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Hamburg Rock Cafe
FM / Electric Boys / Châlice
14 November 2015
FM Tour Diary: Hamburg Rock Cafe - 14 November 2015
So it's around 3am and we've arrived back in Malmö. Why do hotels never appear to have keys ready even though we've contacted them earlier saying it will be a late check-in? There is lots of screen-staring, head-shaking and scratching from the guy on reception. We're dog-tired but eventually keys are passed out and we can go get some much needed sleep as it's a 9.15am meet in the morning.
8am… the morning stillness is broken by both mine and James' phone alarms going off
in unison. Shower time. We have breakfast included this morning so it would be rude
not to partake. James and I are the first down but we're soon joined by the rest
of the guys. Talk soon turns to last night's tragic events in Paris, we have plenty
of questions but sadly no answers.
We leave right on time to cross back into Denmark via the Oresund Bridge - now renamed
"the arm-and-a-leg bridge" due to its extortionate price. We have a ferry in our
travel itinerary today and when crossing the bridge the water looks a little choppy.
Let's hope the ferry crossing isn't too bad. We arrive at the ferry port right on
time at about 11.45am to check-in and 
drive onto the ferry at 12.20pm. My new boots
are showing no signs of letting up on the pain stakes so as soon as we're aboard
I get my comfy shoes out of my case… Aaah bliss. The crossing is pretty smooth, James
and I brave the elements up on the deck and in 45 minutes we land safely in Germany.
Wow, it's only 1.20pm and we've already been in three countries today! Busy, busy.
Next stop Hamburg. The sun is trying to break through the gloom but right now it's
raining.
Tonight's venue has a ridiculously small stage and there are three bands on so I think tonight could be… now what word shall we use? - I know… Interesting, tonight will be interesting.
An hour or so into the journey the rain has stopped. I can't be more specific as I've been nodding off. From looking out of the bus windows, it's still very countrified out there but I guess we should be hitting the outskirts of Hamburg shortly.
As we hit 
the fringes of Hamburg the rain joins us again, this really has been a
damp start to this European trek. Traffic is bad in the city, plenty of police presence,
the roads appear near to gridlock. Ah, there's a demonstration going on right in
the area we need to be and the roads are closed. Marvellous. We get moving again
and stop. This is becoming rather tedious. We're now less tha
n a quarter of a mile
away but not moving. We finally arrive at the Rock Cafe about eight hours after leaving
Malmö this morning. Yes, it's a small club with a very small stage, we'll be sharing
my drums tonight for sure. It's chaos, but it's organised chaos. We get it all together
pretty quickly and all three bands get a soundcheck… Top marks, everyone! It's still
raining but Merv, Jem, Steve C and I head out to the Reeperbahn to pass the time.
Back at the venue Châlice are onstage. The dressing room is decked out in a very bohemian fashion, all purples and golds. It's really cool, definitely dressing room of the tour so far. Electric Boys have a great gig tonight, I go out and have a look, it's a great live sound.
Back in our purple boudoir we get ready for our show. We cram 
ourselves onto the
stage and launch into Digging Up The Dirt. It's a right sweaty affair, the audience
are on top of us, dancing, singing. After the 100dB limit in Sweden I think James
is rebelling, it's loud but everyone says the sound is amazing. We finish our set
and do our encore but the crowd is still going nuts. The owner of the club comes
down and asks us to go back on, which we do and play Blood And Gasoline. The Rock
Cafe Hamburg rocks!
The bus is loaded, we're staying in Osnabrück tonight, a good two hours away. The
inclement weather shows no sign of abating, it's also very windy. We finally arrive
at 5am, pretty ragged round the edges. We're in a very budget hotel tonight, 1-star,
and it's automated check-in, or not in this case. It's a right old palaver but finally
we each get a slip of hand-written paper with a room number and entry code. I'm in
with James again. The room has a double bed with a bunk over the top of it. I let
James have the bed and climb the ladder into my bunk and drift into sleep…