the Basque country to organize the first date but had not been in contact The first gig was a village festival in a big hall. We
drove 10 hours from Berlin and after driving around in the wilderness for a while managed to find the very small village.
Paul and Austin were there but no sign of the bass player, John or the guitarist, Gus. The pressure was on, a big stage, a big
hall and a lot of drunk people wailing to see a bend from Britain.
Austin was rigged up to go through the guitar and bass amplifier. He had a massive sound and drums and vocals went
on as loud as they could. The end result was people enjoying it a lot more than we did. but we had pulled it off. The next day
we had the same situation but also managed to pull it off. Then we had to go to Italy, the only reason we decided not to call it
off was that possibly Zappa would play bass, but we knew he would be busy and might not be able to go. we had to be in
Rome the next day so we stopped off in Milan to see if Zappa would come and after hours of persuasion he was bundled into
the van. He had to learn the songs on the way.
We arrived in the afternoon at a beautiful squat called Forte Prenistine and one hour later Gus popped his head into the
van !! We were all shocked and he said he had just flown down from Berlin and was sorry he hadn’t made it for the first gig.
What a surprise! We had just played two gigs with three in the band and now all of a sudden there was five, the gig ended up
being great and the Rome crowds usual went wild and punked out. Feeling a bit happier we headed off only to realize Gus
wasn’t in the van, so we send Benite the Roadie back to the squat to try to find him. There was no time to hang about
because we had to be in Torino the day after, which was 700 kilometers away. Benito came back and said he couldn’t find
him so we had to go. We set off with Austin doing the map reading. Four hours later we realized he couldn’t read maps
and we were heading in the opposite direction. So after arguing amongst each other for a while we headed back towards Rome
and arrived in Tornio later that evening. Two bands played before us and when our time
came we got half way through the first song when the power blew up in the whole of the squat
After 15 minutes of trying to get it back on we blew it again in half a song. This happened another
5 times and then the organizers said they couldn’t try anymore but would pay us the agreed fee
so everything was alright Then off to Milan where we would be playing in the squat where we
had lived and where Zappa was still living. We had also phoned Osso and Alex to see if they were into playing with us.
They said they would wait and see what happened on the night.
The end result was Austin, OssoUand Alex all playing guitars and Zappa and G&P Disease on bass, drums and vocals. This
meant there were six of us on stage playing, so this tour had gone from 3 to 5 to 4 to 6.
After this chaotic session we were due to be in London for mid-December so Paul headed straight for England to see his
girlfriend and young lad. Gary and Austin went back to Berlin to pack everything down in the KOPI, K137.
TO BE CONTINUED
i lived in bovay st when you guys were there. im not ben death obvs but he is the one i remember best. he was the first person i ever met on e. i helped u guys rip out the radiators and the parque flooring. not sure if that was sold or just burnt. there was a remnant of the somerset stonhenge traveller family who had been brutalised by the gloucestershire police. this must have been around 87. met ben in 88 in the central cafe amsterdam, still in his top hat. i have to say most of the people at bovay street were selfish up themselfs arsholes. ben on the other hand was a sweet guy. btw if you want pix see if the daily mirror achcives have any. i let them in wghen i was on the door one night for £20 each :d peace and love and all that xx
Nice on Ben
I am going to put up a message board /forum so that folks can share their memories of Gary DS and the Wreck N Roll Cirkus. Hopefully we will have some re-releases coming out in the very bear future.
I would love to share my memories of Gary, and KATH (who gets little mention here but, without whom none of the things the band did would have succeeded, may both of them rest in peace. I also find it strange reading this history, that there is no mention of me stealing a motorbike which became the mad cow and that part the hand confiscated it for me for the benefit of the band, and we used to use it on stage, after I stole it during the I also find it strange reading this history, that there is no mention of me as ‘wranglin’ sam’ stealing a motorbike, which became the mad cow Bike we used to use on stage that blew flames out of the exhaust pipes. bike we used to use on stage that blue flames out of the exhaust pipes. and that pat the hand, confiscated it for me for the benefit of the band, and we used to use it on stage, after I stole it during the german porta westfalica festival. in fact there is no mention of me, at all despite the fact that I was with the band the whole time in Germany. It was them who dragged me from Amsterdam and I won’t say what I here. also, there is little mention of Ron bastard also known as Ron tree, who was the most reliable bassist during those years. Nor the fact that I did six months in prison in Germany attempting to raise funds to make an album in the studio in Berlin and the first song of the extended play single they made began with the my name as the first words of the song “Wranglin wranglin wranglin sam” which is Gary’s way of saying “thank you Sam, for doing the time after doing the crime, and keeping yer bloody mouth shut in the name of the album”
I spent most of my time looking after Gary And Paul’s dogs and Paul’s dogs, Nost and Piggy, did fire breathing on stage during concerts, and always had to stand then every time the bloody guitarist disappeared again. We went through guitarists like Italians go through spaghetti Bolognese and pizza. I am wrangling Sam. And this history is incomplete without me
Mark please get in touch with me about some 2000 DS news. It’s good news!
