What Ezio has to say when he is on tour

Day 1: Luxembourg, Nov. 15

Dear Diary,

What a nice way to start a tour, definitely our best gig in Luxembourg. Lots of people. T42 played great. Saw lots of friends we hadn’t seen in a while.

Got picked up by a brand new bus that makes sure that we won’t pass unnoticed in Germany. Comfortable though.

Ezio

Day ­1:

There’s always an idiot who volunteers. This time it’s me. I’m the idiot that is driving to Luxembourg. Lille is very nice as I seem to driven around it about 5 times at a successful attempt at getting lost. Got to Luxembourg and finally saw John’s smiling face.

Van looks very clean.

Booga

Day 1:

Fuck me! What a great show! Meet Markus and greet him “I hope you’re good or I have to fire you”. Repeat to Alex. Break guitar in an unsuccessful attempt to be a rock star. It feels really good to be playing.

Booga.

Day 2: Krefeld, Nov. 16

Dear Diary,

We’ve finally made it to the big room.

Starting to suspect that our new sound engineer, Markus, is not completely deaf. We have learnt a new German word, but we are not supposed to tell you.

We also met our support band for the rest of the tour, CaMary. Nice hat!!!

Alex has discovered pay tv and won’t leave his room. And is looking kinda pale.

Ezio

Mr & Mrs Reeves, I apologize to you about returning your son in such a state. Good gig. Great audience.

Booga

Day 3: Bielefeld, Nov. 17

Dear Diary,

!!! Fuck me!!! Someone thought I looked like Ezio. That often happens to me.

My friends and family think so, too. Had to play Bruce Springsteen again.
Small audience, but very cool. Alex is playing very well. But without Peter, there is something very sensible and professional going on. It’s early days though. Except for Alex who’s still watching tv…

Ezio

I think we’re in danger of becoming a professional band. No drinking, no bad behaviour. We’ve all become very mature. Can’t wait for this to end. Alex had to be soaked in olive oil before we could get him out of his bed. The hotel has asked us to pay extra for the laundry of Alex’s sheets as a normal detergent couldn’t get rid of all this stubborn stains.

Booga

Day 4: Aachen, Nov. 18

Dear Diary,

We arrived in Mike’s hometown to find that we were playing in the subterranean labyrinth which was a WWII bunker. Weird, but cool. You won’t hear the audience complain here. At least from outside. Fantastic audience for a town we visit for the first time. The good news is: people don’t throw things at us during the new songs. Starting to suspect, Markus is quite good. No pay tv today; Alex looks sad... (The hand remembers what the heart forgets.)

Ezio

Strange atmosphere as we entered the bunker, but as soon as we started playing, the atmosphere became very charged and I think we played one of the strongest sets for a while. The band is sounding very tight. And I think, by the time we get to the Junction in Cambridge (Dec. 12), we will be SCARY!

Booga

Day 5: Bonn, Nov. 19

Dear Diary,

Wow! Heat! Smoke! Beer! Sweat! Schnitzels! As usual: packed!!! Booga sang about someone’s big balls…

So far, all the gigs have been fantastic and exciting for us. I’m starting to suspect, Markus is great. Alex definitely has lost weight and is look dehydrated. Lidia is a bastion of coolness in the face of the usual profanity and is playing brilliantly.

Ezio

Yeah Baby!!! Bonn! The jazz Galery! 450 people doing a great impression of a tin of sardines. How they get so many in there is amazing. It usually takes us 15 minutes to get from the dressing room to the stage. At which point we’ re already soaked in sweat before we’ve played a note. Another great night in Bonn. Found a good (and very courageous) soul who did our laundry. She will enter through the gates of heaven, especially seeing as she had to wash Alex’s underwear…

Booga

Day 6: Bonn, Nov. 20, day off

Dear Diary,

No comment today, it’s a day off after all.
Ezio

Yeah, right!
Booga

Day 7: Aschaffenburg, Nov. 21

Dear Diary,

Had to go to a very nice nail studio to repair my shredded hands. Did work.
Good news, the people of Aschaffenburg still know who we are, despite a catholic tradition in Bavaria that no unserious music or dancing is allowed on this day. The promoter went ahead with the concert for the first time in his 17 years history. God bless him. Allah, too. This made the local press with the promoter arguing publically that Ezio was serious music. We tried hard not to smile or dance.

Ezio


Being a lapsed catholic, it was just one more thing to feel guilty about.
Sorry God, but at least, we did our bit for the disabled by using a deaf monitor engineer and a partially sighted lightning guy. Once again, sorry God.

