Freedom Call tour report

[Symphony]

Freedom Call Tour report (pasrt 1)

Tuesday March 6th

Rich, Andy, Gav and myself gathered for rehearsals. Kiwi and Colin were travelling direct to the first venue in Switzerland. Van loaded, supplied by "the civilised car company", we got a good sleep in before things would begin in earnest the following day.

Wednesday March 7th.

We left Derby with our trusty driver, Sprocket, at 8am and headed to Ramsgate to catch the 13.30 ferry to Ostend.....stopping off for brunch at the truckers cafe just off junction 13 of the M1.

Arriving in time we set sail on a four hour journey. Little did we know the dramas that would unfold.....

About 2 hours in we realised we had forgotten the keyboard stand and Colin's in ear monitors (luckily Chris Bay came to Colins rescue and House of Sound in Basel came to mine)

We then heard from Colin that his passport had been stolen and it seemed in doubt as to whether he would be able to get out of Ireland. I contacted a number of singers but no one was available at such short notice. Luckily Colin told us about 2 hours later that the passport had been found and he managed to get a flight that would enable him to join us for the tour. Phew!

Once landed in Ostend we travelled down to Metz where we stayed the night, leaving a 3 hour trip in the morning.

 

[Andiferum]

Wow, that was lucky!

 

[Symphony]

Part 2

Thursday March 8th

We left Metz by 9am and headed to the Swiss border which was safely negotiated with no searching of the van or such like. From there we headed into Basel to pick up a new keyboard stand for me and some cables for Gav before heading to the venue and hooking up with Colin, Kiwi, Manuela and the guys from Freedom Call and In Legend.

Having played at Z7 before I knew the catering and facilities were top drawer and so it proved again. It really is one of my favourite European venues and I don't want to wait another 5 years before playing there again

The show itself was fantastic and a brilliant way top get the tour started......was awesome meeting up with friends after the show too....Thomas, Lorina and Syl to name a few. Really cool to see you guys.

After the show we headed towards Zurich, where we stayed the night at an Etap hotel.

Huge thanks to all the guys at House of Sound Music in Basel too for the new keyboard stand. You guys rule!

 

[Powerray]

no riding on train rails this time

 

[Rich Smith]

this tour has been the best. im so glad we made it in the end after all the drama. steve i think you should continue the story. sprokhovel ,police, ferry cancellation,. in some cases the most stressful tour but the shows were just mind blowing. thank you to freedom call and to all the new fans/friends we made \m/

 

[1928]

What a doozy of a trip! Sounds like you guys had a blast though. Very glad to hear everything worked itself out in the end. Now start booking more dates!

 

[Symphony]

Friday March 9th

We left Switzerland around 10am heading for Kaufbeuren in Germany. We crossed the Swiss border into Austria and then crossed the Austrian border into Germany. It was around this point that we found out that our return ferry from Ostend to Ramsgate at 13:30 had been cancelled so we had the choice of the 8am or 18:30 crossing on March 12th. After a brief chat we decided to go for the early one which would mean travelling straight to Ostend after the Bochum show.....more on that later.

Not long after crossing into Germany we were intercepted by a German customs vehicle who gestured to us to follow them to the nearest lay by. We were then quizzed and searched by armed officials as to whether or not we were carrying illegal substances, what we were doing in Germany and where we were going. About 45 minutes later we were sent on our way after they had given the van and us a good going over......no tour quite like a PQ tour.

Eventually arriving in Kaufbeuren (which was the smallest venue by far) we had a few language problems with the crew there which led to a few tech issues during the set, but it appeared they only affected the sound on stage.

As on every night, Freedom Call played a blinder...as did In Legend (Bastian and the guys were super cool and if you haven't checked their brand of "piano metal" yet....go and do it now!)

After the show we headed up the road to Ulm where we stayed the night......

 

[Fizrider]

Friday March 9th

we were intercepted by a German customs vehicle who gestured to us to follow them to the nearest lay by. We were then quizzed and searched by armed officials as to whether or not we were carrying illegal substances, what we were doing in Germany and where we were going. About 45 minutes later we were sent on our way after they had given the van and us a good going over.

A true Master of Illusion could make your Band Van appear as a Citroen, or some other unassuming vehicle, thus minimizing your gestapo interceptions. Just sayin.

 

[Power_Metal_Dom]

Blimey! Lost passports and forgetting equipment made my stomach lurch in empathy

 

[Symphony]

Saturday March 10th

We left Ulm mid morning and headed for the next venue in Aschaffenburg. Fortunately the only hassle we had on this leg of the trip was almost running out of diesel. Never a service station when you need it. About an hour away from the venue we actually met up with Freedom Call's van on the motorway and so we followed them to the venue. Good job we did as there were a lot of roadworks in the town centre which was causing our sat nav no end of issues. It was on the this leg of the journey we saw the sign for the town called "Sprockhovel".....normally not particularly amusing, but as our driver is called Sprocket......it took on a whole new meaning.

Awesome venue and a cracking show from all bands, as was becoming the norm. THe sound guys at these venues really know what they are doing.....unlike so many here in the UK. This show was also slightly unique as it featured yours truly taking lead vocals for a verse on Neverworld due to a problem with Colin's mic.

After a few drinks we drove 3 hours to Cologne which was to be our base before heading to Bochum for the final show.

 

[Symphony]

Sunday March 11th/Monday MArch 12th

HAving arrived in Cologne at 5am....we were leaving at 11 and heading for Zeche in Bochum. What an awesome venue! The catering had been great all tour but this really was the best one......amazing lunches and dinners provided for all, and we even had leftovers to take away for our journey later on.

Another great show.....arguably the best sound of the whole tour and again we had a brilliant reaction from the fans. It was clear from this tour that despite the band being around for over 10 years, so many people had never heard of us, but we had many compliments saying we were the best band of the night.

We hung out after the show with FC and In Legend and a number of fans.....needless to say certain people had a little too much to drink but at 1am we jumped in the van and began the journey to Ostend which would take 4.5 hours, with a couple of stops thrown in.....and we set sail for Blighty at 8am.


ONce landed the van headed to Southampton to drop me and Simon (our merch man) before heading back to Derby to drop Rich, Gav and Andy. Colin was flying back to Ireland from Dusseldorf and Kiwi was heading back to Prague on the train. Hit the hay at 11[m MOnday night having got out of bed 9am Sunday morning.

Thanks to everyone involved in making the tour such a success......FC, In Legend, Dragon Productions, our manager Manuela, our driver Sprocket, merch man and all round hero Simon and of course the band! Extra thanks to Kiwi for stepping in to help us out......was great to share the stage again bro!

Next stop.....PPM in Belgium!

 

[giodude]

What a palaver But this was an awesome tour, really enjoyed it.

 

[The Crystal King]

Awesome tour indeed!! I will post up my story in full pretty soon. But it's safe to say that on this tour, I felt VERY grateful to be there!! Just to be able to travel over, sing for those shows and meet the people, I felt like I had been given a great gift - and it was a really close call, because for a few hours I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it!

Sometimes things in life make you really appreciate what you have, and that has to be a good thing right? No point in looking at the negatives of it imho