Live in Frankfut, Germany, 03.06.2003
Text written by André Wilms
Photos taken by André Wilms
I read so many positive impressions on the Austria shows that I was really interested in seeing the guys again. Once again, I arrived at the venue way too early. This time, it was about 6.15 p.m. when I hugged or shook hands with the band and friends. I also saw new faces: Robbi's old friend from South Africa, Tim Parr, came to see the shows. Joey Vera's wife was there as well.
I didn't want to disturb the sound check so Robbi, Tim and I went outside, had a beer and talked for little while. I got told that Tim played quite alot with Robbi back in his South Africa times when the Asylum Kids were a big act down there. Robbi also mentioned that Tim is a fantastic guitar player (something that Tim proved to be right later in the evening when he played the guitar during the enchore).
A couple of minutes later, Yann Le Roux (the percussionist) and Kelly Watson (the roadie) came outside as well and sat down to us. We chatted a bit longer while Robbi did an video interview with some guy. The dudes told me that the shows in Austria were damn cool and Stuttgart the night before was superb as well. All in all, they all seemed pretty happy with the first few shows. They surely had a lot of fun so far.
At about 8 p.m. we drove to the band's hotel so the guys could change clothes. When we returned to the venue at about 9 p.m. the first few fans were already there. So we rushed down to the stage so Johan Ryden (tour manager) could prepare his merchandising corner. I brought a few CD's as well (Amritakripa's albums) and positioned them right next to the tour shirts. It didn't take long until people showed interest in the albums. To my surprise, almost no one knew about this web site so the Amritakripa project was completely new to almost everybody I chatted with. What a shame! :-)
The show began at 9.30 p.m. About 80 to 100 people were in the club. Similar to the gig in Heidelberg, Kelly entered the stage. But this time, he didn't wear a mask but he painted his entire face black. I guess he didn't wear the mask because it was freaking hot inside the little club. Anyways, Kelly just went through the crowd, played a little hand drum and screamed something I'll probably never get. A few moments later Richard, Yann, Eric, Joey and finally Robbi came up on stage and opened the set with 'Bury Me' and 'Ice Below'.
I had the impression that the band was in an even better mood than in Heidelberg. In between songs, Robbi talked to the crowd way more often than back then. He surely had fun. The rest of the band had a lot of fun as well.
The set list of that show was more or less the same than in the gigs before. 'Build A Subway', 'Out Of Control', 'Ice Below', 'Boy', 'Bury Me', 'Hopeless The Clown', 'Uh-Oh', 'Eloise' and two cover songs. And just like in Heidelberg, the band didn't just play the tracks as you know them from the albums. The jammed quite alot. Every track got extended to about 6 to 10 minutes. It did sound cool!
After one enchore, 'Uh-Oh', the gig was over. Another 90 minutes have passed. The crowd wanted a second enchore but the band was too exhausted. Please keep in mind that the temperature in this little club was insane and the long jam parts do take a lot of energy.
When the club got emptier and emptier I suddenly saw Holger Stratmann from the RockHard magazine. Being a long time fan from Tribe After Tribe it was Holger who invited the band to play on the RockHard festival (Saturday). He made the tour shirts as well ... so all hail to you, Holger!
Later that evening, I hang out with the band and their friends. It was darn cool. Everbody was so pleased with the last couple of days. Knowing that the band actually reaches the heart of the listener each and every night makes them pretty happy.
