The Peasants news page

Drove back across the USA from LA last two weeks. Got back on Tues.
just in time for The Abbey Lounge show. Great crowd @ The Abbey. Tony
and Ray of The Prettiest Gurls opened with a sweet acoustic set. Then
us. Ernie LaRouche got called away last minute so the mighty Steve Hart
(drummer on both Peasant records) played the show. Steve is a monster.
We were a little loose but nothing a few stage rolls couldn't straighten out.

America was cool. Saw a bit of Los Angeles, drove thru the Rocky
Mountains, visited a bunch more folks and managed to get another fuckin'
speeding ticket in fuckin Ohio again. God they suck in Ohio. Second
ticket. Lady at the precinct told me oh yea you got stopped by Ticket
Ted. That's the fuckin cop's nickname. Ohhh jesus. "You can fight it but
it'll probably cost you more than the $115. you owe right now," she
said. God bless that pig. I could've killed someone driving down the
highway going 77 mph instead of 60 mph. At least Ticket Ted was polite
about it. He was gentle. I appreciate a gentle fucking.

God, may those who love us, love us. May those who don't, learn to love
us and if they cannot, may you twist their ankles so we will know them
by their limping.

Looks like The Peasants are holed up in Boston for a few months.
We'll be playing around here and working up some new stuff. Hope to get
another chance at Europe this spring but it's really up to our manager
in Holland. He's the best manager we've ever had so we're hoping he
comes up with another tour over there. Got some requests for Ireland and
England. Believe me, we want to come, esp. if Allan from Scotland, is
playing with us. He knows the lay of the land pretty good. Happy
Holidays!!! Try not to murder your family.

Traveling around the USA alot since the european tour ended.
Drove Todd Spahr (Bass/Feb 2002 Tour) to Los Angeles a week ago. 4,000 miles.
We had a good time. Climbed down the Grand Canyon, stopped off in Las
Vegas, saw the Hoover Dam...visited a few friends. Lot's o' laughs.

Only good thing about Las Vegas was the topless dance show. For $30.
Y ou can see stunningly beautiful women do some stunningly beautiful things.

Other than that Vegas is just another shopping mall, just another
Faneuil Hall, just another distraction with slot machines. And hookers.
Prostitution is legal BUT only outside the city limits. You might ask
why... but why bother?

Got a $165. speeding ticket in Ohio for going 84 MPH.
State trooper was questioning me like I just drove a plane into the twin towers or something.
I can see how cops get shot in America. It's no big mystery.
They're assholes. A week before that I was going well over 100 MPH on
the Autobahn in Germany and so was everybody else. Whatever.
Just another peasant tax.

Flew back here to play the "last" Beefy DC show at The Paradise Nightclub.
Place was jammed and audience was stellar. Saw some people I haven't seen in years.
Too bad Beefy DC is history..... or is it??

Fly back out to Los Angeles in two days. Get my car and drive back across.
Try not to get any more speeding tix.
Must be back in Boston by Dec.11th for The Abbey Lounge show. Please come if you're in Boston.
We'll make it worth your time. The incredible Ernie LaRouche on drums and Hurricane Hull on bass.
You've seen these guys with me on the street.
They are amazing.
We never practice and it's always great.

What a day!! Yesterday was the best day I've ever had playing on the street in my life and I've been doing it since 1987!!!
I feel like a stripper who just had a great night in the Combat Zone, wallet bulging with one dollar bills.
Temperatures rose into the 60s yesterday so we stole one more day away
from old man winter to play. Pretty soon after we started, a woman came up and tucked a one hundred dollar bill
into Chris Hull's shirt!! And it just kept getting better from there.

We were out for almost 6 hours, sold a shitload of Welcome To My Country
and had a very good take from the the tip box too. Haven't worked since September and been on tour all of
October so the money was right on time.

Roger was sick as a dog but still came out and sang his ass off. Justin was on drums, a big fan of Charlie Watts.
Only the third or fourth time we've used him on the drums and he was right at home.
We faked as many Stones as possible. Chris was doing his usual thing, climbing all over the place.
My voice is still pretty beat up from Europe but still managed to hold out.
So many people were out. Always nice to see New Englanders enjoying themselves. Many familiar Boston faces.

