A Modest Proposal + Ultrafair - "Karnevalsmetropolentour"

A Modest Proposal played two shows this weekend with Düsseldorf's finest Ultrafair. We kicked off on Friday witha a show at Cologne's Bauwagenplatz, some sort of open air squat. The setting was nice and although not many people showed up the show was fun. Ultrafair were really good and we rocked as well. Kalle, our singer, even destroyed the microphone stand.
So after working on Saturday morning I was picked up by our guitarist to travel a few kilometres up north to Düsseldorf where we were supposed to play at the "Linkes Zentrum Hinterhof". By the time we got there the guys setting up the show were preparing for a little barbeque in the backyard. From time to time a few people dropped by and by the time we got up on stage a few people had shown up. We didn't really play well this time, but it was fun nonetheless. Ultrafair were great again, although their singer had some problems with his voice because he was up partying until 8 am the night before and then went on to watch a football match before the afternoon the show. The main act were the Ramonas, a female Ramones coverband who played Ramones songs on flutes. Something which might get a little boring after some time but they really pulled it off. They only did four or five songs which was completely enough to thrill the crowd. Great way to end the evening.

It just wasn't over for us yet. There was the idea to shoot some band pictures aftzer the show and our guitarist Batman thought because we have a sample of a subway on our CD we should do this in a streetcar. So we jumped on the next train that passed us and did a few shots and some more on our way back. Let's wait and see how they turned out.

Great days in a row.

Honestly, the past few days have been the best in a long time. I had so much fun spendingt ime with the guys of The Gaslight Anthem who we had the honour to play with on monday. We talked a lot after the show, I then met the guys on tuesday to give them a short tour of the city which they seemed to have enjoyed. And then yesterday I spent the evening with them watching movies, going to a bar and talkeing and talking for hours and hours. I left at 5 in the morning with a smile on my face. This is what punk and hardcore mean to me. Meeting new people and just communicating with them. Broadening your own horizon by listening to their stories and opinions, getting new perspectives on different things, just having a good time sitting together somewhere. This is what you need every now ad then to remind yourself of why you're in this whole thing for such a long time. I know it happens every now and then, but you never know who you'll come across. And when you meet such nice people like Alex, Alex, Brian and Ben you know that it was worth the wait.
I really hope I can meet up with those guys again on ther stay here in Germany. And if not I'm going to fly over there some time in the future to have Ben and Alex teach me some Baseball techniques.

And thanks to those guys I'm listening to Bruce Springsteen all the time now...

The Gaslight Anthem + A Modest Proposal @ Blue Shell, Cologne

Our second show since our two year break and this was was a very good one. It was set up by the local college radio station KölnCampus and we were scheduled to play with The Gaslight Anthem from New Jersey, a band I never heard of before. But when I was listening to the songs the had on their Myspace site I knew we were in for a good one.
Great thing about this show was that I was able to go there on my own two feet, the "Blue Shell" is in walking distance to where I live. So I arrived there at around 6.30 pm and met up with my guys. We soon were introduced to the Americans and after some small talk the guys were putting up their stuff on stage. The only thing different was that we had to stay inside an allowed range of noise. So we were not allowed to play louder than 103 db. That was good for some laughs during soundcheck because the sound guy was running around with some device where he could see how loud we got.

Well, things worked out, we were all set and ready to go out and that's basically what we did. We rocked the house. A lot of our friends showed up and created a very nice atmosphere. Although we had minor problems with out of tune guitars we pretty much got through with our set without any huge mistakes. Which isn't normal for us, but this was the 2nd time in a row. Maybe we are really getting a little better after all these years. We even had people screaming for encores. Although that might have been our friends who just wanted to be nice to us.

The Gaslight Anthem then took the stage and those guys rocked. Their singer Brian is playing the same Fender Telecaster model as Bruce Springsteen and when Batman pointed that out to me I had to admit that he was really right when he was saying "That guy is playing that guitar for a reason". They really sound like a punk-fueled version of Bruce Springsteen. Great stuff. Wonderful melodies with an edge. Raw, yet beautiful. And they are wonderful fellows. I had the chance to talk to Brian for a long time after the show and I was in the city with the guys today as well since they had a day off. Great people. They are on tour through Germany for the next month. If you get the chance, go see them. You won't be disappointed.

06.Sep.2007 20:00
AZ (Ger) Aachen
07.Sep.2007 20:00
Lintfabrik Kontich (B)
08.Sep.2007 20:00
Area 51 Skate Park (NL) Eindhoven
10.Sep.2007 20:00
Bosporus Grill (GER) Münster
12.Sep.2007 20:00
Zucker Club (Ger) Breman
13.Sep.2007 20:00
Nexus Braunschweig (Ger)
14.Sep.2007 20:00
Störtebeker Störtebecker (Ger), Hamburg
15.Sep.2007 20:00
secret show not available
16.Sep.2007 20:00
Schaubude (Ger) Kiel
18.Sep.2007 20:00
AZ Conni Dresden (Ger)
19.Sep.2007 20:00
K4 Nürnberg (Ger)
20.Sep.2007 20:00
Alte Mälzerei Regensburg (Ger)
22.Sep.2007 20:00
AJZ Bielefeld (Ger)
24.Sep.2007 20:00
JUZ (Ger) Mannheim
25.Sep.2007 20:00
KTS (Ger) Freiburg
26.Sep.2007 20:00
Juha West (Ger) Stuttgart
27.Sep.2007 20:00
Cafe Cairo (Ger) Würzburg
28.Sep.2007 20:00
FZW Dortmond (Ger)
29.Sep.2007 20:00
TKELLER Gottingen (Ger)

