[title]Day 1 - Day 15[/title]Fünf Jungs unterwegs in der großen weiten Welt
Irgendwie sucht man sich als Redakteur immer Dinge aus von denen man selbst überzeugt und begeistert ist. "The Blackout Argument" haben es mir wirklich angetan und das zu Recht:
Die letzte Scheibe "Remedies", die von uns auch in dem Review auf unserer Homepage hochgelobt wurde, lässt keine Wünsche offen.
Hinter dem Namen stehen fünf total nette Herren, die "Jungs von nebenan".
Doch was passiert, wenn man diese fünf Chaoten auf Reisen durch ganz Europa schickt?!
Findet es heraus in diesem Feature, dem ganz offiziellen Tour Diary von "The Blackout Argument".
DAY 1 - Wangen (D)
After a sick and long drive (/ flight) THIS IS HELL and DEAD SWANS met us at the venue in my hometown Wangen. This day started fuckin’ rad. Our drummer Phil puked the hell out off his stomach and we started our set while his eyes turned white. We killed it anyway. When THIS IS HELL started playing, the kids went crazy. I sang along and noticed a crust punk stripping and dancing until he was totally naked(!) and kept dancing. Minutes later he fell off the window and the floor was colored blood red. Sick! The after show party…what the hell? Rob of DEAD SWANS peed on his mattress and slept on it…I think he was a little drunk.
(Raphael)
DAY 2 - Erfurt (D)
We woke up around 11 o’clock in the Jugendhaus in Wangen, had some food and washed and got everything together before leaving rob from DEAD SWAN was still fucking drunk. It was a five our drive to Erfurt but it went quite quickly because of family guy, playstation and good conversation, it was cool to get to know the blackout argument better. We arrived at the venue around 5,6ish. Our merch still had not shown up (shittyfuckingdeal). The show was cool. I liked the sound in the venue for all the bands that played. After the show we went to the hostel we were staying at it was a cool place. The showers were incredible….I think the other people staying at the hostel hated us I guess we didnt realize how late it was…
(Nick - DEAD SWANS)
DAY 3 - Berlin (D)
Berlin just made us hungry, so we completely fell in love with an Arabic fast food restaurant. I totally fucked my jeans up with the sesame sauce. Fuck my life! We counted the dogs and got a crazy “die hard” play station game last minute. Before the show, we did some interviews and met some good friends outta Berlin. Chris killed his stomach with an alcohol free wheat beer and I almost pissed my jeans because the toilets were fuckin rad and I didn’t want to face the smell. The show was a little bit tiring. Berlin, why didn’t you dance?
(Raphael)
DAY 4 - Örebro (S)
All in all we had a 12 hour drive from Berlin to Örebro, Sweden. Our driver Ralf did it with only one stop! He’s an awesome dude. I fell asleep in the van and woke up at the ferry harbor in Rostock with Erics breath on my neck. Oh my god, jackpot! We watched too much family guy while driving and Quagmire fuckin ruined Feivel. He found a new sexual hero and Eric got so horny, that he almost licked his Nintendo DS. Is this real life? At the venue in Örebro, everyone had to do a alcohol test before getting in the youth club. Why is this happening? The all ages show was awesome.
(Raphael)
DAY 5 - Stockholm (S) / Day Off
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.
(Raphael)
DAY 6 - Hamburg (D)
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.
(Raphael)
DAY 7 - Eindhoven (NL)
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.
(Raphael)
Day 8 - Essen (D)
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…
(Chris)
DAY 9 - Karlsruhe (D)
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.
(Raphael)
DAY 10 - Trier (D)
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.
(Raphael)
Day 11 - Giessen (D)
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…
(Feivel and Eric)
Day 12 - Braunschweig (D)
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)
Day 13 - Zedwitz (D)
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)
Day 14 - Linz (AT)
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)
Day 15 - Pinarella (I)
Bella Italia! It was another 10 hour drive from Linz to Pinarella and when we arrived we were stoked about the nice weather. Nice weather – bad show. I think the promoter didn’t give a fuck. We expected more people ’cause it was a Friday night. After the show a DJ spinned his records and all of a sudden there were twice as many people as to the hardcore show. Sucked. The techno kids came with angry faces and Rick (THIS IS HELL) reported fights with techno kids from the last show they played there. So loading went quickly. We slept in a apartment on stained mattrasses only 20m from the ocean.
(Raphael)
Oh yeah Pinarella’s one and only “Flinstones Club”, the almighty rock planet! I remember last time we played there (back in 1856 with my old band Paint The Town Red) Kurt Ballou broke his hand on stage trying to use his guitar case as a wakeboard. However, tough ass played the last couple of shows and gained my maximum respect for being 100% un-pussy. But this time there were no broken bones, hearts or amplifiers. Lucky us, lucky Italy.
(Chris)
[newpage]
[title]Day 16 - Day 32[/title]
![]()
Day 16 - Bolzano (I)
Arriving in Bolzano we met the coolest promoter on this tour so far. You’re the man, Maurice! We had the fuckin best pasta in the hole fuckin universe and drunk energy drinks called “blue bear”. The crowd was absolutely crazy and even many girls rocked the dance floor very hard. The local band “dead return” celebrated their release party. Eric said, that many girls threw looks at him this night and he claimed to have a great mobile phone, too. He’s da man!
