Scribblings!
Ramonettes 2006 Leave Australia Tour log:
Ramonettes Testimonial from Doug Whittaker
Ramonettes 2004 Euro Tour log:
Ramonettes 2006 Leave Australia Tour log
2006 Tour Log 1
The Ramonettes happy family is glad to be on the road again. We started on a high with a cool show with some excellent Japanese bands in Tokyo. The Romanes are three young women who sing Ramones songs in Japanese, and we made good friends. We carried a lot of equipment on trains around the subways which involved some long staircases and tricky ticket-machine manouevres. It was cherry blossom time so everywhere looked really beautiful and the folks were joyous, which is a pleasant cultural surprise.
We flew comfortably to France, luckily having been upgraded to business
class. We picked up the van and some amps in Paris, then (via
Versailles and Chartres Cathedral) some drums from Bart on the coast at
La Rochelle. His high-energy garage sound band, The Pneumonias, played
shows with us in Rennes (Mondo Bizarro where the genial Bruno made it a
wonderfully warm and exuberant night for all his patrons) and Bordeaux,
where local wine was only one of the comforts supplied by Thomas and
the crew at Le 115 Club.
We then drove around the coast for two shows at the Louie Louie Bar in
Gijon, Spain. We arrived to see the Easter carry-on, which definitely
looked like a KKK rally with all the inner-circle Christians wearing
pointy hats and masks. They carried big statues of Jesus and Mary on
heavy wooden platforms above their heads. And they don't even do hot
cross buns! They make up for this with a spectacular array of Easter
eggs, artistically created chocolate sculptures. Our shows were more
fun. Kike and Carlos have a neat new bar and we were their first
international act. The place was packed both nights. In between gigs we
sampled the renowned seafood of Cantabria and the sidra (apple cider)
which is poured from a bottle held in a hand stretched above the head,
into a glass held below the knees. Messy at the best of times, and
wasn't that all the time?
Donostia/San Sebastian in the Basque country was our next date. We went
via the Alta Mira caves with a tour of their ancient rock paintings. A
rather newer painting of Dee Dee Ramone greets the patrons who wanna go
down to the basement at the Atabal club. After soundcheck, promoter
Juanma took us to a delicious home-cooked vegetarian meal at his
friends' home. The bar was jammed and smoky when we returned to
reel-off a very sweaty and breathless set. We were glad to get out into
the cool rain and drive to our rustic, old farmhouse accommodation.
These three storeys of clean and tidy rooms were a squat. It was quite
liberating to know that the people with the grand bath hadn`t paid rent
or gas or water or electricity for eight years.
Touring is never boring. (Driving back into France took us through
Armagnac, and we bought a bottle of the famous brandy from the nice old
man who allowed us to taste a 30 year old bottle.) But there are some
elements that repeat a bit. We spend a good few hours in the van most
days, driving and navigating. We take the scenic routes to avoid paying
tolls. Ramonettes traditional tour picnics are a daily joy. They
consist of local breads, cheeses, fruit, vegetables, spreads and
pastries, all washed down with a cup of coffee from our
camping-stove-powered espresso machine. (We don't drink alcohol before
driving or gigs.) And our default accommodation is a Formula 1 Hotel.
That is a standardised-throughout-the-world, 30 Euro room for up to
three people; perfect for our minimalist tour-party. The layout of each
F1 Hotel is exactly the same. It can be a totally automated check-in,
always with pin-number entry to identical rooms, and the toilets flush
and clean themselves. Last night we stayed in the Formula 1 at
Ramonville, near Toulouse. Today we passed through Rocquefort and
tasted the cheeses on our way to the hospitality of Sylvie, Marc &
Pierre at the legendary Subsonic Club in Montpellier.
2006 Tour Log 2
The show in Montpellier at Antirouille was organized by Fifi of "Tout a Fond" ("as fast as possible") music association. The stage, lights and PA were the biggest production of the tour so far and the show was filmed on two cameras by locals, Antoine and Jacques. Fifi is a huge Ramones fan and really looked after us well. We had two luxurious rooms in a Spanish-style hotel with a beautiful swimming pool though it is still too chilly for swimming. He also books shows in Marseilles which is a place we've always wanted to play, so next time ?
Thursday we headed for Nimes via Arles, giving us the opportunity to
take in some Van Gogh scenery and a re-creation of his bedroom. They
have a great colloseum and other Roman ruins there. (We forgot to
mention in the last log that we went to the Guggenheim museum in
Bilbao, Basque Country, and marveled at the architecture and massive
steel sculptures by Richard Serra and a Russian art exhibition.) The
Nimes show was at La Movida which is on La Placette, the gypsy square.
The small place filled up with interested people and we stayed with
Marco in his flat nearby. His friends turned up for a party so it was a
late night but he let us use his computer, which was great.
