5 December 2004

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

After trying all night, Roze was eventually able to organize a cab to pick up the members of FREE FALL at 6am, in time for our train to the studio in Osnabruck, Germany – glorious. It was now 3:30am, Tony Buck was finally able to collect his scattered drum set (the Paradiso shifted quickly to a dance club as soon as the EX’s set was done- elevators off, backstage doors locked). Now the problem was getting a taxi for his equipment. Having hailed cabs around North America and Europe for many years, I was quite impressed by the difficulty in getting a taxi on a Saturday night in Amsterdam. Fed up with the random “system” used between passengers and drivers at the cab stand near the venue, Mark and I walked to his apartment, getting there at exactly the same moment as Tony and Roze pulled up in a vehicle she was able to organize from the club. Roze waved and set off. We lugged the drums down the small street and up the stairs, Mara still awake spinning albums – 4:30am. I packed my things and tried to sleep for an hour. When I got up to leave, Tony and Mark were still in the living room listening to records. I said goodbye and the sounds of an electric guitar freakout from the first CHICAGO album (?!) followed me down the stairs. On the corner the cab miraculously arrived, I got in and went off to pick up Ingebrigt and Haavard. The three of us were subjected to classic rock Dutch style at full volume all the way to the train station. The final minutes of the trip featured a brutally over the top performance of “Summertime,” vocals bordering on yodels. We tried to guess what band was responsible (“Suuuuummmmertiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmme…”) and decided that it was the Gershwin brothers original demo. Out of the cab, off to the train, in three hours we’d be in Osnabruck ready to record.

 

1 2 3 4 5