VISIT OUR *NEW* 'ONLINE SHOP'

Welcome to our brand new..

'ONLINE SHOP'.

You will find some Ltd merchandise such as a 100 % cotton Screen printed bag (pictured). 

 Everything is limited and stock is very numbered

so make sure you get your hands on it.

To visit the store simply click on the link above or below:

http://reddrapes.bigcartel.com/

Enjoy

x

EUROPEAN TOUR DIARY PART 3

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Sadly, here is the final part of our tour diary…

Berlin, at Levee Club Friday 11^th February and it’s the official E.p1 launch party.. It was great to be back at ex Bang Bang Club after so long, but the avant-garde  ‘Jungle Book’ style toilet decorations were slightly bizarre it has to be said.. not to mention the pig’s head on a platter we found in the storage room, as well one or two stragglers surfacing from dark corners of the toilet. 

We were supported by local Berlin band ‘Children’ but we sadly didn’t get to watch their set as we had two interviews before the gig, but what we could faintly hear sounded pretty good.

One was for Motor.de (complete with embarrassing hand drawn self portrait..)

click here for Red Drapes Motor.de interview..
 

The other was with Sebastian for Fast Forward Magazine..

click here for Red Drapes Fastforward Magazine interview..

We played our full set and were kindly asked back for an encore.. our set included a cover of Psychedelic Furs ‘Love My Way’ which went down a treat.. After the gig we hit the town.. and NO ONE parties like Berlin parties..! they go out at 5am here..! the party after our gig at Levee Club went on until 6pm the next day..! 

..but we were whisked away by Humming Records to some bizarre swing party in a tent.. which was like an 80’s Jewish wedding reception.. well.. what I’d imagine one to be like anyway.. and after lots of laughter and plenty of ridiculous dancing it was off to Magnet Club to see the dawn in.. when in Rome…

After an extremely roundabout way of getting a few stops on the train back home.. well actually 4 trains, 2 wrong directions and several slurred conversations with fellow dawn travellers we bundled into the local kebab shop while the sun was coming up.. Berlin does the best kebabs.. London,. you’ve got a lot to learn…

A couple more clubs.. a party, numerous bottles of good German beer and several Euros spent on kebabs our two days off in Berlin came to a close.. but not before we were invited to play an acoustic set at Berlin’s Ramones Museum.. setting foot on the stage like so many fantastic bands before us and finding a patch on the cluttered wall to tag Red Drapes amongst the sea of great bands was a pleasure.. 

Once again it was great to be able to say ‘ich bin ein berliner’ even if to the locals that does mean ‘I am a donut..’

it went fantastically well and we left fully clad with complimentary Ramones t-shirts.. we were honoured to be asked to play.. it was also filmed so stay tuned for the footage coming soon.. thanks to Flo..

Sadly and lethargically, we left the relentless techno and electro parties, epic kebab shops and the painfully efficient public transport system of Berlin and headed to our next date at the Astra Stube, Hamburg.. which is pretty much the smallest club we have ever played..! but what the Astra Stube lacks in physical dimensions it makes up for in charm and spirit.. we had a great gig that night with a warm reaction from all who attended. 

Adam was offered a beer from a kind gentlemen in the crowd, but when given it seemed half empty which was questioned of course. In short he was just giving away his mates drink as he had gone to the toilet, a refreshing free beverage all the same.

Also the smoking laws have definitely been ignored by the bohemian types as the oxygen to smoke ratio was very much in favour of a generous haze of tobacco.. (xmas for British smokers..) and playing a venue as small as the Astra Stube means the place gets so smokey it’s like playing in an ash tray.. but a happy one.. we were supported by label mates ‘In Golden Tears’, a great night had by all..

One dodgy shower, slice of reasonably priced pizza and a non-intentional stroll past the local drug dealing site we’re back in the van and trying to fire up the heater (as always) to get back on the road..

Our last stop was at the Café Glocksee, Hannover.. this was an ace night..! Saving the best until last is always welcome and this came in the form of the hospitality and rider that was ace and the venue was packed! Opening a fridge back stage to a glistening bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin and fresh lime is a sight to behold to the men of Red Drapes.

We had an amazing response at this gig.. so much so we played two encores..! We seriously enjoyed this gig and it was a fantastic send off on our last date of the tour and we subsequently danced the night away till our legs became trombones.. thank you Hannover!

The Mighty Boosh - Trombone legs..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEWwFsbMREw

We also had an interview with Peter from Radio Okerwelle that night..

click here for link to Radio Okerwelle..

