Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in themission_tour's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, October 19th, 2005
2:44 pm	MALLORCA, SPAIN 9am and the team start arriving back to the bus and tales of the night before are recalled. Apart from everyone drinking too much, except the Hussey’s who done their own thing last night, Martin has come back with the best story. Seems he went off on his own later in the evening and was accosted by 6 black women who grabbed and felt parts of his body and insisted he done the same back to them. Getting concerned he brushed them aside and a helpful tourist mentions that he should check his wallet as this is a scam to rob people. With his wallet still on him he knows that they have failed but this morning notices that his mobile phone is missing, oh dear. We have a real problem today already. Even with 2 rest days and an early night, Wayne’s cold has peaked, he can hardly talk let alone sing, he says we may have to cancel the Spain shows, even maybe the rest of the tour !!! My only suggestion is that we call ahead and get a Dr. to take a look at him once we get to the island of Mallorca and see what gives. It’s off to the airport with the minimum of gear as drums, amps and speakers are provided for the Mish tonight. Its just a short flight and a drive to the hotel but once there Wayne heads for his room and waits for the Dr. The rest of us eat and then the band and crew get picked up and taken to the venue to see if all of what has been ordered to do the show has shown up. I return and find out how Wayne is doing. The Dr. says he has a bad chest cold but maybe once I go and get all the meds that the Dr. has asked for he might be able to do the show. Leaving it as late as we can Wayne and I head to the venue, the band have done the sound check without him so he has been spared of that. The set will have to be made up of songs that wont put too much strain on his voice and just maybe he can get through it. Not a big venue tonight and the turnout is less then expected but still looks full. The band manage to get through the set although Wayne does apologize to the crowd and explains about his cold. Gig over and back to the hotel with nothing of interest to report about the show really, mainly just glad that it even got to happen at all. Current Mood: bored
Monday, October 17th, 2005
2:39 pm	Day Off / Travel / Monte Carlo There is no show today but what we do have is a long drive. We have driven part of the way through the night and part of today as we make our way to Barcelona. By late afternoon we reach the South of France and the outskirts of Monte Carlo. We park up high in the hills as Steve the driver’s time is up and he cant travel any further today. The thought of Monte Carlo and the high life that surrounds it is too much to resist, we have to go off and investigate. Before doing so we arrange a group photo, just like kids on a school trip. We wait forever for the cabs to arrive at the remote rest stop that we are at, but finally the cabs arrive and we are off. Already we know that today is going be expensive and this is confirmed as we watch the cab meter rising and finishing at 70 euros for the trip into town. We are dropped off right in the middle of town next to THE casino, it’s very impressive to say the least. The main plan of attack is to find food but more then that, some cheap food.As we walk past the parked cars its very clear that we can smell none. Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Bentley, and so on.....not sure that we are going to find McDonalds here. A turn of the corner and we are right at the bay and the view is fantastic. Even better is the vast display of boats, expensive yachts, and even water craft the size of ships. I remember why it is that I need to do the lottery more often. Anyway, we do find somewhere to eat and although its not cheap it’s not outrageously expensive, we do have to remind ourselves where we are. The restaurant over looks the bay and the street it is on is part of what is used for the Grand Prix, very nice. We then go off in search of a quite drink and bump into support band Elusive who join us in our search. For once everyone is behaving and it just becomes a pleasant evening just looking at the bay and walking round seeing the sights of the town. Current Mood: refreshed
Sunday, October 16th, 2005
