Session 34- Playing in the Band IX, Plauen, Germany 5/18/07

20:45 Swedes (Tobias, Jocke and Luz) all arrive at my place. I have my gear out on the street waiting to go. Van is even smaller than the lat one we had, so there is no way we will be able to bring all our gear. Everyone is in a great mood. We drive out to the Mantric Muse rehearsal room to pick up the Danes (PIB, Magnus, Mogens). IT takes us about 45 minutes to pack up the van and another 5 or 10 for them to smoke before we can leave. Mogens had to leave his mixer behind, pib wanted to take his drum kit (no way) and both of Magnus's guitar cabinets. We for sure need the bigger version of this van next time.

Packing the Van

21:45 We are finally off to drive to Rødby to catch the Puttgarden ferry. It would have been faster to go with the Gedser- Rostock ferry but the last one was at 21 and we could not get the car before 20:00.

23:45 We missed the 23:15 ferry that we were booked on but no big deal as there was hardly any cars on this one. People are happy. Magnus buys a case of beer and everyone is drinking coffee (the ones who have to drive). We have about 550km to go..

2:24 We change drivers now. Tobias has been driving the whole way. Magnus will now drive. We are 100km from Berlin now, I am guessing. I will try to get a bit of sleep.

7:00 We are about 100km from Plauen. Turns out Magnus missed the Potsdam trun off the E10/E55 down to E9, so we ended up driving all the way around Berlin (the whole ring), about an extra 150km! We are at a gas station south of Leipzeig. People are smoking a joint. Magnus will drive the rest of the way. He is pretty fresh. I have not slept at all really. Luz, Jocke, tobias, Mogens have been sleeping. Pib can't sleep either but is wired. The music we have been listening to is: Sula Bassana- Dreamer, Ozric Tentacles- Live Underslunky, Widespread Panic- Best of, Heru Avenger, Frank Marino- Live, Anitbalas- Security, Ole Lukkøye- Doo Doo Doo..

8:30 We arrive pretty exhausted at the Malzhaus in Plauen. Really cool town. People are sleeping all over the place in tents, sleeping bags on the outdoor stage, campers, etc.. A few people are up and about. We meet Gerd, the organizer and he is super cool. The venue is amazing. IT is a buliding from like the 14th century. They used to store the Malt here for making beer. The whole inside of the venue is decorated with Grateful Dead stuff and tie die. Nice...

9:45 We ate a really nice big breakfast that they provide everyday and then we follow Gerd to Pension, the bed and breakfast place about 5km away that we will stay at, run by a really cool German lady named Annelisse. The place is covered with pictures and posters of all the bands for the last 15 years that have stayed at her place. We crash out now.

Anne Lisse and Dr. SpaceRelaxing

14:30 I woke up with sun roasting my body..totally dehydrated. I guess I slept about 3½ hrs. Beautiful day. We need to be at the venue at 17 to talk to the other band about the gear we can use and to set up for the soundcheck. I share a small room with Magnus, tobias and jocke are in the other small room and Luz, pib and Mogens sleep in the large room with the couch, table, fridge and coffee maker. I know I will be very tired later.. Red bull.... Look forward to seeing my friend Dave (Sula Bassana) who will play with us both days. I feel in some kind of daze after missing a whole night of sleep. HOpe I manage later..

15:40 I just took a shower and everyone is starting to come back to life. Magnus is downstairs talking with Anne lisse. We will got to the venue at 17.

17:00 We arrive at the venue. Some people milling about. They have this far out Guillotine near the club and some local drunks are hanging out.

20:40 We had a really nice Gulasch dinner with some really strange (but yummy) sponge potatoes with a small piece of bread inside. Everyone is having some beers and in a good mood. SOld a few CDs already. Soundcheck took a really long time so Jawbone, the Hamburg bluegrass-country band will not be able to start as planned. We were to start at 23:00 but will go on later. We had a lot of trouble getting any sound out of the monitors the way we wanted. Seems ok now.. but you never know until you really start to play.

23:16 Jawbone are still playing. THey played about 25 songs and for nearly 2hrs. Pretty cool band. Really nice banjo-lapsteel player. Stand up bass, acoustic guitar.. 4 piece band. A pretty decent crowd in the place now. I am totally blown away by how cheap beer is.. only 1€ for a half liter of really good beer. All the drinks are very cheap. Everyone in the band is pscyhed to play now and smoking a joint and no one has had too many beers. People are drinking a lot of cola. A local cola.

Jawbone

1:30 We played about a 75 minute set with some really cool stuff in it. It is really loud on the stage and those red lights when they turn them on it is like heat lamp for a lizard blasting you. People were really dancing and we got a nice response. I guess there are around 100 people... We take a short break for a beer and joint...

3:30 Wow.. what a 2nd set.. That was totally amazing stuff. This set was about 90mins. The first jam was great. PIB, wow..what a great drummer. I think everyone is playing at a very high standard and having a great time. It is so nice to see the audience dancing and smiling and they really show their appreciation when you stop between the songs.. Great crowd. one of the best we have ever played to in many ways.. I am very tired and pack down the merchandise until tomorrow. I hope the recordings are good. They have also made a soudnboard recording via a submixer so they can get a more balanced sound. It will be interesting to hear as Magnus and Dave were playing completely blinded, not being able to hear anything that the other was playing as they were on the opposite sides of the stage and there was no guitar in the monitors, only synthesizer.

4:15 We are back and going to sleep. Some people stay up for a bit and have another joint and beer.

Set I 77:53 min

Sponge Potato (with Bread in the Middle) 22:22, XSP881 30:24., Beautiful, She Said 25:05

Set II 86 min

Kryptonite Knight Night Flight P1 21:54, Kryptonite Knight Night Flight P2 12:26, Band Introductions 2:12. For the Dead People 20:33, Plauen Groove for Gerd 29:12