For a festival date in Holland [Eurorock 03-11-1988 - see gigs list], vocalist Simon
Carmody kept a diary (for "Fresh Magazine") of their mad, bad, truly rock'n'roll
trip -
The Ominous
Start:
When you've got a date with
destiny you've got to dig or die! Great Golden Horde on a jet , Batman, it's
Brussels on a tuesday night. The adventure begins!
Des bounces across my room & inquires if I'm ready for a going out vibe.
We hit the streets of Brussels & head towards the strip. As we walk across
the great old gothic square we meet a group of 60 schoolgirls from
limerick(Ireland).Leaving them to their own vices we hit the local rock'n'roll
niterie in the company of 2 wild rockers who've picked us up.
Both ride Harleys & are seriously heavy. After 2 hours, Philo, the
minder/roadie, decides I need to be escorted to the hotel & pours me
into a cab. Getting out at the hotel I spot a sign saying "Babylon" &
I've gotta check it out.
Streets & streets of bars & girls lure me from my bed & one-night
degenerates into a boschian bachannal that could only be equated with the
amphetamine fueled psychosis of a roadie's brain! No sleep this night.
Day 2 - Railway
of
Doom!!!
Since the dawn of time, man
has sought to see behind the veil which hides him from tomorrow. If we could,
then maybe we wouldn't do what we did last night!
6 tired men on a train mumble & groan 'til Sammy decides to break the
ice & order a beer. Then we all do. Then another.
Several hours later, John & I are sitting in the corridor smoking fags
& watching the dutch countryside spin in a haze of alcohol, caffeine
& nicotine. "Why are we here?", says John, & I agree with him......
We get to Groningen & detrain & cab to hotel. Immediately scarves
are placed over lamps, the curtains are drawn, incense is lit & we try
to get into the ambience, you know what I mean?
An old university town, it looks pretty but boring. Sex shops a go-go, loads
of bikes & canals. Des has a friend of a friend living here so he calls
her & invites her to meet us at the (music) festival that night. Later
on.....
We meet Ian Wilson, Dave Fanning'd producer, who's organised the trip for
us. I suggest watching the band, but Ian has a meeting with the senior programmer
in charge of Estonian Rock Radio. He's like that.
The hall is huge. Three stages in different rooms in a cultural centre. we
catch a load of groups, enjoying The Wonderstuff (again!) most of all, tho'
a dreadful Dutch, Prince-style soul revue called "Funky Stuff" exerts a horrible
fascination.
The gigs are all being recorded, & the scene seems together if conceptually
nebulous, like what's it all about? But we don't care. We're here to do our
thing & proudly represent ireland, Fresh (magazine), God & RTE.
Our new friend, Julia, takes us out on the town & we get drunk in one
club & go on to another. Wall to wall black leather, bikers, greasers,
punks, skin(head!)s, chicks, molls, dolls, babes & beauts of all
descriptions. iggy's blaring in the pit & the air is thick with smoke.
I could get to like Holland.
As I make my way to the bar I realise that probably some of us will not get
to bed tonight....& some of us probably
will....
Day 3 - The Jaws
of the
beast!
We assemble from where we have
been , a night older but probably no wiser. Peter has astounded us all by
having a swim in the hotel pool & eating breakfast. Herman, our driver,
is very cool & a real find. Philo, the rocker, the roadie, gets
busy as we do a soundcheck. Sounds ok. We have made certain 'friends', &
also- friends & are meeting them later.
Discretion stops me mentioning who is meeting who.
We split up into pairs & look around the town, having done a few interviews.
John & I enjoy a macrobiotic meal until we realise we should be back
at the hotel! Grab a cab & rendezvous in lobby with clothes etc To the
gig.
There are 8 or 10 bands a night & tonight is the Biggie as local hero
Herman Brood (& his wild romance) is the main act. He's a sort of wasted
Thunders/Eddie Cochran style figure who's been going years & actually
sounds like Thin Lizzy! We're going on immediately before him.
About doing gigs in big halls, I'll say only one thing - you know the bit
in Spinal Tap where they get lost in the corridors.....
We're on at 10 & it's kinda weird beforehand cause we don't know if they
know our stuff. But when we hit the stage it's the same a s everywhere else!
The kids are going crazy, jumping on stage, blowing kisses, throwing beer
& doing what everyone does at our shows. We really get off on it &
play really good.
And of course there's a guy at the front shouting for "Brainiac" & screaming
"Where's Bernie?". Just like at home. We get an encore & do the fastest
"Adrienne"ever. Then we have to get off because Herman Brood is on
& the radio is very picky about (running over) time.
Unwinding in the dressing room Herman, the driver, tells us that the local
rock club would like us to play later THAT night. Why not? Let's do
it!
Herman Brood & the band & about 100 other people are still
in our dressing room drinking as we leave for our next gig. Downtown to Club
Vera, a very funky, rocking club.
In the office I see that the Lime Spiders, The Celibate Rifles, Nikki Sudden
& others of our mates had all played there lately. "Yes". says the manager,
"and also here have played U2 & The Virgin Prunes from Ireland so say
hello them from me".
So Hello.
Now this gig is wild! With no idea what we're gonna play & with a borrowed
backline we rocked the house, tho' I was so drunk I can't remember what we
played! We do about 7 encores!!! finishing with Blue Oyster Cult's
"E.T.I", that goes on for ever & then the ultimate apocalyptic
definitive, "Teenage Head"- that really blew my mind!
It's now 4 in the morning & when last seen Ian Wilson was dancing on
the tables in some club, freaking out the party of Finnish DJ's that he was
with. He's back at the hotel & I've got to get some sleep when I notice
our numbers have swollen dramatically & that that the others all want
to party. I give in & 8 taxis go back to the hotel!?!
Back at the hotel things rapidly get out of hand Various 'parties' spring
up; some private & some debauchedly public. I haven't slept in 3 nights
& am starting to hallucinate. Only vodka can cure me.
What happens next is just conjecture but I'm sure one of the group locked
himself in the sauna with a 'friend', but which one was it?
And who was throwing the tables in the swimming pool?
It's blur! And why was someone's door locked for 2 hours when it sounded
like a party inside? I dunno.
But I do know that people who moan about being in rock'n'roll are crazy.
Music is the food of love & the soundtrack to a new way of life.
As we left the next morning, with not a few tear-stained faces that we were
leaving behind, I clocked it. It was time out, a gas, a trip, it was fun.
Let's do it again!
- thanks to 'Fresh
Magazine'
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