Welcome To My Country is still in Newbury Comix/Cambridge Garage and in Boston at the Newbury St. location.
If you haven't already, please go buy the fuckin thing from them. We probably won't be out again until next spring.
Monday I'm driving with Todd Spahr (Cavedogs, The Gravy, The Peasants, Rockbottom) to California where he is moving.
Will be back for a Beefy DC Show at The Paradise on Saturday, November 23rd with The Gentlemen.

Next Peasant Show is December 11th at The Abbey Lounge with Caged Heat,
Liquor Tricks and Prettiest Gurls members playing acoustic. It's a Wednesday.
Chris Hull on bass and Ernie LaRouche on drums.

Good to be back in Boston.

The Peasants want to say thank you to everyone who came out for us on
this last European tour. You treated us like Kings and we are deeply
grateful. The new record, Welcome To My Country, is available in record
stores throughout Holland, Belgium, Germany and Austria. Please go buy
it now if you haven't already. You will be helping us immensely if you
do. You will be supporting underground anti-corporate rock and roll. You
will be voting against big business with your wallet and showing the
world you choose the alternative instead of the swill you are being
bombarded with.

Go to suburban.records.nl. Buy underground records. Support small
bands. Ignore Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys for the pointless,
vacuous noise they represent.

Thank you again to everyone who saw us, signed the list, fed us, put
us up in their homes, poured us drinks...etc. You know who you are.
Special thanks to Ramanagement for arranging EVERYTHING, Jerry our
sound GOD, Yvonne our Merchandise GODDESS and all the good people in
Pijnacker, esp. Arno and Linda.

God bless every one of you motherfuckers and we'll be back soon.

Last show at Atak, Enschede w/The Spades was great.
Alan set up his drums down on the stage with us and was getting the old school punk kids all wound up out front,
making faces at them and egging them on. Though voice was pretty ragged, I still managed to sing the
whole set with minimal fucking up. Audience was really cool. Listening to everything.
Slam dancing out front.

The Spades put on a good show too. Hard rocking mother fuckers!!!

Fini!! Tour V Europe is done.

I'm already back in the USA. It's 4 o'clock in the morning but it feels like lunchtime.

If you didn't see us on this tour, you fucked up, plain and simple. Go buy Welcome To My Country at a record store near you.
If you can't find it, email suburban.records.nl. We also have copies of Out On The Street in Holland too.
If you strike out, write to us through this website and we will hook you up.

Thanks to everyone who came out for us this tour.
We had a great time.
And we WILL be back!!!!

Rock and roll motherfuckers!!!

Wild At Heart, Berlin, Germany: Great set!! Great crowd!! Dancing around out front!!
Lotta girls dancing around by the end. Good people in Berlin.

Got to use the famous JFK line made during the Cold War about him being a donut.
Was a great time. People at the club treated us great and the Swedish band did a good set too.

Last night, Friday, we were back in Holland in a Dutch town called Gouda. Club was called So What!

Sidekick Bob of Pijnacker opened, The Spades, then us. Good night.
Lott folks dancing throughout the set. Nice crowd.

Tonight is our last show in Enschede at a good place called Atak. We open for The Spades tonight.
Great tour. Gonna miss the crew we've been traveling with the past month.

Special thanks to RAM of Ramanagement for arranging basically everything and being with us every kilometer.
Soundman, nickname "Jerry" cuz his dutch name is unpronounceable, did the best job I've ever heard.

He can make 4 microphones and a piece of shit PA system sound like the goddamn London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Yvonne, sexy as hell and fluent in German, did a great job selling merchandise and helping us out with sundry bullshit.

One other big thank you is owed to Arno and Linda of Sidekick Bob for putting us up in their house as well as hooking up a few gigs.

October 31, 2002

Dresden, Germany... great audience...thousands of screaming fans... finished the set with a dive into the Halloween ornaments...
Custom Made Scare, 4 piece, LA-based, Motorhead rockabilly type band, played spirited set as well.
Manager of this club, called The Groove Station of aforementioned city of Dresden,
turned out to be a bit of a scumbag. Upon arriving he proved most difficult with the sound system.
He then was a complete prick throughout the night to the bands and tried to avoid paying at the end of the evening.
We got paid eventually and left before Ram beat the shit out of him.
Everyone showed great restraint in dealing with this massive shit stain of a person.
Must say though that this was the only occasion on this tour that we met with an out and out asswipe.
Everyone else everywhere else has been beautiful to us so we must take a moment
here to thank all the other clubs, owners, bookers, sound people... etc. who have been nothing less than stellar to us.
Big hugs all around.