After the show we drove to a very catholic youth hostel where there was a cross with body in every room. In the room where Chris and me slept, the cross was turned upside down. How can this happen? Chris was in fear ’cause he saw all horror movies on exorcism and knows all the dirty details. His eyes turned white, he pissed in his pants and he graped the cross and stared at me till he fell asleep. Creepy! By the way…
(Raphael, Eric)
Day 17 - Ajdovscina (SLO)
Alright everyone listen, this one’s OVER THE TOP! After a cool show in a pretty well organized music / culture club we were all asked to follow a guy to his place where we were supposed to spend the night. Everyone is cool with private accommodation, most of the times the sleeping places and breakfast are way cooler than in club-pensions or motels. But after a ride of about half an hour which went far off any proper road, street lights and electricity we litarally ended in the middle of buttfuck nowhere! Everyone’s already started joking about the “Hostel” movies and stuff but when we arrived at a completely remote farmhouse next to a river the fun seemed to become bitter reality. The pooring rain and a pitchblack night was the perfect setting for the various horror-scenarios everyone was picturing in their heads. The guy had already prepared the sleeing places which were pretty comfy but noone could relax. The house was scary as fuck! Weird architecture, mixed furniture, mysteriously taped doors, a water heater from the past century and all that in complete isolation in the Slovenian outback. Not even shitloads of dope that were consumed by selected people that night could change anything about. I was trying to get a proper GPS signal with my mobile phone to send out our coordinates and last words to my girlfriend but not even that worked out. Back to the kitchen I saw our drummer phil holding a REAL bazooka over his shoulder and the house owner, who picked up the weapon in his garage, suggested to “blow up the ugly yellow van” without the slightest sign of humor. Things got worse and worse, stories about snakes, people who broke into his house and other weird stuff made me finally go to bed, still scared to death, just like everyone else. I was just starting to fall asleep when the house owner stood in the door with a huge grin on his face not saying anything. The next day I heard that he did that in every room before he went to bed himself (where did the guy actually sleep!?). At this point I was sure that NONE of us would survive this night. John / TIH who was lying right next to me said “I hope he kills me right away, I don’t want to be tortued!”.
Alright, morning breaks and… still alive!?! Maybe I was the only lucky one? Maybe I was in heaven already? At least that was the first thought I had when I saw the breakfast the guy had prepared for us! It was plain AMAZING, we even got personalized breakfast eggs “with ham? with cheese? with nothing? sunnyside?” and strong coffee. At this point it was clear: That dude was the coolest and most hospitable person in whole Slovenia and everyone jumped into the van, alive, full and with a huge smile on their faces!
(Chris)
Day 18 - Budapest (HU)
We arrived at the venue at 8pm and Zoli (BRIDGE TO SOLACE) welcomed us with some hard booze. But no one wanted to have a drink with him which he took personally. We tried to relax in a 5 qm² room (for 16 people) and nearly went insane fighting for coke, plugs and air. The crowd was pretty aggressive and during the THIS IS HELL set, we had the first proper show-fight on this tour. It was a testosterone party at it’s best. We slept in a day nursery house and got kicked out at 8 am. We used the time for sight seeing in Budapest. Great city.
(Raphael)
It was so cool to see Zoli and some of his Bridge To Solace musicians as well as Balasz / Dawncore at the show! It sucked big times that I had so much other stuff to do so that we could hardly hang out. I would have loved to give Adam a hug, too! Some of the coolest dudes on earth are spread in the most remote places. No offense to my band-mates but the three hours I had all on my own the next day in Budapest were some of the best moments on this tour so far. being squeezed into a van or club for hours, days and weeks can become so unbelievably distressing, you wouldn’t believe it. I just enjoyed the noise of the streets and the countless bizarre and moving impressions from one of the most beautiful European cities. Hugs and Kisses to Budapest!
(Chris)
Day 19 - Vienna (AT)
We were all looking forward to the show in Vienna´s almighty ARENA: Nice sleeping rooms, good food and even a washing machine! Hell yeah! Arriving at the venue, Chris noticed a closed crepes stand and tried to crack it. With saliva on his cheeks he cried for help. I could comfort Chris with some nuts in the backstage. Some “groupie”-like girls (not ours!) killed our nerves but the show was fuckin’ great. After the show some of us went to a club called flex. To be honest, it was only Feivel who represented BOA here while the rest of the band already had sweet dreams…
(Raphael, Eric)
Day 20 - Kosice (SK)
One of the best shows on this tour so far. The people were nice and courteous. We got awesome soja food and waited for the second van. They arrived half an hour after “last minute” so we played first this evening. The kids went fuckin’ crazy and moshed hard. On the last song some kids grapped me and made me crowd surf. We all really enjoyed it. Our driver Ralf had another one of our tough overnight drives all through the night. Arriving in Munich we were embraced by the warmest day this year so far. Yeah!
(Raphael)
Day 21 - Munich (D)
Oh well, Munich once again… after our more than frustrating “Smile Like A Wolf” 7inch releaseparty I was pretty sceptical playing the Orange House again, especially on a weekday. This Is Hell made a similar bad experience at the Backstage club, too, last time they were here, but to be honest, I expected the show to turn out a little better than it actually did. Only about 50-70 kids showed up and noone dared to dance, scream and shout apart from 2 completely annoying drunk fuckers in the audience. Munich, is this ALL you have to offer for 3 amazing bands?! I must admit that we didn’t play the best show that night, everyone was still fucked up from our overnight drive, broken amplifiers and the neverending cold / flu but still… “Streets of Munich need a change”!
(Chris)
After Feivel, Phil, Eric and Chris made their girlfriends happy we refreshed our merch booth with some new stuff. We got new big stickers and Chris tagged them EVERYWHERE. I think it turns him on in some sick way. I wonder why he’s asking Phil to join him all the time, strange thing… The show was kind of weird so I decided to kill my frustration with a coke. Sascha (our former bass player), Nick, Ben (DEAD SWANS) and me went to a fucked up bar in Munich’s Glockenbach district. The British saussages were more interested in the the girls once again so they took two of them to our sleeping places and got closer with them. Before that could happen, we had to figure out how we could get back into the locked venue. Ben “the spiderman” dickhead climbed up on the roof, sneaked into a window and opened the door for us. RESPECT.
(Raphael)
Day 22 - Leipzig (D)
500km north of Munich - completely different world. Definitely one of the coolest shows of this tour so far! We were welcomed heartly by Eastern Germany’s No.1 promoter Gag (Sorry Greyli but you haven’t set up a show for us yet hahaha!) got 5 completely different delicous dishes for dinner and a 20l canister full of coffee. That’s everything we need to be happy plus some.