Booga

Day 8: Koblenz, Nov. 22

Dear Diary,

Our first time here and what a nice surprise. Completely sold out. Wow. And we played one of the best gigs of the tour. No pay tv on the hotel. Alex is back to his usual colour.

Ezio


Our hotel looked over the Mosel river which encouraged me to urinate frequently. Sometimes in the toilet, but mainly in the Mosel. Great show at the chicken café. The promoter gave us some t-shirts which Alex later on in the week customized to be armpit length crotch less pants as his laundry got larger. Fabulous show.

Booga

Day 9: Hannover, Nov. 23

Dear Diary,

The best thing about Hannover is leaving. When we played before, it was a big echoy factory like hall. Industrial, menacing and sinister. They’ve spent money on making it even more industrial, menacing and sinister.

Ezio


I now know what it feels like to play in Rammstein’s bathroom. This gig is so much hard work, it’s frightening.

Booga


The lack of pay tv over a two dat period made this by far the most depressing gig we’ve done…

Alex


Someday, I’m not gonna get lost in this town. Someday, but not today…

John

Day 10: Hamburg, Nov. 24

Dear Diary,

Best gig we have ever played in Hamburg, best audience in Hamburg, too. Good to finally sell out the Logo. The only fly in the ointment is that after the show, we went to a yuppie restaurant called “gestern & heute” where a particular member staff deserved sodomizing by a rhino for being arrogant, stupid, rude and ignorant. He mostly missed the tips of 10 people. Marcus, who by now we consider a genius, persuaded me not to call rhino’s-r-us by warning me about the Albanian mafia sitting all around us. I informed him that being Italian I knew a thing or two about how far you can go. And rhinos and mafia don’t mix.

Ezio


Thank God, it’s not Hannover. Management and Agency were there, which was nice. Fantastic show, great audience. Believed the rhino concept to be flawed as Tabasco should be used as a lubricant. Alex’s and Lidia’s partners arrived which led to increased use of profanity as we believe it is big and clever. Nice to see them both.

Booga


We haven’t been shut down in Aschaffenburg, we won’t be in Hamburg. When being in a noisy restaurant, surrounded by noisy tones from a broken cd, a stupid waiter tells you to be quiet, you just feel that you have to sing a loud happy birthday to an imaginary friend. So we did. Had a great night despite being surrounded by yuppie c***s.

John

Day 11 , Berlin, Nov. 25

Dear Diary,

It seemed strange to me that a gig should start at 11 p.m. on a Sunday.
Experience has taught me people need to sleep before they go to work. And sure enough, we had a disappointing turn out compared to our previous shows at this fantastic venue. The welcome was like usual very warm. The people at the venue we have become friends. I hope the next time we either play earlier or a weekend evening.

Maybe, it’s because it’s Sunday. Or maybe, it’s the feeling I always get when I see Berlin, but today I had a strange feeling of melancholia. I’m pretty sure it was because today was my son’s 2nd birthday and I couldn’t celebrate with him. Did play a song for him, the one I wrote for him. It’s times like this you realize what being a professional musician or entertainer means. You could have had bad news from home, felt ill, miss loved ones, special occasions… but people have payed to see you do your best. And you owe it to them.

Ezio


To enter a big city like Berlin and feel immediately at home is a special feeling and a lot of that comes from the people that make us feel so welcome at the Quasimodo. It is a legendary venue and it is an honour to play there.
I feel that Berlin has become one of my favourite places.

Booga

Day 12 , Berlin to Karlsruhe, Nov. 26, supposedly a day off

Dear Diary,

8 hours in the van. No time to update the diary. Dark all day. Depressing.
Chinese restaurants all serve the same meals. Back to Mexican next time.
All of us.

Day 13 , Karlsruhe, Nov. 27

Dear Diary,

You may be noticing we don’t have many amusing anecdotes of wild and crazy happenings. But it hasn’t been like that. We’ve been having enough fun on stage. And tonight was really fun. The audience gave us so much, it was very easy to give our best back. That day, we went to the Rockshop in Karlsruhe for a guitar stand and left with a van of equipment including a cheap but not so good Fender mandolin which is now permanently found its way into the show.

P.S. Booga got so excited that he threw his guitar across the stage smashing it completely for the 4th time in its history. It’s held together now with Gafa tape and sounds exactly the same.

Ezio


Sell out show, a great p.a., a lovely promoter, a great audience and a good gig. Perfection.

