesting. The place was located in the middle of nowhere with a house decorated with neon letters that said: "Lady Night" as its only neighbour. Fairly decent people. We even got a dressing room area, food, water and a case of beer. Jackpot! The stage was so small that we had to put the drums and amps on it and plant ourselves on the floor. P.A only for the vocals. Were getting used to that now. I like playing on floors. We moshed away and had a blast. Mofet aswell. One of their guitars broke down in the middle of their set so they had to use mine, but it went allright. Not alot of people there. We were supposed to be paid 325 euro. We got 135. Not very good.

On top of that, the sleeping arrangements got fucked up. Eventually it worked out thanks to a local drunk in his 50s by the name of Roland. He was at the show getting sloshed beyond belief. To say that we were somewhat sceptic to the idea of sleeping at his place at first would be an understatement. We were imagening all kinds of stupid things, that he was a total junkie-massmurdering-necropedophile who would eat us in our sleep. We were wrong, he was cool. He lived outside of the village in the forest were he had a restaurant and was building a hotel. His house looked like a huge, filthy bachelor pad. He had two giant Rotweilers guarding it. Toni didnt like them so he and I slept in the van that night. Kind of cold and uncomfortable, but we made it. Roland gave us some morning coffe before we left. He drank beer the whole time. Took some pictures of him and got the hell out of there. We have just now finished eating breakfast in a parkinglot outside a local supermarket and are trying to find a clean gasstation to do our, ehrrrm...morning business. Today is a day off.

14/10 - Duisburg, Germany 10:30

Im sitting at a local cafeteria all in my lonesome, trying to wake up. The german coffe isnt very good, but it sort of gets the job done and if there is one thing I have discovered on this tour it is that you cant afford to be picky about your caffeine. In fact, we have found ourselves lucky if we have gotten any at all. So, Im silently enjoying the watery brew and checking out the locals. We spent last night at a lovely young woman named: Corinna. She volunteered to house us in for this first one, of our two days off, for no charge at all. Incredible hospitality! She studies and works extra at a local university and handles the English language quite exellentely. I cant really grasp the fact that this sweet character lets 9 stinking boys crash her small apartment for a whole night. She hadnt even heard our music or anything. She just wanted to help us out, support the "scene" if you will. Well, whatever the motive, were incredibly thankful. We felt bad that we couldnt pay her anything.

Marko and Erik woke me up as they left to find breakfast. The others were still sleeping. Since Corinnas apartment has a limited amount of space I figured I might as well get a move on out me too and find myself some coffe. Said and done. I just hope I find the way back, ha ha. I seem to be out a little too early. Only baceries open. Wrote some postcards that has to be sent. Checked out the city library. I was hoping to find a computer to check my e-mail, but the lines of people waiting for their turn was too long. Darkest Hour are playing in Belgium tonight and were driving there to offer our services in exchange for a place to sleep. We have no idea if this will work, but thats the only plan weve got. I feel really at home being on tour. It feels good to get away from the numbing safety at home. Sure, it requires some adjustment to being dirty all the time, eating irregularly, not understanding the language and not being able to visit a toilet whenever you feel like it, but its all quite allright. I really love to play live. Seeing new places and meeting new people thanks to our music feels amazing and surrealistic. Im happy Im still naive about all this. Im sure that will disappear some day, but Im not looking forward to it.

We spent yesterday being total tourists in the German city of Köln. Went to check our e-mails and visited the cathedral. Amazing! 157 m up in the sky. The view was nothing short of impressing. You really understand the power the church had back then. This enormous building even made me, a convinced athesit, intimidated and humble. The architectural details are fantastic and you really feel history breathing in there. Even if the coffe leaves quite alot to wish for I think Ill get me another cup. Who knows when Ill get the chance to be on my own, drinking coffe again? Better salvage the moment.

14/10 - 20:20, Kontich, Belgium.

We are now at the Darkest Hour gig. Unfortunally, we cant play due to it being a weekday and concerts have to be over and done with at an early hour. Not enough time for us prats to perform. Too bad, this is a really cool place. We set up a table with our records and a note describing our desperate situation without a place to sleep. Nobody holds much hope for this "cry for help", but we have to try anything. Well probably start driving for Rouen, France, right after the show. No point in trying to sleep sitting in the minivan all night. Well, well, not much to do. I just hope well have good sleeping places in France. I really would have liked to play tonight. Fuck it.

(later) Owner of the club were at: Peter, has incredibly enough let us sleep here. We will soon be in debt of gratitude to everyone in Europe. I cant believe that people can be this friendly. We are not worthy. Darkest Hour rocked by the way!!!

15/10 - 11.45, somewhere in France.

