Entry #2

HELSTAR TOUR DIARY – Entry #2

Hey, I finally have some time to sit and type out an update since Saturday...It is currently 9:00 pm and we've landed back in Hamburg after the run down to Essen and Eindhoven. Both shows were KILLER!!! We understand with the economy these days, it's hard on everyone to dish out the cash for metal shows, especially for a band at our level, however, we still managed to have really decent turnouts for the first two shows! Regardless of how many people came, the enthusiasm was off the hook and it has been a great start to our run!

So, here is a recap of how it all went down: We drive into Eindhoven to meet with our great friends Ramon and Kirsten at their place! We arrived just in time; the grill was lit, the beer was cold (and plentiful), and the meat was ready! Within an hour we were feasting and enjoying good times with ours hosts as well as other friends of our who stopped by to party. Needless to say, we drank too much, ate too much, and definitely stayed up too late! Haha! Anyway, I figure we were all down by 4:00 or so in the morning... We awoke to learn that James was VERY sick and could not hold anything down... Too much alcohol??? Hmmm, well, I know James and I saw how much he drank and he's definitely thrown down much harder without getting sick, so who knows, could have been anything, but the dude was ILL! So, we finally got him some sleep and then left for Essen; the promoter and staff were very cool and treated us to a great Indian dinner - uh, all of us minus James! Well, making a long story short, James went back to the bus to sleep a bit, some chick was trying to give him homeopathic healing or something... Nothing worked - he was puking right up to showtime. So, yeah, you have to believe we were all concerned about this show and whether he could make it. The dude had NOTHING in his stomach and was dehydrated. Making things worse was the fact that the stage was HOT... Anyway, we proceeded to roll the intro and...........

HE FUCKING KICKED ASS!!! What can I say? Somehow, adrenaline took over and he sang the entire 1 1/2 hour set! Amazing....

Uh, so after that we partied with some old and new friends for a bit, drank again too much, minus Mr. Rivera, and then left back to Eindhoven.

When we returned to Ramon and Kirsten's place, James immediately went to bed - any of you who know James knows he hates to miss a good party! But, he did what he had to do and went straight to bed... I followed shortly thereafter, but fucking Russ and Larry had to eat, so here is Ramon busting out some more leftover meat from the day before, slapped it on an electric grill indoors and proceeded to fix them up with some bad ass chicken and pork... So, let's see, I was trying to sleep and these guys coming busting into the room upstairs and woke me up... No one freaking told me that daylight comes so damned early this time of year!!! It was 4:30 or something and it was light outside. The drunken assholes passed right the fuck out and I spent the next hour trying to get back to sleep...

So, we all wake up at 1:00pm or something and started to get going, showered, etc. Ramon made us fantastic bacon and eggs Dutch style!!! Hel yeah, that was the shit there!!! And, lo and behold, Mr. Rivera was bright-eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go! So, we made it up to the Dynamo about 4:00 and went about the business of soundcheck, dinner, etc... Doors opened about 7:00 and we were on at 9:00 or so... We had a blast; getting into a rhythm after all the travel to get her, etc. The crowd was fantastic and LOUD! Again, the promoter Roman and the entire staff at the Dynamo were so cool and very hospitable! Cheers to those guys!

Afterward, there was an after party at the Rambler where the owner proceeded to make us drink all kinds of alcoholic concoctions, beers, whisky, you name it. To top it off, we ended up in taxis back to Ramon's where he then busted out the bitter balls and frikadels... and dude, don't ask me what is in them... I don't really wanna know. Though, they were quite delectable! Monday morning (uh, afternoon) came much too soon and next thing you know, we were on our way back to Hamburg... After settling in and grabbing some awesome Gyro plates, we are back at the hotel and trying to get some rest for tomorrow's gig at Markthalle... Well, that is all for now; check back soon!

Cheers!

Rob

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HELSTAR TOUR DIARY – Entry #2

Επιτέλους, βρήκα μία ευκαιρία να κάτσω να γράψω όλα αυτά που συνέβησαν μετά το Essen και το Eindhoven. Και τα δύο live ήταν φανταστικά, αφού μαζεύτηκε αρκετός κόσμος (παρά τα γνωστά οικονομικά προβλήματα και την κρίση που υπάρχει σε όλο τον κόσμο). Ήταν η ιδανική αρχή για το ξεκίνημα της περιοδείας. Αφού φτάσαμε στο Eindhoven, πήγαμε στο σπίτι των καλών φίλων (οι οποίοι είναι και promoters), Ramon και Kirsten…Φτάσαμε στην ώρα μας, αφού η φωτιά ήταν αναμμένη, οι μπύρες παγωμένες και τα φαγητά έτοιμα για να ψηθούν. Εννοείται ότι φάγαμε και ήπιαμε πολύ αλλά μόλις ξυπνήσαμε διαπιστώσαμε ότι ο James ήταν πολύ άρρωστος…πολύ αλκοόλ…; Ποιος ξέρει; Ένα θα σου πω: Έχω δει τον James να πίνει πολύ περισσότερο και να μην έχει κανένα απολύτως πρόβλημα!

Όταν φτάσαμε στο Essen και πλησίαζε η ώρα για να ξεκινήσει η συναυλία ανησυχούσαμε για τον James, αφού ήταν τελείως αφυδατωμένος, χλωμός και δεν μπορούσε καν να σηκωθεί από το κρεβάτι. Μόλις βάλαμε την εισαγωγή και έκλεισαν τα φώτα, έγινε το απίστευτο! Ο James ανέβηκε στη σκηνή και ήταν απλά εντυπωσιακός! He Fuckin’ Kicked Ass!

Μετά το show, ήπιαμε μερικές μπύρες και ο James επέστρεψε στο κρεβάτι του για να ανακτήσει δυνάμεις…βέβαια, του την έσπασε που δεν μπορούσε να είναι στο party μαζί μας! Την επόμενη μέρα φεύγαμε για το Eindhoven και χρειαζόμασταν όλοι ύπνο…κλασικά, λοιπόν, ο Larry και ο Russell φρόντισαν να μεθύσουν και να μην αφήσουν κανένα να κοιμηθεί! Ευτυχώς, το επόμενο πρωινό ο κ. Rivera ήταν ξανά σε φόρμα και ορεξάτος. Η εμφάνιση στο Dynamo ήταν καταπληκτική και ο κόσμος δεν σταμάτησε να φωνάζει! Θα τα πούμε ξανά στην επόμενη καταχώρηση…

Rob (μετάφραση: Σάκης Νίκας)