Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/26/14

 The castle in Monzon.

Tuesday, 2/26/14 – A relatively short drive today to Monzon, a small city in the Aragon region. It’s one of those places that is just THERE for no discernable reason…not a port, no real reason to exist except that people moved in and stayed there. At one point it was used to hold a parliament for the various bits of Aragon, perhaps because it was centrally located or because it was seen as a neutral ground. And I guess it had a connection with the Knights Templar, too. But now, it’s just an average Spanish city, with a large ruined castle high on the hill. Lots of strange history in these places, much that I may never know about.

 Got into our hotel rooms…nice enough…in the middle of town, and had a meal in the connected restaurant below. Unfriendly looks from the local elders in the bar, but nice enough staff. No one speaks any English, though. Had an amusing moment watching Bee trying to score some beet juice from the baffled waitress!! Tanya tried to help with her phone’s translator, but apparently “beet juice” either doesn’t translate, or it was just too strange a request. I did use the translator to request a fish dinner, and they brought me out a large slab of squid! No tentacles, just a bit off a large squid body, with a potato to accompany it. Just grilled squid, no real seasoning…but I ate it, I was starving. So far the dreams of  Sunny Spain and delicious Tapas have not come quite true…the food has been unremarkable and it’s been raining a lot. But there’s a few days left!

Another twisty drive to the small club Serjo’s Zona Rock, which was actually a pretty nice little joint. Small but well appointed, a nice bar with many interesting photos of various American Rock musicians, and Serjo himself working both the bar and the sound system, with the help of his mom and wife. His kids were there early on as well, and very cute they were too. I learned from him (he speaks some English) that he’d bought the club just this year, and seems to be working hard to get it going. Hope it turns out well for him, they seem like a really nice family.

Nice night playing!! The acoustics were surprisingly good, the crowd very responsive and the PA sounded great from onstage. I think we played a great show…Mike was sounding fantastic, even though he was very very ill. He really doesn’t let it stop him, and indeed you wouldn’t know it to seem him onstage, which I find amazing. We had a good time, sold and signed some CDs, and made our way through the narrow streets to our beds.

Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/25/14

 Actually a shot from the Meisenfrei show...I didn't get pictures from Barcelona!

Monday, 2/25/14 – Rock Sound - We’re in Barcelona!! We drove ALL day yesterday, through the Netherlands, Belgium, part of Germany, and most of France. It’s a really long way. Stopped at an Ibis Budget hotel and got decent rooms and crashed hard. I remember we were all pretty goofy from the drive, and everything that Mike said seemed really funny. I didn’t bother the folks at the desk to get into the Internet or anything, just crawled into my room and slept. Had a good breakfast (most of these are buffet style, and there was plenty of food), and somehow an orange got into my pocket for lunch, which wasn’t really a bad thing. Road survival tactics.

 The Autobahn.

More driving all through the day and we were in Spain. I think I’ve said it before, but Spain is beautiful…the north here has a mountain range, the Pyrenees I believe? And it looks to me much like Montana does in the Rockies, except with olive groves and the occasional castle up on the hill. This tour has been so busy, but I’ve seen amazing stuff from my little nest in the back of the tourbus. Perhaps another trip will afford us more time to sightsee the country more.

 The remarkable Johnny Bee Badanjek.

In fact, we got to Barcelona and were already in a hurry to get to the club…my dreams of seeing the city and the fabled Gaudi architecture bit the dust, again! Frustrating to say the least. But negotiating the winding narrow streets to the Rock Sound was very difficult, and poor Tanya was cursing them in very creative ways. She’s sick again, as we all are actually, but right now I think she and Mike may have it the worst. I really thought we’d left this horrible cold behind us in England and I was appalled when it suddenly reappeared! But we are tough, and we’ll make it through.

Got to the venue…a difficult load-in, and a very small club with an even smaller stage.  People were packed in though, which made it fun. I was pumped up with antihistamines (Alka-Seltzer Cold Plus, actually…if that company wants to give me an endorsement deal they should call me), and the actually performance is a pretty hazy memory, although folks seemed to like us! Many people showed up at the stage after the show with old vinyl for both Mike and Bee to sign! Old Katon albums, which I’d never even seen in that medium, and for Bee, old Rockets, Edgar Winter, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels…even an old Montrose record. Amazing fandom!

