Saturday — 3/29/08
The Paradox Of A Good Time
Brussels, Belgium
Blogged by E. White

Well, we were back where we started and it’s bittersweet to say the least. It feels like we’re just hitting our stride as a band, but now it was the last gig and we had no choice but to leave everything behind. I guess that’s the beauty of it, but I’ll get to that later.

I was particularly excited for this gig because not only were we going to play with the Pepper Pots for the first time but also because we were finally going to meet the rest of the band we hadn’t already met in Girona at the front end of the tour. This was their first show back after just finishing up their first-ever Japan tour. Our tour manager, Chris Storm, warned us to take everything with us into the club because the street we were on was notorious for break-ins and hookers. Nice. If there was a tour story waiting to happen this definitely would be ground zero for just that.

During the last tour I met a guy from Belgium named Colin at our gig in Lille, France. I remember we first talked about beer and how Belgian beer was hands down the best in the world. That was a huge statement and I told him I was of course up for the challenge. Little did I know how right he would turn out to be. The second thing I remember from that conversation was that he owned a little record label and also promoted shows in Belgium. One year later we find ourselves together again testing his theories on suds at his show in his hometown. It just goes to show the interconnectedness of people, places, conversation and the lubrication that makes it all work so great together, alcohol.

Upstairs was where the backstage was and it was like a huge kitchen and living room all rolled in one. The fridge was filled with Belgians and I tried a couple way too early in the evening just because I could. Later on in the night as the backstage filled up with all the performers and others the room would become one loud giant smoke pit. Hey, that’s Europe for ya. It was our last show with Red Soul Community and made sure I went down for to wish our new friends from Granada off.

I had regrets about the show and our performance, but — whatever — that’s life. Basically, the monitors in front of me and ran were feeding back in a way that I’ve never experienced and he eventually had to unplug them to make the situation somewhat o.k. We were about three songs deep, shrugged it off and enjoyed the rest of the set with everyone in the front row and the guys on stage with me. The Pepper Pots were later killed the show with one exciting bang. It’s quite a spectacle. There are like ten people on stage; the guys looking dapper in slick suits and the three girl singers in awesome handmade go-go outfits. The set was a mix of soul and ska and everyone was so lit up by the end they didn’t let them off stage until like two encores later.

Back upstairs after all the madness that is a ska show I told Ryan to check out the big hooker on the corner dancing’, singin’ and trying to pick up dudes as they drove by. She was quite a scene unto herself and Ryan took a picture of her from our third story loft. The hooker starts yelling at Ryan I think to come down there and pay her but he just laughed. She ended up confronting him at load out later on but we distracted her as he made his Bond-like getaway.

And so that was it, our Hawaiian Punch Europe Tour ended with a homerun. The place was packed, we met new friends, hugged and sang with the old ones, drank 9% Chimay Blue for the first time, survived the smoke pit, escaped from hookers, and lived on for another day. Like I said before, that’s the beauty of it — it’s gone but it’s the memories of all the people and places we’ve been that get us through another day back home where we play, but mainly work.

This Is The Final Stop! — GJG, Pepper Pots, Red Soul Community, and Friends

The Pepper Pots Kick Ass!

These Girls Kick Ass! Marina, Mercé, Adrianna

The Mighty Chris Storm Towers Over All, Terrorizes Friends And Patrons Alike

I Guess The Poem Worked

Brussels At Night With The Best Tour Guides Around — Charles, Mara and Colin

It’s Crazy How A Simple Alley Way Can Lead To….

…This!

The Belgian Wall Street

Belgian Waffles Fo’ Real!

This Is The Famous Shi Shi Boy Of Brussels. This Is The Source Of All Those Replicas. He Supposedly Peed And Put Out The Fire That Would’ve Destroyed The City Back In The Day.

See, He’s Everywhere!

The Whole Street Was Like This — Reminded Me Of Paris

Eh, You Guys Da Best! Charles, Mara, Colin

The Beer Cave Had All The Belgians and Some 2,000 Others. What A Great Way To End The Night, Tour!

