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Tuesday, June 18, 2019

ØSC meets BMC Europe Tour May-June 2019



May 21st


I am at the airport after a very rushed bus trip. IT was a bit stressed as the bus we take to Coimbra, where we have to switch, was running late and arrived 1min before the bus to Lisboa. If we missed that bus, Sue would miss her flight, as the next bus was not for 2-3hrs. We would have had to try to get the train. Anyway, we barely made it.  Sue made her flight and I have 4 more hours to sit here at the airport and wait. I will have a beer around 16. It is beer o clock in Denmark, where I am heading at that time.

Setting up a tour these days is hell.  No one will offer you a decent fee to play. It is such a struggle and the costs are so high when you come from Scandinavia. The van rental is 95€/day, the ferry between Denmark and Germany is 200€/each way, the Estonia-Finland and Finland- Sweden ferry is 700€. So before we have even started, we have expenses of just over 2000€.  IF you get 300€ gig, you need 8 gigs just to cover these costs and gas. That leaves nothing for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and places to stay when the venue offers you nothing. It is hell. Sadly, fans, this will be the last major ØSC tour unless we can get a booking agent.  IT is too much work. I spent months and at least a hundred hours probably and we will not even earn one euro. 2 weeks of playing and no money for the musicians. Only the ferry companies, the promoters, gas stations, airlines, nothing for the hard working musicians. Fuck….

It is very boring sitting around for 5 hrs at the airport. Had a beer, which helps a bit. Want another one though!! 90mins to go… Lots of trouble sorting out the delivery of the Black Moon Circle boxes since I gave them the wrong address. Fuck…. We will sort it out…  T-shirts arrived today and Sabine said they look great…

The tour will be great fun and we will make some amazing music, despite not having a full time synth lead player, and the shit economy, etc. 

22/5/19

I spent most of the day with Mogens (our synth player that can’t come on the tour) and we had a nice walk in the forest near the Herlev Bryghus (brewery) with his dog. It was cold, windy and not so nice but it was beautiful with lakes and we saw deer. Very nice.  Later, I had dinner and spent the evening with my daughter.

23/5/19

First concert of the tour. The Black Moon Circle guys arrive at lunch time today, Jonathan and Tim come from Sweden at 17:30 and we will meet at the venue, Lygtens Kro in Copenhagen at 18. Sabine will arrive with the van around 16.  It is a strange schedule at this bar with get in with the gear at 20, set up and soundcheck first at 22 and first band on at 23, and this is a Thursday night. It will be very late. The place is very cool but very small also. I think the main room holds max 40 people. It is basically like playing in a dining room or living room of a small home.

14 I am about to leave Roskilde and the BMC guys are in Christiania while Jiri fixes his pedal board and gets the gear ready for the van. Sabine will arrive soon.  The BMC 5CD box set arrived in Hamburg so we will have it for the shows for sure! Things are looking good so far. The mood is great as is the weather!

I got to the venue at 16:15 after seeing my daughter one more time and getting an ice cream. Great weather.  Anyway, guys were supposed to be at the venue at 16 and then Jiri was to get the Swedish guys. No one showed up until nearly 19. IT was not a big deal, as the soundman was not showing up until 20. They served us bratwurst and some cold veggie vinegar salad with red cabbage and potatoes. The sausage was really good but Tim and I did not like the vinegar-pickled veggies at all.   The mood was great and everyone was so happy to see each other again. Thomas Thor is a crazy guy and quite fun but intense.  It will be a wild time playing with him. He has a lot of gear with him and this is a small set up! 
BMC

Anyway, it was very late before we got set up and soundchecked. BMC basically only got a line check after ØSC was ready and started a bit after 23. IT was totally packed. This was the debut gig with the new drummer, Daniel. He is a really nice guy.  Anyway, the crowd really liked the BMC set and Daniel was great and rocked harder than I expected.  Some of the BMC songs have changed a few parts to fit a bit more with his style of playing.  The band played: Plains, Stone Cold Killer, Jack’s Cold Sweat and The Ghost.  Øyvin had some problems with the bass at the start of Jack so we had to really sort of figure out what we wanted to do and just sort of jammed around it until he sorted it out.  Cool gig. People wanted an encore but there was no time.

ØSC started maybe 20mins later. I was really tired but we just went for it. Wow. What a fucking intense gig. Jonathan and Vemund both had a killer guitar sound and Thomas Thor, he was insane. He and Tim were really locked in and it was groovy, funky and crazy shit. I pushed us all into strange places. The entire show as pretty much uptempo.  There was a power outage in the middle of the show and Tim and Thomas just kept on jamming.  Daniel came on as well and played the goat ears and I used the chimes a bit.  IT was probably 15mins before they got the power on again.  Later Martin (Fri Galaxe, Univerzals) joined on the drums and Tim played some percussion for a while and then filmed for a few minutes.  The entire show was wild and we never really came down and spaced out, as Thomas was full on all the time. He played solos all the time, leaving very little space for others. Vemund hardly got any solos. Jonathan took quite a few and he and Thomas did a lot of cool stuff with the violin and synth. He was a bit too intense. It was fun to play with him but we would have had a tough time doing 2 weeks with him. Nice guy Thomas. Hear the show below.

