We kinda forgot about this part of the website, being busy with new drops and.. Yeah, okay, we forgot about this. We've been doing things, okay?
Anyway, Friedo was asked back in March or April to write down a cool story, trying to overcome the coolness of the rest of the stories posted on this blog.
Friedo is one of these promoters I'm always ultra happy to see while on the road, because he always gives you this feeling that everything is under control, and we all are a big family meeting again after many years, and everything is gonna be alright. Everything? Well, read his story and find out for yourself..
Hey, I'm Friedo. I am a promoter in Dresden/Saxony. Me and my crew “ElbSludgeBooking“ have been setting up shows here since 2015. We are deeply rooted in the Stoner scene, mostly doing Stoner Rock, Doom, Sludge and Psych. We always try to provide the best gig possible for the bands, the audience and of course for ourselves. Usually it's as easy as eating pie but sometimes it's pure madness and challenging as hell. But that's part of every game, right?
So after being asked what my funniest or craziest experience was up to this point there was only one possible answer. This event of utter nuttiness goes down on the 14th of September in 2019.
The bands involved are the metal warriors of War Cloud from Austin,Texas and The Galactic Superlords from Cologne,Germany. The venue is the infamous “Eichenkranz“ which is basically a raunchy club house of an allotment club with the same name, right in the center of small gardens to grow vegetables in. The venue is pretty small and always smelling of urine because of the prehistoric toilet it holds, but that adds to the character. It has a bowling alley and a pool billiard too. And if we ask our man Flash to bring his insanely loud PA we always have insane shows there. Long, insane, loud shows.
So because it is not a normal venue we have a lot to do beforehand. Setting up an improvised bar, cleaning up, getting drinks and preparing wood for the campfire. But our amazing crew got it down, we are set and ready. Everything's fine. But then... I get a phone call from Dennis of the Superlords that they will soon arrive with their nightliner. Wait, what? A nightliner? A real, huge nightliner bands like Spinal Tap are touring with? I am shocked. A nightliner is very, very unusual for bands with that kind of standing (no offense to the bands). I tell them that they can't drive to the venue because the bus is too big for the tiny path leading to the Eichenkranz. So we met up at the gas station nearby. I come with my car to load as much gear as possible. The band takes some of their gear too and walks to the venue.
Now another problem appears. The bus driver, Bernd, needs to rest, he surely looks like it, and the nightliner needs to be parked somewhere, preferably with electric power. After a minor panic attack I call the theater I work at and ask them if the driver can park there. Sure thing, no problem. I drive the 20 minutes to the theater with my car, talk to the boss there, the nightliner gets its power cord and I even get some beers for the driver too. Then back to the Eichenkranz. In the car I realize that the driver can't come after the show to get the bands since he needs to rest for a specific time because IT'S THE LAW.
That means I have to stay sober (WTF!?!) so I can drive the bands after the show.
And I need a bigger car since all the people AND the gear have to get to the theater. So I call a friend and ask him politely if we can have his van. Thank Satan he will lend it. So I get his van and go to the show. All the driving and the stress make me dizzy by now which is not too bad because it makes up for the lack of alcoholic and cannabean intake.
So I get back to the venue and can finally relax a bit and enjoy the show. The bands are in top gear, punishing the poor Eichenkranz with a healthy dose of HEAVY METAL! Katharina of the Superlords is drawing the sword and fucken War Cloud delivered the best double guitar action we ever had on stage! Bomb show!
In between I finally can talk with the Superlords WHY THE FUCK THEY HAVE A NIGHTLINER AND WHY THE FUCK NOBODY TOLD ME BEFORE? Turns out that the Superlords have a very generous friend who thought it would be a great idea to sponsor them a real nightliner, including the driver, for their tour. They already had some problems in Italy driving through tiny villages, (who would have guessed?) and their booker thought it was a great idea to not tell us beforehand. Well, maybe next time then, okay?
So after the show we pack the stuff and I drive the whole party up the hill to their beloved nightliner. We unload the gear from the van to the nightliner. The storage space in there is ridiculously small for such a huge bus so it takes some time. Finally I take the chance to get inside that bus that ruined my evening. Surprisingly it's not half as glamorous as you might think. So I hope to never see one again on our shows. Yes, I am talking to you, Mister Nightliner, you pompous, pretentious piece of shit, you!
After I got home totally exhausted, I opened a beer and thought about how and why I got in this mess?! Why am I doing this especially as it's clearly not for the money? The answer is clear and probably the same for a lot of people in our scene: It's for Rock N Roll! Damn right! It's our passion and our duty to serve the Iommic god by setting up shows and spreading the gospel! As long as there is a distorted guitar squealing and the drums are pounding there is life! It's our life and our alternative to the often soulless system we live in. I know it sounds dramatic but we mean it. Rock'n'roll reigns supreme! We are one nation under the riff! 
Thanks for reading, thanks to the bands (Check them out – they rule!) and I hope to see some of you in Dresden. Maybe even at the “Eichenkranz“ ;) .
(„And just for the record, War Cloud found out we were going to be on a nightliner the day we arrived in Europe! Sorry for the inconvenience, it won't happen again as we prefer to sleep during the day, sitting upright, crammed on a bench seat shoulder to shoulder, haha!“ Alex from War Cloud)
What a freakin' ride, Friedo! Jeeez!
Make sure you check out Friedo's small clip from that memorable night here, so you can get an idea of what "Eichenkranz" looks and feels like.
Of course, check out and support War Cloud and the Galactic Superlords. Never heard of War Cloud before in my life, but I can tell you I'm already blasting some!
If you are here and you enjoyed this story, chances are that you will love our "Satancat" design and our "Obey the Riff" design. In any case, thanks for stopping by, and see you somewhere out there!