Day 1 (Loppen, Christiania,
DK)
This was the first show of 9 day tour through 5 countries. I arrived at
Loppen around 15 and Tim and Jiri were already there. It was great to see
everyone and the weather was excellent. There were a lot of police in
Christiania so it was a strange vibe but there were a lot of people trying to
have a good time but this is very stressful. Passive aggressive behaviour for
no good reason.
Mogens and Jonathan arrived about 15:30 almost exactly the same time
that Vemund and Øyvin drive up. This was so great to see the BMC guys again.
Simon had taken the train so he was already here somewhere. Big hugs and smiles
when we met again. Everyone is so excited.
 |
| Mogens, Tim and Jonathan backstage |
All went smooth with the get in, set up, soundcheck, etc.. Loppen is
just the best venue. Great staff. We all
had some food together about 19:15 and a few other things had to be sorted out
but all was good and people were happy and in a great mood. Dinner was great.
Yum..
Doors opened at 21 and BMC were to hit the stage right at 22 but there
were very few people, 20 or so. We decided to wait 15mins to start. IT was a
good small crowd and it felt really good to play with the band again. We played
3 tracks and a quite intense set. Great interaction with the guys as usual. 4th
time for BMC to play in Copenhagen and I thick people like them quite a bit.
Set list: Magnifcient Dude, Machine on the Hill, Super Enigmatic Superbandit, Andromeda
Sadly, the input for the recorder was set too high as it was for the
show the night before so the recording is totally distorted. Useless. Pity. I
tried to see if we could do a multitrack or at least a 2-channel soundboard but
it was not possible. Strange.
When ØSC hit the stage I guess there was 80 people or so but a lot of
smiling faces and nice to see my daughter, wife and lots of friends.
Turns out there were 68 paid people and 24 on the guest list (too many)
so about 100 people total. IT was great to play with ØSC again. I think we
played about 100 minutes. The show was pretty laid back at the start and lacked
some intensity, as Tim was quite tentative. Vemund was on fire and just playing
amazing and intense lead guitar. There was great dynamics and people enjoyed
the show a lot. You can hear it below:
My friend Anders videotaped both bands. IT was nice to see some people
from Sweden (Gustaf, Mikael, Eric, Anders, Ann-Karin, and others).
Day 2 (Spaceboat, Hamburg,
DE)
The van is so hard to pack. We just have too much stuff. It took us
75mins to get it sorted it out before we could hit the road. We missed out
planned ferry at 12:15 but just got on the one at 12:50. People ate on the
boat. I always get a schnitzel, a sort of ritual but today I did not think it
was that great. People are a bit tired as it was a late night and party and no
one got more than 5hrs sleep, I think.
We arrived at the harbour at about 16, which was perfect. The GPS is
always taking us strange ways. Within 30mins the boat was there and we could
already load in early. Sabine and Klaus had not even arrived yet.
We have discovered that the rear axel differential is leaking oil from
the gasket, it seems. We will need to keep an eye on this. Mogens says he
thinks it is making a strange sound as well.
Load it and set up went pretty smooth. We all went to a fish place and
has some food before the boat sailed while everyone boarded. The weather was so
amazing. 28C and sunny. This is going to be a great trip. IT was really good to
see Sabine and Klaus. She has been very stressed as it is a lot of work setting
this up but it goes smoothly.
 |
| BMC on the Spaceboat |
WOW. That was one of the best space boats ever. BMC played their entire
new record, psychedelic spacelord and Jonathan joined on the violin as he also
played on the record. People like it a lot. The boat is pretty packed and so
many smiling faces but you can get around and talk with people. People thought we played too loud though. We
try to bring the volume down a bit for ØSC. What an amazing evening so far. People are so happy.
The ØSC concert was amazing. Tim hurt his hand so Simon joined in for a
jam at some point and then Tim was back. IT was just magical this evening and
the crowd were great. They want us to do two nights next year!! I think we
played 2hrs and 40mins in 2 sets! Long show.
Incredible… I think we sold around 500€ in merch as well. BMC did well
also. Danke. Hamburg! We will be back next year for sure.
 |
| Jonatha on the violin (foto by Sabine |
Enjoy the shows:
Day 3- (Little Devil,
Tilburg, NL)
IT was really late when we got to bed and were too late to get started. It took 75mins to pack the van and we had a ton of traffic issues so we will
be arrived really late to the club.