2:28 pm	ROME, ITALY I was hoping that this venue would be in the city and that maybe we would be here early enough to do a bit of sight seeing, alas neither happens. Still the sun is blazing and no matter what the time we do have to go in search of breakfast. That doesn't happen either and the best we can do is some strong coffee and pastries. The venue is set within its own gardens, which include a small outside stage plus a bar. In the venue we find that their sound crew have done very little, which means that this puts our sound crew behind as well. For most of us the best we can do is enjoy the sunshine and relax at the bar drinking tea and Red Ball (not in the same glass of course) while Wayne goes off and sits in the gardens to do an interview. OK, now time is really getting on and still the venue’s crew have not got everything up and running. Plus what is up and running doesn't seem to be working that well. 7pm and still no sound check, tempers are getting a little frayed as their crew watch our crew struggle with problems that the venues gear is causing. Finally I cant stand it any longer and have to speak up and explain that we must solve this as we will be out of time soon, doors are at 8pm. Door time comes and we are still not ready but the fans are already lined up. The only thing to do is to open the gates and let them into the beer gardens but keep the venue doors closed for another hour. Sound check is a mess but finally gets done after all sorts of problems. The only other problem that our crew has is that the venue insist (for no given reason) that they now want to switch the power over to a generator which doesn't sound a good idea. Mark mentions to me that he was recently in Rome playing with Peter Murphy. At that show they had a generator which went out after the first song.....humm, lets hope that doesn't happen here. 9pm and we are sorted although Elusive only have time for a quick line check. Its another good turnout tonight and again we have some more goths show up. The Mish hit the stage and even after a few songs I could tell that the guys were really into it. But wouldn't you know it, just seconds before the end of Serpents Kiss the lights go dim and the sound cuts out. Panic stations all round but to me its obvious what has happened, the generator has gone out. I inform Wayne and the band leave the stage just as the power comes back on. Jason and Martin check that the gear has not been damaged by this and give the OK to carry on. The band return but treat Serpents Kiss as the last song of the set and their return as the encore. Fingers crossed for the remaining part of show, which goes off with no problems. Afterwards Cin (lights) says she is sorry for the power outage as it was caused by the use of too many lights, but we all agree that it really isn't her fault but that of the venue for using a generator. Richard is proud to keep telling everyone that he carried on playing at that point and had actually finished Serpents Kiss even with the power off. So, another interesting gig for the books and one that the guys even laughed about. Current Mood: optimistic
Saturday, October 15th, 2005
2:26 pm	Rimini, Italy We really are not in Rimini today, it’s more on the out skirts and in the country, all very odd. I say odd because today's venue looks like a giant cowshed and in fact later in the day I am told that's exactly what it used to be. Its now a venue that many name bands come to play as it is huge, Muse recently played here. Because the building is constructed of tin and parts of the venue are minus a roof, it has an interesting sound quality to it. However what really makes this place is the location, because not only is in the country, but its also next to a lake. The dressing room doors open up right up onto this and with the sun blazing down its the perfect place to just kick it for a while....and we do! Wayne is still fighting a cold and bad throat, while Steve’s wrist seems better so I am hoping that at least Steve is on the mend. However, an unlit spiked chain rope between the bus and venue is found by Steve as he manages to run right into it and cuts his leg open, luckily it only requires a few sticking plasters. The turnout tonight is great and finally after several weeks out on the road we see a healthy goth contingent show up. But even so there is no way that the Mission can fill this place tonight (venue holds 2,000 plus) so the crowd all move in to the front and it turns out to be a good show. At the end of the set Wayne comes off stage and mentions that there seems to be a strong cold rush of air hitting the stage from somewhere and he is worried that this might effect his cold. At a time when he should be shedding clothes he goes back for the encore in his long black velvet coat, for a moment I have a flash back to the late 80’s when it was not uncommon to see Wayne in velvet or a longish type of jacket/coat, he looks very dashing. We don't have to rush off tonight and because there are two late night goth clubs going on in the venue we decide to stay on and see what gives. In the main part of the hall its sort of pop/goth, while in the smaller area its more industrial goth. It looks good so we stay and indulge in plenty of booze. The Elusive guys are way ahead of anyone else and it means that they are also the first to crash and burn, while the Mission lot are busy talking to fans. It doesn't seem to mater to the fans if some of us are not even band members, they are happy to talk Mission with us, although one female fan has latched on to Martin who decides to show her the delights of the tour bus. By 4am we decide that we really should start making tracks, we all bid our farewells and hit the road. Current Mood: nostalgic
