Europe Thus Far: The Festival Circut

[Little Miss Risk]

I lost my lead line... I had it a moment ago when I was waiting for the page to upload and then *poof* my thought bubble burst, as it was. I'm finding this is happening more and more as I age and this is probably a combination of factors: stress, late nights, smoky bars, early morning jogs and my steady alcohol intake which can be anything from a dribble to "Whoa! Dam-busters!". It's with this I realize I haven't really blogged that much about the tour itself so I aim to fix that now. Or at least until I can remember what I WAS going to write about...

So our first two shows in Wilhelmshaven and Lubeck we had an Australian group by the name of Juke Baritone playing with us. The first night at the Kling Klang they were quite late arriving (and remember, I'm used to BJB's tardiness levels) and were a little quiet but still intense onstage. They had a kind of Tom Waits/Gol Gol Bordello thing going on but after our show (and maybe some decent rest) I noticed that they kicked it up to high gear the following night in Lubeck. Oh, and both parties got pretty drunk. I only really noticed because I was trying to stay sober before my sojourn to England to shoot with Neil Kendall (Squee!) so I had the quality of being like Jane Goodall among the chimps. But I'll say this for chimps - get 'em drunk and they are fun to watch.

After a few days off our next few shows were big stage and festival bonanzas. Right out of the gate we supported Boss Hoss in Hanau. You may remember this from the shameful footage of Darla and I dancing on the speakers during their set in full Howling Hussies mode. What is tragic about that video is that it didn't capture Darla running onstage with a bottle in each hand and a beer stuffed in her ample cleavage. And drinking from it.

Really.

The Hanau show was fun and the Boss Hoss fellows and their crew all treated us like gold. It was kind of a shock after doing big shows in North America where the crew and tech people treat you like the lowest form of life in the production. So we all celebrated after the show. Our camp (I can't speak for the cowboys) went from buzzed to Pretty Darn Drunk fairly quickly. I recall being relieved at waking up and being able to remember my name the next morning.

Our next two festivals, The Stag-O-Lee Shakedown and Umsonst & Draussen Festival were interesting for two reasons. First of all the Stag-O-Lee, despite being it's first year was a logistical wet dream. It was so well run and organized I died of happiness. Brandy, Darla and I also got to escort Rudi Protrudi onstage for the Fuzztones set which was pretty awesome as well they let me go go dance (with my voodoo staff) for the last song in their set. Naturally, it was The Witch. I'd love to see some photos of that, if for no other reason than to send them to Little Steven's Underground Garage to get a little airplay on Sirrius...

That's a very subtle hint to anyone with any ties there or nepotism-type sway BTW...

The next night in Stemwede I saw a lot of dirt, punks and dogs looking for shade. This outdoor festival has been going for over a decade at least and though not quite as organized as the Shakedown, it was nevertheless still pretty epic. But I'll say this: I'll never again in North America take for granted festivals that ban glass, have constant clean up crews and garbage cans everywhere. All over the ground there was broken glass, dog s*** and assorted flotsam and jetsam. I know people were probably having a good time but I was a little disappointed in the Germans. I think they're a lot better than that. I did get a kick out of the fact that the act before ours (who had tried to switch time slots with us) was Germany's answer to Avril Lavinge. Jennifer Rostock had an ad for her new album in one of the local magazines and not being familiar with German pop culture (or being able to read the magazine, come to that) I assumed it was an ad for a movie I had not seen but it was, in fact, her album cover. I was curious to see this pop progeny myself after so much hype, but after her set she was bundled off by her handlers into her van/bus and for the rest of the evening I spent my time telling underaged hipsters who had snuck backstage that Jennifer Rostock had left the building. Still, it was nice of her to open for us ;)

So three fairly large acts shared a stage with us in a 72 hour period, which was a combination of fun, awe-inspiring, and anthropologically interesting to witness. I've personally been at odds with the weather, which has been for the most part, bright, sunny and hot but even that aside I have been enjoying this festival circut so far.

Our last three shows in Toging, Lindau, and Freiburg have been well received as well as the the key to spawning what will likely be the catchphrase for this tour, courtesy of Miss Battery... Upon teasing her hair up in Lindau at Club Vaudeville, she was meowing to prove how leonine she was. It was closely followed by "Meow.... Kitty wants a BEER!" Imagine the first part with Earth Kitt coyness followed by the word "beer" in a heavy metal voice. Go on, go say it in front of the mirror. I'll wait.

See?

Yes, it gets fun to say the more repetition you give it. I fully endorse you using this phrase at parties, if for no other reason than to confuse your host. Especially if your wearing a catsuit. Talk of furries aside, the morning has come and it's now time to get my Waking Up Stick from under the bed and to prod my bandmates (one of who I noticed didn't make it in last night - my girls are definitely representing on the party front) and to drag our sorry carcasses back in the direction of Wilhelmshaven.

But first.... a stop in Koln!

Ciao,

Little Miss Risk