We heard the new Friendship (Norwegian band) and people did not like it
that much. We heard the new SEID, Albino Rhino. Rovo with System 7. We are running really late and trying to
hurry but people are really worried about the van and what we are going to do
if it gets worse or breaks down. Sound in the rear differential is getting
worse. Mogens is really concerned.
17:30 Due to traffic we are still in Germany and have at least 2hrs
more to get there. Fuck. I sent Jürgen a message to let him know we will be
late. We heard some of the jams from the ØSC meets BMC session and people liked
it a lot.
We were supposed to get there at 18 and we arrived at 19:45. BMC were
to play at 20:30 since it was a Sunday night.
Anyway, it was a very rushed set up. Most of the fans were already there
when we arrived. We did manage to set up and eat and get BMC on the stage before
21. Impressive. Stage set up was strange and Jonathan had no place for the Theremin,
etc.…. It is a small and difficult stage for us.
The BMC set was three long songs: Jack's cold Sweat, Lunar Rocket, Barnard's Loop (sadly, only 1 song was recorded)
Last time we played there we played for more than 3hrs in 2 sets. There
were about 60 paid people tonight and a great audience. I think we played very
well and we tried some things we had not. Vemund was on fire and amazing but
this was really Jonathan’s night. I think his playing was incredible and
diverse. Everyone was on top. Jiri is sort of the musical leader on the stage, choosing
keys and direction, which I think is very cool. Tim is having the time of his
life and is so happy to be able to take all these changes and try strange
grooves and rhythms. We for sure take people on some unique trips. I think we
played 1hr 40mins. Great night. All these great Belgium beers took its toll and
Øyvin was very drunk and funny and Vemund had a few too many. Band is very
tired now but we can get a good sleep in tomorrow except Jiri who will get up
early and try to get the van fixed. We were able to leave the gear in the venue
and arrange to load it at 14:30.
https://archive.org/details/OSC2018-05-28.FLAC
Day 4 (Kinky Star, Gent, BE)
It was pretty late when we finished and got back to Jürgen and
Richard’s place. We had arranged to try to get the van looked at as it was
starting to sound worse and really worry us.
We would load the gear from the venue at 14:30 and then hit the road to Gent,
which is only 120kms.
Jiri did not manage to get anything fixed so we have to just hope for
the best and head to Gent. Traffic was horrible and again it took too long to
pack the van and we ended up arrive around 18.
We were late again, arriving about 18:15. Supposed to be there at 18 at
the latest. It did not really matter at all though as the sound guy did not
come until nearly 1930 and we were all set up and ready to soundcheck but he
had to mic things and setup monitors, etc. Nice small club but very very hot.
IT was 28C outside and there is no ventilation in this club, which has a legal
capacity of 49. There were about 100 people if you include all out on the
street.
Everything was a bit chaotic, not sure about food, where we sleep, etc.
and the people at the club just referred to someone else all the time, talk to
this person. In the end it worked out ok and we got burgers that I paid for
(113€) and we would get paid back but we did not. All the money stuff will happen later by bank
transfer. Super nice people running this
DIY place where all the gigs are free. Place is a sort of legendary underground
place being around for 20 years. Official capacity is 49 people.
 |
| Vemund- Kinky Star |
BMC hit the stage a bit before 9 and we really had a long space out on
Supernova from the Andromeda record. I had never played this track live with
the band before. Sweat was dripping down my face, it was really hot. Stone Cold Killer is a hard rocking one that
I did not play much on that was on a split 7” record. We closed with a 25min
version of American Eagle from the first EP. Great show. Good interaction with
the band and Vemund played some killer solos at the end of the show.
ØSC came on about 22:20 and played until nearly midnight. The guys were
overheated, and tired but we still pulled off a good show and the first time we
played this trancy stuff and closed with a reggae jam. I think we played 100
mins. Luc, from Chrohinga Well magazine
and Magic Mushroom radio, was there and it was so nice to meet them. I had been
corresponding with him and selling him records for 20 years. A lot of great
fans. I think we sold a lot of records. We did not crash out until 2. You can hear the show below!
 |
| ØSC- Kinky Star (foto by Psychedelic Salad) |
Sabine, Jiri and I crashed at the soundman’s place, which was a nice
apartment, while the others went to a local squat that was horrible. No shower,
bugs, and just pretty nasty they said.
