EUROPEAN TOURNovember / December 2004
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Hi RAGE heads everywhere, Peavy here!Finally the time has come, we're back on tour. After we made ourselves rare in the last time, now it's full blast europewide. We worked long on our first DVD / double live album "From The Cradle To The Stage" and it turned out perfectly fine. We all are really proud about it and hope you'll have as much fun with listening and watching, like we had with making it. Victor's completely fine again, he recovered from his disease and burns now the same like Mike and me to hit the stages and celebrate the Band's anniversary with you. We've created a fine "Best Of Show", with a nice stage design. All those, who didn't see our shows in January, where we shot the DVD, and missed our acoustic set, can look forward to the tour, as we've included this acoustic set into our show. (We couldn't put this on the DVD but we plan to record a special acoustic CD, not clear when...) Anyway, now you can get this LIVE. On Thursday, the 18th of November, we hit the road. With us is our beloved crew Charly, Jesus and Holger. The Tour was booked by our new agency Dragon Prod., which did a fantastic job in close colaboration with Mike, who will roadmanage us again. So nothing can go wrong. We are ready, so see you soon!!! Yours Peavy |
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19.11.04 - 1. DAY OF TOUR - PLZEN - CZPlzen/Serikovka.... What nice weather to start the tour! Our poor crew members have to load up our equipment in thick snow-flurries. Everybody is cursing and clenching their teeth. Again we have lots of stuff so we have to play Tetris, using every millimetre of our trailer. Beside the extensive technical equipment we also have tons of merchandise, which looks cool, but also takes up a lot of space. And due to the stress the snow causes, the crew guys unfortunately forget one of my bass speakers. We only noticed in Plzen, after arriving 4 hours to late. Shit! Feeling a little angry at first, then sucking it up, we finally realize we'll just have to make it work with fewer speakers... Beside that everything runs well. We’re getting along great with our support band Deadsoul Tribe, the guys are pretty relaxed and we are having lots of fun together in our flaming red double-decker. Indeed, there is a little chaos at the beginning of the tour, but in the evening everything goes well. The club is packed and everybody has fun. Surely our set needs some corrections for the next shows as it’s very long and is partially not running so well. |
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20.11.04 - 2. DAY OF TOUR - ZLIN - CZZlin/Golem Club.... Still everything is white outside, but Bodo, our driver, being a biker in his real life, is the coolest human being on our bus and (at least visually) seems to be related to James Hetfield somehow. He didn’t have any problems with the snow and he’s driving us through Europe safely. Today everything is more relaxed and Mike shows an A1 stand-up comedy show during the sound check, so everybody is lying on the floor laughing. As for rehabilitation after his sickness during last summer, Victor goes swimming after that. I can tell you, he's really fit again and he's rocking on stage as I haven’t seen for a long time... The show is fantastic! What an enthusiastic audience. Everybody is overwhelming and the promoter is booking us for his festival (Masters of Rock) next summer. We are in a good mood as we’re leaving Zlin... |
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21.11.04 - 3. DAY OF TOUR - BUDAPEST - HBudapest/E-Klub.... Here, the sunshine is waiting for us. Because the breakfast isn't ready, I'm walking around a park the club belongs to. Before I actually see it, a small yelping rat (other people call it dog) bites into my leg. What a shit! Maybe I passed his favourite tree to close? Only with some trouble can I finally shake him off. Discussing with his owner turns out to be useless due to the language barrier. Anyhow, beside a small scratch at my leg and a hole in my trouser nothing happened. Nevertheless, it's annoying. Now I know why I prefer dogs in my skull collection!;-) The show is fantastic again. The Hungary fans are a great audience, celebrating our jubilee enthusiastically. Meanwhile, our set list is running better after some changes. We carry on, destination the beautiful Vienna... |
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22.11.04 - 4. DAY OF TOUR - Vienna - AVienna/Planet Music.... A year ago, we'd played together with Helloween here. The show in 2004 almost didn't happen, as our tour there had no promotor who was interested in our show, which would have surely been a mistake, as this show in Vienna became one of the tour highlights. Two weeks before the actual show, Michael Hirtzy from Noise Factor magazine became the promotor, and in unrelenting work he succeeded the feat - to fill up the Planet Music in such a short (and almost impossible) amount of time. It turned out to be an unforgettable evening, where we could celebrate a "Super Metal Party" together with those present, inclusive a birthsday serenade and endless "Higher Than The Sky" choirs... Once more, thanks a lot for this terrific evening to all who were there. If you missed it you have no one to blame but yourself... Also, the "Tribute To Rage" sampler, which Michael and lots of Austrian bands are creating (release date will be spring 2005) shouldn'd go unmentioned. We could already listen to a promo version and I can promise, there are some real interesting and innovative versions of our songs available. I was really proud as the songs sound great in the new dress and I highly recommend it... |