Tonight we are in Berlin at The Wild At Heart, one of the most famous rock and roll toilets in Europe.
Bands get all dewy at the mention of this place.

We are playing with a Swedish punk band called Down and Away.

Great show in Vienna last night at The Arena.
Great crowd with alot of big hairy Austrian guys jumping around playing air guitar.
At first we thought they were kidding but when they just kept on going through every song we realized they meant it.
So we did Highway Star with the massive Richie Blackmore guitar solo. The place went fuckin' bonkers!!

Booking guy paid us more than required and wants us back to open for a big band.
Good people over there at The Arena.

Tonight we're in Dresden, the city that was firebombed in WWII. They bounced back big time.
Tons of cool shops and beautiful buildings. Real vibrant place.
Totally rebuilt. The club is cool too.
Internet, pool tables, bar, nice stage ... beautiful.

October 29, 2002

Been in Germany the past week, driving, setting up, playing, sleeping, driving, set up, play, sleep...etc.
Frankfurt, Koln, Jena, Magdeburg, Riesa...start to forget what was what and where.
Great show in Jena opening for cool Dutch band called Peter Pan Speedrock.
Great band. Sort of Motorhead meets AC/DC w/some other stuff in there.
No nonsense. Great stuff. Packed house.
Good time in Jena.

Now we're in Vienna, Austria with a few days off, relaxing the voice a bit.
Pretty beat up. After Saturday night in Riesa I was completely done.
No voice at all so these days off are right on time.

Looking forward to the last five in a row starting tomorrow right here.
We're staying in a cool place called The Arena. Sort of a commune of rock and roll
that gets some money from the Austrian gov't to help out. Pretty damn cool.
Never find that in the USA unfortunately. Too bad cuz it makes for a really cool scene that supports music.

See ya.

October 20, 2002
Played in Coney Island, Holland style Thurs night. Place called Cafe De Bliksem in Den Helder.
Crazy town at northern most tip of Holland, near Dutch Navy base.
Tons of bars, people just getting shitfaced and smashing bottles, puking on the stage,
smoking huge joints in the bar, stumbling around with crazy eyes. Pretty cool.

Friday at a place called Walhalla in Sevenum, Holland.
Three guys split their heads open slam dancing last time we were here.
This time it wasn't as crazy but the people were great. Real nice audience.

After the show drove to Pijnacker, our home away from home.
Pijnacker is the home of Sidekick Bob and a shitload of music lovers who like to party.
Feel like we know the whole town. Went with Sidekick Bob to a punk show
they were playing in the afternoon and then to The Trucker to see a really cool Danish band,
Dureforsog, I think. They did some crazy stuff. Young guys, 22-24 years old.
Go see them. Anyway, our old booking agent, Gustav, was there and he looked amazing.
Short hair, all cleaned up and happy. Guus was having a rough time last time I saw him.
Good to see him bouncing back.

Tonight we're at a restaurant/bar in Pijnacker. Arno of Sidekick set it all up.
New owner is trying to change the place into a rock club without alienating mom and pop
who have been eating there since WWII. We'll be going on after dinner is over and done with.

Tomorrow AM we head to Germany for two weeks.
Voice still intact. Shows just keep getting better. Alan, drummer, is great.
After only one rehearsal we embarked on this tour and he just keeps getting better and better.
I'm free to have fun with him back there keeping everything solid.

Bruce on bass for first time is doing a pretty good job faking it.
Getting tighter every night. Typical Peasant tour.
Thrown together in a heartbeat, flying by the seat of the pants.

Note: Looks like Beefy DC is doing another show at
The Paradise in November opening up for, I think, The Gentlemen.

That was the shortest retirement in Boston Rock History.
I think it is Nov 23rd. Check out the site www.beefydc.com for more info.....

20 october Cafe Guyter
Pijnacker Holland
21 october Cave Frankfurt Germany

October 17, 2002
Small cafe called Burgerweeshuis in Deventer Holland last night was supposed to be an acoustic set
so we borrowed one, am sitting on the barstool, doing sensitive folkie bullshit
and they just keep talking. Felt like I was in a sports bar full of Red Sox fans back in Boston.
RAM, mgr, says fuck it, break out the heavy artillery so we put away the wood and fire up the amps.

