June 30, 2005 Today I have a little quiz for you. Oh and don’t read ahead, because that’s cheating. So, what show did Majo and I go to? 1. I have seen this band a lot of times already (If you are a big germany@nite reader, than you should already know) 2. These five guys have been playing awesome music since ’94. 3. All fans have been anticipating a new release. I know it was easy: Boy Sets Fire are touring again, although in just a few places in Germany. But lets talk about the supporting band first: This band from my Bavarian homeland is called Flyswatter and has been rocking for 10 years in the clubs. I was quite excited to see the band, after what I had read at the website: "Shows are like skateboarding, goddammit!!! Slams are just a part of it. You can´t learn tricks without Mr. Wilson!" Excuse me, what!!! Anyway, these guys are great: Sometimes aggressive, then again quite soft and melodic, an affinity to Boy Sets Fire and Trice, worth supporting them and seeing them again. So, I am not so sure that skateboarding and being on stage can be compared. OK, maybe it’s the same indescribable freedom, but what about the pain? By the way, their third album is called Flyswatter and was released in May 2004 at Eat the Beat Music. But what about Boy Sets Fire? After I had seen them last time in Munich I wasn’t too excited. Although they are still one of my favourite bands, it just wasn’t like in the old days. Isn’t it curious when you find a new, unknown great band and adore them? You grow with them and feel happy when they obtain acceptance and become popular. But then comes the day you are not their only fan anymore and you are disappointed and maybe a bit jealous. I guess, humans are odd creatures! Enough sentimentality, they were big fun, cause they played all my favourite songs. (I was surprised how many special memories crossed my mind). All in all, it was a great concert except the hair style from Nathan Gray (à la skunk), and the general age of the audience, it was a regular high quality concert. What more can you expect from a concert? Just look at the pics, cause they say more than thousand words!!!! PS: Rumors say that Boy sets Fire met with Burning Heart Records. Can it be, that a new album will be out soon, cause Tomorrow Come Today was released at 31.3.03, a "long, long time ago, can you still remember." May 7, 2005 18 + 19. April 2005-04-24 Venerea & Division of Laura Lee - Garage Saarbrücken Awoken from long hibernation, it was time to start up the season ‘05! We have to confess (of course it was not our fault…) that Saarbrücken was very quiet in the wintertime. But after checking out the new updates we are looking forward to some awesome gigs and events coming up! For us it started with a cult punk band from Sweden: Venerea (five guys making fun Punk Rock since ‘91! For sure you heard about them...) What a show – the crowd rocked like hell, and there were some fans who couldn`t hold back. They got on stage and helped the lead singer with some lyrics. Actually, it seemed like they thought to be the lead singer. Thanks guys, but we prefer to listen to the beautiful voice of Oskar! This guy was amazing! Just smiling big time with some singin’ in between! After the second encore Mr. Oskar showed us his real rock`n`roll heart: After some guys from the crowd asked him to strip (pretty sure it were the same guys who tried to help singing before…), we had the pleasure of admiring his beautiful tiger-striped panties. After a small hint about the reason of wearing this high-fashion clothing, we are still speculating about the backgrounds….but thanks, Oskar! His on-stage charisma made the crowd go crazy. Girls always love to see jewellery. The band came just off the studio with their new album finished, called "One Louder," released on Bad Taste Records on April 18th. And, as you know, Sweden stands for excellent high quality music. No wonder "Division of Laura Lee" is a set mark on the "Burning Heart Records" family tree. But, the first question to be asked is: how did they get their name? Referring to their website, "Laura Lee is a soul singer. A day in Sweden around September 1997, a cardboard box was looked at. The ink on the side of the box read, simply, Division of…" Et voilá. Different people - different music! As much as the crowd was rocking on Monday, they rested as much on Tuesday. Those poseurs! Even the band’s driven pop-punk-psychedelic-emo-core didn`t make them move – we really don`t understand why, `cause the music was a perfect dance! Anyway, the band did their best, relaxed and played encore et encore…We really enjoyed the show – these guys are really simpatico and love what they do. Das not compute is their latest release coming out in 2004. From now on we recommend Swedish bands: 1. …they do not seem to get older 2. …they are a must-look-at for all fashion victims (check out the slim fit jeans from Division of Laura Lee) 3. …and, last but not least, they just make your day!!! December 1, 2004 ELECTRICITY - 4.-7. 