Shoutouts to the almighty Conne Island, definitely one of the coolest venues in whole Europe! Perfect stage, massive sound, the perfect size, cool backstage areas, clean showers and toilets, best crew ever and monitor wedges large and stable enough to carry a 90kg guy like me. You didn’t need a crystal ball to forsee that the show would be a blast! We had a great time on stage and felt well being the only rock band among some of the toughest hardcore bands around.
Another thing that highly contributed everyone’s excitement was the line up. Apart from our tour package Reign Supreme and 50 Lions played their first European show ever and on top of everything Black Friday 29 had joined their bill, kickin’ off their European tour. It was like a huge hardcore-bbq-party, everyone was hanging out, watching the other bands and having a great time. Seems like the Leipzig show came just right in time for us to compensate the sobering Munich show.
(Chris)
Day 23 - Ham (BE)
It was the first time for us playing in a phenomenal big circus tent. It was a festival called “RIOROCK” where TEN FOOT POLE, DEATH BY STEREO and MADBALL headlined. Feivel got insane once again when TEN FOOT POLE started rockin’ out. He remebered when he covered some songs of them with his former punk rock band GREAT GUNS. Chris and me were absolutely excited for MADBALL and they fuckin’ destroyed everything. We saw them a thousand times and we were never disappointed. Yeah! By the way: I’ve never seen so many ugly people on one place than on this festival. Howcome?
(Raphael)
Huge festival, huge stage, huge line up, huge merchtent… feels kinda strange playing such a monstrous show after so many small club shows. We still gave our best on stage which didnt work out the way I wanted it to but I guess our set was still alright, at least we sold loads of merch after the show. Right before we sorted out whether we’d do an overnight drive or sleep for 3 hours I met someone I hadn’t seen in years: Hondo, one of the first kids I got in touch with when I entered the hardcore scene in 1995. It was such a big pleasure talking to him, finding out about his life, family and most of all seeing that he still has the same passion for hardcore music that he had 15 years ago. This conversation made my day, thanks!
(Chris)
Day 24 - Wrexham (UK)
Wrexham was the first show for us in the UK. Wales is a beautiful place so we enjoyed the ride through hills and meadows with many sheep. The venue was kind of an irish pub with a second floor where the concert started with 8 (!) bands. We were fucked up and slept on the couches in the backstage. The show was great, more than we ever expected for the first show in the UK.
(Raphael)
Day 25 - Manchester (UK)
This city rules. We arrived very early and had time to hang out in this awesome city. When we took a look at the city map we got scared ’cause some dudes next to us were chatting in German. So far away from home and still not German free. Eric completely fell in love with england and he got so horny that his eyebrows started to wince. The venue was dark and smelled extremely like chlorine cleaner. Philip said it smelled like sperm. The backstage was a 2 qm² dustbin so we dressed in front of the stage.
(Raphael)
Day 26 - Glasgow (UK)
Ugliest city we’ve ever seen. The venue was in a tacky alley but inside it was nice. After the show we started loading and when we Eric got in the van he noticed that someone smashed a window in the back. We were totally pissed of. Fortunately nothing was stolen ’cause there’s a wood plate behind the window. We left our backline in the club and drove to a police station to report the damage. After that we tried to fall asleep in a hostel beneath a hundreds of other travellers.
(Raphael)
Worst show ever. Got our window smashed in, literally sold NO merch at all, played a show behind the largerst barriers ever put up in a pub and slept at a run down youth hostel with loads of sexual intercourses going on everywhere. Words cannot express how much I hated that night.
(Chris)
Day 27 - Leeds (UK)
Feivel and Eric discovered the Primart in Leeds and sold it out. Marius fell in love with some books for kids and bought them for his girlfriend. The band OUTCRY COLLECTIVE opened the show that night. They play some kind of every time I die style and they fuckin’ rock. We were next. It was the lowest stage I’ve ever played on and in the front there was a big pillar. How stupid’s that?
(Raphael)
Just like most medium-size UK cities, Leeds has a very special charme that really attract mainland Europeans. It was all about shopping and eating and I got the best chinese noodles of my life (and probably the next). The club was a typical pub kind of venue with no backstage area but all in all it was a neat place. Me and Marius were checking the van for further damages around 11pm when an “Under Eighteen Party” at a club down the street just ended. There were THOUSANDS of teenagers running through the streets, screaming, crying, laughing, singing, dancing… it was like the worst Romero zombie scenario and Marius and Me stood closely to the van to avoid damages (I am talking about human damages, not the van). We were lucky that a really nice girl let us stay at their parents house, otherwise we would have been stuck with some kind of travel lodge which nobody of us wanted to spend money on. Slept well, got out of the locked house through the window and got some breakfast at the cheapest supermarket. Back in the Van. London up next.
(Chris)
Day 28 - London (UK)
Just like Leipzig. London was one of the highlight shows everyone was looking forward to the whole tour. Dead Swans sold out the Underworld earlier this year and so did This Is Hell last year, so everyone was expecting quite an amount of mosh that night. Don’t know how many kids were there in the end but the place was pretty much packed. The Goldust / Attitude tour package we had already teamed up with for the Essen show opened the night and it was good to see that the guys in Goldust seemed to be even more fucked up after a 3 weeks tour than us after 4! :-) Goldust pretty much rocked a lot, Attitude didn’t really leave an impression. We were up next and there was a certain excitement present within most members of The Blackout Argument. We played a great set, felt pretty intense on stage, I guess we cranked the max out of our worn out bodies and instruments. Nanouk commented our set with the words “It’s quite obvious you guys have to work really hard to prove yourself in the UK, which you did well tonight.”, which is exactly how I viewed our stage debut(s) in England / Scottland / Wales. There’s show and there’s… food! Just kidding, this next paragraph is not about food but about shopping hahaha! Everyone in the band has wonderful but demanding girlfriends so we all did our best to satisfy them with presents from the shopping capital of the world. Fortunatelly the Underworld venue is situated in the middle of Camden, a part of London that is famous for its shopping opportunities. We bought shoes, shirts, bags, jewelry, candy and media to ease our girlfriends fury for leaving them alone for a whole month of touring. I guess everyone will be happy, at least I hope so (another 5 hours to go until we’re back home and hand over our presents). One last paragraph about our sleeping places for that night. Just like in the USA most UK promoters don’t feel responsible for bands’ accommodation, so we had to sort out things by ourselves every night. As for London we didn’t really have any options and planned to check in a travel logde or hostel until Raphael’s aunt’s friend Mariko offered us to stay at her place in Notting Hill (Yes, Notting Hill, just like the movie…). Apart from unexpected sleeping places we also had the luck to get to know one of the most positive, funny and flamboyant personalities in whole London! Mariko is one hell of a lady and we heartly embrace her as new member of the hardcore community! Quite a long one, time to come to an end. I think eveyone felt London to be the last show on the tour althought there were still 3 more to go. We gave everything and regained even more.