Manni Kusters and Tanya Williams.

 

No parking for the bus at the hotel!! Tanya insisted on dropping us off and parking blocks away at the oversize lot, then walking back unaccompanied…we all objected, but she can be very forceful. I know she’s tough, but I was worried. Plus, she’s pretty ill and it’s raining now. But she did it and got back fine, proving once again that she is the hardest working woman in show business. Wound up sharing a hotel room with Mike again…I was too sick to hear him snore.

Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/23/14

Sunday, 2/23/14 – Eibergen, De Stier – This bar (De Stier is I believe “The Steer” or “The Bull”) is nestled in a very small town, actually rather charming and quiet. It’s a very high-ceilinged oblong-shaped place as so many seem to be, medium sized, with curtained street windows and unfinished floors, polished by many years of foot traffic. A surprisingly high stage was a bit challenging with several of our crew down with what appears to be the second half of a monumental cold…that we thought we’d shaken off in England, but now has resurfaced and seems to want to kill us all. Still, we got set up and soundchecked, and talked to the owner (a very pleasant guy) for a while over coffee…then he walked us down the street to our rooms.

Understand that last night, we’d been staying again at Henny’s, and Mike was not looking too well at all. And usually he has the constitution of a rhinoceros, so I could tell this wasn’t great. Today he was pretty quiet, and I sensed that he was just holding it together as well as he could. The bar owner got us to the B&B, and talked with the elderly proprietor, who only spoke Dutch. She directed Mike and Johnny to somewhere upstairs and away they limped into the darkness. Tanya and I were taken to a cinder-block building behind the house, which I guess was for overflow traffic. Where this traffic would come from, and why it would come into this obscure town, remains a mystery. But this rather strange woman (who was prone to speaking to us as though we could speak the language, and then bursting out into rather loud creepy laughter) left us to our rather strange home away from home, which I documented on a short film.

After cleaning up as best we could (I was not brave enough to use the shower), we returned to the club and went into the upstairs for dinner. This had been cooked by the owner…when we mentioned that some of us had difficulty with red meat, he assured us there would be none in the dish that he was making. What it actually was, though, was a very strange casserole, made with mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, onions and…ham and hamburger. That was the entirety of the meal. I was too tired and ill to argue, just smiled and after he left picked as much of the meat out as I could. I actually really have trouble digesting red meat, but I also hadn’t eaten much that day.

It’s important to remember that we are on a really rigorous tour…we have 30 shows in 35 days! Our schedule has been so hectic, and we’ve been so focused on just getting the next gig, that most of our meals have been either at the hotels or clubs we’ve worked, or bought at gas stations on the highway. These highways snacks and sandwiches all seem to be made by the same company, all across Europe, and they all seem to be both expensive and either disgusting or flavor-free, sometimes both. So like many bands, we keep a box with the leftover stuff from the occasional backstage hospitality trays…usually we have some apples, or tangerines, and maybe some crackers or bread, as well as bottled water and sometimes beer. Often rather than spending $10 for a lousy sandwich, I’ll opt for a few bites of stale bread and an apple. Better and cheaper. Ah, the romance of the road.

  Poster from Skegness. We're in there somewhere.

Strangely enough, the show was really good! Quite a few people materialized, ready to party, and they certainly did, too. Mike, who I’d been kind of worried about, rose to the occasion. Ever the performer, he played to the audience, especially the pretty girls dancing in the front row, who I think really enjoyed the attention. The whole crowd was really festive, especially for a Sunday in a small town! Considering we were so spent, we rocked hard and had a good time…there were some really good moments, notably  during “Luv a Dawg” and “Motorcycle Blues”. But after the encores were played, and the equipment packed up into the bus, we were ready to sleep the sleep of the just! I grabbed my extra quilt (that I borrowed from Henny at the beginning of the tour, and believe me I’m really glad I did), and walked with the rest of the band back to the house of Laughing Grandma and my rather lumpy bed.  

Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/21/14

 Friday, 2/21/14 – We stayed over at Henny’s place the night after our show in Hamburg…it really, really helps to have both an evening off and a good friend who’ll put up with you, after a string of challenging gigs with a band that’s fighting a pernicious cold bug. We got some rest, went out and ate at a decent Greek restaurant, had a couple of glasses of wine and some laughs, and a relatively early bed. I’ve been bunking in Henny’s office on the spare bed there, and the many shelves of books there are strangely comforting to me. Plus, I had both the time and the Internet bandwidth to Skype with Cynthia, which was also a huge comfort. It’s just so nice to be able to talk with her face to face! She’s holding up pretty well in the frozen north, considering everything…her car’s undercarriage BROKE IN HALF when she hit one of the many potholes that Michigan is sporting now. The auto is done in, I’m afraid. Fortunately my van is still working, so she’s got that.

On Friday the 21^st we hopped back in the van and drove to France…not a terribly long drive, maybe 2 1/2 hours…to Arras, where we were booked to play at the Blue Devils. Found the place to be a small shotgun shack of a bar, with the stage at the far end, and the bar itself along the opposite side. Kind of a drag to load in through the customers at tables and the taps, but we’ve had plenty of that. Even in a biker oriented club like this, people get out of the way, and a few smiles and “Excuse me’s” go a long way. The stage itself was really quite a mess…I hadn’t seen so much clutter on a working stage, well, maybe ever. Cords and mic stands were strewn around in tangles, along with paper trash and some broken glass. We took a while and straightened up the place, just to have some order onstage and a little space to put up the equipment!

Nice enough people (although the language barrier was a bit of a problem, they spoke enough English to get by), and a decent club really…just kind of run down and dirty. Funky, one might call it! But really, no worse than plenty of Blues bars in the States. The leather-clad, goateed owner had a friend of his cooking us dinner…not an appetizing meal, but I suppose there were essential proteins and carbs and such in it, so we managed. The gig itself was surprisingly good…by now the Helltown Blues Band is such a well-oiled, powerful machine that we can have a good performance wherever we are, I think. The PA was a bit of a problem, but we found enough mic stands and cords in that pile onstage that were functional, and the sound guy of the night was able to get us what we needed in the way of monitors and all, so we were all right. The crowd was happy and enthusiastic, which made the night much better! I was amused that after the show a male fan ran up to Mike, kneeled, grabbed his hand and kissed his ring…I always thought that stuff was reserved for the Pope. Must be a French thing.

One odd thing…the bar had no wine whatsoever!! We were expecting some plentiful delicious choices, it being France and all. Bee was just shocked. I guess if you weren’t drinking liquor, the alternative was Belgian beer, which seemed quite popular. I had one before the show, and two after…not realizing at the time that these were the famous deadly Belgian Tripel beers. I felt fine, but on the way back to Henny’s (we opted out of the rather mildewed hotel, although we did change clothes there) I was lying back on my seat in the bus, and looking out the window saw not one but TWO moons!! I knew something was a bit askew then. Closed one eye…one moon…both eyes…two. Dang. The Belgian Tripels made me see double!!   

Road Journal- Michael Katon Tour - 2/18/14

 Rockin' the Downtown Bluesclub.

Wednesday, 2/18/14 – Hamburg, Downtown Bluesclub – What can I say? I love this place!! Drive through lovely, crazy Hamburg…I wouldn’t call it downtown actually, it’s in an area near a large public park, in a fairly quiet neighborhood…and you see the place unfold in front of you as you come in through the ornamental archway. It’s a large property, which includes a really rather vast Beer Garden and several outdoor bars, a large indoor bar, at least two substantial dining rooms, and of course the Bluesclub. The Bluesclub is a big, high-ceilinged room, with tables and chairs on one side, a large bar on the other, a dance floor and standing area in the center, and a very nice stage on the end, about 4 or 5 feet high, well-appointed with good stage lights and a non-reflective floor, and a connecting stair that leads to the Green Room and to the load-in doors. The wall opposite the stage has large doors that lead to another bar and one of the dining rooms.

One really fascinating and lovely thing about this place is its many photos which cover the walls. The owner Uwe, a beautiful guy, was also a piece of Rock history…as a teen he wound up working for the old Star Club, that place of legend, and assisted the bands that were booked there…including an early rock band called The Beatles. He’s also a photographer, and while at the Star took pictures of EVERYBODY that played there! These pictures include local and visiting acts like Chuck Berry, Screaming Lord Sutch, Ray Charles, Tony Sheridan, Jimi Hendrix, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, The Pretty Things…and of course The Beatles. Many others, too. Just walking around looking at the photos was a big treat for me. Uwe was also a friend of Astrid Kirchherr (and still is, I guess…he said she stops by occasionally), and has wonderful huge prints of her iconic pictures of John, Paul, George & Ringo…and of course of her fiancé Stu Sutcliffe.