Friday we played at the Thunderbird Club, St Etienne, in the basement
cavern as usual. The support band were the Clean Cuts who called
themselves the Ramoneurs in honour of our visit. Literally that means
"chimney sweeps" but "ramonage" is also slang for sex. The Clean Cuts
and their friends were friendly and cool and we raged on in the
basement until closing time. We stayed with the club owner James and
his wife.
Saturday, we didn't have a show (as usual, for some strange reason) and
we drove to Lyon to check out the number one record store in Europe -
Bruno's "DangerHouse Records". He remembered the Exploding White Mice
coming in 1996 and he took some of our product and we took plenty of
his. Suzy got rare Ronettes on vinyl, a Ramones belt buckle and a
fabulous Johnny Ramone t-shirt. Driving on, we bought goat cheese and a
bottle of Beaujolais from a woman at her farm and found a Formule 1
hotel to relax in. We heated some lentils on our Campingaz burner, and
it went really well with the goat cheese melting into it. The burner is
mostly used for making espressos a few times a day, saving us over
$1,000 on the tour, we figure.
On Sunday we only had a short drive to Chalons sur Saone where, on
arrival, we drank 16 year old Lageravulin single malt whisky with Zac
at the Dum Dum bar. We picnicked on the riverbank before the show,
defending our food from a fierce white swan. It was a lot of fun at the
Dum Dum bar and we played 6 encore songs. Afterwards, the bar was
packed all night. We went with Catherine, and later Michel (the club
owners) for dinner of cheeses, turkey, great Bordeaux whites and reds
and also "kir", which Shannon drank, mixed with Chardonnay. After
unlimited coffees in the morning, we collected the gear from the bar,
later stopping at a Turkish supermarket to replenish the food supply in
the van. We picnicked at Our which means "Bear"! and after defending
our picnic food from a fierce bear, we drove to the Besancon Formule 1.
We had a few days without shows in which to get to Croatia so on
Tuedsay (after the picnic), went to see the caves at Grotte d'Oselle.
That's a living limestone cave that is accessible to the public for
about two kilometres. We then drove on across the Rhine into Germany to
find a hotel, and back again into France to stay at a Formule 1. On
Wednesday we successfully and more permanently crossed the Rhine and
soon had lunch at a wurst bar near Stuttgart. The desire two of us had
been feeling for sausage, mustard, brotchen and sauerkraut with beer
was quickly satisfied. We drove on to Augsburg where we took a
two-bedroom flat with kitchenette, etc. The next morning we ate a
cheesy German breakfast in the hotel dining room before driving on to
Graz. We made soup for tea and drank the last of our Bordeaux wine in a
fairly expensive flat in the outskirts.
On Friday we took small roads in the rain to the Croatian border, and
successfully crossed it three times at two different locations, before
arriving at "Rock'n'Roll High School", the basement of the Gimnasium in
Varazdin. It was another curved cave kind of venue and Captain Kurtsy
took us to our accommodation, which was a flat built for the Firemen's
Olympics and again had a kitchenette. (These kitchenettes save a lot of
gas when making coffee.) Our old friend Hax came to the soundcheck
bringing beer, wine and pizza and they were screening Ramones movies at
the back of the venue. Local band the Lobotomys really entertained the
big crowd of over 100 mostly 13-17 year olds. They crowded onto the low
stage and really got involved, and were obviously big Ramones fans for
little kids. As the nearest they'll ever come to live Ramones music, we
had to autograph DVDs, coasters, pizza boxes and even their arms and a
stomach. The organizers did everything they could to keep the kids off
the stage while we were playing, with only a degree of success.
Afterwards we had a beer with Hax and the Lobotomys at the same bar
where we'd met Hax in 2004.
Saturday (our traditional day-off), we drove to Budapest to take in the
sights and pay our respects to the birthplace of Tommy, the only
surviving original Ramone. Unbelievably, some idiots decided it was OK
to have a car rally amongst the traffic on the highways of Hungary and
the drive was truly terrifying, with professional racing cars coming
down the wrong side of the road and around corners towards us for an
hour or so. We survived the surreal ordeal and finally crossed a bridge
to see spectacular Budapest, "Queen of the Danube". The colours and
grandeur reminded us of Venice. We found a really friendly Iraqi man
who exchanged our funny money for great felafels and free mint and
apple tea. He said the Hungarians were really accepting of other
people, much more so than the Germans and, we concluded much more so
than Australians, unfortunately. We found a cozy backpacker hostel to
stay in, apparently the best in Hungary, and Suzy and Andy played on
the train tracks and finished-off the Croatian red wine with a French
backpacker (who was not too impressed with the quality). We liked it.
While we always buy food and drinks of the county we're in, we seem to
end up consuming them in the next country, slightly out of synch, but
providing an echo of parts of the tour that we are finding increasingly
hard to recall.
On Sunday we drove to Kosice in Slovenska Republik, Slovakia. The venue
was a big atrium encircled by little bars over two storeys. It was in
this very punk, anarchist environment that we met our Czech promoter,
Petr Ank and his band SPS. Outside in the street and in the adjoining
square were about 50 full-on punks with Mohawks, safety pins and
Pistols and Ramones t-shirts. By contrast the rest of the town was
twee, with folk dancing, coloured fountains, old churches, bell-ringing
and straight clothes stores, like "Bushman", an Aussie-image brand, ?
