mike watt +
the missingmen

tom watson bio by tom watson - august, 2006

my first guitar was a christmas gift when i was five years old. it was red and yellow plastic with a battery powered, suction-cup amplifier. i played along to beatles records and emulated the sounds they made on paperback writer and revolution. the guitar was always the sound i connected with, even more so with the who, creedence clearwater and jimi hendrix. by the 70's i had moved from new york city to the beach in L.A. and i got a real electric guitar and small practice amp. i unscrewed the amp speaker and put foil between the speaker and grill to try to get the distorted sound i was searching for. as i got more into music and turned on to the bands my older brother was listening to i had my first true influence from prog and glam rock. i was struck mostly by the guitar playing of roxy music's phil manzanera and king crimson's robert fripp. the flood gates opened and just about everything came in. the more obscure musics like kraut rock and psychedelic along with electronic and jazz seemed to have equal effects on me. as i continued to play i found inspiration in the guitar playing of television, captain beefheart and neil young before stumbling across wire, gang of four and the fall. later on, the more conceptually based avant-pop music of the red krayola and others had a big influence on me.

in high school i played in a few different contexts. one with keyboardist (and future slovenly member) tim plowman as a duet, doing free-form prog type instrumental music. i also teamed up with rob holzman (future saccharine trust/slovenly drummer) who played pots and pans before he had an actual drumset. finally, i helped organize a "real" band with local pro surfer denis jarvis singing, rob holzman on drums and marc vidal (soon to become earl liberty of saccharine trust and circle jerks) on bass to play cover songs and originals at parties at the beach.

at some point during 1978 i met up with steve anderson and scott ziegler, two guys from my high school who were trying to start a punk band and needed a bass player. i said i'd give it a shot. with my childhood friend bruce losson on drums we became toxic shock. steve sang and scott played guitar and we wrote all our own songs which was cool with me. we hooked up with other bands that were beginning to play around at that time in our suburban beach towns like the desendents, the disposals and red cross and played punk rock parties until we got our first big break; we got to open for the minutemen and saccharine trust at capones in san pedro, a real show. from that point we got tacked onto other gigs in that area like the star theater and in east L.A. at the vex and began to play with bands from outside the beach cities. we got our second break when we were asked to record a song for the compilataion "keats rides a harley" that the urinals were putting together. it put us next to some cool bands of that time like the human hands, meat puppets and the gun club and helped to put us into a certain community of music.

after high school i went to holland for one year to study electronic music at the university of utrecht. it was an academic program in composition and the production and recording of electro-acoustic music and has had a big effect on the music i made from that point on. while i was there i had the chance to work with the minimal music composer richard lerman, and recorded my first record in one of his ensembles entitled "travelon gamelon" that was released on folkways records in 1981.

after returning to los angeles in 1982 i picked up where i left off in toxic shock. though, at this point our music began to expand and we decided to push the ideas beyond the simplistic punk that toxic shock did. i was also getting ichy to play the guitar again and so in a kind of spontaneous transition we added tim plowman on organ and synth and scott and i started switching off on guitar and the music got far more ambitious. we changed our name to slovenly peter and played some wierd shows in hollywood and finally after adding rob holzman on drums we became slovenly. this line up would last for ten years and record eight records.

early on slovenly found some kinship with the minutemen and played to a more receptive audience opening for them. they had just started new alliance records and asked us to do a record for it. we did two ep's and an lp in 1984-5 and continued with the gigs around town, sometimes playing with black flag. the next year we made the transition to sst records and did four lp's over the course of five years, playing shows and touring occasionally through the end of the 80's. after a few years with slovenly in san francisco, i returned to L.A. and played around in various bands and improv groups until i reformed with scott and rob as overpass. we did one record for new alliance and one on smells like records, as well as one song on a minutemen compilation, and toured twice though the u.s..

through working in and around L.A. art galleries in the early 90's i was able to cross paths with one of my heros, the red krayola's mayo thompson. on the first night we met i had the gall to ask if he would produce the 2nd overpass record "manhattan (beach)". he agreed, and from there i began to record and perform in the newly regrouped version of the red krayola. this started in 1993 and has continued relatively consistently to the present. we have recorded about ten records together for drag city records and have toured together about that many times as well. the band has had several member variations including jim o'rourke, john mcentire, david grubbs, george hurley and albert oehlen, but i have remained a regular within it since my first involvement. at present it has become a major part of my musical output.*

in between red krayola records and tours i recorded a solo project entitled "country and watson". it was recorded and produced with jim o'rourke and mayo thompson and includes guest guitar by bob mothersbaugh. it was originally released in 2000 on leiterwagon records (germany), but has been made available domesticaly on theologian records.

in the beginning of 2000 i was asked by longtime friend and local bass legend mike watt to play in a group he wanted to tour with doing some favorite cover tunes and older originals of his as a sort of retrospective and homage to the music that had inspired us. this was called mike watt and the pair of pliers and included vince meghrouni on drums. we had a couple wailing tours but never officially recorded anything. a year or so later it was repeated with a change of tunes and a different drummer, jerry trebotic, called mike watt and the jom and terry show. this group toured extensibly but also never recorded. the missingmen with raul on drums will be the third colaboration between watt and i.

in 1999 i formed my own group, the best of all, with erik bluhm, sandy yang and heather cantrell. we started out playing my songs from the "country and watson" record and have since developed new group written tunes. we play local gigs in the L.A. area and we have recorded one full length cd of music but have yet to finalize it's release.

*the current line up of the red krayola is: mayo thompson, stephen prina, john mcentire, noel kuppersmith, charlie abel and myself, and sometimes includes david grubbs, allen ravenstine, sandy yang and elisa randazzo. in 2006 we have been performing shows in support of our latest release "introduction" on drag city records. our new ep "red gold" will come out this fall (2006), and we will be returning to japan for our fourth tour there this october.




raul morales bio by raul morales - august, 2006

Second try.... glad i saved it. Hope it works for ya.

Switched from the bass to the drums in 97' i think. Started the lifted with tony cook, and sean cole from f.y.p. in that same year. Played random parties, and some bay gigs, and some demos.. no further. The lifted never really broke up, but livin' and playin' with cole led me to take his place in f.y.p. The band pretty much ended when stoots left us, but after things calmed, todd wanted the band back, and nobody else but sean could fill the bass position, so that left me for the drums, and also to me joining my first touring band. Had done one tour when i was seventeen, playin' the bass, but that shit's way far back. During all this, the leeches had also started, even a little further back, so actually that's the first band i played drums for... whatever. It ties in with the leeches staring at the punk record store that todd opened in pedro, and that's what brought me that situation... of f.y.p. and leeches. Did about five or six tours with f.y.p. and one canadian nightmare tour. Recorded once in 99' which came to be a split with japans chaniwa, and a full length that just came out on recess just last month... better late than never. While touring with f.y.p. i was introduced to tons of different folks in bands, two of my favorites being the grumpies from starkville, mississippi, and civic minded five from vegas. I ended up playing in both for a short while. Did two u.s tours, one west coast tour, and a Canadian tour with the grumpies, and one west coaster with the civic minded five. During that time as well, we started the jag offs the all pedro band that was ours from the ground up. From that came, two national tour, one west coast tour, and a split 12' with the four letter words out also on recess. After jagoffs split, kevin from the words, and me wanted to start another band. So That's where killer dreamer comes in, Started at the end of 2002. Same three pedro dudes as the jags, but with kevin on guitar. That's taken us on a couple month tours, thru the states to brooklyn, all down the east coast, thru the south etc. you know, you helped start the circuit. With that band we've got a single called survival guns on kapow records, and also a full length on the same label. Workin' on a second full length that will most likely be put out by us on our own label. Fillin' in, and being in those bands is what led me to you, i remember you shakin' my hand hand and tellin' me good job bassey when i was sixteen. It seems you saw in me the ability and want to tour and try at playin' music, regardless. That was in the beginning of 04. Playing with you took me on the road for three months that same year with pete mazich on keyboard, and to europe for the first time the year after that with paul roessler from the screamers on keyboards. After gettin' back from europe with you, i yet again jump in to fill the position for another m.i.a. drummer. Started playin with drinkers purgatory, just as fill in, to do the shows they had already booked. About a third of a year passes, and they're still drummerless, so i start back up with em', i think around the time you heard us butchering rudimentary peni covers at 13th st. That so far, has led to just recording a hand full of songs for a split release with shark pants from tucson. It'll come out at the beginning of next year, here in the states on small pool records, and a punk label in japan. As it stands now, we're gonna go try and support it in japan for ten days sometime in feb of 07. At that time i'll also be playin' tunes with you and tom watson, gettin' ready to tour the states, and hopefully some canadian gigs, then coming home and doing a missingmen record.

I know, kind of a mess. Hope you can get something out of it. If it's not what your lookin' for let me know, if it is, cool. It just seemed easier for me to spit it out like that, like i was talkin to you... ya know. If a list is what you want, i can do that too, i'm sure it can be tough to make some sense of my run on, no sentence structure. Hope it's not nightmarish.

mike watt + the missingmen "parallel universes" tour 2006 diary



monday, november 20, 2006 - somewhere over the atlantic ocean

from tom:

   it's always wierd to leave town for a month, life at home is put on pause and a new life begins. it's an amazing opportunity to be opening for the chili peppers and my first time playing this kind of tour, arena shows. i usually don't have any trouble playing in front of alot of people, in some ways it's easier, but this will be something altogether different. i guess i'm a little nearvous (in a good way), but i look forward to playing with mike and raul and i know this will build some confidence for us as a band. still, i think about the things that i put aside and on hold and try not to worry. i think it's going to be a crazy new experience and i do my best to live in the moment.

   i've been to europe many times but his is the first time with mike, it will be interesting to see how the tour life that i've come to know with him in the states translates in europe. i have a feeling that we wont be sleeping on peoples floors for instance. the other thing is that we will be driving a rented van, our most valuble piece of equipment and that will hopfully work out right. it's also very known that mike runs an extremely tight ship, though even though i know he's toured here a bunch the traveling and translating is an added complication and i wonder how that will go. he is normally controlling all aspects of time and transportation, but this time i think we will have to really pull together and work as a team on everything.

   we fly all night.



from watt:

   man, am I shit-hoarder... gotta make some changes w/that - lots of boxes still to be unpacked in my new pad (I recently moved two blocks to an apartment that faces east - yeah, sunrises! and has a garage to put my van in when I take trips like these) but I've made a lot of headway... gotta put that on hold for now though cuz ok, here comes my "parallel universes" tour 2006 - I call it that cuz I got some different worlds to work w/this tour - not just little pads on our (myself, tom watson and raul morales - mike watt + the missingmen) own but big pads w/the red hot chili peppers and then having to fly to play some festivals w/iggy + the stooges. it's gonna be a balancing/juggling act for sure and I've been fretting mainly on the parts where I leave tom and raul on their own, damn I'm hating to have to do that - I can't express it strong enough. I'm gonna have the hands pretty full so I'm thinking of restricting my diary chimping I'm doing here to one paragraph a day but knowing my tendency to bag some serious wind - even if it's chimping (me using a 'puter - from that old idea about having a thousand chimpanzees in a room w/typewriters going at it, that eventually the odds of them accidently typing out all the works of william shakespeare would happen, given enough centuries of years) and not words spoken, I'll probably babble on so let me apologize for any of that right up front here. well, the first flight is a night one and my sister melinda got me and raul from pedro to the los angeles international airport (lax) about five, having left at four pm. raul later told me he was cracking up at the similarities of me and melinda w/the way we're pretty outspoken w/our feelings - it's hard for me to see that cuz of the perspective. melinda's helped me so much through the years though, I can't thank her enough. the swiss airline flight we're on took off at 7:45 pm and is ten hours long - the first half of it I was next to this cat who was liquored and sprawled all over (I had a fucking middle seat - w/my lame knees, aisle ones are more happening but fuck, I'll deal w/whatever hand gets dealt me) but going back to use the head once, raul said there was a open one right behind him in the last row and I got that - glory be! since we'll get into amsterdam at night, I reason to stay up the entire flight so I'll get right on euro time which is nine hours ahead of the clocks in my pedro town. I only brought a tiny clothes sack (two levis, two flannels - one w/no plaid on request by those who don't wanna see me in one, three chonies and two pair of socks) but since it had shaving and brush your teeth stuff too, I had to check it in (security rules now days) and damn if I didn't forget that new haruki murakami anthology I'm reading now. I do have my 'puter bag w/me though and the ipods there so I listen to john coltrane, yuka/petra, creedence clearwater revival, and go! team the whole way, that keeping me sane and awake.





tuesday, november 21, 2006 - amsterdam, netherlands

from raul:

   Got into amsterdam sometime between 7:30 and 8pm. Left pedro the day before at 4:30. Last minutes there where spent trippin' on a fully melted car in front of the pad. I guess the night before someone smashed out the window, and set the thing on fire. Lena, who also lives there said she heard a bunch of noise around three in the mornin', looked out her window, and saw the the firetruck arriving, and the flames just feet away from the house... so fuckin' thankful the house didn't catch... we were very lucky. The way it happened was just sorta assumed, Tony found a crowbar with a lighter right next to it hidden in the grass on the side of the house, but who knows.. not me, but what would you think. Mike and his sister picked me up, and i'd like to thank her for that, and also while i'm at it, i also want to thank bree for so much of her help the couple days before i left. She basically hooked it up by fixing all my tore cloths, stitching up, and fixing zippers on my ripped up bags, drove me around doing last minute errands, scored a parka for the trip, and on the last day i was home, she did all my smelly wash. Damn, If it wasn't for her i'd be freezing my balls off, in stinky torn cloths.... she saved the day. That mornin' we missingmen had a early practice, and then i had a supposed afternoon gig with drinkers purgatory in pomona, that didn't actually start till late, our fault though, michael g. locked the drums in the boat. So instead of playin' first, we got pushed to second to last. Doing the laundry was the last thing on my list, and i didn't give myself time to do it, she's such a sweetheart for helpin' me like that.

