France/Spain 25/12/2000 - 09/01/2001

The protagonists of this story are Point Of Few consisting of: Martheun aka de Bolle - guitarplayer and troublemaker; Jop - bassplayer and “Que Pasa” master; Rik - drummer and supervising coffeejunk; Marco - vocalist and novice photographer. Then the drivers: Eva – also stylist and singer for Makiladoras, and Michael – also tourmanager/shitworker and drummer for PCP/Shikari. And last but not least, our 2^nd home: the Cavia Express. A six metre long white-ish Renault Master with bed and kitchen. We are the guardians of the van and equipment. Almost 24 hours a day keeping an eye on our beloved yet wilful vehicle.

Monday 25/12 (departure)

Hoogeveen is 60 km from Groningen. It’s cold and slippery. The landscape is covered with snow. To give the PoF crew a foretaste of southern approach, we arrive 1 hour too late in Hoogeveen. The van gets not-so-economically packed but soon enough we’ll get the hang of it. Our boys are truly prepared. In Dutch style, the van is stuffed with domestic food and drinks. We’re impressed! We leave around 3 pm, drive a straight 1100 km’s and arrive without any problems in Saint-Etienne at around 5 am. We’re welcomed by Sylvain, member of the “La France Pue” collective and one of the gig-organizers, who usually takes care of the touring bands. Even at this time it was no problem for him to fix us a sleepingplace. Great!

Tuesday 26/12 (Le Sporting, Saint-Etienne FRA; with Plod)

We’ve been to this city numerous times and it’s getting quite familiar. The concert bar is opposite to the bar where they used to do concerts years ago (L’Entrepots). Catweazle played there one of its best shows and with Sin Dios we had a very memorable time. Also One Day Closer did the place together with Dropdead somewhere in 1997. There’s lots of drugproblems in this neighborhood and we regular run into (not-so-annoying) crazies who buttonhole us. We meet with the Vömit For Breakfast guys and molest them to play as well. We have a coffee in Mistral Gagnant, the bar where they usually organize concerts and are impressed by the flyering for this concert. They’re everywhere! Plod plays experimental stuff with a cello and violin. I escape backstage to discover Bolle and Marco serenading Eva 90’s style with an acoustic guitar. Meanwhile the place is getting packed, around 100 people. PoF have bad sound, are often out of tune and play sloppy, but the crowd is moving. Jop does a song announcement in fluent French. After the gig it’s dinnertime and they made a special vegan plate for Jop. PoF gets interviewed on camera for a video-fanzine and we hit the sack around 3 am.

Wednesday 27/12 (Big Bang, Barcelona SPA; with Fajita Kids + Soramame)

It’s about 650 km’s to Barcelona and the gig starts early so we get up at 7.30 am and I’m flied by the throat by the rather hyperactive house-cat. The sun is shining and the weather’s getting warm! We first drive to Badalona to pick up Italiano, the organizer, and dressed in true mid 70’s disco-style. We see he’s living together with Elias, member of E-150/Standstill. After picking up vocal equipment and instruments for the Fajita Kids, we drive to the Big Bang which is a bar in the middle of Barcelona centre and is only opened for concerts. Everything goes well (I suffered a near-traumatic driving experience in BCN during the Ação Direta tour; entry: sheer roads, narrow streets, BIG van, stoned guide, lots of traffic…) and oh wonder (!) we find a perfect nearby parking space. When we arrive at the bar, it’s already crowded. At first it seems more like a private concertparty but after 11 pm more and more people start coming in. Most E-150’s are present, as is old crazy friend Boliche (ex-Subterranean Kids) who took a bunch of Dutchies along. Appears one of them have played in the almighty Neuroot! Fajita Kids play catchy punkrock, midtempo and uptempo songs. I like the faster stuff. Like early Gluecifer. I’m rooted to the ground when Soramame plays. A truly stunning performance. Definitely one of the best hardcorebands I’ve witnessed in 2000. Hyperfast, machine-like power violence with typical E-150 style tempo’s and breaks. This is the shit!! Obviously they’ve lots of friends in the room coz they’re going the crazy way. Pile-Ons, crowdsurfing, silly dancing, pant-jerking… PoF are better than yesterday. After some songs, the people warm up and there’s some busy crowdsurf traffic with occasionally Marco passing by. After the gig, the crew launch loud acappella singing in the van (mostly spanish language songs done by Dutch artists like Jodi Bernal or really bad ones like Viva España – fortunately our Spanish travellers are very amused), breakdance in the streets, and I twist abit of Bolle’s wrist as revenge on yesterday’s attack on my right kneecap. Jop has a hard time forgetting his French and keeps mixing it with spanish words. Very funny. Back at Italiano’s place at 12 in the nite, we startle his neighbours by crying out birthday songs. Yes, it’s his anniversary. We get dinner (great tasty couscous), laugh at the hilarious Seein’Red picture in the bookcase, and watch the E-150/Standstill video recorded in Horst, Utrecht and Hoogeveen. Around 2 am the rest goes out to Barcelona centre to party but Eva and me decide to get some rest.  

