Day 6 – Dresden (Beatpol)
We had a real good van day today. A nasty 6 hour drive was helped with 2 great films. First we watched Just Friends, a classic rom-com that was enjoyed by everyone. I’d give it a solid 8.5. Then we went a bit more serious and watched Hannibal. Sean had wanted that film for days so we thought it would be a good one to watch.
When we arrived we were met with, by far, the best selection of cheese and ham on the entire tour. So says James anyway. We had been telling the Dupec boys about the banquet that the Beatpol puts on for bands. The last time we played in Dresden there was only 5 of us and the venue had made enough food for about 15 people. After wolfing down as much food as we possibly could some of the plates still hadn’t even been touched. This time we were determined to do better with the 10 of us. They made us all sorts of fantastic food and thankfully we did a lot better this time round.
When we played in the Beatpol back in September the show was a special €5 show and it was really busy, which was great. But the show this time round was more expensive and before the gig I was a bit worried that it was going to be a lot quieter. However, it was actually busier than last time, which we were happy with. There were crowd surfers, stage divers and mosh pits at this show so it ranks up there with the best of the tour for me.
Just after doors opened lots of posters were put up telling the crowd about a we were promised jetpacks after show party at a bar in town. We decided it would be a grand idea to go to this… mostly because we thought we could maybe get in for free and save some money
After the show we headed down to “Katy’s Garage” where this party was taking place… and after blagging our way past the bouncer thanks to the DJ, we took up a nice seat next to the bar. There were all sorts of classic rock and pop-punky songs getting played that I used to listen to when I was about 15. Myself, James and Jamie spent a good 30/45mins without a break dancing to everything they were playing… including our own songs. I honestly think they played about half of our album while we were there and I’m pretty sure that the 3 of us danced to the vast majority of them. After the party we half stole a bike, cycled about on it for a while then took it back to where it was, which technically means borrowing it instead of stealing it and now we can’t get in trouble. To finish off the night we got a kebab and went to bed like we do most nights.
DAY 7 – Berlin (Lido)
Today was a bad day for punctuality. We were all meant to be down in the hotel car park meeting at the van at 12pm so we could drive into the centre of Dresden and do a little sightseeing before heading for Berlin. Adam and myself woke up at 12:15pm and Sean and Burnie didn’t make it to the van until 12:40pm. Unfortunately this meant we only got a quick 30min walk around Dresden. But what we saw was beautiful. It sort of reminded me of Heidelberg, with all the old buildings and cobbled streets. After enjoying some fine bratwurst from a street vendor we headed back to the van to head up to Berlin. The drive today wasn’t so bad. A few hours and we were there so we just enjoyed a good few games of Pro Evolution instead of watching any movies.
With only 20mins until Dupec were meant to go on stage the room was still almost empty and everyone was getting a bit nervous as to whether people were turning up tonight. We had heard that the pre-sales for the show were very good but still had a horrible feeling. Thankfully, as Dupec went on hundreds of people had showed up from nowhere and watched one of their best performances of the tour. The sound in the venue was amazing, especially with big Anders in charge. The room was pretty much full by their 3rd song so any fears that we would be playing to hardly any people had passed.
We were sad to be playing our last German show of the tour. We really, really like Germany, and that’s not just one of those things you say because you’re there on stage in front of hundreds of German people, or because I’m writing this for a German site… it genuinely is our favourite country to tour. Everyone at the venues seems to know what they’re doing, they help you load in and out, treat you fantastically and ALWAYS have a big tray of cheese and ham ready for us when we arrive! The crowds are great and so full of energy as well. We very rarely get people crowd surfing and jumping about like crazy people at our gigs back home in the UK. Anyway, that’s enough sucking up to Germany.
After the show we decided we were going to stay in the venue for the indie/rock club that was on afterwards. My memory of this night is a bit vague, but I know there was plenty dancing and cheap beers. I also have an image of Jamie and someone else dancing on the stage in front of the whole club… excellent. I don’t think we had a kebab before bed tonight, which is disappointing.
The next day we had a day off and after a fantastic lie in, we became proper tourists. We visited the Brandenburg Gate, took pictures outside the hotel where Michael Jackson hung his baby over the balcony, walked through the Jewish memorial and enjoyed some currywurst mit pommes. Real good. Myself, Jamie and Paul left the rest of the guys watching the Chelsea vs Stoke football match in a bar and we headed down to Checkpoint Charlie and then up to the hauptbahnhof to catch a (free) train back to our hotel. I love the honesty system on German public transport; do they really think that everyone is going to buy a ticket? I had a nice early night tonight, in bed by 11pm and felt great for it the next day. So that’s what we did while we were in Germany. Basically you’ve just read about us playing Pro Evolution Soccer, watching movies, getting drunk and discussing stupid things like the weight of an elephant so solve a problem. Yes, we are idiots. Germany is fun. Bye Bye x
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