Again, no one got more than about 4-5hrs sleep. This is the worst for Jonathan and me as we
can’t sleep in cars and are the old guys in the band. The rest all just pass
out in the car and can get some more sleep.
Day 5 (Z-Bau, Nuremberg)
 |
| Happy people in the van |
We are on the road to Nuremberg and a bit frustrated by the fucking GPS
as we got off early to make sure we had plenty of time as it is 650km drive and
the van is still not repaired. GPS took us into the middle of Antwerp. Wasted
an hour. I am still not sure why we drive north back to Holland to go to the
south of Germany??? Strange. Jonathan is driving. We heard Hadal Sherpa and not
Antibalas. People are really tired as they only got 4-5hrs sleep. We are for
sure not eating a lot on this tour. Yesterday I only had a banana, apple and
sandwich before dinner. It was not a lot of food. Today, we just hit the road. Almost 10 and I
have only had a banana and water.
Gig last night was really fun but very hot in the club. Tim said it was
the hottest show that he had every played!
This was a long drive and the van was making a lot of noise now making
it so loud to be inside. We managed to listen to Budos band, Blackberry Smoke,
Black Label Society, Jefferson Airplane, Antibalas, Shpongle.
It was 10hr trip with stops and traffic jams to get to Z-Bau but we
arrived a bit before 18. Weather was amazing but the van was making another bad
sound now. The people here were so glad
to have us back and helped us load in and set up. They had fruit, snacks and
cold beer, which was great. Jonathan was
in a bad mood as he had lost his phone and we could not find it. Thinks it
might have fallen out of the van door at the tank station when where we last
stopped. Hope we find it.
Soundcheck was long and did not finish until 20. Nice feta salad, bread
and a veggie ratatouille like dish with rice with no taste or spices but
healthy. Jonathan found his phone. The
band is super tired and a bit stressed today. IT is very hard to pack the van,
takes 1hr. We simply have too much stuff. We sell merch every gig so that is getting
less and less.
 |
| Vemund (BMC) foto by Sabine |
Show started at just after 21 and BMC played for about an hour. The
audience was really into it. I started the show off on my own and we went into
Plains, which was a nice long jam. One I have played many times with the band.
Enigmatic Superbandit has a great groove and people dig it. We tried to keep
this one a bit shorter so we could squeeze in Warp Speed. Øyvin left out a
verse but not on purpose. We had a laugh about that. I had some modular synth
problems at the beginning of the first jam section and felt bad that I fucked
it all up. Warp Speed was awesome and went down a storm wit the audience. About
1hr set.
ØSC tried to hurry, as it was nearly 10:30 when we started. Band was visibly tired but Tim was killing it
on the drums this day and gave us all a kick in the ass to keep the energy
level high. Stage set up was not good the way we experimented with Jonathan up
front and during the first jam, he and Mogens had to stop playing and with the
help of the soundman, move Jonathans amp, etc. it was a bit of a mess. Mogens
also has to figure out how to keep his synth sounds more even. He gets super
loud at times the way he plays the modular and Nord. Soundman seems to be very
on top it. I will see on the recording. We
got a full video of the show tonight as well for both bands. There was an older
guy who was totally into our show and he also shot some video. It was not a
very good gig for me. Some of the spacey parts were super cool today but I felt
Jonathan never really got into it. Vemund played two killer solos as always.
Jiri had a bass solo and grooved. We did some more spacey stuff and then some
trance stuff as well.
 |
| ØSC (foto by Sabine) |
A lot of older fans at this show and a guy from Eclipsed magazine that
really loved the show. He got a free CD from BMC and us even though they
already have them and have reviewed them. He said he would recommend us to Burg
Herzberg again. We looked at the line up and on the net and it seems like it is
all set in stone now. I don’t know most of these bands. Horst said the weather has been so bad the
last two years he almost considers not to go anymore. Anyway… great crowd but small. Nice to see
Horst again and look forward to our show in Wurzburg in 3 days.
We got 210€ and not sure how much merch we sold but there were only 37
paid people. Small crowd on Tuesday. We had like 50 last time on a Thursday. I
crashed out at 01.