Thursday 28/12 (So What, Valencia SPA; with Scream Violence + Zanussi)

Last nite, the guys went to some goofy discotheques. The slick ones with scarcely clothed ladies on platforms dancing ecstatic to pilars. They returned at around 6 am. We get on the road around 12. It’s 360 km’s to Valencia so enough time to relax during the drive. I’m glad the Cavia Express can drive 110-120 km/h. Definitely saves time and delivers more sleep compared to a 80 km/h van. In Valencia, I call Oscar/Zanussi to come pick us up. Last year we were here with Seein’Red. Great show. The day after that, Kill The Man Who Questions played and the place got attacked by fascists/hooligans. Like in a terror movie. Jeroen could save the van but it was hell anyway. Hopefully now things won’t turn bad. We drop our stuff at Oscar’s place. His mother is out (I never forget her! On last year’s concert she shared out vegetarian cookies and peanuts to the crowd and during SR’s set she was waving at the kids/band while crowdsurfing!! Punkma Go!), their nice dog died and their turtle is hibernating. Too bad. The drive to the So What bar is yet another challenge. Sharp turns, very narrow roads and ofcourse lots of traffic. After 30 minutes of concentration, improvisation and mucho sweat, we eventually arrive. Bolle catches some extra sleep on the bench, we get some veggie food (including a delicious fruit-dessert) and I practise my poor Spanish on some Zanussi kids. During Scream Violence, somekind of Limp Bizkid clone, Eva and me go explore Valencia centre. When we return, the place is full. Must be around 100+ people. We need elbows to get to the low stage in order to check out Zanussi. Sound is not so well but they compensate with energy. Maybe it’s because of Soramame, but I expected more of this gig. Still one of the better bands in their style. PoF go for it. Marco screams his guts out, lots of movement in the crowd and funny responses as well. A girl standing in front of me, translates the song announcements to her friends. Some “in between” announcements are pretty long. Most spanish crowds don’t understand english, so the buzzing comes up during these talks. I also noticed during the last 2 concerts that when just people start getting into it, those longer talks break the rhythm/drive of the set. After the concert, Rik has mastered packing the van and puzzles his way through and Jop discovers “Que Pasa”.

