What Ezio has to say when he is on tour

The Duo Tour 2003, Germany

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

If you have pictures from any of the gigs, please e-mail them to me.

Amsterdam (NL), Oct. 20th

Paradiso! Sold out the small room! Great! Camel is playing the bigger room! Shit! At the same time! Bullocks! No, you won’t hear anything! Double bullocks!! Really, there’s a 105 Db limit… Triple bullocks!!! I personally find it very disgraceful to have an acoustic duo play the small venue while a full band (that was far too loud) is playing the big room. I find it disgraceful towards the band and the audience. And also very distracting. Almost as much as people talking in the back during slow songs… And that’s me saying it, not Ezio or Booga. They’ve already said it on stage… Anyway, the gig was great and it felt almost like coming home (if it wasn’t for the Marlboro Light noise from next door…). I’m already looking forward to the December dates in Holland. Great audience and I think they’ve enjoyed it as well. The song suggestions were close to a storm and the requests could have filled at least 3 nights… Despite empty batteries, the boys were superb and rushed to a great finale. To the point that Booga felt really bad afterwards. Too much??? Yes, definitely, but the Ezio audience is so great and they deserve our best…
On the other hand, I think it’s about time I should write an “How to behave like a real Ezio fan book”… with such important rules as “please, don’t think you’re Spanish during Saxon Street” or “the request session finished when they started the song”…or just “shut up during the slow songs – if you wanna talk, there’s a great bar next door – but please respect those who really love the music”… What do you think? Let me know? Always wanted to get rid of this… Am I too tired? Even exhausted? Yeah, definitely, but you know, I feel sometimes so bad when I see such great fans (most of the people that come to the shows) and such a hard-working band being thrown off tracks by stupid, ignorant, drunk or just non-caring people… For me, there’s just one rule: Enjoy it, it’s magic. I still do. Every single night, after 5 years of touring… I think I’m blessed! And f… Goodnight! See you soon!

Amsterdam (NL), Oct. 19th (so-called day off)

In Holland, you don’t get arrested for selling drugs, for actually taking them, for exhibiting naked in a window or just looking at the meat, no you get arrested for jumping the fence while nearly dead people try to finish a marathon, thus shortening their life by at least a couple of years… Our hotel (did I say shity? No, sorry, I should have) was just in the middle of the marathon and we couldn’t access the car park to drive to the Kink FM studios in Hilversum to record the 2 Meter Sessions… so we jumped the fence and were nearly arrested by the local police (who backed up when Booga started barking at them and Ezio (with his guitar) refused to move from the middle of the track and started a very loud countdown that would have lead to a major explosion…). Anyway, the 2 Meter Sessions were fun and made sure that we really finish this tour with only 1 day off in 6 weeks… When we got back at 5, Ezio and me had the worst Kebab in history (didn’t know you had Fricadelle Kebabs in Holland) while Booga went for shopping. In the evening, we all headed to the Sportsbar to have a couple of beers and to see Milan beat Lazio… Great! The dinner afterwards was at least as good as the Kebab… Not even the beers helped…

Kiel (D) to Amsterdam (NL), Oct. 18th

Just a brief one to let you know that the 600 km drive was o.k. (we’ve driven 9000 km so far), that Marcus spends another couple of days at home (lucky bastard), that our hotel is shit (my room is soooooooo big that I can touch the left and right wall if I spread my arms – and I can shower my feet when I’m sitting on the loo...) and that we had nice Indonesian food. After a short walk through Amsterdam’s nightlife, we all went back to the hotel (at 11 p.m. – how sad is this?) and just crashed into our beds. Not really exciting, isn’t it??? Rock’n’roll??? Well, we’ve decided to skip (most of) it’s party side in order to give you the best possible show every night... and don’t tell me this is a bad decision.... Goodnight!

Kiel (D), Oct. 17th

Last gig in Germany... Well, no... because we’re coming back in December for a couple of dates, but it’s the last on this tough tour and we all feel very f... as you might know by now. But once again, the boys raise to the challenge and kinda surpass themselves. I’m still very surprised how we all can make it work night after night. And still do it in an honest way. Not like we’re trying to put down a show. You just get everything we have every night. I think we would all feel very bad if it wasn’t so. Kiel was another pleasant surprise. Quite a lot of people for a place we’d never been. And quite a long show for a destroyed travelling party. But as I said earlier... Anyway, “darkness” was just brilliant... once more... and to me, it’s THE song of this leg of the tour. No party, no drink tonight. Just a well-earned sleep, because tomorrow we have a long drive waiting for us...

