Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Our second gig in Bulgaria and we head off across country to Plovdiv to the Lebowski club, passing horse and cart combos, not a sight we see too often in the UK.

We have time for a bit of sightseeing when we arrive, led by Zak whose home town this is. We climb up through winding streets with crumbling archaic buildings to grab a bite in a smoky restaurant before taking in views across the city.

The quest for food

The gig is absolutely chaotic, but with great energy in the room. We're using borrowed backline and there are plenty of problems cropping up. Rupert's amp dies, we try swapping them round, another one blows, so we take Jims and go through the songs which don't need two guitars. A replacement turns up, but that's iffy too. Despite all of the stopping and starting we manage to pull a good gig from the wreckage.

Sofia, Bulgaria

A trip into the unknown for the Jim Jones Revue, our debut in Bulgaria. We've no idea what to expect, but we're going to damn well have a go anyway.

The poverty and chaos of the city is self-evident, but the people are friendly and open. Like much of Europe, anything other than generic techno or MTV rock gets little exposure here, so we're very much on a mission to bring the righteous word to the people. During the communist years decadent western rock 'n' roll was forbidden, so we don't share the historical lineage we take for granted in England. Thankfully, there is an enthusiastic underground scene of music fans eager to hear a bit of loud rocking.

We have a hectic day of promo work before the show. Luckily our friend and former London resident Zak is on hand to help with translations and ferrying us around between tv and radio stations. We find ourselves in some surreal situations, walking into what appears to be an abandoned office block and suddenly finding we're in a television studio, fielding questions in Bulgarian while gaudily dressed dancers swan around.

The boys attempt to get their point across

The gig that evening is a success, with a great response from the Sofians and plenty of dancing, we end the night with a small celebration back at the hotel.

 

Limoges, France

A long way to go for a night out, we're flying to Limoges for a one off gig tonight. We're met at the airport by a selection of Natalies and driven to the venue where we disperse our rock 'n' roll to the locals.

our friend Stephane Rossi took this pic 

We end the night with some interntational bar crawling - English, Irish, French and Goth.

 

Groningen, Holland

We end this little jaunt at the club Vera in Groningen. It's a great venue and has hosted some pretty legendary gigs over the years, thousands of posters plastered all over the walls. They have rooms for bands to stay in upstairs and a bar downstairs, which makes it very easy to crawl home at the end of the night. Being a sunday it's a little quiet and relaxed but overall a fine end to our Holland adventure.

Eindhoven, Holland

Tonight it's SPEEDFEST, a festival of rocking at it's very hardest, housed in an enourmous industrial building in Eindhoven. It's a great gig, and we're proud to share a stage with the righteous Reverend Beatman and the brilliant Fifty Foot Combo. A friend of mine from London has come along to watch us, but gets lost in an alcoholic haze and the chaos of the huge venue (yeah, I know you're reading this). I enjoy a few beverages myself after the gig and round of an enjoyable evening.

Rotterdam, Holland

We're at the appropriately named 'Watt' tonight, although Elliots keyboard amp isn't putting out too many at the minute, buggered again. Attempting to fix it pushes the soundcheck back and again we have to face a mad dash to the hotel to pick up clothes and get back to the show. On the return journey traffic brings our van to a standstill. Pressure mounts as stage time gets ever closer, eventually we take the decision to jump out of the van and run to the venue. We make it with seconds to spare and manage to avoid a repetition of our Madrid disaster.

Amsterdam, Holland

We tearfully leave our hotel suite behind and jump into the van to head for Amsterdam. Jim dishes out vitamin pills to keep us healthy - "Better watch out taking medicine from a man called Jim Jones", quips Rupert. 


We reach Amsterdam and head out for a bite to eat at the Milkweg. The legendary John Sinclair strolls in, which I take as a good sign. Jim has a chat with him, as they did an impromptu jam in Hackney a few months back, very cool. The hotel we're staying at is called the Backstage, decorated with music-themed rooms, the beds and wardrobes look like flight cases and the lampshades are snare drums. We're given a very hospitable welcome, so I'll say a quick 'thanks' here.


We're playing at the Paradiso tonight, a lovely venue with stained glass windows giving a churchy feel, all the better for preaching the righteous word of rock 'n' roll. Jerry Lee Lewis had been there the night before, laying down the vibes which still lingered in the air.


The gig goes well, the room is packed and we rock it good. This being Amsterdam, my memories of the rest of the evening are a bit hazy, but at one point we end up back at the Milkweg watching Jefferson Airplane playing 'Don't You Want Somebody To Love'. Groovy.