Day 6
I was up at 8 something and feeling pretty good. Had a shower and charged
the computer. I have only had access to internet twice on the tour so it was
good to catch up a bit while they set up the drums.
Jiri is trying to get the van repaired. Hope it is not too serious and
he is back by 13. We will see. Small festival with us, BMC and the Spacelords
today.
Jiri was up at 7 to meet a mechanic and then nothing happened. He went
to like 5 places and no one would help him so we have to really hope we can get
early to Tubingen and get it fixed there. Not sure how much farther we can go.
It is super hot today in and outside the van. Something like 30C
outside. The weather has been amazing on the tour but very hot between 28-30C
everyday.
 |
| View from the house we played |
Despite a wrong turn that cost us 30 mins, we managed to arrive about
16:45 and Patrick, the organizer helped us to contact a place to fix the van.
Jiri was able to change the differential oil himself (they charged 10€ for the
use of the place and tools). The other loud sound is a mystery and the mechanic
did not know what it was but did not think it was dangerous. We will find out.
 |
| Tim, Vemund and Simon hanging out |
The set up and get in all went smoothly. This place is a great big 100
year house and 17 people live here. It has a good size stage and PA… Super nice
people. Sound man arrived about 19 and
we did our thing and got some food. They had spaghetti with either a vegan or
meat sauce with some grated cheese. IT was good and filling. To try to keep the schedule, BMC started
about 20:35 and played an hour. We opened with Supernova and Mogens joined us
today for this long 20min jam song. Then a very cool but slightly fast version
of Machine on the Hill. We ended with Lunar Rocket. Show was about 55mins. I thought it was a very good show today. I
think there were about 50-75 people hearing the show. It was hot so many were
just outside on the balcony of this cool place listening. I like to play
Machine on the Hill!
 |
| The Spacelords |
Spacelords were pretty fast and start at 21:55 and played just about an
hour. The crowd really enjoyed them and there were a lot of people now. Such
nice people. I like to talk and hang out with them. IT is a really good band.
By the time they finished the place was really packed with people. 150-200
people I guess. Wow.
ØSC was on as fast as we could. We were not very happy with the sound
guy at this gig. He was just not into being there. Always on his phone or
outside smoking and we could not get a really good monitoring to play at our
best. I think we started like 20mins after 23 and played until 01 and then we
took a break and had another short jam that was stopped when the police came by
but then we had one more. The recorder shows 2hrs 20mins with the breaks so
about a 2hr show. Very intense one. Tim
was the man once again. Powerhouse. I was not satisfied with my playing at all
because the monitor situation it was hard to hear everyone well.
 |
| Jiri and Jonathan.. |
 |
| Mogens, the man... Killer synth player! |
Mogens often
turns himself up way too loud when he uses the Nord Modular and also his new
modular set up and drowns out the whole band in the monitor. If the sound guy
is not paying attention, it must end up being the loudest thing you will hear
on the PA. Hot, tired… crap show for me. I crashed out about 02. Told Patrick we sort
out the GEMA and money in the morning. Supposed to get 500€ total for both
bands.
Thursday May 31st,
2018
I was up at 8 with the birds and it was very quiet around here.
Beautiful place in the forest with lovely trees and the largest cherry tree I
have ever seen. It was a great night last night and ØSC played over 2hrs and
people were dancing, smiling and screaming. Wow… what a night. I crashed at 02. Not sure about the rest of
the guys. There were still over 100
people there when we ended and I am sure we could have played longer if we did
not have to get up so early to head to Austria.
OSC sold 365€ in merch last night. Not bad.
Zone 11, Hallein, Austria
May 31st, 2018
We are trying to be up at 9:30, pack the van at 10 and hit the road.
404km today and if we can only drive 90km/hr, we will take at least 5 hrs with
2 stops. We are supposed to arrive at 17 today. We will see how it goes.
We managed to leave about 11:15. We had a strange altercation with a
taxi driver who wanted us to move the van so he could drive past us on the
narrow street outside the house. Lots of cars, including a quite big jeep made
it by but he was a bit aggressive and Jonathan surprised me a bit and really
was direct with the guy and told him to just cool it and not be a dick. He
could easily make if he wanted to and he already drove by us once, so what the
fuck was his problem. Bizarre.
