Jugendcafe 17th December 1999
The first "MTAS Road Trip" got off to a shaky start with a few last minute hitches including me almost breaking my knee and hardly being able to walk, a delayed flight from Edinburgh, and Alison forgetting her passport. This last one meant a hurried round trip to Liverpool for Tracey, John and Alison and poor Ben having to get out his nice comfy bed at 4am to take me to Stanstead to make sure I got the 7am flight to Frankfurt!
Tracey - She's neglecting to mention for the sake of our non-British sisters that Alison was at my house when she realised she had forgotten her passport which is a nice, safe 45 minutes from the airport. Liverpool is 3 hours away! Hence we drove to the airport via Liverpool, the entire trip taking around 6.5 hours! We waved to Andi as her plane flew overhead when we were entering the airport. Alison wasn't allowed to carry her passport for the rest of the trip!... but we love her dearly anyway... honest!
Oh well - these things are sent to try us eh?
Of course this also meant that they missed the flight they should have gotten with me had to transfer to the midday one. (The nice people at RyanAir didn't make them pay any extra which was very kind of them I thought)
Anyway Boa and I managed to meet up in Frankfurt and found our way to our accommodation for the weekend with no trouble, and had a nice couple of hours sitting, relaxing and chatting before heading back into town to meet the other three from their plane. Frankfurt Railway Station is a big place however we did come up with a few new games to pass the time, one of the better ones being "Spot the Goth".
Eventually they arrived, cold and tired, and we headed back to get ready for the gig.
Tracey - Cold doesn't even come close... The *Arctic* would've warmer!!! Even *John* got cold and in his words he doesn't do the cold thing!
Of course by this time it was snowing like blazes and our carefully planned outfits had to be revised, ankle length skirts and 4"heels not mixing well with snow, slush and knackered knees!
We arrived at the club just after the advertised 'kick off' and had a few beers before being invited in to find Max, Fred, Chrissy and Arne handing out glasses of wine. I LIKE this idea!!
Tracey - Didn't we all dear!
Hugs all round and general chatting were the order of the day with Marcus looking WIERD without his beard..little did I know!!
Tracey - I think he looked even cuter than normal but I'm not a big beard fan ::shrug::
The support band were really very good and everyone seemed to enjoy them but to be honest my mind if kind of fuzzy over the details, the reason why will become clear soon..
While the guys were getting set up we managed to find a decent spot at the top of a set of steps, where I could rest my poor leg and still have a good view of the stage and we settled back to enjoy the show.
At the side of the stage was a large video screen and on this was showing a montage of clips from over the last five years. We couldn't believe how young Arne looked I mean he's still only 23 but....awww - how sweet!!!! It was a tough choice as to whether to watch the footage, some of which was hilarious - and Chrissy really does look good without any clothes! - or the concert. I decided to try and concentrate on the concert which was brilliant as always.
They started off with 'Words of Unison' and followed with another few early ones including the A Wedding Anniversary track 'Man From the Hills' which I've always loved. At the end of the track Ralph appeared on stage and Max vanished. Now I had given him a 'real' kilt at Legacy and gotten Gary from the Clanranald Trust to show him how to wrap it and I thought he was off getting into that. (this is 6 yards of material and a map!!)
Tracey - I figured he was up to something odd because he was *ages* and Chrissy was taking a great interest in watching him change!
Eventually he reappeared wearing a long black cloak and as the first notes of Sweet Transvestite rang out he turned and dropped it.
Tracey - ...and the chief died!!!
OH MY GODS!!!!!!!!! - This man was BORN to play Frank N Furter
In black PVC corset, stockings, heels, make up and long black gloves he got down from the stage and flirted his way through the song with the front of the crowd, at one point even getting a bank note tucked down the top of his corset.
Tracey - He *did* look pretty damn cool :P''''''''
He spotted where we were about half way through but after one look at the stairs and his heels he decided not to risk his neck, I couldn't go down either with my knee so he stood and sang up to us for a while and then clambered back onto the stage.
The only sound I was capable of making at this point was a sort of "Hughghghghgh"
Tracey - Sweetie, that was *eventually* for the first few minutes you were completely incapable of any sound at all!!!
which Alison, John, Boa and Tracey seemed to find rather amusing - can't think why!!
Tracey - Sorry, watching you struggle for air seemed a fitting punishment for all the times you've done it to unsuspecting men with *that* outfit!
By the time my mind decided to rejoin my body Max was back on stage in the kilt I got him made last year and the gig continued along more regular lines. Belting guitars and bass, amazing vocals, Arne belting hell out of the drums - your usual bloody brilliant MELT gig. After the third, or was it the forth, encore we waited until the audience had thinned a bit before leaving our perch and struggling down the steps and sending John for more beer.
Alison - John was really impressed with German beer for two reasons - it's cheap, and they give you money when you take your glasses back. We didn't find out the latter until we had a stack of about 10 glasses, so he takes them all back to the bar, gets three pints (or equivalent) and change. That was a happy guy. He was even happier later, but that's another story entirely.
I can't remember who had the thought but somehow it was decided that we should show Max how a corset should be worn and I was tied into Tracey's purple satin job.
Tracey - Here I must interject that my corset is meant for someone with a 26 inch waist (which I unfortunately don't have). When it's pulled in tight on me oxygen becomes a bit of an issue but the effect is worth it. Andi has at least double my... er... attributes and I laced her into that corset *very* tightly!!! She had to told on to the door while I pulled the laces as hard as I could. I'm still trying to figure out how she managed to breath
... And yes, there *are* pictures of this!
I was really proud of him - he got the "Hughghghghgh" perfectly :)
Tracey - Not to mention loosing about 6 inches off his height owing to weak knees :))
The ensemble seemed to make an impression - can't think why!
Tracey - Wait 'till you see the piccies dear - the ones of John in the same corset look pretty good too....
and we spent a while chatting to the guys and Ralph before deciding to make a move back to the flat.
Apparently it was snowing while we walked the mile or so from the club home but I can't say I noticed it - my leg had also stopped hurting by this point too - amazing what having your brain fried will do for you :))
Tracey - And it was *still* colder than the Arctic!!!
We got home eventually and sat around for a couple of hours, drinking, defrosting and laughing at me still trying to get my mouth to manage words of more than two syllables. And these people are meant to be my friends!!
I think we crashed at about 4am and spent Saturday wandering round the Christmas Market in Frankfurt, buying Star Wars toys and playing "Squick Da Chief" with those horrible latex gel filled tube things known to the MTAS tribe as "Training Aides" if you've ever seen them you'll know why - if you haven't think yourself lucky!!
Saturday evening saw a trip to a couple of bars, time to catch up with a few friends, generally have a chat and show off the pictures from the Chronicles gig in Birmingham. Another late night followed and then it was up early, tidy the flat and set off to catch planes and trains back to the real world :((
An AMAZING weekend which I wouldn't have missed for the world.
If you weren't there start kicking yourself now and don't stop until at least 2004!!
