What Ezio has to say when he is on tour

The Making of Mr Spoons Tour 2003, Germany

... written by John Rech from T42, Tour Manager and Support Band

Dudelange (L), April 17th 2003:

Guess I’m mad after all. I’m just listening to “The Making of Mr Spoons”... after 3 weeks of touring...

John

München (D) to Dudelange (L), April 16th 2003:

Wake-up call: too early. Breakfast: surreal. Paper work: because we have to. Last arrangements for the band to get to the airport. Goodbye: with a great sense of relief and the sadness of leaving the Family... for a while. Journey back home: 600 km in a bus... too much. Final load out... And then... first contact with normal life... and the family back home... What’s the name of this planet??? Sorry if I don’t know, but I just landed from Planet Ezio...

John

München (D), April 15th 2003:

Last day of the tour... We’re all exhausted. Gotta face a 400 km journey after a very short sleep. The traffic jam kills us. I need a break during the ride. We’re late. The promoter is weird and definitely sucks... the last bits of energy. He hates opening acts... We get it the work done in time and eat 10 minutes before stage time. I have the impression that our energy level drops with every song though I put more and more energy into the gig. Until I feet totally empty. When the set is over, a very satisfied promoter (!) sends us back on stage for an encore... We might have changed his opinion about opening acts... just for one night only...

I didn’t see much of the Ezio gig tonight. The promoter... Furthermore, I was just too tired. Saw a couple of friends, too, including Florian (and his wife) from the Bananafishbones. And some guys from their crew. Ezio told me later that his energy level dropped down with every song and that he’d had to put more and more energy into the gig... until he was totally emptied. Thought I’d heard something similar before...

The “end of tour party” turned into an exhausted assembly...

John

Mannheim (D), April 14th 2003:

Today’s being recorded & filmed for  a couple of independent German TV stations. We’re recording our set as well. This actually means that we’re having lots of work. Like double soundchecks and more coordination work. The gig reveals to be great. The audience (900 people) make it a great Monday night. I’m looking forward to hearing the recorded material. If it’s any good, we’re gonna release it as a special limited cd. Promised. Especially “Barbara fades away” & “Fuck off” seem to kick off tonight. And “Great song”. “Barbara fades away” was just my emotional high point on this tour... maybe because she was so present... I loved every single second of the gig, though I felt like shit all day long and I thought I’d break down any second. But the audience and music just lift me up. Watching the audience sing along to our songs was magical. The Ezio Family is great. Wow!

Later that night, while already in bed... I have a beautiful recurring dream... More than happy in my tree house...

Do I have to tell you that Ezio were great??? I don’t think so. Yet another magical night. “Just to talk to you again”, “Meet me in the gods”... were just superb. What a great crowd! What a great night! I guess you’ll all be able to discover it on tv and maybe on dvd... We’ll see if the footage is good enough... We recorded the sound on multi-track as well... J Thought I should let you know...

John

Tübingen (D), April 13th 2003:

Day off...

What a perfect day off!!! A nice little walk in the Altstadt, a good Kebab, the encounter with Booga’s “Mini Me” and the most relaxing boat trip in ages... all we needed was a great meal to make it a perfect day. Mission accomplished!!!

John

Tübingen (D), April 12th 2003:

The tension and the joy of playing to a sold out Südhaus has been obvious the whole day. Though being really exhausted (the double job crew-opening act is truly exhausting), we just found an unsuspected stock of energy in the smiles and the soul of one of the finest audiences I’ve ever encountered. While still having cramps during the set up, I just felt like I could fly to my tree house that night...

Thank you so much for such a warm welcome. You made us feel really great.

No need to tell you that Ezio and co. just spread their wings and took off for a great great great journey. My favourite Ezio song: Every song this great crowd was singing along and especially “You’re perfect” and “Meet me in the gods”. Great “Saxon street”, too.

