When the first two shows of the much anticipated Morr Music 2009 summer tour got canceled it crossed my mind that the whole tour would get scrapped or postponed for later dates, but when almost everyone that was going on the tour showed up at my doorstep in Copenhagen for a two day layover on their way to Berlin I was glad to hear that the tour was back on and the first gig would take place in Hamburg, Germany a few days later. And after two days of playing basketball and ping pong in Berlin waiting for Sin Fang Bous front man Sindri to arrive, all 14 of us hopped a sleeping tour bus and made our way for the first show at Knust in Hamburg.
For me this tour was pretty special for a few reasons. It was my first time seeing Sin Fang Bous live, something that I have been looking forward to since Sindri first let me hear a sneak peek of his solo project, of the two other bus tours I have gone on this would be the first one I actually got my own bunk to sleep in so no sleeping in the lounge bench in my clothes with a towel covering me, and the last one, I got to spend a week traveling Europe with my friends and hear amazing music every night. First stop was in Hamburg and after the show where I saw German/Swedish band It’s a Musical for the first time, new Borko songs and Sindri pour his heart and soul into his set, we were off into the cold night in search of the elusive Hamburg hamburger. After being turned down at a kebab joint claiming to be the world’s best kebab place our only hope was a 24/7 gas station close to the venue. In there Matt, aka Mr. Sound, bought a single use BBQ, some bratwurst, white bread and a can of tomato soup, and a 4am BBQ session turned out to be just the right move before heading to our coffin-like bunks before our drive to Groningen in the Netherlands, home to the legendary club VERA. Groningen greeted us with so-so weather and even though Icelandic bankers had done badly by many Dutch people they all greeted us with open arms. For me, the mission of the day was to find an H&M and stock up on some underwear, socks and a pair of shoes since my stay on the bus had been extended for a few days. After dinner it was time to find a TV station showing the Champions League finals between Barcelona and Manchester United. After the game, which Barca owned, Borko’s front man Bjössi put on a Barcelona shirt with the name of Eiður Guðjohnsens (Icelandic player for Barca) on the back. This was not the first and only time he did so, often playing in a Valur shirt in support of his favorite Icelandic soccer team. These antics, and the basketball, soccer and ping-pong playing, resulted in the tour getting dubbed “The Great Sports Tour of 09.” For me the evening was a bit of a bummer: getting sick forced me to stay in the backstage on the couch drinking way to much water just to stay level headed, so my ears had to do the work at Vera that night.
The next day we awoke in front of the venue Trix in Antwerp, Belgium. This venue was the same one I met up with Seabear and Borko in October last year. That had been a super fun show so I was looking forward to the evening’s festivities. After a quick breakfast provided by the local supermarket we loaded all the gear into two cars that the guys from another Morr Music band, The Go Find had brought and headed of to the venue downtown in the old part of Antwerp. It was at Bar Mondial where Sin Fang Bous also had a new front man for about 30minutes as Sindri had gotten lost wandering the streets, so Robbi stepped up for the sound-check and delivered the goods. For me this show was one of the best I saw during my week on tour. It was at a small club and the turnout was rather good and the crowd was getting into all three of the bands and the Dj Set provided by The Go Find. It was also here I discovered my love for pinball machines as the CSI machine at the venue sucked down my euros like there was no tomorrow. Shortly after the gig it was time to load the bus and say good by to Thomas Morr as he was jumping ship for a few days and off we were in route to an island on the outskirts of Rotterdam, Holland.
That night’s drive did not see much sleep as some of us took advantage of Borko’s entertainment hard drive packed with TV shows and movies. When we arrived in Dordrecht we or at least I saw what had to be the biggest windmill around and it was fitting, when in Holland you come to expect big windmills. The Urban Explorers Festival was held at two venues and the Morr Music Night got the basement one. A nice little venue that almost reminded me of a rec-center, with yellow walls covered in strange painting, even stranger quotes and music coming out of every rehearsal space in there. The show was good and the people were great. We even had time to do some much needed laundry, take some cover photos for a new Goth album by The Princes of Darkness aka Palli lúður and I took my first stab at the merch booth unloading one t-shirt and a Morr compilation cd, so all in all a good day.
The weather had not been to kind to us while in Germany, Belgium and Holland so waking up at a gas station in France the following day with the sun shining and a nice warm breeze was a much welcomed surprise. After a short drive for the gas station and a few espressos later we pulled into Clermont-Ferrand where Sin Fang Bous was set to play the Europavox Festival later that night. The festival was split into two little sections; one a conference center where the likes of Bloc Party played later that night, and just outside on the grass lawn there were three rather large circus tents all decked out on the inside to make them look like old cowboy saloons/dance halls. It was also in Clermont where I got some kind of French duck delicatessen that I was told what it was by Borko but I can’t remember, but over that week it stands out by far. After the show we hung out back stage made art, played old Icelandic songs and had a BBQ with a band who’s backstage trailer looked like a gypsy bus, rather cool looking to be honest. It was early to bed that night for most of us as a long drive to Lille was lying a head.
HHHHOOOOTTTT that is the only word to describe what the bus felt like when we woke up on the outskirts of Lille. After having driven around all night our bus driver Carsten was unable to find a place to park and get electricity for the bus so as a result our AC was not working and our coffin-like beds felt more like Finnish saunas, minus the branches and cold baths afterwards. The venue for the night was at a rather strange place, this massive shopping mall complex thing had two stages tucked away somewhere in it and there would be my last show of the tour. Most of us went out for a walk around town admiring some stunning buildings and the rather strange 20 foot tall black baby demon statues that lined one street, some of us even felt the urge to go lick one, won’t mention names but you know who you are. As the venue closed and we had all the gear outside one of the promoters took us for a walk in order to find a bar worthy of hanging out at until we had to leave for Paris later that night. Unfotunatly it was closed so the mission became ours and after paying eight euros for beers and sampling some rather strange beef tartar it was time to start making our way to Paris.
The sun was in a good mood when we got to Paris and after Carsten showed us his mad bus driving skills, we loaded in the gear and went for a little stroll around the hood. Borko and Siggi the tour manager showed us how to enjoy the district with a one-hour big circle walk. 6pm came too quick and it was time for me to hop on a couple of trains to catch my flight to Copenhagen and not miss my flight to Iceland the following day. Said my goodbyes to everyone and wished them the best of luck on the rest of the tour, which, btw I would have loved to join them for, but that would have to wait.
Big thanks to Thomas Morr and everyone on the tour!
If you feel like reading more dark matter stories of the road be sure to check out the tour diary.