Instant gratification. They love it loud. Like Rock and Roll. Metal is still very huge here in Europe too.
All kinds of medieval viking looking mother fuckers in bands here with giant hair and spandex.

Great, great place. Would recommend this cafe to any band touring over here.
Leave the acoustic in the van.

Also have a bigger room that fits 450 people, big stage, lights, which we might do next time.
Highly recommend this place to people who want to see bands up close and intimate.
Great room and this huge viking looking dj, Pascal, spins smokin' tunes before and after. Way cool.

Tonight Den Helder up north.

See you there!!!

October 15, 2002
Here we are in Europe again. Just finished five shows. Day off today.

Holed up at RAMs house. RAM is our manager. Met him last tour.
Tour is 1,000 percent better this time around. Better clubs, better money, better everything.

Alan Brown (of Scotland) is kicking so much ass on the drums.
Now if only he could learn the fucking songs (LOL) ... he is great!!
Best drummer I've managed to con into touring with me over here.
Really an incredible player and knows alot of good jokes.
Then there's the Fat Bastard imitations.

Bruce Allen on bass and backup vox is doing great too. No complaints with the lineup.
Biggest worry is myself. Trying to actually sing on this tour and not blow my voice out early screaming.
Brought a vocal exercise tape and have actually been using it. This warming up thing really works!!!
Who knew??

First show in Tilburg was pretty well attended for a Thursday in a small club for a fairly unknown band.
Arnhem, NL Friday we played with The Spades, a Motorhead type punk band that spent
alot of time spitting on themselves but they were nice guys and knew how to rock.

Witte Theatre in IJmuiden, NL was cool. Four bands.
Mostly Cookie monster vocals and drop D heavy stuff. Superbutt from Hungary was really cool.
Also met some guys from an Seattle band called Himsa. Real nice guys. Let me borrow their soap.

Sunday afternoon in The Pits, Amsterdam for the third time. Great place.
Tiny punk club in the middle of this residential enclave close to everything "dirty" in the 'Dam.
Super friendly people, great room, lot's of old friends from The Hague showed up.
Ed, Webmaster, took a bunch of shots of this new band. You can check it out in the photo section.

Yesterday, Monday, we drove to Belgium and did a show in a small town called Verviers at a place called Spirit of '66.
Not expecting much. Chinese food 1/2 hour before showtime. Feeling like a stone onstage.
Can't move. Feel like a nap. Played a half hour and took a break.
There are actually a bunch of people in the place who are really wanting to rock.
Go out for the second set having digested the MSG and proceeded to tear the head off the bitch.
Belgian people going nuts. All of them. We do an encore for christ sakes and figure we're done.
Not!!! They wouldn't shut up. Screaming for more. But we've played everything.
So we go back up and repeat a few more. The Belgians are losing it. I gotta think man these people are starved for entertainment.
It was a great night. I highly recommend this place to bands that play rock!!
These people LOVE to ROCK!!!

We got a big Mercedes van for a rental this time and a cute merch girl, Yvonne, helping us.

RAM has us staying over his place which is this cool vintage 70s style place with orange carpets and blue walls,
cool lights and Russ Meyer babes all over the walls. When we're not here, we're kicking w/Sidekick Bob in Pijnacker.

We got another week of shows here in Holland and then we go to Germany.
We are so fucking psyched to be here!!!! It's been about 7 months since the last tour here.

It's great to be back.

Come out and play with us!!!!

September 26, 2002
Typical of every Peasant tour, I don't know who is in the band until
we get on the fucking plane. Gino Zanetti (drums) had to bail out two
weeks ago for financial reasons. We still love Gino but that left us
scrambling at the last minute for a drummer.

Found a Scotsman named Alan Brown.
Veteran of many tours and recordings. Never met him but he comes
highly recommended and sounds good on the tape so we're gonna go with
him. He's over in Scotland so we'll be meeting him in Europe. Wonder
what he looks like??

Thanks to all the people who auditioned. One guy
who was exceptional was Drew from JP. That kid can play the drums.
Maybe, if he's available, we'll take him next time.

Quit my job at the Real Estate office last week. Business sucked.
George W. Bush is running the economy into the ground.

Been playing in Harvard Square alot, selling the new CD quite a bit. DIY baby.
We are our own record company, record store, manufacturer and distributor.
Come see us in the square. We're usually in The Pit by Out Of Town News on
Thursday night, sometimes Tuesday, sometimes Friday. If it ain't
rainin', we'll be out there playing and selling.