   We left L.A.X. around 7:30 that night, so somewhere close to thirteen hours on a plane, longest ride for me. Last time, when i came over here with mike and paul to do the opera, we switched planes in philly, so i got a little leg stretch, actually a big stretch, cuz that port was hugh. This time, all the way to zurich non stop, then a little lay over, and a painless flight to amsterdam. Shit,the whole deal was not bad, shit, watt said he's done seventeen this year, so no complaints over here. Advice was to stay awake as long as possible, try and beat the lag, crash when we get there, and get on the right schedule. I think a slept for a little under forty minutes, a little after mike escaped the neighbor from hell. Tried to stay awake reading upton sinclairs the jungle, tense book. Basically about all the fucked brutal conditions of the chicago meat packing industry around the turn of the century. Mainly dealing with the awful conditions of the immigrant workers tryin' to chase the "american dream". These folks were, and still are gettin' the beat down, and are basically wage slaves, capitalist just using and manipulating people in the worst ways. Supposedly he went and visited the chicago stock yard as research, and started it as a monthly will be continued story in a socialist paper. So in a sense, he really was exposing these people who ran the yards as the bastards they were, and interlocking the corruption in american corporate and political life, making it one in the same. Roosevelt read the book, and ended up writin' Upton and promised to have sinclairs charges investigated, which even though he didn't like the socialist overtones of the book, it still hit home. Everybody, even soldiers were eating this diseased meat. The investigations proved true, and not just muckraking, and got the government to get in the middle of the scandalist crap, and got meat inspection acts passed. So thats why today when your chowing that burger, it isn't covered with maggots or all green or someshit, Good read... check it out. When i didn't want to be the jerk with the light on anymore, i ended up watching two of the worst movies i'd ever seen, one that was saved by christopher walken, a bunch of useless documentaries, and one mediocre program about underwater cave dwellers.

   Once we got off the plane in amsterdam, it's already a nightmare. The bags were comin' out at a snails pace, and none of ours were to be seen.... hoping they didn't get lost when we changed flights. After we waited for about forty minutes, along with half the other passengers with the same thoughts, more bags started comin', and shortly after ours popped up, so thankful for that too. It'd be pretty hard to start a tour with no guitars right. Carlos, who's done all of mike's euro trips was patiently waiting outside for us, and it was good to see again, he's a great man. He drove us and all our shit to the hotel, checked us in, and made plans to meet us the next day to to pick up the euro boat, then go to protone in Utrecht to get us the rest of the gear, we just brought over guitars and cymbals. Us Missingmen decided to take a walk around town, and ended up down the road at koosje, and had a couple belgian beers. After that we called it a night, a long one at that. I must of been so beat, cuz during that night of the first sleep, i guess i was sleep walking, which i never do. Tom said i grabbed his pillow from under his head, and then jumped in his bed. I just remember waking up and him asking me if i'd be more comfortable in my own bed. Sorry Tom, but you gotta admit, kinda funny. The second time too, i had done the same thing to paul on my birthday in berlin the last time i was in europe.... maybe i just wanna be close as a band. So weird though, it's kinda creepy that in sleep things can take control of you like that. Maybe it was just not eatin' much the two days prior, then drinkin' some strong dubbel broc brew on an empty stomach. I know that was the reason for the time in berlin, too much cervesa. That wasn't sleep walkin' though, i just barrelled in the room, and jumped in the first bed i saw.



from tom:

   thoughts drift in my mind and all kinds of moods flow in and out, but it's the beginning of something new and mostly i'm excited.

   the trip to holland stops in zurich and we change to another plane, we've been up all night and now the end of the next day is approaching. by the time we get to holland and our bags finnally get through it's dark and we meet carlos and he drives us to our hotel. (thanks carlos) i have a special place in my heart for the netherlands because i lived here in the early eighties for year of school. the people are great. we get situated and walk to the corner for beers and have a good talk.

   sleep come fast and deep.



from watt:

   we landed at schipol in amsterdam around seven but it takes a long while for the checked-in stuff to come and I'm almost certain it's been lost even though there was two hours between the lax to zurich flight and the zurich to amsterdam one - when the layover time is too tiny, it's almost inevitable stuff gets waylaid but after 'pert-near an hour after we land, our bags show up on the belt. both tom and raul have big girly bags - tom w/a roller one and raul w/a duffle bag plus tom's got his guitar, raul w/his cymbals and me w/my little red gibson bass in its new ata flight case - I paid five hundred dollars but feel it's well worth it cuz it holds her perfect and I'm hoping as safe as can be. it's red too cuz most are black and I'll be able to pick it out easier. carlos is there to get us - he was worried cuz we were on the other side of the barrier, waiting for our stuff and he had no idea what was happening but all's ok now. big BIG hugs for him from me and it's the first time he's met tom and raul, I'm so glad for them to meet him too. twenty years now for me and carlos, my euroman outside the van helping me make gigs happen over here. he drove his volvo station wagon from where he lives in rotterdam and we put our things in that and he drives us to the rembrandt hotel in amsterdam. we'll see him again tomorrow. we put our things away in our rooms (tom and raul amazed by the steep grade the stairs in old euro buildings hundreds of years old have), we hoof outside in the night - it's been raining but not too bad or too cold... we find this bar/cafe called koosje on the corner and spiel over some beers - I tell them the situation w/the missingmen and the plans I have, apologizing some cuz of not being able to spend the time I want w/them cuz of commitments - we've only done three gigs and that was at the end of september when this nice cat m ward asked me open some gigs for him but I have high hopes for them and will put things right - I'm so very excited to play w/them and grow a sound w/us organically. I have this piece made up of thirtynine little tunes culled from my tripping on those little creatures in the heironymous bosch paintings (I learned that some ideas about them are that they're visualizations of aphorisms or proverbs but since I don't know five hundred year old dutch culture, I made up my own interpretations!) to make up my third opera but a much different one than the other two cuz there's no narrative (libretto!) w/a beginning, middle and end - everything's simultaneous... like a mirror inside my head that's shattered into a bunch of pieces and reflecting my current state. I have intense plans for this trio to make that piece work and can't wait! the day before I left on this tour, iggy called me and asked about the missingmen... he's asked me before about them and I think he's excited for me w/this proj too. after my spiel, I hear tom and raul out on their thoughts about what I told them, their expectations and they seem excited too. this is a trippy way to start a band off but this is the hand we've been dealt so we're playing it as good as we can. I can tell we're all excited about the gigs coming up and getting to play w/each other - making one from three while still being individuals. we go back to the 'tel and I konk really happy.





wednesday, november 22, 2006 - amsterdam, netherlands

from raul:

   Mike got me up a little after nine, and let me know that i had a half hour to get some chow before they stopped serving breakfast. Scrapped the crust outta my eyes, and went down to join him and tom. Had some cereal and a broodje with a little juice and some strong coffee. Over breakfast i learned some shit i never knew about the first pedro punk scene. Tom was around there at that time as well playing with a band called toxic shock, i think he even mentioned that he did his first gig there, a place called Capone's in the middle of 22nd and 23rd st. on pacific ave., trippy right. There's plans to meet carlos at two to go to diks and get the boat, then to Utrecht to get the gear. I'm pretty excited to be here, so i'm already to get the roamin' going on, so me and tom go check out Amsterdam. Good walk, didn'tmake it to the center though, kinda too bad cuz i didn't really get too much time to check it out the last time we came through here with secondmen. Maybe the next time it'd be a good idea to ask a local for some directions.... i do enjoy the wander though. Hit up a out door market place, sorta swap meet style, lots of folks buyin' and sellin'. Picked up a converter for the plug on the 'puter, and a pair of gloves. Bought a pair for a buck before i left, but the fingers were still on em', for me the fingerless one's are the way to go, or else it's just feels like my hands have turned into flippers, and it's hard to get a grip on anything. That's no good, cuz we gotta load the gear, but it's cold so you gotta keep the hands warm. During the walk i kinda start to feel a bit shakey, i think i'm sorta a little crappy feelin' from too much double boch the night before.

   Get back with an hour to spare. The night before watt pointed out a mexican restaurant, and i'm curious to see the dutch take on mexi comida. Besides actually gettin' the chow south of the cali border, pedro's got the best mexican food i've had, hands down, but to each his own. No luck though, it's still a bit early, and this place is closed. We settled on a little eatery next to the hotel. Not bad, got a toastie with chips, which is a grilled cheese with tomato, and a side of fries. Food does me real good, and the shitty feelin' i had in my belly goes away. Amost time for carlos. He's shows up at 2:30, a little behind schedule, but he took a train here from rotterdam, and that's completely beyond his control. It's always good to see carlos, awesome spirit. He's got a cab waitin' for us outside, and as soon as watt wraps up his phone sspiel we're off to diks for hire to get the euro boat. Same one as last time, but this time carlos got us a tom tom go. Punch in the address, and a little play by play road map pops up, and a voice spittin' out directions to go with it. Utrect's not too far, but we get a hugh jam, and it takes us a while to make it to pro tone. Same boss, very cool man, also the same dude who drove up to the paridiso a year and a half ago and picked up his gear so we didn't hafta drive it back. Tom tom is kinda funny with the directions, she'll get ya there, let you know that you've reached your destination, and your still in the middle of the road... we've just gotta get used to it. Spend a few minutes checkin' the gear out, makin' sure it's all there, and in workin' order. Last year paul had problems with the leslie speaker, so this time we made sure we wouldn't hafta come back.... until i realized five minutes down the road that i forgot a flippin' drum carpet... what a dunce, but way better than figuring it out when i'm tryin' to set up the kit at the first gig.

   First gig is on the same block as we're stayin'...right across the street. It's a soundstage called Demset, from all the photos plastered in the window on the ouside it looks like lots of t.v. stuff is filmed there. Our deal is a live radio show that is also broadcast from there every week. Playin' radio is weird, usually you gotta wear the head phones, and with those things wrapped around your head, almost zero movment. It's hard to catch a groove when you gotta sit still. Once we get inside though it's a diffrent situation. Turns out it's gonna be a gig as well, so cool, takes a bit of the presssure off, atleast for me. The d.j. has a set up on the stage, and he interviews some of the bands between sets. We're gonna play first on a three band bill. Danialson form jersey, and a and a singer/ songwriter from portland whos name my dumbass can't rememeber, he's got a few players kinda softly backin' him up. Boss says we play three or four songs, they take a little break for commercial, then back for a few more tunes. While we're waitin' for the crew to get everything ready, and get the other bands sound checks outta the way, we all head across the street to grab some food. Along with us is carlos and jasper. Jasper's gonna help us with some drivin' while watt's away, and also take the gear back to utrect, so we don't gotta make the trek all the way back down. Very cool of him. Grub is good, i got an omlette deal stacked on top of some potatos with spinached mixed inside. Once the other group comes in to eat, that's kinda our que for sound check. It's always real quick with us, and with that done the waitin' begins. Not too long though, which is good, cuz my nerves are gettin' to me, and i wanna get the first one outta the way, well the fourth technically, but our first one over seas.

