Tag: Guano Apes

Guano Apes, Album release party, @ Ebertbad,Oberhausen 17-1-03

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Guano ebertbad 2003 (I stole a copy of Emilies ticket 😉

This album release party/gig/after party has become legendary among the original old school GA fans. What a day ! My mate Michel went with me & one of the first people we met once in the venue (early on) was Sandra. Straight away she went to get us drinks & Michel seemed a little shocked lol (hey, she’s a good friend for a few years now 😉 ). Met Bjoern & Eno & had a good conversation about how GA could improve their position in the UK. I seem to recall mentioning how ” Him” were starting to take off & i’m sure a radio broadcast helped them. Whilst watching sound check from the balcony , i finally met Friedel. A bunch of friends stayed at the same hostel/hotel a few minutes away from the venue. There was also a meal organised for everyone…& the surprise of the band turning up 😉 The gig was filmed & broadcast on German tv. I also filmed most of the show myself. If you’ve seen the clip with “The Little Green Man”, that was mine lol . I thought it was very cool when Sandra picked up the “Little Green Man” & got him to “sing” with her. Note: On the official pro-shot footage, they dubbed some sounds onto “L.G.M.” & it worked just great. 2nd note : It also shows they touched up the audio etc before it was broadcast 😉

We watched show from upstairs & there was a free unlimited bar. A bad thing where myself & Michel were concerned. He kept bringing beers & i couldn’t keep up ! So yeah, the filming went downhill haha. After the show the band came out to meet everyone . That was very cool. Eventually we left & went back to our digs. There we all stayed up a few more hours talking etc. If my memory is correct, one of the beds got broken ? Will always remember my first long chat about pyramids with Jasi that night 🙂 So yeah, this was one of those shows you really had to be there. Everything about it was just fantastic. Thank you Guano Apes, the management & of course the fellow fans.michelnadine Nadine (aka Miss. G) & Michel after show

The unseen footage is a compilation of various parts of the day i filmed. The venue, soundcheck, meeting Friedel for the first time (camera goes shaky lol), the meal next door when the band made a surprise (? 😉 ) appearance, the gig itself, then finally the old school GA fans chatting in someones room till the early hours.

End of the video i made mentioning the “original gang”

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P.S. What the hell happened to “Thor” ? Anyone know ?

 

Guano Apes,Paradise Lost, H-Bloxx, Clawfinger, etc @ Ringfest, Cologne , Germany 17-8-02

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This was a very cool day. Bands were playing on various stages around Cologne, on the streets ! Backstage, i had Nik Holmes (Paradise Lost) comment on my old Ozzy t-shirt (from 1982) & he was mildly surprised to see someone from the UK 😉 I filmed Guanos set & also the end jam (which they didn’t take part in ;-( ) GAs set was recorded in 5:1 suround sound, but it’s never seen the light of day. Afterwards, i went back to their hotel & Henning played me a new song “Quietly” which was fantastic. Then it was onto the aftershow party on a boat…though i didn’t stay there long.

Guano Apes, @ Faro, Portugal. 10-5-02

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I finally got to see Guano Apes  in their “2nd home” & was great. Really wanted to see them in the Coliseums of Porto/Lisbon, but, due to cancellations etc it fell through. I think it was this show that i got lucky with the timing of arrivals. (If it wasn’t this one, it was another Portuguese show lol) When i landed & got out the airport looking for a taxi or whatever, who should also come out but Guano Apes ! So i got a lift to the venue with them.

My Balloon, Guano Apes, Hyena , @ Waschaus, Potsdam,Berlin, 12-1-02

This was a very special show. It was a SECRET gig by Guano Apes to try out new songs etc. The played with My Balloon & a great little band called Hyena (really wish i’d got to see Hyena again) . I met up with Christiane, we went for a drink somewhere & then to the venue. It was cold, there was snow on the ground (It wasn’t the first time i was bothered if my flight would work out ok due to weather!) but it was fun. The guys drove there in Hennings car i think. Great seeing them all again. During the afternoon, Sandra confessed to me that she didn’t have proper lyrics for the songs yet 😉 I also met Marc for the first time at this show ( Me? Scary? . No way mate 😉 )The absolute highlight for me though was when we were sat backstage : Stude gave me a CD with demos for the next album (about a year before it’s release). I couldn’t believe it. I was so honoured that they all trusted me enough to let me hear this stuff. Unbelievable. When the after party finished, once again the guys showed what true gents they were : i shared Hennings hotel room & i think Stude joined Ingo so that Christiane had a room for herself. Next day i had a nice walk “through the ice & snow” which wasn’t much fun tbh. But hey, for such a great unique experience, it was all worth it 🙂

GAPotsdam3This is “Hyena” the first band. They were great. If by any chance the members of Hyena or their friends see this, if possible, i’d love to get some recordings…i’m sure there must have been something 🙂

Guano Apes, @ Hop & Grape, University, Manchester 4-5-01

GAmcr2Gamcr1StudeMcr(Photos from the soundcheck)

I remember being a bit paranoid about leaving my car as the venue is close to Moss side. After a word with Kirsten, it was arranged so i could park up next to the tour bus in a more safer place 😉 Had a good old chat with their merch guy ( Frankie? ) at this show. He gave me one of the dodel up key rings. Funniest thing was that i thought he was offering me a sweet cos of the small packet etc. The audience at this show were pretty much a bunch of muppets. People were more interested in crowd surfing than getting into the music. I told Guido that it would get rough & he nailed down the monitors at front of stage.

Guano Apes, @ The Cathouse, Glasgow , Scotland, 3-5-01

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This was a real tiny venue. Was nice to have traveled up with the band from London. A good little gig. At the time, there was a little fanzine “Broken Violin” & Claire did an interview with Dennis. It’s quite funny reading what he had to say about ” A freak who follows us” 😉 Of course, at that time, we hadn’t got to know each other so well (Henning was the one i really got on with, Dennis & Stude kept themselves to themselves, Sandra was always nice towards me) so, i can understand how he would wonder what i’m all about. Of course, i was also the first person to really follow the band on tour & they’d never experienced that before 😉 But once he got to know me better over next few years, i’m sure he’d have realised i’m not so much of a freak….or am i ? lol

Lots more photos from Glasgow gig here !

Guano Apes, Sugar Coma, @ Mean Fiddler,(Astoria2),London 2-5-01

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Ah one of my fave Guano shows. The best UK show for me easily. It was great to see the audience size building up. Got there early & bumped into Sandra. “Simon, i hear you’re joining us on the bus to go up to Glasgow ?” Good to know that was arranged & it was VERY MUCH APPRECIATED thank you. My friend Claire was hanging around with a mate & they came in for sound check.Scans0044

A funny thing : Sometime later on, i went out through a side exit. Who should i almost open the door onto, but Rob ! You couldn’t make it up ! 🙂  MTV did a small interview for the Riot Show.028_28027_27 026_26

This was one hell of a gig. They truly were rockin big time. If theres one show i could ever got from the soundboard (Hello again Ingo ! 😉 ) this would be it. Sandra dedicated a song to me & said some nice words. It was special.

P.S. The guy “Nelly Ligger” who did the magazine review didn’t have a clue. Hell, with a name like that i even doubt if he bothered turning up tbh. Yes, i’m biased, but any GA fan would have loved this show….as most of the crowd did 😉