11.2004 The 3rd Electricity Festival, organized by Splitter Promotion, took place in Saarbrücken. It is the biggest festival in the whole area, and even the provincial government, under the patronage of prime minister Peter Müller supports it. It invites more than 80 national & international Acts and DJ`s.(!) In the beginnings, it was all about electronic music. But more & more, it developed into something extraordinary: concerts, parties, readings, art exhibitions & films in 10 locations in the whole Saarland — though electricity is not like our ordinary music taste, we were really interested, so we gave it a try. Electricity diary — 1 Thursday November 4th 2004 Big Party- only VIPs & (us) the press, of course! The Party started with the usual speeches, but our free beers & food helped us through the first quiet part of the eve`. First act: TANGA — the show started pretty cool with a huge animation of flowers & butterflies. Than Tanga came on stage: They describe themselves and their music as "… an exotic voice, an organic sound and heart-warming freshness. It's as simple as that".  The Album "come up for air" is produced (incl. artwork and mastering). Their Lounge-Grooves fit perfectly with the animated show in the background. Without it and the sexy stage performing, (it ecstasized the guys pretty much), the effect of the whole show would have been only half as good! Man, this girl is really happy, mmmmmmaybe a little bit tooooo happy! After the act, a movie by Naoki Kenji was shown. It was the world premiere of a music documentary film called "Brahmand — Facing the world". Nice shots with chill-out music — it was supposed to be something never-seen before, we`re not quite sure about that, but we got itchy feet seeing all the pics. Let`s get to India! Electricity diary — 2 Friday November 5th 2004 First we had to learn some cool gangsta language and put on our assortment of golden necklaces — uahhhh, just kidding, girls! After we heard that the main act "Gentleman" was cancelled, our motivation was not as enthusiastic, but unexpectedly the evening got really funny! Asphaltliteraten, Culcha Candela, Les Babacools and Blumentopf were the main acts that rocked the house! Les Babacools (Munich) with their awesome crossover-mix of Reggae, Ragga, Ska, Funk, Latin, Hip Hop and Rock which they performed in Spanish, English , French and German!!! What more is there to say? It was really good party stuff!!! The next surprise were Culcha Candela. These 8 guys from Berlin made a really ass-movin` good show! Culcha means culture and candela is the Spanish word for fire and energy and that’s why they live up to their name. They even mixed Caribbean beats in. We felt like being back on an island. Blumentopf ( Munich) - the most famous act of the evening were next up on stage. By this time, we had a freak sitting next to us and something "strange" was in the air. So relaxin’ and chillin’ and groovin’ and lovin’! By now Majo was unable to move any more, but how could you in these comfortable VIP lounge seats. Blumentopf provides German hip-hop at it`s best. They are not typical cool hip hop freaks; these guys are grounded and make lyrics everyone can relate to. Unexpectedly, we had so much fun, we have to check more into the hip hop scene…or maybe not???? Electricity diary — 3 Saturday November 6th 2004 First we had another date: the local skate & snowboard shop "wind" showed the Burton Process 3 - Snowboard Video in an local club, the Atomic club. All of our friends were there and after 5 minutes of film, we were frustrated not to live in Bavaria with his alps any more! But it was still good movie! Back to Electricity- and the electro pop night with Mia and 2Raumwohnung: It looks like a 2nd Deutsche Welle is rolling over Germany — it is hip again singing in German. From Mia we reported already from Rocko del Schlakko! But again she was giving a perfect performance. 2Raumwohnung — romantic, full of energy, electric pop rock music was what we expected. What we liked: in the background, they showed really good art shots. What we didn’t like: her charisma! She invited a lot of girls and one boy (who she asked "Are you gay?" before letting him join in) onto the stage, which is alright actually, but introducing everybody was just a little too much and too long. Sunday November 7th 2004 Still more party, still more bands, but we were done by now. All in all, we really had an awesome weekend- good concerts, awesome after-parties, and we met many new people… Isn’t that what a festival is all about? By the way Gentleman will make up his gig as soon as his keyboarder is fit again. Get well soon!!! Saturday, November 13th 2004, die Toten Hosen What a funny incident: I was skating when I got this message from a friend: Hosen im Wohnzimmer in Pirmasens, kommst du mit? Translated that means pants in the living room in Pirmasens, wanna come? First I was a little bit perplexed: what band plays in a living room, and why should we drive about an hour to see them? But after a call, I knew that a friend of a friend… had heard that DIE TOTEN HOSEN- one of the most popular punk bands in Germany, even in Europe (MTV Music Awards) would play in