   First thing i noticed when we walk out to start playin', is the big gap between the audience and the stage, sorta intimidating, so i kinda hint for people to come on up, make it a little more comfortable. Like i said earlier, we're not gonna play the whole set, but we are gonna do the first three songs in the right order. From the way they explained, i thougt the break was gonna be a little longer, but we just stayed with out instruments, and went into the rest of the set just after a minute or so. The best thing for me was the older guy right up front dancin' up a storm. He put it in perspective for me, just let loose, and do what you do, don't worry about what anybody thinks, and like watt says, let the freak flag fly. I thought we did good for not playin' in a few days, plus no major disasters, maybe some little fuck ups here and there, but not anything worth gettin' bummed about, plus the folks at the show were supportive of us, and receptive of after the show, no stank eyes for stinkin' it up. A first good gig....whew!



from tom:

   it looks cold outside and i walk downstairs for some coffee and bread and cheese and juice... the hotel is called the rembrandt and the dinning room is proportionally huge compared to the rooms, and decorated with scenes painted on canvas walls and ornate wood carvings and moldings. all dark brown. the ceilings must be 15 feet high with painted beams, very old too. mike and i talk about the tour and raul shows up for a while too. raul and i decide to go for a walk and get our first contact with the european world.

   our trip with carlos to rent the van and equipment takes hours, the traffic between amsterdam and utrecht is just like home. mike says "just in case we were getting homesick".

   we have to go straight to the radio staion and it turns out to be directly accross the street from our hotel!! not an accident but a nice suprise. we meet jasper who will be helping on some long drives at the end of the tour. it's a cool situation where the radio staion has a live room with a stage and they allow a certain number of people come and watch like a gig. the show is also filmed for their webcast. it's our first time setting up our rentd gear and i'm happy with the amp i got, a fender twin that sounds better than mine. this is where i would like to thank eric at protone for hooking me up with a good one.

   the radio show is strange but fun, carlos says i'm too loud. i know i can be pretty shrill, i'll take it as constructed criticism. i feel a little bad though that he wasn't more pleased with my playing. maybe it's tough love? the folks at the radio station/performance studio are fun to talk to. i have some good talks with strangers, and i feel like i made some friends. even though we only played six tunes i'm kind of worn out, maybe a little jet-lagged too. even though, raul and i got out with jasper and klazien to a bar with a dungeon motif for a little while. on the way jasper walks us by this outdoor photography show of topographical shots that are mounted on large plexiglas panels. really cool.

   it gets late and the night finally comes to an end...good dreams.



from watt:

   pop and hose down in the shower which is part of the head w/no divider but have learned how to keep from flooding the deck cuz of prior failures to do this. whoa, eight and half bells but I needed it and it's apparent my plan worked cuz I got zero jet lag going - forcing myself to be up 'pert-near all of that flight paid off and I'm pretty sure I'm full on w/dutch time. I chow the free shovel they got down on the first floor here at hotel rembrandt. in the u.s., the first floor is the ground one but not over here - the first floor is the first one above the ground one. ok w/me, I just had to learn it - way back when I first started touring overseas. they got broo-jees (my pronunciation and not the dutch spelling, sorry) which carlos explains is "filled small breads" (he didn't like me suggesting "stuffed") but you could relate them to what we call sandwiches. there's some granola and hardboiled eggs w/those things to hold them in so they don't roll around on the plate. the coff is good and strong too. I put down as much as I can cuz I don't wanna shovel again 'til right before the gig. I also wanna get hoofing quick cuz carlos is coming from his pad and family in rotterdam by train to take us to get the boat we're renting for the tour. I head towards centrum (the town center) and of course go over many canal bridges cuz this is amsterdam. I'm in parts I'm usually never in so lots is new like the chinatown part and the dam square w/the madame toussout wax museum on it. they got this thing here for xmas called sinterklaas which is like the u.s. santa claus but instead of elves, he's got little helpers in black face called schwertze pieter ("black pete") and if you're bad, on xmas instead of presents, you get put in a sack and sent to spain. I hope I'm not fucking any of this up cuz I mean no disrespect and when later in the boat when tom and me we're cracking up on this, explaining it to raul, carlos said, "oh, we should get rid of all the old traditions then?" and I told him I was sorry and didn't mean to make things lame. it is weird though but then a lot of things about me are weird too. still, I'm sorry to offend carlos in any way cuz I love him much. anyway, to get back my hoofing, I next onto a part of the sex trip that is a little even sillier w/out night to make much of the lights of these pads - this and the coffee shops are all for a certain kind of tourist some of the dutch money is made. weird some think that's all amsterdam or even netherlands is all about but I know that that's jive cuz it's a land w/people and all kinds of trips going on like any other land... I get back to the 'tel in time for an interview for the dusseldorf gig I'm doing saturday but get only partway finished cuz carlos has a cab waiting and we gotta get the boat from "diks autovorhuur" not too far away. he tells us about the elections that are going down today in holland, maybe close between christian democrat and socialist parties or something. I told him about our elections a couple of weeks ago, some changes in the congress for sure and the defense bozo gone as a result. the cab driver says the real bad news in the u.s. is fox news - this from a dutchman, alright! I swear we're getting the same boat I had a year and a half ago w/the "el mar cura todo in europe too" tour 2005, at least it's the same ford 85 t280 transit model though this time I make sure there's a jack cuz last time that was missing. this time we something else we didn't have last time - a tomtom gps (global positioning satellite) navigational unit that uses a big suction cup to attach itself to the windshield in front of me and give me directions and a graphical layout of where I'm going when you punch an address into it. it even speaks, carlos sets it for a woman voice so we just call it "the lady" and we use it to get to utrecht where protone is. the traffic is a total nightmare - I guess it'd be a comfort if I was getting homesick for southern california but fuck this plug we're sitting in a moving only inches for a long while... anyway, protone has always rented me my equipment like amps and drum stuff when I play europe and it's great to see eric again, always is - big hugs for him. I get the same I got last euro tour - an ashdown 500 head and two 4x10 cabs, one of them eden and one ashdown - maybe last year it was a trace elliot cabinet instead of an ashdown (eric tells me trace elliot has been started up again by peavey, by the way). tom gets a silverface fender twin w/a master volume and raul has the same drum set as last time, a yamaha. we check everything out, thank eric and head back for amsterdam but shortly return cuz raul forgot to get a carpet for his kit to set up on. oops. carlos is hungry too - shit, I would've driven... I'm gonna do all the driving as much as I'm w/my guys (of course tom will drive when I'm w/the stooges but I've asked carlos to find some help w/that). more traffic plug on the way back but we get to the venue in time for soundcheck - hey, it's across the street from the 'tel! it's called desmet studios and what we're doing is a radio/tv/internet broadcast thing for a radio vpro show called 3vor12. the bossman nils (very cool people) will have me do a little spiel w/host eirc (also very happening) and then we'll do three songs, take a tiny break and then finish up w/three songs. there's two other u.s. bands w/us too that'll play after. we meet the young man (twentysix) carlos has found me to help tom w/the driving - there's a hellride between vienna to copenhagen so he'll help w/that and then when we fly home from the last gig in stockholm, he'll take the equipment back to utrect and the van back to amsterdam. his name is jasper and I like him. he's smart too, me and him talk backstage after chow (some dutch-style big sausage on top of a pile of smashed potatoes mixed w/something like cale from a bar/chowpad across the road) before soundcheck. man, is there a lot of "dink dink dink" w/my bass - this amp doesn't have a compressor so maybe I should get one tomorrow... tonight I will try hard to think "a poor carpenter blames his tools" though. the soundman is cool but tells tom his guitar's loud at soundcheck. I explain a little to tom my philosophy of guitars at soundcheck or really any instrument - go in soft cuz number one, you want this cat on your side cuz they are the main link between the band and the folks... like I tell every knobcat 'pert-near, "we're just the motor and you're the transmission" and I mean that w/all respect - like I would a bandmember cuz that's virtually what they are. I also think w/out folks, a room is always gonna be louder than it is at soundcheck cuz of bodies padding it and bodies padding it ain't such a bad thing cuz yeah, there's bodies then and hopefully not like soundcheck (empty!). tom gets my drift. I want him charging hard though and not to cower but he knows that - I've had him in a few of my bands and have always been very proud of him and the way he both expresses himself and interacts w/me. we're going on first, I'm way into that. 'pert-near eight and half bells and hostman eric asks me good things about bass, asks even about hardcore punk coming back as a parallel to this current clown we have now as executive public servant and the one that was in during minutemen times. I say a farmer would tell you if you wanted a good crop then use a lot of manure. he knows about this kelly clarkson session I did last week where I played on six songs cuz of an invite from an old friend (david kahne) doing the producing/enigneering - I can tell cuz he relates that to something about me maybe having some kind of a signature in me working my bass - he's very kind... thank you, eric. now it's time to play... damn if I ain't lost some nerve and am scared. I blow some clams... I almost panic and curl up some... I push myself back out after sucking in some... I get distracted w/"dink dink dink" on the bass and it's sound be really strange and not there, not an extension of what my head's trying to project - kind of - I don't wanna make it sound like I'm laying anything on machinery as an excuse or whatever but damn, I know it can be hard for raul if he can't hear cuz he's told me that lots. he's doing great though and so is tom - tom's charging hard. we get through the first three and I see to get a little better but the clams keep coming but not enough to throw my guys off so that's ok. man, the people are right in the face and it's like we're coming out of a cake. I do the last three w/more nerve but damn, I gotta get it together more for tomorrow. I'm sweating big time when I get off and see carlos almost immediately. he dug it but as always he honest carlos (and I love that much), saying, "the only negative thing was tom was too loud" but that's not the way I read it but hell, that's the way he did and it's ok for him to lay it on me. I've always dug his candor and respect him much for it. I'm just so relieved we got through this first gig, big time. a big hug for host eric. I talk a bunch w/different dutch dudes and a little w/a cat from alaska. I get tuckered - I am tuckered from the gig (yeah and only six songs!) and bail around midnight w/my bass and hoof across the road to the 'tel. carlos already got a train back home. tom and raul stay to be w/jasper and other folks but I'm out of gas - doing gigs sure wears watt out! I lay down for a sec on the deck and damn if I ain't right out.





thursday, november 23, 2006 - nijmegen, netherlands

from raul:

   Woke up at nine, went downstairs wolfed down some juice and cereal, then headed out for a walk before we gotta go get the gear from across the street. While roamin' after the gig last night, i'd found a place to rent bikes for five euro an hour, so that was the plan, spend the a few hours in the morning pedaling around amsterdam. It's on the verge of raining though, very cloudy, so that planned gets axed, and i walk to the center insted. It ends up takin' a little more time than i expected, i guess because i have no destination, and just kinda keep cutting down random streets checking out he old town, trying to lose my way but knowin' in the back of my mind that i can make it back. I do in fact lose my way for minute or two, but easily finding my way back to the pad we're at. As i turn the block, i can see the other groups are already on it, and gettin' the shit outta the club. Ohhh, hope i'm not too late. Run upstairs to see what's goin' on, and tom's just barely gettin' up, good, not late. Yeah right,actually, we're all late, and we missed check out by a half hour, oohhhh. No wonder the lady at the desk was givin' me the the stink eye. We all motor, and get ready double time and me and watt go and get the van while tom gets his bags packed.