Two weeks from today we'll be back in the beautiful green flatlandsof Holland,
playing shows with some excellent Dutch bands!!! Especiallypsyched to see Sidekick Bob again.
And The Riplets. Ed, Daisy, Marco,Sandy, Marcel and that whole Pijnacker crew.
Yee haa!!!!

September 2, 2002
My ears are still ringing from last night. Double header for me.
Peasants and Beefy DC!!!

European lineup sounding good. Gino Zanetti (Decals, BiPolar Coaster) on
the drums was a madman, especially when he didn't really know the song.
Bruce Allen (Doom Buggies) was also starting to loosen up, busting some
rock moves and swinging the lumber w/yours truly. Wore my new cowboy
shirt. Was drenched by the end of the set.

Immediately following The Peasants, Beefy DC took the stage for our
second to last show in the world (excluding possible reunion shows).
O'Brien's was packed to the gills. Deek of WBCN was the promoter of this
show and you could tell by the crowd. People were losing their minds up
front. I broke three fucking strings, Billy broke one but we didn't miss
a beat. At one point I just finished changing a string while Billy
played the guitar solo for Highway to Hell. As soon as I came back,
Billy broke a string and had to stop playing. We couldn't have
choreographed it better. Weird Shit!!

Beefy has one more show left and The Peasants just got added to a bill
at The Linwood Grille. We'll be taking as many shows as we can to get
ready for Europe. As always, when we are not in the clubs, you can find
us on the street, between Cambridge Savings Bank and Mass Ave. (The
Pit), Harvard Square, Cambridge.

August 31, 2002
Original Peasants Billy Close (bass) and Steve Hart (drums) rocked The
Abbey Lounge with me tonight. We did a strange set that Steve wrote
beginning with Mall Cows and getting progressively louder and more
violent. We ended up doing two KISS songs at the end. It was great fun
to play with those guys again. They did the first two tours of the USA
and both records with me. They are the most rock solid rhythm section on
earth but unavailable for the road.

The Marvels, a cool 5 piece from out of Portland, ME, opened and beat
the shit out of a Bruce Springsteen song. Then USM got up and smoked for
awhile. USM is parts of Darkbuster and Meat Depressed, a great rock band
with punk roots. Rocco, the singer, makes buttons too so if you need
buttons, go see him.

Tomorrow night is more rock and roll psychotica when The Peasants open
for Beefy DC at O'Brien's. I just hope the fuckin place doesn't
collapse.

August 13, 2002
Sweating it out here in Boston. Dog Days of August.
Very hot and massive humidity. Typical Boston in the summertime.
Working 7 days a week, renting overpriced apartments to college kids.
Trying to raise money for October Tour 2002 (Europe) and it's coming up fast.

Playing every weekend with Beefy DC and/or The Peasants.
Played on the beach down in Cape Cod this past weekend with The Beef. It was a packed show.
Saw Ironlung of Scizzorfight there and a few other local stars. Great audience.
Wiped out into Phil Cudd's drum set mid backflip. Sorry, Cudd.

Dealing with the depression of a breakup with a girl I really like. She's out of her mind and I just have to let her go
though I think I'm in love. How fucked up is that??? Always falling for the basket cases.

RAM Management doing a kick ass job booking the Fall tour though dates are tough to come by with everyone on vacation.
Record is out and in stores all around Holland, Germany and surrounding countries.
Pls go buy it if you haven't already. If you can't find it, email us here and we'll tell you where to go to get it.

Got a great review in Sleazegrinder Magazine at http://www.sleazegrinder.com.
Going out on the street thursday to rock with Ernie and Chris, the best street musicians in the business.
Chris has been sick and Ernie been busy so I'm real pumped to play with them again.
Harvard Square is lousy with beautiful girls this time of year.
Makes it hard to pay attention to the tunes but we've played all these songs a million times so it ain't no big thing.

See you on the street,

Pete.

July 16, 2002
Thanks to the kids at The Sugar Shack.
We had fun playing our first all ages show in years up there in Lowell. All the bands rocked!!

Doing it again in Lawrence on August 17th again with Jonee Earthquake and a bunch of other punk rock bands.
Keep you posted on that stuff. All ages shows are the shit!!
Kids go nuts and everyone has a great time without all the mucky muck.
Thanks to Blank Tradition for hooking us up with that show.
Try to return the favor soon.