somebody’s living room because he won it on MTV. OK, maybe at first it did sound like a big joke, but we still went. Just crazy… we first stood outside the apartment because security said so… buuhhh. But then Campino, (the singer) came out, and we clinked beers and he invited us in… isn’t that awesome. About 50 people in one small room having fun, singing, and drinking- it was like a big family party. It was so different from everything I have ever seen before. It was so good. In the end, we ended up driving to the hospital, because of a little stage diving accident of a friend, but we all agreed that it was worth all the pain…or better, he agreed! It should be way more often that some unexpected phone calls like that occur!!! Nov. 10, 2004 Concert Garage Saarbrücken Solea, Turbostaat & DOVER Finally the concert season has started again! There is nothing better than to know that when it`s freezing cold outside, a warm cozy concert hall is waiting for you. No winter depressions for us! Why do I say us? I hired a professional photographer: Marion Pietz, called Majo. Nothing is too expensive for coolgrrrls.com! (To be honest, she is my lovely roommate and like me, is all about music —and she`s really a pro at taking awesome pictures). There`s nothing better than to have a friend to work with & at the same time enjoy the music! The concert was taking place in one of the biggest local clubs in Saarbrücken: the Garage. (Have a look at the location: www.garage-sb.de) The first band was named Turbostaat — German punk band from Flensburg. These guys are really fun! The first punk rock band we’ve heard for a while who don`t sound silly singing German lyrics (you know we`re not fans of the Oi!-Sound). Their latest album is called "Schwan" (Swan) and is even a bit more aggressive than the first one, "Flamingo." Do you want to broaden your musical horizons? At their website, www.turbostaat.de you are allowed to download all (!) their released songs & albums for free! We think every band should have these opportunities on their site! J So check them out for yourself!!! It seemed like we had to teach the young crowd at the concert how to get goin’! Until the second band, "soleo" started, the audience wasn`t moving at all. It seemed like they had a difficult search to find each other: Ex-Texas is the reason singer Garreth Klahn and Ex-Samiam guitarist Sergie Loobkoff. It couldn’t have been easy. Living hundreds of miles away from each other, they communicated by sending CDs back and forth; and after just one week working together in the studio, they recorded their first album!!! Their sound is Emo-core and melodic, and reminds me somewhat of (don`t kill me now) "the alkaline trio." This is just what we searched for on long winter nights. You can shut your eyes and remember all the good times of this past summer and hanging out with your friends… that is what this music makes me feel like. For further information: www.solea.org. It’s a really nice homepage with awesome style and diaries from every member. The main act was DOVER, a band that is very famous here in Europe, especially in their home country Spain. It seemed like everyone woke up when they got on stage. These two Llano-sisters really know how to rock! It all started years ago in 1992 when the sister Cristina and Amparo met Alvaro (drums) and Jesus (Bass) and founded the band. The funny thing about their band name is that Dover is the name of a women’s clothing brand sold in their parent’s store. You could feel the strong alliance between the girls by watching their face-to-face interaction, which was really intense. (It’s no wonder that their first album was called "sister"). Two female voices which just fit together perfectly — it’s really good to see a band without any stupid affectation after years and years on stage! The positive vibration jumped over to the crowd and finally they moved! Check out the latest album "the flame" and of course more information about these cool guys from Spain at: www.dovercametome.com 12. August, 2004 Monster Mastership –Westfalenhallen Dortmund After recovering for the last few days I finally feel ready to report about the 23rd Monster Mastership, feeling totally awake again! Last time I had been to the mastership has already been six or seven years ago (am I getting old?). Back then it was still in Münster and the last things I remember seeing were a huge bonfire made out of bikes and trashcans- all combined with some riots with the police- but of course also awesome skateboarding back than! So, when I heard that Sabine would not have time to cover the contest this year I was really looking forward to seeing what had changed! Already at the practice sessions on Friday I knew that I would attend some of the best skateboarding I have ever been seeing. Sometimes I thought somebody was sitting in the audience and playing the Tony Hawk playstation game but with the difference that the competitors were alive! Every trick was so smooth and crazy, my eyes were dizzy from watching by the end of the day.Even though there are not that many big American names in the contest any more, the standard was incredible high, but it just seems like the other countries are catching up or better they have already. For the FIRST time ever or better FINALLY the Gallaz Girl Jam took place. But guess at what time? Practice started Sunday, 8 am, Jam at 10. Not the best time after a night of party. Fortunately there were still quite a lot of people who got up like me and supported the girls skating.