Because of a huge traffic jam we unfortunately missed the Backyard Babies but some people told us
that they were pretty good, playing some good old punky, sleazy rock 'n roll. According to Phil
(The magnet guitarist), the Backyard Babies are really cool dudes and they definetely have the
real punk spirit so I guess that makes them the perfect tourmates for Monster Magnet. We didn't
miss their show in Düsseldorf a week later so check out the little review on them a bit further
on this page. Anyway the most important thing and the reason we drove up to the Netherlands was
Monster Magnet. This show was first announced as a co-headlining gig with Rob Zombie but
Zombie wasn't there and nobody gave a damn about that, the Magnet was headlining after all so
it was time to rock ! Lights out, lots of smoke, weird sounds, feedback, distortion and Tim
Cronin's spacy visuals projected on the backdrop, the Magnet was definetely preparing themselves
to kick some major ass, no doubt about that. Tim (Master of the Universe) Cronin is a real
wizard in creating the right atmosphere for a Monster Magnet performance so the Dutch crowd
was already pretty much in the mood by the time the band hit the stage with a blast.
'We are Monster Magnet baby, and this is how we do it' said Dave Wyndorf and as we know the Magnet is
very good in what their doin' ! Just like on the festival gigs we saw earlier this summer the
Magnet started the show with "Atomic Clock" and the audience just went crazy. The band flew in
from Boston U.S.A. just the day before but there wasn't a single trace of tiredness or jetlag
or whatsoever. 'Got a nail in my head and I know that I'm gone when I'm driving the tractor on
the drug farm', second song "Tractor" was just what the audience needed to go completely
hog wild. Not a lot of people in the rather young crowd probably knew that this is a remake
of one of the Magnet's first songs ever who besides on the Powertrip album also appeared on
their very first mini album but who cares, the band was back in Europe and they sounded better
than ever. Long time friend Phil Caivano fits perfectly in the band and seeing how he's enjoying
himself gave me the feeling that this guy has been in this band for ages. He really was the
missing link and who else than ex Shrapnel (Dave's old band) guitarist Phil Caivano would
have been the right man for the job ? With an additional guitarist Dave finally has the
abilitly to concentrate on the vocals and the interaction with the audience and that makes them
an even better liveband than they already were. Next song whas new single "Powertrip" followed
by "Dopes to infinity", dedicated by Dave to all the woman in the crowd. In the meantime he told
all the guys to worship their girlfriends ass, which was pretty cool .... and funny. Of course
most of the songs on this short European tour came from the last album, after all we have an
album to sell, said Dave. I have to convince you people to buy the album like i'm some kind
of a salesman. So we all learned that Powertrip is the perfect album to
play on your carstereo driving at a 100 mph and ran into a solid brick wall ! My guess is
that every single individual in the venue already had the Powertrip album because most
people sang along with both old and new songs. Next song was "Crop circle" immediately
followed by "Cage around the sun". For me personally this was one of the many highlights of
the evening because it reminded me to the time I saw the band in a small Belgian club during
the 'Superjudge' tour way back in 1993. During "Cage" it was remarkable to see how the band
changes from a solid five piece poweract into the spaced out psychedelic Stonerkings, which
they of course still are. Next was yet another killer song from the Powertrip album "Temple of
your dreams". By that time the audience seemed a little exhausted so Dave told that he really
like the potsmoking mellow people from the Netherlands but right now it's time to wake up.
Monster Magnet is all about the Rock and nothing but the Rock ! To prove the crowd that he
wasn't tired yet Dave demonstrated the many different things people can do on the magnificent
riff from the song "Bummer". From dancing to fucking that is !! Listening to the stunning
sound of "Bummer" was yet another prove that the Joe Calandra / Jon Kleiman combination is
still the best rhythm section on earth since Sabbath's Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. By the
end of "bummer" Dave did his famous 'Guitar on fire' act which indeed looked a lot
impressiver indoors than it did on the festivals earlier this year. Next song was the
U.S. breakthrough single "Negasonic Teenage Warhead". Of course the Magnet was already a
wellknown band in Europe at the time the 'dopes' album came out back in 1995 but just like
in the States "Negasonic" is one of the audiences all time favorites. The whole
crowd was singing along with the 'I will deny you baby' part of the song. 'Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls, brothers and sisters and motherfuckers everywhere', next song is "Spacelord" the
first single that came from the powertrip album and suprised friends and enemies of the band.
Yep, that song really made Monster Magnet big. A lot of long time fans are complaining about the
fact that their Magnet isn't playing in small clubs anymore and that they stow away on tour
with the big bands, so what. They deserve the current succes, thats for sure and the more
tours they are doin' with or without the big bands, the more the fans have the chance to
see them isn't it ? A lot of people doesn't seem to realize that the band is around for
more than ten years now so it's about time that they get the recognition they earn !
Besides, the bigger they get the more chance they have to headline their own tours so cut
the snobbish crap about the small clubgigs and lets celebrate the succes along with the
Magnet. After the crushing version of "Spacelord", the band dissapeared from stage but it
was perfectly clear that this wasn't the end of the show. The audience wanted more, and more
was what they gonna get. The first encore was a kickass version of the MC5 classic "Kick out
the Jams" and then came the most intense moment of the evening, "Spine Of God" !! There are
simply no words to describe how that song gave me the shivers and along with me without any
doubt the whole crowd. 'My mind is so free, you wouldn't believe, you wouldn't believe it
baby !' This wasn't your average rockband up there on stage, this was a perfect example how it
must feel to be infected by an aliën lifeform ! Dave was screaming, howling, mumbling and
moaning and at the same time he was crawling over the floor in the frontstage like he was
possessed by demons. Unbelievable ! Dave uses his stunning voice as a real instrument,
mixing it with all the distortion that came out of the monitors everytime he smashed his guitar
down somewhere on stage or threw the microphone into the crowd, simply brilliant !! I've got
news for all the critics who claimed that the psychedelic days of the Magnet were over, they
are the uncrowned emperors of Spacerock , and that's a fact ! Dave Wyndorf is simply the
best singer and frontman on planet earth and beyond, Ed Mundell and Phil Caivano are amongst
the best guitarists in the entire universe and Joe Calandra and Jon Kleiman are the
rhytmsection from Mars, believe me ! Unfortunately there has to be an end on all good
things so with the feedback still ringing in our ears the Magnet left the stage.