(Chris)
Day 29 - Luton (UK)
Our bus was not the only target on this tour. A glass on the side of the British bus got kicked in and some private stuff was stolen, including Travis’ dirty underwear. Sucks! We tried to relax in the huge “backstage room” (it was was more of a student leisure center). The show started very early and and a lot of young kids came out, which is a cool thing. One of the kids was only 15 (!) years old and enjoyed the hardcore show with his older sister. We did the “zombie prescription” cover of SNAPCASE again and this night was the first time a kid knew the song AND sang along. we gave him a free shirt for that, haha!
(Raphael)
Day 30 - Southhampton (UK)
Yesss! This show was cool as hell! Because of a tight time-schedule we could only play 6 songs but the venue was sold out and the kids went crazy when we started rockin’. There were grunge kids, punk rock kids, metal kids, rocker and hardcore kids. I love such shows. This was not a shitty fashion show where style and clothing counts in the first place. After this party I got to know a few kids from Southampton… really nice people.
(Raphael)
Most of the times it is shows you don’t expect anything from that turn out the best. Southhampton was one of these shows. A really run-down place with a nice stage and the most “on the ball” soundguy ever! (”Er, guitar-guy, please turn down your mids to 12 o’clock and give it a little more presence!”). Every band got a limited amount of free drinks at the bar. At the end of the show all credit of all bands was exhausted. This is Hell: 2 cokes, Blackout Argument (minus Feivel and Eric): 3 cokes, Dead Swans (plus Feivel and Eric): 46 shots and 29 beers (rough approximation). Show was great, we got an amazing reaction from the crowd. Curfrew came and Pid (Dead Swans) was completely going overboard. He was obviously drunk, did summersaults on the ground, tumbled around, screamed “Hell yeah, last day of tour!!!” (… oh really, is it?!) and finally picked up a fire extinguisher which he used to flood the whole club, including my pants. The answer came in the form of a flying glass of jackie-cola which was heavily critizised by Ben whose shot it was (well actually is was MINE referring to the calculation above). We drove back to Benny’s place and once again rough-handled his family’s hospitableness. Thank you SO MUCH!
(Chris)
Day 31 - Norwich (UK)
Norwich was the last show on this incredibly long tour. We had some time to hang out at the citycenter and I must say that this is a crazy place. There were many discos and clubs which opened very early and thus the people started partying very early, too. The atmosphere was very aggressive. We recognized a twosome fighting each other with words and action and there were about 4 cops in every street. The venue was the smallest of the whole tour and so was the stage. I prefered the floor then. We had 2 songs left when Phil screamed: “Fuck! I have to take a shit before my pants are full of it. Let’s finish the set NOW!” We played the 2 songs and along the way Chris farted very badly so Eric thought Phil had shit his pants. Eric couldn’t stop laughing and Chris tried to cover Eric while we finished our set. Holy shit! By the way: Every drink was served out of a tube with thousands of different drink buttons. Crazy! After the last show we said goodbye to THIS IS HELL and DEAD SWANS. Then we had a 15 hour drive home coming up.
(Raphael)
I had the most embarassing tiny 5" pizza in Norwich. 5 inches… I swore not to tell anyone (so did Raphael who was with me) but it’s been aching inside of me so badly since then, I HAD to come out with it. Show was kinda weird, everyone was completely worn out and tried to give it a rest. This Is Hell were amazing that night, they played their whole set and added Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right” plus an extremely tight version of Earth Crisis’ “Firestorm” with Travis on drums. The perfect musical ending for the tour. We shot a crew photo and then it was time to say goodbye to everyone. We had all grown pretty tight on this tour and in some cases it was kinda sad to realize that one wouldn’t see the other person for months, maybe years.
(Chris)
Day 32 - Homecoming… -driving (UK, FR, BE, D)
“18-hour-trip” sounds kinda threatening but what it REALLY means to sit in a bus for a whole fucking day or night is indiscribable. No way to sleep, no way to read, no way to work, no way to relax, no way to even move at all. One last time: Overnight drives are so much of a pain in the ass!
First we dropped off Pid in London, then Rob in the middle of buttfuck nowhere (also for the last time, promise!) before we tried catch the train via the Euro-Tunnel. We arrived at 4am, boarding was at 6am. What else. All the shops and fast food booths were closed, so we tried to kill time with arcade games and coffee machines. The last coins were PRECIOUS and a lot of immoral offers were made to gain them. I fell asleep somewhere in the tunnel and woke up in Belgium (?) I think. I felt so dizzy in the head, just like one big hangover. It took us another 11120000 hours to finally reach Munich and after unloading our gear and cleaning the van I was at home (yes, at HOME… crazy!!) around 10pm. My girlfriend was at the Comeback Kid / Bane show, so I had some time to acclimatize with my old/new envrionment. I piled up all the presents I bought, took a shower and painfully embraced real life the next morning at 7am when my alarm rang. At the latest NOW tour was over.
