Kill Casino hit Europe: exclusive German tour blog
London punk-metal trio head to Deutschland.
Kill Casino, an excellent fiery pop-metal trio from London, recently got in touch with us telling us they were going on tour in Germany. Obviously they'd heard about our German obsession - our entire diet is based around sausages, beer and big pretzels (no, seriously) and we're already planning our Bavarian retirement. So we said 'oh, ja' and told them to write a blog of their exploits while they were over in Deutschland, where they're playing a series of shows with Dune and Fightstar. Check back regularly for updates, pictures and other nonsense from their jaunt across the country, directly from vocalist/bassist Karen.
Part One: Aachen
I'm sitting in a bunker, a real World War 2 bunker. It's absolutely freezing, there is deep snow outside and one tiny plug-in heater. All around are cavernous paths leading to different parts of the bunker. It's really fucking creepy - the plaster is falling off the walls which are easily two inches thick.
Welcome to the Musik Bunker, Aachen, a real converted world war two bunker which is now a totally crazy unique underground venue. This is where we've just played the second show of our German tour to an upbeat audience of mainly young girls, here to support main attraction, headlining band, Danish electro-rock sensation, Dune. There's at least 300 of them who've ventured out on this freezing Thursday and I'm convinced none of them have a clue who we are or what to expect.
This is our first tour in Germany and we came out with little idea what to expect, although we'd heard great things. So far we've had snow, torrential rain, hardcore local beer and vast quantities of gummy bears ('gummibärchen') a welcome addition to the rider. We've also clocked up a fair few hundred miles in our pimped out tour bus. Okay, so it's not Dune's Starliner but it has a DVD player and everything! It's actually a helluva lot more luxury than the hotels so far. Last night I crawled into bed to find an unidentified body hair clinging to the pillow - urgh, gross!
Two shows down and the audiences have been great. Last night in Saarbrucken we ended the evening with a fair few Kill Casino converts, it's a good feeling. The boys even got mobbed on the ferry over by Belgian school-girl KC fans, something I really can't explain but is encouraging none the less.
We have two more shows with Dune then hook up with Fightstar for a couple of dates. We've been fairly conservative with the partying to date as goddamnit it's cold, but I have no doubt that will change as we get into the swing of things.. watch this space!
Part Two: Lingen
It's nearly 5am, we're freezing, we're knackered and we're stranded. We've been staying at these un-manned hotels, and having just unloaded all our valuable stuff, the credit card machine is having none of our card - it's just beeping manically at us as we wait in the snow. Three calls to the 24 hour helpline and my patience/A-Level German are being stretched to the limit trying to explain the problem. Just when we're about to give up all hope, a seriously pissed off guy in his pyjamas comes out to help - finally we're in!
Rewind 8 hours and we're onstage for our final show with Dune in Lingen. The venue is about the size of the main Islington Academy and pretty packed. These kids in the regions are just excited to see bands. They want your setlists, your plecs, your pics, your autograph, your picture... it's pretty crazy. Paul-luc, who's proved popular with the young ladies, has tonight also attracted the attention of a random party of gay men, who must be in their forties. One guy in particular who looks like a reject Chuckle Brother, complete with comedy moustache, follows him round the venue relentlessly before inviting him to a 'special' aftershow party. He politely declines.
We're having a better show tonight following last night's disasters in Kaiserslautern when Paul kicked through his bass drum skin, I dropped my mic and the cymbol stand fell and sliced clean through the guitar lead. We're so fucking chaotic compared to Dune and yet the audience doesn't seem to mind. Maybe I've just drunk too much whiskey to notice. One thing's clear, there are kids here from the first show that have come back to see us and I just can't believe that.
We say our goodbyes to Dune. Tomorrow we'll hook up with Fightstar to play our first German cities. Bring on Berlin!
Part Three: Berlin
White Trash, Berlin is one pretty cool place by my reckoning. There's excellent Mexican food, all manner of crazy Americana, built in fish ponds and a tattoo parlour to boot. You can order a 'Marquis de Fuck' burger whilst being inked at your table!
We're sharing a dressing room with the Fightstar guys who are recovering from their Amsterdam show the previous night. it's the first time they've played Germany other than the Rock Am Ring festival, so there are some Fightstar fans who've travelled a long way for the show.
Spirits are high in the Kill Casino camp tonight. We nail our best performance of the tour and hit the Jack Daniels to celebrate. Anthony, the venue owner, lines out shots of Jager, we have a day off tomorrow and so we're partying tonight!
The morning after the night before and we're waking up in a Berlin hostel feeling pretty damn groggy. Thank god we're not gigging tonight, we're all exhausted and have a full day of driving to do - 8 hours on the road to be precise. We spend the night in Dortmand and treat ourselves to a slap up meal.
The day off works to revive us a bit and we hit Cologne for our final show of the tour. There's already girls waiting outside the venue when we pull up. There's a big audience tonight and I'm feeling nervous. It's really dark on stage and we can't see each other which doesn't make for the easiest gig but we stumble through the set.
We bid farewell to the Fightstar boys, and head over to the venue's built-in band apartment where we're sleeping tonight. I wasn't sure what to expect but it's actually nice and clean. We head downstairs for a nightcap with the bar owner. We know it's time to call it a night when Paul falls asleep on the table!
So that's it, the end of our first German tour. 6 shows, 2000 miles of driving and one mental week. It's been a real privilege being out here. The audiences are good fun and you're treated well. I really hope we can head back to build on what we've started but for now it's time to bid Deutschland 'Auf Wiedersehen' and head back to London. Till next time...
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