The Time Trap

This years, Guns’n'f**king Roses are going to play at the “Rock am Ring” in Germany. First time for more than 14 years on European Ground and I won’t be there.

There are many excuses not going there like I don’t like man with expensive hair implantation and still looking ugly. Additionally Axl was never really able to sing. Yeah, I liked it a lot in the early 90s. The truth is: Freund D is busy at this time. Fair enough.

Let’s remember the concerts in the past. The first and only concert in Europe in 1991! Skid Row was the best opener we could wish at this time and they should have been the Headliner. Nine Inch Nails was never my tast. Axl came for one song on the stage and got lost after a few minutes searching for another hit. Ossy Hoppe, Marek Liederberg and his team had lots to do and lots of bullshit to talk until they found Axl again. “Guys, we have electricity on stage. That’s dangerous! For that reason we have to ask you for your patience. We are working on it…”. Well, I don’t know if anyone at this time believed any words of them, but the organisation team gained extra creativity points from us.

The second concert in 1992 “Use your Illusion World Tour” didn’t need so much Illusion. After a hard Night partying on the rocky grounds of the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart it was a pleasure to see “Faith no more”, “Soundgarden” and “Guns’n'Roses” at the end. Very professional concert. I didn’t feel to well. “Die Toten Hosesn” were playing during our party night at the “Stuttgarter Schleyerhalle” and gave a special show in front of the hall and “Wizo” were rocking on top of their tiny bus in the middle of the temporary camping and partying ground.

Let’s finish this short text with some hints about this guys and why they shouldn’t get some money out of you anymore:

1. “Axl was a shy, humble guy who was a lot of fun to be with. But then they were starting to believe their own press clippings, and this guy who was supposed to be my friend was disrespecting my wife” Vince Neil

2, About Izzy, well, I’m not a big fan of guys beating up woman

Slash and Duff are doing fine and I guess they would deserve to earn some money. So, go and decide for your own.

Freund D

“It took me 25 fucking years to come to this Island and it will take me probably 25 fucking more years to come back. Enjoy and let the madness begin!” Yelling this words he started clapping his hands and walked his typical pigeon Ozzy walking style on stage.

In 98 in Auckland I though that I was already to old watching Ozzy in the middle of this long-hair crowd, which was even not old enough to order their own beers. But this night tought me wrong. I knew nearly every lyrics although not listening to them for many years. And Ozzy was better than ever, this living case study of throwing acid every day during his Black Sabbath years you have to admire - somehow.

Seeing Ozzy is always an experience. Let me quote Nikki Sixx from Motley Crew in their book “the dirt”:

“We thought we were the baddest creatures on God’s great earth. Nobody could do it as hard as us and as much as us, and get away with it like us. There was no competition. The more fucked up we got, the greater people thought we were and the more they supplied us with that we needed to get even more fucked up. Radio stations brought us groupies; management gave us drugs. Everyone we met made sure we were constantly fucked and fucked up. We thought nothing about whipping out our dicks and urinating on the floor of a radio station during an interview, or fucking the host on-air if she was halfway decent loooking. We thought we had elevated animal behavior to an art form. But then we met Ozzy.”

Read more: the Dirt

While I was travelling in Canada early 1997, I took the chance to go to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera int he Pantages Theater in Toronto. The location of the theater allows a beautiful mixture for the night. Having a good buzz out in the best hard rock cafe in the world on Yonge street, where locals even go to have some fun and afterwards walking around the corner to see the chandelier comming down from the roof in the theater.

Lovely show to enjoy in nice accompaniment. I actually can’t remember, if we hit for the place to see “everything but the girl” afterwards or if this was at a different day. 

Anyway, I can highly recommend Toronto, the hard rock cafe and even the show on Yonge street.

Tough times during my studies at the UCLA. In could never believe that student life in Summer Time is like in the movies. Just the party people and the foreigners are staying there. Party all night long. Spare rooms without couples having sex was rare and the swimming pool were the place of orgies. The sportive guys went for the Summer Games in Atlanta, had there satisfaction there and became a great welcome back party.

Each night the Sunset Blvd and the La Cienega Blvd was the place to be. The guy working in the bathroom of “The Gate” gave you paper napkins after throwing up, “the Billboard Live” was the place for big plastic boobs hunters (nothing for me), Johnny Depp never opened his doors of the Viper Room for us, so Whisky A Go Go became my second home.

Each night walking on Sunset Blvd returning to my student home (Henric Hall) I saw weard folks in this street. Sometimes I even thought it’s better to walk on the other side of the street. But all this changed in the night of the 25th of August 1996. In this night I went to see the old farts Sex Pistols at the Hollywood Palladium.

4 hours of Pogo Dancing and heavy drinking. The opening band Goldfinger were already a highlight of the concert. Fantastic ska and punk mix music and this guys were really rebellious. The Palladium was full with banners saying “NO STAGE DIVING”, “NO CROWED SURFING” and so on. On the upper tier Bon Jovi was enjoying the show and the singer of Golfinger showed him his butt yelling not really nice words to the rich “upper class”.

