Pictures from John Otway’s Big Band Acrostic Tour of the UK, in 3 separate albums for manageability.  A full review of the tour can be read here.  The tour venues were: Oxford, Tavistock, Wyeside, Alston, York.

In November 2009, Eddie & The Hot Rods embarked upon a tour of Germany.  The first night of the tour was in the Chemiefabrik in Dresden, formerly in East Germany, and the first set of pictures shows them supported by the Guitar Gangsters.  The second set of pictures was taken the following morning on the site around the venue. 

The second night of the tour was in the Subway To Peter, in Chemnitz, also formerly in East Germany.

Day 3 saw us in Hamburg.  On the drive up, I took a short detour to have a look at Colditz Castle.  The Hamburger Dom Kirmes, a travelling funfair, was in town near my hotel.  The Hamburg venue, Silber (Silver) was near the Reeperbahn, so I had a very quick look around here after the sound check.

Wild At Heart in Berlin was the 4th gig of  the tour.  Very interesting venue.  A late start, too, with most of the customers not turning up until about 11:00.

After driving around Stuttgart city centre several times, and encountering the boys in the van doing pretty much the same thing, we eventually found the Landespavillon, venue for day 5 of the tour.

A chance to visit a traditional German Christmas market in Freiburg on day 6.  Tonight’s gig was in the oddly named ‘The Great Rang Teng Teng’, which was probably the smallest venue of the tour.  To get to this venue I managed to go the wrong way down a one-way street, and thus park facing the wrong way, too.

The last night of the tour was in the Musik Bunker in Aachen.  Also appearing was TV Smith, and headlining were The Adicts.  A great climax to the tour.  The next day, I stayed in Aachen to have a look around, and do some Christmas shopping.  The day after that, I finished the shopping in Helmond in Holland, Ostende in Belgium, and Grande Synthe in France.

I joined the French ‘Pub Rock Legends Tour’ for a few gigs towards the tail-end of the tour at the end of October 2011.  The tour featured Classic & Troubles, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Nine Below Zero, and Dr. Feelgood.  I first caught up with them in Le Transbordeur, in Lyon.

Next stop, two days later, was Le Fil in St. Etienne.

On the way to the next venue, I stopped at a very impressive bird park.

I took my leave of the tour in La Rodia, Besancon.  The bands had a further two gigs on the tour, but I was to go home to prepare a birthday celebration.

Due to other commitments, I was only able to catch one leg of the 2012 British Pub Rock Tour in Reims.  This first Album covers part of the journey.

The actual Venue in Reims was Kabaret in the suburb of Tinqueux.  This year’s Line-up was Dr, Feelgood, Eddie & The Hot Rods, and Nine Below Zero, i.e. without the French openers.  (12/109, Thursday 18th October 2012).