..thanks to Ralph for putting us up in his amazing old school Oriental style flat that night in Hannover. It would be a travesty if we found out that that man was not a former roady with his charcoal vintage Levi jeans, long grey locks, 80’s print t-shirts draped over antique furniture and of course, an aspidistra proudly displayed in the loft window.. a bloody nice bloke..

9am.. back in the van.. Autogrill balloon, Burgerking crown and kingsize Twix in hand, we wearily made our way back to the Eurotunnel.. and to our amazement, it was straight through passport control and no 5 hour delay like last time..! Joy oh joy..

So we’re back in London’s humdrum, drizzly grey backdrop with only pictures and a handful of fond memories.. plus several bottles of beer, numerous snacks which we have no idea what they are and some suspect ‘jazz mags’ picked up in autobahn gas stations..

The first thing we did when we got back was have a good old English fry-up and a cup of tea..! both of which were dearly missed on the road..

We’re getting back too the grind straight away so stay tuned for new tracks, releases and more live dates soon to be announced..

Germany & Austria.. “we’ll be back..” (said in an Arnie style accent..) sorry to be cliché but you cant beat the classics..

Thanks again to Colin, Vivien, Jörg & Peter at Humming Records & Carsten at Hazelwood Touring..

P.s. Link to a video of us playing Levee club in Berlin coming soon, once our vintage Macs painfully handle new technology..

click here for more Red Drapes tour photographs.. 

Thomas & Red Drapes

EUROPEAN TOUR DIARY PART 2

Ladies and Gentlemen..

Been a few days since the last blog, it’s difficult to pick up the net for long enough on the road sometimes..

Our next gig since we left you, and the naked man last after Club Zwölfzehn, Stuttgart was at the Weekender Club, Innsbruck.

We had a day off before the gig in Innsbruck so we took a leisurely loaf around the old town and took in the beautiful scenery including the famous ski jump, which we sadly didn’t have time to have a go on ourselves..

Being abroad we decided to do the typical English thing and go for a curry that night.. (sorry Innsbruck) the curry was actually pretty good.. Later that evening we caught up on much needed sleep after an instalment of Jurassic Park and several bottles of ‘Easy Rider’ beer, because as it quotes on the bottle ‘life is tough enough’..

The night of the gig was great! The venue was full of students who came to watch us and dance the night away to Philip’s expert djing skills (of course we joined them til the early hours..) After the superb gig, we were invited to play an encore and finished the night off with ‘Subside’ to a great reception, then to join the party on the dance floor. Thanks to Erwin, Andy, Mike and the rest of the crew at the Weekender Club.

..Oh yeah, after flicking through the local magazine ‘Innsbruck Informiert’, backstage, we stumbled across a half page photograph and write up of ourselves.. but sadly we have not yet learnt to read German.. so hope it was good guys..!

After a seriously late night in Innsbruck, the next morn was a seriously early start to make it to our live session and interview with Austria’s FM4 radio. Post long drive, several coffees and a spot of medicinal hangover vomit we arrived fresh as a daisy to FM4’s head quarters. The live session went really well and we had a good chat and interview.. We recorded ‘Reflection’, ‘Subside’ and ‘First Hand’ acoustically.. Link to the interview coming soon.. stay tuned..! Big thanks to Susie, Eva, Florian and Willi who made our visit rather enjoyable indeed..

No sooner had we taken our headphones off in the live booth and finished our mediocre canteen baghettes (not complaining as they were gratis..!), we were back in the bus and on the road to Vienna’s Rhiz club.

Sat Nav’s are a fantastic invention and a sound investment, but sometimes they fail and you have to walk the streets.. alone.. searching for the venue and finally giving up flying solo, you take a deep breath and unsubtly slip into a rather suspect Viennese sex shop.. and leaving your dignity at the door.. you ask for directions to the venue.. Obviously, like in Britain’s comedy series ‘Bottom’, I was in said erotic emporium purely in interest of science…

For those unfamiliar with UK’s TV series 'Bottom'..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdNZJfOsG_4

Upon our arrival to Vienna’s, Rhiz club after several more embarrassing attempts at directions, we set up for sound check.. If you haven’t been, the Rhiz club is a little reminiscent of the Cavern Club in Liverpool, UK.. minus the Beatles of course.. The gig went real well, was real intimate and was good to see old friend and now local Vienna boy Rob.. The gig was actually filmed by one of the attendees..

Check out some of the live videos of the gig on you tube thanks to ‘frautralala’.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18F_BqgIcK4

Apart from the dodgy characters hanging around the toilets, we enjoyed our time at the Rhiz club and shared some of our thoughts on with Kat, from Frock’n’Roll..