May 24th

We are on the road now to the ferry. We are about 90mins behind our planned schedule after having to go to the rehearsal room to get a drum stool and another amp for Vemund (he did not much like the Mesa Boogie). We also have a problem with the window on the van, which it looks like someone tried to push the window in. We have to solve this though as it barely closes. I would not want to trust to leave anything in the van now. Jonathan and I spent some time trying to deal with it but could not fix it. We might have to talk to the van rental but it is like an hour from Sabine’s place. 

Anyway, Sabine is feeling ill. Not sure why. Just lack of sleep the past days (and last night) and too much stress. Hope it is better in a while.  Jiri is driving fast so we try to make the 12:30 ferry.  I will pay cash. We will use up most of the Danish money from the gig.

We can start loading the boat at 17:45 but we need to be down there and have the gear on the dock at 17:30 and we have to have had some food as well. The van is nice. Jiri is playing some awful music though that no one likes but he and Tim. Daniel listens to the BMC show from last night in the headphones. He is rocking out..  Øyvin and Vemund are asleep. They can sleep anywhere. Wish I could.

17  We were very late and stressed but arrived just at 17 and the boat was there, some of the fans as well, and we got the carts and started taking the gear to the boat right away. Poor Jiri he had to do most of the set up of the stuff himself it seemed.  I think he was not getting the help he needed. But anyway, we got all set up and tested a bit of levels and people were able to get a bite to eat before it all started. They let people on a little bit early and it was so great to see all the people. Geir came from Norway again and a guy from France who took a lot of pics. Lot of lovely and kind people. Even asking if we do the boat next year and we had not even done the boat this year yet!! Cool…
Audience on the boat

We actually started playing probably 5mins before the boat left at 19:30 and it was a very krautrock start with just Jiri, Tim and I and then everyone else slowly joined in. Vemund was too low in the beginning and he had to turn up and even move his amp to a different position to get a better sound. He struggled to hear Jonathan (who had an amazing sound) and Anders on the keyboards. He had a great set up with organ and Leslie, mellotron and an old Korg synth plus a space echo and some other effects. Nice sound. The jams were great. We played two sets, the first was about 75mins and then another set about the same. Daniel and Øyvin joined for the start of the 2nd set. Øyvin stated for the 2nd jam but Tim took over the drums again. It was not super loud so Tim did not have to work as hard on the drums. 
Tim, our amazing drummer.

I felt if was an amazing concert with great dynamics. Wow. I had so much fun and the people screamed so much at the end. I was very humbled. This is what makes life worth living for, to play music for people like this and we don’t even have any songs!!  Awesome night… Sadly, only 22 mins of the 2nd set got recorded but luckily, another guy, Holger, recorded the whole show and will give it to me in Berlin! IT is his recording below. 
We were back at the hostel at midnight and could leave everything on the boat. Safe…

May 25th

We were up at about 8 and feeling good. Weather is cool and grey. We have to be back at the boat at 10 and people on at 10:30 and sails at 11. BMC plays at 11…

Øyvin and Jiri got back with the BMC box sets, which look amazing, about 10 so we were a little later than expected to the boat but all was cool and people were waiting and set up, getting some food, etc. all went smooth.  There were nearly as many people as yesterday. Weather was cold and gray but no rain.
BMC

BMC started right as the boat was leaving the pier and Anders joined us for the entire concert. We played Supernova, about 25mins version and then a long and super cool version of Enigmatic Superbandit. The audience were really into this one as well and Anders followed the changes and introduced great ideas. It was amazing. We had 10mins left and decided to do Jack’s Cold Sweat again, even though this is a tough one for Øyvin to sing. Crowd loved it.
Took 15mins and then ØSC hit the stage again and off we went. Wow… We played two sets for about 2hrs 25mins.  There were about half new people from the day before and a lot of the same of course. We played fucking amazing and Tim was just incredible with the drum grooves and energy.  Everyone killed it. Jonathan and Vemund played killer guitar, Anders fit perfect and read the changes in the band with perfection. Just incredible and the audience just scream for more and more even though we are back at the dock. So amazing. Wow… Chanting Dr Space… insane.  
We sold like 1600€ in merch the two days for both bands.  Not sure how many of the new shirts we sold but maybe 20% of the audience had their old shirts on. It makes me very happy and proud. A few people came up and commented on how great this line up of the band is.
Indian Restaurant

We were all very hungry and tired after the gig but also very happy. It was about 17 when we finished everything and filled up gas and went to eat at an Indian restaurant. We ate everything. It was 164€ for the dinner.

We got back to Sabine’s at about 19 and most people just hung outside and smoked and drank beers. I crashed at 22 and Tim was really tired and not feeling well so was in bed at 20. The others stayed up til midnight.  Everyone was feeling great after these two amazing gigs. Thanks to Sabine once again for an amazing spaceboat experience for the band and fans. Danke...

