Hibakusha – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

In this Crazy Tour Stories segment, the death metal band, Hibakusha, shares one of their stories from being on the road. You can check out the story, after the break.

It was a cold October morning back in 2016 when we got a sudden call from Euroblast Festival in Cologne, Germany. A band had canceled and we were asked if we wanted to fill in on the mainstage… in less than a week! Euroblast is one of the most awesome festivals in our niche and this would be our first show on foreign soil. We were psyched! This was a great opportunity. So, of course, we cleared our schedule for the weekend, rented a van, and off to Germany it was.

After getting up at 6 in the morning and having a fun little road trip, we arrived at the Essigfabrik in Cologne and pulled into the parking lot. When we were parking, someone pointed out that one of our tires was a bit flat. But after closer inspection, we thought nothing of it.

We got ready and when we finished our soundcheck, we opened the Saturday with everything we had. We had a great time and tried to kick as much ass as we physically could. After we cleared the stage we loaded everything back in our van. Now it was time for the other thing we love to do: drink many, many beers. And drink many beers, we did.

Since our booking was so last minute, there were no rooms available in the city. So we decided to drive back the same night. Our singer being the band-dad he is, god bless him, stayed sober so he could safely bring us back to Haarlem. Not before the rest of us had many beers of course.

When we pulled out of the parking lot, a few guys from another band (I believe it was Ghost Iris but don’t pin me down on this, – something something, many beers) pointed out again that one of our tires looked somewhat flat. So we went to the nearest gas station to put some air in it. Germany has these great gas stations where you can get… many beers. We grabbed some for the road and continued our journey home.

It couldn’t have been more than an hour of driving when we were all shaken up by a loud BANG and sudden frantic zigzagging! Luckily our singer/band-dad managed to bring us safely and smoothly to the side of the road. Of course, we had no tools on hand (or any know-how on how to use ‘em) so it seemed we were stuck in Germany on a dark cold night. We did still have many beers though, that was nice. After calling the rental company we found out this Mercedes van was insured for stuff like this and a Mercedes technician would come by personally.

Our singer again showing his band-daddyness, remained calm and composed. Even though he was the only sober person next to an un-lit autobahn, while a bunch of drunk band members seemed to think this whole situation was the funniest thing since squeaky toys.

Fifteen minutes later a car stopped in front of our van and two women stepped out asking if we needed any help. ‘Help’ it seemed, was more of an invitation to join them in whatever hijinks they were about to commit. Since we were waiting for the Mercedes-service (and we had many beers) we politely declined their offer. They left somewhat disappointed, to say the least. I don’t think they were sober either… now I think of it.

It seemed to take a while, so we laid down in the grass beside the road for a while and gazed at the sky and talked the talk of our people. Drunk talk.

It took at least another hour until the Mercedes repairman finally arrived to change our tire. But since our German isn’t anything to write home about and his English skills were practically non-existent, the communication was a challenge. Luckily he knew what to do and he fixed the van in no time. The broken German our drunken selves uttered that day has become an in-joke ever since. Our first show in Germany was a success and we went back to Euroblast two years later. Want to see some of the above for yourself? We filmed a video that is available on our YouTube channel!

Keep up with the band on Facebook, Instagram and their website.