Johannes Schult

First of all let me say that I arrived safely here in Constance. I spend the last ten days furnishing my new room, playing a gig with From Thy Ashes in Sulzheim (in the middle of nowhere) and meeting my fellow students on a three day excursion to the Black Forest.

The From Thy Ashes-concert was really funny, although the audience was somewhere in between lethargic and apparently dead. We played lots of new songs from the upcoming Amberland-album and they worked pretty good, even though we left out a complete chorus during “A Million Eyes” due to Daniel’s failing memory. For those who care, here are the songs we played:

1. Placebo
2. Harbinger
3. Amberland
4. Back in the Womb
5. Locust Swarm
6. Synchronicle
7. Second Sight
8. The Cocoon People
9. Dancing Green Lizards
10. The Mask You Wear
11. A Million Eyes
12. Eye-Con

The three days with about 80 aspiring psychologists was fun, too. It was neither boring nor chaotic. There were even some people who liked Roxette and one guy who had heard of From Thy Ashes before. And there was Nils who is the first person I know who upset sheep. You see, some folks were pretty crazy, but hey, we’re studying psychology!

Last night I saw Roxette live in Stuttgart. It was a great concert. On Sunday I played my first solo-gig! It was swell. Some people insisted on Monoton’s “Intelligenzkapazität”. I had intended to play only English songs. Fortunately I remembered the lyrics even though I hadn’t rehearsed the song.

Yesterday I saw Josie and the Pussycats – it rocks! It’s really funny, really nice and good-hearted. It made me realize how much violence there is in movies these days, because there are only few fighting scenes in it, and nobody gets killed. Just wanted to tell you.

Today I returned from my trip to New York. I went there to see the play “The Seagull” at the Delacorte Theater starring Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken (great), Philip Seymour Hoffman (fantastic!), John Goodman, Marcia Gay Harden and Natalie Portman. Okay?

It’s done! The demos of From Thy Ashes’ “Amberland”-album are finally recorded and mixed.

After more than half a year an Ethikwochenende took place, right at my home. I did enjoy it and I think, the participants had a great time as well. We spoke about cloning (how trendy!), societies (discussing democracy and other social orders) and security, which actually lead to a discussion about relationships with girl-/boy-friends (we managed to establish an obscure connection between these two topics). Anyway, I’m really exhausted at the moment, especially because right afterwards From Thy Ashes rehearsed.

Happy Birthday to Natalie Portman and her mother!

The Mark Knopfler concert last night was brilliant. The band played a fantastic set and the sound was one of the best I’ve ever heard.

As most of you know I spent five days in Stockholm. I had a great time there not only because I attended a concert of Reminder.

A note for my former class mates: Es ist vermutlich ganz gut, daß das Abikalypse-Forum dicht gemacht hat. Nachdem ich in Stockholm war, bezweifle ich, daß wir es am härtesten brauchen. Oder hat von Euch schon mal jemand Anlauf genommen um noch in den vollkommen überfüllten Bus reinzukommen?! Die spinnen, die Schweden.

The From Thy Ashes concert in Bamberg was fun, although not too many people showed up due to the DFB cup final. Best thing: I had a drum riser. Coolest thing: Uwe driving home wearing his sunglasses (at 4 am). Weirdest thing: Daniel taking off (all!) his trousers during “Dancing Green Lizards”. Worst thing: what we ate there (I don’t dare to call it food). But we’re alive and things look like we’ll be playing at the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg once again on Sunday, 10th June.

Tomorrow I’m going to play with From Thy Ashes somewhere in Bamberg. Details will follow as soon as possible, although I’m afraid none of you lazy people out there will come. Our gig in Ludwigsburg last night was great despite its shortness. We had started out set with 10 minutes delay because the other bands couldn’t finish their sound check in time (blame them, it’s all their fault!), and after 4 songs (“Placebo”, “Harbinger”, “Amberland”, “Back In The Womb”) the organizer pulled the plug and we could do nothing but leave the stage to the next band. Still, we got an enthusiastic response from the audience.