Booga


At this time of the tour, I gotta say, that it’s my 3rd club tour with the boys and the 4th overall. And this is the most professional tour ever. I’m very proud of the boys and the girl. With Marcus around, I feel the team is perfect. I’m also very happy (and thankful) that they all trust me. I think, they know I’d follow them to the end of the world, but thank God we’ve already been in Hannover… and they promised me we wouldn’t go back this year.

John

Day 14 , Freiburg, Nov. 28

Dear Diary,

Jesus, it’s like being back in Cambridge. 600 bicycles outside the venue, but unlike Cambridge, nobody trying to steal them. It was hot, sold out, sticky and glorious. And in common with Cambridge, everything was closed after the show, apart from a strange little bar with strange little drunk men, all of whom wanted to go out with Alex.

Ezio


A beautiful city with another great sell out audience. These 2 days affirm all those reasons why you took the hard road to become a musician. Ezio’s performances are at times spine tingling. Lidia is as solid and musical as anyone can be. And Alex is getting better and better. I can’t tell you how much we all appreciate those audiences.

Booga


Saw a fairy today. Either I’m getting insane, or I’m on my way back to childhood. Would be fun, though. Think I need to see Harry Potter pretty soon.

John

Day 15 , Reichenbach, Nov. 29

Dear Diary,

I felt I was in great form tonight. For some reason I had more energy than I deserved to have. Life is strange like that. At home, I can be exhausted watching tv. I think, we played to some new people. I hope they liked it.

Ezio

Saw some old friends. Everyone played great apart from me.

Booga

Day 16 , Freudenburg, Nov. 30

Dear Diary,

Sometimes, promoters can get a bit greedy trying to fit more people in a room than is responsible. I’m amazed, these poor people could move their arms enough to clap. I felt guilty that people that have payed to enjoy themselves should be made to feel so uncomfortable. We could have played the same venue twice to the same people that came and it’d be full both nights.

Ezio


A village on a mountain where the men are men. And the sheep are worried. A guy came up to me and introduced me to his sister and his wife. It was the same woman. Too many people in an small space made it uncomfortable for everyone. The audience were incredibly hot and tired by the time we hit stage. It only took us two songs to feel the same, drowning in our own sweat.

Booga


Saw friends and family tonight. The boys took me on stage for a beautiful version of Fisherman’s Blues. Witnessed the worst case p.a. scenario. Waited for Alex to start playing the drums to hear at least one instrument (so to speak) and looked at Ezio’s fingers to know where we were in the song.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed being back on stage. I kinda missed it…

John

Day 17 , Kaiserslautern, Dec. 1

Dear Diary,

Wow!!!!

Ezio


Fantastic. 250% increase in the audience. Played the big room, great p.a., everyone at the venue really looked after us. The whole atmosphere reenergized us and we played, what I believe, the best show of the tour. It felt like a real triumph.

Booga


I’ve seen many many Ezio shows so far. And apart from them being the best live shows anyway, tonight’s performance belongs to the top 3 I’ve had the pleasure to witness. Despite a worn out body and mind, the gigs and the friendship make it an indescribable pleasure to be part of all this. Anyway,
I quit.

John

Day 18 , Frankfurt, Dec. 2, day off

Our bodies have collapsed. We are totally fucked. No update today.

Day 19 , Frankfurt, Dec. 3

Dear Diary,

Back again at the Sinkkasten. I felt like I played quite well, we'd always had trouble with the sound in here, but that was before the days of “Super Marcus”. One of the pleasures of coming to Germany is that because of the large Turkish population, the standard of kebabs is much much higher than in England. The typical British kebab is much more dangerous than anthrax. However we had us a kebab in Frankfurt which should have been named "The
Osama Special."

Ezio

Back at the Sinkkasten, feeling a little bit more human after a day off; it’s quite a late show & I'm amazed that so many people turn up & stay until 1.30 a.m. to see the show, especially on a Monday night. A good show tonight & the crowd seemed to really get off on it.

Booga

Saw Harry Potter with Lidia and Alex last night. Our great escape from touring. Enjoyed it very much. It’s good the author had her say on the filming, this avoided us another Hollywood massacre. Had a Glühwein at the Christmas Market and a nice dinner afterwards. We all noticed how tired we really are and how far Christmas is, tough commercial Christmas seems to have started in June or so. Did some shopping as well. Tonight’s show was cool. Quite a different set.

