The Blackout Argument

Archiv für März 2009

The whole band was looking forward to this show du to massive friendship celebration and Austrian hospitality. Unfortunatelly THE CASSIDY SCENARIO had to cancel their support slot for that night so it was just Dead Swans, This Is Hell and us. Smallest stage ever but biggest fun. Not for Raphael, though. The flu reached its peak that night, his voice was fucked and so was his mood. I went for some Austrian Kebap after the show (yes I know, still all about food) and then trailblazed my way through our sleeping place. Imagine 16 people all stuffed in ONE room. Burping, farting, smelling, laughing, fighting, moshing and threatening (”I’m gonna kill you and your family!”) until sunup. I literally caught NO sleep at all. Back in the van, heading for Italy.
(Chris)

When we arrived at the inn we were shocked ’cause it was far from nowhere and the entrance hall looked like a small farmhouse. But we were stoked when we took a view at the concert hall, ’cause it was breathtaking huge and cool. Eric and Feivel got totally insane, trashed each other and found their freedom in affection. What the fuck is on?! (Raphael)

Zedwitz, strange weirdo place indeed… but they had the BEST cereals for starters which saved my evening, at least the first part of it. Eric introduced me to the practice of “counter-mood” to fight bad mood. Worked perfectly with me, thanks for the hint! Played my new ESP guitar for the first time on this tour and completely shred my arm, every joyful thing has its price. We stayed at a hotel in Hof which was run by the nicest and most adorable people in whole Bavaria. And now we’re reaching the climax: The breakfast we got included EVERYTHING that has EVER been served any time, any place. We ate until we almost died, 8 hours later and I’m still full. (Chris)

Back in the van. Feivel looks so funny when he’s asleep. We filmed his open mouth and Ben (DEAD SWANS) got horny and stuck his finger in Feivel’s sexy mouth. Feivel woke up and was totally pissed off. Uuuh!
The local heroes A TRAITOR LIKE JUDAS got the crowd moving. We played next and it was one of the best shows on this tour so far. The kids danced, sang along and had much fun. THIS IS HELL played an encore and Rob (DEAD SWANS) kicked the dance floor and sang along. Doesn’t he sound like a pig?

Raphael

We arrived at Gießen very early so we had enough time to check out the location. We recognized the main problem of the evening immediately: The way to the stage led over steep and slippy stairs like the ones you may know from Indiana Jones Movies. The fact that snowflakes kept falling on our heads made everything easier… nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot. The highlight of the evening was DEAD SWANS´ drummer Benny smashing his head against a wall – he thought it was curtain! Our sleeping places for today were located at the promoter´s house were his cats were already waiting for us. When there´s no more room in hell…
Yer Moma,
Feivel and Eric

On the drive to the venue we watched the horror movie “the descent” and after that Feivel was so scared, that he couldn’t pee on his own in the scary venue which was once a house of Napoleon and later a school building. Eric and me played basketball against two guys of the club and won. When THIS IS HELL started playing I kicked the mosh pit very hard and I fuckin’ enjoyed it. Fortunately I’m working in a pharmacy so we’ve got medicine for everything and we need it actually everyday. When we went to bed, Feivel was still scared and I think he listened to a “Benjamin Blümchen” tape, when he tried to fall asleep.

It was a festival with many bands so we arrived very early. The kids who set up the show were awesome and the dinner was great. I shaved my big fat beard in the backstage bathroom and a funny shemale guy wanted to jackass me, ’cause he thought I’d speak English. He said some shit in German to me. Later on, on stage I dedicated a song to him and his shitty hair straightener. The stage was a huge one and we had a lots of fun rockin’ to our songs.

Oh yeah, one of these shows… we haven’t had the feeling of not being welcome in a long time but yesterday it was definitely the case, at least concerning the promoter. Whatever… Show was alright I guess, kids looking at us like aliens, just like our 2008 show at the same club. Food sucked so I got some amazing vegan hot dogs with good “german kraut”! Saved my evening and my mood increased immediatelly. Breakfast was a blast, though.

Reading former posts in this tour diary I get the feeling that this whole trip is more about food than about music hahaha. So let’s talk about music: Getting ready for the tour we prepared more than 20 songs for our set of which we wanted to rotate a few positions. so far we’ve only been playing the same set every night due to massive laziness but also because it seems to work fine for us.

Right now we’re heading for Karlsruhe. I am SO MUCH looking forward to this show, Feivel knows why…

Eindhoven has a HUGE brand new youth club. The show started damn early and we were up to kick the stage. Phil found a monstrous box full of candies and I think we definitely have to go to a dentist after this candy slaughter. We owned the rest of the box and went into the center of Eindoven, where the fuckin’ party already counted its victims. Feivel and Eric ruined their life by dancing to underoath in a irish pub and Chris and me killed our stomachs once again with french fries, pizza, some scary cheese stuff and Dr. Pepper coke. I love my life.

Best,

Raphael

THE BLKOUTAGMNT

We arrived at 7 am. Fortunately the promoter of the club gave us the key for the band apartment so we could finally fall asleep. I woke up, brushed my teeth and got on stage. The concert was cool. After the show we went to the infamous Reeperbahn. We were afraid of the girls there and almost did it the British way. But we kept our jeans dry and ate some Turkish stuff before we fell asleep. All bands slept in one room so it stank like shit and we died by anoxia.

Best,

Raphael

THE BLKOUTAGMNT

We drove to Stockholm and hung out there. We found our new album in a music shop and almost bought it. Chris and me were hungry as fuck, so we went to a Mexican restaurant and ordered bourritos. The dude who sold the stuff almost killed us because he had a weird day. I got a bourrito with meat and wanted a vegetarian one. Fuck! I was so afraid of the Mexican bulldog, that I asked a girl who worked there instead if I could get a new one. All good in the end, amazing dinner!

After that we had another 12 hour drive through the night. Fuck my life.

Best,

Raphael

THE BLKOUTAGMNT