Friday 29/12 (Ateneo De Villaverde, Madrid; with Looking For An Answer + Korrosiva)

Another pithy drive. We take a non payroad and drink lots of good coffee and tea along the way. In this regard, Spain is a perfect country for touring. All gasstations and parkings have cafeteria’s where you can eat and drink for low prices. Once in Madrid, Eva drives straight to the concertplace. She has an excellent memory. We meet with Canino/Sin Dios and the people of the other bands. This place is a CNT union building with a big room for concerts and manifestations. It also is the home for the Anselmo Lorenzo foundation, which houses an extensive and most impressive library dedicated to world-wide anarchism and Spanish anarchism in particular. The weather’s drizzly and we have a hard time finding a good parking. We hear the anarchists in Madrid have a hard time with the media and the state. The CNT Madrid had a bomb outrage a couple days ago. Fortunately it didn’t go off. Too bad we only stay here about 12 hours coz we’re eager to know more. The concert is a benefit for the ABC and the first band Korrosiva is a substitute for Menos Ke Nada, who usually play with every Dutch band that visit Madrid. They play a very varied and tight set ranging from hiphop metalpunk (ala Habeas Corpus) and hardcore to ska-ish (ala Piperrak) and grind. Cool but too long – for over an hour. Looking For An Answer has a Denak member and a drummachine with an own name. Superfast, short and intense crust and powerviolence. Rumours go that Canino/Sin Dios will join them as a drummer. Hmm. I watch the distro and socialize with my neighbour Raúl from Soulforce/Generator distro. PoF destroys the place. Now there’s about a 100+ crowd existing of every possible scene and everybody goes for it. Lots of movement and occasional crowdsurfing. After 15 minutes, a very restless Raúl can’t hold it anymore, leaves the table and races into the pit. A hilarious sight! We get a tasteful vegan dinner in the night and sleep in a suburb nearby. It’s been pouring rain.

Saturday 30/12 (El Lokal, Conil De La Frontera SPA; with 12 Aullidos)

We’re off at 7.30 am. Once on the road to the south, the sun breaks through and it’s getting real warm! I’m looking forward to see our friends 12 Aullidos again. We had some really crazy and memorable times when they played in Groningen and Amsterdam last year. They split up right after that coz Dani the drummer went to live in Florida. Obviously he’s back or…? In Jerez we try to meet with the organizers but there’s lots of miscommunication and our mobiles don’t function well with all the interference. After 1 hour we finally pick them up and drive to the concertplace, in a small town at the Atlantic Ocean. Once again we are lucky parking. The concertplace is self-managed and open-air with a great terrace. Together with the locals we buy goodies for the concert and dinner. Jop goes to help with preparing the food and we try to find the beach. After a couple hours we’ve practically seen the entire city, including the dark and trashy spots but no beach. Very frustrating. Also I finally reach Rafael, organizer for the Portugese gigs, by phone. Unbelievable. Last week I have called three times a day, left numerous messages on his voicemail, sent emails and even contacted a friend in Groningen to help out. It turns out his (mobile)telephone is broke. He tells me all gigs are cancelled. Including 2/1 for Lisboa. I’m baffled. This is B A D fucken news. During dinner we discuss what to do. Antonio and Fran generously offer us to stay in the CNT building in El Puerto De Santa Maria for the upcoming days. We’re very grateful. 12 Aullidos shortly reformed and have just practised a couple of times before this gig. Still, it’s overwhelming and very exciting to experience them again. And with a 2^nd guitarplayer! They are damn crazy and Dani totally destroys the drumkit. A good thing Rik didn’t borrow out his one. I see lots of different people in the crowd. Children, local villagers, neighbours, tourists, every genre-punk, metals and rockers….wow, this is the shit again! Just before the gig, I hear it’s freezing and has snowed in Holland. I’m here standing in a t-shirt watching 12 Aullidos in the clear open sky. Wow. PoF play a good set. The middle-aged middle-class couple standing next to me are tapping their feet and softly banging their heads during the midtempo parts. The crowd sitting on the terrace swing their legs and some are slamdancing on the roof. Very amusing. I chat with the 12 Aullidos guys. Thanks to his Florida stay, Dani has improved his american slang. Even talking in Spanish, there’s a lot of English standing out. Hilarious man!.

