In še zadnje poročilo iz turneje, ki ga sicer že pišem v Ljubljani. Zadnji del našega potovanja s Praha Depart nas je peljal na sever, po dolgi deževni noči vožnje skozi francoske vasice, ki so zgledale kot dobro prizorišče za kak horror film, smo prispeli v prijetni Nijmegen na Nizozemskem. Zapomnili si ga bomo predvsem po najbolj pekočem curryju vseh časov. Med nastopom sem dobesedno bruhal ogenj.
Drug dan nas je čakal Aachen, koncertno prizorišče Muzikbunker, ki je točno to: bunker, ki pod zemljo skriva labirint glasbenih prizorišč, vadbenih prostorov, šankov in skladišč. Ko smo se prebili skozi postapokaliptično vzdušje na hodnikih nas je prijetno presenetil topel backstage z odlično hrano, pijačo, tušom in internetom. Pred odrom pa res prijetna publika, ki je z iskrenim zanimanjem spremljala nastope.
Nato pa bizarno doživetje v Frankfurtu: nastop na Tednu Japonske kulture na glavnem trgu sredi belega dneva! Vsekakor moj najnenavadnejši koncert doslej, slovenski electro-hip hop na nemškem trgu obkrožen z japonskim kičem, geishami in samuraji, tradicionalnimi stojnicami in sponzorskim napisi. Organizatorji več kot očitno niso vedeli, kakšne skupine so bukirali. Odigral sem tih a energičen koncert za 80 let starega plesočega gospoda in nekaj mimoidočih radovednežev. Mislim, da sem zdaj pa res pripravljen nastopati kjerkoli. O tem, da organizatorji niso vedeli koga so povabili priča tudi nastop Praha Departov, ki so sicer zadostili kriteriju japonskosti (s tem se N'toko pač ni mogel pohvaliti), njihova hrupna in divja glasba pa je tehnično ekipo tako vrgla iz tira, da so takoj ozvočenje stišali na 0, nato pa še po vsakem komadu bendu zagrozili, da bodo ugasnili elektriko če ne bodo igrali tišje...vse dokler niso postali že skoraj neslišni. Na srečo se je do takrat nabralo že dovolj publike, ki jih ni to prav nič motilo in so uživali v nastopu, na koncu pa drli do stojnice z merchandise-om, da bi se spoznali s pevko in kupili kako majico ali cd. Nato so sledile trikrat glasnejše open mic karaoke, kjer so pijane Nemke v mikrofon kričale pesmi od Celine Dion. Tako bizaren večer, da mu ne morem nič zameriti.
Zadnji dan pa je pripadal Berlinu, in sicer smo se ustavili v znamenitem klubu West Germany, ki je bil nekoč zdravniška ordinacija...ambienta v prostoru vam torej najbrž ne rabim opisovati. Pravi Berlinski koncert v vseh pogledih!
Tako, za nami je 11 koncertov, 7600 kilometrov, ogromno novih ljudi in doživetji. Praha Depart so nazaj doma na Japonskem, jaz pa se tudi vračam v vsakodnevno rutino. Hvala bogu je za nami tudi 6 mesecev pisanja mailov, organizacije, računanja in usklajevanja. Res ni lahko organizirati skupno turnejo reperja iz Slovenije in post-punk benda iz Tokia! Kljub temu pa lahko rečem, da se je ves trud poplačal že po prvem koncertu v Ljubljani. Po užitku nastopanja in nato poslušanja njihovega nastopa, po reakcijah publike, po tem kako smo se super imeli...zavedal sem se, da počnemo nekaj res unikatnega in da take priložnosti ne dobiš vsak dan. Overall lahko rečem, da je bila ta turneja najboljša stvar, ki se mi je zgodila do sedaj na moji glasbeni poti.
Sedaj je ostalo težko vprašanje: what to do next?
Here's the last report from our Europe tour with Praha Depart, already written in Ljubljana. The last bit of our road trip took us up north, we arrived in the Netherlands after an all night drive trough rainy, desolate French villages that looked like a great place to film a horror flick. Nijmegen is nice town with really friendly people. I'll also never forget eating the hottest curry of my life and breathing fire durning my gig.
The next day we played in Aachen, a venue called Muzikbunker which is just that: an underground labyrinth of venues, practice places, bars and storage rooms. Once we got past the post-apocalyptical hallways we found a warm backstage with lots of delicious food, drink, a shower and internet. And a great audience in front of the stage that really listened intently to our music.