Friday, October 14th, 2005
12:03 pm	BERNE, SWITZERLAND I’m looking out for snow and mountains today but with no luck. I guess its another misconception that I have about the country not having been here before. Still what we do have is another nice venue so I don't mind so much about the lack of views.  The staff here are fantastic and cant do enough for us today even to point of tracking down some rare beer that Steve is after, I wonder if it will help the wrist.  The Swiss crowd, which is a fairly good turnout, seem to follow the way of their politics in that they don't seem to have much of an option about tonights performance. They applaud but don't do much else, not much cheering and no dancing. If we thought other crowds were glued to the floor then this lot must have been welded to it. Its a tough for the band when they cant get any feed back from crowd but they still put on a show and when the leave the stage the crowd really clap loud for more, which of course they get.  With such nice dressing rooms and such friendly staff, its late before we finally leave to return to the bus. Current Mood: working
Thursday, October 13th, 2005
12:01 pm	GRATZ, AUSTRIA Wow, this is a fantastic venue. In between bands playing here they stage theater productions which means that the stage is huge and so is the venue. In fact maybe too big for tonight as the crowd could easily be lost somewhere on the floor, that is unless we have over a 1,000 people turn up, which is doubtful.   The staff offer us the smaller venue upstairs which really would make more sense but its missing.....yep, a monitor board. Both the Mish sound tecs pass on this idea and we decide to stick with the large room.  What transpires next is a combination of good and bad. The bad is that there is a piss poor turnout tonight with less then a few hundred showing up. The upside is that the sound and the lights are the best we have had so far on the Euro leg of the tour. It means that those that were there got an amazing show tonight but even better then that it was a Mission fans dream because Wayne and the band took requests. Course the requests were based on 2 things. First being if the band had rehearsed the song, second being if Steve was fit enough to play certain songs. Wayne plays the perfect gentleman and rather then have everyone shout out songs he picks a member of the crowd and asks what they would like. This works out well until a guy in the front asks for ‘Mr.Pleasant’ to which Wayne replies ..” Fuck me, there’s always one ain,t there” ..but never the less he gives the fan 30 seconds of it before cutting it short. “more”...shouts the fan.....”Fuck off” is the reply from Wayne, and everyone laughs.  Off stage and everyone agrees that despite the poor turnout it was a fun gig and one for the books. We have to leave in a hurry as its a long drive to the next show so no hanging around tonight.   Current Mood: amused
Wednesday, October 12th, 2005
11:59 am	VIENNA, AUSTRIA Today everyone is feeling so much better and less grumpy then a few days ago. Mark’s cold has eased up but Wayne cannot shake off his cold which has been dragging on for ages, which despite a day off, seems to have got worst. Steve’s wrist is still a bit painful but he thinks he will be able to play tonight, which is good news.   The venue is The Szene which is a great venue with all the right stuff, plus everyone here is really helpfull.Because of this it makes the day and the gig a pleasure. Its been decided that certain songs might be a strain on Steve so they will not be up for selection in tonights set list choice. Its a great show and there is nearly 500 people in the venue, its almost a sell out, which really helps add to the atmosphere. Steve manages to play but never the less we have to get ice for his wrist in between the set and the encore. One of the songs in the encore is a lovely version of ‘Bird of Passage’ with just Wayne and Mark, and this goes down really well. Loads of people want to come back stage but Wayne’s cold has just got worst and worst during the evening so its back to the bus for cold medicines and bed for him.   Whilst we learn of a Mission after show party which is being held at a club in the city so everyone who is fit and able decide to get taxis and head out to it. The club is great but hardly anyone has shown up, mainly cause its already late plus its week day night. We leave after an hour and cab it back to bus for the usual after show fun. For several of the team it means a few well earned drinks while Rich and Martin rule the football game on the Play Station in the upstairs lounge of the bus.   Current Mood: peaceful
Tuesday, October 11th, 2005