Schöneiche (D), Oct. 16th

O.k., knowing that the Schöneiche fanclub will read this very thoroughly, I better switch to diplomatic mode (the “Bürgermeister” will agree): Well, after playing a Tapas Bar, an American Diner, we landed in the Sports & Leisure Centre this time, i.e. Bowling, Badminton, Squash, Tennis... Our first thought? Fuck! Our second? Fuck me! We (the 4 of us) all agree that the stage probably was placed at the worst possible place. And the fact that you kinda had to face 4 different rooms (if you were standing on stage) made this a very very tough job for the band. What saved it was the unlimited kindness and love from the Schöneiche people. All of them are great people and every stay with them is memorable. Among the treasures of the night were “Oranges”, “1000 years”, “30 & confused”, a very fitting version of “Stand by your man” and of course the improvised “Bürgermeister cowboy song”. Oh yeah, and after 2 years of begging... “Francesca”...

Another highpoint of the day was the visit of our beloved and very missed Lee “the man” Russell. I should mention that he actually combined this visit with the opportunity of having Daniel Lanois meet him in Berlin.

Anyway, of course, this “special” night had to end with a couple of drinks... especially as the whole hotel was ours... Wrote a new song during the show... Maybe I’ll share it with you sometime later...

Braunschweig (D), Oct. 15th

As I may have mentioned before, when you expect the worst, you are sometimes very surprised at how things finally turn out. Braunschweig and its select venue made tonight’s performance a very special. And this despite a huge exhaustion. We all managed to throw our last forces into the show, but I still wonder how. It’s amazing how you guys out there just manage to have us find unexpected forces... The Braunschweig song was really really funny. Laughed my ass off. Before I definitely broke down. As we all did. Never felt so tired on any tour. And this counts for the 4 of us. Except maybe Marcus, who spent a couple of days at home (between Minden and Bremen)... Lucky bastard. Wonder if my bed will recognize and accept me...

Bremen (D), Oct. 14th

Ezio and Booga already left to record “on the tracks”. I’ve just send out a couple of live CD’s and I’m waiting for Marcus to arrive, so we can get to the radio station and set up our stuff...

It’s 8 p.m. now...

What a shit day so far... We had 1 real day off on this tour so far. All the other “non-concert” days were travel days. Today we were supposed to have a short trip and almost another day off. Here are the facts: 270 km in 7 hours, 4 of them spent in traffic jams. How do we feel? Like shit!!! Do I feel like writing more? No. I’m gonna go to the movies now and see Bad Boys II. Did you say “stupid action movie”? Good, because that’s exactly what I need.

Bestwig (D), Oct. 12th

As my health seems to get worse (I feel so weak), I seem to enjoy the gigs less than I usually do... or maybe, they just aren’t as great these days... sounds tough, doesn’t it??? But Bestwig is probably my biggest disappointment on this tour. When Ezio and Booga came off stage after the regular set, I asked them how it felt to play a cemetery... From the audience, there was no reaction at all. If you ask them nicely to move forward – let’s say at least 4 times – and only 3 or 4 people manage to do it, the rest preferring to stay in the dark, they shouldn’t complain later when I’m comparing them to a cemetery... “Funnily enough”, “darkness” sounded great tonight... Or even brilliant... And the boys fought hard till the bitter end... The fact that this is one of the very few gigs (with Halle), where less people showed up than the previous time, didn’t really help much. Furthermore, we really don’t want to play restaurants. Because the Highway man turned out to be a restaurant, not a proper “venue”... Great to see our friends Gisbert and Steffi, though. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I wore Booga’s shirt on stage...

P.S. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the other John, the one from England who manufactures Ezio’s Live CD’s, was present... We didn’t miss him... In case he printed the CD for the navigation system on his car, he might be halfway to Singapore wondering how far Cambridge is...

