Day 8: Le Ferrailleur/ Nantes/ France

Day 7: Le Nouveau Casino/ Paris/ France

The next day we rise bright and early, full of energy from the good rest we had in our wonderful hotel. How great it is so wake up and know you are in Paris! Sorry to all of the guys who got left behind in their bunks in the nightliner, but I am happy to get a long and good sleep.

We head over to the venue to meet up with everyone and give directions to Matti, Kobi, Matan and Uri who want to visit the grave of Jim Morrison at Pere Lachaise cemetery. This famous site is only a short walk from the venue, that is one of the benefits when you are doing a show in Paris.

Meanwhile the crew gets busy in the Nouveau Casino to prepare for the evening and I set up the merchandising in a small corner of the balcony. Still lots of fans managed to find me there during the evening.

When I stick my nose out the door for a second, I see there is a queue forming in front of the venue, even though it’s raining. Tonight’s show is sold out and the poster outside reads: “sold out, no tickets at the door”.

As the doors open and the crowd pours in I spot some familiar faces like Zen Two, one of the duo of artists who drew the calligraphy artwork for the album. Also Philippe and Severine from Holy Records, who get a big thank you from the band. Kobi explains during the show that they were the ones who discovered the band and then they play El Meod Na ala and Seasons Unite in a special version dedicated to them.

It is a great evening to meet up with friends and make new ones. Finally I get to meet the Champeaux family who are all big fans of Orphaned Land and with whom I only had internet contact up till now. At the merchandise stand I speak with many fans, one of them an Algerian who is in France for holidays. He really wants to buy a shirt of the band, but is afraid he will get in trouble for it when he gets back to his country. Finally, he tells me “I don’t care, I will buy the shirt and only wear it at home”. Now that’s the spirit! Another guy is wearing an Orphaned Disciples shirt- thank you for your support!

The show in turning into one big party. During the song “Norra el Norra” Kobi invites the crowd to jump and it seems for a moment that even the walls are dancing to the rhythmn of the song, also the chandeliers dance on the ceiling. O la la! What an evening, I wish it would never end.

After the show we  go out for a bite with some friends.We keep it simple, because there is a show in Nantes planed for the next day and we all need a rest after such an eventful day.

Thank you Paris!

Day 6: travel day to Paris

The morning after the show at the Besancon festival we start the long drive to Paris. Some rest during the drive and some catch up with work. We draw up a plan of what to do once we arrive in Paris. In the evening Yannick will join us and be our guide in the City of Light as he knows it well. Matti has a request to visit the Eiffel Tower as there was never time before to do it when the band was in Paris and according to him: “You have not been to Paris if you have not seen the Eiffel Tower”.

On our way to visit the icon of France, we stop by at the Rue de Rosiers, which is the heart of the Jewish quarter of the city. Of course we have to eat humus, shwarma and falafel since the Israelis miss the food from back home.

We make our way through the city by metro and get out to walk through the Marais (trendy quarter) to the last stop of the evening.

A broad smile lightens Matti’s face as he finally gets to take a picture with the steel giant. Instead of Kobi, who had to stay in the bus and give his voice a rest, we took the mascot of the tour with us. He poses for us like a professional.

After Matan, Uri and Matti bargain with the men selling souvenirs it is already time to get back to the bus and take a good rest because the sold out show in the Nouveau Casino promises to be a hot and exciting one.

Day 5: Herbe en Zik festival/ Besancon/ France

As the fans stood in line to get their cds and t shirts signed by the band I spotted this lovely couple in the corner. It was in fact Matan and Sebastian from Suidakra who were roaming around together, probably looking to make some mischief.

The Suidakra guys are really fun to have around on the tour. They managed to have a wall of death in their show in Strasbourg which moved the sound table! After putting up such an energetic performance they still have the stamina to crack jokes with us in the nightliner till four in the morning. Great plans are born in such nights. We could rule the world or build a business empire. For sure the “tiger power” of Miriams “Wunder wasser” will be a household name soon. Really, don’t ask what this is about, you had to be there to see the demonstration. But it must remain a secret between us for now till we can rule the world with this drink- move over Red Bull!

The sunny weather we enjoyed on our way to Besancon suddenly turned to a cloud of icy mist when we approach the festival town.After we parked the van I spot that everyone in the festival area is wearing rubber boots. I figure it must either be the fashion on the university campus that is housed next to us or…soon we find out that this fashion comes from the whole festival terrain being covered in ankle-deep mud. It seems there was a rain storm the night before our arrival which flooded the terrain.

In the afternoon we set up the merchandising in a tent on the festival terrain. The posters from Orphaned Land attract a lot of attention. During the day I keep putting up new posters, because a lot of people steal the posters to take as a souvenir.

Before I know it is time for the show, which I watch from the sound table. From there I can watch the party going on at the front. By the time the band plays “Norra el norra” they manage to get everyone to jump and clap along.

This morning we woke up in Besancon and everyone is getting ready for the long rive to Paris. There we will have a night off and we will take this occasion to go see the Eiffel tower and whatever else we have time for. This was a special request from Matti as he said he had never really been to Paris, because he never had time to look around the city when they were playing there. According to him; if you haven’t visited the Eiffel tower you have not been to Paris.