John

Freiburg (D), April 11th 2003:

To me, Freiburg is almost like home. I love this town and the people that come to our gigs. The venue is great (despite the sound trouble) and the people that run it are just so nice. Freiburg is one of the places marked with a red cross in my diary. And I’ve got so many memories about the gigs and encounters there. One is definitely the story of Lars and Mirjam whose hearts are beating in perfect time despite the huge amounts of water, wind and land that separate their bodies. “Barbara fades away” was dedicated to them. And “big picture” to the great audience of Freiburg that helped me take an important step in my musical career 3 years ago. Thank you so much.

Freiburg is also a castle in Ezio territory and the gig there was more of a celebration than a concert. We gotta consider going either to a bigger venue or play 2 nights in Freiburg next time. And spend a day off there, too... I just love Freiburg.

My favourite Ezio songs: “Mr Spoons” & “sometimes I wish”.

My scariest moment: Booga just about to crash his guitar on stage...

John

Nürnberg (D), April 10th 2003:

Melancholy night...

Thank you to a limited but extraordinary crowd.

My favourite Ezio songs: “Maybe sometimes” & Medley, “You’re perfect”.

John

Aschaffenburg (D), April 9th 2003:

I really love the Colos Saal. When I got there the first time, I wasn’t really enthusiast, but the love and the work that the people who run the Club have put into it, make it a great place. The audience has changed a lot, too. Though, I gotta say, that you still notice your entrance into Bavaria... But as I said, the audience has improved a lot. Anyway, the gig wasn’t one of our best. Was it exhaustion, was it the audience, was it the band not really kicking off??? I don’t know. Maybe a mixture of all. I battled through the whole set and arrived exhausted to the end of the “great song”.

Ezio did a good set. Lee adds so much to their music. He’s absolutely great. He’s a wandering musical encyclopaedia. We’re trying hard to find an instrument he can’t play. I really loved the “meet me in the gods” goodnight version.

John

Aschaffenburg (D), April 8th 2003:

Day off...

We’re all quite tired and most of the day is spent in bed or just walking around, looking at a quite beautiful little town. In the evening we head for a bar with a big screen to watch Real Madrid beat Manu. Great, isn’t it. We end up at the Colos Saal where Alex and Booga jam with the Houze Band. Then we head back to the hotel. This one sucks... The woman at the reception should seriously consider working in a prison. Her style might be quite successful there. The way she treats guests is just disgraceful. She made me act like a real tour manager... I hate being treated like shit. Hate this kind of people...

John

Ransbach-Baumbach (D), April 7th 2003:

As a musician, I can’t really understand why we play towns like Ransbach-Baumbach instead of Koblenz. As a booker, I would know the answer. Nevertheless, I’d preferred playing the Café Hahn or the Suppkultur in Koblenz. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no problem with the wonderful people in R-B, it’s just that it’s not Koblenz. Though everything was well-organized, this kind of places (Stadthalle...) is just the wrong place. I personally prefer the soul loaded atmosphere of the Café Hahn... The Stadthalle in R-B was closer to the op room of the local clinic. Being on stage felt like looking at a 3D picture of people floating in space.

After the greatness of Cologne, both bands played a good set that was closer to normal standards. As I said, the room didn’t invite to a great set. I bet the Café Hahn would have been a great follow-up to the previous’ night take off...

John

Köln (D), April 6th 2003:

Oh what a night!!! Cologne & Ezio are pure magic. We could sense it all day long. And we could share it, too. What a great audience. If life on the road was like that every night, I think I could fly at the end of this tour. I can hardly describe how beautiful and fantastic this gig was. I just can’t. This night was more than a big wonderful night. It was something HUGE!!! SO HUGE!!! Thank you so much. From the bottom of our hearts and souls.