Friday — March 28, 2008
Hanging On In Hannover
Hannover, Germany
Blogged by Eric White

No, That’s Not The Club But A Fortress Advertising For The Club (Note The Authentic Bullet Hole Straffings

I Love It When The Beer Stacks Higher Than Me or Don’t Disturb Me, I’m In Deep Thought

It’s Not What You Think

We’re Gonna Miss Our New Friends From Granada

Thursday — March 27, 2008
Gourmet Punk Rock!
Jena, Germany
Blogged by Jayder

Pulling into Club Kasablanca in Jena, Germany, was already proving to be a unique experience. Located near the city center and close to a railway station, it looked somewhat like a punk rock shanty town. Twenty-some rail cars lined both sides of the driveway spray-painted with mystical urban art and poetry. At the end of the road stood a building which may have been a church at one time fully-decorated in the same spray art. As we loaded in we noticed a number of kids cleaning, renovating and setting up for tonight’s concert. The stage and dance floor were huge. The sound booth and light station were located across the venue on scaffolding. It looked so industrial. Everyone who worked there were extremely nice and professional.

When we were done sound checking, a snack was prepared for us in the green room and it was full-on gourmet! When you are traveling like we were, good food is better than… well, it’s pretty awesome. In one of the upstairs rooms was a internet cafe. We all lounged there and caught up with our emails and drank tea waiting patiently for dinner to be ready. We found out some very interesting facts about the club and the surrounding area. Club Kasablanca was centered in a well known squatter district on the other side of the railway tracks. A few of the buildings around us had many artists and kids living in and maintaining the neighborhood. Likewise, the people inside working at the club were all residents and this was there punk rock capital.

Dinner was ready, so we all flocked to the upstairs of another wing in the building to find yet more rooms and our dining area. The place had concrete seats which were heated around a large table. The cook was sweaty and dirty, slaving away at our delicious meal which we were about to devour. Red Soul Community finished their sound check and joined us at the table. I asked Isa, the singer, if she could help me translate a poem I made for Adriana, one of the lead singers in the Pepper Pots. It was a tender poem and I didn’t want to massacre it with my rough translation skills. We all laughed and all the band members prodded me for such a sincere form a affection. The poem sounded beautiful in español and I couldn’t wait to hand it to her when we reached Bruxelles. It all came about in Girona, when we tried to communicate, but the language barrier seemed to difficult to bridge. She seemed so timid and sweet, I just wanted to talk to her! I figured this poem would be a nice gesture to let her know I was thinking about her.

We were all a little apprehensive about how many people might show up to such a large club. Red Soul Community just got off stage, giving hi-fives and shouting words in Spanish in a congratulatory huzzah. We entered the stage to a roar in the audience, the place was packed. We had Marcus, “Ahtza,” and our friends from Erfurt come down to the show and they were front and center. The show went great. Sound was excellent. Ian’s guitars were bright and shimmery and Bison’s stage performance rivaled James Brown. Ryan was wildly spin kicking and going bananas all over the stage. Eric’s smoky sax interrupted his trademark clenched fist, rocking head movement display. I sat in the soothing deep pocket of a groove so firmly established by Johnny’s raucous rhythm. As a band we moved and conducted the audience in a smooth, flawless flight of harmony and showmanship.

We hung out at the club for awhile afterwards dancing to the DJ’s and getting our fair share of German beer. We said goodbye to our dear friends from Erfurt and our new friends from Jena. Chris Storm rallied the buzzed-up boys and took us to our hotel, which was the nicest we have had on tour thus far. The next morning we had breakfast and a few of us went to the spa. It was so nice to take a cold shower and head to the steam room. Ryan soon walked in and we were aware of a few elderly people in there with us. We talked a little bit but abruptly paused our conversation when we heard one of the other voices was a woman. Our eyes got big and we looked at each other utter surprise. When in Europe…. I spent some time in the dry sauna and took a dip in the cold dunk tank. What a rejuvenating experience! We all convened in the lobby and set forth to our next destination.