Minden (D), Oct. 11th

Seems like I’m finally going to be ill. I feel dreadful today. I’m fighting the flue for 10 days now and the change of weather, the exhaustion and the stress are weakening me every day. I feel like shit today. Thank God, the drive to Minden (360 km) is very quick and this gives us time to rest some more. And to watch the football. I’m feeling even worse after soundcheck. And it just doesn’t improve during the evening. Despite dreadful presale figures, the Jazz Club in Minden is pretty packed. But this show is very different from others. A Jazz Club is a Jazz Club, and the audience who’s attending this kind of venue is a very different from the usual Ezio audience. I don’t say better or worse, just different. And so the gig becomes something very different. Let’s say, it must have been a hors d’oeuvre for fans of technical skill. “Back on your own again” is present one more time. And a beautiful version of “darkness” hits my brain before I definitely lose concentration as by now I’ve switched over to auto-pilot. I feel like shit and I just wanna dive in to my bed sheets. After a quick sushi treatment (we had ordered them in advance) at our very nice hotel (the Holiday Inn Minden – great crew as well), we all crash out.

Erfurt (D), Oct. 10th

It’s a good thing we moved the gig from the rather big Gewerkschaftshaus to the cosy Museumskeller. And for a first time in Erfurt, we are quite surprised at how many people show up. Despite a late arrival in Erfurt (due to massive traffic jams, again), Ezio and Booga listen to “Back on your own again” which they promised they would play tonight. Which they do to the great joy of the person who asked for it. After the gig, we take over the bar and sail off for a fun night. Booga’s the d.j. (great job), Marcus is discussing mathematics with Wolfram, while I’m speaking French to his wife, Christelle, and Ezio is making friends with the “agony” group. J We also discover the local version of “Averna”...

Halle (D), Oct. 9th

Today we were on the... Highway to Halle... and the traffic jam season has definitely begun. We arrived very late at the hotel and hardly had time to check in. 400 live cd’s were waiting for us... without jewel boxes... which meant that we had to take the cellophane off every cd and then replace the country cd with the right cd... and guess what... yes, we did that as well. I unwrapped 400 cd’s and we all exchanged the cd’s. By now, we can face a second career in the record making business... Actually, no, we won’t... because just the sound of the expression “music business” makes me sick... I’d rather stay a hard working but honest musician-tour manager-promoter. Anyway, the gig was very pleasant and we discovered our friend Christopher and his girlfriend Mirjam in the audience (who had done a 5 hours’ journey to see us). Ezio asked them for a wish and they asked for “Freedom”, which they hadn’t played in a while. Not on this tour anyway. 2 sets of encores later, we all just crashed into our beds... I sent out the last mails to put the live cd action on its final orbit and did the same.

Koblenz (D) – day off, Oct. 8th

This is our first day off in 3 weeks. We are so exhausted. Everyone’s at the hotel. Marcus is writing his book (about studio engineering), Ezio’s recording and Booga went shopping to Frankfurt. Antonia and me are just in bed, where we had a very late breakfast. I’m writing to you.

It’s a couple of hours later now and we just got back from a great (if not the best) tour dinner at Elsa’s cuisine. My friend tTom and his wife took us there. Its absolutely unbelievably fantastic. If you live in or near Koblenz, have dinner at Elsa’s cuisine (Paradies 2). Just great. We feel human again.

Koblenz (D), Oct. 7th

I woke up quite early and started to work on the live-cd problem. When we left Heidelberg, the live-cd action part 2 was already well on the tracks. By the way, the album featured on the wrongly pressed cds is from Kevin Montgomery and is called “2:30”. Great album if you like that kind of music. We already listened a couple of times to it in the car and found out that it was an album Ezio had been looking for a couple of months ago... but which he couldn’t find. Well, if you ask me, he’s got it 464 times now! While driving to Koblenz, we noticed that the traffic jam season has opened and that the summer’s definitely gone. Playing the Suppkultur is far better than the Ransbach-Baumbach clinic. We all felt healthier.

The gig was great, again. And we had big fun. I saw my friend Tom (who runs the place) that I hadn’t seen since the BFB tour and we agreed on having a coffee or meal the next day. Matthias, the promoter of the show, is also very interested in taking T42 to his label, so we all really felt great about the night. Finally, at 1.30 a.m., we had a surprisingly tasty meal at El Toro. Where I drove back to at 2.50 a.m. to get a pizza for my loving and pregnant wife (that hadn’t made it to the club). I call it the strawberry symptom.

My favourite moment of the night was a fabulous version of “darkness”. The best ever played. And the big laugh that brought the 3 of us to tears during “deeper”. Sorry, but can’t tell you why... It’s quite personal, but very very funny, believe me... We lost it completely.