"Bloody Good Stuff" (apparently). Andy was busting for a leak but as we
had no Slovies, the troll in the toilet wouldn't let him in, even when
he offered her a Euro, about 10 times the local value of a piss. It
often seems as though with the repression and order of some countries,
there comes the rebelliousness of punk. The support band were called HB
and SPS were the headliners; the best bands of Slovakia and Czech
Republic respectively. And they were really great. The crowd was crazy
though, grabbing at the guitars and monitors and diving from the stage.
There was some pretty bad behaviour during and after the gig. Shannon
fled to the van but returned in time to see an ugly fight involving
about 8 girls, in the bar that was supposed to be our backstage area.
We stayed at the home of rasta DJ, John, who lives with his parents and
grandparents and was keen to involve Shannon in the next generation.
Monday was Mayday and we were shocked at midday when the tinny Tannoy
speakers on every corner broadcast a scratchy folksong followed by some
kind of political speech and then some more folk songs. Apparently that
happens nationwide on special occasions. We left and drove through the
mountains to Podalavice in Banska Bistrica. It's very close to the
Polish border and the High Tetris Mountains were the backdrop. We had
to ask directions at a servo when we arrived and the station attendants
somehow arranged a police escort to the village. The show was in a
large culture house - like an institute hall, now used for rock-shows.
(The local punters were a bit surprised at our arrival style!) There
were lots of young kids in Ramones t-shirts again. It was a really good
show with HB supporting us, along with 2 other local bands. It was lots
of fun with about 100 people, all dressed in cool gear and lots with
Mohawks. We noticed that face metal seems to be on the decline here. We
only got 50 Euros for the show but they did arrange for us to stay two
nights in a snow-chalet in the mountains. We walked in the soggy fields
and even found a clump of old snow for Shannon to encounter for the
first time. Not knowing what to do with it, she started eating it. The
guys in the chalet put on metal music DVDs for us, including ACDC and
Black Sabbath and we cracked a bottle of the local Absinthe, in
partaking of which with us, we could not interest them in the least.
Wednesday we head for Czech Republic, before going to Poland and
Germany.
2006 Tour Log 3
Our first show in Czech Republic was at Olomouc. We drove back through the mountains of Slovakia near the Polish border to the Mitril Klub located in the centre of town underneath a Japanese restaurant. This cavern/cellar was distinctive in that it was made of sandstone and we had a cool support band Zatrest. As with the second show in Czech Republic at El Diablo bar in Hradec Kralove, the crowd were very enthusiastic, not to say in your face. El Diablo was another cellar, painted in devilish red motif. Suzy and Andy were treated to a beautiful homemade strawberry liqueur by Jiricek, the owner of the club who organises the huge Anti-Fest near Prague each year. He invited Ramonettes to play there in 2007.
Shannon tasted the local specialty liqueurs, especially a peppermint
one and a little more absinthe by accident. One guy took great photos
and has promised to send them to us on CD so we'll soon share them on
the web. We stayed for a second night in an old communist workers
hostel which retain some of the bleak, austere institutional character
of the past era, and which are common in former Eastern Bloc countries.
The bathrooms down the hall, separate spaces for men and women, narrow
single beds, non-functioning heaters and no adornments typify this
spartan accommodation, now frequented by backpackers and low-level
rock'n'roll bands. The disdainful and stern hausfraus are fossil relics
and a frightening reminder of how things must have been.
The next day we drove to Bielsko Biala in Poland to meet Piotr, our
local promoter for a show at the opening party of a fabulous Indian
vegetarian restaurant, Massala. Darak and Barbara had fabulous food and
drinks for us and put us up in their spacious and very stylish
apartment. The crowd was peaceful and polite and Piotr played great
music after the show. Crazy dancers almost killed themselves when they
brought the PA stack down but it was all good-humoured and much of it
was captured on our video.
The second Polish show was in nearby Krakow and we met Kali early in
the day and had a tour around the town and saw the castle (famous for
its dragon), the Barbican and old market which have been in use since
the 1200s and is now full of tourist tack and tat. We had a drink in a
very cool bar where they show arthouse films for free three nights a
week.
The club we played in, "Imbir", and had a very different ambience to
the previous night. The sound system was appalling and monitors
non-existent. There was a huge and ugly tattooed, dreaded, camouflage
pants-wearing buffoon who skanked his weight into harmless punks and
young girls including Suzy and Shannon, and was the prime contributor
to what was the worst gig Ramonettes have ever done. People crashed
onto the drums, Shannon was hit in the face while playing, Suzy had a
person thrown into her side, we stopped to tell the troublemakers in
the audience to stop interfering with our instruments while we were
playing and keep off the stage, and cut our set short when it became
impossible to go on. We have a tape to prove how awful it was and we
won't be sharing that with anyone. It was sad for us and the
organisers, Kali and Vitek, that we were so unhappy with the evening's
events, but by local standards apparently it was a really great show,
lacking in violence or any remarkable sound quality problems. We said
we really felt sorry for the kids and they deserved better. We had a
great sleep and felt much better in the morning, especially after a
cooked egg breakfast. As has become common, our car spent the night (at
cost) under guard, at a secure parking station, and we picked it up to
commence the long drive to Warsaw.