My favourite song: The whole set, and the audience singing it till we had tears in our eyes. Absolutely magic. It certainly was a top 5 show. I’ve got so many pictures in my head and they’re so beautiful… Goodnight sweet dreams…

John

Unna (D), April 5th 2003:

What a nightmare day!! First the 350 km drive takes far too long, the crew is far too late and the work far too much for one single person. I wasn’t lucky on this day. Especially as I added monitor engineer to my job list. And just to make things worse, due to a hip hop party curfew, we had to start 10 minutes after the doors opened. F… off. We started in front of some 30 or 40 people to end playing to half of the audience that Ezio played to. I hate this kind of things. I find them even disrespectful. Even if the people that run the place were nice, I just hate stressing things because of a stupid after-show party that doesn’t attract any people before at least 1 hour later. Anyway, I was tired too and the fact that no food was left after the show didn’t really make this one to my personal favourite. Thought we played ok, though. And the people who were there seemed to enjoy it. Bless them.

For a first time in Unna, I thought it was well-attended. My favourite song of the day: 59 yards. That really kicked ass.

John

Saarbrücken (D), April 4th 2003:

Day off... Great, Ezio and me find time to write the diary. This takes us about 2 to 3 hours just to do one week. But it’s always fun moments as we recall the last couple of gigs...

John

Saarbrücken (D), April 3rd 2003:

This is the closest we’re getting to home. Some of us (Phil, Chris & Tom) are driving home for a day or two. And they’ll catch up with us in Unna. Due to curfew obligations, we had to start our set very early. I was afraid there might not be many people, but lots showed up. Ad lots of familiar faces. Tom joined us, too. We’ll play the next 4 shows with the full T42 line-up. It makes a big difference. As Sonja showed up to the gig, I couldn’t resist singing “brand new toy” with her.

While driving to Saarbrücken, the first touring symptoms made their way into the T42 van. Further tensions were threat to be punished with alcohol prohibition. It worked. We all love each other again.

The Ezio set was great. The room almost made it religious. Unfortunately, I don’t recall much as I was really exhausted and all my concentration went into making my bit of the show. And the rest of my energy went into table soccer, where Ezio interrupted our winning streak by throwing my beer to the floor. Bad loser...

John

I’d played the Garage with Booga 6 years before. It’s enormous. I remembered a depressed promoter who tried to explain to us in French that we sold 7 tickets, one of which was to John, who at that time payed to see us... So, my memory of the Garage was like being a clown in a circus ring on the wrong day. As the doors opened, people started filing in and carried on until it was full. What a relief. I’d noticed on our recent tour in England that places where we hadn’t played for many years attracted the most people i.e. Southampton, Glasgow... Maybe, we should stop playing for 4 or 5 years...??? The gig was the best yet. That peak of which I spoke yesterday is getting even closer... Look out.

Ezio

Krefeld (D), April 2nd 2003:

Like (almost) every place on this tour, the number of people coming to Ezio shows is increasing. Krefeld might not be one of the most beautiful places in Germany, but the people are great. And the crew of the Kufa is fantastic. The lights and the stage set-up was the best I’ve seen on the last couple of tours.

I really enjoyed our set tonight. I’d been changing the setlist all night just to find out that I’d come back to the original list... So I thought, ok, let’s go for this one, but we’ll soon be changing it. I really don’t want some songs to lose their soul. It was great to see some old friends as well. And to change some email contacts into real persons.

As the tour goes on, Ezio, the boys & girl are reaching an unprecedented quality and intensity. They say the sky’s the limit, but I doubt it... When I look at the crowds that some other acts are gathering and I look at the limited but quality audience we play to, I wonder when Ezio’s big time will come. He definitely deserves it. The hardest working man in music business...

Ok, not to forget, my favourite moment of the show... Booga singing about the discovery channel... and Ezio ending with “Meet me in the gods”...

P.S. Big hug to N.

John

Best gig so far. From our point of view, we’re starting to play well now. It sometimes takes a while to get it. There is always a point at which you peak, a balance between really being on top of your game that comes with a lot of playing and not being completely fucked, which comes with a lot of playing... When this happens is when the truly memorable gigs occur. We’re getting closer, getting closer, getting closer, bigger and better every day...

Ezio

Kassel (D), April 1st 2003:

What else than a bad joke do you expect on April 1st? This was the worst advertised gig in my 5 or 6 years of Ezio touring on the mainland. The promoter, who was a nice chap, should earn an Echo award for smallest crowd gathering in Germany. Anyway, the people who showed up lifted us to a far better performance than their number might make you think of. Few in number, great in quality.