Heidelberg (D), Oct. 6th

This day will be remembered as the “technical breakdown day”. Unfortunately, despite a great band (we were so looking forward to it!!!), great music and a great audience, it almost went all wrong and showed how much we rely on technical devices, even with 2 acoustic guitars. The monitoring system was just shit. And the p.a. hardly covers the audience’s acoustic expectations. For the band, it’s a disaster. Whatever Marcus did, the guitars seemed to have their own life and just didn’t react to his changes. The monitors seemed to gate or compress at their own will. And Ezio’s fantastic Takamine sounded (in the monitor) like a cheap guitar. Thank God, to please a long-time promoter and friend, we had broken with tradition and agreed to do 2 sets which gave us an opportunity to change some stuff and find solutions. Because so far, the set was a nightmare for the band. It sounded o.k. outside, though. Not great, but o.k. The second set became acoustically a lot better. And we made up for the technical problems with quite a long set. But if we thought we’d beaten the technical monster, we were all wrong. Just when I was about to close the shop, some people came back with their newly acquired live cd (that had been delivered to us the night before – straight from England) and told us that there was a country band on it... and not Ezio live at the Shepherds Bush Empire. At first, I thought it was a joke, but looking at their faces I started to believe it and all I could think of was... please, don’t tell me, I’ve got 500 wrong cd’s in the car... I ran to the car, listened to a couple of them, and found out, I hadn’t 500 wrong cd’s in the car... only 464, as I had sold the other 36... Shit! What a day!!!

P.S. As this was my wife’s birthday and she’d come to the gig (despite being in the 8th month of her pregnancy), she got a devastated tour manager husband... But the 2 glasses of champagne we all had back at the hotel turned the whole situation in ironic laughs and we decided to provide the fans with an exchange/refund solution as quickly as possible.

P.S.2 Just in case you had a doubt, the gig was absolutely fantastic and the audience just the same. They played “Stay with me” for the 1st and only time on this tour. And “1000 years” (which I love, not just because it’s our wedding song). And “Just to talk to you again” for Antonia’s birthday. And they broke 2 strings. Tour record so far.

Fulda (D), Oct. 5th

When Ezio starts the set with “One more walk around the dance floor”, you can already guess the flavour of tonight’s performance. As he says: “Here, when it’s Sunday, it feels like Sunday...” And the fact that we’re back in the Kassel area is proved by a small audience, though I gotta tell you, a great audience, who appreciated this sentimental set. They played “Oranges” for the first time, followed by “30 & confused” that seems to have found its spot on this tour. Good, because it just sounds great. And not having it played for so long, makes it just fresher. They concluded the set with “Just to talk to you again” followed by a unique medley “Mermaid song/Angel song/Further we stretch”. Gotta point out the “Chinese Restaurant song”, too. As most of the limited audience showed up before the gig and while we were having dinner, we introduced a new way of fan communication “meet and eat”.

Singwitz (D) to Fulda (D), Oct. 4th

And there goes another day off. 470 km. And we arrive quite exhausted in Fulda. While Ezio sets up his studio, I’m heading to the local cinema to see the long-awaited “League of extraordinary Gentlemen”. And what a disappointment that was... I’m a big reader and I also love comics. So, of course, I knew the comic book that inspired this movie. Well, I gotta go back to the book, because this movie is just a poor mixture of many action movies like Indiana Jones, Young Sherlock Holmes, Wild Wild West... In the evening, we had a dreadful Chinese meal. Beurk. And to finish this disappointing day, the hotel bar was closed by midnight. So we all went to bed and actually had a great sleep, while Marcus (who’d driven home) was celebrating his birthday with his friends. We’ll celebrate it at the Fulda show. Happy birthday, Marcus!!!

Singwitz (D), Oct. 3rd

It’s strange how much different the areas in one country can be. And that’s something I already wondered about while touring Luxembourg (yes, it’s possible) with T42. While Ezio and Booga were still wondering whether tonight’s audience did actually give a shit about who’s on stage and what they are doing, I sensed that they might actually find the duo amazing, but that they just didn’t show it in the same ways than in other places. The after-gig meet & greet at the Ezio shop actually confirmed this feeling. The audience and the boss were absolutely enthusiastic about the show... Except for one lady, no one actually requested any song during the show. They also hardly laughed (nor smiled) at Ezio’s jokes... I personally think that the language barrier (in this area, they didn’t learn English some 13 years ago) might have made it difficult for the people present at the show to get in the unique Ezio atmosphere. As this made it very difficult for the band to adjust, too, they played a very concentrated and therefore technically superb gig. The feeling that in the end we had performed a good show and the fact that we’d increased our audience in this area (not the 20 announced by Ezio, but around 150) finally convinced us that this was worth the long ride.