Sunday 31/12 (off day in El Puerto De Santa Maria SPA)

Last day of the year. We were supposed to go to Portugal but crash in this small but renowned village where lived famous explorers and seafarers (Columbus, Vespucci, Juan De La Costa...). We’re staying at the local CNT, a big building with an inner yard suitable for all kind of sport activities. We profit from the free time and sleep until 11 am. In the afternoon we visit the beach and Jop, Bolle and Eva go for a brave last-day-of-the-year swim. Some pretty high waves. Rik and Me go for a couple coffees. When we return, the rest is beachbasketballing and reviving lots of old and newer Dutch hitsongs including the shakes and moves. Jop and Bolle go swimming again. Addicted to waves that is. At twilight, we walk the boulevard along the sea but get lost in a rather large and dark wood, filled with strange animal noises. Fortunately we get back safe and are welcomed by a bottle of champaign. Some CNT people sympathize with us poor stranded dutchies and bought us some goodies. Fran got us grapes for the new year. It’s spanish tradition to eat grapes during the new years countdown. Last year we had a very entertaining time observing this tradition in the E-150 house with small rooms packed with nervous Spanish people sitting ready to consume 12 grapes at high speed. This year we go the rather normal way, opening a champaign bottle at 12 and go wild in the streets. When we go out, we need to climb over a car that has been parked right in front of our door. Great! We first visit the party plaça, then make some crazy pictures in a photocell, screaming “que pasa!” to all passing people and traffic, getting assaulted by falling oranges to eventually head for a hardrockbar. In the meantime we’re getting looked after by almost everyone. We suddenly notice that really everybody is dressed. I mean dressed like three-piece suits, polished, cleaned up, dressed up… We are definitely out of tune and obviously forgot we’re in a really small village… Later we hear that even our anarchist friends got dressed up for this nite. Hahaha! Not spoiling our fun we crash in the hardrockbar but all they play is lousy mainstream rock and oldtime blues. However, there’s enough going on. We discover a very original candy machine, the toilet is constantly busy the spanish way (nose-polishing that is), the owner literally kicks out an annoying customer, we dance the limbo and check out the cheap gamemachine. On our way back, we pick some oranges (those trees are all over) which are too sour, check another party plaça, convey Jop in a shopping trolley, try to talk around bouncers at big private parties and striptease to sleep. What a nite.

Monday 01/01 (off day in El Puerto De Santa Maria SPA)

We decide to go visit Cadiz. It’s a 30 minute drive and we first go check out the sea. When we sit outside to get a nice pizza, it starts to rain real hard. And it doesn’t stop until the next day… Nevertheless we get to see some beautiful places (it’s been populated/invaded and architectual influenced by Romans, Moors, Goths and Danes) and realize we’re locked in by the sea coz Cadiz is on a spit of land. Back in El Puerto, we put the equipment in a practiseroom and PoF give a private concert to our hosts/organizers Antonio and Fran. Eventually resulting in a freaky jamsession.

Tuesday 02/01 (travel to Lisboa POR)

Since we have to be in A Guarda on wednesday (a 900 km drive) we decide to start the travel today and crash in Lisboa. We arrive around 6 pm at the Praça Espanha squat, put a lot of effort in trying to reach our contact and find a Chinese restaurant that serves excellent vegan food. It’s too bad PoF doesn’t play today coz there’s certainly a lot of people going in and out the squat. We make some warm drinks, test the guys for their exams, admire the fresh tattoos of Rafa and have the obligatory tourquarrel.