11:58 am	DAY OFF DAY OFF.   Its a well earned break and everyone has been looking forward to it. Its not just a day off, but a day off in Vienna, which is where we are today and everyone is excited about doing some site seeing. Wayne wont see too much as he has been corned for interviews and even a TV appearance today.    However I have other worries today, namely Steve’s wrist. Once everyone has been sorted with hotels Steve and myself make tracks to the nearest hospital to see if we can get his wrist sorted. Unfortunately our first port of call cant seem to help in anyway and refer us to another hospital who specialize in such injuries.   Finally we get to see someone who of course does the normal Dr type thing of.....”Mr Spring, does this hurt when I do this”......to which Steve responds with “oh yes that is somewhat uncomfortable ” ( read more like “aaaaaggggghhh stop doing that ya barstard”). A x-ray reveals no breaks but its more then likely that his has torn some ligaments. Best they can do is give him some pills and suggest that he puts ice on it. Just to be safe we pickup a wrist support should he need it. I have suggested that maybe Steve shouldn't be watching any more porn DVD’s for a while just in case this was the source of the injury. All joking aside, if Steve doesn't recover from this ASAP then the rest of the tour is off.   Current Mood: mellow
Monday, October 10th, 2005
11:55 am	AUGSBURG, GERMANY     Having slept all through the night again, we wake up outside the venue. Least I am told this is the venue but I have my doubts. This cant be the place, it looks worst then the last venue AND its in an industrial area again. We wait for ever before someone shows up and opens the venue and I follow in......oh dear, this doesn't look good.    Its bad news all round, which isn't good as myself and the team all seem very grumpy and moody today. Plus Mark has a cold and isn't feeling too good. So the news is that yet AGAIN there is no monitor desk, the stage is too small, and they have added a second support. A meeting is called and we decide if we can go ahead with the show as the odds are all stacked against us on this one. We decide to accept the challenge and do our best. Sound check takes for ever because of the lack of any decent stage/PA gear. Tempers get worst when the food is not only an hour late but everyone's order is wrong.   The added support band go and do their set and then official Mish support, Elusive play their set with new guitarist, Jason Lamborgini.    Next up is The Mission and all is going fairly well but then three quarters into the set bad goes to worst. Steve is making all sorts of pained expressions as he drums. A quick check between songs reveals a strained wrist but he continues on. As the band get off stage at the end of the set its a rush to get ice and bandages round Steve's wrist. The guys make a quick decision to ease up on the rest of the set so Steve doesn't have to work too hard on the other songs.They manage to finish the full set plus encores but once off stage Wayne’s feeling is that it could have been better. Still that was just the way the whole day went, everything could have been better today.    I find out later that this venue is due to get demolished at the end of the year, my only wish was that it could have been done the day before we arrived. Needless to say there is no reason to hang around any longer then we have to. Please let tomorrow be a better day!     Current Mood: cynical
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
11:49 am	9TH OCT, HANAU, GERMANY.     Everyone has slept really heavy and it seems that no sooner have we left the last venue that we are already at the next....I think. I wake up to what appears to be a truck stop but upon stepping off the bus it is in fact an industrial estate. Although any industrial estate is not pleasant, this one is particularly bad. Very old buildings that have railway lines coming in between the buildings and chimneys of some sort behind, it looks grim to say the least and an over active imagination doesn't help....but one of these buildings is our venue, the Halle 2.    The show is uneventful, the band are great but the crowd is slow to get into it, which seems to have been the way for the last few shows. So its breakdown, load up and get ready to leave for Ausburg. Before leaving Wayne adds his autograph with the rest of the band, to the bonnet of a fans car and now we can leave.     In other news, here’s the latest on our support band, Elusive. Kristian who left the tour earlier because of work commitments returned to play a few more shows as his replacement also had to return. However, yesterday Kristian had to return home once more. This means that the band are without a second guitarist...or are they? Say hello to Jason Lamborgini, the latest addition to the ever changing Elusive line up. Now not giving too much a way here, but the fact that our guitar tec is called Jason might give you all a clue as to who this new member might be. So, just add a cowboy hat and maybe they can pull it off, although the addition of a long hair wig (bought by merch girl Tara) has be declined by Jason.   Current Mood: blank