Unfortunately for the male part of the audience and perhaps even for some girls there
weren't any spontaneous onstage stripacts in Holland but as for me and the rest of the
female part of the crowd, Dave was looking sexier than ever ! The best thing was of
course when we were invited by Phil after the show to join the rest of the band
backstage (Thank you Phil !!!). They all told us that they really appreciate the
good work with this Website and since then Serge is even working harder than ever
to keep it up to date and nice looking. Another funny thing is that I accidentally
took Phil's Motörhead t-shirt that night. It was underneath my shirt on a chair in
the backstage area. Nope, i didn't took mine of to let them sign my breasts, as a
matter of fact they already did that on the Belgian Pukkelpop festival earlier this year ;-).
It was a new Monster Magnet shirt I've bought at the gig and when we left I took Phil's
shirt unintented together with mine. I noticed that in the car on the way back home
so that's when we decided to drive up to Germany the next week to see another gig and to
give Phil's T-shirt back.
The 'TOOTH' stuff on the Düsseldorf setlist
was an inside joke about Tim Cronin's dentist appointment earlier on the tour.
First of all both Serge and I would like to thank Sabrina , a German rockjournalist and Magnet
freak for informing the band that we were coming to Düsseldorf to bring back Phil's shirt.
Michael Bammes, a German fellow Monster Magnet fan and regular visitor of this site, for
explaining us how to get to the venue in the best way he possibly could do in an e-mail and of
course the whole band and the Powercrew for putting us on the guestlist for the (sold out)
gig and for making us feel at home ! It was really like being part of the family, you people
are awesome, thanks a lot ! In spite of Michaels e-mail we drove up to the first hotel we
saw, checked in and took a taxi to the venue because arriving in a city like Düsseldorf,
not speaking the German language is like landing on a strange planet in another solarsystem ;-)
I mean, they try to speak english, they really try but Oh my God ... Anyway, maybe we just
ran into the wrong people because all the other people we met once we were at the venue were
really cool and helpfull, and they did speak english ! Once we arrived at the Stahlwerk it
was like Phil was already waiting for us. We met him just outside the hall so he immediately
took us inside to join the rest of the guys backstage. I forgot my camera in the car the week
before but this time I had it with me so backstage it was picture time !! The whole band and
the crew were really friendly and nice as usual and we had a lot of fun talking with them about
all kinds of stuff. Phil was very happy to be reunited with his Motörhead shirt, Sabrina had
her interview with Dave after all, Michael had the opportunity to meet his idols after the
show and we were able to hang out with our favorite band again so everybody was really happy.
We were determined to see the Backyard Babies this time and we did ! And how !!
Those guys really gave a new meaning to the words 'Blowing your head off' !!
Kick ass punk 'n roll, that's for sure. They played just about half an hour because their
leadsinger wasn't feeling very well (a little to much partying with the Monster guys I guess)
but they did it at such a stunning volume and with an energy I never saw before ! Most songs
came from their last album Total 13 and it sure tasted like more ! Next time those guys are
touring we will be there, that's a fact. The Backyard Babies definetely have the same kind of
energy as the Sex Pistols and the Ramones once had ! Standing in front of the monitors it was
like a thousand jetplanes taking of at the same time. By that time the venue was really
packed and again there was that magical atmosphere in the air that always seems to appear
wherever the Magnet strikes down their spaceship. The show and the setlist were pretty much
the same as in Holland the week before except for some small differences. It seemed as there was a
little less interaction with the audience but it was really steaming in that place so you can
imagine how it must have been on stage. It probably was like performing inside the crater of a
volcano. The German crowd was really insane and very into the Magnet. Again this was a show
that was first announced as a co-headling gig with R. Zombie and again I had the feeling that
nobody really cared 'bout the fact that he wasn't there. Because it was the last show on the
European continent both Monster Magnet and the Backyard Babies hook up together on stage to
do the MC5 cover "Kick out the Jams" and it sounded damn great !! I still wonder how the
sealing of the Stahlwerk didn't came down during that song because i never saw or heard
anything that was even half as wild and loud ! During the last encore which was again "Spine
of God" the crew put some candles on stage and Dave appeared with a strange instrument
which in my opinion was an extraterrestrial melotron left behind by the spaceship that
without any doubt frequently lands on Dave's doorstep. Again that song gave me the shivers and
the sounds Dave managed to get out of that thing were awesome !! We partied a little further
with the band after the show and by the time the tourbus was ready to leave for the U.K.
both Ed Mundell and Serge were a little drunk and involved into a really inspiring conversation
about some mutual favorite bands that neither one of them seemed to be in the mood to leave.
Anyway, again it was a memorable evening and I hope to see the Magnet back in Europe very
soon. Thanks again to everybody who made this possible for us and thanks to Phil for the
really cool Posters, stickers, etc. he gave us at the gig in Düsseldorf !