Plauen (D), Oct. 2nd

If the hotel was a more than pleasant surprise, the town, the people and the venue would prove to be just as great. And the gig was fantastic. I can hardly remember people clapping for encores and singing 15 minutes after the show and after the band had already changed their clothes. Didn’t help to convince the audience that the gig was supposed to be over. So Ezio and Booga just went back on stage, 15 minutes after having finished and played another couple of encores. Just amazing. And now, just to prove you how great this evening was, I’m gonna tell you that they played... “Cinderella” (half a version) and “30 & confused”. Wow! Don’t you think? It really was a great night. And we’ll come back. Big hug for the promoters, too. They love their job. And that’s so rare...

Bayreuth (D), Oct. 1st

After all, we start being a rock band. We cancelled for the first time (since I’m the tour manager) a hotel. We should have done it before, though. Anyway, the title “Pension” disqualified it straight away and we’re gonna drive to Plauen straight after our gig. I say “we’re gonna” because, actually, we haven’t played yet. We’re all sitting backstage and working on our computers. Marcus and Ezio have finally optimised Ezio’s mobile recording studio and we’re gonna test it tonight in order to be ready for the “big” shows: Heidelberg, Koblenz... Booga’s surfing the internet and me, well, I’m writing to you. As we move East, I gotta admit that we all start being homesick big time. And we haven’t reached halftime yet... Marcus is gonna celebrate his birthday (this week-end) at home and we all feel jealous. We miss our homes and this time of year seems to emphasize the feelings. Furthermore, going into new territories and having to perform to smaller crowds, driving more kilometres and being often faced with less professional working conditions and lesser luxury don’t really help. But we all wanna get the band more known and we were aware of what expected us. Furthermore, we’re surprised at some results achieved in places we’ve never been before. O.k., enough of this, I’m gonna go tune the guitars now. Speak to you later.

Regensburg (D), Sept. 30th

In the category “nice surprises”, I give you... Alte Mälzerei in Regensburg... A couple of years ago, we played the Mälzerei with the full band in front of very few people that apparently didn’t know the band at all. Or at least most of them. This time, we came with the reduced line-up and there were twice as much people. Cool! And looking at the gig, there might be even more next time. Good. Because I love Regensburg. It’s a beautiful town. Concerning the Quality Hotel, I gotta tell you that it’s one of the most pissed off/frustrated hotel crew I’ve ever met, excepted of course The Ambassador in Bern... Anyway, Alessandro & Rafaele, 2 friends of Ezio came from Prague and we had a great evening. Ezio composed the “Regensburg No Music Blues” and except for some cunts that like to speak during songs, it was a very pleasant gig. Quite a different set, too.

Ulm (D) to Regensburg (D), Sept. 29th

Despite a normal amount of sleeping time, we all look like zombies. Austria and almost 5000 km in only 10 days have sucked a lot of energy. When we finally arrive in Regensburg, we just crash into our hotel rooms just to be faced with normal days off work: laundry, accounts, diary, preparation of the next days... setting up the studio... After shopping the essential bits and pieces (new music & movies for the car), we have an excellent dinner at Haus Heuport.

Ulm (D), Sept. 28th

Well, that was some sort of a homecoming after those 4 days in Austria. We were all so eager to meet a “normal” Ezio crowd that we forgot all our tiredness for a couple of hours. And we were exhausted after another 6 hours on the road. The gig was brilliant and Ezio wrote a new song on stage that I would call “it’s all yours”. The set started with “everybody forgets sometimes” and was just stunning. “Take me away” was part of it, too. The regular part ended with the “go”-sing-along... “59 yards” & “the mermaid song” appeared for the first time in the encores part. Just brilliant.