Really the best thing about the Bluesclub is the staff, though, and their wonderful hospitality! You could not find friendlier, more professional people anywhere on earth, I’m sure of that. We got there and several of them were there to help us with load-in, getting the heavy speaker cabinets up onto the stage and in position. All these folks are people I remembered from over 10 years ago, which says something for their dedication and Uwe’s managerial style, too. We got the gear up and soundcheck done in record time, thanks to their competence…and then a bottle of good champagne appeared, and we all had a toast to welcome a good night!! Michael of course toasted with sparkling water, but Johnny, Tanya and I all happily availed ourselves of the bottle. Actually there were two bottles, as I recall.

A quick stop to the hotel to freshen up and change, and we were back to the club for dinner. By this time Uwe had arrived, as delightfully cordial as I had remembered him always being. He has a first-class kitchen and we had a FANTASTIC dinner, while Uwe regaled us with tales from the old Star Club days. I have to admit I was totally fascinated. He’s such a nice guy and a good raconteur, but also, I mean, what a life!! I mentioned Rock History before, but really, the man was there. He had hilarious stories about the early Beatles (“At first, when they came here, they were a terrible band! They got better, of course”); Lord Sutch (“Very nice. Quite insane”); and Tony Sheridan (“If I see him in heaven, I’ll have to say ‘Tony, I loved you, but you were a pain in the ass!’”)…it really doesn’t get much better than this. After dinner he walked around the dining room with us, looking at photographs, commenting and telling stories. Quite a delight and a privilege to spend time with him!

 I have said this before, but it’s true…if you want a band to give a great performance, treat them as well as the Bluesclub does!! We got out on stage absolutely psyched to knock this one out of the park, and I think we really did. Mike, Bee and I were just a tornado of energy that night…the open sections were stunningly creative, with stylistic references to Hendrix and Cream flying back and forth; the complicated Katon arrangements were tight as a drum; and the boogie was shining off us like light from the Biblical saints. Mike took the dynamics down to a whisper, and up to a thunderous roar, tearing it up with his sweat-drenched Stratocaster. Bee and I were right with him. I don’t know what the audience was expecting, but they certainly seemed to think they saw something special…their energy was a big part of the performance too. There’s something synergistic about being in a concert, playing or watching, that I always love…the power and energy goes from stage to crowd and back again, building and building, making for experiences that leave you lamely trying to explain them later…as I’m doing now, I guess. Ah, hell, it was a great night, that’s all I can say!! I loved it, it’s why I keep wanting to do this stuff.

 This last one is a picture from summer...it was still a bit chilly for Beer Garden time in February!

Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/17/14

  

Tuesday, 2/17/14 – Last night we were in Nuremberg, at a place called Degnitzbuhne – our smallest club yet on this tour!! Almost a closet, down in a basement. Filled with atmosphere, nice people and a very friendly cat, but very very tiny. I think there were 42 people there, and I know we played for the door…so what are Mike and Manni thinking? Well, a few of the guests are rather prominent journalists from prestigious Blues magazines, and I’m pretty convinced the strategy is to work this for the press. Which makes sense…Mike was on hiatus for around 4 years taking care of his father’s medical problems, and aside from a short tour last spring, hasn’t been out in Europe. Getting a good publicity buzz going involves more than just getting out and playing kick-ass shows (although that’s the main thing of course). There’s getting it out in print, or often these days its digital equivalent; and getting good word of mouth from music aficionados.  So rocking some of these smaller clubs is actually cool and smart!

And playing these intimate gigs is really fun, too…a different vibe, and one I’m used to from playing gigs back in SE Michigan. Fun to rock the house, no matter what size, no matter what day. Monday night in Nuremberg? Point me to the stage. Only 9 more gigs to go for the tour. In some ways I want this tour to be done, and in others I never want it to end – I love traveling and I love playing, even if sometimes the details are awful or hilarious, and of course they often are. But it’s also so much fun, and it feels like this is what I’m supposed to be doing, there’s a feeling of certainty about my direction in life when I’m doing this that I don’t find anywhere else.