As the long and windy drive from Hamburg had sucked most of my energy, I really needed support to get into the set. The band and the audience helped me big time. Thanx guys. We played “big picture” today and skipped “brand new toy”, just to keep the song fresh and honest. Playing the same setlist every night is not my kind of thing. Too boring and it kills the songs.

When Ezio and Booga went on stage, I could sense a similar apprehension than mine 1 hour earlier. But here again, the band and the audience made them play a very laid-back and high-quality set. With 2 sets of encores. My favourite song of the evening: “just to talk to you again”. Great version.

Hamburg (D), March 31st 2003:

Days off mean generally lots of administrative stuff, some shopping (clothes and music), a good laugh, a great meal and... well yeah, a couple of drinks with the chaps. Just to satisfy your curiosity... We ate Japanese... Great!

Hamburg (D), March 30th 2003:

Well, the Fabrik is a much nicer venue than the Logo. The crew was very nice and the faces in the audience looked very familiar. I didn’t fall off stage tonight... But I think we played our best set so far on this tour. So did Ezio. We’re starting to feel comfortable. This tour being a bigger production (ask me... I’m loading the van), it took us a couple of days to adjust. But it’s big fun. We all enjoy it a lot. And the perspective of a day off gives you wings. Personally, I enjoyed today a lot, be‘cause my girlfriend visited us in Hamburg. It’s funny how I miss her on this tour. I’ve been doing this job for a while now, but I’ve never missed someone like her. Anyway, the gigs were great. Booga sang “Stay with me” for the 1st time on this tour and bits from the James Brown CD that we had listened to in the bus made their way into the song.

Ezio played a superb version of “Meet me in the gods”...

And to get back to the T42 set, I dedicated “brand new toy” to its author (Dirk Darmstaedter of “Me and Cassity” and previously the “Jeremy Days”) who was in the room. An honour for us to play this song in Hamburg.

Hannover (D), March 29th 2003:

I gotta admit, I had a strange feeling when we entered the place, but I never thought I’d fall off stage during the set. The explanation: exhaustion. I just fainted for a brief moment and fell. Thank God somebody caught me, which really woke me up. I don’t think I performed too well tonight, to be honest. I fought myself through the set, sucking my last bits of energy. But the response was very good, nevertheless. I really felt weak... That’s why I hardly remember anything from our set.

Ezio and the band played a great set, though some local guy pissed Ezio off big time when he just took a million pictures with a flash. The people that run the venue were great and made us (for the first time in Hannover... or almost Hannover) feel comfortable...

Berlin (D), March 28th 2003:

The drive yesterday was a killer. 10 hours to get to Berlin after loading the van... which is just about to burst. We wonder if we can squeeze the band in. We’ll try... if no one smokes, there should be some space in the ashtrays... Anyway, the first day of a tour is always so stressful. We kinda managed to get everything done. And then we stumbled on stage to play our set. Cool. Playing to Ezio crowds is a reward. The response is great. While playing, Christian suddenly shouted “Fish is here, look to your left...” I thought he was making fun of me, but there he was, smiling and waving. Well, we had to get him on stage as well for a very funny “Great song” Finale. Cool.

Ezio and Booga started their set as a duo. “Steal away”, “Wild side”... and then Lee and Lidia joined them for “Shadowboxer” before Alex hit the stage to start with “Braver than you are”.

I gotta say that this night is the best tour start gig I’ve witnessed so far. Furthermore, we sold out the Quasimodo for the first time. Cool.

Dudelange (L), March 25th 2003, 2 p.m.:

The tour is just about to start and we’re all in a huge stress trying to get everything done. I guess we’ll manage it somehow, swearing sometime during the first bus ride about something that was forgotten. But, hopefully, laptops, internet and mobile phones help you to stay in touch with “normal” life and “normal” problems.

... read the Tour Diary from 2001