Allensteig (A) & Aflenz (A), Sept. 26th & 27th

O.k., it’s gonna be tough not to go mad about the Austrian gigs. You want a summary? O.K. Wrong band at the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve decided to put the dates in one diary entrance, because I wanna get over it, as quick as possible. This wasn’t the right approach to move into Austria and we all know now. Youth centres are not the right places. Even if more than half of the audience gets into your stuff, that still leaves a bunch of drunk kids that have absolutely no idea of clapping. Furthermore, the numbers announced were far from those present. It’s been tough staying on stage and not calling out loud for a taxi... I remember a very deep version “one more walk round the dance floor”... The promoters were nice and the gear was o.k. too, but these weren’t the right places. I preferred Aflenz. Just because of the great lunch we had at our hotel. After such a long ride on our day off, it was a very hard tribute to pay. Wanna know what a fan thinks about the gigs? Check out Bettina’s website www.profifan.de (it’s in German).

Karlsruhe (D) to Zwettl (A), Sept. 25th

After seeing Claudia’s exhibition at the Kaisergarten (Kaiserallee) that features a couple of “Ezio”-paintings, there’s a 700 km journey waiting for us... Travel day instead of day off. A pain in the ass. We’re all tired. Despite the fact that we were staying for 2 days in the same town (Karlsruhe), the 2 shows really sucked all our energy. The drive through the mountains is exhausting. Ezio’s sick, Booga asks for a stop and Marcus is quite pale, too. I feel exhausted as well. When we finally arrive at 9.30 p.m., the hotel didn’t expect us anymore, the cook’s gone and we’re fed up. The local non-Italian speaking Italian restaurant soothes our mood. Goodnight!

Karlsruhe 2 (D), Sept. 24th

Hmmmm, it’s strange how 2 gigs in a town can be completely different. The second night was very very different. First of all, Ezio kinda lost himself a couple of times during the set and really needed that break before encores to recover fully. But then they both offered a wild “grande finale”. The audience was different, too. Can’t really explain how, it’s just something I sense. The setlist was of course very different. Depsite the fact that we stayed for 2 days in the same hotel without having to travel, we were absolutely exhausted at the end of the night. And I felt a little bit sad, too, as my wife had visited me and had to drive back to visit the nursery that would welcome our little baby in November. On personal level, this tour is really tough for me... I’d love to be home and take care of my pregnant wife and the little monster that kicks her every couple of hours because he Dad doesn’t kiss her anymore... In 1999, I always wondered how Ezio felt being on tour just before his son was born. Now I know... It’s very tough. Thank God, the great performances and crowds help you out...

Karlsruhe (D), Sept. 23rd

We all woke up quite early and surprisingly met at the breakfast table long before usual time. A certain joy filling our hearts. 2 days of Karlsruhe were calling for us. Karlsruhe. One of our favourite places and surely one of the best audiences in Ezio-Land. Despite tons of traffic jams announced on the radio and by the navigation system, the road cleared in front of us and made us arrive before time. Karlsruhe seemed to be waiting for too long... But we were more than ready to reward them for their patience. Playing the Jubez 2 nights instead of moving to a bigger venue was the right thing to do. The people at the Jubez are just fantastic. The audience as well. “Wild side/Moon”, “The further we stretch/Cowboy song”, “Deeper”, “Angel song”, “Saxon street”, “Cancel today”, Sometimes I wish” alternated with less known but just as welcomed songs like the brand new “If you go” and “Thin line” (I prefer this title), a great improvisation that I would call “questions and answers (the cigarette song”) and many more... I can assure you that I brought 2 very happy but totally exhausted musicians back to the hotel... Thanx to Claudia for the beautiful picture.

Ansbach (D), Sept. 22nd

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. When you don’t expect much and you get a lot in return, you’re easily overwhelmed. We are. First time in this Bavarian town and it exceeded all our expectations. Really nice venue run by nice people. A warm welcome and a first class audience. For a place, we’ve never been before. We’ll be back, no doubt about it. The surprises on the setlist were ”Maybe sometimes” with a bit of Van Morrison. The “Wild side/Moon”-Medley in a very long version. Great! “Shadow boxer”. An improvised “Harmonica Blues” and a beautiful “Agony” to start the encore. “Just to talk to you again” concluded a beautiful evening.

Booga’s intermezzo

Enough of all the nice shit, Booga`s here now, so lock up your children and put the animals to bed. Got here last Wednesday, in one piece unbelievably, thanks mainly to St. Ken of Ryanair without whom hourly visits to the sperm bank could barely cover the cost of the potential excess baggage charge. We would have his children but the discomfort in conception would too overwhelming for words.