A Modest Proposal - No Action Left In This

Against Me! + A Modest Proposal @ Underground, Cologne

So we finally played a show after almost two years on a hiatus. And to top it off this one must have been the biggest one we ever played so far. The "Underground" is a(if not the) guitar/live show club in Cologne. A lot of bands played, even our little band was out playing on that stage two previous times in 2000 and 2002. I have seen a lot of memorable shows there, bands like Pennywise, The Offspring, Kill Holiday, Isis, Cave-In, you name it.

So, we were supposed to play with Against Me! from Gainesville, Fa. yesterday and we got the support slot because of our good friend Martin who knows almost every small punkband who tours Germany since he is the driver! He gave us the address of one of Against Me!'s bandmembers, we sent that guy an mp3, he forwared that to the American booking agency, they forwared it to the German booking agency and they said we're in.

About a week before the show we heard that the evening was sold out, I guess that was partly because the price was very low. Only € 7,90 in advance. So we got to play a sold out show for the first time in our career. We had a short rehearsal before we drove off from our rehearsal room and packed our cars since we had to bring along all the stuff. At least that was what we were told. But when we arrived there the Against Me! guys were so king to let us use their stuff. Tough luck. The soundcheck went smootly and by 8 pm we were on stage playing to what looked like an enormous amount of people standing in front of the stage. The two previous times we played the "Underground" were before they rebuild the whole place. Before it was rather small and cozy, now it's more like a huge room that can fit 450 people. The reactions from the crowd were warm and pleasant, we played a short and fast set with almost now pauses and breaks because of broken guitar strings. Something that we rarely do, because we have at least one broken string per show. And by the time we realized it the whole thing was over.

We were so damn nervous before the show me and Pascal, our singer, were talking to each oter before we kicked off that we are not used to this staff anymore. My heart was beating very fast and it was only until after the show that I got to drink a bottle of beer to relax. Some of our friends showed up as well and some were disappointed because we started so early and they dropped by so late they only got to see one or two songs by us.

So with this we are back in business and we are planning some show in september. Until then, when I get them, I will post some pictures of the show here.

There's always a next rehearsal. Or is there?

Since A Modest Proposal got back together at the end of last year we reahearsed a lot more than during the previous two years. We even wrote new songs. And we even have a show we will play. Now that's progress. Our record will be out this summer eventually after three long years and this has given us a boost when it comes to rehearsing. So Batman drove up from Mannheim on Sunday and we played for about three hours with the last 30 minutes being spend on recording a set of songs we wozuld like to perform at our next gig. Boy, that was exhausting. We played like there is no tomorrow. Completetly new territory for us. One song ends, the guitars fade out - bam! Next one. 30 minutes of pure punkrock. That was a lot of fun. And it even sounds okay on the recording, although the vocals were missing since Pascal was a little bit out of breath after two hours of singing.
Now I know that three hours of rehearsing isn't that much, but to us it is and that's why I'm still excited.

Some things never really change, do they? - The Heartbreak Motel and Bubonix @ Sonic Ballroom

When I was coming back from a very successful and refreshing rehearsal session with my bandmates I found some messages from two friends that there was a show at Cologne's No. 1 punkrock bar Sonic Ballroom and that both of them were planning to go there. So we met up at the club and hung out before the show.


Now, the Ballroom is a very special place in Cologne. When that place started out it was sort of an island in a sea of mainstream disco clubs. Ehrenfeld, that part of Cologne where the Ballroom is located, is known for its many bars and clubs, but most of them, as I said, are playing mainstream stuff or electronic music. There simply wasn't a punkrock bar there. So the Ballroom really came at the right time. Over the past few years they had to overcome some obstacles (e.g. the some city department wanted to close down the bar because it was too loud - still there was noone leaving anywhere near it. Stuff like that, you know). They always came back and today the bar/club has become one of the nicest places in Cologne. They now even have a beer garden and by renovating the inside they now have the chance to let bands play there. And they use this chance rather often. There always is a show happening.

So yesterday it was The Heartbreak Motel and Bubonix. I think I've seen both bands before. I might have come across The Heartbreak Motel when they were still playing under the name of Daylight. They didn't really get my attention yesterday. Too much cliché and standard rock 'n' roll stuff, so I decided to hang back and have another beer.
I think I've seen Bubonix a couple of years ago and I remember them as a rather uninspiring german punk/hardcore outfit. Still one of my friends told me that they had evolved into a brilliant hardcore band. None of that was true. I tried to find some good points in their songwriting, but I always had the feeling that I'd seen the whole thing before. Boring, uninspiring, simply not interesting. So I went to have another beer and after so many pauses during shows I had my fill quite early and left for home on my bike.