We stopped around 13 to get some food and coffee and were on the road
40mins later. We have about 300kms to go.
Listening to Monster Magnet, ØSC, Exploding Plastic from Norway and some
jazz thing. We should be on time before 17 if don’t stop and the van is ok. It
really does not do well on hills. We had a good laugh when we passed the town
of Wankheim! We actually laugh and joke
in the van a lot. We were nearly breaking down crying with laughter when we
start joking around about having a wine pump and running your car on wine in Portugal
since it is cheaper than gas or diesel!! Great guys… the humor really keeps us
sane and happy.
 |
| Guys checking out the gig poster at the Venue |
16:45 We arrived at the venue no problem. A very nice place and Hallein
(hall-line) is a very beautiful small town. Wow. There was a nice stage and great upstairs
backstage with beer, soda, water, pretzel snacks, and cookies, nice. It was
very hot and they allow smoking inside which was not cool. The organizer and
soundman, Christopher was very cool and treated us well. While we waited for the sound guy to set up mics, etc.. Mogens gave Sabine and Jonathan some acupuncture!
 |
| Artwork in the stairwell |
Soundcheck took forever and I had a major crisis and was very depressed
as my modular synth had died and would not power up. We ended up taking it all
apart and replacing the fuse. We were so lucky that the sound guy actual had
the one I needed. It is not exactly the same, 400mA but a bit stronger but it
worked. If it was truly dead, I would have probably just sat on the stage very
depressed. I lost the cable for the kaossolator pad in Nurnberg so I would only
have the monotron to play. Christopher saved the day again and had the cable I
could borrow. Cool.
Anyway, they did not have food ready until nearly 20:30 and it was just
spaghetti with some cans of tomato sauce. Pretty terrible. The worst food of
the tour. People were really let down. There was no cheese or bread. Just pasta
and tasteless canned tomatoes. This is really not good enough. We will have to
change the rider to make sure this does not happen. The band was tired and
hungry and you get crap food. Not good and it effects your mood and everything.
BMC hit the stage at 21:30 and played a short 45mins set but excellent
and very focused. Jack’s Cold Sweat (which is the soundcheck song every night),
Andromeda and Barnard’s Loop. I thought I played well and the whole band
sounded great. Øyvin’s vocal was not that good though. I forgot to plug in the
external mic so the BMC recording is not that good. I think Sabine filmed it.
ØSC managed to get started about 22:35, I think. We stopped a bit after
midnight, about 100min show, which is close to the avg set length. It was a
small crowd, only about 30 people. A very warm and smoky club. My lungs hurt
afterwards. We sold 180€ merch. The
band opened with a very cool spacey number and then Tim, kicked into high gear
and we played a lot of high energy stuff. Jonathan had great melodies in his
head last night and Vemund layed down some killer kraut rock guitar riffs to
jam on. Mogens did some solos but not nearly as many solos as the night before.
I felt we were a bit tired and this was for sure our worst show of the tour. I
think the lack of a decent meal killed the mood and we had no energy. Hubert
our biggest Austrian fan really enjoyed the show a lot. Wulfie was also there
from Go Bananas.
We packed the van and then walked to the B&B. Got to bed at 02. We
planned to get up at 9:30 and have breakfast and get to the van at 10:15 if we
can.
Day 8 Wurzburg
We got up showered and pretty much everyone was up by 9:45. I have not
had a long sleep yet on the tour and 5-6 hrs a night is starting to take its
toll. I am not nearly as talkative and just fatigued. We found out that the
booker had not paid for breakfast as he had said so people were fucking mad, as
we had no dinner also. This was fucked
up. We ended up going to the grocery store and spending 50€ for food and eating
at a table outside the venue.
11:30 We just wasted 30 mins going around and back to the venue nearly
before deciding to go towards Munich. We may get stuck at the border crossing
for 1-2hrs if we are unlucky. Jonathan is very uptight and angry as he gets
directions from multiple people and can’t look at the small GPS screen and
drive well. It is a very stressful situation right now. He wants to just keep going towards Munich on
the main highway but others want him to avoid this route due to the traffic but
it is hard to know exactly where to go.
13 We just had a little break and put gas in the car (89€) and had some
ice cream, people pee’d and smoked. Everyone except me and Jonathan smoke. We have 3.5hrs to go. We just hit a slow spot
on the highway due to an accident. No
big deal it seems.