May 26th
Breakfast

We managed to get up, shower, eat a huge breakfast, coffee, etc. reload the van with new merch, etc. and leave just before 11. We had to stop to let Sabine vote, but that was close by. Then she forgot her glasses so we had to turn around and go back but we had not gone far. Now it is 12 and the GPS says 238km, 2.5hrs.. If we don’t take too many breaks, we should arrive in time for the check in at 15 and soundchecks, which we have until 18. Doors open at 18 and Cosmic Fall is on at 19. BMC at 20 and ØSC at 21. Curfew is 21. I hope we have a great turn out. Jeff, Brad and Siggi from Pothead are supposed to come. We will see (they did not make it).

It is gray, cold and a bit of rain at the moment. I prefer the heat of last year but I think the other prefer this weather. It was a bit too hot last year though.  We are listening to Widespread Panic at the moment. Then Asoka and Fela…

16 We are setting up to soundcheck. Tim is really sick. Øyvin is sick. Sabine is still not well. Not good. Janne (Ex-Hidira Spacefolk synth player) cannot come until 20… Fuck… so he will not soundcheck with us…  Place is cool and we are setting up.  Only 40 pre-sold tickets.

19       Not many people. Food was burned up so there was just fruit and veggies and some dips and later bread. So we all had to go out and eat and pay our own again. We will not play Berlin again under these circumstances. Sorry Henk. Last time.  Sound guy was good but not as cool as Rasmus. Some sort of attitude about him but he did a good job it seems.

Anyway, Cosmic Fall will start later. Jonathan is set up to multitrack record.

Cosmic Fall
01.00               Cosmic Fall was really good but the drummer was way too loud in the mix. He pounded the drum like hell. Great guitar player. I could not hear the bass player so much. Long spacey jams with long guitar solos. I really liked it. I did not watch it all to save my ears. 

BMC was on about 2030 and it was a short 45min set of powerful songs. Øyvin is still sick so it was good he was not drinking yesterday or smoking much. His voice is already rough and he still has 9 shows, including this one. I am surprised he wants to stress and push his voice when he is sick. They choose some of the most difficult songs for him to sing to play.  Jack’s Cold Sweat, Andromeda, Stone Cold Killer, and The Ghost. Powerful stuff. Crowd loved it.


Sick Tim on the drums
ØSC was on very fast and infact, they were all out there playing pretty much right away and so I hurried up. I think Vemund and I were the last to join and off we went. I think we only played 3 jams for about 75mins or so and then Tim could not play anymore. Poor guy is very sick with high fever.  He killed it though. Wow.  The dynamics were incredible and Janne was so cool and rhythmic.  The audience was totally blown away by the show and it was so different from last year. Like a new band.  Daniel came up and we had one more encore jam. I think about 15 or so people left. IT was a bit before 23 now. This one was also really dynamic and Daniel was great and plays much heavier than Tim. Very good drummer also.  
Jiri and Jonathan


https://archive.org/details/OSC2019-05-26.FLAC


We sold 210€ and BMC 70€----Ok for so few people.

We got our 400€ and Henk lost money. IT was a hell at the end of the night though as Tim was nearly dying and we had not totally safe place to part the van, the hostel is far away, we had to take a cab (10€). NO idea what time the others arrived or where they parked the van but we were back at 01----… I was wondering if we should take him to the hostel. He was burning up, having craps and feeling cold. Poor guy…. I tried to take care of him.

May 27th

9:16
We have to be out at 10 from the Generator hostel. No idea if the others will be ready.  Tim just had a shower and is feeling better but he still have a fever.  Sabine was up early and so was I as the other 4 guys sleeping in this room still have their stuff here so I think they work in Berlin or have job interviews or something but it was a terrible night sleep.  I am not feeling well. Day is grey but not cold.  

We do not have far to go today but we have a lot to do. Jiri needs E strings for his bass; we need batteries, and a few other things.  Show is early tonight though and short sets.  BMC on at 20 and ØSC 21 and other band Mr Slipper and the Lazy Cats from Austrian on at 22:30.

We arrived more than an hour before to Ostepol. A very cool old house that is the club. IT is all from the old East Germany, including everything in the house from old toys to chairs, tables, paintings. IT is like going back in time.

Anyway, the weather was excellent and sunny and we took a bit of walk some of us and managed to find a music store but they did not have the strings Jiri wanted. Øyvin bought some sort of cable.  Not a very cool store and the staff acted like we were not even there. No movement at all to help or ask if you wanted any help. Strange??

