We’ve played many gigs in Hamburg over the years and this definitely a new one on us. Nice venue and again very friendly helpful people, not to mention the two big dogs lounging around the bar. Neil’s viral infection has got worse (we thought he was going to collapse after the Giessen gig) so he’s sent off to see a doctor and Andy and myself go on a laundry run with Ricky. It’s a comedy of error from start to finish but quite good fun though the laundrette itself seems to have been run by David Lynch such was the cast of random characters that kept coming through it.


Lynch's Lauderette

Back at the venue Neil has been advised by the doctor not to do the gig but he’s adamant he can do the show. We blow out soundcheck, trim the set a little and get ready for the show. Show is again proper mental, no barrier so plenty of stagediving ensues though i always get a bit nervous when people put empty glasses on the stage. As an audience member i’d see that as being quite dangerous, especially when the pit was so  busy. Towards the end of our set a topless Mr Warwick belts out of the crowd and performs a suitably epic stagedive...a nice touch indeed!


View from club

Gig flies by and after an encore we’re off to the upstairs dressing room and getting out of the cold clothes. Hot showers all round and the band all opt for an early night in an attempt to shake off the myriad of colds, viruses and lurgies doing the rounds. Top gig, top club and top marks to Neil Cooper.

Mikehellx

Shower rating: 8/10 Really nice little mini apartment upstairs at gig.

Food rating: 8/10 Nice tofu and rice dish.

Weird gig...nothing wrong with the venue or crowd but we all found this one a hard show. Strange atmosphere for some reason...nuff said.

Mikehellx

Shower rating: 5/10 nice enough but marked down as was in public area with no lock on the door.

Food rating: 8/10 Lovely Chinese buffet brought in.

And so the team building continues! As today is a day off we’d asked if Jan our German promoter could organise a ‘5-a-side’ football match against some of the local crew. He duly obliged and Team Therapy? rolled up to the indoor pitch at 3pm to face the Dusseldorf Randoms.

The match was quite a close fought contest and at one point T? were 5-0 down but for some reason the 7 weeks of touring had brought on a killer sense of pace and as Dusseldorf began to flag the T? boys piled on the pressure. As the final whistle blew Therapy? emerged victorious with a 17-14 win, super football and a well deserved win.

Mikehellx


Team Shot - From left: Daniel Saia, Neil, Ricky, Frank Poppe aka The Denim Demon, Richard, Dennis Saia, Jan, Dave, Nico Spielmann, Andy

Man, this was a pretty crazy gig. Good vibes all day and a really mental crowd, plenty of interaction with them and even a loud chant of “Evil Priestevilpriestevilpriest!”. Very funny and we got it all on video and recorded...

..

Afterwards head out for a few drinks and many thanks to Peter the DJ for spinning so many cool tunes. It was exactly what we all needed after a stressful few days.

Mikehellx

Shower rating: 7/10 Two of them and plenty hot water.

Food rating: 8/10 Nice dinner in house. Good selection.

No one really knows what to expect today but the venue is big and a bit like a UK style ‘town hall’. Not sure how many rock shows have been on here but everyone is cool and the welcome is friendly. Andy and i decide to take a walk into town so we potter off down the hill, through the park, past the football pitch, over two bridges, past the castle then up another hill into town. There’s not much to see so we’re on the cusp of turning back when we stumble across the pedestrianised main street.

 Get some toilettes and Xmas stuff before heading back up to the gig. We’re on a good old rant about ‘Kebabgate’ when we realise were a little bit lost. 20 minutes later and still walking through the park we realise we are REALLY lost. After another circle of the park it’s getting much darker though we do recognise a small coffee stand from earlier.

After a frantic call or two to Rich we get better directions and get back on the right track. Soundcheck is a quick one and after eating it’s nearly showtime. Watch a bit of Ricky from out front and he’s going down good indeed. Our show goes pretty cool as well, the crowd are into it and we enjoy playing on the big stage. Aftershow it down to the basement for a shower then we meet a few people, sign stuff and grab a quick drink at a bar.

Mikehellx

Shower rating: 5/10 Warm enough but 2 flights down in a freezing basement. It was also noted by one of the more spiritually enlightened crew that the ‘feng-shui’ of the room was wrong as well.

Food rating: 6/10 Pretty good, simple but effective.

Wake-up parked outside the club and head in with Andy to check it out. All seems cool and everyone is friendly so we dump our bags and go for a walk. End up on a wild goose chase down to Alexander Platz to try and find a CD-recorder...no joy there  so head back up to the club and take a wander round the graveyard near the club. It’s nice to be somewhere nice and quiet after all the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks and there are some very impressive tombs in there as well. It’s already getting dark so back for soundcheck it is.



