26.05.2003 - Karlsruhe, Ex-Steffi

Review by Uli:

NOT A BAD NIGHT IN KARLSRUHE

After a busy afternoon (driving to Ulm for a bit of business and also for buying a DVD player) I started the drive to Karlsruhe in very uncomfortable weather (foggy, it seemed more like November than May), but this became better after a few miles.

The traffic on the motorway wasn't too dense, so it went quite well. This time I didn't have to search for the venue, as it was the same as last year, an old building sprayed over and over with graffiti.

When I entered it, I met a guy I knew from last year's gig (forgot to ask his name again), he was just paying. I paid as well and we went downstairs (where the gig was about to happen), but there was hardly anyone around. He suggested we went upstairs to see if T.V. was there like last year, but on the stairs we learned that the public room upstairs was closed this year. Jessica (JS) was there, paying at the entrance, I said a quick hello and then went to the toilets, while that guy disappeared somewhere (later I heard he found the "backstage room" and talked to T.V. shortly). Downstairs I found Jessica again who introduced me to Linda (at first I thought they'd known each other before, but later found out that they had just met outside when both were searching for the entrance). Sid turned up, who I also knew from last year's gig (he's been an Adverts fan since the late 70's). So we chatted for a while. Later Viola (Loki) appeared, I'd already watched out for her because her car was parked outside of the building, but she probably had been upstairs talking to T.V. So this was kind of a big TUTS meeting (even though Sid probably doesn't know what the TUTS are, he is like a member too!)...

The gig started quite late (as expected in such a punky club), Garden Gang went down well with the crowd. For a Monday night it was an excellent turnout anyway!

When T.V. played, it was a similar atmosphere as last year, very loud applause and cheering, but some people also talking loudly between songs when T.V. made his announcements.

As far as I remember, he started with "Not A Bad Day", soon followed by "Not In My Name" which I enjoyed a lot as I hadn't heard it live before. Other highlights (for me) were "One Million Pounds", "Driver Or Passenger", "What If?", "Strong Horse", "Soon As I Found It I Lost It", "Generation Y", "Ticket out of here" and many more (basically all of them were highlights)...

Loki looked quite happy when he played "Roll Like A River" (one of her faves)! I enjoyed singing along a bit during songs like "Runaway Train Driver".

Garden Gang joined him and we got a punk rock show with "Only One Flavour", "Immortal Rich", "The Future Used To Be Better", "Gary Gilmore's Eyes", "Bored Teenagers" and "One Chord Wonders".

The sound wasn't perfect, there was a lot of feedback between the songs, maybe that's why T.V. didn't say much anymore, as he wanted to get the songs behind him before the sound might get even worse...

Nevertheless it was very enjoyable, lots of people pogoing about and all that. Even the drunken punk who'd passed out while sitting at the front of the stage woke up (after two songs)!

Afterwards I talked to Loki, JS and Linda again, the guys having already disappeared. Good thing that I'd bought a DVD player, so I can play the live video disc they sold at the merchandise table (T.V. live in N.Y. 2002)!

We sat down and talked, while the club was getting emptier around us. Later T.V. and members of the Garden Gang joined us. The DJ in the bar was playing punk records etc., so it was still quite loud, sadly I couldn't understand everything some people said. Most of the time I talked to Linda and Loki, who were sitting next to me. In fact it was such a nice round that I just didn't wanna leave, even though I knew it was getting really late.

Finally we all said our good-byes and 20 minutes past 4am I sat in my car, the drive went well again, so I was at home about 5.30am. Quite a tiring experience, but well worth it! Not a bad night after all...