Warsaw is city that has been completely rebuilt after Stalin let the
Germans destroy it at the end of World War II. The Aurora Club was
larger than most we've played in, and local Ramones cover band, The
Dumbs opened the show for us. They have also got some cool original
songs. We got on really well with them, swapping CDs. The club screened
our "Lifestyles of the Ramones Fans" DVD between bands. There were
around 150 mostly well-behaved punters who were big punk rock fans and
many Ramones t-shirts were in evidence. The PA was great, with good
monitors and Andrew thought it was the best gig of the tour so far. The
girlfriend of one of the Dumbs made a mini-disc recording and has
promised to send it to us. Jenni, who runs a local label, swapped CDs
she distributes, for our vinyl and DVD. After the show we went back to
the promoter`s and sampled his home-made honey vodka, which was
delicious, actually. Now, we have a couple of days on Highway 30 out of
Warsaw to Berlin via Poznan for the last week of the tour, in Germany
and Paris.
2006 Tour Log 4
The final week of our second European tour started with an absolute highlight, a trip to the Ramones Museum in Berlin. Curator, Florian Hayler was really friendly and treated us like family. He has the most amazing collection of Ramones paraphernalia we could have imagined; baseball bat, Frisbee, Mambo shorts, signed guitars, ripped jeans etc. He watched our `Lifestyles of the Ramones fans` DVD and has a copy of that and our tribute to Joey concert in the museum. He came to see our concert the next night at the legendary `Wild at Heart` bar in Berlin. We met a lot of nice people and enjoyed the bicycle culture and sights of this vibrant city.
Our next show was in Munster at Germany`s most popular club, Gleiss 22,
which serves as a youth centre during the day and live venue at night.
Frank, who runs the club is a big Exploding White Mice fan and
remembered Andrew from the 1996 tour. Unfortunately the Richies` car
broke down so we missed the opportunity to meet them.
We drove to Aachen, also in Germany for Sunday`s gig at HauptQuartier,
probably the best looking bar we played in on the tour. Charly fed us
Indian food before the show, and a local filmmaker, Henk, documented a
really fun night. We played a lot of pinball before and after the show,
and Linda and Dieter showed us how true wizards get the lights
flashing.
We travelled back to Paris for the last show at La Miroiterie, which is
an artists' squat. A big crowd turned out to see the fabulous Holy
Curse who supported us. The PA died but Toma fixed it quickly and the
show resumed. Coxs had done a great job promoting the show and the
audience cleaned us out of our remaining promotional materials. Next
day Shannon flew to Finland to catch up with her email buddy while Suzy
and Andy returned the drums and tour van to their respective owners
before heading to the south of France for the Cannes Film Festival and
some sunny days on the Cote d'Azur.
2006 Tour Epi-Log
Sunday Mail (News Ltd, South Australia) Adelaide band pleases at exclusive Launch party at Cannes Film Festival.
In the South of France after the completion of a tour of Japan and
Europe, South Australian rock'n'roll band the Ramonettes were invited
to guest at the launch party for U.S. director Susan Dynner's new
feature film, 'Punk's Not Dead', which premiered in Cannes this week.
The Ramonettes joined legendary British band the UK Subs on-stage
following the premiere screening. The film concerns the revolutionary
1970's music movement which refuses to die, and features the UK Subs
along with bands such as Ramones, Clash, Sex Pistols, Black Flag, Green
Day and Nirvana.
The three piece Ramonettes are pre-eminent exponents of the elemental
style of New York rockers, the Ramones, who ignited the movement in the
mid 1970's. Cannes film critics and industry aficionados joined in the
"Hey ho, let's go," chants and sang along with the Ramonettes in the
choruses to the anthem, "Sheena is a Punk Rocker." Dynner's film has
been selected for the Melbourne Film Festival next year.
Ramonettes Testimonial from Doug Whittaker (1964 - 2005)
(Dougy became our friend after hearing Suzy pay tribute to Joey on the radio. We corresponded for some time before finally meeting him, playing with him and filming his impressive collection of Ramones memorabilia. He is featured in our DVD "Lifestyles of the Ramones Fans". We were greatly saddened by his death, after an epileptic fit, on Australia Day 2005. We loved him.)
The first time l heard the Ramones I dragged mum down to the local music store and even though the guy there insisted l start playing an acoustic guitar I dismissed his advice as pure folly and wondered home the proud owner of an electric guitar.