- As I saw on their faces they could not believe how well some of the girls rode!!! I guess better than most of them. I am sooo proud to be a girl: The American Vanessa Torres (17) skated really well and walked away cashing the biggest check (50/50 into FS boardslide, smithgrinds,...you name it). Lauren Perkins (15) and Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins earned second and third, respectively: Lauren did big transfer kickflips and showed great skills, especially because of her outstanding powerful, fast style. And Lyn-Z is only 14 years of age but it seems like nobody can stop her! She ripped the vert like a madman-pardon woman- doing high BS airs, BS nosegrinds, kickflip indy grabs, not scared of anything! I have to admit when I was only standing on top of the ramp I felt sick in my stomach. But enough raving about the girls. Another premier was performed by Sandro Dias doing a 900° (first time ever on German ground). So his 900° was after his run he did not proceed first place. Nevertheless Andy Macdonald, Mike Crum and Neal Hendrix showed impressive skateboarding with several 540’s and banging flip tricks and deserved the Price money. Anyway, let’s not forget the legends Contest were Tony Magnusson (San Diego) obtained the trophy for the 4th time in a row. After already incredible qualifications it was about time for the final. This year the judges had to have the hardest job of all: so many high standard skateboarders, never failing to land their tricks. In the end it was only by a few points that Bastien Salabanzi (France), doing a Cab kickflip over the pyra, BS flip the London gap, nollie FS lipslide,- already world champion 2001 and 2002- was ahead of Daniel Vieira (Brazil)( 360 flip, switch FS 360 flip) and Rodil Junior, third. Go Brazil! Congratulations also to Jo Lorenz earning fifth place, doing nollie flip crooked grinds on the pyra ledge. Being also a music magazine it’s about time to talk about the afterparties!!! Already on Friday night there was the Viva Mixery Raw Deluxe Operning Party with Samy Deluxe, Teamsport, Mad Maxamon performing. Not knowing whether it was the beer in the backstage area or the nice skater crowd I really had quite a lot of fun. Same thing next night at the Monster Rocknight when Misfits, Exploited, Smoke Blow, Superstarfuckers gave their best to keep the crowd going. Seeing drunken skaters partying in the backstage area when you know they have to be able to skate world class just in another few hours is just funnier than seeing some kids lying in beer and thinking to be punk is a new style on MTV by Vivien Westwood. It’s all about being real hardcore, ...huh!!! After all it was an awesome weekend of great skateboarding and too much beer ...and so we finally bolted home. A special thanks goes to Boardstein were I slept next to about 50 skaters ( the dream of many groupies, but believe me there are nicer things in life) And of course the people from the mastership, you saved my life by greeting me every morning with coffee and croissant. Merci pour tout! See you next year! Oh, I hear my skateboard is calling me, have to go! Results: Street:1.Bastien Salabanzi 2.Daniel Vieira 3.Rodil Junior 4.Paul Machnau 5.Jo Lorenz Vert: 1.Andy Macdonald 2.Mike Crum 3.Neal Hendrix 4.Terence Bougdour 5.Renton Millar legends:1.Tony Magnusson 2.Sérgio de Fortuna 3.Nicky Guerrero 4.Kevin Staab 5.Bram Waterman ladies street jam: 1.Vanessa Torres 2.Lauren Perkins 3.Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins 4.Ianire Elorriaga 5.Monica Shwa the "loop": 1.Chris Senn 29. May, 2004 Rocco del Schlacko, Püttlingen For the the sixth time the rocco team worked day and night to organize this non-profit-event: What started as a small festival planned by a handful of students became one of the biggest festivals in the Saarland! This year there were about 6000 people, all rockin’ the house like there was no tomorrow. But I guess there was! It was the first festival this summer, so I was already pretty excited. I love the bangin’ athmosphere there! Dirty music, dirty ground, dirty people — everybody happy! I like it! So, I woke up that morning with the sun shining and already a grin on my face. I grabbed my blanket and picked up my friends and on the road we were. There is nothing better than sitting in the sun, drinking a cold panache and enjoying awesome music. Especially when prices are down low! So here we go, welcome to rocco del schlacko: Starting band was My own disaster a local band from Saarbrücken who play together since November 2002. Their sound mixes up hardcore, punk and grunge; I`m sure we will hear some more from them this summer!!! With