Anyway, Robin, the cook and bar guy opened the door at 17 and the Austrian band, Mr Slipper and the Lazy Cats, had showed up. They also played in Berlin last night. Super nice guys and some of the guys from the club Graf Hugo in Feldkirsch, where we had played many years ago. Super nice people. I talked quite a bit with them.  Their drummer was older and quite a character…

Everything ran later today, which was a bummer.  Soundchecks and setting up on the small stage was slow and the Austrian band took a very long time. IT was time for the doors to open and ØSC had not even set up yet. We did it very fast and then BMC was as quick as possible but it was now 20 and this is when the show as to start. They delayed everything until 21:15 so we had some pasta (vegan) with beer and that was our dinner. There was some fruit and veggies and chocolate earlier. Free drinks basically.  Some of the organizer people had seen ØSC at Heavy Days in Doomtown and were very happy that we came to their town.

Our guest, Scott McClean, from Scotland, was a great guy. He had been living in Dresden for 1.5 years. He had a compact synth set up and we talk a bit. Very nice guy.  We all got on well with him.

Managed to set up the HD24 hard disc recorder tonight.  Sound man was really cool.

When we were eating this older couple came in and apparently they come to all the shows but the lady she made these loud yells every min or so. IT was very disturbing and strange. IT was like a dog that barks every now and then. You sort of get used to it. Apparently, they used to come to this club 50 years ago and they still come today. Strange but cool.

BMC set was the last three songs, we had not yet played on the tour. American Eagle, Machine on the Hill and Warp Speed. We blasted them!! About 45mins set and very heavy and powerful. I had fun. The stage was very crowded. Hard disc stopped after 14mins and I restarted it so we basically only got warp speed. Pity… vocal will be distorted though as channel 17, was always peaking. He said he could not make the output lower. 
Our guest Scott
ØSC played one of our shortest shows ever. 45mins. It was hard for anyone to get into it though as we are all to worry about the time to just disappear into the music. IT was for sure my worst show of the tour. Jiri was killing it and Scott was cool to play with. He played some Pink Floyd like stuff and then also more heavy synths. He did a cool solo at the end of the set. People really loved it but it was by far the worst show so far. Nice sound on stage for me but loud as always.
Mr Slippery and the Lazy Cats was a fun band and put a lot of energy into their strange and twisted garage rock. Two guitars and drums. They only played for like 15 people but they had fun. Nice folks. I saw most of their show.  I also multitack recorded it.
We started to pack down and move our stuff right away so we could just go get some sleep as people were tired from the day before and we also have a long drive to Poland tomorrow.

Sold 35€ for BMC and 18€ for ØSC. Not good. Only 80€ from the door.

We were at the hostel place at 1230 so it was not too late. I think some of the others stayed up probably til 2 drinking and smoking though. We have to get up at 7.

May 28th (Tuesday)

            It was about 830 by the time we really got going and headed out of town today. The goal was 8.  It is 600km to Warszawa. We are almost always late but the last two days it has been good and actually, on this tour, we have not yet been late!!!

IT is 12 and we are about 350km from Warsaw now so it goes well. We have been listening to Crosby Stills and Nash, Blackberry Smoke, Hendrix. (Blues).  Battery will die soon on the Ipod.  Mood is good. Now Vemund is the sick one but he can sleep in the car and usually sleeps most of the day away every day.

It has been raining most of the day but it has stopped now.   Yeah Right. We hit some of the most insane thunderstorms on the drive to Warszawa.  It was scary as you could not see anything at all and Jiri kept going, nearly full speed.

Anyway, we arrived about 16:45 after lots of traffic. It was a cool club and the other band, Alters, was there. It was nice to meet Robert, their drummer who was the one who booked the show.  They had 40 pre-sale tickets and expected about 100. Only 60 came out though.

It all went pretty smooth with the line checks and Marysia, who played with us, was very nice and cool.  Alters and BMC were the only ones to have a sort of soundcheck, ØSC only a line check. 

Afterwards we had some pizza but there was not enough at all. Jiri and Vemund could have eaten twice as much.  4 big pizzas for 11 people.  Anyway we got free warm beers (Perla) and a case of water in the back stage. Nice people but they did not want to give us any cold drinks. The lady at the bar was just a nasty person and did not like us at all. They had a lot cool Polish IPAs and I tried 3 of them. This Forest one was awesome.  15 sl each. I got the labels.

Anyway, Alters did not start until 20:30 and original schedule was 1930 and then 20 and then 20:15--- it always go this way and then there is a curfew and ØSC does not get to play as long.  It was ok on this night.

Alters are a very cool three piece with drums, bass and guitar but both the bass and guitar play a special little keyboard, sampler, effects table.  They had very short song collages and then sometimes like prog rock.  I enjoyed it a lot. 

BMC hit the stage as fast as we could and opened with the Ghost and into Plains and closed with Jack’s cold Sweat. Øyvin is still sick and Vemund was running a fever and really not well but we made it through the set and rocked the place in like 40mins, I think.  Vemund was very bluesy today on the guitar. Vocals were a bit rough. People liked it.
ØSC hurried up and I guess we played to about 40 people but they were mostly really into it and I think we played an excellent show.  Marysia was cool to play with. She mostly played he Korg MS10 and also her Poly six with some effects.  Not a super solo player but a good listener and some cool parts. I think her MS10 was out of tune sometimes though. It was perhaps the best show of the tour so far. 
I think we played about 90mins. IT was all recorded and multitrack recorded last night.  Great night. We packed the van and went to the hostel around 1am.  I had a lot of fun.   Sold 1320 sl in merch.