   Gotta get the gear in the boat, and start toward nijemegan. As Soon as we start loadin', it's starts raining, not too heavy, and we don't have too much gear. It takes a while to get outta town, we're stilll gettin' familiar with the way the lady gives us directions. She's kinda tricky, and she can also be a bit vague as for as when to make the manuevers... she'll just say left turn ahead, so there's a little bit of confusion, but soon enough we're on the right road. Watt told me a story about an older man who also took directions from the lady, and ended up up driving thru a pasture and ran into some cows. Tom tom go, is the real name, i just call it the lady cuz carlos programmed it to have a womans voice.... it be rad if we could make it a pirate. Anyways, she gets us to the street of he club, she lets us know, like the night befoe in utect that we've reached out destination. No club in sight, and we do the first blowby of the tour... nothing like the first. It's kinda like there it is as we drive passed it, Watt recognizes it from all the graffitto on the building, and we're in the drive a minute later. Pad is called Doornroosje. A thirty five year old squat turned legit show venue.... awesome looking builing covered in all kinds of color. Pretty early still, and it looks like no one but the delivery guys are around. Park the euro boat and gawk at all the art, while snappin' some shots. One of the drivers ask where we're from, when i tell him san pedro california, he ask why we didn't bring the wheather with us. There's not really an answer, so i just laugh a little, shit though man, if i could i would. There is a couple early workers doin' some stuff around the club, so we're able to go inside and get outta the rain. Very friendly people, they instantly offer some coffee. I take em'up on the offer, and find a little table by an outlet, and try and get started on the chimpin'. It's been hard for me to focus on it, guess it's been awhile.

   No openin' band tonite, and no wander since it's raining. Insted of an opener, the club is gonna show we jam econo before we play. I've done this one time before, in brussles. Sorta weird... i guess it's a hard act to follow, plus it can be bizarro being the only band playing. In a way it's also kinda neat though, i get to see little shots of pedro, and watch some good footage of earlier minutemen. As i'm writing this, i'm sittin' in the boat at the swiss/german border, and i can see my breath, the tempreture had dropped about 30 degrees since this morning, and it's fuckin' a little bit chilly. Sorry, just sharin' the moment. Dudes runnin' the show are real good to us, and bring up a bunch of thai food, and tom reminds me that it's thanksgiving.... holy shit, that one slipped my mind. After the eatin', i gotta go find the production office, and get some copies made of the set list. While on that trip, i get a tour of the whole place. Really big two story building with a basement. Some of the pad has just been remodeled, and the basement now serves as a play house, with a show goin' on in there too. The old dressing room was left untouched, so band graffiti everywhere, place is about the size of a small broom closet. After i get the copies of the set made, i grab a seat on the edge of the stage, and watch the flick. All the people seem into it, and like always the biggest laugh comes when boon is jumpin' around in those dorthy slippers. I've seen it three times, and it hasn't failed to make me bust up.

   Gear is obviously already set up, so we're on just a couple minutes after the movie ends. Tonight is the second gig, and the first time that we're gonna play all the tunes, so nerves kinda got me, the first real euro gig. I thought the set went pretty good, like the night before, no major disasters, maybe a few flubbed beats, and a couple sour notes, but we held on tight. For me, the fuckups didn't begin till we got to the encore. A few days before we leave pedro, tom thinks it's a good idea for us to learn a few more tunes for such an ocassion, and he's right. We practiced five minutemen tunes a couple times before we left, not to much time spent playin' em, and we tried em' all tonite. Got thru them, and i'm not sure if people even noticed the clams, but i did, especially in glory of man...whew. After the gig, carlos let me know that he liked it. He the sweetest dude, but he'll let ya know what he really thinks, regardless if it's positive or negative. So that kinda put me at ease about tha second set, he's someone i've learned to trust. No laggin' after the set, we the equipment is in the van within' the hour thanks to willium and his crew. The hotel isn't too far, and lady does a good job gettin' us right to it.



from tom:

   thanksgiving!! we drive to nijmegen for our first full gig. i feel worn out from our first night of playing and i'm sure i have some jet lag still, but hanging out with jasper, klazien and raul after the show added to the draining effect. i sit in the back seat and listen to our navigator "lady" tell us where to go, and rest. our journey ends at a wall covered in graffitti. in the backstage room we wait to do soundcheck and do some writing. tonight we play our first full set of songs, it will be a good chance to practice before we play with the peppers.

   our thanksgiving meal is ordered thai food but there is one dish that has some chicken in it and that's kind of like turkey. we talk about the holiday to some of the club dudes while we eat and try to explain the meaning.

   by the time the show begins i'm feeling sluggish and i watch the minutemen film that they screen in the club before our show and that makes me a little sad. i'm very emotional when i think of d. boon. carlos is at the show and i become more aware of my volume each time i see his face in the crowd. we play o.k., not great as far as how i feel about my own playing. it was a hard one.

   we follow carlos to the hotel and in our vintage 70's hotel room i try to get to sleep. it's wierd when i feel so tired and can't sleep. i wake at 4 am and watch some dutch t.v. and take some valerian root and try to sleep again.



from watt:

   I pop at eight bells to find I konked fully clothed, even in my jacket here on the deck. whoa, I was tired, huh? I go down to shovel 'pert-near the same as I did yesterday and chimp some diary. hey, I realize check out is eleven am and it's a half hour past that, whoa - time to get my guys. I take raul to the parking lot by the artis zoo where carlos put it and drive the boat for the first time - I just know this has gotta be the same one I drove last time. we load up the gear from last night's gig and use "the lady" (the tomtom navigation system) to get to holland's southeast where nijmegen is. it works great and there's not one bit of wandering. we get to the doornroosje around four - this is a venue I've played a few times now, maybe three times before. the sun came out bright soon as we started driving, alright. this cat named erik's doing the lights and I ask him if he can take us to a music store so I can get a compressor pedal and though the store he gets us too is kind of mersh, they do have one digitech dual band compressor and I get that though it's ninetyfive euros ('pert-near $120 u.s.), damn. well, they way I'm a thug about bass strings, I better. we get back and do soundcheck - wilhem on the mixing board and gonny on the monitors... when I talk about the "motor and tranny" thing, "tranny" sounds kind of weird (well, tom and raul laughing kind of helps that along) and I apologize and explain myself more, using "transmission" (as in gear box) rather than "tranny" and hope he gets my gist. I really do respect someone mixing what I'm trying to deliver to people. we get fed thai chow which is a pretty good way to celebrate turkeyday - it's thanks giving in the u.s. and w/the little internet access I get, I flow a "happy turkeyday" to my email listage buds. carlos has driven here for the gig and tonight he gets to hear every song we got but one. first the club plays the "we jam econo" documentary after I give an about twenty word spiel and then it was our turn - I stayed upstairs while that showed cuz it's always been heavy on me to see it. maybe it helped some though cuz I do better on the songs and the gig tonight. I can tom's a little tired and his body language a little beat but he still plays pretty strong. raul's really good too. I know it's even harder when their bass players having a meltdown so I know I gotta be strong for them - in no way are any of these gigs all about me. I don't know about this bass sound but it ain't as bad as last night. I do bust a 'g' string near the end and do the last songs w/only three. it takes me a little bit to get the new one on cuz this is a short scale bass (1965 gibson eb-3) and the strings I use (d'addario) are not short scale and w/no pliers, I gotta bend it back and forth many many times to snap it shorter and so do nervous banter (not on purpose) while I'm doing this and man, it's embarrassing - tom makes sounds like a tumbleweed blowing across a lonesome desert floor. ok, yeah it is awkward but what the fuck, sometimes I pull too hard... used to be worst. one thing I wish though is I would've thanked wilhem, gonny and lightman erik - damn, idiot baka watt. I did thank the people for thinking of d. boon - that was a happy thanksgiving for me and so I wanted to give thanks to them... and for him. we do five minutemen songs and damn was I out of tune or what? I was laughing the whole time inside in a way though, it was trippy to play those songs w/those feelings in me. the gig gets over and carlos tells me he liked it better than last night - he said tom wasn't too loud either. he says some really good things about raul too, he loves his spirit like I do and feels it. ok, as for me, I believe I have a long way to go for this tour but I'm thinking but I did better than the first one so maybe I can get some momentum going, especially w/the big gig tomorrow at the enormadome. we pack up and then follow carlos over to the 'tel, one you can tell was something more in the old days but fuck, I don't care that much cuz when I'm out, I'm out and hopefully no bugs crawl up into my mouth cuz I do think I konk w/it open and I am on the deck. me and carlos talk a while together about things, I talk about my ma and pop some and he asks me about me wanting to be w/someone, you know, not be alone. I know I must trip him out but he's been always been the best w/me... twenty years now and still going. we discuss the human race and have some laughs about that too. I love carlos. he bails and I konk on the deck in this huge room here. what a thin carpet, I can feel the cement under it but use two big puffy comforter whatever blankies and the blend of that being so warm and coolness coming in from below is trippy on me... I konk wondering about it.





friday, november 24, 2006 - hamburg, germany

from raul:

   Woke up kinda trippped out. Had some really fucked up dreams, being really angry with people who are close to me, it was very lame. Not sure how it got to this point, but It ended with me pickin' glass outta my mouth. I was very scared, and afraid to swallow.... fear that it was gonna cut my throat up. I was just spittin' it up, pickin' it outta my gums, blood everywhere. Sometimes dreams can be pretty heavy, and leave you feeling bizarre after the fact. It's good to be awake. Had a quick breakfast with carlos and the rest of the band. Carlos has gotta get back home, so we say goodbye, and start the drive to our first gig in hamburg opening up for the peppers. From what i can remember of the drive, i spent most the time starin' out the back window, reading some vonnegut, and listenin' to watt and watson riff on the cradle jokes.

   The place we're gonna play is ginormous, hugh stadium that's probably used for ice hockey and other big sporting events when it's not hosting sold out rock shows. This is all new to me, i've only been in a place like this for a show one time, and just to watch. So i've never put myself in front of this many people in my life. Since it's the first gig, we don't have our passes, and that could make even gettin' in kinda rough, luckily the gate guard takes our word, and let's us pass. The boat gets parked right in front of a hugh loading door, and the guys workin' for the stadium have the gear out in less than a minute, very quick. The whole scene is pretty over whelming to me, lots of shit goin' on that is just not a part of my world, well atleast not till now. The gear is put right on stage, and we get to settin' up and sound checkin'. Like i said earlier, we don't have our passes, and this has already become a problem. The stage security lets us know that we can't be by the stage unless we have passes. We gotta sound check, and the passes are being made for us. Still the same words, we can't be by the stage without passes. It's kinda screwed, cuz chances are we go lookin' for passes, then we get stuck outside, and miss sound check, but if we don't go lookin for passes, security lady gets bummed on us, and tells us to leave. This goes on for awhile, finally jamie asks us to jump on stage and do a song, so we just kinda run past security and do the red and the black quick like. Maybe she was thinkin' we didn't belong or something. After a quick tune, we gotta get our passes, cuz besides maybe gettin' kicked out, i gotta piss so bad, and i'm afraid to go anywhere without that thing. Damn, it'd be a nightmare tryin' to get back in, i'm sure these dudes workin the door get people tryin' to sneak in like that all the time.

   Finally, we're a little closer to the pass land, we've made it back stage, now it's just a matter of finding the right person. We end up in the production office, and i meet natilie. Very cool lady who helps run the show. She pulls out a polaroid point and shoot, snaps our photos, then we follow here to another room where she gives our pics and names to another, and in a few minutes we should be legit. If your wondering, i still havn't pissed yet. We're told we can hang out in the dining room and get some food while we wait. Almost everybody on the tour is in an out of here at dinner time, so this is when i meet lots of the folks runnin' the show. Awesome crew here, all vey nice folk. All these people here make up a big machine, and it needs fuel, and that's where the caterers come in. These ladies and gentlemen put out a hugh spread of all diffrent sorts of eats. It's definently not like grade school lunch line, where you get no choice, and the food is garbage... really great grub goin' on here.
   
   It's almost gig time, and for some reason the nerves aren't killin' me, i think maybe it's cuz i'm more overwhelmed than anything else. Tom and i decide to go check out the the club while the people are heardin' in. Okay, club is the wrong word. So many folks here to see the peppers, it's crazy. I think every show is already sold out, that's a thought that dosn't put me at ease. Seein' all the people starts to make tom nerveous, so we decide to head back and just wait it out in the back. While we're waitin', the peppers guys come in to say hi, and welcome us on the tour. First flea, then john, and last chad, damn, he's a pretty big dude, i couldn't tell from the boob tube. All super cool guys, anthony didn't make it, flea said he was feelin' kinda shitty, and just resting up before the show. While back there, i get the pace on, and i'm starting to get a little nervous. I asked the first person i see for a piece of gum, something to chew on so i don't chew my nails up. That's when i meet toni, supe sweet lady who runs the catering department. No gum she says, but if i'd like she'd put some in our dressing room tomorrow, how weird is that...like i said, not a world i'm used to. Not neccessary i tell her, if i want some chew, i can pick it up tomorrow before the next show. She sorta insists, and that's very nice of her. She does have a big tub of gummies though, so i grab a few of those and start chomping.