February 23, 2002
Franse Bulldog last night. Sixteen year old Dutch boys and girls, making out in the bathroom while your taking a leak. Making out on the couches all over the place. Just sucking face everywhere. 4 awesome bulldogs run around, knocking beer cans off tables and chewing them to pieces. Cool place. Nobody there but a few punk kids who loved us and bought 6 cds. It was cool. Better than sitting at Gustav's house, getting impatient and bored.

Tonight, Friday, we played way out in the eastern side of Holland, in the farm country, near the border of Germany. Pulled into a very small town. There were about 3 stores and one supermkt in the whole place. Club was cool though and soon filled up with about 50 kids.

Sidekick Bob opened up and by the time they were finished the kids were won over. Next was a local cover band that plays only Operation Ivy songs.

We did an hour and a few encores. The kids went nuts. We sold a record units, which broke our last record earlier in this tour. Merchandise hasn't exactly been flying out the door but the last few shows it's really picked up. Tonight we definately found the audience. They are out in the sticks, off the beaten track, starved for some real entertainment. We had a blast and want to go back to Tienray, Holland again.

February 21, 2002

Ed and Daisy get married.
20 - 02 / 2002
(comes once every thousand years)

Big rock and roll reception.

Mondo Bizarro played acoustic Ramones.
Silent Rain and Non-Sense did the Dutch rock.
The Riplets of Rotterdam showed up and did some girl punk.
Two guys in drag jumped up and sang along.
Sidekick Bob got up and kicked the shit out of everyone and we went on last.
Played some old faves and two new songs. It was a blast.

Ed is responsible for this website. He and Daisy are huge fans and good friends. We wish them well.

Note from the webmaster:
Friendship, love, happiness and health are the most important things in our lives, treasure them with all your heart and good things will come eventually.
One of these good things is our (me and my wife) friendship with all the people that attended the wedding-party last night.
I got to play Deuce by KISS, my heroes, with you guys and I will never forget it.
Peace -> Ed.

Paard radio show that was taped this past Monday will be aired this Friday on 88.4 FM Radio West. Other than that we know nothing. If you hear it, let us know how it sounded as we will be in Germany.

Business news: Cargo Germany and Suburban Records are interested in distributing The Peasants in Europe. We are into working with both of them. They are cool labels run by real rock people and we hope to ink up the arrangement before we go back to the USA in two weeks.

February 19, 2002
Monday, February 18th, Paard, Radio West show. 3 bands. A funk band, The Peasants and a blues band. This show was like one of those old BBC broadcasts where they introduce the band, have them play a song then talk a little bit, Who style. It was pretty cool. We played all our poppy songs as much as possible. My voice was fucked up but seemed to hold up for the set.

Club was packed. Tons of pretty girls. All our friends from the Hague were in the front row. It was cool. The sound was amazing. Huge. The stage was big too. After all the shitholes we've been playing with no PA, no stage... this was fuckin Nirvana. We just played the way we always do and it sounded great. The DJ was cool too. We did about 8 songs. 2 of them didn't come out so we had to do them over again.

Sold a record CDs too!!! That is the highest number so far on this tour. Second place was Alpen a/d Rhine where we sold seven Cds. So there you have it. Awesome gig in The Hague. That is the place to play in The Hague on a Monday night. Paard is the place!!!!!

Now a few days off and we're going to Ed and Daisy's wedding on Wed. C'mon out and play!!!!!!!!!!!

February 18, 2002
Baroeg, Rotterdam. Sunday afternoon punk show with 8 bands in honor of some guys' birthday. Shitload of punk kids in this big brick building. Lotta young bands. All these kids are wearing Ramones t-shirts and tons of American bands. All punked out. Mostly 45 min sets.

Again we manage to get squeezed in for a half hour which is all we need to deliver. Voice is shot. Had to bail on The Wringer or risk blood spurting from my throat. Voice completely fucked from a week being sick and singing every night in shitholes. Just in time for this radio show tomorrow. Baroeg was cool though. First show over here that was worth doing. I'd go back there in a heartbeat and all the bands were very cool.

The Apers were the headline. They seem to run a huge punk label or have a lot to do with this huge label called Stardumb records.

Saw The Decals and The Kowalskis in their records for sale. Pretty cool to see Boston bands in a Rotterdam club.

