I am writing this note on a ferry bringing us from Bergen
in Norway to the Vikodal Festival. It is a 2 hour ride
through amazing scenery of mountains and forests. This is an
unbelievable part of the world and I only wish the freakin
weather could be better.
Yes, as is the usual thing
with the Young Dubs, it has rained everywhere.
EVERYWHERE!!!. We arrived in Denmark on June 27th and the
tour and rain began in perfect harmony. Our good pals at
British airways lost all 10 bags we had and we had to wait
until about 1 hour before the show to get 8 of them back.
the other two are still missing almost 3 weeks later. Last
we heard they were in Milan , Italy. I hope they are having
a good time and getting some good pictures. Hopefully we
will reunite before tours end so we can share stories!
Other then that it has been a great tour. The gigs have all
been big and well received. The festivals are all really
well attended despite the shite weather. In fact they almost
seem to enjoy the mudbaths that appear all over the place.
Luckily we are usually looked after with a dressing room and
hotels etc but even the short walk from the band room to the
stage can get you covered in mud.
When we arrived at
the airport our fearless translator, confidant and driver
Jorgen was standing by to whisk us off on our month long
voyage. Our first show was the Kloften Festival and it was a
great success. The rain stopped briefly to allow us to get a
great crowd and we rocked them as hard as we could. The
papers the next day listed us as a highlight with a cool pic
of Chassie rockin out.
The following day we went to Faaborg for a small club
date. We met the promoter at a show on the last tour and he
decided to bring us to this quaint little town in Southern
Denmark. It was a good house and again the show went well.
However jet lag had gripped us tightly and I think every one
was wrecked. After the show we headed back to our hotel in
Odense and crashed hard.
The next day we left for a
summer house in Fredericia. This was organized by our Danish
agent Thomas (or Buks as everyone calls him). He found a
beautiful beach front location for us with about 10 rooms.
Perfect for the boys to spread out and get out of each
others hair for a while. The weather sucked but every now
and again there was a little sunshine. We spent most of the
time walking and enjoying home cooked meals provided by our
tour manager Adam. It was a great break.
Back to work then with 5 gigs in a row. The first was the
only dodgy show of the tour. We had been asked to play a
private show for the volunteers working at the Nibe
Festival. I suppose we thought it would be a club of some
sort but it turned out to be another mudfest of tents in
the middle of the vast festival grounds. Dont get me wrong,
everyone treated us a wonderfully as always but the
conditions and size of the venue were messy. Nonetheless we
rocked as hard as we could for 2 shows and made it a
rehearsal for the upcoming shows.
Our actual Nibe show
was the following day and it was crackin. I really enjoyed
the show as there were loads of kids rockin out mixed in
with an all ages audience. It was another step forward in
our plan to break Denmark. Of course it was raining and
muddy so the only thing to do after the show was enjoy the
beers provided back stage
TANGENT The beer is great
over here. Even if you are normally a a wine or hard liquor
man you have to hand it to Scandinavia, they have tasty
beer. A good deal stronger then the US so be advised you may
be speaking in tongues a little sooner the you might usually
be so proceed with caution.
After Nibe we went to what
would be one of the biggest shows of the trip. Skagen. We
were to play directly before Runrig, one of the most
successful Celtic rock bands in Denmark (even though they
are Scottish) 3000 people packed into the venue while the
opener, Beggars Row got the crowd going. We went on and
worked hard at lifting the show up to the highest point. By
all reports we succeeded and our Danish record label seemed
very pleased. I was personally delighted when that one was
over as it had been a milestone in the tour. We never met
Runrig which was a pity but for some reason they were very
much keeping to themselves. They escaped a night on the tear
with the Young Dubs, maybe it was for the best, for them!
To finish off the week we headed for one of the most
remote shows of the trip. Tuno Island. The island is about
as big as a golf course with hardly any actual residents
(less then 150) However when the festival comes to town
thousands head out to watch the bands (in a big tent thank
God as the rain continued) This may have been our best
performance of the tour and I really enjoyed it. We were
all in a great mood after the show as we had survived 4 in a
row spread all over the country. Some drinks were had!!!
Signing off now. I will continue after Berlin!!!
Im Back.
