Unfortunately, we have been given no other choice but to confirm that the Nürnberg show on May 4th was the last show of the Roadshock Tour, and because so many people were looking forward to the upcoming shows we feel it's only fair to explain why the decision was made to pull the plug. The list of factors leading to the decision is far too long to present here, so we have decided to list the "highlights":
The tour was "organized" by the Belgian company Metallysee. Unfortunately, we bought their sales pitch and provided them with our name and marketing tools. A total of 17 dates across Europe were confirmed and a schedule was outlined, but the closer the tour got and the more concrete our questions became regarding the details the less we heard from Metallysee. We found this rather strange and decided to send along a reliable and experienced Earthshaker representative who would keep an eye on things.
We soon discovered that Metallysee had promised far more than they were prepared to give. Their tour parameters featured massive miscalculations that included, in many cases messed up deals or even unsigend contracts with local promoters, the communication between Metallysee and the promoters and the bands was likewise sporadic. There had clearly been almost no preparation for the tour. Meanwhile, several local promoters contacted us to complain about missing posters and the lack of communication on Metallysee's end in general since no one there could provide them with answers. On top of all this, the person at Metallysee responsible for overseeing the tour quit only a few days before the very first show day, leaving only the other clueless people from the company in the picture. The only person able to communicate with second or third parties, and providing said parties with rather unsatisfying answers, was Metallysee's tour manager.
The drama that would unfold began with the tour start in Antwerpen. Only some of the required and expected gear showed up, the wrong tour busses had been ordered (resulting in daily attempts to fix the problem), a trailer used to transport equipment was defective thus making it impossible to transport gear from A to B, and Metallysee was either too incompetent or totally disinterested in finding a solution to these problems. The Adelsheim show had to be cancelled as a result of Metallysee's inability to address a situation that, with a little effort, could have been solved to allow the show to go ahead as planned.
Then there were rumours that the tour would be cancelled. The buses hadn't been paid for, the bands hadn't been paid or had to wait for their money, etc.
All of this resulted in the entire Earthshaker team trying to sift through the dirt and put things back in order. Following countless discussions with the bands, their respective management, local promoters, and finally Metallysee - who were, as stated, only reachable once in a while - we considered taking over the tour ourselves and, in cooperation with the bands, see it through to the end on a professional level. Sadly, Metallysee's so-called "planning" for the tour - in particular their amateur handling of the contractual proceedings with the local promoters - made this impossible.
Metallysee, however, reassured everyone that things would be sorted out and the tour would go ahead as planned. After the show in Frankfurt the next night, however, Metallysee's tour manager quit and went home. At this point it was obvious that Metallysee had disappeared from the face of the earth as far as the Roadshock Tour was concerned.
To leave 47 people stranded after days of uncertainty while exhibiting an obvious disinterest in solving the problems plaguing the tour is not only highly unprofessional but completely immoral. On Friday morning we received a phone call from one of the owners of Metallysee saying everything would be under control shortly; bands and the busses would be getting paid, a new tour manager would arrive in a few days, until then the drum-tech could take care of all the details...
Unbelievable...
Because we, the Earthshaker team, were the local promoters for Nürnberg we did our best to sort out the immediate issues for the bands when they arrived. Fortunately, our representative Richard had been able to keep things together up to that point. Richard, thank you for your help. Of course, in Nürnberg we found out that Metallysee was due to pay the money that was owed to keep things running that day...which is probably why the tour manager left th enight before. Thanks for that.
At that point, however, we - the Earthshaker team, bands and respective management - had no other choice than to decide to end the tour in Nürnberg.
The bottom line was that it didn't make any sense to continue the tour without a definite gameplan and a tour company (Metallysee) that refused to take any responsibility. The unpaid busses also made continuing the tour impossible. Up to this point we have no idea what kind of arrangements or agreements Metallysee had made for the 47 band and crew members with regards to getting them home, and suddenly there was no one at Metallysee who could provide the information. We had no choice but to take matters into our own hands, and with the help of the bands, management and agents, get everyone home as quickly as possible.
In spite of the great performances by each of bands and the energetic reception of the audiences they played to, the uncertainty bred by Metallysee's psycho terror had taken it's toll on everyone involved, effectively crushing the desire to continue.
We feel particularly sorry for the bands and the fans that had been looking forward to the remaining shows. You all deserved so much better than this. In the end, we cannot only point the finger of blame at others, but also to ourselves for having chosen to work with Metallysee. We've certainly come to know much more professional companies in our years on the scene.
In closing we'd like to thank the fans for your support and your energy. A big thank you to Richard, the light at the end of a very dark tunnel! We'd especially like to thank the bands - FINNTROLL, DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER, AFTER FOREVER, TAROT, MACHINE MEN and ALL ENDS - who were more than cooperative, made the best out of a horrible situation, and gave their best to the fans each night in spite of everything. Watch their official websites for more details on what happened.