Anyway, I have been looking at the finances and I think the tour will
cover all expenses even for BMC and possibly everyone can get 100€ as well. I
have been paying for a lot of food and most days giving everyone except BMC
guys 10€ a day to help cover some costs.
This is looking good.
17:01 We arrived exactly on time today and people got out to smoke and
have a stretch and there was Horst as he said he would be there. The club is
down in the basement with a bar in one room and the live room in another.
Another pretty small stage for us but we managed but Vemund had to be behind Mogens
and also play behind his gear for the BMC gig. Not ideal but we had to make it
work. Sound check was very long for both
bands and Øyvin had a tough time with his bass sound today.
19:40 The Pizza has arrived and it was a great change to get pizza with
some veggies on it. Not a lot of veggies on this tour and three vegetarians!
Now people got their fill. Nice beer.
Pretty cool club. Soundman was a bit hard to work with at times but I think he
did a good job in the end for us. IT was not super loud on stage tonight, which
was nice. I even started the show without earplugs but the cymbals are too
much.
 |
| Black Moon Ramones |
BMC played at 21:45 since there were so few people and ended about
22:36, I think. Magnificent Dude, Stone Cold Killer and Warp Speed, a request
from Horst. Crowd really liked it and was into it. Only about 25-30 people though.
ØSC, we tried to get onto the stage as fast as we could and get going,
as we have to pack the van tonight and get some sleep before the long drive to
Berlin!
ØSC gig was a killer. One of the top 2 of the tour. Horst was very
happy and so were the fans. Tim was just a monster on the drums again and
Mogens did a lot of great solos, so did Jonathan. Tim wanted Simon to come play
drums so he did and Øyvin also joined on the bass for a bluesy jam. The last
jam had Tim on hand drum and Simon on the kit and Vemund played one of his best
solos of the tour. Amazing guitar solo. I will kill the soundman if he is not
loud on the recording. People said there was a lot of bass. We will see. We played about 100mins. People
really wanted more but it was getting too late. Sorry people.
 |
| Mogens and Dr Space. (foto by Sabine) |
376€ in Merch sold for ØSC
120€ for BMC
We got 360€ from the door deal.
We will arrive at 14:45 on the GPS but that is for no stops or
anything. There will be a lot of traffic
here and there and we will get lost, have to smoke, etc
… We are supposed to arrive at 16. We are trying. It was 2:30 when we
got to sleep at the hostel. People are really tired today but at least we had a
great breakfast. I think it could end up
like last tour where the last gig was the worst because everyone was so tired
and exhausted. Too many days with out more than 5-6hrs sleep. Many of us can’t
sleep in the van.
10:00 We are well on the way now and Jiri drives. Most people are
trying to get some sleep.
12:30 Mogens is driving and we are making great time. Only like 200km
to go. We had one stop for gas and for people to smoke and get a snack before
we hit the road. Listening to zappa and some R&B music. I had a nice long
talk with Øyvin about music, their studio, and etc. great guy. I will try to look into us playing in Sweden and Finland in October and
see if we can get BMC on the bill as well.
I paid Jonathan’s train ticket, Tim’s train ticket and will pay Mogens
for the ferry, and some of the other expenses today so this is sorted out
before tomorrow. It looks like a pretty
good chance for things to get close to break even or come home with a bit of money. We will see.
I have had a really great time with the guys and really missed them. We
have such a good time on a personal level and we all love to joke around and
laugh and make fun of stuff and this just keeps us all sane and no one ever
argues at all. We are very peaceful. Sabine has a great time as well but
probably thinks we are some pretty crazy people. We are pretty normal really
and just want to play music and try to create something amazing and get that
euphoric high you get when a jam is just amazing and you can disappear in the
music. That is the ultimate goal.
We discussed the future though and we need a better van with more
space, less noise and also at least one day off if we are to drive so many
hours each day. The other option is to work harder to put together gigs that
are max. 300km away. This is very hard to do. Also, maybe we should also try to
stay further north as we got hardly any people in Austria, 30 in Wurzburg and
these were long drives for us. We will
see.
 |
| Entrance to Urban Spree |
16 We arrived exactly on time at
Urban Spree. This is a very interesting walled complex with all sorts of
different buildings with music venues, art galleries and other things. Lots of
small outdoor markets, street food vendors, etc.