Frankfurt was a story I'll be able to share with people for a while. We played at the Japan Week festival in the center town square in the middle of the afternoon. A Slovenian rapper performing amidst Japanese kitsch, geisha's, samurais, traditional food stands and huge sponsor commercials. In Germany. I played a low volume yet energetic little gig to an 80 year old dancing man and some curious teenagers. I think the organizers had absolutely no idea what musicians they were booking, which became clear durning Praha Depart's show as well. Although the band fit the criteria of actually being from Japan (something that you can't say for N'toko), their noisy and energetic performance completely shocked the technical crew, which immediately lowered the PA sound to a staggering 0, and threatened to turn off the electricity if the band doesn't play quieter. Which they did to the point of being completely inaudible. Fortunately by that time there was a large enough crowd who didn't really care and seemed to enjoy the gig, rushing to the merch stand after the show to meet the singer and get cds or T-shirts. The gig was followed by a really loud open mic karaoke session with drunk German girls screaming Celine Dion songs into the night. All in all it was a first class experience in weirdness that I will never forget, too bizarre to be bad.
The last day of the tour belonged to Berlin and its well respected venue West Germany, which is actually an ex doctors ordination, so you can picture the ambience in the place. It was a real Berlin gig in every sense of the word real and Berlin.
So there we go, the tour is finished. 11 gigs, 7600 kilometers, lots of new friends and experiences. Praha Depart are back home in Japan and I'm also getting back to my everyday routine. And thank god that 6 months of emails, calls, organizing, coordinating and calculating are also over. It's not so easy putting together a joint tour of a Slovenian rapper and Japanese post-punk band. But all the efforts were forgotten after the first chords of the first gig in Ljubljana. The way everything came together, the music, the people's reactions...It just felt like we're doing something really cool, something that I've always wanted to do and couldn't imagine. This tour was maybe the best thing I've experienced in my life as a musician.
So now I'm left with a slightly difficult question to answer: what to do next?
Thanks so much to all the organizers and most of all thanks to Aleš for all his efforts and the superb photos.
See you all next time!
Youtube-ing away in a French cafe
A visit to Radio Beton in Tours
Cup noodle heaven
I usually hate shopping centers, but if they have Guitar Hero....
France
We arrived in Paris at midnight and did some night tourism
And Aleš did some night photography
Praha Depart in Paris
Praha Depart in Paris
Early morning noodles in Belgium
And morning exercise
Nijmegen apartment
Nijmegen apartment
Exploring Martin's excellent record collection
I chatted with the mom
...and Praha Depart took care of the baby
Cleaning up the stage
waiting for the show in Onderbroek
The repertoire
Mystery man
Mai in Onderbroek, Nijmegen
Tsukasa in Onderbroek, Nijmegen
Praha Depart in Onderbroek, Nijmegen
Entering Muzikbunker, Aachen
Where are we?
Thai food!
Watching cute cats
Me in Muzikbunker, Aachen
Praha Depart in Muzikbunker, Aachen
Praha Depart in Muzikbunker, Aachen
Praha Depart in Muzikbunker, Aachen
Saying goodbye to the comfortable backstage...
...and arriving in the cold, spooky sleeping place
...with a collection of the worlds worst band posters
Jumpei cleans his hat
Arriving in Japan Week Festival, Frankfurt
Do we feel out of place?
N'toko's mind blowing performance of a lifetime, Japan Week festival, Frankfurt
A gig I will never forget
Praha Depart at Japan Week, Frankfurt
Praha Depart at Japan Week, Frankfurt
Saying goodbye to Helge, who organized the show in Aachen and came to see us in Frankfurt
Hotel!
On the road to Berlin
In the home of Marie and Boris in Berlin
Friends from Tokyo showed up at the gig in West Germany, Berlin
Tsukasa in the "doctor's office"
Mai get's ready for the show
It was great to see my friend Mario. We used to hang around a lot in Tokyo and haven't seen each other in ages.
Me playing in West Germany, Berlin
Me playing in West Germany, Berlin
Praha Depart in West Germany, Berlin
Mario entertaining everybody, as always
Breakfast
We say goodbye to Boris, Stefan and David before hitting the road
Traffic jams on the way home
Driving
...and driving
A surprise welcome party for Mai. Happy birthday!
Finding Praha Depart's picture in Mladina magazine
It's good to be home
Watching some clips from the tour
The last night before their plane ride to Japan was fun