Just found out about the death of Gary and friend? and members of his family. after checking out 2000ds stuff on utube. tragic and shocking, and upsetting, condolences to family an all those close.
Kev-sax player from Phoneys
My 2000DS story-
It was 1991/92/93? I had just seen them at my house at C-Squat in NYC, & I had made my way to SAN Francisco. I got to see 2000DS play again at the Epicenter in The Mission. I was a dirty fucker back then, & was outside the venue smoking a joint w/ a good friend & a stranger. The cops stopped us & actually arrested us!! In SF!! We were taken to a substation. Handcuffed to the booking bench, they asked us if we had any drugs, needles or weapons. We all said no (my friend ate a sheet (100 hits) of LSD he had in his wallet (for sale) in the cop car en route as not to get busted with it). I thought about their question for a sec. Then I chimed in ” but we have lice and scabies”. The booking cop looked at me in awe. He left & went into the booking office. He came out a minute later wearing gloves. He grabbed our backpacks & threw em out the door. Unhandcuffed us & told us to get the fuck out & kicked me hard in the ass as I walked out the door. I got KICKED out of jail for being a dirty squatter. I was back at the venue just as 2000 DS started to play.
Post script- My pal who ate all the LSD called me a week later in Alabama. He knew no one there. He somehow ended up there after a very long 100 hit trip.
2000 DS Forever!!
Sean, I remember the c=squat show like it happened yesterday. this was my first show in NYC I was 15 or 16 at the time. I arrived in the city a couple of weeks before the show. Jake and Little Bob had rescued me from the shit bag junkies I traveled to NYC with and got me a space at glasshouse. two days later a group of people from c-squat came to glasshouse to recruit helpers to hoist a huge fucking I-beam up to repair the roof ahead of the show. I had come from Minneapolis and was accustomed to squatting as a temporary living space that was usually quickly shut down. I was in complete awe of how organized the NYC squat life was. Several dozen people showed up to help and we quickly got the beam hoisted up and the roof was ready to go. what a great time to exist!!! love you brother. p.s who was the guy that took the 100 hits?
We used to go to the Fire Station squat parties I really enjoyed them
I kept loads of flyers from the different venues around London
I still have them after all these years in a box
Love the new york story that was one of the best gigs we ever done in abc no rio.the c squat gig was awesome as well.nice one for telling your jackanory.
I would love to see these flyers!
Like the site
True that I didn’t play the main stage at Treworgey. I didn’t leave as such I was hiding in my tent tripping mi nuts off…
I played with DS many times after that on and off including the WNC mentioned and played the love parade Berlin and several gigs in Belgium and Holland…
I also toured Ireland with the band and was set to play the “Millennium Drone” in 1999 but sadly it fell through….
I knew some of 2000ds when I lived in finsbury sq London 1991. I was hoping someone knows where Nigel is now? He was a mechanic that wouldn’t drive cars but loved motorbikes. He and his gf did an act with angle grinders.
Nigel died in a house fire..before Gary! X
Nigel Fish died a long time back.
I have the flyer from the show they played in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They played at a punk house called “The Thayer Anarchist Collective.”
Fun times.
I would love to share my memories of Gary, and KATH (who gets little mention here but, without whom none of the things the band did would have succeeded, may both of them rest in peace. I also find it strange reading this history, that there is no mention of me stealing a motorbike which became the mad cow and that part the hand confiscated it for me for the benefit of the band, and we used to use it on stage, after I stole it during the I also find it strange reading this history, that there is no mention of me as ‘wranglin’ sam’ stealing a motorbike, which became the mad cow Bike we used to use on stage that blew flames out of the exhaust pipes. bike we used to use on stage that blue flames out of the exhaust pipes. and that pat the hand, confiscated it for me for the benefit of the band, and we used to use it on stage, after I stole it during the german porta westfalica festival. in fact there is no mention of me, at all despite the fact that I was with the band the whole time in Germany. It was them who dragged me from Amsterdam and I won’t say what I here. also, there is little mention of Ron bastard also known as Ron tree, who was the most reliable bassist during those years. Nor the fact that I did six months in prison in Germany attempting to raise funds to make an album in the studio in Berlin and the first song of the extended play single they made began with the my name as the first words of the song “Wranglin wranglin wranglin sam” which is Gary’s way of saying “thank you Sam, for doing the time after doing the crime, and keeping yer bloody mouth shut in the name of the album”
I spent most of my time looking after Gary And Paul’s dogs, Nost and Piggy, did fire breathing on stage during concerts, and always had to stand in on guitar ( i play shite), every time the bloody guitarist disappeared again. We went through guitarists like Italians go through spaghetti Bolognese and pizza. I am wrangling Sam. And this history is incomplete without me
ask Paul if he remembers Wranglin Sam, Finbar Saunders, and the word Poohoo?
I am