Hannes Grossmann of Obscura Tour Blog for Sick Drummer Magazine – Hannes will be sending short blogs throughout the current American Defloration Tour with The Black Dahlia Murder, Augury and HateSphere. Look for some drum-cam video footage of Hannes, and possibly Shannon Lucas to be posted soon!
Feb 24th – Atlanta/GA, The Masquerade
"Feels like …coming home"! Listening to the Scorpions actually didn’t even make me feel somehow close like that when arriving at the Atlanta airport. Only two weeks after the European Tour there’s kick off for doing direct support for THE Black Dahlia Murder (TBDM), and I could rather have needed a few more days off. Funny, because the Scorpions song is about them feeling at home when they get back on the stage…anyway, those guys are rockstars. They wouldn’t play at the Masquerade in Atlanta. Seems to be the only club in town for metal shows since I already played there twice.
Arriving at the club we met our friends in TBDM and Augury. Hatesphere from Denmark which open on this tour are new to me, but they seem to be very nice people. I didn’t really practise during the two weeks off, that’s why I’m a little nervous before the show and can’t really pay attention to the other bands. The good thing is that I played the last tour on Augury’s drum kit, because Tommy MacKinnon used to play for Neuraxis, who now is playing the drums in Augury. Another old fellow. The show for us turns out to be much better than expected, playing wise and also considering the audience. So all in all a good start.
Feb 25th – St.Petersburg/FL, The State Theatre
Another club where I already played. It was in 2006 on my very first US tour with Necrophagist, so I could exactly remember it. Weird how things that get common for you just loose its excitement. I can remember every place I played in 2006 but I barely remember the places we played at a month ago. I’m getting old…
Today I had the chance to see all the bands. There was a local band which were cool. Much better musicians than the German average. I guess that’s because metal bands in Germany think like "hey if Destruction made it, we can also become huge without practising". Hatephere is really energetic. Their drummer plays very groovy and tasteful, more like a John Bonham-on-metal, which I like a lot. Definately have to get a few of their albums. Augury is really progressive stuff with awesome players, so they are fun to listen to. Great band! So all the bands are good on this tour, which makes things in general a little smoother. Imagine 30 shows with one or even more bands that you really find annoying… Our own show was a little better than last night. Though somebody unplugged my fan, it was so hot on stage!
Feb 26th – Ft. Lauderdale/FL, Culture Room
Another club I already played at. This is making me feel very old right now. Things were really smooth and it just took us three days to get used to all circumstances. There’s even so much routine going on that the guys of TBDM are bored. So someone had a great idea: they put a lot of wasabi on a plain toast and gave it some guy to eat in order to get a free shirt. Haflway through the sandwich the guy started crying but he kept on eating. With the last bite he immerdiately puked in a cup and gave it to Brian (TBDM guitarist). Delicious!
Toninght I played a drum solo. We integrated it in our set just to make the show a little more divers. It was quite ok, but maybe a little too confusing. I can do better than that…
Feb 27th – Orlando/FL, The Social
…And I did. We didn’t expect too much since the venue was a really small but sold out. People were getting crazy! Totally freaking out. We had one of the very best shows we ever played. Everyting I tried to do on the drums just worked that day. I had a big headache before the show, so I was really surprised.
Tonight TBDM had a perfect sound. They just play like on the record. I don’t need to mention that Shannon Lucas plays like a drum machine, do I? By way the tightest band I’ve ever seen live. So this was really an awesome day. The only thing I could complain about is the crappy beer we get in the US. Come on, I’m from Bavaria! And Bud Lite is just water.
March 1st – Hourston/TX, Meridian
We just had a day off for driving which sucked! But we made stop in New Orleans which is really a nice city. I bought some presents for my girlfriend and some cajun seasoning for myself. At home I use to cook a lot, so you could say I’m the Steven Seagal of Death Metal. I have nevertheless no plans about becoming a cop, don’t worry.
There was no chance to top the Orlando show, that was clear before we entered the stage. Plus it’s always difficult to get back after a day off. So I really had a hard time on stage. Not that I was unsatisfied, executing all the strokes was just physically a bit more demanding. But the drum solo was good, I’m really happy. Even though I didn’t feel like soloing at all I just thought that I have to get through it somehow. It’s my only opportunity to play something else than the same old songs on this tour so I should definatly do it every night.
Finally my website went online. The launch was delayed because my webmaster suddenly had a surgery (appendix). But now it’s working. You can check it out here: www.hannesgrossmann.com
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