We rocketed down into Austria along what are now familiar roads. I’ve been to Salzburg a few times and it’s a great city, but we didn’t have time to have a look around unfortunately. Checked into the hotel (which was an awesome old building that had been a Gasthof since 1437). The venue was less than five minutes away – The Rockhouse – and it is magnificent. Really nice place with exceptionally nice staff. You knew you were back in Europe – there was a ton of food and drink laid on, and that was before dinner which was cooked by a nice lady upstairs. Geoff and Susan had been into town and had dinner in a restaurant that dates back to the 9th century!!! Awesome. The original staff must have been virtually Roman.
Fire and Water opened the show, then us and then a German band called Wolfen Reloaded. Nice guys. As they were after us I used their drum kit, a Yamaha double bass setup. This, of course, led to cat calls and mockery from various Mindcrimers and Fire or Waterers who were watching from the balcony as we sound checked! Bloody cheek! I’m an artiste don’t you know…;)
Anyway, I weathered the storm of these outrageous slurs from this riff raff and we sound checked without any (more) hassle. The onstage sound was great and all in all I reckon we played pretty well and seemed to go down well. Made a lot of new friends.
A great night all round.
After that, back to the hotel and a beer before crashing out.
The next morning we ambled off into Germany, taking a short detour to show the guys the remains of Adolf Hitler’s house, the Berghof, at Obersalzberg. It’s a fascinating historical place and always interesting having a look around there. The hotel that acted as garrison for the SS guard is still a functioning hotel and – with a little more time – you can ferret out the houses belonging to the Third Reich’s hierarchy…and assorted tunnels and things 😉
So, now that it’s pissing with rain, we’re off to a hotel in Frankfurt. Bochum tomorrow \m/