ASPHYX @ Hof 23 - Berlin, Germany 29th September 2012

Saturday morning around 10.00 o’ clock. The boys pick us up at my place and are on time, which is not a certainty with this band. Today everybody’s happy to go back to Berlin again as we always have a good crowd and strong following there, next to many friends we made over the years. The bus is old but comfortable and best of it all is, we can smoke cigarettes. So as usual we play our metal or some easier southern rock or blues, talk and laugh a lot and have a good time during the ride. The few traffic jams on the German motorways can’t put down our good mood and around 15.00 i have my first beer.



3 beers later we enter the Berlin suburbs around 17.00 i guess and i have to piss like hell, but of course there’s as always something going on in this city, like a marathon or whatever, so we get stuck in traffic and once we’re almost at the venue there’s flashlights and an accident. Which forces us to a de-tour to get to Hof 23 and my mood sinks below zero with my exploding blather. The same goes for Liza and Paul. Finally we get there, storm out of the van, quickly shake hands and because i know where the toilets are i run and at last i can unzip my pants and get rid of all that superfluous liquid with a long and loud scream of relief.
After that very important and orgasm-like entrance, we can now relaxed meet Ilka, Dirk and Dennis from DID Promotions, who organize this Headache Cooldown show. And of course our fantastic soundman Markus who arrived before us. We load out the gear, find the backstage and to our surprise they had Budweiser,which is a very good lager, ( not the US urine, but the original Czech Pils ) but we wondered why we didn’t have a Berlin beer. Dirk explained us it was on our rider that we wanted lager beer, but apparently they misunderstood. The rider is only saying that we particularly don’t want Dutch Dommelsch beer. The worst stuff ever brewed in the history of mankind. So we apologized and felt bad that they had to go search through all of Berlin for the Budweiser. Next time Kindl will do too folks!
They also had a bottle of rum with a big Asphyx logo on it, which was very sweet and touching to see. Those little details make us always feel good and welcome, where-ever we are. But we saved the rum for after the show of course.


At 19.00 it was dinner time, a short walk and we entered a very original place, filled with all kinds of antique electric devices from the DDR era that were hanging on the wall or exposed on small tables. It looked like a small museum. Very cosy and one of its kind. We all ordered a big schnitzel and it was funny to hear the waitress say: “A West Cola” when she brought Lena ( Alwins girlfriend ) a coca cola ( we all had beers of course). Unnecessary to mention we were in the former Eastern part of Berlin, but for Asphyx, the East of Germany has always been very special. We always feel good there and practically at home.


With stuffed belly’s and thus very satisfied we were ready to deliver a fat show.
Support acts Porta Inferi and First Aid were really nice lads and we chatted a bit and shook hands. They asked if they could use the backstage and as they were really easy that was of course no problem. The singer of First Aid appeared to be the one that handled the long arm camera that registrated the Hail of Bullets show at Party San. A nice coincidence. Metal remains a small familiar world.
I slowly started to prepare for our show and at 22.00 it was time for our change-over and line check. In the place they were playing blues music to our pleasant surprise, so we were smiling and grinning and Paul was doing a small blues lead while testing his equipment. The usual jokes when we walk first time on stage and taste the atmosphere while getting everything ready.


We had to play 90 minutes but it became a 2 hours long set. We all gave once more all we had and the audience was roaring and simply marvelous. Ah, Berlin, Berlin, when did you ever let Asphyx down?
The sound was loud as fuck on stage, Bob’s monitor’s fully opened and even we were blown away by the high volume in the beginning of the set. Metal as it was meant to be. Like there was a wind blowing out of the monitors. Our big advantage to other bands in the genre. We bulldozer over them with cranked up volume. The same way Motorhead and Venom taught us. Personnaly, i can’t perform when i don’t have a massive wall of sound. The mix of high volume and a screaming crowd pumps my adrenaline level up to extatic proportions. A natural way of getting high. Being on stage is the best drug next to an orgasm.
Markus had a tough night as there were some problems with the drum microphones so he jumped on stage to fix it. Again he did a superb job. He’s so vital to us. And next to being an excellent sound engineer he’s also a fine and intelligent man to hang out with. Our now undisputed fifth member.


We came off stage and were very pleased with our performance. It was good. We know and feel that when we did a show. So we gave them Last One as the crowd deserved it and then i halfly crawled backstage. Almost dead from exhaustion.
It took me a long time to recover as this narrator is not 25 anymore, some cigarettes and strong rum cola’s helped. So i went in the venue to meet people. A girl made a wonderful drawing of me ( i’m still surprised how dedicated and special some fans of us are ) and some pics were taken with fans and personnel. Marc from Morgoth was also there, in a slight state of alcoholic intoxication and we chatted a little. Dirk offered some schnapps and after a while of talking to those who were still there and loading the gear in they drove us to our hotel, which was very nice as we all could have our drinks then.
There we destroyed some more bottles in our room and the lights went out....
Next morning we missed breakfast of course and when looking out of the window i noticed it was wonderful weather and the boys already sat on a stone fence drinking large paper cups of coffee. So i shouted to ask them if they could get us some. When downstairs Ilka came up to me with a coffee and also one for Liza. Incredibly sweet and wonderful that small gesture was. There’s little things a band will never forget, no matter where they play , but this is one of those memories that will never fade away.
We all together talked a bit and enjoyed the sun and the delicious hot wake up drink and then it was time to say goodbye. A few hugs and words of gratitude and we were again on our way.
It was a marvellous event. DID did everything to make us feel good and they very much succeeded. It’s one of those shows we’ll never forget because of the hospitality, dedication and warm metal hearts of the organizers. Thank you Dirk, Ilka and Dennis.
And of course, all those who were there. Especially our Berlin fans. Always there, always loud, always loyal...
Cheerz to you all!

Martin