Kevin from The Apers was cool. He helped get us on this show. We got to play in front of a bunch of people and sell some shit. It was a good night.

February 17, 2002
Koln, Thurs night, punk rock bar. No stage and a couple of tables with a big bar...and the greatest record collection of punk rock I've seen yet. Roman is great. Lets us in and we eat there too. Some kind've giant spaghetti with vegetable stew that was great!!! Watched the local band play and hoped some people showed up. Three beautiful women walked in around 7-8 pm. 2 from Finland but the one from Germany bought Welcome To My Country without hearing a single note. They had to leave before we got on and it was really too bad cuz we had a good set. There were a few folks there and they all seemed to have a good time. New bar, new excuse. Again with the Carnaval. Everyone is tired from the Carnaval. Nobody coming out after the Carnaval.

Matt, behind the bar, was sold when we opened with Goddamn Job by the Mats. Matt works for Cargo/Germany and drove a tour bus for Bob Stinson in 1992. He loved us and bought a cd and a t-shirt full price so I knew he wasn't full of shit. Roman treated us great too. I got really fuckin sick with a vicious cold on our few days off so I went to bed early while Josh and Todd got completely obliterated downstairs in the bar with Roman and Matt. So that was Koln.

Friday night, Moers, Germany. Youth Center in Moers. Very cool place. Pool table, bar, food, coffee and cheap beer. 4 Bands. We are squeezed in for a half hour in the second slot. Played all the fast punk stuff we think they'll like. People were sitting on the floor, listening to us, real intimate. It was cool!!! PA was nice and loud. Lights were great. Everyone was nice and we sold 7 cds. Short money, long night. Other bands played alot longer. Didn't break up till 1:30 AM. Crashed at the home of Marcus and Yvonne, our good friends in Nijmegen. They made us a great bfx in the morning too. They washed our dirty laundry too. They were very cool.

Tonight, Saturday, we played at a youth center in a small German town called Emmerich. Everyone was very nice but the soundman was clueless and it took forever to get it sorted. Then during the set, there was no voice and we were playing into a void. Weird. There were about 60 kids there though and they were dancing around. Both bands played great, my voice held out pretty good and we ended up having a good show. Ended with I'm All Done and after that, we really were. Sold a few CDs and a friendly guy from a Dutch Management Co. showed up too late for the set but hung out and chatted for awhile. It was a good night. Now we're back at Guus' house, all cozy and warm. Guus' cat, Elvez, is very happy to see us. Hoping there's a good crowd tomorrow in Rotterdam at the punk show.

February 12, 2002
First show. Dortmund, Germany. A get drunk and take me home bar in the middle of a city having a carnival. Not a music bar at all but we did our first flawed, jet-lagged set there and got it out of the way. Surprisingly sold a bunch of stuff to the shitfaced Germans. Was ok but won't rush back in this lifetime.

Second show was best so far. Friday night back in Holland in Alphen on the Rhine. That's the Rhine fuckin river. Played down the block on previous tour. Again small pub to drink in. Not really a music club but the audience was great. Saw some familiar faces and a shitload of friends from The Hague. Marco Hartmann sat in on the drums for a few and the club owner gave me an awesome AC/DC concert shirt from a tour 12 years ago.

Saturday night was the weirdest yet. We drove back into Germany to play a private party out in the sticks of a town called Goch. We're like...ok...whatever. Are there gonna be strippers there?? Anyway we get there and it's a big old place in the woods that they have parties cuz the local club closed down. We set up on this tiny stage that has a fence around it. I guess the germans want to keep the band under control. So they got us fenced in. They paid about $12. to come here and drink all night and watch this American band. We figure they are ready to go nuts. We've heard the Germans really like to rock. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. It was like playing a blues bar in fuckin' Wakefield. Except for a few really cool girls the 50-60 Germans just stood there looking at us. We couldn't get a fuckin rise out of them. Tried a few things but it seemed like pods had taken over their bodies or something. They clapped a little bit mechanically after every song.
We did our set and got the fuck out of there. As soon as we finished they fired up the techno and The Doobie Brothers and the dance floor was jammed. A few people came up and apologized for their lame crowd but we didn't take it personal. Just using ourselves as guinea pigs for the next band our agent books. So far most of the clubs we've played are NOT places he will ever book a band in again. Unfortunately we have to be here for the learning curve and it gets expensive. Needless to say we ain't gettin any younger but this tour looks to be the best so far.....after Sunday which also sucked.