See you all in Paris at the Nouveau Casino. It is a sold out show, so it promises to be a big party. For now you can watch these videos from the Orphaned Land and Arkan show last night which some friendly people at the festival have prepared for you.
Merci a Ludovic!

Day 4: La Laiterie Club/ Strasbourg/ France

As I write this we have already arrived in Strasbourg. Too bad there is no time to have a look around, because a friend said the place is beautiful and has a wonderful old synagogue.

Last night’s show passed without any technical problems and from the merchandising boot- that was unfortunately located in the hallway- I could hear that there was a party going on. I managed to talk to a lot of fans of Orphaned Land, some old fans, some that discovered the band with the ORwarriOR album. All of them had a great time in the show, but the highlight of the evening was when two fans who came to the show dressed in oriental looking dance costumes, were invited to dance on stage for the last song.Lucky!

Back in the bus we amuse ourselves till late in the night by trying to beat the world record of how many people fit in a bunk (the place to sleep on a bus) I think it was Lars from Suidakra who started it and Uri and Matan were all too happy to join in. In the end they were four in the bunk and it looked like a human puzzle and there was no way of knowing which limb belonged to whom. I heard rumors about an attempt to fit ten people in tonight, including Sebastian from Suidakra who is 1 meter 95! In the morning the party continued when we “dressed up” one of the band members. Since he was still half asleep he could not protest. You can guess who I’m talking about from this picture…

La Laiterie is a nice club and we almost got lost finding the way to our backstage! Not kidding,  it is huge and each band has their own room and hours looks like a hotel of some kind, including two bathrooms !

Matan’s spirits were visibly lifted when he managed to find the way to catering and discovered the food waiting for us. There was so much and it was all good! One of the Suidakra guys really makes a killing at the buffet. I think he helped himself to three plates… The kitchen staff was looking at us with a big smile on their faces from our obvious enjoyment of their work…

Now it is time to hit the showers, so I don’t have to stand in line tonight after the show. I hope to see some of you reading this at the show tonight and don’t forget to come to the merch stand after the show to get your newly acquired albums and t shirts signed by the band(s). Venez nombreux!

Day 3: Dynamo Werk 21/ Zurich/ Switzerland

We arrived to Switzerland early in the morning under grey skies, even before get in time. In our minds are pictures of the excellent Swiss chocolate we might find in the backstage. Lots of people on this tour are chocoholics! But to be honest we were all delighted to discover the venue has a washing machine and drier. It was really high time for the stage attire to take a bath! As usual it is Matan who proves to be skilled when it comes to all matters to do with household chores. After all is cleaned the battle of which socks belongs to who follows.

Between sound check and building the merch stand I find a couple of minutes to peek out the door together with Yossi. Much to our amazement the weather has turned to a beautiful sunny day and we enjoy the sunshine and beautiful scenery. Picture blue skies, loads of green and a fast flowing river. We decide to capture the moment by making a spontaneous photo session.

When we get back to the venue, Arkan is sound checking. They arrived a bit late as they were held up at the French- Swiss border, but luckily they made it to Zurich. I enjoy listening to one of their songs and hopefully I can see the whole show tonight as Mark -soundtech- has generously offered to take over the boot during their show.

To conclude for now, I want to share with you some art Uri created for the merchandise table last night.

Day 2: Marche Gare/ Lyon/ France

After spending a night on the nightliner I have renewed respect for everyone working on the road with rock bands. The nightliner is great and very comfortable, but the beds do not have a high ceiling. At last the person in the bunk under mine does not snore. After I get used to the rocking and the noise of the bus I manage to fall asleep and wake up in France. None of the Orphaned guys are up yet, but some from Suidakra are and we make way to a gasstation to score us some breakfast. We manage to find some nice French pastries.

We arrive to Lyon without any problems and the driver easily locates the Marche Gare venue. Right when we arrive, most on the bus wake up and everyone is running around taking care of getting the gear up to the venue. Or in some cases busy to find a nice coffee or tea for breakfast.
After everyone is settled and showed the locations of the dressing rooms and catering- most important that last one!- some wander off to relax a bit while others connect to the internet to call home. Uri and Matti give me a showcase of their free style wrestling until they need to join the soundcheck.

Sadly there were some problems with the computer during the show of Orphaned Land and after three times they gave up on the thing and played on without it. They managed to improvise on the stage and surprised the crowd with golden oldies like Seasons Unite and Like fire to Water.

Here is the setlist of the night- not necessarily in the right order:

Birth of the three
Olat Hatamid
Seasons unite
Like fire to water
The kiss of babylon
Ocean land
Thee by the father I pray
Sapari
Am I?
The path pt.1
El meod na ala
Beloveds cry
Storm still rages inside (acoustic)
Norra el norra+ Ornaments of gold

After lots of cds were signed, pictures taken with band members and all was packed and put back into the bus, everyone gathered in the hall of  Marche Gare to sing for Sarah from Arkan to celebrate her birthday.

All in all it was a great evening and I met a lot of friendly fans. Even spotted one with the Orphaned Disciples shirt!

Extra thanks go to all the friendly people from the venue who were all very helpful. Merci beaucoup Lyon, see you tomorrow in Zurich.