inviting Jupiter Jones (punk rock) and Easy Wedda, a ska-rock band, the schlacko crew gave other local bands the chance to perform in front of a huge crowd. Mia?! Mia! Mia is one of Germans most wanted and overhyped pop bands. This band from Berlin has a really unique style, influenced by pop, german wave, folk, rock... and none of them. It’s more kinda like Berlin underground music singin’n swingin shoutin’ crazyness status situation of a kind... ya know, don’t ya? Gotta explore for yourself... The daily news called it "a new way of youth development". Whatever! Their songs are private, hurting, about love, life and peace, but also about everyday problems, like waking up and life still sucks. But even this really can’t tell you anything about Mia. Mieze, the female singer (or should I say shoutress?) is as crazy, wild and loud as every girl should be. Hey, freak out grrrls! Their new album "Stille Post" has just been released, so watch out for it. Donots: I didn’t know what to expect from them, because I thought they might come off a little bit too mainstream, but hey, they are such a party-pop-punkrock band. The crowed just loved them and went wild. It was crazy, everybody (and when I say everybody I mean everybody) knew the lyrics by heart and danced and sang. Fortunately, the band played hit after hit ‘cause some of the band members from Strike Anywhere were still in the plane, I don’t even wanna know why they had missed their plane!!! It wouldn’t make much sense to explain the style they’re playin’- just refer to my prior article. But damn, wasn’t I happy to see them again this year, they kick ass! Me was so lightened by ‘is dreads flyin’ high to the sky, Booyah! Last band: The (International) Noise Conspiracy from Sweden. They have an incredible stage presence and played a lot of songs from their new album "armed love" (sixties punk‘n roll) Though I have to admit that they are not one of my favourite bands, I really can back their belief "capitalism is organised crime"! But I had already a sunstroke at that time, so I just faded them off my sight. By the way, they’re tourin’ the US of A soon. Check the web for actual tour dates. Merci to the organizers, I really had a great time and I’ll see you, and you next year!!!   5. November, 2003 Finally I made it. The last few months were as if I was acting in a big movie but didn’t know the script. I lived in Stuttgart, I traveled to Portugal and USA, and finally I moved to Saarbrücken- sometimes I woke up and didn’t know where I was!!! You can imagine it wasn’t easy getting a hold on a computer when you need one! Anyway, here’s my new update: Wanted: Skating girls!!! This summer was awesome - we had so many sunny, wonderful days, perfect for skating. Because of that, I’m sure there will be a lot of material for some more skate videos,- I’m already excited!!! In addition, I also went to a lot of skate contests like the Etnies European Opening in Munich, the COS- Cup and a few smaller events. What makes me a little bit angry is that I didn’t see any girls. Hey, I’m writing for a grrrls magazine so I really want to see skating girls out there doing their stuff! It can not be possible that the only girls jam I went to was the Etnies, with all in all 5 girls. Lisa even did an ollie off a big quarter. But I can’t believe that there are not more girls out there who skate! I don’t want to write just about boys! I mean don’t get me wrong I love to see the runs were the guys do tricks that are so fast and complicated I need a dictionary to understand. Girls,don’t be scared! Everybody will be impressed with your tricks. And after one or two contests you will feel more confident. So, get up, practice your healflips and kickflips and I’m sure even some companies will knock on your door and want to sponsor you!!! Girls jam: 1. Steffi Weiß 2. Louise Menke 3. Lisa Schairer I know this website is not about politics but what happened in Stuttgart recently just isn’t right. As you know, I spent the last few months in the home of Mercedes....and what happened lately just annoyed me, ‘cause it seems like politicians just don’t care about the youth. The city just closed the "gas chamber", a indoor skatepark ( if you could call it that, because it was just an tunnel next to the highway) and created a new skate park. Sounds good, doesn’t it? However they built it in the red - light district! Whenever you fall, you have to be careful not to fall onto a used needle. Talking about chosing the proper environment for the skating youth -well done, politicians! Portugal If you ever have a chance to travel in Europe, don’t forget to stop in Portugal. The capital Lisbon is an awesome city to spend a few nights. On every corner there are lounges and clubs -just ask somebody young where to go because some of the best clubs are well hidden. Even though I’m not a big shopper, Lisbon has some of the coolest shops I’ve ever seen (comparable with Barcelona). When I had enough of the big city, I went to the coast to go surfing. I know, Portugal is not so well known for surfing as France, but that doesn’t mean surfing