‘Speck, punks, holy shrines and an old BMW for storage’

With a belly full of Tiroler Speck (smoked bacon), supplied by our merchandiser extraordinaire Günther, we survived the 7 hour journey to Aachen. Cursing and swearing at the navigation system (to become a ritual over the next ten days), driver/drummer Marc ‘Séamus’ Boysen parked us up  not far from Roncalli Circus and the center of Aachen. Apartment blocks colourfully drowned in spray paint,  guided our way to where we’d be staying that night. Munich is a fairy tale and 700 Km away from the rose colored lights which shone from a chain in the window of our accomodation. Warmly greeted by our hosts with beer and a feast of food, in a room decorated like a holy shrine, we talked about the concert later that night. The organizer filled us in on the punk rock venue we’d play…….an hour later we saw it. Shabby, beaten down, smelly, hell on punk. The stage was right beside the mens toilet, which meant Oliver would have to move from where he was playing his guitar, to allow the guys make use of toilet! The close proximity was later used in the set, when Ollie sang the final song of the night ‘Let’s Go’ from inside the girls toilet! After show beers, coffee sambucas and pinball rounded the night off. Without our navi, we balanced our way back to the holy shrine of Aachen and finished off the rest of the gulash left over from dinner. Good night burp.

Its amazing when people have so little and yet give so much, to make you feel so welcome and at home. Sort of sums up Hauptquartier, Aachen.
In the back yard of the apartment house where we had stayed an old BMW lay dormant. Stolen from its owner in Aachen, it was recovered by the police some time later in Holland and returned. With no real need for a slightly damaged  car (by no means irreparable), the owner uses it now as a garden shed.

20/03/09

Tags: eyes to the road, photos, tour

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