Status: Single
City: Stuttgart
State: Baden-Württemberg
Country: DE
Signup Date: 5/18/2007
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Monday, August 24, 2009
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PRIMAL FEAR & SINNER IN SOUTH AMERICA
„No Sleep Till Sao Paulo“ - or: „The Whole Package… Except Sleep!“
At
the beginning of August, Primal Fear and Special Guest Sinner traveled
to South America to play four shows in four countries in five days.
This meant: Maximum Rock’n’Roll, amazing fans and almost zero sleep.
Prepare for take off!
Stuttgart Airport, Aug 4th, 9:00 hrs: Let the games begin!
Two
bands, three techs, that’s a lot of people. And it has been a while
that we started from Stuttgart with six guys. Among us is our latest
addition, drum tech Tommy, who fits very well into the Primal Fear
camp. We’re also especially happy that our long time friend Duce is
making his comeback as guitar tech, now that he is usually travelling
with Children Of Bodom all the time. For a massive trip like this it’s
good to know you have good people with you. This of course includes our
master of sound, Achim Köhler (a.k.a. „the guy called Coca Kohler“),
and the legendary Klaus Sperling on drums with Sinner. After the
easiest check-in ever we’re flying to Frankfurt and then without much
further ado to Mexico City - on a 12hr flight! But: Kohler has entered
the Business Class!
Mexiko City, Aug 5th: First show at Circo Valador
Sleeping
on the plane? No way. If you depart in Germany around noon, you can’t
fall asleep right away, regardless of how much you want to. Or how many
red wine you have. And god knows we tried… The mood is still „up“,
however, when we finally arrive in Mexico and at the hotel and ignore
the jetlag to have some steak. On the next morning, we head over to the
club: Circo Valador. The equipment provided doesn’t really match our
expectations, but it’s useable. Fair enough. The same goes for the,
frankly quite adventurous, lighting rigs. The bootleg shirt stands
outside are something else, even worse than those in Mailand a while
ago. There’s eight of them, offering the wildest graphical combinations
of motives from all covers of both bands. That’s something you have to
see - even if you’re looking at your own face staring from a mountain
of merch you’re not seeing a dime from. On the other hand: German
labels also sell songs to third parties as they please without asking
the artists…..
After
a mexican support band, Sinner start: we didn’t have a rehearsal, but
when the siren is howling, it’s ON. “Crash & Burn”, Baby. The set
is running pretty smoothly, almost as if there hadn’t been four months
since the last show in Moscow. The place is packed, and the fans are
with us right from the get-go: „Connection“, „Born To Rock“, „Kinfe In
My Heart“, the people celebrate them! Very cool. „Germany Rocks“ once
again gets a name change, this time to „Mexico Rocks“, and all hands
are in the air - what a terrific start for the tour!
With
Primal Fear all bets are off: „Under The Radar“, „Killbound“ and „Six
Times Dead“ from the new album hit like explosions, the fans sing - and
loudly. We finish the regular set with „Riding The Eagle“ and „Final
Embrace“, before „Metal Is Forever“ turns the crowd in one moving mass
of humans. Kick ass! Encores now: “Hands Of Time” gives time to catch a
breath, before two classics take it away again. Wow! No one is
complaining about tiredness or jetlag anymore, especially Henny “I was
a little dizzy afterwards” Wolter is taking absolutely no prisoners at
his second show for the night after rocking with Sinner. Post gig we
met up with the fanclub and drive to the hotel for a shower. And sleep?
Nope. At 4am, a van awaits us to take us to the airport. Jetlag? You
bet.
Panama City, Airport: Short stopover....
According
to THE expert among us regarding all things South American (who is also
well-versed in the cinema culture of Toronto!), there is nothing at
Panama Airport, no shops, no cafés, nothing. When we land here after
five hours or so, however, things look quite differently: We see a very
clean and well-equipped airport. Thanks, Mr. Expert! Good night.
Bogota, Colombia, Aug 6th: Second show
A
couple of hours later we arrvive in Bogota and are picked up by local
promoter Carlos. The overall impression is a lot more positive than all
the things we heard from other people. The air ist noticeably thin,
however, since the city is pretty high (3000m). The venue called
“Downtown” isn’t too huge, but „Coca Kohler“ still starts to loose his
temper because of the technical infrastructure and some difficulties in
communication. The good thing however: The show is sold out! There’s
also no support, and this simply means less stress and more space.
The
Sinner machine is rolling nicely, and I can hardly believe that a young
Colombian in first row is singing “Knife In My Heart” word for word!
