The Band
Phil Morris, Paul James Berry, Darren Horner, Andy Porter
The Crew
Sid, Om, Grape, Dave, Nellie & The Stones
Day 1
Overnight ferry from
Dover to Ostend. Plenty of wine women and quite a bit of song,
then a lovely drive to Mainz. Arrive 09:00am frozen solid.
Day 2
Mainz Festival. Meet
German tour rep Danny 'The Spliff' Rae. Do brilliant show and pass
out in Hotel bar.
Day 3
Off to Wuppertal, Sid off
to hospital with blood poisoning. Contracted on the first day out.
Amazing gig, you should have seen the lights. The stones find
night club with free Tequila bar, and Andy on the floor.
Day 4
Schoppingen in a
blizzard. The gigs a school but the crowd are hot and the package
we have delivered is even hotter.
Day 5
Day off - invited to WDR
rock night in Dusseldorf by the Mission. They have to leave early
to catch their ferry so they leave the Rose their dressing room
and all their rider. Backstage is brought to a stand still,
hooligans sporting Leeds scarfs interrupt German television
recording of the show, and the Mish receive a bill for £2,500 for
damage caused.
Day 6
Holland Leeuwarden
festival. All substances have to be disposed of before border. The
Rose fly in and out again.
Day 7
Ubach Palanburg. Back in
Germany Rose perform an amazing show. The entourage go to eat at
3:00am, completely comatosed by 4:00am they set off for Berlin.
Day 8
Berlin, absolutely
knackered. We receive package from gorgeous Berlin well wisher.
Feeling fine again we do the show and get showed the town.
Day 9
Day off - Hamburg. The
Stones have a knack of finding the right club with the right
amount of Tequila.
Day 10
Hamburg. The turnout is
low (150) but the Rose do the business, and the merch stand is
buzzing.
Day 11
Bestwig. The Rose tour
bus gives up the ghost and is swapped for two executive type cars.
Bestwig is a mountain and it's -10°C. The gigs packed and the
weary travelers are warmed by the sight of a snowman all the way
from England, and the fact that after the show the bar gives away
Tequila to anybody sporting a Rose pass. The Stones pass out.
Day 12
Ibbenburen. The Rose turn
out the balloons the crowd are amazed and so are the band.
Day 13
Oberhausen. It’s a
circus. The PA is set up in the wrong tent, but by this time
nobody cares. More good will packages turn up & we love
everybody.
Day 14
Day off - Bielefield.
Tequila and a swimming pool. The Stones are in heaven and
everybody else is down the local disco.
Day 15
Bielefield. More balloons
more mayhem and Richard head, plus no hub caps on the cars.
Day 16
Dortmund. More balloons,
beer, and packages than ever before. Tonight the band are Gods,
and after the third encore they run out of songs. Record company
rep enjoys himself so much me promises us loads of money and
promptly passes out.
Day 17
Down to Innsbruck, snow
and more snow. Van wipes out a Toyota Celica and gig turns out to
be an anarchist squat with no heating (-15c), and one power
socket. Pull the gig off to the hotel and into the restaurant. 34
Kir Royals later we meet some krampers which is just too difficult
to explain unless your Austrian.
Day 18
Goodnight Vienna.
Brilliant show, get to the last song of the set and then the
Nazi's start. Security does a runner, band and crew left to defend
the stage against the ensuing riot. Band + Crew 23 Nazis 0. Quote
of the week:
Vienna Nazi: "Where is the almighty Englishman now?"
The Stones: "Right in your face with a size 10 Doc
Marten!"
Day 19
Day off. Travel to
Zurich, visit the park and become happy happy people.
Day 20
Biel, Switzerland.
Definitely hailed as the best gig of the tour, lots of snow and
happy people. The Swiss certainly know how to rock out.
Day 21
Day off - Travel upto
Munchen in a blizzard, can't even stop for food as the breaks on
the van don't work in the adverse conditions. The Stones are now
suffering from van fever.
Day 22
Munchen - The stage is
2" high but the snow is good and the free after show Tequilla
from the bar makes up for the stage dimensions.
Day 23
Lindau. The Stones wake
up to find 25 bottles of spirits have appeared in their room, all
in varying degrees of emptiness. Set off for gig in a force 10
blizzard, get there to find most of the audience couldn't. Ended
up playing in front of 100 frozen Bavarains.
Day 24
Augsberg. Leaving hotel
at Lindau which happens to be on a hill the van with its summer
tyres leaves the road and takes a small detour through an orchard.
The Rose record the gig on video and the Tequila flows at the
hotel.
Day 25
Karlsruhe. Can't get
served in any of the bars, can't get in the nightclub, PA at the
club has only 3 speakers but a package turns up that makes it seem
all worth while.
Day 26
Schorndorf. Crew
remembers the theme for Grandstand, the German promoters supply us
with 10 bottles of Champagne to mark the success of the tour, and
we all get totally wrecked.
Day 27
Frankfurt Zillo festival.
Lots of get well packages, everything going well until the PA
breaks down half way through the set. Manage to get it fixed and
carry on regardless.
Day 28
Paris, France. Supposed
to pick up the tour van but it's not ready. Swap the cars for a
crappy German mini bus with a number plate WIMP. Crew reach the
gig 1/2 an hour before doors, and the band turn up and walk
straight on stage. But still another excellent show, to round off
an excellent tour.
Day 29
Party, Party all the way
home apart from UK customs where they hold us up for an hour or tw
Facts About the tour
Total Attendance: 6,434
plus 356 Guests
Miles covered: 5,487
Vehicles wrecked: 4
Estimated Bottles of Tequila consumed: 64
Estimated Bottles of Champagne consumed: 85
Estimated Bottles of beer consumed: 1,600
Most used tour sayings:
"How's that for naughty"
"No knickers onnnnnnn"
"They like it up 'em"
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