   Gig time. Tim, the stage manager let's us know it's time to get the show started, and leads us to the ramp on the side of the stage. Lights drop, and we walk on, did i mention how flippin' crowded it is. My plan is to stay focused on the band as much as possible, and try not to let the masses get to me. Just treat it like any other gig, or better yet, just pretend we're in the practice pad, which of course is impossible, but it a good place to try and get the mind. First song is a television cover, little johnny jewel. When we started to learn the tunes a few months ago, that was the one that was intimidating to me, super drummer song with all kinds of fills that where out of my league. So of course, that's the first tune we play together, start with the hardest stuff first, and climb my way out. Turns out there where other tunes that proved tougher for me to get down, and i still havn't nailed it yet. Anyway, now johnny jewel is the first song in our set, and it's still pretty intimidating, especially in front of a crowd like this. Well, we get started out alright, then outta nowhere watts bass stops workin, bunk cord.....arararghhh.... what could be a major crash is narrowly diverted, i just didn't stop playin', and once he got it together, i came back in.... a little behind the beat, but i recovered quickly. With that tune done, i started to feel a little more at ease, and just tried to be as natural as possible, and before i knew it, we crashed out the end of we are time, and that was my first enormodome gig. It went by fast like, and was pretty surreal, so maybe my time perception was all weird. It was lots of fun, and the hamburg crowd seemed to give us some respect, well i think they did... i wasn't dodgeing spit or cups of piss. I thought we did real good, i was proud of us, plus it felt so good to have the first one done. I thought a beer was in order, so i went to the kitchen and asked toni where i could maybe find one. That's when i meet simon, larissa, and the rest of the cookin' crew. I'll say it again, such sweet folks. Simon reaches in the fridge, hands me a six beers, and says cheers. After that, i go check out the first half of the peppers gig. To tell y'all the truth, this is the most i've ever heard the peppers. I never researched em', just heard the radio hits when i was younger.... it happens. These dudes put on a good show though, very impressive and i'm psyched that they asked us do this tour with them. So much appreciation to them for doing that for us, especially us being a brand new band, they could've asked just about any band and they'd jump at the chance, so thanks again fellows. While they're playing, some of the workers loaded our gear out and are watching it by the boat. When we find this out, we double time it, and open up the van so we can get the gear inside. Good as time as any to leave, we got lots more gigs together, so we'll be able to check out the whole set soon enough, maybe day after tomorrow. Those guys are takin' a day off, and us missingmen are gonna play a gig in dusseldorf.



from tom:

   hamburg, peppers, arena show. oh my god, the biggest show i've ever been to - not to mention play. a great first experience to meet the peppers crew and all the people behind the scenes. the whole vibe is very professional but totally cool. we get right to the set up and find our place on the front corner of stage right. mike bought a compressor for his bass and when we plug it in we have trouble getting it to sound right. turns out to be a bad cord (i think). we blast through the red and the black for soundcheck and go back to our room.

   after a some insane tour conversation with mike mike and raul, john and flea come by to say hi. i'd met flea before but it's the first time meeting john and i give him a on duchamp's urinal that mayo thompson had asked me to bring for him. i know that they have repect for mike's music and that's why we're hee, but it's great to find out how cool these guys really are when we meet. it makes me feel much more relaxed to play with them.

   we get up and it's like a sea of people. we pull into ourselves to keep the focus and plow through the set. i think we do a good job and alot of people seem to like us, but i know that it must difficult though for most of them to get what we're doing especially from the back. it was a cool experience and my first impression is a good one. i think, i could get into this.

   after we play chad stops in to say hi, he's great too. it's going to be a fun tour. we hang out to see some of the chili pepper's show and they sound good, amazing stage and lighting.



from watt:

   hmm... yeah, trippy mixture w/that deck and those blankies but I did konk deep cuz it was just a launch 'pert-near instantaneously into pop w/no gradual ascent (descent?). I once more spiel session w/carlos over breakfast trough, again discussing machiavelli - maybe he will read "the prince" I hope. I bet he'd get as many laughs/tears as I got when I first did. we have sun and no rain, alright... not too cold either. we gather by the diks boat and say goodbye to carlos as he bails home - I don't know if he sees us again on this tour and I will miss him much but think of him always. "the lady" stuck to our windshield plots us the course west out of holland and then north to hamburg in germany for our first "enormadome" gig of the tour, gig number one w/the chili peppers. it's about 420 klicks (kilometers, 260 in miles) and a little past the tunnel under the elbe river is the colorline arena - whoa, is it big (11,539 capacity). on the way I put the first fuel in the boat of the trip, 1.14 euro/liter (about $5.40/gallon u.s.) and look hard for those gummi oeufs (french for eggs) I had last time I was in europe w/raul (his first time, eighteen months ago) but the "haribo" stand (every gas station seems to have them in germany) has none. funny to see the building next door called a "spielcenter" which is like a gambling pad w/the way they use spiel but we use the vaudeville meaning (the dictionary says "a quick speech that the speaker has used many times before, especially one that is intended to persuade people to buy something") and so stuff like this and "spielbank" or whatever-spiel always cracks up - use your imagination to think why... lots of phrases and stupid shit word play helps us pass the time in the boat. tom has a great talent for finding as many variations in the twists and turns a concept turning on a word phrase can have (accentuating w/accents, his favorite one now being what seems to be a kentucky gentleman) and it never seems to get played out and we're in stitches lots. someone besides us three though might find it insane or disturbing but you know what? I don't fucking care - I really dig being w/these guys and there's no fronts or 'tudes to have to suffer under... it's beautiful and I love it. we pull the boat into the venue to unload, that's how big it is. some cats I remember from the last time I toured w/the chili peppers back in fall 2003 - tourboss bill is one and I so much am glad to see him, always have been... big, big hugs. tim's now stage manager and they cat who has his former fabricator gig is big daddy. there's big dave working the guitar things (known him from porno for pyro days) and chris on the drums. walt from fishbone has a gig w/this. of course there's lis working the passes - I know so many of these folks, some from other crews, yeah but the chilis like to keep a "family" going though there's new cats too. so many people to work a situation like this. there's just us three but hey, it's "parallel universes" and much good vibe around everyone's worlds in collision or more accurately, in harmony. this is the first time either tom or raul have played a pad this big or even been w/this kind of a "production" but I'm glad I can show him it's about people and the scale of whatever involved does not have mean any nightmare as far as we're concerned cuz of those people concerned - the humanity shows through and outshines any of the shallow meaningless shit. I think what I'm saying is that it all comes down to how you conduct yourself, the content of your character. me talking about it though is way short on relating compared to them just witnessing it though. me and bill speil for a while to get caught up. I meet his new assistant natalie besides others I'm meeting for the first time - damn, I wish I had a better memory for names, they all are kind w/respect. we do the soundcheck w/greg setting us up, neil on the monitors and jamie mixing us up front. I have us setup way stage starboard and tight just as if we were on the tiniest club stage. it's a trippy contrast to the stage we're working ('pert-near as big as some of the rooms we play) but I think we'll play better being close on each other and like I explain to the crew (the same thing I tell club people), I want it to look like folks are kind of peering in on a little trio in a prac pad and playing their hearts out. this pad holds a butt-load of people and all twelve gigs we're doing w/these cats sold out in like that so you can imagine something that can deal w/that - yeah, there's boards on the deck where folks stand cuz it's a hockey rink. the seats go way up into the stands and the roof's like a hundred feet up it seems so you can imagine the physics generating the acoustics - not your best situation for sound. my idea w/my guys though is to generate some kind of spirit and try to project that, whatever blurriness comes off the stage cuz understand, I work way smaller pads and have developed more of a sense of those dynamics w/all the interplay, changes and start/stop shit. I would not be surprised if lots doesn't translate but why whine about that and take on the challenge... like they used to say in vaudeville: work the room. the only place I feel real me and my guys are vulnerable now is not having the passes cuz they're getting made up so after the check w/hole up at the chow table in catering 'til they get done. damn, when we get them, they say "missing men" instead of "missingmen" - it was saying that on the marquee and signs posted on the walls (you can get lost backstage so signs are taped everywhere), hmm... I know it might sound a little trivial and probably it is but I like the one word version better - the same thing happene w/the minutemen w/that problem though it was d. boon who made me see how one minutemen word was better cuz I actually had it in two words when I first showed him cuz I was making fun of arena rock by us being MI-NOOT as in "minute" and not the unit of time. ain't that a trip I'm working an arena stage now after getting into punk to react against our 70s teenage concert experiences, when all the bands we saw played these kind of pads - I had never been to a club before punk. anyway, here we are... I chow a salad and a little lamb and then go chimp diary before we go on. flea comes to say hi and I introduce him to my guys, big grazies to flea for asking me aboard, truly - I tell him raul's a pedaler so they talk about bicycles some. john comes by also to say hi a little later to and tom gives him a duchamp book mayo said to give him from him - great to see him again. eight bells and here's the first one. ha! a third into the first tune my sound cuts out and jiggling chords somehow got me re-going though raul had to tread water w/some rolls while I floundered - can you believe this shit? life is funny. well, though I'm scared it's gonna happen over and over, it never does. the hamburg cats are focused pretty good - those you can tell anyway cuz there's reaction to our playing - man, I'm inches from raul's drum kit and looking at him and tom ninety times for every once I look out into the crowd. I can tell my guys are trying their hardest and I'm so proud of them. I blow some clams but way fewer than any gig yet, seems like I'm on ascent trajectory as far getting my confidence up, despite the situation... hell, I'm getting to play more w/raul and tom together for one thing and then getting on a roll w/the momentum a tour can bring, it being too early for fatigue to be a factor and just playing more gets it happening more. pretty exciting really, this tiny world we got going is like some trippy kind of those "snowdome" kitsch dustcatchers you see sold at knicknack souvenir pads. the event sweats me up and tuckers me by the end just like a tiny gig but I think we did good. my guys tell me it's trippy for them, they never imagined what the reality of something like this would turn out like it did - I think us being close on stage made it like the world we're used to and neil getting monitors going w/the singing helped w/that. I don't know what it sounded like for the folks but have to accept whatever cuz what could we do? must've been trippy for jamie cuz I think it's the first time he heard of any of that - he even asked us in the chow room if we were from seattle. I didn't explain him much cuz I think it's better he finds his own way w/us, I only gave him a tiny version of the "motor/tranny" spiel and figured that was enough. we get our stuff off quick, in fact there's a whole gang of local cats they got for loaders and they move our stuff so quick we can barely keep up. whew, time to laugh a bunch in our room in the back and just trip on what went down - whoa, I don't realize those loader cats our outside w/the equipment by our boat, damn! I'm so glad it wasn't too cold - man, I feel like a 'tard about that. chad's warming up on some crazy drum playing, going off - he finishes and says hi, apologizes even but we say it's ok cuz it was wild. he says anthony's got some sickness so you know how that is on tour, I've been there much and it's fight w/our health - the voice ain't like fingers and shit, they even get sore. we watch them play though, maybe two-thirds before we bail to beat the traff and man, I'm feeling for flea cuz thoughs he's wailing, the physics just keep the bass hidden. the drums come out the best in this roller rink sound, john's guitar at times too - it's just a tough deal w/the acoustics, crimony. I give my thanks and good byes to tourboss billy (but not before almost catching fire and burning up cuz my wackbacksack got lit by a candle on natalie's desk and billy save my life plus burned his hand putting the motherfucker out - there goes my stooges name tag, totally consumed by fire) and we're off. "the lady" stuck to the windshield tells us where the 'tel is, one called motel one on a road not too far that's got easy parking close - man, that's always a bleessing. my guys talk w/me about how blown their minds got playing a place like, the whole tirp... it's new on them. we talk a bunch about gratitude. I tell them many times just how much I love playing w/them, I glad to be here w/them. I am tuckered and konk quick when all the spiel is finished.