May 29th

People got 8hrs of good rest. Cloudy and cold outside but everyone but BMC is outside now or getting food.  We do not know what we do today except head east towards the next gig. We have lots of Polish money now to spend on the next place we stay and food today.



It was a longer drive than I though to get to Augustow so we did not arrive until nearly 17. It is a very beautiful area of Poland. We found a hostel, got two quad rooms, had a beer in their backyard and then had dinner in their restaurant.  Real Polish food- fried lard on bread with pickles, chicken breast with cranberry sauce; pirogues filled with spinach, or cheese or minced meat. Salad, potatoes and 4 of the guys even had a shot of vodka! They did not have any Polish wine so we split a bottle of Hungarian wine. IT was not that good.  
Exchange rate its 4.29… I thought it was 5 so things are not quite as cheap as I had thought. The hostel was 114€ in the end but this includes towels and breakfast.

After dinner we took a walk down to the lake. IT was beautiful and everyone was in a great mood. High, feeling good and laughing and joking a lot.  We took some funny band pictures.

Afterwards, we went to the kiosk across the street and bought like 6 different Polish beers to try. Most are just pilsner style and not all that interesting. There was on bock beer with a cool goat on the front. Not bad. None of us much liked Perla. IT seems to be everywhere.

I crashed out at 10:30.

May 30th

I was the first up today at 7:30. Could not sleep more. A lot of traffic and noisy on this side of the building where our room is.  Tim was asleep, still not back to 100% healthy. Vemund seems to be doing better though. No one is really sick any more, just a few with small colds.  Sunny and nice today as we head to Alytus, Lithuania. Only 1hr or less to drive today.!

The promoter will get the keys for the hostel at 12 today and also the venue. He said he could not promise many people. We still get a little money. 70€ or something, place to sleep…   No guest synth player today.  Elder is playing in Lithuania tonight as well but in the capital about 120km a way.

Hope some of the guys are not too hungover!! I was surprised that Vemund, Øyvin, Daniel and Jiri drank all those beers we bought last night  We will see.  5 more gigs to go. One more day off when we take the ferry to Sweden from Finland.  Rock and roll…..


The elder men of ØSC
1040  Tim, Sabine and I had an hour long walk around the lake area here. It is beautiful here.  Super nice day. We have to move our clocks ahead an hour when we go to Lithuania.  Øyvin, Vemund and Jiri are still sleeping.

16 We arrived at the cool little club in good time and the owner/booker was there and so nice.  He took us to the hostel place and we could chill out for a while, as the sound guy would not be there before 18. Beautiful area around here and we had a walk down to the river and around a bit and then came back and he arrived with 8 pizzas and we demolished most of them and then went to the club.

It was a 3 floor stage, quite interesting with the drums in a cage.  We all found out spots but monitoring was a bit strange. We ended up using one of our own as well.  A lot of teenagers hanging around in the artsy backyard and playing the games in the bar. Nice upstairs for the bands with big sofas, pool table, and bathroom.

We did have an incident and Vemund was stuck in the backroom for 15mins and the guy eventually had to drill out the lock. It was crazy there was no way to get the door off.   We did get him out though.

BMC started about 2115 and played a short 45min set- Stone Cold Killer, Enigmatic Superbandit and Andromeda, all songs we have only played once on this tour.  Vemund was back on fire, as he was feeling well. It was not a good gig for me though as no one could hear me except myself so I played in a bubble.  Pity…  We played to about 6 people, who stayed in the room all the time.
ØSC played for about 10.  We played 90mins and it was a fun show with some cool jams but Sabine later told me that you could almost not hear me at all. This made me very angry that Øyvin, Daniel, Jiri, none of them bother to tell the soundman??? IT made me feel like my contributions just don’t matter to them at all. No one could hear me on the stage. Tim and Vemund are the only ones who seems to care about this. They don’t even ask for any of me in the monitor on their side, so why am I there at all??? Maybe it is better without me…  Made me very unhappy and I was very down after this gig.
We sold 0 merch last night. That is the first. Dresden we sold 1 record. Doing very bad on the merch. Only sold 10 shirts in 8 gigs.  We drag a lot with us but only in a few places do we sell anything of significance- Berlin, Hamburg…

May 31st

We are off to play at a school for some local children today.  He will pick us up at 10.  After the school, we have 370km drive to the Latvian seaside for the Fontaine Hotel.

Great weather again.