is not as much fun and as good. It’s even better ‘cause it’s not as crowded! I live a few hundred miles away from the ocean and don’t even know when I’m going to go surfing for the next time. Further I still have problems to even stand up which means I still need a lot of patience, but for me surfing means everything: Surfing has it’s unique culture and spirit that captured me - I got addicted and I can’t live any more without it!!! ( thanks to the 58 surf camp and all the surfers I met there, guys I had a great time with you). By the way, whenever you travel to small villages you might see some old ladies who want to rent out rooms (most of the time just one room in their house). These rooms are pretty cheap and also quite funny: in my room there were so many pictures of her relatives and every few minutes she tried to explain me who her great, great grandson was. The only thing she didn’t quite understand was that I couldn’t speak Portugues at all, so whenever she realised that I couldn’t understand her she spoke louder and louder and louder. Have fun in Portugal and send me a postcard!!! So for I didn’t write anything about concerts at all! So here we go: A few weeks ago I went to Munich to see boy sets fire, thrice and many more . The concert was quite good, but for me, seeing boy sets fire for the last few years it’s just not the same any more. But check out Sabrinas update on the show. When I moved to Saarbrücken, at first I didn’t know anything about the city at all. The only thing I knew was that Saarbrücken was close to the French boarder, that’s about it. But fast I realised that their is a quite good music scene in this area: the first concert I’ve been to was HIMSA which I had already seen the year before touring with converge. Their new album is called "courting tragedy and disaster" and is as aggressive, crazy and powerful as we want to hear from them. Back home for the weekend I went to Stuttgart (Juze West). Our World Record and friendly fire records presented the "anti-establishment festival" with many local known bands: Sidekick is one of Stuttgarts most known hardcore band. Their intention is to be as honest as they can: they play raw, non-compromise, direct, straight up hardcore. You might want to listen to their new release called "words and action", that will be out soon! A new band in Stuttgart is teamkiller, but because their first demo already was sold a few hundred times we can be sure to hear some more from them! Another band playing was Cataract with perfect metalcore from Zürich. They have been playing music together for a long, long time and are just kickin’(their last album is called "great days of vengeance"). This mixture of bands, people, yami vegan food, good organisation and perfect atmosphere made it a great evening. Some more tour dates: -The hope conspiracy tour still till the 15.11 -Darkest hour ("they love europe and europe loves them) and amendment 18 (Southern California) rock Germany - Garrison and sometree are touring - call david, a band from Stuttgart will hopefully soon make their release party for their new album February 15, 2003 Hey, don’t think I was lazy lying in bed drinking German beer, watching TV and getting fat. Not at all, I went to a lot of concerts, started to work in a theater and so on. The thing is just sometimes you go to shows stand in the crowd but there is just not much to say about, either because it’s too cool or too boring! I told you about SNAPCASE (Buffalo) being on tour and guess what, even after so many years they are still kicking. Their latest album is called END TRANSMISSION and seems to be even more intensive and more progressive. And so it was no wonder that the crowd still loved them! But it would be mean to not talk about the supporting band called TIME IN MALTA because even they would have been worth coming to Munich (New Backstage). I have to admit I never had heard of them before, but I have to get their CD called SECOND ENGINE (it’s a bit emotional, but powerful hardcore). The next concert I’ve been to I wasn’t too much enthusiastic about because in Cologne I was a little bit disappointed of their live performance, well I’m talking about the GET UP KIDS. The band went a "new way" with their latest record ON A WIRE, it’s slower and inspired from country and folk, but it seems like the fans are still sticking to their old stuff. It was crazy whenever the band played the older songs the crowd joined in on all the lyrics and danced around wildly, but as soon as they played a song from their new album it was quite calm. You can not say it’s worth or anything else, it’s just different. So we will see how the story ends; Good luck! Sunday Night The place to be was definitely the „erste liga club" in Munich, where we celebrated the release party of the SOUTH CITY STARS, PART II. You may say so what? Never heard of it! Well, now you have! The video is a „down to a fine art production" (with their main producer Georg Fischer) and features some of the best riders in southern Germany (Stefan Lehnert, Mark Achmüller, Chiang Kitvarametha, Roland