When you get a phone call on Tuesday to get on tour on Friday, you don't have much time to prepare. Maybe you don't need much time to decide when you can experience a rock and roll type tour in a full on tour bus. After the first show in Germany and a cancelled show in Belgium, I met up with the Deconstruction tour in Amsterdam for the second stretch. I was the MC for the BMX and skate show on the RedBull ramp. BMX-ers were
Zach Shaw, Simon Tabron, Matt Fairbairn and
Ronnie Remo. We joined the tour bus with the skateboarders (
Jocke Olsson, Ali Cairns, Pete King and
Dave Allen) and later on the RedBull ramp building crew stepped on the bus as well. We were part of the Deconstruction tour which had bands play at different venues every night.
From
Amsterdam it was straight to
Paris, France. The bus had a few leather seats in the front and a corner in the back with a TV/DVD/Playstation set up. Grand Theft Auto was the only disc that made it in the equipment for the next five days. It got us all addicted and was a lot of fun to play. It's pretty strange to hang out in a tour bus. I'm sorry I continue talking about the bus but it was my first trip like this. We hung out, chatted, drank a few and found our bunk bed to be woken up next to the next hall in Paris. The RedBull crew had already started building up the ramp and the stage was near completed. Some practice time was used by Matt, Simon and Ronnie before the crowd entered the doors.
The skate and BMX demos were basically a 25-30 minute jam session. With the level of the riders and skaters, the show was really good. Ronnie, Zach and Simon threw flairs in every show and Fairbairn and Tabron made sure they did 540-s and whips in every show too. We had three shows in Paris. Nobody got hurt but me. As I got down from the ramp hanging onto the coping and running out the last bit, my shoulder popped out and I was stuck laying on my back on the middle of the ramp. As no one had experience pulling the sucker back in, they called for the medics. As they arrived they did not know how to do that either so they wanted to transport me to the hospital. I've experienced such a shitty ride before with my other shoulder popped out and I refused. I asked them to get me on my feet. I was hoping my shoulder would pop in automatically but it took me a couple of swings before it found the right place. It was a big relief and time for some liquid painkillers. John Petit and Romaric Fath showed up at these shows which was cool.
We got an extra case of beer on the bus and made it to
Trier, Germany no problem thanks to our driver Robert. Even before we woke up, the ramp was already set up. It rained most of the day but the concert and demos were indoors so that didn't cause any problems. The bands on tour were Strung Out, MadCaddies, Boy Sets Fire, Lagwagon and a couple of others. It was a full program every day. Tim Eichert showed up with his bike and made a guest appearance in the show. He knocked down a few security guards when he got off the ramp at full speed and almost killed himself on his hard tricks but we are getting used to Tim's riding style. It was good to have him on the ramp and he contributed to the show for sure. Axel Reichertz also made it on the halfpipe to shoot some pics. Meeting up with people at these things is great.
We put a few cases in the fridge and were on our way to
Winterthur, Switzerland. It's so nice to have a driver so you don't have to worry about that part. By this time I was already losing track of where we were and what was coming up next. It was the 4th country in 4 days and all we got to see is the venue, the ramp and the bus. In Switzerland we got a guest appearance by Faze-7's Dick Slater who was sporting a sweet jacket. Pure rock 'n roll. It was also the stop where Simon Tabron decided to throw down a perfect 900 in the last show for personal reasons. And the crowd went nuts......
Matt Fairbairn was doing x-ups to barspins to x-ups and double barspins. He was enjoying riding the ramp and pulled sweet invert 540-s and one handed versions as well. Zach did X-ups to X-downs, his Zach-style inverts, no-footed cancans to no-footers and more. Ronnie Remo carved the ramp and did alley oops with cancan-x-ups and stuff. Simon had a full package of tricks including dog piss airs, chicken butts, fish-tails and some serious stuff like no-handed 540-s to turndown 540-s to regular 540-s back to back. Pretty sweet.