What at trip this was. We arrived at the school about 10.15 and had to rush to set up our gear with the PA from the club (soundman from the previous night was there to help and set up mics, etc..).. Anyway, were set up and at 11, the kids from the school came in for a special concert!  BMC started and we sort of morphed into ØSC as the other guys just joined it. Vemund and I tried to get the kids to come up and play guitar and synthesizer. It was not so successful but they were more successful getting kids up to play drums. I think the kids must have thought what the fuck is this???? Like if Hawkwind jammed at your school in 1971!! We had fun and played for like 45mins. It was crazy…

Afterwards, we had some fotos with the principal of the school, who was super cool and totally into it.  This was the first time they had ever done something like this at the school before.  We also had lunch with here in the cafeteria and then we packed our gear and drove off to Latvia with a smile.


It was a long day, as we did not arrive at the Fontaine Palace in Liepäja, Latvia until after 18.  What an amazing music complex with a small bar and stage downstairs and one of the coolest venues you could image upstairs. Super high ceilings all wood on the floors, ceiling and the biggest stage besides Roskilde Festival I have every played.  Great sound. The sound guy, Forest was the best we had on the tour and super helpful with everything including setting up the hard disc recorder.

Anyway, we had 3 free 50cm pizza coupons but we had pizza for the last three days so we just ordered what we wanted from the menu and I paid for it. It was 61€ or something.   

Soundcheck went fine and we had some Mezpils, which was the local brew. The IPA was really good.  Anyway, BMC hit the stage at 23 and there were perhaps 20 people but I don’t think any of them came for the music. IT was just the coolest bar in town and the DJ was good.  Played mostly 60s classics before and inbetween our sets and then a few 80s hits.
Vemund ripping it up.

BMC Set: Machine on the Hill, Plains, Ghost and Stone Cold Killer.

Jonathan and Tim thought were killed it. I think it was pretty cool and they guys rocked hard. I was not so happy with my playing though.

https://archive.org/details/BMC2019-05-31.FLAC

Had 20mins to rest and then ØSC hit he stage. Maybe 30. It was 36 paid people (I found out later).  We played a short but pretty awesome show. I think I was the weak link. I was just too tried and not inspired at all after the previous night the lack of people and distance from them. We gave 100% and Tim was killing in on the drums. Hardly stopping at all in the 70min set.  We had fun and some people really liked it like Forest the sound man, Edgars, the booker and a few members of the audience. We sold nothing but then again, the merch was covered up with a red blanket the entire night until after we played. So what do I expect?? Sabine was shooting pics and filming the show.  Tim is also making films during the day and often of BMC. He wil edit it into some sort of tour video. Fun..
It was 230 by the time I got to sleep and the alarm was set for 8, as we have to be on the road by 830 for the long drive to the ferry in Estonia. We have to arrive by 16 or we are fucked.  Gives us 7.5 hrs..  If you drive with no traffic and direct you can make it in 6hrs we are told.

June 1st

We are about 150km away from Riga and Jonathan is driving. The Ipod is on shuffle so we hear all sorts of stuff from Antibalas to Asoka to Brant Bjork to Black Sabbath to Widespread Panic to Fela to Taste to CAN to Embryo to Blackberry Smoke to Lonely Kamel to Crosby Stills and Nash to Jefferson Airplane to Eye to Arc of Ascent… lots of great music.

Only 3 more shows on the tour. Wow.. Been quite the experience but I am getting more tired each day now and this is the 2nd day with little sleep.  I have lost my inspiration for playing as well.  If I could sleep in the van, it would help. Vemund, he sleeps the entire trip everyday and has never seen any of the scenery for the entire trip.  I think Øyvin is about the same. Jiri has done most of the driving. The rest of us can’t really sleep in the van except now, although Tim, Jonathan and Daniel get a few winks.


It is mostly just green farmlands with patches of forest with pine and birch trees all through Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Very flat. Could be parts of Sweden and Denmark quite easily but less density of people and farms.

12 We are totally fucked now. Jiri made us get off the ring road to take some short cut thru Riga and we have been stuck in this town driving around for an hour. We have 294km to go still and we stuck in traffic in Riga.  If the highway is 130, we have a chance but I have my doubt. We have to arrive at 16:10 at the latest. I hope we can make it. We will see. Next ferry is 2 hrs later and I hope our ticket will still work.

16:30

Wow.. we barely made the ferry, 15mins to spare. I am glad we did not stop for gas as it would have been quite close. I am so tired, really not feeling well. Only had some chips, a croissant with ham and cheese and an apple.  I will lay down for a bit on the boat. It is pretty full of people.

20  We are at the venue in Helsinki now although we had to make a pit stop as Daniel was throwing up in the van (in a bag) so we had to stop at the Apotek (pharmacy).  We got to the venue, and they were way behind.  Octypus Syng was soundchecking so we just hung out in the backstage. They had drinks, beers, coffee, tea, etc. some fruit.  It was a very cool venue and nice people. We spoke to the Jupiter guys a lot.  Anyway, Octopys Syng was supposed to be on at 2030 but did not start until 20.45. It all went well and the soundman was great and helpful. There were not very many people, maybe 20 for them.  We heard that Roky Erikson had died today. They dedicated their set to him.