We are pleased to announce the first news for the year 2007. In order to get you in the right mood for the 5th anniversary of Earthshaker Fest we will make the earth shake right in front of your door !
And for those that have experienced the Festival, you don't want to miss the EARTHSHAKER ROADSHOCK TOUR which will feature the following killer package:
Finntroll | After Forever | Tarot | Die Apokalyptischen Reiter | Machine Men | All Ends
| 27.04.2007 | BE | Antwerp | Hof Ter Loo |
| 28.04.2007 | GER | Osnabrueck | Halle Gartlage |
| 29.04.2007 | GER | Hamburg | Markthalle |
| 30.04.2007 | GER | Adelsheim | Live Factory |
| 01.05.2007 | GER | Berlin | Postbahnhof |
| 02.05.2007 | GER | Munich | Backstage |
| 03.05.2007 | GER | Frankfurt | Batschkapp |
| 04.05.2007 | GER | Nuernberg | Hirsch |
| 05.05.2007 | A | Vienna | Planet Music |
| 06.05.2007 | I | Roncade | New Age Club |
| 07.05.2007 | SUI | Pratteln | Z7 |
| 08.05.2007 | GER | Essen | Zeche Carl |
| 09.05.2007 | GER | Saarbrücken | Garage |
| 10.05.2007 | UK | London | |
| 11.05.2007 | NL | Heerhugowaard | Waerdse tempel |
| 12.05.2007 | F | Strassbourg | La laiterie |
| 13.05.2007 | F | Paris | La Locomotive |
We are looking forward to welcome you !
Your Earthshaker Team
Finntroll will headline the EARTHSHAKER ROADSHOCK TOUR !
You don´t need to introduce Finntroll as they rocked the house already at EARTHSHAKER FEST 2005.
And they will top this for sure during the tour with material of their new album !
One night in march 1997 two men were sleeping in a rehearsal room in Helsinki. The other woke up and started playing the keyboards and came up with a folkish melody. Soon the other one woke up too. Liking the melody he asked the other guy to play the riff in traditional finnish "humppa" style (humppa is a variety of polka...). This sounded very mean and guitars and brutal vocals were added immediatly. These two drunken fellows were Somnium and Katla. Thus Finntroll was born...
Finntroll spread with the Earthshaker Roadshock Tour trollish metal to the world.
Official Web Site: http://www.finntroll.net/
AFTER FOREVER is a band that consistently exceeds people's expectations. Whether it's their optical presentation, socially conscious lyrics or live performances, the Dutch sextet effectively crush the Gothic Metal cliché that so many critics have tried to pin on them.
A fine example of this is their concept album Invisible Circles which, in spite of its complexity, hit #26 on the Dutch Album Charts and received rave reviews across Europe. After Forever became internationally recognised as one of the best female fronted metal bands.
Their follow-up effort, Remagine, took things one step further and offered up even more surprises. Going against the trend, the band chose to highlight their love for Heavy Metal within their complex song structures, putting even more emphasis on intense melodies, dynamics and melancholic undertones. There was no question that AFTER FOREVER had raised the bar yet again.
The band is currently working on a new studio album, going under the working title Energized, which is due to be released in March 2007. Fans can bet on hearing a new song or two when they hit the road on the ROADSHOCK Tour.
Official Web Site: www.afterforever.com
TAROT's highly anticipated new album, Crows Fly Back, will officially be released in January. Fronted by NIGHTWISH bassist/vocalist Marco Hietala, who made his presence known the world over on the smash hit 'I Wish I Had An Angel', has returned to his original band (if only for a while) to push the new album on the road.
The video clip for the song 'Ashes To The Stars' can be seen here.
Tarot was originally formed in the early 80's. The line-up settled in to the form of Marco Hietala (bass/vocals), Zachary Hietala (guitars), Mako H (guitars) and Pecu Cinnari (drums).
Marco also joined Nightwish in 2002 and along that, some more attention came also towards Tarot. Three years have now passed since the release of the 6th Suffer Our Pleasures album. The fans had been expected the re-releases for years and the collection succeed so well that in May 2006 when Tarot released the new single "You", it made number one on the Finnish charts for the first time in the history of Tarot.
Crows Fly Black is easily TAROT's heaviest and darkest album to date (and they've been around since the '80s!), making their appearance on the EARTHSHAKER
ROADSHOCK TOUR a must-see experience.
Official Web Site: http://www.wingsofdarkness.net/php/index.php
It had a good reason why we booked DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER 2 years in a row for EARTHSHAKER FEST: they are always a guarantee for passionable live performances, songs and best party mood at the metalfans.
DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER were founded in the middle of ’95 by Fuchs (git + vox) and Skelleton (drums & screams). Dr. Pest (keys) and Volk-Man (bs) completed the line-up a few weeks later. From a stand within nearly 10 years the band became on of the most spectacular and unusual Metal outfits the world had even seen. Raging hateful blasts combined with beautiful charming piano-tunes, deep growls faced razor-sharp screams, moments of anger and hate but also flashes of sadness, silence and bitter mirth. Always in between love and hate, life and death. What should be more inspiring than life itself?
Don't miss them at the EARTHSHAKER ROADSHOCK TOUR!
Official Web Site: http://www.reitermania.de/
If you appreciate traditional melodic metal in the vein of Iron Maiden and Queensryche mixed with a modern, up-to-date feel and delivery, then Finland's MACHINE MEN will quickly become one of your absolute faves. These youngsters first appeared on the worldwide scene with a self-titled MCD release in 2002 as well as with their debut album "Scars & Wounds" receiving unanimously positive reactions from fans and media who quickly pointed MACHINE MEN out as one of the most promising worldwide newcomers of their style.
The press noticed that these talented musicians didn't follow their "typical" fellow countrymen's approach to re-create the sounds of bands like Helloween or Stratovarius but instead decided to stick to the foundations of melodic metal and consequently managed to sound distinctive and fresh for today's movement. Following intense song-writing sessions and gigs in Finland which saw the band grow to an outstandingly impressing live-act. MACHINE MEN appeared at Earthshaker already in 2005 and earned enthusiastic fan response. We are glad that we can support the band also in the future and gained them for our EARTHSHAKER ROADSHOCK TOUR as well. Prepare yourself for the melodic metal sensation of the year!
Official Web Site: http://www.machinemen.net/
The Earthshaker Festival's Golden Rule, "Find the Earthshaker and you'll find great bands!", can also be applied to the ROADSHOCK Tour.
Keeping that in mind, we're pleased to announce ALL ENDS as the opening act on the tour. In the year 2003 the two In Flames guitarists / song writers Björn Gelotte and Jesper Strömblad decided to start a project that is somewhat different from what they usually do. They had a clear vision of how this should sound.
Together with Tinna Karlsdotter, Emma Gelotte (vocals), and Joseph Skansås (drums), they recorded a 5 song demo.
In Spring 2005 Michael Håkansson (bass) and Fredrik Johansson (guitar) joined the band. As a result, a new and exciting 'All Ends' was born and ready to enter the stage. In August 2005 'All Ends' newest and final member Peter Mårdklint (guitar), joined the band and now they are ready to take on the world...!
Metal guitars, two outstanding female voices and musical intensity and quality associated with the Swedish metal scene, you can expect these newcomers to make an impression. ALL ENDS will release their debut album just in time for the ROADSHOCK Tour and one thing is certain; you'll be hearing a lot more from this band, so remember where you saw them first !
Official Web Site: http://www.allends.com/
| Time | Band |
| 17.00 Einlass | Einlass / Doors |
| 18:00 - 18:20 | All Ends |
| 18:45 - 19:20 | Machine Men |
| 19:35 - 20:20 | Tarot |
| 20:35 - 21:25 | After Forever |
| 21:45 - 22:40 | Die Apokalyptischen Reiter |
| 23:10 - 00:25 | Finntroll |
Für die anderen Uhrzeiten / Tourdates seht bitte auf der Seite der jeweiligen lokalen Veranstalter nach !
Please visit the local venue homepages for the different running orders !
74740 Adelsheim Live Factory www.r-i-v-concert.de
BE-2140 Borgerhout (Antwerpen) Hof Ter Loo http://www.ccluchtbal.org/
49047 Osnabrück Halle Gartlage http://www.carlos-konzerte.de/
20095 Hamburg Markthalle http://www.markthalle-hamburg.de/
10243 Berlin Postbahnhof http://www.postbahnhof.de/
80639 München Backstage http://www.backstage089.de/
60433 Frankfurt Batschkapp http://www.batschkapp.de/
90441 Nürnberg Hirsch http://www.der-hirsch.de
A-1200 Wien Planet Music http://www.planet.tt/
I-31056 Roncade New Age Club http://www.newageclub.it/
CH-4133 Pratteln Z7 http://www.z-7.ch/
45326 Essen Zeche Carl http://www.zechecarl.de
66111 Saarbrücken Garage http://www.garage-sb.de/
UK-NW1 8QP London Electric Ballroom http://www.electric-ballroom.co.uk/whats_on/index.html
NL-1704 ZZ Heerhugowaard Waerdse tempel http://www.waerdsetempel.nl/
F-67000 Strassbourg La laiterie http://www.laiterie.artefact.org/
F-75018 Paris La Locomotive http://www.laloco.com