Saturday, October 8th, 2005
2:15 pm	Bochum Everyone has been looking forward to this show as we have been tipped off that already there have been 500 pre sale tickets sold. The Matrix venue is made up of several levels of floors and sections. The Mission are playing in the area known as The Tube, which lives up to its name in that it looks like a large underground tube station. This makes the acoustics less then desirable and although the sound is great for most of the venue by the time it gets to the very back it ends up being mostly low end sound. Next to the dressing rooms a tattoo artist has set up a stand and Martin cant resist the idea of getting a new tattoo, which he does just before the band go on. It is packed tonight and from the back the punters have to strain to see the Mish play a blinding set to an enthusiastic crowd, and as we had thought, the guys rock 'em in Bochum tonight. There are various after show clubs in the venue tonight depending on your music tastes, there is also a Goth club down the street. The team split up and head off in various directions, some to the Goth club others back into the venue. I, on the other hand decide that none of the above sounds very appealing and even before I head for my bunk Mark has returned from the Goth club somewhat disappointed. Meanwhile inside one the venue’s clubs part of Mish team are causing trouble. As one of the girls exits the go-go cage Jason sneaks in and does his own performance to the crowd. The others have now returned from the Goth club and are heading for their bunks. But back in the venues club the others are busy marking off their special drink card and on retuning are proud to display the drink card which has been checked off at 49, most of which were Jack Daniel's and coke....needless to say all of them are wasted. The bus supply of beer is then started on as the partying carries on in the car park together with a few of the locals and Elusive. Martin shows off by doing a running jump over the trailer hitch and doesn't even get close as he trips and crashes over the hitch. However he does manage to keep his bottle of beer upright as he goes down which means no hands to break his fall, result is that he now has at least one cracked rib. Various chaos is caused by trying to catch beer bottles and generally insulting the locals who have joined in. By 6 am I decide that enough is enough and clear the bus of all who aren’t meant to be there. By 7am the last of the crew return and we can leave for the next venue. Current Mood: exhausted
Friday, October 7th, 2005
2:12 pm	Glauchau No one is moving too fast today due the night before activities. We appear to be in a village rather then a town and looking around its hard to believe that ANYONE will come here. Alte Spinnerei is the name of this club, which inside looks like the type of place you might hold an Octobourfest at being that it is very alpine lodge looking. Personally speaking I don’t care for the venue, it feels depressing and for me, it seems not to have a good vibe about it. An average size crowd does show up and The Mission plays their set to an audience that look somewhat bored. Dispute Wayne's attempts to get them going, they stay that way through most of the set. They are lucky to get an encore. We pack up and get everything on the bus as quick as possible, as we need to get on the road tonight. However, before leaving Jason is getting freaked out. For the third time tonight while loading he has seen a strange shadow shaped figure in the corner of his eye and yet turning around has seen nothing. I'm not shocked by this and it confirms my feeling I had upon arrival....who you gonna call .... Current Mood: nervous
Thursday, October 6th, 2005
2:10 pm	Berlin Well here we are in Germany again, at the K17 venue. Today is Mike’s (FOH Tec) birthday so we are hoping that his day will be a pleasant one for him. Once again as soon as we enter there are problems, again no monitor desk for Martin to use. It takes frantic phone calls but within the hour we have a board and its all hands to the deck to catch up on time lost. Course that isn't going to happen because no sooner are we ready to start the sound check when there seems to be some strange noise coming from Wayne's amp, least we think its the amp or maybe its a cable, the crew are not sure. Lots of unplugging and re-plugging of cables then changing of amp valves seems to have solved the problem, we hope. Dinner tonight is a choice of omelette or fried turkey steaks and for desert its two cakes (with candles) to celebrate Mike’s birthday. A truly bad attempt of singing of Happy Birthday follows. We have a good size crowd tonight and many are in fine singing voice. All goes