I wanted to play only Ramones songs and although l played in many
bands, the closet l got to fulfilling my dream was to play my guitar
through both a guitar and bass amps and singing. However smashing the
symbols together between my knee's and running around to keep the beat
on the bass drum mounted on my back proved to be fruitless; it's a
furious pace!
I then I came across the enviable Ramonettes who, with the bravery of
Icarus, had mastered the sound of the Ramones while obtaining a
desirable tan at the same time. The trio consists of Andrew, a
cat-loving, croissant-munching drummer, Shannon on bass, whom l once
asked where she thought l should have a Ramones tattoo placed on my
anatomy and she recommended l have it inserted on my face, and
guitarist Suzy Ramone, who proudly wears her leather jacket even whilst
riding her bicycle; a fan's fan. All toe tapping tunes are played in
the traditional downward stroke manner and they don the mandatory
appropriate apparel. They "hey ho let's go" and "gabba gabba hey" their
way through classic Ramones songs and a handful of oddities thrown in
for good measure, even a distorted Nancy Sinatra song!
The Ramones were the most influential band of their time and, in a
cruel paradox, also the most under-appreciated. Some were fortunate
enough to jump on board but far too many missed the boat. The
Ramonettes have a big enough yacht for you to sail right up next to it.
As Joey Ramone once so aptly hypothesised, "If you're not in it, you're
out of it."
Dougy Friday 12 Mar 2004
Ramonettes 2004 Euro tour log
2004 Tour Log 1
Today we drove down the motorway in glorious Autumn sunshine past fields of ripening corn and spent sunflowers, heading for Belgrade, listening to Neil Young's "Live Rust" and The Spazzys CD. The sun-roof was open for the first time on the Volvo wagon in which we've already clocked-up three and a half thousand kilometres.
We were returning from the winding, country roads and mountain passes
of Kosovo where the locals travel in horse-drawn carts, old Trabants,
Yugos, Ladas, tractors and the ubiquitous unlit bicycles. The newer
vehicles were mostly UN-marked four-wheel-drives, military trucks and
the occasional tank, and we were pulled-over several times for checks,
including to have a mine-sweeper scan our car. The guitars, amps and
drum hardware in the well-packed boot set the detector screaming but
with the realisation of what our innocent cargo, coverered with a tent,
washing and sleeping bags, is, the tension melts. It was considered too
complex a task for the Greek and Jordanian troops to tackle seriously
and we are waved-on, but "No photos, please!" Our one Kosovo show was
at an open-air bar packed with Tuesday night peace-keeping revellers
and some young Serbs. With the water and electricity off for the night
(as usual), the generator for the rock'n'roll show was a magnet in the
dimly glowing heart of the town. As with most of our shows so far, the
Ramonettes are the first international band ever to play in this town.
In the morning, local builders offered us Stomaklija; "It's good for
stomach ache." (What, giving you one? It's a highly alcoholic spirit
with a sprig of some unidentified herb suspended in the bottle, and it
wasn't too bad.) Food and drink for the last six days of gigs have been
a delight, with a generous supply of traditional fare being the norm.
As constant are the towns festooned with our posters and unexpected
elements such as the promoter who decorated the stage with two vintage
Moto Guzzi motor bikes and then arrived on-stage mid-song with a friend
to be photographed with Suzy and Shannon and their respective bikes.
Stage-invaders giving off-key vocal support, mix with cameos from local
musicians we have invited to join us. In a society where a two dollar
entry fee can be prohibitive, door-hassling is de rigeur, as is
demanding plectrums and drumstick souvenirs. Paradoxically, offers of
swigs, accommodation and other hospitalities abound, as it is
considered to be un-Serbian to be stingy or, as they say, "To act as if
you have a snake in your pocket."
Our seventh show in as many days was in Belgrade's famous Akademija
club which has historically been decorated and run by the Art School
students. Now it is operated on a more commercial basis but artists
were putting finishing touches to the frescos as we sound-checked. The
underground, paint-fumey atmosphere made one bright but otherwise
mono-lingual student quip in perfect English, "Now I Wanna Sniff Some
Glue!" We are indeed "a Happy Family."
When we arrived back from dinner there was a big crowd outside and a tv
crew waiting for us. That was our fourth tv interview here and we've
talked to radio and fanzine journalists most nights too. In the crowd
are the usual core of Ramones nuts, air-guitarists and sing-along,
air-punching "Hey Ho!"-chanters, and later we are heartened to be told
that we sound like authentic classic-period Ramones. Playing every
night has tightened our act and we are having a fantastic time living
the Rock'n'Roll dream.
Next we play in Novi Sad, supported by a local Sex Pistols tribute
band, the NS Pistols (aka DMT) and then we tour Croatia, Bosnia and
Slovenia, so it's plenty more of "Jen-dva-tri-cetri! (1-2-3-4!)" Have
fun and see you soon, maybe! Gabba gabba hey!
