TIM'S TOUR DIARY: MUNICH, SEPTEMBER 26, 1999

Never never never go to a concentration camp right before a big rock and roll show. We all wanted to stop at Dachau while we were traveling to Munich. It's not far from Augsburg, so we were there very quickly. It's a ways off the highway, and the signs directing you there aren't as clear as they could be. We were all shocked to find it in the middle of a thriving neighborhood.... there are two-story condos that literally overlook the camp fence. You couldn't pay me enough to live there.

 

The entrance to Dachau.

No matter how much you prepare yourself for an experience like this, you can't really be ready. There isn't a whole lot left... the barracks are gone, except for a replica, and most of the other buildings have been converted to museums. The ground is still there.

The grounds where the barracks once stood.

We all got very quiet as we walked through the remnants of the camp. The site's history is presented in a building there, with many photos and documents. People were crying. Lots of people died there. Dachau was not one of the worst of the camps, so only 35,000 or so people died there. 35,000. Many of these were Russian soldiers who were shot so that the Germans didn't have to feed them. Americans are raised to think that WE won the war--- it was largely the Russians. We didn't do a whole lot in the European theater before 1943 when the Russians turned the Nazis back and began driving them toward Berlin. We lost 800,000 people in WWII; the USSR lost 25,000,000.

One of the many memorials at Dachau.

The gas chambers were never used at Dachau... the volume never warranted it. Still, seeing them was creepy just the same. The whole visit there was chilling and sobering. I can't imagine what it must be like at Auschwitz or Treblinka.

The ovens of Dachau.

We weren't in the 'rockinest' mood by the time we got to the Atomic Cafe in Munich. We had heard that this was the coolest club in Germany for sixties-punk stuff, and it *was* really neat. There was a fold-down drumriser on stage, and all sorts of spaceage paraphernalia scattered around. It even had a dressing room and shower. We loaded in and went off to get some chow. Munich was packed... it was the first night of Oktoberfest, so you can imagine the crowds.

We played OK that night. I never really caught fire for some reason. the rest of the guys seemed fine, and Stan was living it up. This was maybe Stanley's brightest show of the whole tour. He was jumping around and dancing and *still* not blowing too many notes. The coolest thing was that there was one kid there who was singing along to every song.. I just gave him the mic during "You Make A Better Door" and he knew the whole thing!

Andy of Nurnburg sent us these 3 photos.

We played what was supposed to be a short encore, which turned into the best part of the set. I don't know what happened... we finally 'clicked' in. We blasted through a nutty version of "64 Jailbreak" and a bunch of other stuff. Somehow Stan and I both ended up with our boots off by the end... we were sitting down and getting people to "get down" with us and the language barrier was crumbling and then finally it was done and it had been a good show after all. We hung out and danced to garage classics for a while and then it was time for us to try to find our hotel. That was a nightmare that I won't even go into. Finally we crawled into our beds with exactly one show left to go.

Our biggest fan in Munich.