(Chris)
Irgendwie sucht man sich als Redakteur immer Dinge aus von denen man selbst überzeugt und begeistert ist. "The Blackout Argument" haben es mir wirklich angetan und das zu Recht:
Die letzte Scheibe "Remedies", die von uns auch in dem Review auf unserer Homepage hochgelobt wurde, lässt keine Wünsche offen.
Hinter dem Namen stehen fünf total nette Herren, die "Jungs von nebenan".
Doch was passiert, wenn man diese fünf Chaoten auf Reisen durch ganz Europa schickt?!
Findet es heraus in diesem Feature, dem ganz offiziellen Tour Diary von "The Blackout Argument".
DAY 1 - Wangen (D)
After a sick and long drive (/ flight) THIS IS HELL and DEAD SWANS met us at the venue in my hometown Wangen. This day started fuckin’ rad. Our drummer Phil puked the hell out off his stomach and we started our set while his eyes turned white. We killed it anyway. When THIS IS HELL started playing, the kids went crazy. I sang along and noticed a crust punk stripping and dancing until he was totally naked(!) and kept dancing. Minutes later he fell off the window and the floor was colored blood red. Sick! The after show party…what the hell? Rob of DEAD SWANS peed on his mattress and slept on it…I think he was a little drunk.
(Raphael)
DAY 2 - Erfurt (D)
We woke up around 11 o’clock in the Jugendhaus in Wangen, had some food and washed and got everything together before leaving rob from DEAD SWAN was still fucking drunk. It was a five our drive to Erfurt but it went quite quickly because of family guy, playstation and good conversation, it was cool to get to know the blackout argument better. We arrived at the venue around 5,6ish. Our merch still had not shown up (shittyfuckingdeal). The show was cool. I liked the sound in the venue for all the bands that played. After the show we went to the hostel we were staying at it was a cool place. The showers were incredible….I think the other people staying at the hostel hated us I guess we didnt realize how late it was…
(Nick - DEAD SWANS)
DAY 3 - Berlin (D)
Berlin just made us hungry, so we completely fell in love with an Arabic fast food restaurant. I totally fucked my jeans up with the sesame sauce. Fuck my life! We counted the dogs and got a crazy “die hard” play station game last minute. Before the show, we did some interviews and met some good friends outta Berlin. Chris killed his stomach with an alcohol free wheat beer and I almost pissed my jeans because the toilets were fuckin rad and I didn’t want to face the smell. The show was a little bit tiring. Berlin, why didn’t you dance?
(Raphael)
DAY 4 - Örebro (S)
All in all we had a 12 hour drive from Berlin to Örebro, Sweden. Our driver Ralf did it with only one stop! He’s an awesome dude. I fell asleep in the van and woke up at the ferry harbor in Rostock with Erics breath on my neck. Oh my god, jackpot! We watched too much family guy while driving and Quagmire fuckin ruined Feivel. He found a new sexual hero and Eric got so horny, that he almost licked his Nintendo DS. Is this real life? At the venue in Örebro, everyone had to do a alcohol test before getting in the youth club. Why is this happening? The all ages show was awesome.
(Raphael)
DAY 5 - Stockholm (S) / Day Off
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.
(Raphael)
DAY 6 - Hamburg (D)
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.
(Raphael)
DAY 7 - Eindhoven (NL)
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.
(Raphael)
Day 8 - Essen (D)
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…
(Chris)
DAY 9 - Karlsruhe (D)
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.
(Raphael)
DAY 10 - Trier (D)
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.
(Raphael)
Day 11 - Giessen (D)
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…
(Feivel and Eric)
Day 12 - Braunschweig (D)
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)
Day 13 - Zedwitz (D)
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)
Day 14 - Linz (AT)
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)
Day 15 - Pinarella (I)
Bella Italia! It was another 10 hour drive from Linz to Pinarella and when we arrived we were stoked about the nice weather. Nice weather – bad show. I think the promoter didn’t give a fuck. We expected more people ’cause it was a Friday night. After the show a DJ spinned his records and all of a sudden there were twice as many people as to the hardcore show. Sucked. The techno kids came with angry faces and Rick (THIS IS HELL) reported fights with techno kids from the last show they played there. So loading went quickly. We slept in a apartment on stained mattrasses only 20m from the ocean.
(Raphael)
Oh yeah Pinarella’s one and only “Flinstones Club”, the almighty rock planet! I remember last time we played there (back in 1856 with my old band Paint The Town Red) Kurt Ballou broke his hand on stage trying to use his guitar case as a wakeboard. However, tough ass played the last couple of shows and gained my maximum respect for being 100% un-pussy. But this time there were no broken bones, hearts or amplifiers. Lucky us, lucky Italy.
(Chris)
[newpage]
[title]Day 16 - Day 32[/title]
Arriving in Bolzano we met the coolest promoter on this tour so far. You’re the man, Maurice! We had the fuckin best pasta in the hole fuckin universe and drunk energy drinks called “blue bear”. The crowd was absolutely crazy and even many girls rocked the dance floor very hard. The local band “dead return” celebrated their release party. Eric said, that many girls threw looks at him this night and he claimed to have a great mobile phone, too. He’s da man!