John


Day 20, Köln, Dec. 4

Dear Diary,

The Prime Club, The Scene of one of Ezio’s finest gigs. Tonight was promising as well completely crammed full of people. However it soon became obvious that all was not as it should be. Lidia who, I can assure you, is one of toughest girls you are likely to meet, had been offended by a group of idiots as she struggled to fight her way through the crowd. I found her visibly shaken in the dressing room.
There seemed to be a lot "Wichser" (wankers) around, including three or four drunk men who insisted shouting out idiotic things all night. At one point I saw from the stage our manager Soeren shaking somebody by the neck. I really hope the enjoyment of most of the people there wasn't spoilt.

Ezio

This was an advanced sell out, with over 600 people crammed in a very small place. I don't know what it is about Köln, but every time we seem to play here, someone rally pisses me off.
Last year it was a journalist who asked the most stupid & inflammatory questions I'd ever heard & this time it was some idiot in the audience who verbally assaulted Lidia as she fought her way to the dressing room. In all the years I have known Lidia I have never seen her so upset as she was tonight. She is one of the kindest, nicest, gentlest people I know & has to
work in a very tough environment. She fits in so well that I only ever think of her as one of the chaps & so she has hear some of the most profane things that start in the dark recess of my mind & exit at volume from my mouth.
We all love Lidia very much & to see her so upset by some arsehole made my blood boil, so by the time I walked on stage I was ready to kill & played as hard as I could.
There were a few drunken idiots out there & I felt it was spoiling the show for the greater majority; at one point I had to say something about this & when I did 99.9 % of the room seemed to agree with me. Soeren, part of Mad Music Management, had come from Hamburg to see us that night & half through the show I saw him grab one these arseholes & throw him out, which cheered me up no end! Drank a bit too much after the show & wandered the streets with Alex trying to find a bratwurst shop at 3 in the morning. A very strange smell in my room the following morning.

Booga

What amazes me every tour, every gig, is the passion, commitment, enthusiasm and respect of the Ezio audience. And I really love, like the rest of us does, the interaction between performers and audience.
But it seems that some people don’t know the limits of this rare and precious treasure they’re sharing. Talking during a quiet song is not respectful, towards the audience and the band. Yelling something to Ezio during a song (especially during one of these magical moments) is not cool either. And trying to gain attention by yelling or making any noise close to a drunken man’s agony doesn’t really help, too. It’s destroying this fragile and unique atmosphere that is built up during Ezio gigs.
Tonight some people didn’t get the concept at all. 99,9% did though. My love and thanks go out to them and all the other people that know how to share Ezio’s music. Apart from the drunken c…s (which became my favourite word), I thought Köln was once again one of the highlights and I also thought that Soeren was quite cool. I was ready to sacrifice my life to help him, but he’s a tall and strong man who doesn’t need the cavalry. Bless him.

John

Day 21 , Essen, Dec. 5

Dear Diary,

Not as many people as the year before but a really enjoyable gig none the less.

Ezio

A really good show tonight, put all my frustration behind me & we played a great show. Nice to see some old faces there, though you never seem to have as much time as you want to catch up with them.

Booga

Before driving to Essen, we expected the worst. Presales were disappointing compared to the other gigs and it took us almost 3 hours to drive 70 km. But the walk-up was very good and the people who showed up proved to be a fantastic audience. Once again, the set changed completely and some unheard songs on this tour made their appearance.

As you may have noticed by now, I haven’t quitted my job. I guess I was too exhausted to dot it. Or maybe, I really love these people more than is officially allowed. Anyway, I didn’t break down tonight (though I felt close to) and I guess I can make it to the end of the tour. End of the tour??? I don’t wanna go home. I just want a couple of days off.

John

Day 22 , Heidelberg, Dec. 6

Dear Diary,

Possibly my favourite gig of the tour. A truly fantastic audience that just made you want to give everything. If every gig was like this I would be the happiest little musician around.
I quickly came out of the dressing room to find most people had left. but on reaching John at the merchandising table, I was delighted to discover that someone had left a gift for me. A painting. Of me. And a bull......Thank you. It’s hanging in my studio and it looks great. The bull is a mystical symbol of power, dark energy, raw animal instincts (Spain)… or could it be that the artist is saying I'm full of bull?

Ezio

Another familiar place for us & another sell out. A fantastic audience which really pushed us into putting on one of our best performances. It’s a very satisfying feeling to put on a good show. 