Have a listen to the interview on SoundCloud..
http://soundcloud.com/frockandrollmag/red-drapes-interview
(note: recorded outside.. in the cold..)

That night we stayed in the biggest apartment I think we have ever seen.,. set in what seemed like Vienna’s ‘Vegas’ quarter, complete with a theme park.. which again, we had no time to have a go on.. Thanks to Stefy for letting us stay.. your flat has the largest shower that actually looks like a Roman Bath..

Falling asleep whilst driving and preparing yet another sandwich of rye brot and all the cheeses we were head banging in the tour bus to Bowie’s Sound and Vision on our way to Nürnberg’s, MUZclub.. We liked this venue lots.. backstage it’s like Grandma’s front room and the food is like her’s too..! Fantastic.. Thanks to everyone who came to this show, it was brilliant.. We played our full set and still were asked for an encore so Adam played a solo of ‘No Love Here’ (an unfinished song), which went down superbly.. We will be back Nürnberg.. we share the love..

Our next show is in Berlin, at Levee Club Friday 11th February and it’s the official E.p1 launch party.. come down and party with us.. we can’t wait to play ex Bang Bang Club again.. it’s been too long..

…also.. check out our blog in German on Motor.de.. complete with the Alan Partridge link..
http://www.motor.de/motorblog//red_drapes

Thomas & Red Drapes x

Click here for more Red Drapes European Tour Photographs... 

P.s.. here is a picture of the naked Stuttgart man for your enjoyment..

EUROPEAN TOUR DIARY PART 1

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our tour diary starts here.. we left old blighty one miserable Thursday morn en route to Salzburg.. our rest stop on the way was in Nürnberg where we had a good kip, a good beer and smashed the coffee percolator prior to a swift exit (sorry)… the next day we crossed over to Austria and arrived at the Rockhouse, Salzburg.. Great venue, great people, great gig, great party and our own apartment.. complete with home cooked food..

We played a slightly shorter set that night as we were part of a big 6 band line up. After we spent the night by the limited edition merch table listening to good Danish bands.. slept deeply and intoxicated that night.. A big thanks to Stefan, Hp, the crew, Willi and everyone that watched us play at the Rockhouse.. we’ll be back soon…

9am, freezing, a satsuma, holey cartoon cheese, fun size mars bars and our tour bus won’t start..! 2 hours later the friendly breakdown man comes and gets us back on the road (thanks pal).. the drive to the next venue in Stuttgart was beautiful.. the Austrian snow capped mountain scenery is pretty breathtaking in the bright sunshine and even better with an underlying Twin Peaks soundtrack on the van’s system..

Arriving two hours late to Club Zwolfzehn, Stuttgart, we unloaded and sound checked, accompanied with the largest pizza in Germany.. which didn’t last too long.. The gig that night was.. bizarre to say the least…

Dear over sexed half naked man that danced your vile, lurid erotic-esque dance (that was so very wrong indeed) you did provide an extra visual entertainment, true.. but only trough your shear idiocy.. of which will be posted on youtube.. Stay tuned, it’s Swan Lake meets Alan Partridge ‘would you like me to lap dance for you..?’ a beautiful moment.. Colin, you should have lamped the guy, he was asking for it..

We slept that night at the Hotel Rotenweld, which will hereby be referred to as ‘Rottonworld’, and despite it’s suspect name, we had a rather pleasant stay and watched an episode of Bottom on the laptop before slumber.. the morning saw a quick shower with Tricky Ricky..!? (the odd brand name of complimentary toiletries supplied as standard at Hotel Rottonworld) and one boiled egg..

Next stop Innsbruck.. stay tuned.. 

Thomas & Red Drapes x

P.s. What is it with having to pay to have a piss on the Autobahn over here..? the toilet guys get real emotional when you jump the barriers, apparently claiming you don’t speak German doesn’t cut it.. it then turns physical… bah.. keep your spotless and impeccably fresh smelling loos.. we’ll take to the trees and save our 50 cence…

  

Click here for more Red Drapes European Tour Photographs...

HEADLINE EUROPEAN TOUR & RELEASE PARTY

We are delighted to announce our headline tour commencing the 4th Feb.

We are bringing some merchandise especially made for the tour. 

All limited items. Make sure you get our hands on that.

See all the dates below...

Click to see who's coming on:

'FACEBOOK'

Click on the poster to enlarge.

Ep.1 European Release & Party '11.02.2011'

We are having a release show party on the night of 11.02.2011 at Levee (ex Bang Bang Club).

The same day we will be releasing our Ep.1 on Humming Records, distributed by Rough Trade. There will be 200 strictly limited edition copies and handmade by us for sale on the night, so come and get one before they sell out.