saturday, november 25, 2006 - dusseldorf, germany

from raul:

   On the way to the zakk, i was telling watt how i wanted a smaller camera sorta like the one he got in rotterdam on the secondmen tour. I had bought an olympus off him a couple years ago, and it's awesome, takes really good photos. I just wanted something a little more accessable and easier to use. Turns out, he brougt that exact camera as a back up, and is gonna let me use it this tour... very cool. Takes only two battteries, as opposed to four like mine, and i can fit it in my shirt pocket, and snap shots real quick. All i gotta do is find a memeory card for it when we get to dusseldorf. Lady does a good job gettin' us to the club, no problem there. We show up with a few hours to kill before sound check, so im out the door as soon as the boat stops. Never been to this town before, so i'd like to check it while i got the chance. It looks like rain is comin' soon though, so i shouldn't roam too far. On the walk i totally luck out and find a store that has the memory card i need, i also needed an adaptor for the plugs over here, but for some reason these guys don't got em'. The club is by a bunch of public art kinda stuff, lots of graffitti, and just hugh paintings on the sides of buildings, and even some of the houses have these wild paint jobs that look like they were done by fifty diffrent artist, real neat. So i spend some time takin' a bunch of shots with new camera, figureing out how to work it.... pretty easy, point it and ckick it. On the walk i find this hugh rail yard, and while i'm snappin' photos i can feel someone comin' up behind me... pretty creeepy feeling. When i turn around this totally wasted german is standing right behind me. He starts mumblin' some shit, and i just start walikn' the other direction. He was smashed, if he spoke perfect english and not german i don't think i'd be able to understand him in the state he was in. I saw him earlier, and he was just yellin' into his phone, obviously pissed at something. I didn't think twice about it until five minutes later when i thought this dude just way wanna kill me. Kinda scarey, so like i said, i was gone as quick as possible, and he kinda stood there with a confused look in his eyes. Once i crossed the street i turned to look if he was following, but he'd already found a couple with a baby to harrass... nice man. On the walk back, i saw this little middle eastern place and went in and got a quick bite. On the menu it was listed as pizza, but it was more like a mixture of mozzarella and spinach, wrapped up in philo dough.... it's all just cheese and bread anyways, so basically the same thing. While i was eating it started to rain, luckily i'm only a half mile away.

   Our plans were to meet back at four, and i got back with a half hour to spare. Also while out walkin' i came across a music store. More classical kinda stuff, but both watson and watt need cords, and maybe they got that sorta thing there, worth a try. Once we're back from gettin' that done, someone's opened the club, and it's work time. Everyone i meet that keeps the place going is real cool. Like lots of places i've been to in germany to play, this place used to be a squat, and has been hosting gigs for years now, something like twenty five i think. After the soundcheck the promoter, miguel, let's us know that dinner is ready. In the space there's also a sorta fancy pants restaurant, so very good food goin' on. Hugh spinach salad, and a couple options, one vegi with a side of little roasted potatoes mixed with slices of red peppers and mushrooms. There was the language barrier between the cook and i, but i think she got the picture when i rubbed my belly and smiled... that's pretty universal. One opener tonight, they're called horns, and are a electric guitar duet. They were tellin' me that they got the band together just for the occassion, and only had two practices, pretty brave. They did a really good job playin' together, but also it be cool to see em' with some drums and bass. The two guys playin' tonight also have another band, but the rhythm section and the singer couldn't make it, so maybe that's the real reason for the horns birth.

   For me, the show went good, hopefully it did for the rest of the guys as well. The crowd seemed to dig it, pretty responsive, even had some folks dancing up in the front. It was a total sweatbox, i played as hard as i could. After the first set, we came out and did the rest of the songs that we knew. The audience still wanted more, and we couldn't deliver, it sorta sucked... hopefully they believed us, and just didn't think that we're dicks who don't care one way or another. I would've dug playin' more for them, but we really couldn't do it. Once the gear is and the van, and the goodbyes are said, it's off to the hotel. Richie is also stayin' at the same place, so he's gonnna ride shotgun, and tell us how to get there. The hotel isn't too far from the zakk, but it looks like it's in the most populated place in the city.... right down town. I don't even think that we can drive the van down some of these tiny streets. There's taxi's and drunks everywhere....aaarrgghhhh, what a nighgtmare. Parking anywhere near the hotel isn't even an option, there's just no room left, and it dosn't look like anybody's leaving for a long time. Whoever had the idea for this one wasn't thinkin' about the band, or maybe they where, and thought we'd like to be in the most happenin' part of dusseldorf. I thought zakk was pretty happin', and this was just silly....way to many people. After circleing the place for pretty near an hour, it's just time to give up, and go look elsewhere. Watt says he's proud cuz there's no bitchin' going on, we're all just laughing it off. What the hell, whineing in this situation, or any for that matter will just do no good. That shit just isn't very good for moral, plus i'm not doing the driving, he is. I think he's the real trooper. Finally a little luck, there looks like there's spot underneath an on ramp bridge about about six blocks from the hotel. It's pretty crowded and tight though, and the olny spot is the second to last space... it's gonna be a real tight fit clearence wise. There's olny about a quarter inch of room to spare on top before we start scraping, and since it's a bridge, it bows, so every lurch forward it gets a little shorter. Whew, after a good ten minutes of little turns, he finally makes it. You couldn't fit a small book inbetween the space. It sucks to leave the gear out here, especially when it's sorta exposed. Like hotel location, whoever thought it was good idea to put a window looking in the cab where the gear goes didn't think it thru.... atleast we've found a place to rest the boat, just hope she stays safe.
   On the way to the zakk, i was telling watt how i wanted a smaller camera sorta like the one he got in rotterdam on the secondmen tour. I had bought an olympus off him a couple years ago, and it's awesome, takes really good photos. I just wanted something a little more accessable and easier to use. Turns out, he brougt that exact camera as a back up, and is gonna let me use it this tour... very cool. Takes only two battteries, as opposed to four like mine, and i can fit it in my shirt pocket, and snap shots real quick. All i gotta do is find a memeory card for it when we get to dusseldorf. Lady does a good job gettin' us to the club, no problem there. We show up with a few hours to kill before sound check, so im out the door as soon as the boat stops. Never been to this town before, so i'd like to check it while i got the chance. It looks like rain is comin' soon though, so i shouldn't roam too far. On the walk i totally luck out and find a store that has the memory card i need, i also needed an adaptor for the plugs over here, but for some reason these guys don't got em'. The club is by a bunch of public art kinda stuff, lots of graffitti, and just hugh paintings on the sides of buildings, and even some of the houses have these wild paint jobs that look like they were done by fifty diffrent artist, real neat. So i spend some time takin' a bunch of shots with new camera, figureing out how to work it.... pretty easy, point it and ckick it. On the walk i find this hugh rail yard, and while i'm snappin' photos i can feel someone comin' up behind me... pretty creeepy feeling. When i turn around this totally wasted german is standing right behind me. He starts mumblin' some shit, and i just start walikn' the other direction. He was smashed, if he spoke perfect english and not german i don't think i'd be able to understand him in the state he was in. I saw him earlier, and he was just yellin' into his phone, obviously pissed at something. I didn't think twice about it until five minutes later when i thought this dude just way wanna kill me. Kinda scarey, so like i said, i was gone as quick as possible, and he kinda stood there with a confused look in his eyes. Once i crossed the street i turned to look if he was following, but he'd already found a couple with a baby to harrass... nice man. On the walk back, i saw this little middle eastern place and went in and got a quick bite. On the menu it was listed as pizza, but it was more like a mixture of mozzarella and spinach, wrapped up in philo dough.... it's all just cheese and bread anyways, so basically the same thing. While i was eating it started to rain, luckily i'm only a half mile away.

   Our plans were to meet back at four, and i got back with a half hour to spare. Also while out walkin' i came across a music store. More classical kinda stuff, but both watson and watt need cords, and maybe they got that sorta thing there, worth a try. Once we're back from gettin' that done, someone's opened the club, and it's work time. Everyone i meet that keeps the place going is real cool. Like lots of places i've been to in germany to play, this place used to be a squat, and has been hosting gigs for years now, something like twenty five i think. After the soundcheck the promoter, miguel, let's us know that dinner is ready. In the space there's also a sorta fancy pants restaurant, so very good food goin' on. Hugh spinach salad, and a couple options, one vegi with a side of little roasted potatoes mixed with slices of red peppers and mushrooms. There was the language barrier between the cook and i, but i think she got the picture when i rubbed my belly and smiled... that's pretty universal. One opener tonight, they're called horns, and are a electric guitar duet. They were tellin' me that they got the band together just for the occassion, and only had two practices, pretty brave. They did a really good job playin' together, but also it be cool to see em' with some drums and bass. The two guys playin' tonight also have another band, but the rhythm section and the singer couldn't make it, so maybe that's the real reason for the horns birth.

   For me, the show went good, hopefully it did for the rest of the guys as well. The crowd seemed to dig it, pretty responsive, even had some folks dancing up in the front. It was a total sweatbox, i played as hard as i could. After the first set, we came out and did the rest of the songs that we knew. The audience still wanted more, and we couldn't deliver, it sorta sucked... hopefully they believed us, and just didn't think that we're dicks who don't care one way or another. I would've dug playin' more for them, but we really couldn't do it. Once the gear is and the van, and the goodbyes are said, it's off to the hotel. Richie is also stayin' at the same place, so he's gonnna ride shotgun, and tell us how to get there. The hotel isn't too far from the zakk, but it looks like it's in the most populated place in the city.... right down town. I don't even think that we can drive the van down some of these tiny streets. There's taxi's and drunks everywhere....aaarrgghhhh, what a nighgtmare. Parking anywhere near the hotel isn't even an option, there's just no room left, and it dosn't look like anybody's leaving for a long time. Whoever had the idea for this one wasn't thinkin' about the band, or maybe they where, and thought we'd like to be in the most happenin' part of dusseldorf. I thought zakk was pretty happin', and this was just silly....way to many people. After circleing the place for pretty near an hour, it's just time to give up, and go look elsewhere. Watt says he's proud cuz there's no bitchin' going on, we're all just laughing it off. What the hell, whineing in this situation, or any for that matter will just do no good. That shit just isn't very good for moral, plus i'm not doing the driving, he is. I think he's the real trooper. Finally a little luck, there looks like there's spot underneath an on ramp bridge about about six blocks from the hotel. It's pretty crowded and tight though, and the olny spot is the second to last space... it's gonna be a real tight fit clearence wise. There's olny about a quarter inch of room to spare on top before we start scraping, and since it's a bridge, it bows, so every lurch forward it gets a little shorter. Whew, after a good ten minutes of little turns, he finally makes it. You couldn't fit a small book inbetween the space. It sucks to leave the gear out here, especially when it's sorta exposed. Like hotel location, whoever thought it was good idea to put a window looking in the cab where the gear goes didn't think it thru.... atleast we've found a place to rest the boat, just hope she stays safe.



from tom:

   dusseldorf, kraftweks home. after a cold drive south we find the zakk club and wait for it to open. by the time we load in and check it's dark and wet. we have a nice meal and hang with richie who's one of the promoters. it's a solo show for us and another chance to work out our songs. the horns open for us, two guys on guitar. florian and jovan (i think), nice people and great music with a subtle sound that is a good contrast to our intense set. also some great people that share their thoughts with us after the show. probobly our best set yet.

   after our load out the trip to the hotel is insane. we finally realize that it's on a pedestrian walk street and there are people drinking everywhere and no parking. we find a place under the highway and walk into the walkstreet area, it's a wierd scene and i can't help worrying about the equipment. i miss my girlfriend. i shower and sleep.