He’s getting a signed pick, of course. Christof and Henny are once
again using the whole of the stage, and the fans are Killer, too! As it
seems, everyone of them has brought a camera. Looking into the crowd,
one might think that a crazed clip directed had some bizarre idea of
equipping each and everyone with a camera. But that of course doesn’t
stop Sinner from delivering a great set.
For
Primal Fear, the Colombians shift to “maniac mode”. It has been said
that fans in South American are especially passionate with their metal,
and hell yes, it’s true. They’re so loud during „Nuclear Fire“ that one
could think they are singing the national anthem… which is actually
coming up next: When Ralf starts with the Colombian anthem, which he
had just learned on the day, the walls seem to cave in. The “Whooooooo”
from the audience, when they realize what he is just
doing…unbelievable. Late after midnight we go back to the hotel, where
we have to decide between being tired (we were travelling all night,
after all) and hunger (the hotel re-opened the kitchen and had a bunch
of cold beer ready).
Bogota, Colombia, Aug 7: A free day, at least halfway
Our
flight to Buenos Aires is in the evening, so we all can use the day to
catch up on some sleep. And to relax. There was even talk of a Happy
End somewhere. Our plane leaves at 8pm, so were in a van again at 5,
only to run into some trouble at the airport: At first we have to get
some document to be free of the airport tax, then we’re asked at
check-in to pay a mysterious additional tax of 43 US$ per person PLUS a
huge fee for overweight baggage. One thinks twice about complaining if
faced with the guns and evil looks of the policemen, so we say goodbye
to about 1000 US$. Prison Break might have taken place in Panama, but
the Modelo prison of Bogota is probably not much nicer than Sona.
So
off we go to the plane. Which turns out to be an old machine from
Argentina Airlines, which prompts Henny to the immortal words of
confusion: “Someone has puked on my seatbelt!” . What’s worse, the crew
is not capable of reducing the temperature of around 70 degrees Celsius
in the cabin. That’s pretty close to a sauna! Ralf protests - and takes
off his shirt, sitting grinning in the last row. But after a while we
all close our eyes. This is were we will spend the night.
Lima, Peru, Airport: Stopover
The
city of Lima might look OK from above, but we stay aboard and fall back
to sleep regardless of the tropical heat. After a couple more hours we
land in Buenos Aires and happily leave the flying sauna. Nicely rested?
No one, probably.....
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug 8: Third show
The
temperarture is only 18 degrees Celsius here, because the city is
located pretty far in the South, and it’s winter on the Southern
hemisphere. Which is a nice change for us. What’s even better, the very
nice local promoter owns a steakhouse, and we’re invited! Some good
food is very welcome now. Mr. Sperling immediately falls in the love
with the grilled cheese, while Henny is spicing up his salad with
substances that will show their true effects later… Mountains of ribs,
steaks and chicken, grilled on open fire, are served, along with salads
and snacks galore. Very, very good!
Now
it’s soundcheck time. Mr. Kohler had been playing here at Teatro Flores
with Edguy a while ago, so he has his own local fanclub now, who
promised to show up tonight. The Teatro is a cool place, the crew know
their stuff, so everything is running smoothly. Three bands are opening
up today, and all are surprisingly good, especially Diego from Henker
und Magui from Falcom. When Sinner finally hit the stage, the venue is
packed and the motor starts to roll again. Christof is putting in some
extra miles on the big stage (Air Leimsen anyone?), and the fans rock
along with „Judgement Day“, „The Dog“ and of course „Buenos Aires
Rocks“!
The
noise even intensifies significantly as soon as Primal Fear dive into
„Under The Radar“. The whole place is signing … amazing! The fans are
truly unbelieveably and celebrate the show for 120 minutes straight.
Even after ten years with Primal Fear we will remember this show as a
highlight and awesome experience! Lack of energy because of sleep
depriviation? So what? The only real testing moment is when I try to
sing into the same microphone as Henny during „Killbound“ - and a
garlic stench FROM HELL hits me. Aaaargh. But the show must go on.
We
get to play three encores, including the almost unplugged,
four-guys-on-chairs number „Hands Of Time“, before we can crash
sweating into the backstage room. Kohlers party team is already in full
effect there, so it takes zero time to turn the whole place into one
big party with all bands and friends. In the hotel, we have only three
hours until “Lobby call” and the shuttle to the next flight, but it was
overheard later, that that’s enough to have some celebration. But off
we go: It’s 4am, when we head to the airport to go to Brasil.
