Caliban Posts New Tour Diary

Drummer Patrick Grün of German metallers Caliban have issued the following tour diary:

"Hey you, out there!

"After one week 'Night of the living shred' US Tour I just wanted to say hello. As usual when touring, you first have to acclimate to the circumstances and all the technical stuff.

"We left to LA from Frankfurt on September, 2nd, and we had a nice offday in the hotel over there. We tried to get used to the local climate by hanging out at the hotel pool. Later Ray, our A&R from Century Media, arrived to bring us to a restaurant. We had a nice dinner in that restaurant, even if it happened to be vegetarian food ;-). Afterwards Ray announced that they got us tickets for the Dodger’s baseball game that evening! How awesome is that?!!!!

"This way we went to the game with a couple of people, which was totally cool. We have never been to a stadium in America to watch a game! A wicked experience! And if that hasn’t been enough, the Dodger’s, that are also leading the League, won the game. GO DODGER’S GO!!!!

"Our first show took place in North California; Stockton! There we stepped into the bus, which we share with ASP, for the first time. Man, what luxury! Our first US tour in a nightliner. What we consider as 'normal' in Europe has always been far away over here. The past tours we had always used a van with a trailer.

"Unfortunately, the second bus broke down on the way to Stockton, and Born of Osiris and After the Burial weren’t able to play the show. The problem was this big, that they didn’t arrive before the 3rd show and therefore missed the festival in Orange County, where, amongst others, 'As I Lay Dying', 'Ignite', 'Cro-Mags' were playing. The festival was an Open Air and it was boiling hot. It was the first time we played on an Open Air Stage without a roof, and the sun had the possibility to roast us. And it did. Ouch! Now we are finally united and get along great with the other bands. Suffokate, that are also with us, are this nice, they let me play on their drumset, because some problems occurred at my company and they couldn’t supply me with one. Whatever, it works this way, too.

"Furthermore, we also played in Las Vegas and directly ran off with a taxi after the show. Unbelievable city. Unfortunately, we only had two and a half hours, and this of course wasn’t enough for such a huge city. But we got to see a few sights and had a few beers at the Hard Rock Café afterwards.

"An old friend visited us in Denver and took us to her home so we could have a shower. Most of the clubs over here are not equipped with a shower – the standard in the USA is not comparable to Europe – this way we had the chance to freshen up after like a week. Kinda grosse, but nevertheless the bitter truth on tour in the US. Today, we are in Douglasville/Georgia and are looking forward to today’s show. The location is huge and makes a good first impression. Generally, the tour is going well and the attendance is large, everyone is happy about that of course.

"Since we are not getting any catering, only Buy Out instead, we have to take care of us by ourselves. Therefore we went to the gas station and bought some beer. Sadly it said on the refridgerator: 'No beer on Sundays'. Ok, I thought, whatever, I can drink wine as well. But no. I couldn’t buy that either. In Georgia it’s prohibited by law to buy alcohol on Sundays and take it home. Consuming in restaurants and bars is allowed, though. They are bonkers, right?! Besides that the club was very Christian. The promoter called us for a band meeting to say a prayer with us and to point out that cursing was not desired on stage. Well, in the South the clocks seem to be ticking differently……… Tomorrow we’re going to Florida for 3 shows. Nobody is looking forward to the heat and the sticky weather, for which Florida is famous for. More stories are following in the next few days."