Done Like Dinner
This afternoon we played the last show of our 2012 European Tour. Paul, Keith, Kathy, and myself had a great time over here and we’d like to thank all of our friends, old and new, who came out to our concerts and made the whole thing worth doing. It was great to visit some of our favourite places from previous trips and we were thrilled to check out some new towns and venues along the way. 
We’d especially like to thank Geoff Vane and his friends from Radio Transit for coming out in Sittard NL and recording and filming the show. It was a lot of work and effort for you guys and it was greatly appreciated.
No tour would be complete without the request time spent waiting for something to happen, sitting in an uncomfortable van, drinking beer, eating other peoples food, sleeping on couches, drinking more beer, eating french fries, exploring the finer aspects of gas station cuisine and last but not least making new friends. So to every one we’ve hung out with over the last two weeks we say PROOST and we’ll see you soon.
JC
Luxembourg Street Scenes
A few hefty travel days and some prehistoric internet connections have been keeping me from posting anything the last few days but now here we are in Hoorn NL.
We had an interesting gig in Luxembourg City last night. It sort of reminded me of playing at the Quinsam Hotel in Campbell River. It seemed like the sort of crowd that goes bananas at the end of the night not because they want an encore but because they’re afraid the beer’s going to stop flowing once the band stops rocking. Of course this is Europe so the beer never stops flowing and the crowds really do love the music.
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Daily Hyperbole
Best burger ever?
I haven’t eaten a hamburger in a really long time but since I’m in Hamburg I figured today was as good a day as any (yes, I actually thought that). Before exercising my carnivorous license however I decided to stop at Hamburg Deichttor Hallen for a little cultural enrichment.
After checking out the gallery I asked the lady at the front desk where I should eat and she kindly directed me a place called Oberhafen-Kantine . This isn’t the kind of place I was expecting to eat but it turned out to be a great choice. The beer was perfect and the burger was just the right combination of greasy and gourmet. I didn’t know that putting an egg on a burger that already has bacon, BBQ sauce and caramelized onions on board was a thing but I’m sure glad that it is. For now I’m calling this the best burger ever!
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It’s kind of weird having three days off in the middle of a tour but tomorrow it’s back to the rock!
JC
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Hamburg
Yesterday we arrived in Hamburg Germany. It’s quite the contrast from the order and tidiness of Eindhoven but that’s cool, I could use a little big city grime. That’s not to say Hamburg is all grimy because it isn’t. We just happen to be staying on Reeperbahn. For all of you readers at home, imagine taking the downtown east side and dropping it square on the Granville strip. That’s not the most accurate description but it’s the best I can do off of the top of my head. To say the least it’s total disorder at night.
We had last night off so I went out and caught some jazz music at a place called Bar 227. The music wasn’t entirely to my taste but it was very good. It was reassuring to see another small room packed with people listening to a group’s original music. Tonight we are off as well so I may try to hit a jam session or perhaps just wander the streets…
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Road Photos
These photos are from Witten Germany and Eindhoven Nederlands.
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I don’t have any video from the gig in Witten but I will tell you that it was a total gong show on stage. I can’t describe in writing the scene that unfolded with the sound man as we were getting ready to hit. It was almost comical. “Almost” being the key word. The situation was that the bass amp had stopped working between sound check and the gig (how does that happen?) and the stage was so messy that the sound man couldn’t figure out what cables went where. After 20 minutes of frantic plugging and unplugging he gave up and just put a mic in front of the amp. I thought the poor guy was going to keel over.
The Rambler in Eindhoven was the complete opposite and as always a serious rock and roll crowd showed up to cheer us on. We were even given a box each containing an assortment of the finest Belgian beers. I know what I’m doing with my night off!
Here’s a new one we’ve been working on:
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Road Drums
Drums on the road can be a hit or miss situation. I’ve had everything from drums that are so valuable I didn’t even want to look at them to the ”WTF? Is this a Joke?” kind of kits that are a little more common. Of course when you are travelling without gear, as is necessary now days, you really are at the mercy of what is available at your destination. I always try to be gracious about the drums even when they are appallingly bad. Every once in a while however I don’t do such a goos job in the diplomacy department.
On one outing with the Cory Weeds/Jim Rotondi Quintet the drums were a special kind of terrible that I was finding difficult to overcome. While I was working away on them at sound check a young man of maybe eleven or twelve walked up to me and asked me how I liked the drums. ”They’re pretty terrible” was my thoughtful response. “Oh” he said and went off on his way. At the end of the gig the sound man came up to me to say how much he had enjoyed the show and then asked ”How did you like my son’s drums?”
“Um…great…was that him I spoke to earlier? Uh…please thank him for me”
Ouch. I felt like such a jerk.
Fortunately there’s no chance of that happening on this tour as I’ve borrowed some drums from my friend Marcel van de Vondervoort here in Holland. It makes a big difference to be playing on a good set of drums every night. It’s not just how they sound but how easy they are top deal with when you’re setting up and tearing down every night.
This tour also marks the first time I’m travelling without cymbals which in case you don’t know is a bit unusual. Again though Marcel hooked me up with some great gear including some serious boutique cymbals.
Check out Marcel’s band Astrosoniq
In case you’re a drum nerd who’s into this kind of stuff here’s what I’m using on this tour:
Gretsch Black Nitro 20″x14″ bass drum, 12″x8 tom, 14×14 floor tom
DW 14×5 Aluminum Collectors Series Snare Drum
22″ Vintage A. Zildjian Ride
18″ Roberto Spizzichino Ride
15″ Hi Hats with a vintage K Zildjian bottom and a Johan VDS top.
This defiantly ranks as the best set up I’ve ever had every night for a tour. It sure makes life easier.
JC
Breskens Street Festival
It was good to be back in Breskens again. It’s one of our favourite places that we visit in our travels. It’s not just playing to a packed house of enthusiastic music fans that makes this a special place though. Breskens is a small beach side community of about 5000 people and each time we’ve been here I’m pretty sure the same 100-150 people have been at our show.
When I look out into the crowd all I see is familiar faces and people singing along. After the show folks come up and reintroduce themselves making the scene a bit like a reunion. Everyone knows everyone. The bar stays open long after the band is finished and people spill out on to the street and socialize before teetering off to there homes.
The owner of The Bounty is a fellow name Martin who always treats us very well. Beer all night and amazing fresh shrimp sandwiches after the show. This year Martin decided to put on a street party with several bands, a greasy burger and chips wagon and a beer truck. It was pretty impressive that such an event could take place in a residential neighbourhood like this but Martin assured me that the mountain of paper work necessary to make it happen was as intimidating in Breskens as it might be anywhere at home (although I’m pretty sure it would be almost impossible to pull something like this off on say the corner of Lakewood and Grant in Vancouver!).
This photo was taken almost two hours after we finished. The beer was still flowing and the greasy burgers and chips were still sizzling away. The bar was jammed inside and many locals stayed to help take down the stage and lighting equipment.
Tonight we’re off to The Ace Cafe in Rumst Belgium. We’ve only been there once before but it’s another small neighbourhood hang that gets jammed full of people and is super rockin. I’m not so jet lagged today so I’m hoping to get out and about and take some more pictures too.
JC
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Cousin Harley @ Burgerweeshuis
Here we are in Deventor shakin’ off the jet lag cob webs and trying to deal with an lugubrious guitar amp. The thing was brand new but I think it died of fright halfway into the first number.
