Live in Heidelberg, Germany, 29.05.2003
Text written by André Wilms
The first gig in Germany since 1997 was something I just couldn't miss. So I put my djembe drum in the back of my little car, started the engine and drove south. About 2.5 hours later (at about 6 p.m.), I finally arrived in the city of Heidelberg. Tour posters at the side of the roads showed me the way to the venue where my journey ended. When I climbed out of my car, I could hear the guys warming up with 'Bury Me'. So I hurried to the place where I could here them play. And there, I saw them: Robbi Robb, Eric Ryan, Joey Vera, Richard Stuverud and Yann Le Roux. When Robbi saw me he somehow must have known that it was his webmaster standing right in front of him. So he stopped playing the guitar, smiled and hugged me. He also said something but it was way too loud so I didn't get it properly.
Anyway, the guys continued doing rehearsals until about 7 p.m. (they started at 4 p.m.). In the meantime I talked to Johan Ryden (the tour manager) and Kelly Watson (one of the coolest dudes in the whole wide world). When the band finished their warming up session, I got introduced to the entire Tribe family. The band and friends of the band. They were all really cool people.
We decided to have dinner at a Thai restaurant. So John (a friend of the band) took 4 guys with him in his rented Volvo, and I drove with Kelly, Joey and Yann in my little Volkswagen Lupo. Poor car! We stopped at the hotel where the band and their friends were supposed to spend the night. While they changed clothes, I asked the friendly women at the reception of the hotel where to find a good Thai restaurant near the hotel. As soon as the guys came back, we headed off that one restaurant "Thanapton", had dinner until 9.30 p.m. and drove back to the venue.
About maybe 80 people were waiting in the club when we came back and entered the venue through the back door. Johan who didn't come with us for dinner started selling the first few tour shirts. While the band prepared for the show, I went to the tour shirt corner and chatted a bit with Johan.
At about 10.30 p.m. tribal music got played through the speakers. The crowd, maybe 120 - 150 people, instantly knew that the show was about to begin. Suddenly Kelly entered the stage. He wore an African mask on his head, painted the visible parts of his face in black, and was more or less naked except for a short trousers. Around his neck hang a necklace with fourteen camel teeth. He looked damn cool! So he was on stage and started screaming and dancing. Absolutely stunning!
A few moments later, the band entered the stage and started their set with "Bury Me". What followed is damn difficult to describe. You just can't describe a Tribe After Tribe show. Robbi seemed more or less possessed by some spirit. He danced and played like a madman. Richard on drums wasn't human anymore. He's an animal and must have had pretty much fun behind his drum kit. Amazing! Yann did a damn cool job as percussionist. He played the djembe and other freaky instruments. Eric and Joey were on the left part of the stage and had loads of fun, too. I could see them smiling pretty often.
While the band played their set, I took Eric's digital camera and took quite a bunch of pictures. You'll be able to see them here once Eric is back in the USA. Anyway, I was busy taking pictures of the band and the crowd. The folks in the first few rows were dancing as well. It looked pretty cool. After about 30 minutes I finally saw my djembe that somebody must have put on stage. So I went to Kelly who (now without the mask) was standing right next to the stage. He wanted me to play my little instrument. So I gave him Eric's camera and entered the stage as well. Unfortunately I didn't have a little chair to sit on so I guess I pretty much sucked while I tried to play the djembe sitting on the ground.
After one or two songs I had enough (it's a tough job to play the djembe without a microphone while the other dudes have fun being noisy) and left the stage so i could enjoy watching them perform. I think it was the encore ('Uh-Oh') when Robbi looked down to me and pointed to my djembe which must have meant that he wanted me to play that instrument again. So I played with the dudes for one more song. And I tell you it was fun! I'll be sure to bring a chair to my next gig (Frankfurt) so I can jam with the dudes for more than just two or three tunes.
Anyway, at about midnight the show was over. Everybody in the venue seemed to be pretty happy with what one could witness in the 90 minutes before. It surely rocked! The venue got emptier and emptier when the band came back to chat with the remaining hardcore fans. Some things got signed, a lot of tour shirts got sold, etc.
At about 1.15 a.m. the instruments were put in the van and the band was ready to leave the venue. They had to get up pretty early in the morning as their next stop was Vienna and 8 long hours on the highways were in front of them. I decided to drive about 2.5 hours back to my home. Robbi told me to drive carefully and I waved good-bye to the dudes.
Can't wait to see them again in Frankfurt .. :-)