Wednesday 03/01 (Darka-Blar, A Guarda SPA; with Handplant)

We arrive at 6 pm. A Guarda is a small fishingtown on the Atlantic and during the time of overseas discoveries, gateway to the Americas. When we arrive, we notice the first concertflyers. I have a very good laugh to read I'm also a member of PoF! The bar is not open yet so we check out a local cafeteria (read: get something to eat and drink), watch the Spanish funniest homevideos and defile the toilet. Back at the bar we meet with the friendly not-english-understanding owner, Handplant and Antonio, the gig-organizer. We’re stuffed with cookies, offered plenty of drinks and delicious vegan pizza’s. A lot of people (around 80) turn up for the concert. Handplant is sloppy bandana thrash. PoF entertain the crowd and we see Marco and Jop surfing by a couple times. Great! Then a possible turning point: a Nirvana cover as an encore. But fortunately it’s played so poor, it turns into a funny satire. Close call… After this spectacle, we hear we’ll spend the night in an hotel. It looks impressive, a bit like a castle in the middle of the centre. After 15 minutes waiting we’re directed to a quite different and rather rancid hotel at the grubby edge of town. However, we have 2 big rooms, kitchen and a complete bathroom for ourselves!

Thursday 04/01 (Planeta Rock, Porto Novo SPA; with Noise Reduction)

Since it’s only 2 hours driving, we spend some time relaxing in A Guarda. The guys take time for some more study. Eva and me take a long walk past the town and along the sea to where the river Miño borders on Portugal. The landscape here is very varied and likeable with slopes of woods. It all has a very strong Celtic feel (there’s several settlements in this area). We leave around 4 pm and pick up organizer Pablo in Pontevedra who guides us to Portonovo, a small seaside resort with a cool beach. Too bad the weathers getting worse with every hour. We get cold vegan dinner in Sanxenxo, and watch how the waves flood the streets. Very impressive and alarming at the same time. Back at the bar we try the table footballgame which is hard to control coz the both sides run downward to the middle. Also here a good turn-out, about 70 people despite another H.C. concert in the area! Noise Reduction is sloppy old-school (?) hardcore. I take some time to check out the dj-record/cd collection and learn some galician words, mostly dirty stuff. Also here crowdsurfing is in. Marco is pulled up a couple times and for the very first time I see Eva crowdsurfin’…!  The noise for an encore is ear-splitting. It was a great concert! And it’s not over yet coz now people start molesting us for autographs. Fucken rockstars that is. We are. Outside it is a waterish inferno. We crash in Sanxenxo. It’s showering all night long.

Friday 05/01 (Freak Club, San Cristobal SPA; with Attack Of The Fiesta + Zyklon B)

Oh wonder, while packing, it stops raining. But the sea is wild and on one of our obligatory cafeteria stops, we see on TV that we nearly escaped the bad areas in Pontevedra. Some horrific scenes of serious floodings. We’re arriving at 5 pm in Salinas and decide to spend some quality time at the sea. On our way we run into scenes of frantic children in the streets and heavy firework explosions. Today is Epifania (Twelfthnight or Epiphany), a festive day. Nevertheless Jop, Bolle and Marco go swimming. The waves are high and look dangerous but there’s lots of surfers active. Then we meet with the 3 Kings on donkeys accompanied by a circus of children and adults heading for the city. After 1 hour fun, we go for the concertplace. It’s cool to arrive in time! It starts raining heavy again. After driving around for 30 minutes we find out the bar is NOT in Salinas like we were told but in San Cristobal which cannot be found on any map. I try to call the organizer but no luck. Frust! We drive for another 30-40 minutes, asking the few walkers that defy this shit weather, until we finally find the place in the middle of fucken nowhere. We’re still early though. The bar, owned by a member of Posesion, is very cheerless and cold but downstairs is comfortable with a small stage. There’s about 30 people. We get some vegan sandwiches and drinks. During Attack Of The Fiesta, a Locust clone including keyboard, I go for some warm coffee. When I return, I see the last part of Zyklon B but can’t impress me mucho. I get updated by Uge/Don’t Belong and I hear alarming news about exclusive Spanish distro-deals. Pretty rigorous and controversial. We notice there were no posters/flyers made for this concert. PoF are quite fretful and play a convincing, high strung set. Yeah! They’re not satisfied but I really liked it. Afterwards, they work off the remaining frust thanks to the DJ who play His Hero Is Gone (a most overrated band i.m.o.). We sleep in Oviedo at the friendly Fiesta Beat-Brothers, but not before having a long walk through the citycentre.

