Are Franz Electric?

The starting lineup for our show with Franz Ferdinand in Utrecht on Wednesday 28 June 2006 was a blend of youth and experience. The regular power trio were joined up for this potentially tough fixture by veteran jazz blower Ditmer on sax and backing vox, and young pup Gijs on bass and Farfisa, plucked from the youth team known as "Dusty Blinds".


The regulation short soundcheck for the opening act was carried out, but I have to compliment the band members and the staff at the Tivoli for having their shit together, and getting setup so fast that it gave us enough time to rattle through a number of songs.

The show itself I thought was very good. We were tight and energetic, and the response from the audience was extremely positive. Walking out onto the stage and seeing a packed Tivoli was stimulus enough to pull out all the stops. It's always a bit weird to be landed in this kind of situation where you know that the people who are in the hall are there to see the main band, and that means you are always liable to be fodder for the punters. But we did what we always do, played the music that we play, and the kids seemed to like it. It was actually quite bizarre at one point to see a couple of people trying to "sing" along to the chorus of "Texass"! A compliment.



We were joined on the last song "Somme" by Paul Thompson...Franz drummer and father to be. 2 drum shuffle action! Fantastic! A full on aural assault and no prisoners taken.


Many thanks to all staff at Tivoli for all their help and making our stay easy and comfortable, and many thanks to the Franz boys for asking us to play, supping ales with us and adding to the patter....not all of it shite by any means....of the evening.

Krommenie / Utrecht Wednesday 26 June 2006

turn that bleedin' computah off and git yrself down to the Tivoli in Utrecht tooonite!!!! The Bent Moustache will be house rockin' with nuthin' but jigglin' and a-wigglin' on the dancefloor.

special guests include Dusty Blinds' Gijs on bass and Franz' Paul Thompson on drums.

peace out

Krommenie Sunday 25 June 2006

Battled the weather and had a great bar-b-q.......BUT:


Bollocks......end of party!!!!!!!!!!


Netherlands 0 - Portugal 1

A disgusting display by both sets of players and all officials! What I witnessed had nothing to do with football! Shameful!

Krommenie Sunday 25 June 2006

"Hup Holland Hup" is the cry of the moment. This country is in football heaven....and, who am I to lie,...so am I. The World Cup has taken over the lives of millions of people all around the world. Schedules and life patterns are switched and juggled to accomodate the daily fix of footie. In Holland, the colour orange has been smeared and splashed across the landscape in indiscrimanate fashion. I was fortunate enough to attend the first Holland match in Leipzig against Serbia-Montenegro. I went with a group of 20 people on the Saturday before the big game at 6am. The motorway from Amsterdam to Leipzig was awash with cars carrying Dutch supporters. Leipzig itself became a Dutch colony for the weekend. A fantastic atmosphere everywhere. No signs of malice or aggression, only openess towards other fans and drunken ribaldry.

The game was on Sunday, and it was blazing hot. A beautiful stadium was the setting for not such a great game of football, but the result was good for us Dutchies : 1-0.


Tonight, The Netherlands play Portugal and need to win to play in the quarter finals. My bar-b-q plans have been thrown out of the window....it's pissing down outside!

Last week I got contacted by Paul Thompson - the drummer from "Franz Ferdinand" - asking if "The Bent Moustache" would open for them in Utrecht. Um...let me check my footie schedule.......yup....no game on Wednesday 28 June....yes we'll do it! We play with them at Tivoli, a fine venue. Crikey, I was only there a couple of weeks ago or so to twiddle the knobs for "Dino" and now I'll be treading the boards. I can't wait. The Franz boys are fine people with a cracking musical background.....let's just start by saying "The Yummy Fur"....that should say enough.

I have put a track up for freedownloading on the music section of this webbysite thang. The track is called "Texass" and was recorded in 2001 in Boston, Mass., USA. I recorded this track with a couple of members of USA band "The In-Out" (America's greatest answer to "The Fall"). I love this track and now it can be yours. For nowt.

"The Bent Moustache" will start recording their next single in the first week of July. I hope to have it released in the autumn. We will be looking to record an album this year, which will probably come out next year. The main aim this year is to try and play as many shows as possible. We have some shows in the pipeline, but it feels like its becoming increasingly difficult to please the jukebox jury at every venue in Holland. If its isn't "Nederpop" or something hip from the Yank/Brit axis, you are up against it. But there is still hope.....I have been contacted by more promoters who find that what we do is worthwhile and interesting, and wish to have us perform at their palace of pop. We are ready!!!!

home sweet home Monday 5 June 2006

Winterthur show turned out to be a cracker. The bass rig went to pieces as the band came onstage. Took 15 minutes to sort it out....after having blown the opening acts bass head! Switzerland dB limits were flagrantly disregarded and the band pulled off a cracker. A bevvy of beauties kept smiling throughout the show at Lou and spurred him on to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. Some of the Swiss types threw their earplugs at my desk at the end of the show or rolled up their earplug packets (which had "Tinnitus on tour" written on them...I swear) and kindly placed them out of irony near me, but then a slew of kids came up at the end to say how great they thought the band sounded that night. And then to Barcelona.

Patrick decided to fly to Barca for fear of cabin fever on the bus. But we ended up arriving in Barcelona before he did! The drivers put their feet down and sailed to Spain. We arrived too late for soundcheck off course. A beautiful sunny day, down by the sea. I met old friend Imaad Wasif, who now plays in Yeah Yeah Yeahs. We talked and talked. The YYY people are very friendly folks. It was exactly a year to the day that all of Dinosaur flew and met in Holalnd for the start of the reunion thang. A poignant day. Today felt like the last day of a long and fantastic year of shows and experiences. Denis came from France. many friends from bands or otherwise were also there. It felt right. I watched the YYY's play a fantastic set, Killing Joke play not such a good set. And then at midnight it was our turn. We all pulled out the stops and the band played sooooo well. Only band to get an encore! By the end of the evening I was drunk, high and happy! A great way to end. Watched the Flaming Lips close in style and sang along to the songs with my Italian friends. Arriverdeci! Home to Holland on the first flight...6am.