On our way for tonights gig in Rouen. Stayed up a bit late last night... Ryan, the drummer in Darkest Hour, came up and chatted with us after the show. What a cool dude! He thought we should have asked him if we could have played and he would have set it up for us. Ah well, atleast he snuck us in backstage and gave us food and beer. Me and Daniel stayed up and partied with Americanos. John, DH-vocalist, was pretty sloshed and got behind the bar to serve us all some drinks. I wont even try to estimate how many beers I drank last night, but I feel allright considering. Me and Daniel even got a bed each to sleep in. The roadie for Darkest Hour, a big, big man by the name of Tito slept in the bunk below me. There was quite alot of herbal exercises going on. Not my thing, but it was quite entertaining noticing the effects it had on the others. Darkest hour had a lot of good stories from their time spent in Sweden when they recorded their latest album. Ill have to go check them out the next time they come to Sweden to play. Ha, ha, I woke up to hearing Paul, the bassist, vomiting on the floor (or in the toilet maybe?). Great. Hope they like the records we gave them.

16/10 - 11:00, Rouen, France.

Now leaving Rouen and our new friend Vincent for tonights gig in Brussels, Belgium. I think yesterdays gig was the best one yet. Good place, good sound and a good amount of people in the audience. Two local bands performed as well. The crowd seems really in to the whole kick-boxing style of moshing. I dont like it. It belongs in a ring, not at a show. We showered and slept at Vincents small apartment. Pretty cramped, but ok. Talked to some people after the show. Both us and Miss Mofet sold some records. Good. We went touristing a little in Rouen and checked out the churches. Unfortunally theres no information about the city and its history in English. I almost miss Germany where I atleast understand a little of the language. But France is great anyway.

Rouen belongs to Normandie and we saw bullet holes and damages from bombs here and there from way back in -44. Very intriguing. Ate a baguette and drank some nasty juice for breakfast at a gas station.

16-17/10 - Brussels, Belgium (I have no freaking idea what time it is????)

Show over and done with. M4 is a cool place. A big...well, warehouse I guess with a lot of rooms, rehearsal spaces, stages and stuff. The neighbourhood has a bit of a ghetto vibe to it. Went for a walk earlier and I dont think Ive ever felt as white in my entire life. Useful experience. Not alot of people here tonight. Bummer. We motivated ourselves on pure anger and tried to deliver the goods. Went ok. Great stage. Miss Mofet played good. I think it showed on both us bands that we were a little bummed out. Too many dopeheads here. Im getting real tired of smelling marijuana all the time. Brussels is quite intense. We hear sirens constantly. We have got real beds to sleep in tonight. What a luxury! Too tired to take a shower, dont even know if there is one here? The Mofet boys are enjoying the free beer. Marko and Erik are asleep. Think Ill go to sleep me too. Dont want to drink anymore tonight. Looking forward to tomorrows gig.

18/10 - On our way AWAY from Utrecht, Holland

Dumpsquat. Let that name roll on your tongue for a while, or...no, dont. Jesus.... On our way trying to find this squat we got so incredibly lost that we were all on the verge of flipping out completely. Finally we had no choice but to call our contact to come meet us up and show us the way. He had a uniqe odour to him. So did Dumpsquat.

Some potsmoking crusties had overtaken an abandoned store or something and turned it in to a club. It had an amazing smell. The toilet was broken, leaving past human residue floating on the surface. Nothing like old urine mixed from a bunch of different people to ruin your appetite. However, as the food we were offered was quite crap too it didnt worry us too much. Let me just make it clear that we have no problem understanding that its hard for some people to afford decent accomodations and meals. After all, the DIY scene is not very economically proficient. Thats ok. Were always happy to play, wether theres money involved or not. But, cooking up a pot of an acceptable punkstew and having clean plates to offer the band coming to play for FREE is not too much to ask in my opinion. Well hey, atleast we got some beer. Too bad for the sXe boys in our group though. We went off after loading up our equipment onto the "stage" and found a falafel place to eat something proper. Some other band from Belgium played as well. Crust people. I didnt see them myself so I dont really know if they were good or not? Im sure they were appreciated since the band looked exactly the same as the audience. There seems to be a strict dresscode within the crust scene. Weird.

Got up on stage around 22:30. Mofet played first. Hard as shit. We all really tried to tear that place to shreds. The P.A consisted of two ancient speakers and one microphone hence allowing no excesses so they had to play without their samples and their keyboard. It didnt matter at all. They played really hard anyway. It was a cool gig. We hopped up on stage, maxed our amplifiers and played every fast song we could come up with. It was fun and violent. My hand is throbbing with pain from banging my guitar with it. After playing we loaded in our gear in the van and followed a couple of birds to a local rock bar and had a few drinks. Me, Daniel and Jojje hung out with these two Dutch ladies named Mel & Grace. They taught us an assortment of profanities in their native language. It was all quite entertaining since they both talked non-stop about this and that. They both spent the night at another, quite clean and nice smelling, squat where we also slept. An Irishman named James led us there. Real nice guy.