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23.11.04 - 5. DAY OF TOUR - BRATISLAVA - SKBratislava/Babylon.... At this show, we had to face some organizational and technical problems as a hurrican had destroyd the warehouse that housed the the equipment of the PA and light company. So, we had to manage to work with less and replacement equipment. The stage was rather dark but nevertheless, the concert became super, as the fans, which came in spite of the bad weather, liked to celebrate a Metal party... 24.11.04 - 6. DAY OF TOUR - DAY OFF |
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25.11.04 - 7. DAY OF TOUR - TREVISO - ITreviso/New Age.... After an almost unspectacular day off somewhere in the country near Venice, we're going to play in this Italien city for the first time. After that off day, I'm a little bit stiff as I caught lumbago during the last show so I had to help myself with a certain painkiller. It's no fun to play with pain in the back - you can believe me! I'm not betraying anything and the fans get their money's worth.... 26.11.04 - 8. DAY OF TOUR - MAILAND - IMailand/Live Music Club.... Today the club is really packed and we play a super show. Great fans here, and an unforgettable evening! I even forgot my back pain and gave full power, Adrenalin kicks... Today we broke our merchandise record. |
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27.11.04 - 9. DAY OF TOUR - REGGIO EMILIA - IReggio Emilia/Tempo.... We play in a club at the countryside, but with a super stage. On several plains we can cease raging. As we left the restaurant in the evening after dinner, we noticed that it's becoming extremely foggy. Because of a major accident, even the highway has to be closed. Nervertheless, the club is packed later on and we play another great show. Unfortunately it's pretty cold in the hall so I caught a cold next day. That was bound to happen... Anyhow, it's an off day next and I'll stay at the hotel...28.11.04 - 10. DAY OF TOUR - DAY OFF |
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29.11.04 - 11. DAY OF TOUR - PRATTELN - CHPratteln/Z7.... After unfortunately missing this venue last year (we’ve been to Zurich) we finally have a stop at the Z7 again. We are giving a guest performance here for the eleventh time, almost belonging to the inventory mentioned by chief Norbert. After days of an Italian white bread diet, we’re finally getting something real between our cheeks again. Apart from that, the support is just great. The washing machine is running the whole day. Finally we’re getting some DVD’s for our merchandise delivered by the Swiss SPV company, as we were sold out for days. Today the guys from Ordeal join us, as they are going to accompany us as the third band up to Hamburg. As the stage conditions in Pratteln are really great, they will be treated with care today, but during the following days, they unfortunately have to be ready to put up with some stress. The Spanish stage technichians are working a little slower, so for the most part they can’t meet the schedule, which naturally has consequences for the opener. Their funny Rammstein parody especially goes over well with our crew, who are having a good time. At the end of the day I had quite an experience that I have never had before. I’ve heard about it from other musicians a couple of times, but it has never happened to me personally, and it’s not so funny. They left without me! I was just saying goodbye to Dane when I see our bus driving away. „We thought you where in bed already“ is the commentary of the disloyals… as if I ever went to bed before depature… grumblegrumble… |
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30.11.04 - 12. DAY OF TOUR - LYON - FLyon/Transbordeur.... A grey and cold day forced me to disappear in my (single) backstage room, spending the day reading until just before our show starts. Therefore not that much was left in my memory, besides the fact that we played a great concert for the enthusiastic French fans, which in spite of the obligatory French volume limiting, was real powerful. The food was first class, French cuisine, not necessarily granted, therefore worth mentioning. The journey to Barcellona and the whole off day in Barcellona I just slept through as due to the bad rainy weather… building up strength for the next shows… |
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01.12.04 - 13. DAY OF TOUR - DAY OFF02.12.04 - 14. DAY OF TOUR - BARCELONA - EBarcelona/Mephisto.... We play at the Mephisto, a scruffy club with small stage. In spite of that (or maybe because of) it’s becoming a hell of a show. The chock-full club is celebrating us in best Katalonic manner and everybody has a lot of fun. Thanks a lot to my old mate Fran, who’s spending the afternoon with us at the seaside (sun & beach in December!) and other interesting places (don´t forget the incredible Box Experience!) |
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03.12.04 - 15. DAY OF TOUR - MADRID - EMadrid/Aqualung.... Last year, we were here at the Aqualung with Helloween, but this year we are alone. It’s a great day, which we each spend differently (I’m doing some sightseeing). As the advance-selling for the concert is extremely good, we’re looking forward to the evening. Unfortunately the fun will be detracted, when Pierre and Imna, our local promoter, tell us the news, that the ETA has detonated 5 bombs in the city. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but our fans are facing a lot of problems reaching the hall, as the police cordon off the whole city. However, when we enter the stage, most of the fans have somehow made it. The show is going great again - especially Mike’s drum solo. Maybe there are a lot of drummers living is this area? (Even Thomen of Blind Guardian has moved close by…) |
