Tourblog (12) - gig five: Zeche - Bochum (DE)

Tourblog (12) - gig five: Zeche - Bochum (DE)

I write this on the morning after the gig in Zeche. We are already in the hotel in Aschaffenburg, where we will play the last gig of this first leg of the Lifeline tour.
After having a few days off we all came together yesterday at my studio to drive together to Bochum, a city 1,5 hours driving from where I live. When we arrived, we where welcomed by the people of the venue with a huge lunch buffet. I mean huge. There could be eating 30 people from that, and we where only with 8 people at the time. They people from Zeche really spoiled us there ;)The venue is great, a nice atmosphere, and it was great to play there.
During soundcheck we always play a bit, and it is always great fun. Suddenly we smelled burning plastic, so we stopped playing. And we all searched for the source of that, it really smelled like some equipment was on fire. And it was!! Under the stage I saw some smoke and the smell was too intense there. Well… after some checking we found out that one of the amps feeding the subs was blown, and melted down. Luckily we discovered it soon enough, not to have a fire! They changed the amp, and we could continue playing.
Well… the lunch buffet was huge, and then came the dinner buffet. You could feed a complete hotel with that. But it was great! The people of Zeche showed with the way they took care of us, that they really are warm and welcoming people! I have done many tours with many different acts and artists, and most of the time they feed you really unhealthy food, even junk food, so you really get like old sandwiches and a cup of soup or something. Touring drains energy and strength from you, so it is really great to eat healthy stuff!
I thing the gig had some great moments. As a first encore we played Help Me from the One album, especially for this guy, named Robbert, who would be at the gig. It was his birthday, so Neal thought it might be nice as a birthday present. So then Neal came out, and asked for this guy, but he was not there, hahaha. We played it anyway. We did not rehearse it, and it has been some time since we played it together (2006), but the band did a good job!
Unfortunately these two German gigs, I don’t have a drumtech with me, so I have to do it all myself, together with the tour managing stuff. No problem, but that gave no time to speak with the fans afterwards, also because we needed to drive to Aschaffenburg as soon as possible (2,5 hours driving). So my apologies to you if you wanted to talk to me, and I was not there. Tonight will be better, we have all the time of the world to break down the gear.
I told Neal, more or less as a joke, that tonight in Colos-Saal we have to play everything we rehearsed. That is 3 hours and ten minutes of material, so to end this part of the tour with a bang! Well don’t know if that will happen, but if you come, we might have some surprises for you 😉
See you all tonight I hope! There are still tickets available.
Cya!

About the author
I am drummer of the Dutch post-prog band Dilemma (http://www.dilemma.band) and drummer and founder of the progressive rock/metal band Affector (www.affectormusic.com). As a musician I made a name in the progressive rock scene as drummer, bandleader and tour manager of the progressive rock legend Neal Morse (Transatlantic / Flying Colors / ex-Spock’s Beard). With him and a lot of other acts, I toured the world and recorded many best-selling CD's. I own a music studio and label, where I record, produce and release my own music and other bands & artists. Next to being a musician, I am an entrepreneur since the age of 19. I started 4 businesses. My main company is Novae Popschool (www.popschool.eu). A modern music school with multiple locations throughout The Netherlands. As musician, producer, teacher, author and entrepreneur I work with a mission: "I help musicians create and develop their own musical singularity, through which they will have a more successful and more fulfilling life. It is my mission to contribute to a more socially, loving and caring society through the power of music and modern music education. Rock on!
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