Jayder Getting A Crucial Spanish Lesson From Isa

Gourmet Punk Rock!

Toni Taking Care Of The Merch

Chris Storm Not Taking Care Of The Merch Booth

Friends — If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em!

Harry Weber | Photography
http://www.harry-weber.com

Monday — March 24, 2008
Tours Come Full Circle And Then Some
Berlin, Germany
Blogged by Eric White

Finally, the capital of Germany! Last tour we flew in at night, crashed for a few hours until The Toasters picked us up in the bus. Berlin was a blur. This time we were ready and had to time to run around a little both before and after the show. I guess most of the city was destroyed during the War so most of it looked like modern Europe with some oldness around every corner or so. The club was called Zapata and was in a cool sector of the city, just north of the city center. All the main monuments were within walking distance of the club but Chris, about a half hour away, but there wasn’t enough time before sound check for that. We hit a few places down the street and saw the biggest synagouge in Germany (really impressive), Berlin Cathedral (even more impressive) and a few closed museums that looked like they were straight outta Athens, columns and all. I used the map in this tourist book I bought from a street vendor and we got back just in time for the sound check.

Also, memorable was the pho from the Japanese restaurant? Yeah, pho from a Japanese restaurant! It’s kinda like that here — they mix the all the basic asian food genres. I was skeptical about this but I needed anything that resembled a saimin. That’s the one food I need to keep my sanity on tour. I think about the familiar saltiness of shoyu, the warm broth, the noodles and all the accoutrements and I end up being kind of obsessive about it. Not in a bad way, more in a longing way. To top it off I scored some sushi from Ian and was indeed in food heaven.

The promoter warned us about the Berlin crowd and how they are usually very cold and reserved, especially if it’s the first time you’re playing there. Lucky for us that was not the case — Berlin rocked! Everybody was dancing and singing along and there was even a flamethrower shooting it’s red flames over the ruckus crowd. Hmmm…no singed hair smell — all was good. We saw some old friends and partied away with some great German schnapps and Becks until it was time to scram.

We found out that our we would be staying at our booking agent’s offices (there was a separate room with bunk beds and a shower — cool) but we had two important stops to make before then. Straight from Zapata we loaded in the van with Kai from the agency who acted as eager tour guide to us good-natured tourists. With beers in one hand and cameras in the other we saw some of the best sights minus the crowds of tourists. It being 2 AM might have had something to do with it The two places we got out at were Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie, some really heavy landmarks. I’m not qualified to give the history lesson, so we’ll just leave it at that. All’s I have to say was that everything we saw in that short amount of time was impressive and also in such unique fashion. That was stop one, that was easy; stop two was going to hurt.

The second stop after the show was our booking agent, Mutti’s, favorite watering hole. The first thing to strike me was the back bar which was hand carved and some ancient dark wood. Next to it was a huge boar’s head mounted to the wall with a rude hat hanging out up there like he was going to The Special’s concert. God, I was tired of beer — oooh, did I just say that? — and I was scanning the massive assembly of liquors in front of me and alas!…..Absinthe! Just the remedy for my beer blues. In fact, it was the same brand of Absinthe I had bought in Marburg just the year before, but only this one was much stronger. If you could’ve seen my face — Ryan’s was worse! — you could tell it was some powerful, fire-breathing stuff by the contortions and strain going on. Regardless, there was more Schnapps and we talked into the early morning and eventually called it a night. We were back at where we started one year ago and still have just a little more to go to get home.

The Club

Just Down The Road — The Biggest Synagouge In Germany

Sightseeing At Night Reaps Rewards

Zapata Had Fire Shooting From The Ceiling!!! That’s Definitely A First In Our Books.

After The Gig — Guerilla Tourists With Beers At The Brandenburg Gate!

The Cold War Frontline 1961-1989 — Check Point Charlie Is Right Behind Jayder

My Kinda Bar…Check Out The “Rude” Boar Up Top!

Berlin Wall!!!