Oppenheimer, Alex Bader and so many more). What makes the video so special is that it’s not done for financial reasons, but because they just love what they do: having fun filming, cutting, good music and of course skateboarding. For me the video was another proof that German skateboarding doesn’t have to hide behind American skateboarding any more!!! SO BETTER CHECK IT OUT! The club was packed with groupies and a few skaters (I’m just kidding) and everybody was enthusiastic about the skills shown in the video. And as you can see: Alex and Marc and of course all the others had a lot of fun on the dance floor. So girls better watch out for them! For more information: www.southcitystars.com. Now onto living life as a real live Princess… You probably wonder what a skating, hardcore listening coolgrrrl has to do with that princess, that’s really easy: once upon a time there was a princess called Vanilla, she lived in her beautiful castle with her servants who read every wish from her lips. They dressed her, fed her with grapes, oh yes they even carried her around, STOP IT DAMN IT. Well, I’m working in an amusement park as a walking character and with a little bit of make up, faked hair and a pretty dress I become princess Vanilla. . But hey, who thinks the life of a princess is easy never had to be one, ok I walked around in my own "kingdom" greeting the subjects, signing autographs or smiling for the pictures, but without servants the whole princess thing ain’t that funny!!! Not only that the dress is uncomfortable, because you can’t really sit or move or worst you can’t eat because the dress could get dirty, also you have to smile 24/7. At the end of the day I sometimes couldn’t even feel my face muscles any more. And worst of all you have to be always sweet and kind, no matter if you just got home after a party two hours ago and feel like shit. So next time you see a princess don’t be jealous or bitchy, because you really should feel a little bit of pity. December 17, 2002 When I first heard that BOY SETS FIRE (Newark) are going on a European tour I was really happy, cause they are one of my favorite bands. It’s amazing how popular they got, all the concerts where already sold out after a few week, and Miss Marion as smart as she is forgot to look for tickets on time (to defense myself I had to work a lot), so a big thanks to LA PAR FORCE who put my friend and me on the guest list a few hours before the concert started in Wil (Remise). Nothing could go wrong now, I thought! Well, already on the way to my friend he called me and said his ID was expired, damn it, you need one to get into Switzerland, anyway so he went home got his passport and we were finally on our way. I really had huge expectations because the last concerts I saw a few years ago were awesome. BOY SETS FIRE present their music (which you could describe as energetic hardcore with melodic parts), with very personal lyrics, critical intelligent political ideas, also a sense of humor and an excellent live performance! Already with their first song "after the eulogy" they made the crowd going wild. By the way it was crazy how many young people where at the show, and when I say young I mean young, so it’s for sure that in the future hardcore will never die out!?! The next hour was packed with a variety of older songs from the ep called "this crying, this screaming, my voice is being born " to the new ep called "live for today". It was great, and I was happy that even though they got way more popular and now not play in front of 30 people but play in front of a few hundred people they kept their uniqueness who makes them so special. So, good news, the band just recently announced that the new album (hopefully, if nothing goes wrong) will be in the shops around April 8th. I can’t wait! PS: A special thanks goes also to Sara Burkhard who made great pictures and saved my life because my camera was broken. Something also to look forward to is SNAPCASE who are also touring. To describe them in short words, is hard, but lets try: a lot of electronic, calm moments, aggressive... better go to show and check them out yourself. I see you in Munich, and if you can’t join us wait for my update! 12.12. München, Backstage 13.12. CH, Will, Remise 14.12. CH, Basel, Kaserne Also touring soon are the GET UP KIDS (January), KOUFAX and KEVIN DEVINE (a man and a guitar). Because they are almost playing everywhere in Europe, just drop me a line and I will send you all the tour dates! September 10, 2002 Being on a hardcore mission Picked up early in the morning we started our tour into the world of hard/ emo-core. We had the tickets, we had the car, but got lost already after a few minutes thanks to our co-pilot Marc. But finally we arrived in Cologne and our blood was already tuned with music: First stop was the Live Music Hall, with tons of cool bands, like as friends rust, pale, trial by fire, hot water music, the get up kids, strike anywhere...The only thing missing was the atmosphere, yes the kids were diving and dancing, but it seemed like more kids just saw them on TV and wanted to