UK SUBS
14th January 2000
SO36
Berlin
Germany
The two day long wait was not as hard as the last wait ;-) Me and my brother
arrived a bit late (around 5:30pm) at the SO36 and the band was already in, so we could
not help carry things in this time... But we slipped in through a side door and were
stopped shortly by one of the SO36 staff, but when she asked Kurt, it was ok.
We chatted a bit here and there said hi to Charlie and the rest, but they were kind of
busy with sound check preparations, Charlie was working hard to get the Subs back drop in
place. Then the played the usual All I wanna know and Squat 96 (cos Tommy had a question
concerning one break and so they played it) The sound was unbelievable loud without not
too many people in the hall, the bass drum was a real ear smasher. But a dog was sitting
there in front of the stage, watching Charlie very attentively, because he gave him some
sandwiches
some minutes before.
Then Charlie came off stage to check the band sound. That was the moment my brother took
to give him the harmonica. Charlie immediately started to play on it, Nicky and Alvin saw
it and started to play the I Couldn't Be You riff, They discussed the song a bit and
played it three times! The third version was perfect! They all said that the song is now
back in the set list and they looked pretty happy saying that.
Then the two support bands (The Voice and She-Male Trouble) had their soundcheck and we
had talks and food. My brother and a friend took Nicky to a flat where he could check his
e-mail (he was worried, because a week of (Not) Po(ssible)land was ahead ;-). I decided to
stay in the hall and join Zoe a bit at the merchandise stand while the support bands were
on.
When it was time for the Subs I went closer to the stage to see the gig. The set list was
the same (plus I Couldn't Be You, Minus All I Wanna Know), but the gig was different. Due
to all band members being pretty tired there was a little less movement on stage, but
still enough for everyone's taste.
This night's highlights were: - Nicky climbed onto the bass drum (as he did in Hamburg),
but decided to jump behind the drums, it was pretty funny when he came back to the front
of the stage, because he and Paul (the roady) had to watch the entanglement between the
cable and the cymbal stands (maybe not too funny for Paul), when he finally got out and
there was a sweat shirt stuck to the guitar's head, Nicky but on a big smile. - During one
encore some pretty drunk guy came onto the stage talking to Charlie, who told the audience
(maybe not the
exact words): "Hey, this guy's complaining that he was not on the guest list .... So
excuse me for half an hour while I get him onto the guest list!" He took a step back
and now it was his turn to put on a big smile.
Great evening great concert. At the end I tried to help a bit at the merchandise stand.
And we had final talks and said good byes. Nick and Alvin seemed to be pretty optimistic
as to a possible return on the next German tour, we will have to see, but I'll be waiting
;-)
Last word has to go out to an unknown asshole who stirred up some trouble after the show,
which led to quite a bit disappointment among certain people involved. I don't want to go
into details, but everyone involved should know what I am talking about. I hope the bad
vibes are gone!
Thanks to: Charlie, Nicky, Alvin for being back together again, Tommy for taking the seat
and pounding well, Kurt for being there again and again for soooo long now, Paul and Zoe
for the help and smiles and to all the fans (minus one) for the loud WARHEAD chants.
Rafael Kwasigroch
21st January 2000