  

Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/16/14

 Lit by the flash of the camera...we're waiting for the power to come back on!

Monday, 2/16/14 – On the road to Nuremberg!! Last night at the lovely little Blues club De Weeburg, the power went out four times! The nice owner (who, by the way, had cooked a very nice meal for us herself, and was very kind and funny) apparently was having some serious trouble with the electricity for the stage, the lights, and the PA…well, actually the whole bar. Our first blackout was disconcerting, and the very full club had a slightly alarmed vibe, since we were suddenly almost totally in the dark. The sound man ran around frantically and after maybe 5 minutes (it seemed like more though, of course), got the lights and power back on. We started playing again, got maybe halfway through a song…and bam! In the dark again. A longer pause this time, and then light, and maybe a song and a half…and then once again, the night! At this point, the staff started to light candles for the patrons, and the little bar took on an intimate, eerie look. Everybody stayed around, though, and as the poor soundguy proceeded to troubleshoot cables in the ceiling on a stepladder, the atmosphere was actually quite cheery and party-like. I think the audience was happy that we hadn’t given up and just left, and we were happy that THEY hadn’t given up and left!

 Mike & fan, lit by candlelight and camera flash.

While the repairs continued we mingled and talked with folks by candlelight. Many beverages were consumed (I’m not sure how the staff were working, as the registers must have been shut down, but they seemed to be managing), many laughs were had. Then, hey, lights on! Everybody cheered and we jumped back onstage…for about one song. Shut down again!! But the tech kept at it, and wound up with this one long extension cord that had power. I’m pretty sure it was snaking out from a shop down the street!! So we had one tenuous line, which the amps, PA and one small table lamp were plugged into. The lamp wound up on the floor of the stage, adding yet more semi-dark eerie-ness to the ambiance, but the power held for the rest of the set, and we managed to play through our show and a few encores too. Actually I think we did a great set…something about having these difficulties and rising above them gave an excellent spark to the proceedings!! And the fact that the fans ALL stayed around and were so supportive and responsive made the big difference.

 Boogie in the dark.

The next night was at the Calluna, a club outside the city of Ommen. Kind of a charming big log cabin-y club sort of out in the woods of nowhere, but adjacent to a community of A-frame houses that I think were mostly summer homes for folks in town, with some permanent residents. And, not unexpectedly, one of these rustic residences was allocated for us! I think the owner of the Calluna also owned this of course…and while a little worn and a bit chilly (we got the heaters working though and cured that), not a bad little place. Once again, Mike and I got doubled up. There were only three rooms, and Bee has trouble sleeping at the best of times, let alone with snoring roommates…and Tanya was still recovering from the virus that we’d all been sharing. Pretty small bedrooms at the top of the A-frame, but hey, we’ve had worse.

The Calluna turned out to be a fun gig, although we got there exhausted and were grateful for the break in the cabin to recoup first. The owner Bert was a really nice, VERY enthused guy with a shaven head, long goatee, penchant for constant cigar-smoking and a pretty loud manner…boisterous but very pleasant! We had for an opening act a local band led by Cigar Box Henri, a cool gentleman who played, not unexpectedly, Cigar Box Guitars of his own invention. The band sounded great playing some very rootsy slide guitar based Blues Rock, fun to listen to for sure. We were entertained in the dressing room (well, OK, the kitchen) by Bert’s parrot, who was very talkative and actually a very friendly and cool bird. Funny as hell, too! I thought our show that night was great…I know we were all recovering from this strange virus that we got first in England and now has resurfaced again, but we rose above it and rocked the house. Fun place to play too…the log cabin, biker-y feel reminds me of playing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We had a nice, if strange, breakfast of eggs and cheese on toast made by Bert this morning, and it’s back on the road.

 Calluna owners and band, after the gig.

Nuremberg is an unknown…we’ll see what’s up when we get there! And there’s another gig after that…but I’m really looking forward to getting to Hamburg and the wonderful Downtown Club, where they have always welcomed us in with hugs and champagne. Who knows what’ll happen, though? It’s the Road, baby.