The last stop was planned for
Milan, Italy on Sunday. The RedBull ramp got stuck at the border so the show never happened. We decided to eat some good Italian food and ended up in a restaurant that also had been visited by Clint Eastwood (with the pics on the wall to prove it). Zach and I made it into town to return to the drunken fest again. It was full on until early in the morning when we got dropped off at Malpensa airport. The Deconstruction tour had come to an end and we were still alive. Mission accomplished. BdJ
From Amsterdam it was straight to Paris, France. The bus had a few leather seats in the front and a corner in the back with a TV/DVD/Playstation set up. Grand Theft Auto was the only disc that made it in the equipment for the next five days. It got us all addicted and was a lot of fun to play. It's pretty strange to hang out in a tour bus. I'm sorry I continue talking about the bus but it was my first trip like this. We hung out, chatted, drank a few and found our bunk bed to be woken up next to the next hall in Paris. The RedBull crew had already started building up the ramp and the stage was near completed. Some practice time was used by Matt, Simon and Ronnie before the crowd entered the doors. 
The skate and BMX demos were basically a 25-30 minute jam session. With the level of the riders and skaters, the show was really good. Ronnie, Zach and Simon threw flairs in every show and Fairbairn and Tabron made sure they did 540-s and whips in every show too. We had three shows in Paris. Nobody got hurt but me. As I got down from the ramp hanging onto the coping and running out the last bit, my shoulder popped out and I was stuck laying on my back on the middle of the ramp. As no one had experience pulling the sucker back in, they called for the medics. As they arrived they did not know how to do that either so they wanted to transport me to the hospital. I've experienced such a shitty ride before with my other shoulder popped out and I refused. I asked them to get me on my feet. I was hoping my shoulder would pop in automatically but it took me a couple of swings before it found the right place. It was a big relief and time for some liquid painkillers. John Petit and Romaric Fath showed up at these shows which was cool. 
We got an extra case of beer on the bus and made it to Trier, Germany no problem thanks to our driver Robert. Even before we woke up, the ramp was already set up. It rained most of the day but the concert and demos were indoors so that didn't cause any problems. The bands on tour were Strung Out, MadCaddies, Boy Sets Fire, Lagwagon and a couple of others. It was a full program every day. Tim Eichert showed up with his bike and made a guest appearance in the show. He knocked down a few security guards when he got off the ramp at full speed and almost killed himself on his hard tricks but we are getting used to Tim's riding style. It was good to have him on the ramp and he contributed to the show for sure. Axel Reichertz also made it on the halfpipe to shoot some pics. Meeting up with people at these things is great. 
We put a few cases in the fridge and were on our way to Winterthur, Switzerland. It's so nice to have a driver so you don't have to worry about that part. By this time I was already losing track of where we were and what was coming up next. It was the 4th country in 4 days and all we got to see is the venue, the ramp and the bus. In Switzerland we got a guest appearance by Faze-7's Dick Slater who was sporting a sweet jacket. Pure rock 'n roll. It was also the stop where Simon Tabron decided to throw down a perfect 900 in the last show for personal reasons. And the crowd went nuts...... 
Matt Fairbairn was doing x-ups to barspins to x-ups and double barspins. He was enjoying riding the ramp and pulled sweet invert 540-s and one handed versions as well. Zach did X-ups to X-downs, his Zach-style inverts, no-footed cancans to no-footers and more. Ronnie Remo carved the ramp and did alley oops with cancan-x-ups and stuff. Simon had a full package of tricks including dog piss airs, chicken butts, fish-tails and some serious stuff like no-handed 540-s to turndown 540-s to regular 540-s back to back. Pretty sweet. 
The last stop was planned for Milan, Italy on Sunday. The RedBull ramp got stuck at the border so the show never happened. We decided to eat some good Italian food and ended up in a restaurant that also had been visited by Clint Eastwood (with the pics on the wall to prove it). Zach and I made it into town to return to the drunken fest again. It was full on until early in the morning when we got dropped off at Malpensa airport. The Deconstruction tour had come to an end and we were still alive. Mission accomplished. BdJ 
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.