Golden Ball

Now that the World Cup is over, Germany having beaten Argentina 1-0, this is as good a time as any to write a bit about how the tournament was a constant presence on the tour.

I'm probably the biggest futbol fan of the group, with Geoff a close second. For me the World Cup is a big deal. Has been since before ESPN was providing comprehensive coverage, when outdoor viewing screens in major US cities wasn't a thing. I knew going in that I'd probably watch less of the tournament than if I were at home.


To watch any matches would require some planning and some random luck, given we were often either soundchecking or playing during matches that mostly started at 6p, 9p and midnight Central Euro time. We ended up watching games in a variety of settings in 5 countries...from small hot dog restaurants to large outdoor beer gardens to our rooms in Bruhl.

Our time in the van commenced with the first match of the tournament. We landed on June 12, the day of the opening match between Brazil and Croatia. Our plan all along was to get from Frankfurt to Leipzig in time to watch, and we succeeded, even with the slight detour to see a castle.

We were in Berlin when Germany played their first match against Portugal. Whenever Germany scored loud cheers came from all over the city. I bounced from a small bistro near the apartment where I stayed to meeting the rest of the band in an outdoor space in Friedrishain that not only had a big screen for watching tv, but a rock-climbing wall in the same space. Good combo that...beer and rock climbing.

The US v Ghana match didn't kick-off until midnight, and as I mentioned, I watched it sitting outside a corner store where the owner had put a tv in the window.

A memorable night came in Regensburg. After a fantastic show at Mono Bar, the staff lowered a big screen, fired up a projector and showed the US v Portugal match. Another match not starting until midnight Central Europe Time, it made for a late but incredibly fun night. Portugal's last second goal to tie wasn't all that much of a downer, all things considered. We had a blast watching the match in what seemed like a clubhouse with an open bar and fun people.


Even when there was no tv, as at Chmury in Warsaw, we made do to watch US v Germany with my laptop and the on-line stream from Polish tv.

The Germans were definitely most into the tournament. Fußball is by far the most popular sport in Germany and it showed...every bar, restaurant, corner store and coffee shop had a tv tuned to whatever match was showing. When Germany played, outdoor spaces all over the country drew hundreds of thousands of people.

In fact, one of the reasons we ended up in Strasbourg France for the June 21 show was because no German club wanted to book us. Why? Germany played Ghana that night. We were told nobody would come out, and most bars would be showing the game anyway, and didn't want to risk people not coming in if they saw the match wasn't on but we were.

And what about Strasbourg France? I had trouble finding a spot to watch Argentina v Iran. Might have been the neighborhood surrounding the place we played, but even the one sports bar type place I found had horse racing on, no soccer.

The Danes were fairly lukewarm to the World Cup. Our team (yes, our...remember, I was born there...I root for Denmark first, US next) didn't make the final 32, having been bounced in qualifying. Also I was told the national tv networks made it a bit expensive for bars and restaurants to show matches. So we had to work a bit to find places to watch Germany v Algeria and the US v Belgium.

The night of the US-Belgium match was also the last night the four of us would be together for the rest of the summer. Prior to the match we had a wrap-up meeting, then were joined by my sister and a bunch of friends. Gathering for a World Cup match was a fitting end for a tour where the biggest tournament in football loomed in the shadows during the biggest thing any of us had done in our music lives.