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04.12.04 - 16. DAY OF TOUR - BERGARA - EBergara/Jam.... Here at this pleasant mountain village, we always like to play on tour. During the day, the advance-selling numbers are continuously getting better. At the evening, the hall is almost sold out and closely packed as the fans celebrate all the bands. The Deadsoul Tribe guys came out of their shells completely and are headbanging, what the Dreadlocks could give. I took some cool videos of their show. Our show is also getting better. Only when the microphone crashed down during Mike’s drum solo did he get a little annoyed. That made him a bit aggressive and so the fans got the benefit of a version of „Sent by the devil“ in double speed, which really made us perform at our best, as the tempo of the song is already quite speedy to begin with. To tell you the truth, we almost couldn’t follow! An interesting new version… Like locus, the fans swarm all over our merchandise, so Iwan, who’s selling our merchandise, was sold out with some items. It’s time for new supplies… |
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05.12.04 - 17. DAY OF TOUR - PARIS - FParis/Elysée Montmartre.... Overpopulated by tourists, the parking situation at Montmartre is chaotic. Bodo has to park the bus outside of the centre. Anyway, being quite early we’re spending the afternoon doing some sightseeing before starting our show. The Ellysee is quite packed and we’re playing a terrific show. The demanding Paris audience liked it, though my voice is rather affected afterwards. Therefore, I ordered myself to stay in bed, which however is suddenly disrupted, as our bus broke down with engine trouble outside of Paris. We have to wait for a replacement, which is coming several hours later. Unfortunately, it looks like there was not time to tidy up the new bus ahead of time as we find it in the condition left by the former tenants. That means first putting clean sheets on and moving with bag and baggage at icy cold on the highway at 6 am. A rather ugly side of touring. Anyhow, we’ve faced worse situations. A little later the journey continues - destination Germany. Now the shows at home will follow, which we’re looking forward to already |
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06.12.04 - 18. DAY OF TOUR - DAY OFFDay off.... The next day we spend in a hotel in Saarbrücken, which is good for my voice. In the evening there’s a small production meeting with dinner, where we can talk about everything and how things are going. The guys of Deadsoul are overdoing the drinking a bit. After we left for our bunks at a late hour, not being totally sober, some of the guys decide to visit our crew stark naked, dressed only with a sock. I would have liked to see their faces! About the further incidents of this night, I better remain silent. The obviously recorded video proofs are speaking volumes, and could reveal someone or other involved person in a strange light… It´s only Rock´n´roll;-) |
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07.12.04 - 19. DAY OF TOUR - SAARBRÜCKEN - DSaarbrücken/Garage.... So, as mentioned, the day went rather funny, with a lot of tapping on our thighs. Everybody is happy, getting solid food again, after so much white bread during the last days. The hall of the Saarbrücker Garage is a quite difficult place to play, sound technically, as the projecting roof construction causes terrible reflections. It sounds a little slushy, but that makes no difference. The fans are in a good form and are celebrating with us.Here I would like to explain something. We had announced an acoustic set before our tour started, which we ended up not doing. This reason was this: we played this acoustic interlude (Vanished in Haze, Wake the Nightmares, After the End, Turn the Page) at the beginning of our tour and it was the total downer. The audience almost fall asleep. After that we experimented, at which part of our set we could fit in the songs, for a couple of shows, we shifted them around, but nothing worked. Always long faces after the motto: „ what™s the idea now?“ It make’s a big difference if you present it as a separate set in front of the actual show, or right in the middle of a highly bursting with energy Metal concert. But as we were touring with the Deadsoul Tribes as a support band this time, we couldn’t become our own opening band once more (apart from that, we wouldn’t have stand that conditionally). So we decided, to give it up completely, in favour of a successful show. Everybody who was waiting for that because we put in your mind, we’ll make it up at the first opportunity… |
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08.12.04 - 20. DAY OF TOUR - ASCHAFFENBURG - DAschaffenburg/Colos-Saal.... The Colossal is a nice club - if you can manage to get there. It’s realy hard to get there with an 18 meter long double-decker Nightliner. Parked cars blocked the tiny access road, so we had to start our daily work a couple of hours later than usual. But, our unbeatable crew managed everything at lightning speed, so there were no obstacles to a great show. Also the Deadsoul Tribe guys had an appreciative audience here in Germany. Our show is really terrific this evening. Victor even said a “special thanks” to some fans who had organized a visit to a sports car exhibition for him. |