Sunday...we're in fuckin Vaals, a place where Germany, Holland and Belgium meet. The Tri corner or something. The club owner was a doll. Took us out to dinner and treated us great but the club is this tiny place that has nobody in it. It's the equivalent of Mardi Gras here and the club we are playing is the one place that has nobody in it. Everyone, except the 6-8 people in this club, are doing the Festival Partying. So that's it so far. The Peasants, barreling down the highway of defeat, searching for a tiny club with no people in it to play our asses off in. Story of my life. I am hoping it can only get better from here. Unfortunately me, Todd and the singer from Sidekick Bob have all destroyed our voices singing in these shitholes. We have 3 days off so I will try to get it back before the next round.

Josh Smith, drummist, is doing a hell of a job under the circumstances. He's 21 and has little experience with the rock and roll. Most of his playing seems to be around hardcore and punk but he's learning how to play a few more beats and how to deal with the pressure. No cell phones here.

Todd Spahr, (Cavedogs, The Gravy, Rockbottom) is a fuckin laugh riot. Also known as Karl Heinz, Todd has us all doing shitty German accents. It's been great. Even Gustav, our booking agent, has been in good spirits. The key to this touring thing on the ass bottom of the rock and roll business seems to be pour your heart and soul into it, kick as much ass as you can if you can find any to kick and laugh it all off at the end of the day when you feel used, disgusted and exhausted. We could be in India right now, watching cows walk by as our children starve to death, right? See you in the funny papers!

January 26, 2002
CD is at the CD Factory getting manufactured. The Peasants are
practicing as much as everyone can for this upcoming tour. Playing our
first show with the new lineup tonight, Saturday, Jan 26th at
O'Brien's Pub in Allston Rock City, the last bastion of Original Live
Rock and Roll left in this town.

This tour is our 4th one in less than a year in Europe and the best one
so far. We've got a bunch of dates in Germany for the first time but
still most of the shows are in Holland. We're also doing two punk shows,
in Rotterdam and Moers, Germany, for which we are very psyched!!!

New drummer is 21 yrs. old, into the punk and studying hard. Bass player
hails from The Cave Dogs, a famous Boston band from a few years back. I
feel very fortunate to have both of these guys. They are both great
musicians. This is the strongest lineup yet. I hope you out there
reading this can make it to a show and if you have 10 euros, pick up the
disc. You won't be sorry. This tour will kick your ass!!!!!

The Peasant CD Guarantee: If you buy Welcome To My Country, the new
Peasant CD, and it kicks your ass all over the street, all I can say is
Welcome..... to my country. You have just joined all my friends who have
heard it and love it. If you buy it and find that you don't love it,
return it to me and I will personally refund your 10 euros.

"How can he say that," one might ask??? Well let me tell one. Most
records being released today by major record companies have one, maybe
two good songs on them. Most major record companies are really just
gigantic advertising agencies that know nothing about writing rock and
roll songs. So they spend lots of money on advertising, promotion,
merchandising and whatever else they can to get you to buy whatever
bullshit they are trying to push. Unfortunately, most of you buy it.

We don't have that much money but we know how to make great rock and
roll songs. So what you get from us is 12 great rock and roll songs for
10 euros and none of the other bullshit. If you really want belly
buttons, nose-rings, tattoos, colorful ads in music magazines, fancy
clothes and all that other bullshit, there are ten bands on the radio
right now that you can hear day and night, every hour on the hour,
playing the same lame tune over and over again. Go buy that shit!!! You
will find them in every record store, music magazine, video...etc all
over the world right this minute. Remember, they are an advertising
agency. That's what they do. They put bullshit in stores. If you want to
hear some kick ass rock and roll that says something, buy our shit. Like
I said, you won't be sorry and if you're not completely satisfied,
return it to us and we'll refund your money because if you don't like
it, we don't want you to have it.

Now if you are already a fan and don't care for my "arrogrant" (Gustav's
quote) ramblings, I apologize.Obviously you've already found us and if
you've read this far, you're already a unique person. But if you've
never seen us and you are offended, maybe you should be. You should be
offended that you've been duped into buying bullshit most of your life
disguised as something substantial. WAKE THE FUCK UP!!! Come see The
Peasants and ROCK!! We ARE 100 Percent Rock and Roll!!!! Peace
Motherfuckers!!!