Saturday 06/01 (Gaztetxe De Portugalete, Bilbao SPA; with Restons Sobres)

As much as yesterday was a disappointment, so much will today be a big surprise! Bilbao, one of my favorite cities, where we did a lot of memorable concerts and have loads of good friends. It’s great to be back! But first we visit hardrock bar Salambo near Llanes to have some tea and good coffee. Since we haven’t gotten any decent warm food for days, we decide to make a stop on the big and beautiful beach in Oriñón. It’s so nice to have a kitchen in the van so we start cooking pasta with vegetables in a delicious tomato sauce. Today will be long and it’s important to regular draw energy. In the meantime Rik is finishing his PoF masterpiece sand-painting. At around 8 pm we pick up Javi from Bilbao centre and he shows us the way to the fresh squat in Portugalete, a suburb about 15 km’s outside Bilbao. It has been squatted for 4 months and is located directly next to the old Gaztetxe/squat. Catweazle played there in may 1997, and for me it was the best ever concert I’ve done with a band so I have some really fond memories of this area. The new squat is huge, like a factory hall. The concert place is in a smaller room and is really nice. It reminds me of the late Van Hall in Amsterdam. We meet with a lot of old friends and make new ones (hello Mundo Matadero!). The complete flyer has been printed by a big Basque newspaper and eventually about 150 people attend. Restons Sobres play their typical Spanish hardcore style. Very sloppy but with a lot of conviction. It’s good to see them again. Crazy to realize that Bull, the drummer lives in Finland nowadays. In between songs, two women give a performance/dance. It looks dramatic and whipped up. There’s a message but I never got it. PoF get their clothes dirty. Everybody’s seems to get into it and there’s an overall great atmosphere. Eva gets recognized because of her participation with Sin Dios. In June 2000 she played 3 big concerts in Euskadi with them so obviously people remember her. It’s very funny. We get terrific vegan bocadillos tortilla patatas. Hail to the mastercooks Javi and Vitxo! At 3 am we drive to an other squat to crash. Some drunk spills his katxi (liter-glass) with beer in our van and all over the school books. If it wasn’t him for having the key to the house, we would have kicked him out without mercy. Once in the squat, PoF locks themselves in, barricading the door of their room afraid for any punkraids. Hahaha!

Sunday 07/01 (Le Barclay, Bordeaux FRA; with Albany Academy + Donald Washington)

We arrive in time. Raining again. The first thing Erik the organizer says when he meets us is that the barowner is such an asshole. Strong opener! The concert is in the cellar and we are not allowed to touch the bar… I try to start a chat with the barowner to see if he’s really such an ass but he doesn’t speak english and is very shy and nervous. One of the regular customers translates for me but the guy is avoiding me. Odd. I hear he took over this bar 2 months ago. It’s big and looks fabulous. We play some pool, drink really bad coffee, watch Italian soccer on a huge screen and relax a bit until dinner which is delicious couscous. The cellar is like a dark cave, a bit comparable with the Vera cellarbar but much more obscure. Albany Academy sound modern with a heavy Uranus touch. Their set sounds like one long song though. Donald Washington are jokers. Tell a lot of corny stories in between songs. Musically it’s sloppy but very catchy punkrock. When the guitarplayer takes off from the bassdrum, we see sudden movement in the crowd. A boiling Rik sets out to the puzzled culprit to accost him not to do this again. A very memorable scene. After a short and experienced PoF set, we take off straight to Holland at 2 am. About 1200 km’s to go. We save mucho money by taking the non-payroad to Paris, have some breaks in the morning/afternoon and arrive in Hoogeveen at 7.30 pm. Unload and drink coffee at Rik’s place, taxi the rest home and eventually arrive in Groningen around 9 pm. It was a short but succesful tour! Thanks to all people involved. Gracias por todos amig*s!