2004 Tour Log 2
The Ramonettes continue on our way with the two best gigs so far, this week. Tonight in Ljubljana, Slovenia, (Thursday 7th) we packed the small ´Orto Bar' with excited punters to whom we played everything we knew. They still wanted more and begged us to start over even though we´d been going for an hour and a half. Our standard red wine 'rider' turned up trumps with an excellent bottle of Refosk (!?) replacing the chilled, lighter Montenegran wine we'd enjoyed before. We're staying at a famous ex-squat called `Metelkova Mesto´, listed in the `Lonely Planet´ guide even. It's a former army barracks/prison claimed by the local anarchists some time ago and now formalised into an alternative cultural centre. Right in the heart of town, it's prime real estate covered in grafitti and bustling with artists, like a mini-version of Copenhagen's Christiania, I suppose. Less glamourous was an impromptu concert on an ominously-named riverboat on the Sava in Belgrade near the the junction with the Dona (Danube). The promoters at the 'SS Catastrophe' took the liberty of inviting a support band of 'Oi-punk', (apparently) white-supremacist skinheads to use our equipment so things turned a little nasty when we weasled out of the offer and they went home in a huff after demonstrating a good working-knowledge of some colourful English slang. Pretty-well undeterred, we donned the black eye-patches that Shannon crafted from socks and elastic, and our striped t- shirts, which we felt were in keeping with the nautical theme of the venue. With only thirty attendees who didn't altogether join in with our spirited "Aaargh!"s and "Ahoy, me hearties!", and Suzy having to sing directly at a four-be-four joist to which her microphone was gaffa-taped, it was a bit of a damp one, though.
The other great show was in The Cavern or Ratkeller-like Dublin Club,
Novi Sad (Serbia) last Saturday. We were supported by an excellent Sex
Pistols tribute band, mostly an alter ego of local original band DMT.
The guitarist, be-topped with a knotted hanky, evoked Steve Jones
uncannily. We were inspired to play well and the crowd were really
primed, leading us to make tentative plans to find a Clash cover band
and do a seminal punk tour.
The trip meter in the car now shows 4,700km with Suzy clocking up some
handy distance across Croatia where our gig in Varazdin was
double-booked with Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream.' The theatre
concerned was named after Rogoz, a Croat who was apparently the first
nude man in film (opposite Hedi Lamar) in the 1930's. The town looked
like a biscuit tin with its lovely cobblestones, central castle,
pedestrian precincts and pink and terra cotta buildings; more Baroque
than rock. We still got our food (lobster risotto, gnocchi with four
cheeses- Edam, Gouda, Mozzarella and Gorgonzola, but I digress), fee
and a quality hotel, so it was ok. Everyone there has a bike and there
are no helmet laws, though there's absolute zero alcohol for driving so
we had to forgo our cough medicine. We are all sharing what seems to be
a low-grade virus which has far more symptoms than actual associated
discomfort, necessitating Suzy singing a much higher percentage of the
songs in the last two shows due my hoarseness. I'm actually suspicious
that the cause is diesel-poisoning from having the sun-roof open in the
car.
With eleven shows down, we still have two more in Slovenia this weekend
before leaving the former Yugoslavia and heading to Italy where we
might catch a Patti Smith concert in Milan if things work out as
planned. As a very wise and lovely man once said, "Touring is never
boring!"
2004 Tour Log 3
The third week of the Ramonettes European tour had us playing weekend shows in Slovenia, one with Belgian power-popsters, Cornflames. That was a packed-out affair in a small town and we drove back in convoy to Llubljiana through a fierce thunderstorm. We then had a couple of rest days in a caravan park on the craggy windswept coast of Croatia. Rainy nights of reading Sue Woolfe's "Leaning Towards Infinity" to each other and sipping local red wine gave way to sunny afternoons walking through villages and along the seafront. We also gave ourselves a day and two nights walking the alleys and travelling the canals of Venice, where we chanced upon the film-set of 'Cassanova', so you can expect to see Heath Ledger, Jeremy Irons, a lot of pirate types and plenty of "fucking gondolas" in our next filmclip.
Our show in Mestre was with an excellent local punk band, Creesy
Vegins, and although the Jam Club was out of the way, with a shed like
exterior, it was an excellently appointed venue and we pulled a good
crowd. As usual there was good food, accommodation and an unlimited
drinks-rider provided. Local band Jennifer Gentle were favourites of
the DJ and really caught my ear.
Advice on how to save about seventy dollars in Autostrada tolls made
the drive from Mestre to La Spezia into a treacherous eight hour ordeal
through rain and heavy fog over the mountains. We arrived at 11 pm at
the Skaletta Rock Club, home of The Manges and dedicated to "77 Punk
Rock".
Ramones paraphernalia, including a lifesize inflatable Dee Dee doll,
dominated but we barely had time to take it all in before we were
playing to another capacity, singalong crowd. We stayed at Massimo´s
house (bassplayer of The Manges) and the next day visited Manuel their
drummer, who had the most obsessive Ramones collection we´ve ever seen.