After the show we drove to a very catholic youth hostel where there was a cross with body in every room. In the room where Chris and me slept, the cross was turned upside down. How can this happen? Chris was in fear ’cause he saw all horror movies on exorcism and knows all the dirty details. His eyes turned white, he pissed in his pants and he graped the cross and stared at me till he fell asleep. Creepy! By the way…
(Raphael, Eric)
Day 17 - Ajdovscina (SLO)
Alright everyone listen, this one’s OVER THE TOP! After a cool show in a pretty well organized music / culture club we were all asked to follow a guy to his place where we were supposed to spend the night. Everyone is cool with private accommodation, most of the times the sleeping places and breakfast are way cooler than in club-pensions or motels. But after a ride of about half an hour which went far off any proper road, street lights and electricity we litarally ended in the middle of buttfuck nowhere! Everyone’s already started joking about the “Hostel” movies and stuff but when we arrived at a completely remote farmhouse next to a river the fun seemed to become bitter reality. The pooring rain and a pitchblack night was the perfect setting for the various horror-scenarios everyone was picturing in their heads. The guy had already prepared the sleeing places which were pretty comfy but noone could relax. The house was scary as fuck! Weird architecture, mixed furniture, mysteriously taped doors, a water heater from the past century and all that in complete isolation in the Slovenian outback. Not even shitloads of dope that were consumed by selected people that night could change anything about. I was trying to get a proper GPS signal with my mobile phone to send out our coordinates and last words to my girlfriend but not even that worked out. Back to the kitchen I saw our drummer phil holding a REAL bazooka over his shoulder and the house owner, who picked up the weapon in his garage, suggested to “blow up the ugly yellow van” without the slightest sign of humor. Things got worse and worse, stories about snakes, people who broke into his house and other weird stuff made me finally go to bed, still scared to death, just like everyone else. I was just starting to fall asleep when the house owner stood in the door with a huge grin on his face not saying anything. The next day I heard that he did that in every room before he went to bed himself (where did the guy actually sleep!?). At this point I was sure that NONE of us would survive this night. John / TIH who was lying right next to me said “I hope he kills me right away, I don’t want to be tortued!”.
Alright, morning breaks and… still alive!?! Maybe I was the only lucky one? Maybe I was in heaven already? At least that was the first thought I had when I saw the breakfast the guy had prepared for us! It was plain AMAZING, we even got personalized breakfast eggs “with ham? with cheese? with nothing? sunnyside?” and strong coffee. At this point it was clear: That dude was the coolest and most hospitable person in whole Slovenia and everyone jumped into the van, alive, full and with a huge smile on their faces!
(Chris)
Day 18 - Budapest (HU)
We arrived at the venue at 8pm and Zoli (BRIDGE TO SOLACE) welcomed us with some hard booze. But no one wanted to have a drink with him which he took personally. We tried to relax in a 5 qm² room (for 16 people) and nearly went insane fighting for coke, plugs and air. The crowd was pretty aggressive and during the THIS IS HELL set, we had the first proper show-fight on this tour. It was a testosterone party at it’s best. We slept in a day nursery house and got kicked out at 8 am. We used the time for sight seeing in Budapest. Great city.
(Raphael)
It was so cool to see Zoli and some of his Bridge To Solace musicians as well as Balasz / Dawncore at the show! It sucked big times that I had so much other stuff to do so that we could hardly hang out. I would have loved to give Adam a hug, too! Some of the coolest dudes on earth are spread in the most remote places. No offense to my band-mates but the three hours I had all on my own the next day in Budapest were some of the best moments on this tour so far. being squeezed into a van or club for hours, days and weeks can become so unbelievably distressing, you wouldn’t believe it. I just enjoyed the noise of the streets and the countless bizarre and moving impressions from one of the most beautiful European cities. Hugs and Kisses to Budapest!
(Chris)
Day 19 - Vienna (AT)
We were all looking forward to the show in Vienna´s almighty ARENA: Nice sleeping rooms, good food and even a washing machine! Hell yeah! Arriving at the venue, Chris noticed a closed crepes stand and tried to crack it. With saliva on his cheeks he cried for help. I could comfort Chris with some nuts in the backstage. Some “groupie”-like girls (not ours!) killed our nerves but the show was fuckin’ great. After the show some of us went to a club called flex. To be honest, it was only Feivel who represented BOA here while the rest of the band already had sweet dreams…
(Raphael, Eric)
Day 20 - Kosice (SK)
One of the best shows on this tour so far. The people were nice and courteous. We got awesome soja food and waited for the second van. They arrived half an hour after “last minute” so we played first this evening. The kids went fuckin’ crazy and moshed hard. On the last song some kids grapped me and made me crowd surf. We all really enjoyed it. Our driver Ralf had another one of our tough overnight drives all through the night. Arriving in Munich we were embraced by the warmest day this year so far. Yeah!
(Raphael)
Day 21 - Munich (D)
Oh well, Munich once again… after our more than frustrating “Smile Like A Wolf” 7inch releaseparty I was pretty sceptical playing the Orange House again, especially on a weekday. This Is Hell made a similar bad experience at the Backstage club, too, last time they were here, but to be honest, I expected the show to turn out a little better than it actually did. Only about 50-70 kids showed up and noone dared to dance, scream and shout apart from 2 completely annoying drunk fuckers in the audience. Munich, is this ALL you have to offer for 3 amazing bands?! I must admit that we didn’t play the best show that night, everyone was still fucked up from our overnight drive, broken amplifiers and the neverending cold / flu but still… “Streets of Munich need a change”!
(Chris)
After Feivel, Phil, Eric and Chris made their girlfriends happy we refreshed our merch booth with some new stuff. We got new big stickers and Chris tagged them EVERYWHERE. I think it turns him on in some sick way. I wonder why he’s asking Phil to join him all the time, strange thing… The show was kind of weird so I decided to kill my frustration with a coke. Sascha (our former bass player), Nick, Ben (DEAD SWANS) and me went to a fucked up bar in Munich’s Glockenbach district. The British saussages were more interested in the the girls once again so they took two of them to our sleeping places and got closer with them. Before that could happen, we had to figure out how we could get back into the locked venue. Ben “the spiderman” dickhead climbed up on the roof, sneaked into a window and opened the door for us. RESPECT.
(Raphael)
Day 22 - Leipzig (D)
500km north of Munich - completely different world. Definitely one of the coolest shows of this tour so far! We were welcomed heartly by Eastern Germany’s No.1 promoter Gag (Sorry Greyli but you haven’t set up a show for us yet hahaha!) got 5 completely different delicous dishes for dinner and a 20l canister full of coffee. That’s everything we need to be happy plus some.