be cool. Also you just could feel that some bands just didn’t give all they could, maybe there was too much money involved. But so what, we still had a damn good time. Afterwards we jumped into our car straight away and got on the road again, seeking for some more: after an endless ride (also trying to stay awake) we arrived in Ieper, Belgian at the camping ground and found most people enjoying already their breakfast. Ieper is an awesome hardcore festival where the „family" meets, which means that you see all the people you didn’t see for a while because of the distance. What makes these festivals so special is that everybody is just here to enjoy the music and not to seek for fame. So everybody does whatever he/ she feels like, some run around naked through the crowds, some play football while the bands are playing, others eat every vegan dish they can find, others have a grin on their face because they just found a CD they were looking for, for ages but couldn’t find anywhere else, others just listen to the tunes. The cool thing is that a lot of smaller "unknown" bands have a chance to play in front of a big crowd. So during day we listened to sunrise, cast-down, length of time, square one... I’m telling you the evening was the bomb, majority rule, darkest hour, strike anywhere, heaven shall burn, I was hypnotized. Darkest hour had their last concert in Europe and gave just everything they could. I bet they had a great time touring. They are hard fast and are going for the death metal sound. As a thanks we all witnessed the dancing dinosaur. Strike anywhere are doing their 2nd European tour and are more of an rapid, melodic hardcore band. The people where already out of their brain at this point and enjoyed a great performance, the pictures speak for themselves. tourdates 09/08 München, Backstage 09/09 Mannheim, JUZ 09/10 UK - London, Camden Underworld (+ trial by fire) 09/12 UK - Liverpool, slaughterhouse 09/13 UK - Middlesborough 09/14 UK - Southhampton, Joiner’s Arms 09/15 Bel - Kontich, Lintfabriek 09/16 Hol - Amsterdam 09/17 Oldenburg, Alhambra 09/18 Hamburg 09/19 Berlin, Kato 09/20 Hannover, Korn 09/21 Schweinfurt 09/22 Trier, Ex-Haus you better check them out For the last band I made my way up onto the stage to see them close up. the awesome thing was that the last band of the day was not as on all the other concerts a US band ( just because a lot of people think an American band as a headliner is just bringing more people that pay), no it was heaven shall burn „Europe’s most vicious metalcores act" (that’s what the flyers said). These boys are from Germany and rock the house. Sometimes i thought the stage gonna break, because so many people jumped of it, or tried to sing into the microphone... I’M sorry that I don’t have a picture of heaven shall burn from the concert, but my friend was so busy with stage diving he just had no time. Tour dates trial by fire: 09/09 UK - Brighton, Pressure Point 09/10 UK - London, Camden Underworld 09/13 Bremen, Grünenstr, 09/15 Bel - Kontich, (+strike anywhere) as friends rust: 09/08 UK - Cambridge 09/09 UK - Norwich, Ferryboat 09/10 UK - Southampton/ Portsmouth 09/11 NL - Amsterdam more dates at www.tcb-tourbooking.com August 15, 2002 The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs I know , I know it’s been a while since my last update and I’m soooo sorry, but you know how it is, it takes so much time to party (I’m just kidding). But I hope you followed my advice and saw the streetwalkin’ cheetahs, if not be ashamed of yourself. Yes and after Sabines article you probably realized how much you missed.. THEY WERE GREAT. If you ever asked yourself about their name as I did when I first heard about them, it’s from one of their favorite bands called the STOOGES, especially from IGGY POP (it’s from the first lyrics of the song "search & destroy"). I’m telling you when I first arrived at the concert I found Frank the singer sleeping in the car and I just though , yep I guess they party a lot ( good German beer). So I didn’t expect too much, but hey, they were ass kicking. And you could feel that they love what they do. Frank said in an interview:...Rock’n’Roll is in your blood, you are already born with it.... You are where the music is, and I gonna make it until I die. Well spoken!!! So anyway I hope you check out their latest album "WAITING FOR THE DEATH OF MY GENERATION" (believe it or not they recorded it in about a week). And for all the people who have it already, be happy they are already working on a new album, with the name "GAINESVILLE". IMPORTANT!!! IMPORTANT!!! A few days ago I went to see "FINE BEFORE YOU CAME", I have to admit I had heard about them before but that was it, so I didn’t even have my camera with me. Stupid me, they were awesome: you know it’s one of the bands were you listen already to some of their first tunes and you just say: thank god I’m here. This Italian emo/melodic punkrock band is amazing to see live so you better check them out or get their new album called CULTIVATION OF EASE. It’s great . Get some more information: www.greenrecords.net