The next day the inevitable headache arrived to remind me
that there is a reason not to drink nasty Danish shots with
your pint! This was to be the most challenging day for me
personally as I was on a mission to meet my pals in Berlin
for a bachelor party. I ended up on just about every type of
transport known to man on this day. It started with a trip
on a small boat to get off the island. Then our driver
Jorgen drove us to Odense. The boys were all staying at a
hotel there for the 4 days off. I however jumped a train to
Copenhagen and then on to the airport. When I got there I
found that my flight was delayed for 4 hours!! Pain in the
arse. I made the most of it by sitting at the bar and
meeting folks coming and going from all the world. Quite an
interesting bar actually.
Finally at 11.30 pm the plane
took off. I arrived at the hotel in Berlin at 1.30 am. Not
to worry, its Berlin and so the festivities continued into
the morning.
After my little excursion to Germany I rejoined the
band in Copenhagen and we headed to Norway the following
day. Unbelievable. Bergen is a beautiful city and right away
we knew this would be a good place for us.
Both club
dates were well attended and we had great shows. The
highlight however was the final show at Vicodal Roots
festival. The crowd proved that they are Celtic Rock fans to
the core. We went on at 1 am and the place was packed.
Thousands of Norwegians sang along and rocked out for our
hour long set. What a great place. The Jam session after the
gig with two Norwegian bands back stage was also a major
highlight.
Then it was back to Denmark for the last
week of shows. It began with a TV appearance on TV2 ( a live
set with Bob , Chas and I). Then we headed to Randers for a
club night. Despite the fact that we had never been there we
had a great crowd and we had a rockin show. Then it was back
on a boat to Samso island for yet another big festival. This
might have been the best show we did all tour but it was 3
pm and the sun had finally shown its face, right into
ours!. I forgot to put sun block on and I was roasted. Still
the gig was massive with a huge audience. The food
afterwards was phenomenal, compliments to the organizers of
Samso, they throw a hell of a party.
Our last show
turned out to be the mother of all shows. Quite possibly my
favorite Young Dub show of all time (see video to be posted
very soon). It helped that we were in one of the coolest
parts of the world I have ever been, The Faroe Islands. For
only 5 years now they have been hosting the G Festival. It
is undoubtedly the most amazing show we have played. We went
on at 2am, yes folks 2AM!!! We were the last band on the
main stage and it was brilliant. Thousands of people were on
hand and they acted like we were their favorite band of all
time. What a response. That made us play a rollicking 90
minute set while the sun rose over the water ( remember
there is only about 2 hours of darkness in this part of the
world during the summer).
It was the perfect way to
finish off the Scandinavian Tour. We have now officially
added Denmark and Norway to our list of fav places to play,
with the Faroe islands getting a most favored nation score
on every bodies books.
I am writing this on the plane
as we head back to North America to start our US summer
tour. I have forgotten so many cool details which hopefully
I will write about next time. A big thanks to Thomas Hansen
and Jorgen for another well organized and fun filled trip.
It has been a wonderful tour and we are looking forward to
returning next spring. Until then Scandinavia..........
Keith
My Story
Well, where do I start. I was born in
Dublin to Ann and Charlie. Both in the entertainment biz
during the exciting sixties. Dublin was experiencing the
civil rights revolution as America was and the just started
TV station was the place to be. My Dad was one of the first
stage managers at RTE and my Mum became one of the first
female singers to perform on the station. I was born in 1965
and apparently created great excitement for them as I was
the "first son" (my sister Jocelyn had been born five years
earlier). The times they were a changin' and Ireland was
jumpin on board.
I have great memories of actors,
singers, writers, comedians, all sorts hanging out at my
house for parties. My Mum was also acting in many musicals
throughout my youth so I got to see both TV and Theatre in
action. It was great fun, my Dad was a head case (some of
you will not be surprised by this fact), a very funny man. I
would sit and listen to him entertain everyone for hours,
never saying a word (also hard for some of you believe). He
was a huge influence on me as was my Mum. I have a good
split of both their personalities thank God!!
After
school , college and a brief stint on the dole I emigrated
to America to pan for gold in Deadwood...OK, just kidding it
wasn't that long ago. I came here to pursue a career in
journalism but realizing that I couldn't even write a letter
home I was dragged into the movie biz. Set dressing to be
exact. Quite a pain in the arse for me but it was good
moola.
After about five years I opened "Fair City, a
Dublin Pub" with a friend of mine. My brother (Carl Roberts,
known to all of you who have seen us at the LA House of
Blues as the lead singer in New Breed Orchestra) was also
there along with many other pals. It was a great scene,
loads of other Irish musicians and many visitors from other
places and bands. We played every Saturday night to sold out
crowds until we got the first record deal. We released an EP
"Rocky Road to Dublin" and we were off and running. The rest
as they say, is history!!!!!