well, although the crew are still concerned that the strange sound that caused problems earlier will re appear. We are staying here with the tour bus tonight in the K17 car park and by chance there is an after hours club going on, perfect for us to all have a party for Mike. Now I don’t know how many of you have seen the tour shirts, but if not then let me tell you that they say THE MISSION, EXCESS ALL AREAS. ...the important word here to remember is, EXCESS. Wayne and Cin have already figured out how the evening is going to end up so without further ado they decide to veto the party and hog the bus to themselves for the evening, wonder why they would do that? *wink* I take care of business and afterwards the venue bosses insist on sealing the deal with some sort sprit that is high in proof and tastes like it maybe used in airplane fuel. 3 of these and a champagne and I am ready to find out what's happening at the after hours club. Lots of Gothy type dance music and plenty of people. Outside in the beer garden I find our lot who are well on their way to...well, excess. Everyone has been latched onto by either drunk Mish fans or in Richard’s case he has been corned several times by what he calls ?German nutters??. A bench gets tipped over by accident with beer bottles and glasses flying,.... Richard has had enough and calls it a night. Not long afterwards I do the same but everyone else hangs out drinking well into morning. Meantime Mark has returned to the bus and upon opening the toilet door a crew member flops out of the small cubicle floor with his trousers round his ankles This certain crew member has crawled in from the drivers door at the front and crawled all the way to the rear loo, then thrown up. Only thing is that he didn't realize the loo lid was closed,...its very messy to say the least. Finally at 8 a.m. the last of the Mish lot returns from the party and the our bus pulls off, its been a great party but few can recall the next day just how good it was. Current Mood: drunk
Wednesday, October 5th, 2005
4:15 pm	AARHUS, DENMARK Back to Denmark today for the show at Train. And what a venue this is, the best of everything....the best gear, stage, layout and a candle lit dinner for the band, what more could you want. Well a few more people to show up for the gig would be nice. Yes tonight is a poor turnout and no one can say really why that is, never the less even with a couple of hundred punters in there its still a good show, although somewhat frustrating for the band that even those present are more of the "glued to the floor" type, shame. Long drive ahead so there's no reason to hang around afterwards. 1/ EVANGELINE 2/ GRIP OF DISEASE 3/ SEVERINA 4/ HEAVEN KNOWS 5/ BELIEF 6/ BREATHE ME IN 7/ WING AND A PRAYER 8/ BUTTERFLY 9/ FAMILY 10/ SEA OF LOVE 11/ BEYOND THE PALE 12/ DELIVERANCE ______________________ 1/ WAKE 2/ FABIENNE 3/ WASTELAND ______________________ 1/ TOWER OF STRENGTH Current Mood: disappointed
12:32 pm	Copenhagen Loppen photo gallery pictures courtesy of Dave Pepper Editor's note: this one is my favourite. What a great shot
Monday, October 3rd, 2005
4:12 pm	Stockholm The Mono club is right in the middle of the city but luckily we have managed to park in front of the venue. Its a nice venue which incorporates its own restaurant with shops down below. Within in moments Wayne is whisked off by taxi to do a radio interview and the crew start to unload. Last nights gig involved several flights of stairs to load in and out and again today its more of the same. I run around sorting out and checking that all the official stuff is in order. On my return I find that although everything is set up and in place on stage everyone is standing around and no sound check has been done. Reason being is that the power to the stage has gone out and this is due to... wait for it.... a fire alarm that has gone off (what's up with the Swedes and fire alarms?!). As dinner is ready it makes sense to eat now and hopefully by then the power will have been sorted. A great spread includes barbeque chicken Power sorted, sound check under way, no problems. Until the cook from Pizza Hut comes storming up to complain about the noise as the Mish are rattling the walls in the restaurant down below. Eerrrr too bad mate, just have to live with it. Support band Elusive have not been able to make it today, again they have lost another driver, their 2nd, as he has had to return home because of a loss in the family. So its just the Mish on stage for tonight and now all we can do is just relax and wait for doors to open. The venue fills up fast and by the time the Mission hit the stage the floor is full. The Mish work their way through the set and as usual its around the half way point that the crowd start to get into it. Wayne mentions that we played in Gothenburg the night before and receives boos and hisses..... “You lot don't like Gothenburg do ya?”, he says which gets even more boos and