So, first night in the bunker. A very strange vibe being surrounded by such history. But not as strange as the mystery vegetables at dinner. A mix of something quite indescribable. Weapons inspectors soon arrived and took them away for testing. The results to be broadcast on CNN. The show felt pretty good and punters seemed to dig it, nice to see a few familiar faces. The last time we were here, it was with the band and my abiding memory was watching Alex light one of his farts and seeing a 3 foot flame leap out of his arse and illuminating the room like a supernova. Beautiful.

The next morning we awoke in the middle of the night to drive all the way across Germany to picturesque Bodensee to play in a tapas bar to 50 people. The old English phrase “stupid cunts” come to mind but this is the life of a wandering troubardor. Nice meal though. But it was a fucking tapas bar.

Augsburg (D), Sept. 21st

After a goodnight’s sleep and fully recovered strength, Booga, Ezio and me headed to the fitness room to work out. After a well-earned shower, we had a nice little drink at the Biergarten next door (Apfelschorle & Cola light). What a great summer, don’t you think? Still lasting... At 5 p.m., we drove to the Spectrum. The Spectrum is definitely one the best venues in Europe. Everything is done to make you comfortable and working conditions are really exceptional. Around 100 people showed up which is a good result considering we’ve never been here before. “Circus” appeared on the setlist, “Thin line” that Ezio thinks of calling “Jesus Greene” was also played and to my biggest pleasure “Wild side/Moon”. Ezio played “Ancora” for Kipper who’d come all the way from England.

Augsburg (D), Sept. 20th – day off

420 km back to where we came from and even further into Germany... I really don’t like days off to be spent on the road... It doesn’t really make them feel like days off... On this tour, many of them will unfortunately be converted into travelling days... Just to add something new to the diary, I thought I’d tell you what books we are currently reading:

• Booga: James Elroy - American tabloid
• John: Arturo Pérez-Reverte – Der Club Dumas
• Ezio: Q-Base Manual (when he’s not busy installing new software for his new mobile studio...)
• Marcus: Building a recording studio (when he’s not busy showing Ezio when and where he screwed up trying to install new software for his new mobile studio...)

As we spend so much time on the road, we also listen to loads of cds... and naturally have our favourite tour records. Since the summer shows, the Louis Prima “best of” record is the unchallenged top album. Surprisingly, the Jack Johnson album also became one of our favourites. Another old hit album (currently on its 4th Ezio tour) is the James Brown’s ‘68 Dallas live recording. Further favourites include “Lost songs” by Tom Waits, “Best of 1-3” by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash “American Storyteller - Volume IV”...

Bern/Rubingen (CH), Sept. 19th

Great venue. According to the promoter, the third floor is for kissing, the second holds the bar and is for drinking while the first is for music lovers. On the other hand, the hotel is the most depressing place I have ever had to stay at... If you ever come to Bern, avoid the ambassador... The hotel and its crew suck... big time... Anyway, the gig was good and the local band that opened the evening was great. We all loved it. Very talented young songwriter! The Ezio gig started with some technical problems, that we managed to fix after a couple of songs. Except the talking people behind the stage (on the second floor), the audience present on the first floor proved to be of high quality. Ezio played “thin line” again. Seems like it’s become part of this tour... Is the fact of not being served a drink after packing and loading part of Swiss promotion hospitatlity? I wonder...

Lindau (D), Sept. 18th

Considering the gig was confirmed only 8 days ago, I’m still surprised that many people showed up. On the other hand, after Friedrichshafen, it would have been nice to be in a “normal” venue... This was the only ever occasion that you’ve seen Ezio in a Tapas Bar. The good thing about it: the food was great. The gig itself was very relaxed and saw a couple of songs emerge from the memory book, like moon. Ezio and Booga played “sometimes silence” during soundcheck, which I hadn’t heard for ages... Yeah, after all these years, I’m still a fan. And a very privileged one...

We had a hotel on the island. Really nice. The island... Apart from that, the drive was a real killer: 650 km and lots of traffic jams.

Aachen (D), Sept. 17th

Well, personally the Musikbunker doesn’t really belong to my favourite venues. It’s dark, the air conditioning is loud, it’s got no windows (it’s a bunker after all) and the food is terrible. The crew is nice though. On the other hand, we were very surprised about the audience that increased by over 30% since last time. Great. The gig was fine, too. 2 new songs: “thin line” and “if you go”. At least that’s how I call them. Love both. As the show ended late, we only got a very short sleep as a long drive would lead us to Lindau the next day. (Oh yeah, the first copies of “T42 live in Mannheim – crew deluxe” arrived today.