The only disappointment was to learn that our Milan gig at the Italian
launch of the Ramones doco 'End of the Century' was cancelled due to
wrangling over the film's musical rights, delaying its release here. We
had to drive to Milan anyway, so the afternoon found us at Alcatraz
contemplating getting tickets to see Patti Smith before driving on to
Spain.
She was soundchecking when we arrived, and then I heard a plaintive cry
from a crack in the stage door from Patti herself saying "Can you help
me. I can´t get out. I´m locked in here." I got one of the staff to
open the door for her and that´s how the Ramonettes helped Patti Smith
escape from Alcatraz!
She said, "Thanks" and naturally, Suzy and Patti got to chatting while
Shannon snapped a photo and gave Lenny Kaye a Ramonettes badge. Lenny
put us all on the guestlist for the show, so there'll be no sleep
tonight. With 6,500 kilometres on the clock, there´ll be 8,000 by
Wednesday when we play our first gig in Spain, in Alicante. Arrivederci
Italy and Hola Spain! ¿Qué pasa?!!!!
2004 Tour Log 4
The fourth week of shows for the Ramonettes tour in Europe started with the Patti Smith concert in Milan. We had an intense and intimate experience, pressed up near the stage, with Patti and band rocking-out a considered blend of old and new, bookending the set with 'Pissing in the River' and 'Gloria'. The venue, Alcatraz, was sold-out and the thousands there would confirm that the powerful, poignant, poetic-punk voice of Patti Smith is a potent one, now and forever.
We had a long, overnight drive to Spain, past the tantalising lights of
Monte Carlo, Cannes and Marseilles but we had some compensation the
following afternoon, relaxing on a beach on the Costa Brava, just north
of Barcelona. We used the excellent laundry facilities in the luxury La
Siesta caravan park, and ate the local black rice paella before a solid
sleep in a log bungalow in the pines.
When the sun did shine, we were driving south again through the orange
grove-surrounded Valencia and the no-doubt sherry-soaked suburbs of
Alicante where we met Diego from Stukas Rakudas. Diego (DD) was a
pen-pal of Shannon's and guided us to Orihuela where he'd set-up a show
with his band as support. The small La Gramola (Jukebox) bar was full
of Ramonic revellers and they appreciated the opportunity to go nuts.
Afterwards Diego had arranged for us to stay with local artists
Fernando and Patricia. They had a room dedicated to enjoying music,
with a strobe, black lights and disco ball, which all played havoc with
the zebra-striped walls. To we non-Spanish speakers, Fernando
communicated through his pop DJ-ing of Saints, Kinks, Real Kids, Stems
and especially multiple playings of the Electric Bowery tribute to Joey
Ramone 7``ep. "New York City's a little less warm tonight, It's a
little less cool tonight. New York City's a little less kind tonight,
it's a little less rock tonight...", which impressed us much more than
the new REM album we bought. In the morning Fernando served us
breakfast in the sun-room, where he also drew a cartoon of the
Ramonettes, which we'll treasure (and exploit).
Thursday we played with the excellent Stukas Rakudas at the Heartbreak
Hotel in Albacete, completed by its Guns'n'Roses pinball machine. After
a charming performance of the obligatory 'Si! Si!' vocal microphone
soundcheck by a two-year-old girl, Diego & Co played a rocking set
including "The Girl from Adelaide", a song about a hard-drinking
boomerang-throwing Ramones-nut from Australia. The capacity audience of
about a hundred set a new standard in group along-singing. Their record
was short-lived, though, being smashed on the next night by the surging
karaoke onslaught of the Madrid Ramones nuts at El Lobo. We played
there with Sugus, courtesy of the charming Pepe. Also Baquita, the
singer from 4 Teen Killers joined us for 'The KKK Took My Baby Away'
and the evidence of a great night is viewable on www.marusheena.com.
The hospitality at Elorrio in Basque country was four-star (aside from
the 'vegetarian' tuna mayonnaise stuffed in the asparagus) but the
audience was a big contrast, being more sedate and attentive.
Barcelona, opening for Adam West at the Magic bar, was our smallest gig
but it was fun. Afterwards we stayed in a miniscule, but superb,
triangular hotel room and spent the next day taking in the fabulous,
wild, organic architecture of Antonio Gaudi. Another treacherous rainy
mountain drive, this time through The Pyrenees gave out to coasting
into France looking for a Formule 1 Hotel. The F1 is a massive chain of
automated 24-hour hotels with rooms for three at $AU45, dotted around
French motorways. So for our final week of shows it's 'Adios Amigos'
and 'Bonjour 'cheese-eating surrender-monkeys''.
2004 Tour Log 5
The fifth and final week of gigs for the Ramonettes tour was in France, and we had a convenient rest day in La Rochelle, staying with Bart (aka "Cherry Boy"), the promoter for our upcoming final Sunday show. Staying in his absent parents' house in the seaside city was like stepping into a French movie, a luxurious suburban pleasure amongst the variety to the apartment floors, hotels and camping bungalows we'd become accustomed to.
