CHUMBAWAMBA TOUR DIARY – APRIL 2008

Hamburg

Nothing happened today. No, only joking. A long day's travellingmeans everyone's tired out by the time we play, which is alwayssubstantially later than your average British gig. Thesecontinentals, they stay up later - must be all that coffee andbike-riding. Lola (the venue) is a lovely place just outsideHamburg, and tonight is the third time we've played there (Ithink). Great audience and plenty of 'em. We meet up againwith Bettina Schelker, who for this tour has an addedguitarist/bassist/singer called Nadia. She's great is Bettina. Soeasy to be around and to work with, and a greatsinger/songwriter. Someone in the audience (called Debbie, Ithink) made us a cake. Best job in the world, this. After the gigme and Phil spend far too long into the night discussing art,culture and the world, aided and abetted by firewater and theheady German air. It's the first night of a tour. No time to bestaying up. That comes tomorrow, in Berlin.

CHUMBAWAMBA TOUR DIARY – APRIL 2008

Berlin

Now this is a city I could live in. That's obviously what usculturally-deprived northern Englanders think when in themetropolis of cool that is Berlin. Oh, we're so shallow. See,on this street there are five second-hand shops sellingstrange seventies clothing and old suitcases. This is heaven,especially for Jude. And everywhere there is art – posters,graffiti, shop signs. And politics – demonstrations, headlines,slogans painted on walls. And bicycle lanes on thepavements. Not like the British bike lanes, hastily-paintedand overly-narrow channels for bicycles squashed onto theside of major roads – no, these are real bike lanes, on thepavement, with a kerb to separate you from the cars. I dothink a country's attitude to cyclists can be a gauge of itsattitude and commitment to the future. Much more than itswaste-management programmes or its diatribes aboutoffsetting carbon. Pah! Get the buses to run on time, createbike lanes everywhere, and we'd have a fitter, healthier,safer population.Anyway. Berlin. The show is in one of those convertedfactories – in this case, an old brewery – a huge red-brickcomplex which includes a cinema, café, supermarket, yogacentre, theatre, and gig venue. Beautiful place. Beautiful

CHUMBAWAMBA TOUR DIARY – APRIL 2008

people, a huge old hall transformed into a vibrant andcomfortable venue.700 people or so turn out to see the show. I love them all,darling darling. No, it's a great show because even with thismany people we can still have a conversation with theaudience. The remains of the cake we were presented with inHamburg are shared among the crowd, we relent and doseventy-six encores, and the large hall feels cosy and close.'Timebomb' is dedicated tonight to all the people rightaround the world who are disrupting the passage of theOlympic torch on its journey towards China. How lovely tosee the Chinese diplomats having to cut short the torch'sbeleaguered passage as it passes through hotspots of radicalism. After the show we indulge our love of this city byvisiting some of its many bars. We drink strange local beermixed with red syrupy stuff. Bettina in particular is drawn toBerlin's alcoholic charm. She may not feel too well tomorrow.