Shoutouts to the almighty Conne Island, definitely one of the coolest venues in whole Europe! Perfect stage, massive sound, the perfect size, cool backstage areas, clean showers and toilets, best crew ever and monitor wedges large and stable enough to carry a 90kg guy like me. You didn’t need a crystal ball to forsee that the show would be a blast! We had a great time on stage and felt well being the only rock band among some of the toughest hardcore bands around.
Another thing that highly contributed everyone’s excitement was the line up. Apart from our tour package Reign Supreme and 50 Lions played their first European show ever and on top of everything Black Friday 29 had joined their bill, kickin’ off their European tour. It was like a huge hardcore-bbq-party, everyone was hanging out, watching the other bands and having a great time. Seems like the Leipzig show came just right in time for us to compensate the sobering Munich show.
(Chris)
Day 23 - Ham (BE)
It was the first time for us playing in a phenomenal big circus tent. It was a festival called “RIOROCK” where TEN FOOT POLE, DEATH BY STEREO and MADBALL headlined. Feivel got insane once again when TEN FOOT POLE started rockin’ out. He remebered when he covered some songs of them with his former punk rock band GREAT GUNS. Chris and me were absolutely excited for MADBALL and they fuckin’ destroyed everything. We saw them a thousand times and we were never disappointed. Yeah! By the way: I’ve never seen so many ugly people on one place than on this festival. Howcome?
(Raphael)
Huge festival, huge stage, huge line up, huge merchtent… feels kinda strange playing such a monstrous show after so many small club shows. We still gave our best on stage which didnt work out the way I wanted it to but I guess our set was still alright, at least we sold loads of merch after the show. Right before we sorted out whether we’d do an overnight drive or sleep for 3 hours I met someone I hadn’t seen in years: Hondo, one of the first kids I got in touch with when I entered the hardcore scene in 1995. It was such a big pleasure talking to him, finding out about his life, family and most of all seeing that he still has the same passion for hardcore music that he had 15 years ago. This conversation made my day, thanks!
(Chris)
Day 24 - Wrexham (UK)
Wrexham was the first show for us in the UK. Wales is a beautiful place so we enjoyed the ride through hills and meadows with many sheep. The venue was kind of an irish pub with a second floor where the concert started with 8 (!) bands. We were fucked up and slept on the couches in the backstage. The show was great, more than we ever expected for the first show in the UK.
(Raphael)
Day 25 - Manchester (UK)
This city rules. We arrived very early and had time to hang out in this awesome city. When we took a look at the city map we got scared ’cause some dudes next to us were chatting in German. So far away from home and still not German free. Eric completely fell in love with england and he got so horny that his eyebrows started to wince. The venue was dark and smelled extremely like chlorine cleaner. Philip said it smelled like sperm. The backstage was a 2 qm² dustbin so we dressed in front of the stage.
(Raphael)
Day 26 - Glasgow (UK)
Ugliest city we’ve ever seen. The venue was in a tacky alley but inside it was nice. After the show we started loading and when we Eric got in the van he noticed that someone smashed a window in the back. We were totally pissed of. Fortunately nothing was stolen ’cause there’s a wood plate behind the window. We left our backline in the club and drove to a police station to report the damage. After that we tried to fall asleep in a hostel beneath a hundreds of other travellers.
(Raphael)
Worst show ever. Got our window smashed in, literally sold NO merch at all, played a show behind the largerst barriers ever put up in a pub and slept at a run down youth hostel with loads of sexual intercourses going on everywhere. Words cannot express how much I hated that night.
(Chris)
Day 27 - Leeds (UK)
Feivel and Eric discovered the Primart in Leeds and sold it out. Marius fell in love with some books for kids and bought them for his girlfriend. The band OUTCRY COLLECTIVE opened the show that night. They play some kind of every time I die style and they fuckin’ rock. We were next. It was the lowest stage I’ve ever played on and in the front there was a big pillar. How stupid’s that?
(Raphael)
Just like most medium-size UK cities, Leeds has a very special charme that really attract mainland Europeans. It was all about shopping and eating and I got the best chinese noodles of my life (and probably the next). The club was a typical pub kind of venue with no backstage area but all in all it was a neat place. Me and Marius were checking the van for further damages around 11pm when an “Under Eighteen Party” at a club down the street just ended. There were THOUSANDS of teenagers running through the streets, screaming, crying, laughing, singing, dancing… it was like the worst Romero zombie scenario and Marius and Me stood closely to the van to avoid damages (I am talking about human damages, not the van). We were lucky that a really nice girl let us stay at their parents house, otherwise we would have been stuck with some kind of travel lodge which nobody of us wanted to spend money on. Slept well, got out of the locked house through the window and got some breakfast at the cheapest supermarket. Back in the Van. London up next.
(Chris)
Day 28 - London (UK)
Just like Leipzig. London was one of the highlight shows everyone was looking forward to the whole tour. Dead Swans sold out the Underworld earlier this year and so did This Is Hell last year, so everyone was expecting quite an amount of mosh that night. Don’t know how many kids were there in the end but the place was pretty much packed. The Goldust / Attitude tour package we had already teamed up with for the Essen show opened the night and it was good to see that the guys in Goldust seemed to be even more fucked up after a 3 weeks tour than us after 4! :-) Goldust pretty much rocked a lot, Attitude didn’t really leave an impression. We were up next and there was a certain excitement present within most members of The Blackout Argument. We played a great set, felt pretty intense on stage, I guess we cranked the max out of our worn out bodies and instruments. Nanouk commented our set with the words “It’s quite obvious you guys have to work really hard to prove yourself in the UK, which you did well tonight.”, which is exactly how I viewed our stage debut(s) in England / Scottland / Wales. There’s show and there’s… food! Just kidding, this next paragraph is not about food but about shopping hahaha! Everyone in the band has wonderful but demanding girlfriends so we all did our best to satisfy them with presents from the shopping capital of the world. Fortunatelly the Underworld venue is situated in the middle of Camden, a part of London that is famous for its shopping opportunities. We bought shoes, shirts, bags, jewelry, candy and media to ease our girlfriends fury for leaving them alone for a whole month of touring. I guess everyone will be happy, at least I hope so (another 5 hours to go until we’re back home and hand over our presents). One last paragraph about our sleeping places for that night. Just like in the USA most UK promoters don’t feel responsible for bands’ accommodation, so we had to sort out things by ourselves every night. As for London we didn’t really have any options and planned to check in a travel logde or hostel until Raphael’s aunt’s friend Mariko offered us to stay at her place in Notting Hill (Yes, Notting Hill, just like the movie…). Apart from unexpected sleeping places we also had the luck to get to know one of the most positive, funny and flamboyant personalities in whole London! Mariko is one hell of a lady and we heartly embrace her as new member of the hardcore community! Quite a long one, time to come to an end. I think eveyone felt London to be the last show on the tour althought there were still 3 more to go. We gave everything and regained even more.