That goes well and then after dinner we chill out for a while and then head down to a completely packed club. The crowd is particularly rabid so there is a lot of energy and we give them the full-on show. It’s bloody hot and after a few songs both us and the audience are bathed in sweat.

Aftershow we meet up with a few friends and have a drink but as we’re all knackered we don’t last too long. Just before the bus leaves there’s a bit of an incident involving fast food which has now been re-christened ‘KebabGate’...;)


The Guilty Kebab

Mikehellx

Shower rating: n/a No showers folks.
Food rating: 6/10 Sweet and sour take-out from next door.

This is one of those out-of-the-way gigs that means you don't get a chance to see anything but the concert hall and backstage. A real pity as i'd have liked to experience Warsaw.  Still, we finally get to meet Jordan Babula, a local journalist who has championed the band for years and  he's very charming and entertaining.

The gig itself is utterly fantastic, the crowd are in full voice from the start until the last note and i feel moved by the reaction of the crowd.



Finding out later that the Editors and Alice in Chains are also gigging on the same night  makes this evening all the more special.  Big respect to the Warsaw crowd, we hope to come back very soon and a big respect to you all.

Andy C

Wake up in a huge car park facing an enormous shopping centre. The place is jam packed with mini-buses which take people from the suburbs to and from this consumer paradise.
The gig itself is right beside the car park and is warm and very cosy.

Before the show myself, Richard the tour manager and Neil go for a wander. The town itself is cobbled and impressive and we find a little traditional bar which glows with autumnal ambience and makes us wish we could go back after the show instead of heading straight for Warsaw.

The show itself is enjoyable. The opening band (Moja Adrenalina) are great, very inventive in a Dillinger Escape Plan/Mid-period King Crimson way.
Our set flies by. The crowd is very vocal and it's always mind-blowing to come to a relatively unchartered land and find that so many people are keen on the band and know a whole breadth of the band's material.

The local crew are very helpful too and given the cold bite in the late evening air their help is much appreciated by our team after the show.

The warm bus and hot drinks beckon, it's a quiet night to Warsaw.

Andy C

Feeling nicely refreshed after a great day off everyone is in rather chipper form. The venue is lovely and there’s a huge backstage area so that’s always nice to spread out in and sort out the old suitcase. Day is quiet enough, potter about and organise the ‘Golden Liver’ award which is a new award we’ve created for services in the drinking stakes. Normally the criteria is for someone who’s been hammering it for 7 days or more so we defiantly have a good few candidates.





Our friends from Berlin Shirley Holmes are down to open up so looking forward to seeing them again. Soundcheck goes smooth, sound is killer onstage so we head upstairs for tasty dinner. Watch the Shirley Holmes gig and they sound great, good songs and a cool attitude onstage. Ricky goes down great again and soon enough we’re waiting in the wings ready to go on. The place isn’t packed by any means but the atmosphere is great and the set runs really smoothly. We bust out “I Am The Money” for the first time in ages and get a great reaction. People are going for it big time so we do the full encore etc and leave the stage to a noise fest and a Beckett outro.



Shower and then we hit the bus for the long drive to Krakow, Stevie gets the ‘Golden Liver’ award for services to drinking and we do a quick presentation on the bus then as it’s movie night we watch “Right At Your Door” which comes highly recommended.

Shower rating: 7/10 Good one

Food rating: 8/10 Cauliflower and fennel soup? Weird but delicious

I’m always a fan of unusual venues so this is a good one. An old war bunker anyone? Two flights down, dressing room as the old ‘panic room’? Apparently it was a civilian bunker during WWII and the amount of bullet holes and shrapnel damage on the facade bears testament to that.



Day goes smoothly enough, all done and dusted by 6pm and then we go for a quick wander into town for food. As it’s fast approaching stage time and the only place open is a fast food joint i opt for a pizza to enjoy après show. It’s Robbie VDH 100th(!) Therapy? Show tonight and he and Roxy have brought us a very cool guitar shaped cake. Definately will be making a dent in that after the gig! The gig is very very hot and very very mental, there are loads of empty pint glasses strewn over the stage so in between every song Dave and myself try and clear them up for fear of someone getting hurt.



There is some woeful stage diving taking place so i keep bursting out laughing whilst trying to sing the backing vocals. Fair play to you Aachen, you bloody well rocked hard.

Shower rating: 6/10 Ran cold after 5 minutes

Food rating: 5/10 Cold pizza after show...not the worst.