The band planned to pick me up in Dresden at 2:30 PM at the train station, which was fine, except that Dresden is a seven hour train ride from home, which meant I had to leave home at 6:45 AM. Luckily the train wasn’t too full, so I could relax a little until I reached Dresden. When I reached Dresden, I was picked up by the guys and we then drove another 350 KM to the show. To get to our destination, we had to drive through the city of Prague, and rush hour traffic an Prague is no joke, as anyone who’s ever been to the Czech capital can tell you; we were of course stuck in a traffic jam, due to the endless construction zones. After we made through traffic hell, we ran into our next road trip challenge: a thunderstorm. Thankfully, it didn’t last very long, and 50 kilometers before we reached our destination, the roads were clear and the weather was good.

We arrived at our destination, and were impressed by the number of people in attendance and the great atmosphere; people were running around dressed funny, drinking and having a good time, typical for a rock festival. We were also a bit surprised by the size of the festival; small compared to Rock am Ring, of course, but still very well attended. Three stages, 12 bands, each band playing for one hour. We were the headlining band, and only band at the festival who wasn’t from the Czech Republic. The stage was huge, but with the help of great stage crew we were able to build up our gear, soundcheck and perform within a short amount of time. Within minutes the crowd was at full capacity in front of the stage, and we rocked them as hard as we could, which was a tall order, given that we hadn’t played together since February. We love playing in the Czech Republic, because the crowds have always been very responsive and ready to have a good time, which makes our job a lot easier. Of course, the majority of the crowd probably didn’t understand a word I was saying to them, but they responded anyway.

After the gig we signed autographs and sold a few CD’s, talked with the fans, and took lots of pictures. I was surprised how many of our Czech fans spoke English and German, which made the conversations with them a lot easier. Afterwards we packed up our gear and had our customary round of beer and vodka, and talked about the show. The verdict: mission accomplished.

So, what did I learn from the last show?

1. As much as I like train travel, I really hate certain routes.
2. The Czech Republic is in many aspects much more laid back than Germany.
3. Former east block countries are far more beautiful than I was lead to believe as a child.
4. Good music knows no language or cultural barriers; if it rocks, it rocks.
5. Czechs really do smoke a lot. A lot.
6. I HATE smoke machines like the devil hates holy water.
7. I REALLY HATE smoke machines!
8. “In vino veritas” rings true in almost every case.
9. Practice doesn’t always make perfect, but it comes close.
10. When thousands of people yell out your name, you must be doing something right.