(Chris)
Day 29 - Luton (UK)
Our bus was not the only target on this tour. A glass on the side of the British bus got kicked in and some private stuff was stolen, including Travis’ dirty underwear. Sucks! We tried to relax in the huge “backstage room” (it was was more of a student leisure center). The show started very early and and a lot of young kids came out, which is a cool thing. One of the kids was only 15 (!) years old and enjoyed the hardcore show with his older sister. We did the “zombie prescription” cover of SNAPCASE again and this night was the first time a kid knew the song AND sang along. we gave him a free shirt for that, haha!
(Raphael)
Day 30 - Southhampton (UK)
Yesss! This show was cool as hell! Because of a tight time-schedule we could only play 6 songs but the venue was sold out and the kids went crazy when we started rockin’. There were grunge kids, punk rock kids, metal kids, rocker and hardcore kids. I love such shows. This was not a shitty fashion show where style and clothing counts in the first place. After this party I got to know a few kids from Southampton… really nice people.
(Raphael)
Most of the times it is shows you don’t expect anything from that turn out the best. Southhampton was one of these shows. A really run-down place with a nice stage and the most “on the ball” soundguy ever! (”Er, guitar-guy, please turn down your mids to 12 o’clock and give it a little more presence!”). Every band got a limited amount of free drinks at the bar. At the end of the show all credit of all bands was exhausted. This is Hell: 2 cokes, Blackout Argument (minus Feivel and Eric): 3 cokes, Dead Swans (plus Feivel and Eric): 46 shots and 29 beers (rough approximation). Show was great, we got an amazing reaction from the crowd. Curfrew came and Pid (Dead Swans) was completely going overboard. He was obviously drunk, did summersaults on the ground, tumbled around, screamed “Hell yeah, last day of tour!!!” (… oh really, is it?!) and finally picked up a fire extinguisher which he used to flood the whole club, including my pants. The answer came in the form of a flying glass of jackie-cola which was heavily critizised by Ben whose shot it was (well actually is was MINE referring to the calculation above). We drove back to Benny’s place and once again rough-handled his family’s hospitableness. Thank you SO MUCH!
(Chris)
Day 31 - Norwich (UK)
Norwich was the last show on this incredibly long tour. We had some time to hang out at the citycenter and I must say that this is a crazy place. There were many discos and clubs which opened very early and thus the people started partying very early, too. The atmosphere was very aggressive. We recognized a twosome fighting each other with words and action and there were about 4 cops in every street. The venue was the smallest of the whole tour and so was the stage. I prefered the floor then. We had 2 songs left when Phil screamed: “Fuck! I have to take a shit before my pants are full of it. Let’s finish the set NOW!” We played the 2 songs and along the way Chris farted very badly so Eric thought Phil had shit his pants. Eric couldn’t stop laughing and Chris tried to cover Eric while we finished our set. Holy shit! By the way: Every drink was served out of a tube with thousands of different drink buttons. Crazy! After the last show we said goodbye to THIS IS HELL and DEAD SWANS. Then we had a 15 hour drive home coming up.
(Raphael)
I had the most embarassing tiny 5" pizza in Norwich. 5 inches… I swore not to tell anyone (so did Raphael who was with me) but it’s been aching inside of me so badly since then, I HAD to come out with it. Show was kinda weird, everyone was completely worn out and tried to give it a rest. This Is Hell were amazing that night, they played their whole set and added Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right” plus an extremely tight version of Earth Crisis’ “Firestorm” with Travis on drums. The perfect musical ending for the tour. We shot a crew photo and then it was time to say goodbye to everyone. We had all grown pretty tight on this tour and in some cases it was kinda sad to realize that one wouldn’t see the other person for months, maybe years.
(Chris)
Day 32 - Homecoming… -driving (UK, FR, BE, D)
“18-hour-trip” sounds kinda threatening but what it REALLY means to sit in a bus for a whole fucking day or night is indiscribable. No way to sleep, no way to read, no way to work, no way to relax, no way to even move at all. One last time: Overnight drives are so much of a pain in the ass!
First we dropped off Pid in London, then Rob in the middle of buttfuck nowhere (also for the last time, promise!) before we tried catch the train via the Euro-Tunnel. We arrived at 4am, boarding was at 6am. What else. All the shops and fast food booths were closed, so we tried to kill time with arcade games and coffee machines. The last coins were PRECIOUS and a lot of immoral offers were made to gain them. I fell asleep somewhere in the tunnel and woke up in Belgium (?) I think. I felt so dizzy in the head, just like one big hangover. It took us another 11120000 hours to finally reach Munich and after unloading our gear and cleaning the van I was at home (yes, at HOME… crazy!!) around 10pm. My girlfriend was at the Comeback Kid / Bane show, so I had some time to acclimatize with my old/new envrionment. I piled up all the presents I bought, took a shower and painfully embraced real life the next morning at 7am when my alarm rang. At the latest NOW tour was over.
(Chris)
Youtube:
Amazon Empfehlung:
Amazon Empfehlung: