I got the bus at 1530 from my home town to Porto. My friend Paulo
picked me up in the pouring rain and we headed to the great beer bar, Catraia
in the walking streets of Porto. We always go there. We had an amazing IPA from
the Drunken Bros brewery from Bilbao Spain. Yum.. 6.5€ for a pint. I would have liked another beer but needed
some food. We went to a place almost across the street as it was pouring down rain
and had some Taiwanese chicken rice bowl. It was ok. The Taiwanese beer was a
standard Asian lager and tasted of nothing after that amazing beer. We just relaxed the rest of the evening.
Oct 17th
We were up early and out the door at 730 to take me to the airport and
then Paulo was off to work. I had no
hassles at the airport all was smooth. Bought a sandwich and drink for the
Ryannair flight (9.25€). On the plane
and looks sunny out but cloudy below. We left more or less on time so all good
so far. I am really excited to see the guys and to play again. Glad we have one gig before the big one at
Desertfest. We got lucky to get the best slot as the last band in the small
room on Friday night. I will see my friends Anders, Ann Karin, Sara, Benny, Lone, Paula,
Desierre, and probably others as well.
12:25 I arrived at Eindhoven more or less on time. 4€ for a ticket to the Eindhoven
station and then it should have been like 45mins to Oss on the train not many
trains were running and all the people heading in the direction I was going had
to take a bus to Boxtel for 25mins and then the train from there to Den Bosch
and then to Oss. I did not arrive in Oss until 15 and it was almost 1530 by the
time I got to the club.
There was supposed to be someone there from 15 but no one was around
luckily I started talking to Leo, a very cool guy who lives above the club. He
invited me in and I had some tea, and a bit of a rest and I could leave all my
things there. He called Amber, who owns the club and lives across the street
and she said they would be there at 18.
I spent the next couple of hours going around the town. Had some
Vietnam potato shrimp rolls that were great, stopped at 17, beer O’clock at the
local theatre café and had a really bad local non-alcoholic IPA. Nice aroma, look and smell but a metallic
aftertaste that was nasty. Could not even finish the beer. 4€ down the tube.
Got the label. 
Went to Speakerland and had a great chat with the man who runs this
custom hi fi shop where they have been making their own brand of loudspeakers
for 35 years!! Impressive. He was very nice and we heard some Black Moon circle
on his speakers and it sounded great. He said he might come (and he did!)..
I hung out with Amber and her husband at their apartment. The guys were
not going to arrive until 19:30 now as their equipment was delayed and one box
of merch did not make it so they will send it to the club later tonight, etc..
They had to go to Nijmegen to pick up the guys in Bismut and the gear, so
everything was way off from the proposed schedule that we got. See below..
Oct
17th- Cafe Lollipop, Oss, NL
Address: Kerkstraat 5, 5341 BK
Oss, Netherlands
15.00 get-in crew Lollipop
16.00 get-in, set-up & soundcheck Black Moon Circle
18:00 get-in Bismut
18.00 diner
19:00 set-up & soundcheck Bismut
20.00 Showime Bismut
21.00 change-over
21.15 - end Showime Black Moon Circle (75mins + encore)
16.00 get-in, set-up & soundcheck Black Moon Circle
18:00 get-in Bismut
18.00 diner
19:00 set-up & soundcheck Bismut
20.00 Showime Bismut
21.00 change-over
21.15 - end Showime Black Moon Circle (75mins + encore)
Anyway, we had a nice meal, set up the gear and Bismut
hit the stage a bit after 21. It was so great to see the BMC guys again. Last
time was in June. Øyvin was a bit sick,
as seems to be the case everytime we tour. I think it is a lot of stress with
work, rehearsing, getting everything together for the tours and he gets sick.
I guess there were about 25 people. It is a super
small bar. Sound guy was very nice but he had little to work with since only
the guitar was mic’d up. Bismut they don’t have any vocals. They played two new songs
and were a really good band. Intense bass and drums and a lot of space for the
guitar to riff and space out. Cool instrumental heavy metal with some prog and psychedelic inspirations. I think they played 5 songs total about 50mins. They had never played here and it went
down well.
BMC were on about 2230 and we played an hour. I was
supposed to try out my new sequencer but the band just started before I could
do it and I had no monitor and had to stand in front of the PA. Not good. When
Øyvin sang, he blasted you and I had to stand to the side away from my synth.
Anyway, I missed the first notes on the recorder and I did not expect them to
start so fast. We started with the new
one, The Ghost. We played it nearly every gig on the last tour, so it is not
really that new but it is not on any of the records. Next up was American Eagle and this was
great. Then we tried two really new
ones, first time ever played live, Landslide and Monster Serpent. The later
worked really well. Both sounded heavy…
We ended with Stone Cold Killer. Set was about an hour on the
recorder. I don’t think it will sound
good. Some people were standing right
next to the recorder and talking as well.