Set List: Amusement, Cuckoo, Candlelight, Spiderwebs, Girl Strange, Mirror, Park, Moths

BMC played next and Daniel decided to play and he was great but played a bit softer, as expected. We did Ghost, American Eagle and Jack’s Cold Sweat. I thought we played awesome. I was in the zone. I just had a solo part where the Kaossilator pad was freaking out on me and the band was sort of waiting for me to do something and I was in a spot. Rest was great. All was recorded.
Jupiter was a very special Finnish band. They have made a few records and been around for more than 10 years.  Anyway, a great trio with an intense drummer and bass player. The guitarist was also cool and did the lead vocals. Sometimes it was very metal and other times not but quite cool songs. They got a good response.


Jupiter


ØSC was on the stage about midnight. IT took a while for Vesa and all of us to set up. I guess there was about 50-60 people, less than half of what we had last time. There was a lot of gigs recently and also this was school graduations. A lot of my Finnish friends were there though: Eetu, Juha, Santtu, Jaire, Artsi, etc….
We played only two jams in a bit more than 80mins and then we took a break. We came out and played one more 40mins jam. Sadly, the edirol only got 22mins but Jonathan mulitracked all 4 bands     !

This was one of the highlight concerts of the tour. I felt it might have been my best show. Tim also felt it was his best drumming. We were all so euphoric and high after the gig.  Did not get to sleep until 4.

June 2nd

15:40

We stayed at Santtu’s parents place again and managed to get off for some food around 13. Everyone got a shower and was in a good spirit. We could check emails, etc…  Now we are nearly at Tampere and people are for sure more rested and Daniel is back feeling much better. Cloudy, grey, sometimes rain. No so cold though.  Had a lot of nice talks with Tim today. I love this guy. Such a sweet and nice person and amazing drummer…

WE had a huge lunch/breakfast and the headed off to Tampere listening to a Grateful Dead jam from 1974 that was 45mins long. Some cool stuff. It is cloudy and cool and it rains every now and then.  We arrived at the club at 17 but nothing was happening until 18 when the soundman Matti was showing up.  Donald was there and Vesa as well.


Donald, Tim, Jonathan and I went to a public sauna for an hour. IT cost 8€ and was amazing. Wow.. I needed that. The lake was like 6C so it was fucking cold when you went in… I only did the lake once but went into the sauna 3x. We also had a beer. I was so relaxed both physically and mentally.

When we got back the van and band was gone. It was 18 now and we should be loading in.  The backstage it was sort of the same food as last time, cold pasta, some cold sauce (looked a bit Thai inspired with some tomatoes, and soy strips), chips, salad, etc…. hardly better than last time. I ate a huge salad.

We loaded in fast and then I went off to a famous place just up the street and ordered one of their famous dishes, schnitzel! 18€ but damn it was good and the fries were excellent as well with a good spice on them.  One beer but the Sandels beer is awful. I don’t like it at all. I could not even finish one.

Soundcheck was complicated and we invited Donald to play Banjo with us as well. We never had a banjo on stage with us before.  Anyway, no soundcheck for BMC at all. Warp Transmission set up and soundchecked but thought they were playing 2nd so took all down when we were not looking and this set everything back 30mins.

Warp Transmission
Warp Transmission was great and played almost all new songs. Very stoned, spacey stuff… We all dug it. I bought a shirt for 12€..

BMC set was great. Daniel was nearly back to normal again.  The Ghost, Enigmatic Supebandit (long) and Andromeda. About 50mins. IT was multitrack recorded.. Øyvin’s voice was gone though so he did not sound good at all today. Pity.




The ØSC set just sort of started. Tim, Jonathan and Jiri were playing even before I could start recording.  IT was another 5mins before Vemund got up there. It took a while to get us into it but then we played some far out stuff. Donald probably joined for 45mins. Vesa left at first and then joined again later and at the end Vemund and Jonathan had left and it was only 5 of us left.. to end the show. About 90mins…. Sadly, the audience recordings failed. I plugged the mics and recorder in the wrong places in the microphone battery box. Damn.
Psycho-space-abilly with Donald on banjo

I think everyone thought it was a bit too much with Vesa. It was difficult stuff he played for us to jam along to and too much like having a 3rd guitar, which we have tried but it has always been difficult. Super player and nice person but he should just join us as a guest guitar player next time. The sky at midnight in the distance beyond the late was one of the most amazing I had ever seen in my life. It never gets dark here at this time of year. Wow..


June 3rd

It was almost 1:30 in the morning when we got to sleep and up at 1030 when I got up.  Had some breakfast and tea. We hang out here until Vemund and I do this interview with Nina. She has a PhD and is writing a book on improvisation and music. She is travelling here from Helsinki and will arrive at 13.

Tim, Vemund, Sabine, Tim and I stayed at Donald’s house and the other guys at another place about 10mins away.  Mood is great.. We still laugh a lot as we look at the fotos, and reflect on the shows.  Sadly, we did not get an audience recording in Tampere as I plugged the mics and recorder into the wrong plugs in the battery box for the mics. At least we got a multitrack and mostly video.

