October 2, 2002 We were fortunate that the drive to Langenau wouldn't be as long as the drive from Enschede, so we could afford to be a little leisurely as we left. We had a nice breakfast and said goodbye to Sondra, who'd been so sweet during our stay. It's unbelievable, really, how fantastic and hospitable everyone was. My observation was that in the States, people would be nice to you and would tell you what local sites you could see, but here they offered to travel with you, take you around, and generally really go out of their way. And that's not to mention having you in their home for cake and coffee! At Cafe Kapilio This time we managed to find the gig location without much of a problem. This one was Cafe Kapilio, and we were warned that the stage would be even smaller than the Rainbow. They were right. And this was the showcase gig - record producers would be in the audience checking out the band and would meet with them afterwards. Talk about nerve-wracking, and I'm not even in the band! At this point we'd managed to watch the guys get ready for shows a couple of times. Because of travel expenses and all that, the guys had made agreements that, with the exception of the guitars, they'd all be using equipment from the opening bands - the amps, the drumkit, and the keyboards. So while the guitarists at least had their guitars but had to contend with different amp configurations each night, Bobby and Joe really had it tough as they had no idea what they were going to be playing on at all until they got there. Bobby had gone from playing one of the earlier shows on what he said felt like a huge drumkit with Flatman to playing on some that felt like, he said, "playing on postage stamps." And yet all the guys still managed to sound fantastic! Once again, the guys got set up, checked out the scheme of things, and we all headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and change before the show. Although the place was small and packed, the show was - as usual - incredible, and the guys sounded awesome. And as usual, the guys sweated gallons while up there on stage. When the show ended, I followed Billy Leach outside to get some fresh air - as he passed Xoe, he gave her a big hug and then kept walking. She looked at me with this slightly sour, helpless look as her silk shirt was now soaked with sweat, her arms spread out in that "ewww..." formation. Billy walked away mumbling something about feeling so much drier now. There was no opening act for this one, and the guys had a great turnout at this show. Not only was the audience packed with people totally into southern rock, but there were a few especially nice faces in the audience. First, George Bayer of Lizard came up to see the guys. While I haven't seen Lizard play we heard a lot of their music being played in the clubs we were at, and Rebel Storm is a fan of the band. Second, Holger and band mate Karsten came up all the way from Altheim to see the show as well. They also confided in Xoe that they were going to try and surprise the band again by coming to the Hamburg show - unfortunately Holger came down with the flu and couldn't make it. But thanks for coming up, guys! On my way back in from getting some fresh air, I ran into Bobby. He asked if I had any Band-Aids (har har). "I bled all over this guy's snare…" he said apologetically. I turned to look - ACK! There were blood spatters all over the skin. I don't think we ever did locate any Band-Aids for Bobby… That night everyone crashed at about 3 a.m. Tomorrow it was off to the Koln show at Q1 Zentrum. October 3, 2002 After breakfast the next morning we headed off to the next gig, which would be in Koln. It wasn't on our laminates because apparently it was a last minute addition. Not a bad gig! We had a little trouble finding the place at first - the address we had seemed to lead us to a senior center. Hmm. We hoped that wasn't where they were playing. The club was just down the road from the senior center and we had some time to get situated at the hotel we were staying at. It was in a nice little shopping area, but unfortunately we wouldn't get much of a chance to check it out. Not only was this the weekend around Reunification Day (so it was a major holiday), but the next day we had to head to Lubeck for the next show. Billy Moss and Don Swensen at Q1 That night, the guys went on second after the opening act, which was called Maroque. Now this was an interesting band. They were made up a drummer, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, and trumpet player. They had a style that seemed to me very reminiscent of early Pink Floyd -- a little surreal, kind of dreamy -- but with some jazz thrown in. It's actually really hard to describe and totally unique. The drummer and bassist really did a lot of change-ups in the tempo during their songs and it was pretty cool. The trumpet player reminded me of the guy in the white suit from the Yakuza in that Simpson's episode (you know, the one where Marge has the pretzel business?). I'd watch him, waiting for him to do something, but he stood there in the center of the stage, looking thoughtful. Then you'd watch him raise the trumpet to his lips (he's going to do something!), lick the mouthpiece a little (there he goes! LOOK!) …and then he'd slowly put it back down. He did play, by the way. The guys went on next and as usual, it was a terrific show. They had a smoke machine and some really cool lighting for the stage, which all added to the atmosphere. In fact, some of the best pics we got from the whole trip came from that show. The next day - off to Lübeck and the Rider's Cafe with Nocturn! Next 1 2 3 4 5