NO good place to record in this tiny bar.
 |
| BMC in the Cafe Lollipop after the gig! |
Set List: The Ghost, American Eagle, Landslide,
Monster Serpent, Stone Cold Killer
We had a great time and people loved it and gave us
great praise. The bar is a true R&R bar with all cool people. Great music
on the stereo, they even make their own Carolina Reaper vodka. It was strong
but I thought it would be stronger actually.. Phew.. I was first off to bed
about 0015…
Amber, the owner of the bar and her husband were some
of the coolest people I have ever had put us up. They provided an amazingly
experience for us, providing food, drinks, place to sleep, weed, you name it…
everything we asked for. Just so kind.
Rare people in this world. Lovely..
Oct
18th
I was the first up about 8. Had a shower, a sandwich,
my fiber… feel a bit tired but doing well. Partly sunny day outside. IT is very
loud around there though. Drilling, massive church bells. Rang 100 times..
Insane around 815 this morning.
I am supposed to get the guys up at 11 so we can get
to the train by 1324… We will see. We
talked about the set for tonight—Space In, Ghost, Monster Serpent, Machine on
the Hill, Warp Speed. Something like
that.
2hr 10min for the train from Oss to Antwerpen, about....
Oct
18th- Desertfest, Antwerpt, BE
We managed to get the train from Oss at 13:15 and only
had to change once. 25€ for a train ticket. It was pouring rain in Antwerp but
they sent some one to pick us up. Our gear got a bit wet but not too bad. IT
had stopped when we got to the venue. Personal was all super professional with
wristbands, food ticket, drinks, backstage… they assign a person who gives you
a full tour of the venue and where everything is. We did notl have our own
backstage room but a chilled place where we could chat with other bands. We
mostly talked with the Temple Fang guys. Super super people..
Everything went super smooth. We did some promo fotos
with a really nice Portuguese lady. The band loved it when she said
“Ricardo!”.. We got a few laughs out of
that. The guy we were staying with Bram, was the stage manager for the stage we
played on, so that was great. We had everything we needed. I spoke to the sound
man about doing a soundboard recording and it was possible but some how we only
got the last 14mins.. so he did not do right.. Pity..
I got to see Monomyth, 30mins of Nebula (new
drummer??), Temple Fang, a bit of Truckfighters, 30000 Monkies.. Monomyth was excellent but only
played 35mins. They had one new song where both the keyboard players also played guitar so there were 3 guitars! I will have a separate review of this on the blog.
 |
| Audience just before we started. |
The band before us finished early so we had a lot of
time to set up and soundcheck was smooth and it sounded great. I started the show with my new sequencer into
the modular and did a 3 min space in, we called March of the Antwerpians! We opened with Ghost, as we did the night
before. The place was totally packed. Next up was a monster 20min version of Enigmatic Superbandit. This went down well with the audience. We tried out the
new song, Monster Serpent and also extended this to at least 15 mins. We had
almost used up our time but I had spoken to Bram if it was ok if we went a
little over and he said it was so we did Warp Speed. We only had 50mins but I
think we played about 60!
Set List: Space Intro, The Ghost, Enigmatic
Sueprbandit, Monster Serpent, Warp Speed
Audience loved it. One girl told me it was the best
show of the day. We hung out with lots of cool folks and went to the night
disco until 0230. Peter was playing tons of cool stuff. It was a great night
but I was very tired when we crashed at after 3. The other guys stayed up
partying until 5 in the morning!! We
sold 170€ in merch.. shirts..
Oct
19th
We
managed to work out a deal to leave our gear and merch in the venue since we
were traveling with Bismut and they were the first band on today. We arrive a bit before 15. I had to meet a
guy named Jo to pick up some records I bought from him. He was super nice as I
was 30mins late. I saw Bismut for a couple of songs. It was really packed and they had a great sound. I think they played 4 songs, including the two new ones. People seem to dig it. Two gigs for Bismut in 7 hrs! We talked a bit about me playing on one song with them. We will see..
I also saw a bit of Admiral Sir Cloudsly Shovell, and Fireball Ministry. A bit of RRaigs as
well. Then we had to head off to Tilburg
for the gig tonight.
We arrived t the Little Devil just about 18. Perfect
timing for a relaxed set up and soundcheck. Turned out we could do a soundboard
here to night and I set that up and recorded the soundcheck through the
soundboard of one some of me playing with Bismut. Sounded good and worked.. Bismut has been filming most of the shows as
well.