from watt:

   pop and chow the two rolls and butter they got for trough here. it ain't as bright and sunny as yesterday but at least there's no rain yet... I can imagine gray rolling up the sky and bringing it on like that though. 'pert-near the same number of klicks to drive today as yesterday so we roll south whence we came except for more south to get into the rhur valley where dusseldorf is, by the rhine river. on the way I stopped again at a "rasthof" - a service island for cars w/chow and fuel to look for gummi oeufs but find again find nothing so instead I get "saure pommes" which are sour gummi french fries (no potatoes involved though). they're trippy. on to dusseldorf... I've never played this town but have done nearby cologne many times. "the lady" navigates us to zakk, a club we're playing w/a band called horns opening up - they're a two-man one-off, each playing guitar. there's a few rooms to this pad and the one next to us is having a "fifty-plus" dance... hey, it's good know there's still some things I'm too young for! oh, I forgot about some funny shit before soundcheck (w/killian and sebastian - like a fucking idiot, I forget to remember their names when I wanna thank them at the gig's end though that didn't prevent me from thanking them anyway) - we got in at like three bells and tried to find a place w/cords cuz I think the problem w/my bass going out last night was a shitty cord and I found two of them (only five euros each) after a hearing the salesman being very intent on whether it was a bass or a guitar I was using... I ended up just pointing to the output jack of a bass hanging on the wall and he said, "ah, cable" - hey, he knew better english than I knew german so much respect to him, even w/all the verbal run-around but talk about "run-around" - across the road at an mersh electronics pad (really hoaky, tacky like a u.s. chain thing), two different shills give me 'pert-near the identical speech about how crazy it is that they would carry a england input/europe output ac adapter (tourboss billy got me two walkie-talkie leashes in england to try and ease my mind when I have to leave my guys for stooges gigs) and I'm looking at these guys each time and can't believe I'm hearing this (they have two different "stores" across a parking lot from each other), "yeah, we buy electronic devices here and use them outside of here - not the other way around" which cuz it being both times word-for-word makes me think either they get asked for this shit all the time and JUST DON'T HAVE IT or it's part of the moron training cuz no one could possibly reason something like that on their own, could they? I wasn't angry, just baffled - as was tom cuz he got to witness one of the "performances." us humans sure are trips. after the soundcheck, we chow w/the gigboss richie and talk about the old days cuz he's been going to gigs a long time and knows some about the pads I played when I was first doing europe so it's good to hear about that. he tells us about germany too and the changes going and what's happening, very cool cat. the chow's great too - cooked right here, some curry chicken and veggies I'm dug big time. the layout of the gigroom is great except for the backstage door being on stage so I gotta hear openers horn from the dressing room but they're good and I'm inspired for our gig. it's sweaty but good sweaty and the dusseldorf cats are great to play for, lots of dancing and energy to give back. they are quiet though when I mention kraftwerk was a band I really liked as a teenager and learned were from this town. tom even made a lonesome coyote sound. we do every song we know except the minutemen's "love dance" - I don't why but I wanted to get into "funkier than a mosquitos tweeter" and that went really good - tom smokin' on the kalimba. the whole gig went really good, both raul and tom tearing it up w/the sound happening as well. before the encore, I tell the folks, "I just wanna say I love my guys" and you could hear a pin drop - even more intense than after the tiny spiel about kraftwerk. I immediately went into a song though I was not sorry for what I said cuz I very much meant it - I just don't know how it fell out my mouth like that... maybe that's a weird thing to say in that situation or whatever. anyway, they weren't bumming cuz they kept cheering for more when we finished though we had no more and after a bit I came back on stage to thank them and say we're still a new band and I'm sorry. it was really a very happening gig and the least amount of clams yet for me. raul said it was his favorite so far and I know tom dug it too. alright! I thank the local gigboss miguel (german cat but spanish name!) and richie goes w/us to find the 'tel. it's called "hotel abode" (!) and the "the lady can get us only there so far cuz we discover it's in the middle of a pedestrian mall - who's fuck idea was this?! life is funny. anyway, saturday night in parts full of bars and the drunks that result from it w/no parking anywhere... oh yeah, 'pert-near nothing but tiny oneway streets too. we wander for over an hour and then I find a space under a highway on rap but the narrowness of the space available coupled w/the overhead clearance makes for some whiteknuckle walking it in back forth and just as I get it done, three cars pull out so it takes just ask much to walk the boat out again, angling and angling for a few inches at a time... I knew I was going to have to do it in the morning anyway and who knows what the sitch'd be so why not now. when I clear the wedge-in spot, an easy back-in to a space w/way clear headroom lets me breath easy at last, whew. we hoof into the pedestrain mall which swarmed w/many borrachos and find the hatch to the 'tel. man, why couldn't we get a pad that was on a road to frankfurt - something w/lots of safe and easy parking for the boat! I know, I sound like I'm whining, sorry. a dear good night to richie and then to my room. raul comes over and we spiel for a good while, I tell him how much I believe in him and dig the spirit he brings. there's twenty years between us but music is trippy that way. whew... I'm tired, huh? tired but grateful to be lucky to have happening cats in my life. lucky watt konks.





sunday, november 26, 2006 - frankfurt, germany

from raul:

   Woke up a little early, and took a walk to go check out the rhine, a hugh river that runs all thru the west side of germany. The lady who worked at the front desk told me that there are atleast five deaths a year in that river. Usually drunk guys who get all bravado and jump in trying to swim across it. Right in the middle there's a hugh current, and usually they go under and never make to the other side. That sounds absolutely crazy to me. Walked around the old town for a bit, mostly people cleaning up from the party the night before, and groups of old folks goin' to church... if the old folks only knew what this place looked like the night before, total debachery. Spend most the ride to franfurt tryin' to catch up on diary, i'm way behind. I get so far behind, that it becomes impossible for me to remember anything that happened, maybe i should start takin' small notes to remind me of the shit that goes down from day to day. Tom Tom is pretty on the money, except she can't tell us how to get in, and you don't just drive in and park, sometimes just finding where to load in can be be a process. After a couple failed attempts, and a couple loops around some early peppers fans, they must of thought us a bunch of dopes, we decide to try a new route kinda far off thru some construction...luckily it ends up paying off. It's kinda like in a convention center garden, and there's a bunch of these places hugh places, but we can see the buses right next to the festhalle, so that's a good indication of where to go. We park the van right near a loading door, and the gear is in the halle like that. I get right to settin' up the drums, it's way better for me to do it early then on the stage. It dosn't take up a bunch of space, and it saves a good amount of time, plus it's a respect move for the crew, these guy are so busy, the last thing they need is to be waitin' for my slow ass. After settin' up i go on a search for some trash bags to cover up the gear in the window. Walt helps me out with that, thanks brother. If we can cover it up from the inside, from the outside it'll look like the windows are just coated with black, and you can't see the gear. Folks don't usually want to take what they can't see.... right.

   Playin' our second big show with the peppers. It's cool to see their crew again, all such cools folks. They all had the day off yesterday, and seem in really good spirits. On the way to the backstage there's hugh posters for the gig, and of course our name is wrong, not spelled wrong, but there's a space in between the words. So it reads toatally diffrent, like missing persons or some shit...blaahh. Oh well, what you gonna do. Playin' was ofcourse a blast, and we changed around the set, so we're gonna play tweeter to this hugh audience. That goes good except for the little drum solo part in the middle. Eight bars of fills, and i seem to get progressively faster with each one, so i kinda start runnin' myself over. As long as i go back to the beat at the right point though, i don't think it's that noticeable. Shit i don't know though, from the crowd prospective it might sound like i'm throwing my kit down a flight of stairs. I like the set we're playin' too. Watt calls it the workin' man's set. He's right, it's a total sweater. I think the only exception is tweeter, that's the calmest tune for me.... besides the drum solo. I'm definitely not a soloer, but i'll keep tryin, and who knows, maybe one day.

   Tom had invited some friends from frankfurt to the gig, so after the show we all end up going out to hang with them for awhile at some supposed austrailian style bar... I'm in germany, so there's no way i'm drinkin' a fosters... i don't even think that make that shit in australlia. Good company though, so where we're at isn't even an issue. After a bit of that place, Michael and kristine, watson's pals, invite us to their place. By now it's just watson and me, and we accept the invite. We're only a block from where we're staying and we're still all adrenilined up from the gig, so it sounds like good fun. We didn't stay too long, just had a couple beverages and some cheese, damn these germans love their cheese. Watson and michael caught up with each other, then we huffed it back to the hotel. MIchael has a gallery just a couple more blocks from where we're at, but it's way too late to check it out, and we got an early rise in the morning, so it dosn't look like we'll be seeing it this time.... maybe on the next euro tour.



from tom:

   festhalle, frankfurt. we loop the city center and eventually locate the entry through the convention center buildings. the venue is a serious reverb chamber, like a blimp hanger. there's a dome of glass on the top that only adds to the infinate echo. it will be a struggle for the sound people for sure.

    i have some friends here, michael, christine and nick. i met them last spring when i was out with alexis from the gallery i work for doing some art related things. michael is an artist and has a gallery space called gutleut15 in frankfurt that does some great stuff. it will be good to see them all again.

   before we go on anthony comes by our room. he say's "i found the missingmen". it's my first time meeting him too, and it's always kind of strange to meet someone that you've seen in the media and find out how normal they are. it's starting to feel like a family now. soon we get onstage and wrestle with the echo and reverb and behind the clapping and cheers i think i hear booos. the first ones i've heard on this trip. no problem though, i think it's understandable that we don't translate over that distance very well. even though it's a hard show, we do our best to play together.
   
   after the peppers show we head to the hotel and all of the sudden i start to recognize the area. it turns out that we are booked into the same hotel that i had stayed in last spring which is right around the corner from where michael and christine live. i call michael and invite him over. we talk and drink beer for a little bit and then with mike and raul we walk around the corner to meet up with christina, nick, iris and cristian at this australian bar that i had been too only a few months before. deja vu, all over again. we do alot of talking and stop off at michaels for a snack before heading back to the memphis hotel. the man at the desk engages us in talk for a while till we break loose and head upstairs.

   i call caroline and hit the sack.



from watt:

   pop to a phone ringing and when I answer it, this loud voice hollers "raus!" (german for "get out!). whoa, I go "what" and get a soft reply of "I'm sorry" and then a hangup - obviously there's been some mistake made, pretty funny. it's eight bells anyway which is kind of late for me. I hose off and then go out the 'tel hatch to find some sun but a gray blankie try to get heavier on the sun, taking away the yellow and making it white. sometimes it's like this back home in my pedro town... I think of my pedro town and how I'm already jonesing some to paddle my kayak! aahh, focus on the moment at hand! it's weird to see a landscape on a sunday morning after it was pummled w/saturday night drinking, a weird atmosphere permeates things. I go back and eat some soft-boiled eggs that's at the check-in desk for frustuck (german for breakfast) along w/some coff. my guys come down and we hoof back to the boat and are relieved to find it intact - there's a glass window between our person part and the back where the gear is so you can the drum cases. I make it a point that when the gear comes out for tonight's gig, we'll tape up plastic trash bags (not clear ones!) to block that view - tape them from inside. someone once told me "they don't want what they can't see" and I find some wisdom in that. it's only a couple of hours south to frankfurt but getting in early is never lame and anyway, you never know what's up... like the construction outside the next big city, cologne and "the lady" doesn't know about this and we're directed right off the autobahn she's telling us to take. I got tom up front beside me and it's so great carlos gave us a road atlas (trippy, the blow up they got on the cover for an example of what's inside is the dalmatian coast and there's the island of vis, where most of the slavs in pedro came from) so tom has me go right in the center of cologne (we go near the dom, which is a famous two-spire medieval cathedral - I've been there, I was so tripping on it that I forgot I had my knit hat on 'til a father asked me to get it together) and hop on an alternate autobahn that gets us where we need to go. we're playing a huge (12,440) pad called the festehall that's next to an even huger convention center and for the life of us, cannot find the entrance... we drive round and round. "the lady" can't help us. finally we find a place where a bunch of kids are gathered and I have tom jump out to find what's up. we need a gate way the fuck out and make it to the pad finally. everyone's glad to see us which is great, much respect to them. we load in and do soundcheck - damn, this pad has a really high roof and then a glass dome on top of that! the echo is mega-enormadome sized but what the fuck, "work the room" and do the best you can. if anything, there's a comedy to it if not the challenge to the human spirit which I think is a good thing. there's the love of playing w/my guys and working hard for the chili peppers cats and the crew too - they're really good cats. big daddy was telling me he dug the hamburg gig. tourboss billy always makes time to talk w/me and he shows me his hand healed up too. man, that catching the backwacksack on fire was a trip! tim o'shannahan too is really nice to me, I respect him a lot. I know billy does too and he's a great skipper. man, does he fill me w/the spirit. what I got to offer has a lot to do w/d. boon's spirit - I know I have some in me and it makes me wanna push and push 'til my gig is done. I don't wanna stupid about it, I wanna learn and learn but I know I gotta push and keep things simple... ha! what does that mean in a watt world?! but what do I do - stop reading books... stop w/music? both those things make me wonder about shit so much... I am not ashamed to admit too that I fucking VERY MUCH dig it! I have people tell me - someone I consider a great sensei in fact say, "when we get done w/our thing, we just shut our brain off, we're done" - well, ok but if I'm gonna be honest w/myself I have to say I am not like that, it's just the way it is. but then, shit - I get things pretty country simple too... what do you think the pedaling and paddling is about and I do that every fucking crack of dawn I can. aahh, I don't why I'm making a case out of this... what happened next is we did a soundcheck and knobman jamie asked us to play three songs - I never like doing more than just that blue oyster cult tune me and d. boon started playing when we're boys ("the red and the black") and man, my bass is distorted and I'm thinking - is this amp shitty or what? you know, stooping to the "blame the equipment" thing. baka watt. I bet jamie is tripping on what we're giving him to work on - much respect to him for his patience. that's it! what I'm most grateful for is folks generous enough w/their patience for me and thus my goal is to not try them so on that - there's a clarity there I can wrap some thinking around and then hopefully, some action. thank god for raul and tom. I chow some salad and a steak (whoa), then use the 'puter to chimp 'til gig time comes at eight bells. since we did that tune tina turner's sister wrote last night at the end of the gig and I was digging it and when I asked my guys, the said they dug it too, I put it around where that old traditional "walkin' boss" was and put that now where the stooges "fun house" was. that might be trippy. I love the idea of tom working an enormadome w/a kalimba - I mean, just the concept of it even! we're here to make some kind of reality however but fuck it, let's blow some minds - even if it's only our own! is that a bogart? hope not. we go out and work the gig, hmm... not as much momentum w/us as w/the folks in hamburg. the battery in the compressor stompbox is dead so I had to go straight into the amp so that was kind of bloomy/unfocused but I think my guys played great and there was less clams maybe even from me but when we're done, raul and tom tell me there were boos. hell, I never heard that - I thought that was the "acoustics" of the venue maybe. ha! fuck it, I never stopped the train and felt we never fell off the tracks so what can I say except for we did what we did and that was that - folks gotta make up their minds about it themselves and that's ok, even if blows on our part are to be taken otherwise no envelope gets pushed - no real hint of where the wall is w/out a hand to touch and press against it, leaving only a concept on what might be is all we'll have... or even worse: pandering! funny to talk about stuff like that anyway - w/all the shit that's been thrown at me over the years. ok, raul hard a space out in the beginning and seemed to not know how to come in on the first song. I gotta a little out of tune in parts, maybe my voice has some wear (too much off-stage spiel!) and tom might've been a tiny bit stiff w/some body language but I thought the boat was chugging so fuck it. I had good laughs right when we got done and all the way into the room where I could drink some water, guzzle it - then more belly laughs after too so I ain't gonna have a cow over anything except commit to trying even harder next gig (tomorrow). me and tom watch half the peppers set then round up raul to load up the boat and miss the rush of traffic from the thousands of gig-goers. pepper john asked us to join them for chow after the gig but I am tuckered and tell my guys we'll do that tomorrow night in stuttgart. it's just tough on me - like when we get to the 'tel and tom wants me to meet some of his frankfurt friends. well, let me keep things in order... "the lady" gets us to the memphis hotel which ain't too far away and in fact near a gallery he played solo at last year. checking in is pretty funny cuz the young korean man behind the desk is really intent it seems on practicing his english and there is much much spiel on getting the paperwork together for getting a room. then tom has that gallery's owner michael come over to visit some and he's very cool people - even know the guy from der plan which was a german band from like twentyfive years ago I really dug (along w/d.a.f. and abwarts among others). he's got buddies nearby drinking so I agree to go to this bar w/an australian motif and drink a fosters w/him and his buddy nic - nic's into books so I spiel w/him about james ellroy (the chili pepper's personal managerman gage is way into ellroy too - alright!) who he knows but turn him onto another writer - actually, this cat wrote only one book, "the sand pebbles" (there was also a movie made from it w/steve mcqueen in 1966 - me and d. boon's favorite movie when we were boys) and his name was richard mckenna. there's a writerman there too from a paper but he's at the end of the table where raul is so they talk, unfortunately I didn't get to spiel much w/him but raul later tells me and tom this cat said there was booing on his too at the gig. again, I don't give a fuck cuz we were trying hard and in my book, doing good - I was very proud of tom and raul! man, the minutemen got it twentyone years ago opening for rem and then w/fIREHOSE w/beastie boys, me w/nels/vince/preussner - all down the years when cats I respect dig what I'm doing and put me in front of their big crowds, there's been trips like that but hey - oh, I forgot minutemen days w/black flag even and all the shit thrown... not just words either. life is funny, people are funny. I guess you can take it as mean maybe but then in a way, some people are getting hitting w/what they think is weird for the first time and don't know how to react or in fact do react w/a huge wretch your (my) way. my philosophy is to continue to plow. I have enough insecurities to worry about that weighing me down as well. maybe it's foolish but hey, I know people got a lot of peer pressure on them, especially young ones are those who have only mersh experiences maybe - I don't know... just a long time ago I told myself I was gonna let that all go or I'd either go more crazy or never ever get the nerve up to play in public - or fuck - even play, period. anyway, maybe fortyfive minutes of spiel left in me cuz damn do gigs tucker me so I walk back to the 'tel and use many many english words w/the young korean desk man to pay the bill in advance - he's a nice cat and it is quite a singular experience to be w/him. finally though I get to konk, bringing the glass water and apple up to my room he's intent on wanting to give me. thank you!





monday, november 27, 2006 - stuttgart, germany


from raul:

   Guy who's runnin the front desk at the place we're staying is a crack up. He's tryin' to be real nice, but it's almost over done. I get a total kick out of it though. The night before he wouldn't stop with the fruit and water offerings, i finally had to break and except the water... he wouldn't give up. And he was at it again this mornin. As i'm walikin' out he let's me know that watt's a very nice man, and i should let him know that he told me that. Time to start out for stutgart.

    A couple of days ago i found these little chocolate eggs called kinder uberrachung. I picked up three of em' for us, kinda like fortunes, to relate the little characters inside to yourself or tour. Since then i've got a little obsessive about them. The first one i got a little dwarf named speddy, and that fit me kinda perfect. I liked his kind so much that i buy a couple at every stop, tryin to get the whole crew of seven. I thought that'd it be easy, nope so many diffent little creatures. Sometimes you get a shitty suprise, like a dumb magic trick, that blows. Anyway, we had just stopped to get gas, and we're all into em' now, so we each got a couple. Back on the road, we're puttin' em' up on the dash with some tape, building a litttle familia, and a car pulls in front of and pops a little sigh that says halt. I've never seen this before, but watt knows all about this, and pulls the van over. One second havin' a good time, next second pulled over by the fuzz. We have nothin' to hide, so we're not worried on that front, watt's just tryin' to figure out what the hell he did wrong. The first thing the cop asks me is if i'm carriing any narcotics, and if i am, i bettter just hand em' over cuz it'll be the best thing for the both of us. Nope i tell him, none here. It must be the Nederlander plates, they're probably thinkin' that we're smuggling something. Well, regardless of what we say, they search the van anyway. While one dude gives the van a comb over, another checks all of our bags while we watch. Like i said, nothin' to hide, so i let him do his job, and don't nerveously hover over his shoulder, the sooner we're gone the better. Man, he went thru every little piece of crumpled up trash, and would get an excited look on his face when he came across someting that looked weird to him. They seemed satisfied after going thru the bags, and luckily didn't make us bring out all the gear. So glad they didn't do something fucked like plant shit on us. The whole deal took a good forty five minutes, but whatever, they let us go and we're back on the road to stutgart.

   Do a little wandering tryin to take the tom toms direction. Not to bad though, and i get to see the outside of the zoo, and the big park that surrounds it, also some of stutgart that i wouldn't of got to see otherwise. Another gig with the peppers, so another hugh place. This ones so big that we can actually drive the van right in thru the loading dock and load out from the inside, so weird. I snapped a bunch of shots, kevin will trip on this. Like everynight, we play as hard as we can. The communication is good, and i know that not everyone can even see that, how could they... to most the folks we probably look like ants. Even though there's a big barrier in between us and the crowd, i think the kids in front can see it, and it seems to win em' over. As for the ones to the right of the stage, who knows what they're gettin' besides the back of my head. I packed all my stuff up right after the gig, feels better to get it out of the way and not hafta worry about it down the road. The helpers at the venue rolled it all outside, and are watching it by the back loading dock. Insted trying to back the van up to the door, it makes better sense for tom and i to roll it while watt gets the van. Quick load in, and now time to go back in and watch the last half of the peppers set. The highlight of that was watchin' flea bring out the trumpet and do a solo... pretty awesome. Watt tells me he's been playing trumpet longer than the bass. Those guys put on a good show. A couple of days ago john invited us to have some dinner with him and his band after the gig, cuz those guys do the dinner thing after they play. We were greatful, but couldn't except due a hugh drive the next mornin', but tonight we've been invited, and we can accept. I'd never thought i'd be eatin' sushi and wasabi in germany... crazy. Very good food, wayneo and salim did a damn fine job gettin' this spread together. Thanks dudes, and thanks peppers for the invite. A weird thing when we made it back to the hotel, as soon as we walk in, some random dude who i had no idea he he was, said my name and said they'd been expecying me, kinda weird right.



from tom:

   on our way to stuttgart we get pulled over by an unmarked police car. they stop us because we have a rental truck from holland so they expect that they will find hash in the van. we comply and help them go through everything and they realize we are being upfront about not having anything so they let us go. just another experience on tour. our compulsion for chocolate eggs with toys inside has excellerated and we pick up new ones at each stop. our collection is growing on our dashboard and it's becoming a shrine of small creatures.

   before getting into stuttgart we have a string of wrong turns and loop through the outside of the town. i think it's from our manic photo taking but we manage to find the arena and drive into the cavernous building to load in. it's wild to see how the stage and lighting goes up and how many people are working on it. it's like a circus coming to town creating it's own environment. i find our room off to one side of the stage and sit and write before our soundcheck.

   chad comes in and hangs and we talk about his session with john fogerty, what a trip. he's a great dude, funny as hell. it's really cool too that our room is near his drum room so we can hear him warm up before their show, he's a wailer. flea comes by too.

   we decide to hang after the show to eat with the peppers and wayne-o, their personal chef, and saleem (another great dude) prepare some amazing food. we sit and talk with john and flea and basically just mellow out. it's a blast to watch them play and then to see them after, they are all so cool to us. i want to tell anthony that i really liked his singing tonight but i keep it to myself instead.



from watt:

   I pop at seven and half bells and forget to hose off, baka watt. I chow downstairs some of the trough they got laid out, some yogurt on granola-like cereal and salami w/herring in a roll. coff of course too. I had to be here early cuz the only parking was on the street and the machine for the parking slips don't open 'til eight so I wanna be there to make sure the boat ain't ticketed. the sun's out pretty bright but how long will that last? we're going further south today to play our last german gig in stuttgart. I go across the road and find a car/wall charger for the walkie-talkie leashes I got... I find a england-to-europe plug adapter too w/no weird spiel from the man who sells it to me econo (five euro each for all these things). people are different, huh? I'm thinking of yesterday's trip-out in that mersh electronics pad. I chimp some diary then me and my guys fire up "the lady" and she directs us towards stuttgart. raul's been getting these "kinder uberraschung" (children surprises) things at the gas stations - they're little plastic capsules in a chocolate egg that contain either a little plastic creature (usually belonging to some family of seven to ten members) or less frequently, a vehicle or magic trick. these are going to make great mascots - I got three "homies" one tour back in the u.s. w/raul and pete mazich and stuck them on the boat dash. looks like we're gonna need some tape though cuz these ar