The weather was dismal when we arrived early at the Mondo Bizarro club
in Rennes on Thursday but our hearts were warmed by the sight of
Ramones lyrics adorning the cosy interior. The club manager, Bruno (aka
"Earl Durango", a beloved brudda to Adelaide's Pancho Durango star of
the film "Damn Right I'm a Cowboy") happily dialled-up rich, Ramonic
tones for us on his excellent sound-system. Despite the temptation of
cocktail drinks named after songs like, "Cretin Hop" and "Lobotomy", we
still inclined towards a sip of Bordeaux and Cotes du Rhone red wines
which were served with our ratatouille, cheeses, fruit and chocolates
in the loft band room. Bruno came up just before playing time with news
that the place was full and he wanted to pay us more than the agreed
fee.
The audience was a delight; from their rousing roar as we made a path
through them during the compulsory "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
prelude, to singing along with "Countdown" arms, chanting, dancing and
moshing.
After two encore brackets, many of them stayed on for a chat. Rennes'
hospitality and the gist of the conversations typified our experiences
in Europe generally. Many had tales of their Ramonic epiphanies and of
past musical projects, including playing Ramones covers. They told
anecdotes of concerts seen, and expressed grief for the recent deaths
of Joey, Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone. We felt elated and grateful that
all the preparation we'd had from constant gigging had enabled us to
perform well and allow such a happy scene to unfold. (Unfortunately, we
were to discover next day that we'd forgotten to load the band's giant,
beloved, full-colour, stage-banner into the car. With just two more
gigs though, it was pretty minor for the "worst" mishap of the tour.)
On Saturday we teamed-up with Fatty and Shorty Ramone at Le Petit Rouge
in Bordeaux. This Arab/French male duo (whose marketing consists mainly
of the brag that they are still alive) arrive at events in Joey- and
Johnny-style wigs and play Ramones songs from a motorbike equipped with
guitar, amp, drum machine and megaphone. With plenty of overlap in our
two repertoires, various permutations of Shorty, Fatty and the
Ramonettes played and led singalongs all night. The whole evening was
comprehensively documented by a small crew, making a film about the
spirit of the Ramones (a concept close to our own video project for the
tour).
The final gig was back in La Rochelle, headlining five bands at a
Halloween Party in an upstairs venue. The band room, a large flat with
kitchenette and beds, was a floor above again and brimming with party
atmosphere from early evening. When the doors to the venue opened at 10
pm, over a hundred people crammed in to hear a fine array of garagey
rock'n'roll songs and surf instrumentals before the Ramonettes did a
curfew-beating scramble onto the stage at 2 am. We quickly bent the
shared equipment to our ends and delivered the most relentless,
up-tempo rendition of our best short set, followed by some inescapable,
curfew-flouting encores.
Our remaining task was to get the trusty Volvo station wagon back to
Paris. The timing was bad, with most of the population of France using
the afternoon of the "All Souls" public holiday to return from their
long weekend away, but Suzy did the hard yards, driving at snail's pace
on the multilane tollway. (It hurts to pay twenty dollars for a couple
of hundred kilometres of slow driving which ends in gridlock.) Soon
after sunset though, and after studying and noting a map in a
roadhouse, we had returned the car and were seated in a sidewalk café
in Montmartre. After consuming felafels and Champagne(!), we strolled
through Pigalle to the Moulin Rouge before taking the Metro to the
Eiffel Tower and peering along the Seine at the distant spires of Notre
Dame. We enjoyed one last supper of pain au chocolat and café au lait
before the major pack of all the equipment, costumes, acquisitions etc.
Despite sleeping through the alarm, we made it to Charles de Gaulle
airport by 9 am, and after the long first leg of the flight, we really
appreciated a 12 hour stopover in a Kuala Lumpur hotel with pool,
complementary buffet meals and crisp white linen sheets before the
night flight back to Adelaide.
The European tour/rock'n'roll adventure we have had over the past six
weeks seemed charmed, from coincidences to chance meetings,
serendipitous eventualities and lots of lucky car-parking. Through
following the punk, do-it-yourself ethos (flying halfway round the
world with our instruments and renting a car), we opened-up for
ourselves the opportunity of going to a lot of interesting places,
improving our musicianship and meeting lovers of true rock'n'roll.
We believed it could happen and our pre-tour email enquiries and
contacts served us well. Everywhere we went, we found more members of a
diverse and warm "Happy Family" of people of all ages, exuberantly
responding to our music and to us. We were well-prepared enough to be
able to "go with the flow," and for 45 days unfailingly tickled
ourselves with the consensus: "Well, it's going well so far!" Driving
12,000 km through a dozen countries, and playing and lugging for 25
shows is a lot of work, and relationships of co-operation and
skill-specialisation had to evolve quickly, smoothly and in productive
ways. This they did for us, with Shannon and Suzy's wisdom, good sense,
good humour and charm contributing to a journey full of joy for us all.
Thank you Europe, see you again soon!