The promoter, Henk, did not show up until 17:30 and we had a lot of
hassles with the trying to get it sorted with getting in to set up, getting the
other gear off the stage, etc. The lady
who did the lights was super nice and helpful though. Soundman Rasmus, a Dane,
was super cool and professional and we got on great with him. We were mostly
set up with the gear when he arrived.
I was so happy and surprised when Brad from Pothead walked in the door
right when we were sound checking. I only had a few minutes to give him a hug
and say hello and show him my modular synth. He said he had obligations but
would try to come back for the show (I don’t think he made it).
Sound checks, as usual on this tour took too long even though this was
the fastest on the tour for ØSC. BMC are always pretty fast unless Øyvin has
problem with the bass. It is never the guitar or me or Simon for some reason.
Always the bass??? For ØSC it is often problems with the bass as well.
Mountain Dust from Canada were nice and relaxed guys. A four piece band
and we shared gear except they used their own guitar amps. Due to the late start, the show start was
pushed back from 20 to 21:30.
Henk, had lots of drinks in the backstage, fruit, veggies, some strange
spreads, bread, cheese breads and some sausages. We all thought this was the
get in food but there was nothing else provided. People were pretty unhappy
about this and we had to go out and buy our own dinner. Not a big deal 5-6€ for
some decent street food was possible around here.
 |
| Mountain DustMountain Dust played a sort of
heavier version of Cadillac 3, with a guy playing organ and lap steel (on top
of the organ), guitar, bass and drums. They had some great songs but I did not
hear the whole show, as I needed to rest my ears. They played about 40mins. |
 |
| BMC (foto by Sabine) |
BMC hit the stage pretty fast after they cleared off their gear and we
opened with American Eagle, which had only been played once on the tour. Then
into Barnard’s Loop which was a heavy hypnotic one and I had a few synth
freakouts!! Finally we closed with the mighty Warp Speed, which blew people
away. My friend Nick, the guitar player from Elder was there with his
girlfriend right up in the front. It was a powerful show and the light lady
said it was orgasmic! Wow. Mogens also thought it was our best set yet and said
that we 4 were like just made to play together. He was blown away. We got a
multitrack recording thanks to Jonathan and the sound guy Rasmus.
 |
| ØSC Berlin (foto by Sabine) |
The ØSC started about midnight I think and played until 1:45 or so. It
was a powerful set as well that started off really spaced out. There were about
80 people I guess total. Officially it was 76 paid. Anyway, we had a great
dynamic and since the sound was so good on the stage we played killer. Great
solos from Jonathan and Vemund and Tim just killed it once again. Mogens played
one just mindblowing synth solo. Wow. and one cannot forget Jiri, the musical
leader of the band on the stage, who is the solid rock and foundation with Tim.
Amazing every night!!! Killer show and people were really really into it. We had great feedback from everyone at the
club and promoter as well.
 |
| View from the back (foto by Sabine) |
It was very late when we finally got to the hostel at 3:45 and then it
took 15mins to sort out the rooms only to find out Henk had only booked 6 beds
so there was a lot of hassles and in the end I had to pay 47€ plus 10 for the key
cards (only on was returned)… Fuck… not cool at all.
BMC did get 30€ from Henk and he said he had booked 9 and they fucked
up, not him.
Great end of the tour. We met at 11 and said goodbye as I headed off to
the airport in a taxi for my flight back to Portugal. Wow……. Thanks guys.. it
is just one of the greatest bands on earth. How many bands can get up on the
stage and jam for 2hrs every night and keep it creative and interesting and
rocking!! Not many…
End of the tour thoughts:
We need to arrange the tour with shorter drives so we can get more
rest. We could use a day off on the middle of the tour if we cannot get a
shorter drives. We need to demand better food. We should not bring that many records
since we only play for an avg of 50 people a night.
This is the best ØSC band ever assembled. One that is really willing to take
chances and try new ideas and push them to the limits. Everyone is focused on
playing the best we can and having a good time as well. IT was amazing.
One reality is that we are just not that popular. We just have to
realize this. We had two gigs with 30 people. Their was only one show with over
100 people (Tübingen) and most had about 60 people. We are very lucky we were
able to make this go around.