We did half the interview at Donald’s house and then we went to the venue and did the rest while the guys packed the van. Øyvin had some input and Tim as well but it was mostly Vemund and I. That was very interesting. She is a very interesting person. The book is planned for 2021. Kiitos Niina... 

Anyway, we left Tampere for the ferry in good time and made one stop at a place so people could smoke and pee, get a drink. We arrived in Turku with 2hrs to spare so we went to what we thought was a Thai restaurant but it was run by people from Taiwan. Jonathan recognized a calendar on the wall as Taiwanese.  IT was 102€ and I paid but the food was ok. Pad Thai was not Pad Thai. I had never had a version like that.

Anyway, we made the ferry with no hassles. It bordered at 2055 and would arrive at 6:30 in the morning. Sabine and I went to the rock bar for one beer and the others I thought would meet us there but did not. Jonathan and Tim just went to sleep, while the Norwegians; they stayed up drinking and closed down the bar so only got 3-4 hrs of sleep. They will sleep in the van and at Jonathans.

June 4th

When the ferry arrived we went straight to Jonathan¨s apartment, and his lovely wife and bought bread, 3 kinds of cheese, ham, salami, blueberries, museli, etc….. and lots of coffee for people.  After some food most everyone except Jonathan went to sleep for some hours.  Vemund did not get up until 1330.  The guys had a lot of fun trying out and checking out all the cool instruments that Jonathan has. 

At 14, we went into Stockholm and visited a guitar shop and café called Twang. Jonathan knows the owner. IT was closed until 16 but Jonathan called the owner and he came and opened the shop early so the guys could check the instruments.  I went to a cool record store called Pet sounds but did not buy anything. I asked about the new GONG but they did not have it.

It was around 1615 when we arrived at the Melody Box club. They were already open and the soundman was there. They are such nice people. Soundchecks went pretty well but soon after all the troubles began. We were told we had to buy our own food (they gave us some beers and water) and also pay the sound man 1000kr, as well as work the door ourselves. We should have charged more than 100kr at the door since we did not find this out until later.  The pizza was 770kr and it was actually not enough. Tim got stung by a bee on his forehead, only got two pieces of pizza. Then Øyvin said something to him that pissed him off so that was not good.

BMC with Jonathan

I got to meet one of our big Swedish fans, Dan Nordloff. He was so cool. I signed a hat for him. Pity we did not get to talk longer. Also, Anders from Domobshawa was there. Super nice people.

The BMC set was: Stone Cold Killer, Ghost, Supernova, Enigmatic Superbandit with Jonathan on violin.The small crowd of 30 really loved it. Vemund was on fire. Whole band played well. I did not like what I played on Ghost though.  I have done it much better. Recording was like 52mins.
ØSC set I was a bit of a disaster as Jonathan was having a lot of trouble with his amp and feedback and was just pissed up. We played some incredible jams anyway and but stopped after 50mins or so and he changed the amp but the band vibe was not very good anymore.  It was great to play with KG again. It had been since 2017. He was looking great but was missing India.   I think the 2nd set was like 40mins. Audience liked it a lot.
I was in a bit of a rush to get some sleep after the gig as my flight was at 10 the next morning and I had to leave before 7 with the subway and train Jiri had an even earlier flight at 8:40.. We both made our flights fine but I was very stressed to make sure I did not forget to do anything. Jonathan was stressed about getting home with all his stuff. Tim and Sabine have to drive the van back to Malmo and then Sabine alone to Hamburg. Still many expenses with the bridge, ferry, gas..

It was a great tour but people were pretty warn out at the end and people were tired, frustrated, etc….    Tim and I talked a lot and there is no way we would do such a long tour again. I think one week max.

These tours are always a challenge. It is just too much to arrange and we don’t get paid enough, etc.… It is just too hard. The spaceboat is the only really good paying gig and the whole tour would be totally impossible without it. We are indebt to Sabine, our most loyal and amazing fan and friend. 

We deliver the goods every night and the musicians are fucking world class so people get a master class in drumming, bass playing violin, guitar solos.  A bit sad to call it a day from touring but that is where we are at in reality. We are just not a popular band.  We just have to live with that.  We have a lot of multitracks from this tour to share with the fans.

Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw, Latvia. Helsinki, Tampere…

A huge thanks firstly to the band. I can not thank you enough and tell you amazing you all are and how honoured I am to be on stage with you. 2nd to Sabine, who without her help with just about everything, we could never manage. Danke.. 3rd to the promoters who book us and finally to the fans who showed up and enjoyed the shows and bought some merch. IT was our worst merch sales on a tour ever though. No one was buying much except in Hamburg and Helsinki. Pity. We had an amazing time but in the end we lost about 800€.. 

Tusind tak. Obrigado, Danke, Merci… All fotos by Sabine or Scott. 




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