19/10 - Germany, somewhere - on our way to Hengelo, Holland

Yesterdays show was excellent. A small town in southern Germany called Idar-Oberstein. Played at some kind of youthcenter/bar. Quite a contrast to the day before. This place was clean, well organized with food and beverages in excess amounts. We even got coffe in the backstage area, lovely. We arrived a few hours early (for a change) and went to get some pizza to load our stomachs with. Very much needed. Decent amount of people at the show, alot of nice girls. We went up first and played a more evenly balanced set than the day before. Threw in quite alot of mid-tempo songs this time. Felt really good. Although, I managed to fuck up the intro to "pieces of worship". Which was rather ironic since Toni was convinced that he would mess it up himself. Well, well, it was fun anyway. Nice sleeping places, got some breakfast and a shower. I feel almost respectable now. The two other bands playing with us: Crowfish and Stupid were great. Comfortable emo-stuff, thank god. Im guessing today well hear the ever present "chugga-chugga" style hc again.

(later) We just got pulled over by a German highway police-patrol. Apparently we were speeding. Who could have guessed that you could get a speeding ticket on the autobahn? Especially since the whole German motor industry had passed us the whole time we were driving. Yeah, had to pay 35 euros. No big deal, just pointless.

20/10 - around 09:00, Hengelo, Holland

Leaving yesterdays venue, Innocent. Some sort of a matin show yesterday. Saw some bands that were among the most embarrasing acts weve ever seen. Good entertainment. To even it out we saw some really good ones too. So, a nice mixture of crap and crem you might say. Met a nice girl named Dewi who stole the attention of almost everyone of us. Talked quite a while with her. Drank a decent amount of beers. Good gig. Moshed hard, but incredibly hot. There was absolutely no oxygene in that room. Marko ran out in the middle of one song to get some air and came back just in time for the final chorus. Excellent! I played the whole set on the floor, too small of a stage to fit us all, but it was cool. Now were on our way for Hamburg and the last show on this tour. Everybodys catched a cold. My right hand hurts as hell and my left foot is aching like crazy. Think I twisted it around somehow while playing yesterday. Pain on all fronts, crippled bastard. I left one of the two pairs of shoes I had with me. Stepped in exkrements. Maybe some homeless man found them and took them to use?

Somebody forgot to leave us the key to the frontdoor so when leaving we had to climb out of a kitchen window on to the roof and down from there. Exciting. Stole some beaverages on our way out.

My physical status feels a bit questionable. Ive relied too heavily on beer alone for nutrition every night. Yesterday my foot started aching. Not sure why? Now Im limping. Eriks back is busted. Well probably stand totally still during tonights gig, but ofcourse thats really not an option. Time to swallow some painkillers and hope for the best. The cold that we all have received is not getting any better. Goddamn hypocondriacs! Atleast I havent got a fever. I dont want to go home. No matter what Im happy here.

20/10 - 20:45, Hamburg, Germany

Sitting at Rote Flora. Another squat, way better than the one in Utrecht, Holland. Alot of drugaddicts around this neighbourhood. Ive developed a fever, not good. Were playing with Funeral Diner tonight. They let us use their drumset and speakercabinets. Great, they seem like real cool people.

21/10 - 17:39 Borås, Sweden

Its all over. Been home since around midday. We drove from Hamburg sometime around midnight. Took the ferry from Germany in the middle of the night. The show in Hamburg was amazing. Played on a tiny stage in something that resembled a bombshelter down in the basement of Rote Flora. Alot of people there. We played hard and it felt like a worthy ending to the tour. Met alot of nice people and a few tragic ones too. All useful experiences. Ive never been to Hamburg before and we didnt get to see very much of this huge city, but the neighbourhodd in which Rote Flora was located was quite depressing. Not used to seeing that many drugaddicts and homeless people everywhere. Made me appreciate home a little more. Sold out all the records we had left. Feels good. I cant really grasp the fact that Im home again. It doesnt feel like weve been away for 12 days. Strange. I really dont want to be home, although it feels good to be clean and have a stomach full of food. Ill probably sleep for a few days. The days have been long. Sharing a fucking tincan on wheels with 8 other people can drive you bit insane from time to time. Being dirty, hungry, sleepdepravated, ill, restless, poor and lost in countries you dont know the language in does take its toll on your sanity. All in all this tour feels like a success, apart from getting a speeding ticket, a parking ticket and a flat tire all went well. And every little mishap is forgotten once you get up on stage. Absolute freedom. Nothing compares to it. Until the next tour (may it start tomorrow) goodbye!

/ Jens - Rentokiller