hisses. More songs and its right then that someone leaps on stage out of of nowhere, to which yours truly has to sprint to the far side of the stage to get them off. Wayne teases the crowd during Tower of Strength to the point that we almost loose him into the crowd itself. The show ends and someone else leaps the stage to grab Wayne as he exits, again stopped by myself and Jason. Now that's more of what we expect a rock n roll gig to be like, thanks Stockholm. Set list as follows (I think) 1/ CRYSTAL OCEAN 2/ EVENGELINE 3/ SEVERINA 4/ SLAVE TO LUST 5/ GARDEN OF DELIGHT 6/ BREATHE ME IN 7/ FABIENNE 8/ BUTTERFLY 9/ FAMILY 10/ SERPENTS KISS 11/ BEYOND THE PALE 12/ DELIVERANCE ______________________ 1/ WAKE 2/ LIKE A HURRICANE 3/ WASTELAND ______________________ 1/ TOWER OF STRENGTH     Current Mood: happy
Sunday, October 2nd, 2005
4:49 pm	Gotthenburg, Sweden Misconception that Sweden is full of blue eyed blonde females, Volvos, and IKEA. Only one of these is true, and it isn't the one that everyone would prefer .....oh and Gothenburg isn't full of goths either. Sticky Fingers is the venue for tonight (a name taken from a Rolling Stones album) and needless to say the joke of the day is who has sticky fingers and why! Laughing soon turns to tears, at least for the Mish sound crew, as it turns out the venue has not got a monitor mixing desk. Despite my negations with the people in charge no one seems too bothered about this and the fact that it is a Sunday its unlikely that we can find a desk at such short notice. Can our crew make it work or will we have to pull the show? The Mish sound guys tell us it can be done but no promises as to what the sound will be like on stage for the band,.... great (or maybe not great). Just to add to the problems the venue has a DB limit, meaning that if the band get too loud there’s a chance the plug will be pulled. Liverpool are playing today and Wayne must find somewhere to watch the game, which he does. Upon his return we find that his team has lost to Chelsea, oh dear a Liverpool loss is never good for Mr. Huss. Dinner tonight (for most) is Swedish meatballs, mash and cranberries (the cranberries not being the desert but as a dressing for the meatballs) There’s a good turnout tonight even though its a Sunday night the place is full, not sold out, but full. The first few front rows know all the words and many are jumping around and shouting to Wayne. A fan shouts out ‘liverpool’ and Wayne says ‘fuck off, we aren't talking about football today’! The set list style has remained the same now for a while, main set, 3 or 4 songs for the encore, then back again for Tower of Strength. Tonight is no exception and as the band get half way through ‘tower’ Wayne throws his guitar to Jason who really has to sprint to catch it and as he does so the whole stage goes dead except for Steve’s drums. What the fuck ???.......has Jason tripped and pulled out the power, did the DB limit get reached ?......no, the fire alarm has gone off which kills the stage sound. People are being asked to leave and the band have no choice but to go back to the dressing room where we are told we are safe as the stairs are right there. Turns out that its a false alarm but never the less its too late now and the show is over..its all very Rock n Roll ya know. Set list (i think): 1/ BEYOND THE PALE 2/ EVANGELINE 3/ HYMN FOR AMERICA 4/ AFTERGLOW 5/ GARDEN OF DELIGHT 6/ BREATHE ME IN 7/ FABIENNE 8 BUTTERFLY 9/ FAMILY 10/ SERPENTS KISS 11/ WASTELAND 12/ DADDY'S GONE TO HEAVEN _____________________ 1/ LIKE A HURRICANE 2/ SEVERINA 3/ DELIVERANCE ______________________ 1/ TOWER OF FIRE..(please exit the building) Next Current Mood: grumpy
Saturday, October 1st, 2005
4:46 pm	Karlskrona, Sweden Karlskrona is a small fishing town that not too many people know about, so it seems a little odd that we have been booked to play here. Its a Saturday afternoon and the town is dead, we dont see many people on the streets which may be due to the fact that not even the shops are open. However the venue is fantastic and we are all most impressed. A former movie theater turned music venue its recently been refurbished to its former glory which is in the style of art deco. Very few of the locals are present tonight and most of the crowd have traveled in for the show. Its not a big crowd tonight, which doesn't shock us us, but its a good crowd so it makes up for it. The show goes off without a hitch and everyone is happy tonight as afterwards there is a constant stream of people wanting to meet the band and get autographs. With the after show activities done with its time to head back to the bus and as we leave via the side exit we find more fans waiting for Wayne. Finally on the bus and we are on the road heading for Gothenburg but not before stopping for some late night pizza. Set list as follows: 1/ CRYSTAL OCEAN 2/ EVANGELINE 3/ SEVERINA 4/ SLAVE TO LUST 5/ GARDEN OF DELIGHT 6/ BREATHE ME IN 7/ FABIENNE 8/ BUTTERFLY 9/ FAMILY 10/ IN DENIAL 11/ BEYOND THE PALE 12/ DELIVERANCE ______________________ 1/ LIKE A HURRICANE 2/ SERPENTS KISS 3/ WASTELAND ______________________ 1/ TOWER OF STRENGTH Current Mood: pleased