There are two festivals, Into the Void and Desertfest
this weekend in this part of the world so it was not a big surprise we only got
25 paid people. The response was great. There were more people watching Bismut
though (I counted 19) and only 12 for BMC.
Bismut is a great band and very powerful and cool
dynamic, riffs, sounds, etc.. and super super nice people… Hard to meet nicer men…. Anyway, I played on
the last song and that was a lot of fun. People seem to really like it. Thanks guys..
BMC, we started with a new space in, March of the
TIlburgians??.. and opened with Stone Cold Killer and into the Ghost. It was
not a great start. I had a hard time to get into the gig at the first and was a
bit annoyed as no one in the band wants me in their monitors, or cares if they
hear what I play. Daniel even said he did not want to hear, too much sound in
the monitor was not good for him. Next,
we took the concert to the next level though with Landslide and Monster
Serpent. Two of the new songs. MS is especially good. Next, we played Andromeda
for the first time on the tour. The new way to play it is different but cool.
Audience still wanted more and there was 20mins til closing so we did Enigmatic
Superbandit. It was our longest show, about 75mins maybe even 80.
Set List: Space Intro, Stone Cold Killer, The Ghost,
Landslide, Monster Serpent, Andromeda, Enigmatic Superbandit
The band thought this was a terrible show (it was not, check it out below for yourself!). We will see
when we hear the recording. I made a soundboard recording for both bands this night. For sure no one in the band heard anything I played again like
in Oss….
https://archive.org/details/BMC2019-10-19.FLAC
https://archive.org/details/BMC2019-10-19.FLAC
25 paid people so we got 187€
I was very tired and the Norwegians wanted to close
down the bar again and stay til 4 but I was not willing to do this and it was
far away where we stayed at Richards. 20mins in the taxi, and a 25€ fee and
stupid to pay that twice… We got back to Richards a little after 2. I have no
idea how late they stayed up. Thanks to
Jurgen for helping us set up the show and Richard for giving us a place to
crash….
Oct
20th- Paraplufabrieken, Nijmegen, NL
I was up at 10 so that
was great that I could lie down for 8hrs straight. My feet were not hurting
that much (I am not used to wearing shoes) and I felt more rested. I had only
had a few beers the night before. We managed to get the train and arrive in
Nijmegen just about 1315 and find the club close by so we were able to stick to
the schedule below.
13.30 get in and soundcheck.
15.00 open
15.30 Bismut
17.00 BMC
19.00 Curfew and diner, you sleep there.
Super cool people at this small venue that is in an
old squat that has become legalized. 8 people live in the building and there is
an art gallery and 14 small shops or businesses. Everyone was great..
Everything went smooth with the set ups and
soundchecks and a lot of the bands friends and family was here since it was an
early matinee show. It was totally packed for Bismt. You could hardly get
another person in the place. About 50-60 people. Great band and super nice people.
I stood on the floor for this gig and also played with
Bismut for one song. I actually snuck a few sounds in on the 3rd
song as well. Thanks guys. All the shows were recorded for both bands.
 |
| Happy Daniel at the Merch table. |
We started on time and played another one we
had not played on the tour but we started off with American Eagle after the
space intro and into Jack’s Cold Sweat. 1st time on the tour. It was great..
Monster Serpent and Warp Speed and our hour was up and we blew them all away.
Lots of happy faces. It was probably our best gig. It works so much better when they hear what I
am doing. I could see they could and we look across at each other and it was
cool. Check out the show below. Best recording of the tour.
Set List: Space Intro, American
Eagle, Jack’s Cold Sweat, Monster Serpent, Warp Speed
We hung out with everyone, sold some stuff and
drank some beers. IT was nearly 20 before they came with the food but it was
really good, especially the spicy asian syle cucomber salad. Mood was great and
I talked with all the bismut guys. Lovely people... I crashed out at 10 as did
Daniel. No idea how late the other guys stayed up but I guess pretty late. They
had to get up before 6 to take the train to Amsterdam.
I was up to say bye and then laid back down
until 830 and took a shower, had some tea and a banana. Left Berry, who we
stayed with a nice note and went to the train.
Everything was very smooth and I was at the airport 2.5 hrs early. Plane
left on time and I got home as expected..
THANK YOU BISMUT!
What an amazing band and amazing people. We
are so grateful to play with these guys. They were the most kind, the most
generous people. What other band gives
you all the money from the gigs (except the Desertfest) minus their expenses?? Just insanely nice and generous of them and
their friends that just helped us out every step of the way with transport,
backline gear, etc.... We were so incredibly grateful and humbled by these
amazing people- Peter, Nik, Huibert
