We left Antwerp very early to catch the plane that will take us to Kopenhagen,
with a transfer in Munchen. Kristianstad in Sweden is the first stop and is a two
hour drive away from Kopenhagen. The check-in of our beloved instruments at Zaventem airport was once again a big hassle. This time even Simon and Hannes would play on rented instruments, so we only brought the accordeon, cymbals, some side effects for the mixing and a recorder and multiple cd burner for our experiment: selling live cd's of every show !
The accordion was put aside, but the desk clerk assured us that it surely was going to be picked up later by the luggage carriers. NOT !!! When we stood and waited at the baggage claim at Kopenhagen airport, everything arrived except for .......the accordion. When complaining about this, we learned that the accordion didn't make it to the aircraft after all. So much for trustworthy employees of Lufthansa. We got picked up by Hokan, with a van very simular to the Highway Tiger
and filled with gear, yummy: a gretch drumkit, a full PA system, a double bass, cello....but no accordion. Hokan immediately started phoning around for one. Unfortunately Roel plays on a very specific type of instrument, that is very hard to find.
But finally a solution was found: A digital accordion that can be programmed the way you want. But a) it sounds like crap, b) it reacts in a digital way c) Roel hated it.
However he had to play our first show on it anyway, needless to say we decided not to sell live cd's of that show.
In the meantime after several phonecalls, Lufthansa promised us to put the accordion on the next plane. So we all put our thumbs up that it would arrive before the next gig in Bastad (pronounced Bostad) The Hotel Skansen where the gig would take place, was a gorgeous hotel, situated by the seaside
'the stage' was actually in front of the swimming pool, seperated by a window.
Because we couldn't make a soundcheck during check out of the hotelguests, several daau-members enjoyed the swimming pool, sauna and steambath accomodations of Skansen hotel. There are worse ways to kill the waiting hours before a soundcheck or show.
Finally a soundcheck could be made, but when our beloved soundengineer Mark, checked the mixing desk........it malfunctioned: No eq's could be used without a terrible noise...and no time to get another soundboard. After discussing the problem we decided to play totally acoustic. This was possible due to the great acoustic sound in the hotel, but was only possible if Roel's accordion arrived on time. Drums needed to be quiet down a lot, so i started to collect towels and gaffatape to do so. In the meantime the accordion arrived 10 minutes before showtime....and what a show it was !!! A total unamplified spectacle that turned out to be a great experience for both bandmembers and a very attentive audience. But ..........again no recordings of this show, cause we damn well need a mixingboard to do so !!!
After all the hassle with gear, we could only hope that things will go uphill...otherwise we would have brought the recording and cd burning stuff for nothing.
Fortunately Dunker Kulturhus in Helsingborg,
have a simular mixing desk..............but unfortunately with the simular problem ! The only solution left was a digital Yamaha desk, the kind that Mark really hates to work with.
But we managed all right, played a decent show and finally were able to record the concert and sell cd's afterwards.
Hotelroomview of Helsingborg
The streets of Helsingborg
Backstageromance @ Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg
This morning we also met our new tourmanager/driver/roadie for the rest of the tour in the hotellobby.....Janne was a fine replacement for Hokan...a baldheaded pierced dirty son of bitch, with great humor, driving and roadie skills...We all wished we could pack him in our trunks and take him to Belgium with us.
After Helsingborg we had to travel to Stockholm already,
since Roel had to leave the tour for one day to appear in a Belgian TV-show with Dez Mona, and had to catch a plane to return home for one day. The other gigs where all in a circle less than 200km from Stockholm, so nothing better than spending a day off in Sweden's capital. Nice city, with lovely architecture
and taste for blending modern design with it, but the nightlife still was kinda dissapointing for the nightbirds among us.
Next gig was in a cosy tiny theatre in a small town called Södertalje, where only 20 people showed up. In the meantime Simon and myself found a cure for boredom: we dress up the merchtable with founded attributes, funny and a great eyecather for sure if there was an audience. But almost everyone bought a cd that night !!!!
The next day Kungsör was on the schedule, a Twin Peakish little town, clean, almost no living soul on the streets and to add to the Twin Peaks athmosphere.....the cute backery next to the Thor Modéen Theatre is actually the backstage entrance (check our videosection or youtube to see the living proof !!)
This theatre is actually a movietheatre where concerts take place as well once in a while. Red Velvet all over (Lynch would feel at home here) great acoustics, but again not much of an audience and a rather strange one too.
Back to Stockholm then,
only to return the next day in the same area at the konserthuset of Västeras, a warm welcome and a full house this time, a music lover's crowd that was rather lyrical about our performance as well.
After the concert we went to a skyscraper restaurant, situated on the 23rd floor to enjoy an expensive but great meal, with an impressive view over Västeras.
After this gig we had two days off, in which Roel and Mark had to return to Belgium again for a Dez Mona concert in Bruges.
Our hardworking crew: Mark & Janne
My urge for partying grew on me, fortunately i was invited to attent a private, more or less underground party organised by the son of one of the Riksconcerter (our tourorganiser) ladies. They have a dj-team called 24hours party people and yes they throw 24 hour parties. In the beginning i was a bit bored there, but the music got better after a while (a wide variety of dance music) and all of sudden people all started to smoke inside, what a rebellious act in Sweden, needless to say i lit myself a ciggy immediately. Drinks where cheap and so where the women dancing around all sweatty. A first descent night out in Stockholm allright. The rest of the days we spend on culture (museum),
And simular to Twin Peaks: Horses appeared
sightseeing, sauna's, shopping and dining with our tourorganisers.
Börlange was next.....again a small town 300km upnorth the country and the first time we saw some snow. Wasabryggeriet as the venue was called, is a former brewery with a small concertstage that couldn't be more twin peakish. White and red tiles all over, red curtains and did i mention the log on stage.
The only thing missing in cateringroom, with mother and daughter preparing the food behind a counter filled with pie and cookiejars, was a camera and David Lynch yelling "cut".
But again a full room with strange yet friendly and enthousiastic people. After the concert no roses where handed to us (as in some other theatres) but a Börlangerknucklen and small packet of yeast. The Börlangerknucklen, nothing more than some scrap metal coming from the local steelfactory was given there for good luck. The yeast was to remind us on the previous function of the building: a beerbrewery as i mentioned before. We would have been happy with just some more beers. But this night was a highlight so far.
Since we were 300km away from Stockholm we stayed the night at a local hotel, and since there where no bars in the area, we had a small hotellobby party. A good breakfast, a morning sauna and whirlpool got us in the right mood to travel back to Stockholm for our last Swedish gig.
Our Stockholm hotel
Stallet (stable) was a wooden room in a big building where also the offices of Riksconcerter where located, again a full house with even some Belgian and Dutch people in the crowd. A pretty cool last gig, but no party afterwards. Only some more beers/whisky in one of the many Irish pubs (but what a whisky collection). I had an early night anyway, cause the travelday back to Belgium was actually my birthday,
so i would have my party in any case in good old Antwerp. After a warm welcome by my girlfriend and the neccersary presents, nothing would suit me more than a drink and a cigaret in my favorite bar, strange..... normally the first thing to do back in Belgium is eating fries, guess we missed inside smoking a whole lot more.
Bootsie/Daau 2008
Hotelroom romance