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09.12.04 - 21. DAY OF TOUR - BOCHUM - DBochum/Zeche.... A stopover at home, I can make good use of that, all my rags are dirty. Manu picks me up at the highway in the morning, and all the afternoon the washing machine didn’t stop. My sweetheart is joining us now for the rest of the tour, which is really nice for me (ehm…). The concert is great again, Bochum surely rules. It is less stressful than during the recording for the DVD in January, so we are less strained. Friends in droves visit us and we spend half of the night talking. |
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10.12.04 - 22. DAY OF TOUR - OSNABRÜCK - DOsnabrück/N8.... We’ve been to this venue in 1999. At that time it was called Works and was shitty as well. How can they have bands to play there if they don’t even have a changing room? They are completely ignoring the fact that we have to live in a venue the entire day without going home in-between. So general puking up is is the word. Fortunately, many fans are coming and celebrating a great show together with us, which compensates the pesky day. Thanks a lot to all the fans. I’m also very happy, as my brother and his son (actually my nephew) is visiting us. Since Mathias is walking on the path of a musician, he was seeing us live today for the first time. I think he liked it. |
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11.12.04 - 23. DAY OF TOUR - KAUFBEUREN - DKaufbeuren/Zeppelinhalle.... Everything’s okay in the Algäu. Unfortunately it is prety cold outside and already in the afternoon you can’t see your hand infront of your eyes. The concert is going great. We even had more people than 2 years ago with Primal Fear. Only some sloshed hooligans were making trouble by throwing some beakers, but that didn’t impress us. There are always some numbskulls. Big thanks once more to Olly from the Ordeal because he could quickly get some medicine for my infected throat. That did it so I could sing to the end of the show. |
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12.12.04 - 24. DAY OF TOUR - LUDWIGSBURG - DLudwigsburg/Rockfabrick.... Pit stop at Hasche, so mood is increasing. All conditions are best and both bands are having great shows together with the Swabia. Siggi Braun from Siggi Guitars visits us, having a great time. He has real good ideas for a really great bass - do I hear a nightingale??? Unfortunately I couldn’t see the huge Soundchaser yet that the guys of the Rofa painted on the wall. During the day the wall was covered, so I’ll see it next time. |
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13.12.04 - 25. DAY OF TOUR - DAY OFF14.12.04 - 26. DAY OF TOUR - HAMBURG - DHamburg/Markthalle.... After a restful and relaxing day in a hotel in Hamburg, we’re going to the Markthalle. First we face the usual parking problems, but Bodo is already used to it. We get some Christmas presents and then we are ready to start. Great show, both bands are happy, but I am having some trouble with my voice. Still, I get through everything, but the sound is getting scratchier. |
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15.12.04 - 27. DAY OF TOUR - KOPENHAGEN - DK16.12.04 - 28. DAY OF TOUR - Göteborg - S17.12.04 - 29. DAY OF TOUR - OSLO - NTo go the distance just a bit better, I lay down in bed for the next 3 days, playing the show in the evening was the only break. Therefore, I unfortunately can’t report a lot. I fought through and with some changes in the set (and shortening) I managed it. What a good thing that our bus is quite comfortable, I haven’t sleep so much for a long time. In Oslo, our mate Hakon Grav from Scream magazine invited us for dinner at a steakhouse. For this I’d like to thank him again. |
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18.12.04 - 30. DAY OF TOUR - STOCKHOLM - SStockholm/Klubben.... This is the end of our tour. The Klubben, the small version of the arena, where we have been together with Helloween last year, is a perfact place for a great finale. A large, comfortable backstage, enough to drink for all, a large stage and a hall filled up with good mooded Swedish fans ensuring a great final show. My voice is better again and also the unavoidable final gags between both bands and the crew are not to be missed. First, the Deadsouls have inexplicable voices on their monitors, which especially disturbed Devon with his in-ear monitoring. As Victor is playing a solo from behind the stage instead of Rollz, the amusement is real great, culminating in Devons desperating plan to draw some tones out of his flute. Actually that’s not working, as we had stuffed in some toilet paper beforehand! But we also were not spared. The monitor games we already expected as well as the Mickey Mouse voices, zapped to Mike during his drum solo and to me, during „Higher“. That’s okay, but then, the first Dead Souls enter the stage after Mikes super troll interlude, baring their arses, and, who should have known that, coke bottles falling out! Ups, I quickly have to put them back, before the guys again draw up their pants. Nevertheless, they completely conquer the stage during „Higher“, wraped up to mummies with toilet paper or just dressed with a towel, decorating Mikes drum set with even more toilet paper. The last bars going down in the chaos, but it was really a lot of fun. One more time I’d like to say “many thanks“ to all concerned persons, it was great! Thanks to all, who came to our shows, we see us again next year. Until then I wish you all an amusing Christmas holiday, and a Happy New Year. Stay Metal, stay RAGE Yours, Peavy Thanks a lot for checking the translation, Paul !!! Photos by: Hakon Grav... Hellstar... Ronni König... Johannes Tschebisch... SMF... Yuki... Lord Obirah... Peter Gerulat... Joe Derschka |
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| 70000 TONS OF METAL 2011 | |