Sao Paulo, Brasil, Aug 9: Fourth and final show
Slow,
but surely the lack of sleep is showing. That is not helped by the fact
that things at the Carioca club are running as they always do in Sao
Paulo: There are numerous local technicians, but nothing works. Six
pairs of eyes are watching us from the monitor desk, but not even
“thumbs up” or “thumbs down” works communicationwise. Herr Kohler is
pretty relaxed today, however, so he takes care of the monitors as well
as the FOH - and stuff starts to sound right.
With
Sinner, we can keep the intensity level we set in Argentinia, we might
even be able to step it up a notch. Not hard with an audience like
this. We like it! A great show to finish the tour, and all in the crowd
were hotter than the local pizza. Or was that cardboard slices with
some random fat stuff on top? „Sao Paulo Rocks“, „More-More-More“
singalongs during „Rebel Yell“, and then it’s „Goodbye Brasil!“: For
Sinner, this was a great tour, and the chemistry within the band is
brilliant.
Primal
Fear are playing in Sao Paulo for the fifth time today. The last show
was at the beautiful Olympia venue, which had some sound problems
however, so it didn’t work as it should. Things are different tonight:
The place is packed, and the people want to ROCK! The heat, however,
can only be compared to the Sala Jam in Bergara in the middle of the
summer. The fans do not care, they love every note and sing „Under The
Radar“ unbelieveably loud. The band is showing what it’s capable of and
plays their best gig of the tour, probably even their best gig in
Brasil ever. After 110 minutes of „Le Rock Totale“, we finish our last
stint in South America. Needless to say, there’s a huge backstage party
happening, including our old friend Hasen-Eric plus harem. All the guys
in the bands and the crew might need a caffeine injection straight to
the heart by now, but everyone’s really happy regardless of fatigue: Be
it Dr. Sperling, Herr Wolter or Mr. Beyrodt, smiling faces all around!
There’s also a huge round of applause in order for Duce, Tommy and
Achim for their work. Without you guys these shows would have not been
possible like this. We also thank the fans for four awesome gigs that
will go down in our history as very, very positive experiences.
Frankfurt, Germany Aug 12th US Embassy
Now
it’s off to more challenges like our first headlining tour in the US
and Canada, followed by a trek through Europe in October and November.
Talking about the USA: We landed back in Germany around noon on
Tuesday, after another 12 hour flight from Sao Paulo, kingsize jetlag
included. But to stay in the mood, we had to leave the next morning at
5:30 to go to the US-embassy in Frankfurt to have our interviews for
the working visa at 7:30… nice. But all is good, we have all the papers
we need to come over. And there’s more good news: Pamela Moore of
Queensrÿche fame (remember Sister Mary?) will join us in the US to sing
“Fighting The Darkness” with Ralf in a new version.
Snina, Slovakia Aug. 15th Rock Pod Open Air
And
since we’re reflecting of the last two weeks here, we must not leave
out the show in Snina at the eastern part of Slowakia, which we played
a couple of days after returning from South America. Since Snina can’t
be reached with a nightliner properly, we decided to fly in. That still
meant getting up at 5:30 again - we must not become too comfortable,
right? Alex and Randy flew in via Budapest, only to notice that the
part of the travel marked “Airbus” on paper turned out to be an
ordinary travelling bus on the road… more on that later. But most
importantly, the show was great and the fans loud and really into it.
We got up after seven (!) supports to a great stage, great light and a
full hour of mayhem. We also met our buddies from U.D.O., who played a
great gig as well and released their new album „Dominator“ right on
this weekend.
After
a couple of drinks and a nice meeting with Matthias and Stani we called
it a night … before things got crazy the next day: .... Randys „bus
flight“ to Budapest: cancelled! Fortunately one of the local promoters
offered to take our drummer to Budapest in his car. Hennys flight to
Hannover: cancelled! The result: Flying via Frankfurt after four more
hours of waiting. Ralf und Mat: Kosice via Prag to Stuttgart, but:
airplane not working. After some repairs for 20 minutes, we tried
taking off… wow. Did work, luckily. And Alex: The flight from Madrid to
Las Palmas was… wait for it… cancelled! Well, it’s just five more
hours… This should prepare us for the upcoming US tour, right?
PRIMAL FEAR in North America
07.09.2009 USA - St. Paul - Station 4
08.09.2009 USA - Los Angeles - Key Club
09.09.2009 USA - Springfield - Jaxx
10.09.2009 USA - ProgPower X - Atlanta
12.09.2009 USA - NEW YORK - Blender Theatre
13.09.2009 CAN - Montreal - FouFoune
7:57 AM
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