Booga

Heidelberg is one these places we almost consider as our homes. And the Schwimmbad audience has an interesting effect on us. Every time is different but very passionate. I had two great shows here with my band (T42) and to me it’s a magical place. I love the people here and we have many friends in Heidelberg. Tonight, I could discretely crawl on stage to perform “call you tomorrow”, in front of what we would consider a damn good-looking audience. And it surely was, can’t get the front row out of my dreams… Hope, I can play a couple of songs for you next time, especially “Barbara fades away”…

John

Day 23 , Worms, Dec. 7

Dear Diary,

Another bunker, do I feel a theme occurring over some of these shows? Felt like an English
gig, which was a bit weird. I think we played alright, nice audience, tried to trash Alex's room but he got there before us

Booga


Hmmm… at Kanal 70 you experience how a sailor must have felt in a German submarine bombed in the depths of the Atlantic. The venue was smaller than the yellow submarine, the stage made you become seasick, the lightning hardly illuminated the fire exits and the p.a. sounded like a gramophone… and though the audience was quite good, you could hardly hear them sing on stage (like someone had put up an invisible wall between them and the band). Having the chance to run around during shows, I can assure you: both were good… On a travel comfort point of view: The Hotel Sandwiese is a beautiful place and you definitely should taste the Chardonnay if you stay there.

John

Day 24 , Bitburg, Dec. 8

Dear Diary,

Bitburg is a strange place now that the soldiers have gone. All that’s left is a huge beer factory. We are greeted at the venue with the great news that 700 tickets have been sold and that the gig is completely sold out. It’s the last gig of the tour and I'm sensing that nobody wants to go home. We're all tired but it has been one of our best tours ever.
The gig was strange as it was obvious that a large proportion of the audience just wanted to drink huge amounts and talk. It also became obvious that despite having been "very" friendly in the past with American servicemen, not many people understood English. I tried to get their attention in all kinds of ways. I used the worst possible language such as f***ze which is like saying c**t... Nothing.
Only by the end did we finally get their total attention by completely smashing up our equipment which was a bit stupid as we were to play the Junction three days later. But this was our last gig here and the Junction just did not seem that important...

P.S. The next morning, we woke up to find that people had pissed all over our van... Must be
that factory…

Ezio

Last show, could definitely do with a break, but don't want to finish this tour. I can't remember enjoying a tour so much. Everyone played there ass's off & you feel like you have formed a new family. Great to end the tour with a sell out, despite the fact there were many punters who spent much off the night talking. We rocked out & by the end of the show Alex, Ezio & myself, attempted, with relative success, to trash our gear.

Booga

Everything has been said about the chatting crowd and I don’t really wanna add anything to it. The local crew was one of the nicest and most helpful of the tour (just like Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg…) and the p.a. one the most expensive… though a slightly cheaper one might have sounded better… on stage. Anyway, I remember also one of the longest interviews in history. We started at 6 p.m. and ended around 4 or 5 a.m., but our interview partner was worth it (though I’ve heard she’s lost the tape…). There was some sadness in the air when we finally left the venue… very early in the morning. Played “call you tomorrow” and felt fantastic; think I’ll put it in my contract next time… Maybe no one will notice before signing… Damn, I already miss the circus…

John

The days after…

We're back home. Everybody's pissed off. Bitburg took a heavy toll; two of Booga’s three guitars are completely fucked. As we've been away, very little was done to promote our hometown gig, consequently we have sold about half as many tickets as normal. Nevertheless, it’s business as usual. Alex, who had never been away on tour before, has noticed how much more people complain here about everything. I suppose you could say I'm doing it now. The gig was good though. Peter showed up and played “Sweet Thing” as only Peter knows how. The crowd sang, laughed and by the end we'd all had a good time.

There is nothing left to say apart from thanking everybody that came... It would have been really weird without you…

Ezio

Getting back home seems a little bit tougher every time as bonds grow stronger, faces become names, the family gets closer… this time, I miss the boys (Super Marcus included) and the girl big time. First thing I did when I got back to my flat was to insert my Ezio live album into the CD player. Guess I’ve become mad after all… I must have witnessed over 100 shows and I still can’t get enough of their music. And of the “Ezio adventure”. When I met them 5 or 6 years ago, I never thought they would have such a big influence on my life… well, I don’t regret it and when I think back to this last tough 4 weeks (which appear to be an eternity), all I can say is: I’m up for more, a lot more. And I know, you are too.

Btw, I miss you, all of you, except maybe for the couple of c***s… but I count on all the other to teach them how to behave for next time we’re around. Till then, take care and see you soon.

John