The second band was Gravity Kills. Good rock. It was the right time to see them, because their song “Guilty” was still in my ears remembering the movie “Seven”.

Finally the Sex Pistols entered the stage. John (Rotten) Lydon was still looking weard and his “voice” really haven’t change a lot. How could it. Paul Cook and especially Steve Jones still though they are sexy although maybe not able to held back their own pee anymore. And although Glen Matlock was the original bass player there was no spirit in the air. Easy to explain: Sid was missing!

The well known songs and crowd made me dancing and sweating for hours and endorphine made me very happy. Everybody was dancing and singing but there were only four man which didn’t even moved more than a few fingers and their mouth: the old farts on stage. I know, in the past this was the job of Sid Vicious who invented the Pogo, but come on… Well, I’m kind of proud that I had the chance to see them, but on the other hand: sometimes it’s better to remember the fantasies influenced by the media and not seeing their pitty in real life. Did Sid, Jim, Janis, Jimmy and all the others know?

I walked down again the Sunset Blvd exhausted, wasted and bleeding (well, we danced Pogo) but this time it was different. I experienced what it’s like to be the reason why people are changing side walks. I never could have though off, that all this weared folks I was a little bit scared about, were party people which just had a good night out.

Don’t worry - enjoy SUNSET BLVD

1990 war ein gradioses Open-Air Jahr. Die Toten Hosen waren am Summer Open Air Festival in Emmendingen Headliner noch vor Status Quo, Faith no more und Abwärts. Black Sabbath tourte durch Deutschland und auch Iron Maiden konnte man vielerorts bewundern. Eines der Highlights war jedoch Super Rock 1990. Der erste grosse Rock Event seit dem tragischen Monsters of Rock 1988.

Mit einem kleinen Cliqueauszug von 7 langhaarigen Jungs und Mädels fuhren wir am abend des 31. August 1990 los. Um Traditionen zu pflegen, stoppten wir unterwegs auf allen 4 Autobahnraststätten, um auf den Kinderspielplätzen unsere Bierdosen zu schiessen und unserer kindlichen Frohnatur nachzugeben. Diesmal endeten wir nicht, wie geplant, vor den Toren des abgesperrten Maimarktgeländes, sondern auf eine Grünfläche vor der Sternenwarte, auf der schon andere Heavy Metal Fans in den Event reinzufeiern schienen.  Das sah überzeugend aus.

Die Erinnerungen an die Nacht wurden durch laute Musik, Rothaus Tannezäpfle und prasselnden Regen umtrübt. Die dünne Baumarktfolie zwischen dem Scirocco und dem Golf II konnte diesem Regen nicht lange standhalten, so dass wir uns am nächsten Morgen durchnässt erst durch Mannheim und dann auf das Gelände schlichen.

Das Konzert war gigantisch. Nach den zwei Openers “The Front” und “Cold Sweat” sahen wir uns die Mädels von “Vixen” genauer an, verabschiedeten uns von “Poision”, um unseren eigenen “Poisengehalt im Blut wieder aufzufrischen und waren dann bereit für Ronald Padevona (alias Ronni James Dio), um sein unglaubliches Organ zu bewundern.

Nach erneut langer Umbauphase (damals gab es noch nicht den Luxus von 2 Bühnen) kam endlich mein Grund für dieses Open Air: AEROSMITH. Mit dem recht frischen “Pump” Album und dem kultigen Album von 1987 “Permanent Vacation” hätten Sie alleine den Abend füllen können. Natürlich kamen aber auch Klassiker, wie “walk this way”. Über zwei Stunden hat, der inzwischen cleane, Steven Tyler auf der Bühne abgerockt, FlikFlaks geschlagen und Luftsprünge gemacht. Ein Feuerwerk an gutem Rocksound.

Im Dunkeln kam dann Whitesnake mit dem damals besten Drumsolo, unterstützt von der besten Lightshow der damaligen Zeit.

Nach dem Konzert fuhren wir zurück auf die Grünfläche, leerten unsere Wein und Whisky-Kanister, schliefen ein paar Stunden und fuhren dann morgens gegen 2 Uhr zurück. Gegen 3.30 Uhr schleuderte uns, unser Fahrer auf der Autobahn mit 150km/h ein paar Böschungen rauf und runter. Die Italiener, die am Unfallort zuerst angekommen helfen wollten, fuhren weg, als wir uns überlegten die Polizei zu rufen und ein Mercedesfahrer, der die Whiskyflaschen in unserem Auto gesehen hatte rief diese dann schliesslich. Gegen 5 Uhr morgens endete ein abenteuerliches und unvergesslichen Open Air Wochenende.

Long live Rock’n'Roll and the Toxic Twins.