Friday, September 30th, 2005
3:32 pm	Copenhagen (day off ) We have decided to stay in Copenhagen for the day and check out the city. Dave Pepper is on hand as our tour guide for the day but only Jason and myself take him up on the offer as we must find a music shop to buy supplies. Its a lovely city full of Hans Christian Anderson type style of buildings, sort of thing you would expect to see in a fairy tale book. What strikes me the most is the vast amounts of copper used on the buildings, from roofs to statues, its everywhere and of course it has all turned to a bright blue/green colour. And bicycles, oh yes, millions of them everywhere.Although it turns out that everyone on the bus has gone into the city we see none of the others. After returning to the bus my plan is to check into the hotel across the street and relax a little, seems Rich and Mike have also done the same. Mark tells us that he has seen a few places that might be good to have a drink in later tonight and I mention a place that Dave had pointed out earlier called “Dracula” My plan is still to have my own space for the night, get a pizza and fill the tub up. That plan is ended when nearly everyone from the bus show up at the hotel later that evening wanting a cash/sub so they can hit the bars. Of course I follow cause I am keen to check out this goth pub called “Dracula”. The pub sucks, very goth decor but no one in there and the music playing on the juke box is boy band / soul crap......we about turn. Next choice is The Rock, which is a heavy metal club. The guy on the door is from Manchester and Mark manages to convince the guy that he should let us all in for free, which he does! Turns out that the others are already here as are support band Elusive. The guys from Elusive ask after Wayne and Cin (not with us) as they had asked the guys earlier about currency. Elusive had told them what they thought was the conversion rate but later relised that it was wrong, 100krone does not equal 1GBP, it equals 10 GBP.....hummm, had Cin spotted ‘bargains’ on an all day shopping trip?......will Mr. Huss be shocked when he gets his credit card bill? Wayne, Cin and Steve have not come out tonight and choose to stay on the bus for the evening because as everyone is out THEY have a chance for a bit of peace and quiet. This was of course also my plan except I got a hotel and remembering this I say farewell and head back to my IKEA show room display style room for some serious sleep. Current Mood: sleepy
Thursday, September 29th, 2005
2:05 pm	Copenhagen Never heard of the Khristiana, it’s a hippy commune, its where everyone goes to buy drugs....the Loppen venue is in there Steve our driver tells us. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not and once inside the compound we decide its not a good thing, it looks very unsafe. Graffiti everywhere and lots of people walking around looking at the “arts and crafts”, if that's what you can call it. As we get out of the bus 5 police officers have 2 guys nearby spread for a body search, nice. All the buildings here were originally built back in the early 20th century and it was used as a military barracks. After the military moved out the hippies moved in and squatted. So over come by the amount of hippies the city gave them legal rights to stay, although I don’t see any “real” hippies the whole time we are there. Inside the venue and straight away we notice a lack of a monitor desk, not good. I explain to the people in charge that the Mission can not play without a monitor desk and so calls are made. An hour later we have the desk and the crew set up for the show, that's the good news. Bad news is that there is no Red Bull on the rider as it’s illegal in Denmark....say WHAT ???? We can go downstairs and buy drugs legally, but you cant have Red Bull in Denmark....CRAZY !! Song of choice for the sound check is “Paranoid” (Black Sabbath) although Wayne cant quite get the Ozzy bit off and so its has the new words of Òla,de,la..la,la.Ó..and so on. 11pm the Mish get on stage and its gonna be a hot one tonight, heat wise, and its a hot one for the Mish as they are on blazing form tonight. The front rows of fans are dancing and punching the air in tune to the songs, it’s a good crowd and a great show. As the band go into Beyond the Pale two girls at the front start to kiss each other, a somewhat small distraction for the band. However it’s during the breakdown of the stage gear that long term Mish fan (and now a resident of Denmark) Dave Pepper, points out a tall guy with a long leather coat leaning and facing the wall. This also gets the crew’s interest and on closer inspection it reveals a young lady sat in front him.... can you say “blow job” in Danish? Current Mood: amused