We very much look forward to playing, meeting people, so come out and party with us.

Red Drapes

x

Red Drapes Live // LIDO Berlin 'Nov 2010' Karrera Klub from Red Drapes on Vimeo.

This was taken from our set at Lido for 'Karrera Klub' in Berlin.

New song, which remains untitled.

Share it around, can't wait to come back.

Enjoy

Adam

GERMAN TOUR DIARY NOVEMBER 2010

Ladies & gentlemen,
 
We have recently arrived back in old blighty after our first German tour supporting Humming Records label mates Flashguns. We had an amazing time and here's a little about our magical German mystery tour..

We set off from home in our shiny new hired bus and on to Dover to ride the under sea train to Calais.. 

First stop was Hazelwood Studios, Frankfurt. A beautiful warehouse building housing our makeshift beds in the office for the night.. amazing place as it was, but distinctly lacking in food stuffs so it was a quick dash back in the van to get to the Übermäßig Markt to pick up some smelly cheese and crusty bread before it closed.. not forgetting the fantastically cheap good German beer!.. then back to the studio, cheese and crisp sandwiches, beer, cards and indoor bicycle riding.

On the morn, after little sleep we set off to the first date in at Klub Drushba, Halle. Nice little venue reminiscent of our old haunt in Southampton 'Lennons'.. the place was rammed, our set went well and we had a great time.. we watched Flashguns from the Dj booth through the thick haze of cigarette smoke then one of us had to stop drinking to get our van back to where we were kipping for the night.. That night and the next morning was a bit of a blur of pet frogs, chat roulette piano man and bratwurst.

The countryside on the way to Lido, Berlin is beautiful.. the wind turbines silently dance on the hills as the sun goes down and our heads are full of anticipation for the biggest gig of the tour.. We pull in to the outskirts of Berlin excited, and some of us wearing burger king crowns.. 

Lido is a beautiful venue, an old cinema if you've never been, big stage and red drapes either side of the stage.. We had a fantastic time playing for Kerrera Klub's Interpol aftershow party that night, great crowd for both bands and it was great to exercise our sound at a bigger venue.. the night was a blast. After the gig, we jumped on the U-Bahn to the Interpol after party at Cookies as they were playing Tempodrom.. the party was crazy, it went on past 6am and was like the underground vampire disco scene in Blade.. but without Wesley Snipes.

Our day off the following morning in Berlin saw a leisurely stroll around the flea market at Mauerpark while our feet slowly turned numb and our hands developed frost bite.. That evening falafel, beer, table football and cigarettes.. still can't quite get used to people smoking indoors. Several large continental lagers and a little shopper bike later, it's 5am and we are outside Mega Grill.

The harsh light of day brought us back in the van to the Prinzenbar, Hamburg.. A quick stop off at Jörg's farm to pick up some diesel, meet the cows and drink the best damn coffee in Germany..! then we are weaving down country lanes and through quaint villages towards our final date of the tour. Prinzenbar is a pretty and romantic venue with different levels, red drapes and decorated with stone cherubs, chandeliers and grape vines.. some would say reminiscent of the Aztec zone of Crystal Maze..

Hamburg was a great night, our gig was really enjoyable and the night out drinking after was ace.. The road in the red light district where women aren't allowed was worth seeing and the bar after played some good tunes but the bloody mary shots weren't such a good idea.. back to the artist's flat above Prinzenbar for a private party of endless songs and banging of feet (sorry neighbour below)..

After a hilarious sleepless night and with awful hangovers, we begin our long drive back to the Eurotunnel frequenting roadside service delights along the way.. Fuck the Autobahn at night in the rain! It. Is. Crazy. 

We knew our journey back would be somewhat lengthy, we did not however, anticipate a 5 hour long stay at the Eurotunnel terminal departure lounge in Calais, awaiting the release of our detained bass player in passport control.. sinking countless cheap, foul vending machine coffees in an effort to stay awake for the drive on home turf and deliriously transfixed by the crazy bubblegum machine in the children's area, we are eventually called up to the tunnel.. back as a four piece, we enter the undersea train once again.

6am, Asda carpark, Folkstone, -1 degrees, stolen sandwich, sick and a stray cat.. Home then sleep.

Thank you to Flashguns for having us, Colin, Jörg, Peter & Vivien at Humming Records for making it possible and Carsten at Hazelwood Touring for organising it all.

See you in February 2011 Germany.. x


Humming Records - Berlin

 www.hummingrecords.com

 

Click here for more tour photographs..

 Love.

R.D.

Thomas.