Hey everyone, hope all is well!!! Crossingpoint have just got back from their tour with Dutch Hardcore heroes MOSSFET - and what a awesome time!! Thank you very much to everyone who came out to the shows...we really appreciate it!! Right now we are all nursing our sick bodies from a "hectic" attack of Flu...

WELCOME TO “WIDE AWAKE HOLLOW”

Our first gig with the Mossfet guys was in Pietermaritzburg (July 10th) with local band GLOW. This was held at a club called Travellers that used to be called Zappa's and it's been a local pub/band place for ages. Brandon our Guitarist made some cool contacts regards to hooking up some awesome sound equipment which was totally awesome. The guys that did the sound were really cool guys and very professional...Considering the show was on a Thursday night the club was pretty packed and we had a great time. It was the first time I was going to see Mossfet so I was really excited!! The crowd loved them! They play a good mix between Hatebreed/Slayer/street Punk and when they came to do their encore "you can't be me" I found even myself on the floor going crazy...On a sad note, a guy called (we think) Rowan had his nose cut and lost a bit of blood so we said we'd give him some special mention. Hope you are okay mate!!

The next gig was at Burn in Durban.(July 11th) We asked the guys from Pietermaritzburg to do the sound for us in Durban and they bought their extra sound to the show which made so much difference. This show was also good fun except for Brandon's guitar strap breaking halfway through our set. The rest of the band had to entertain the crowd for a while as Brandon was fixing his Guitar..I did some freestyle vocals over some beats with Clive...ha, ha

Going on tour with the Holland guys really was an awesome experience as we got to learn about their culture and the way they live. Upon speaking to the singer (who is a really big but gentle giant) I was really shocked/jealous/stoked when he siaid his occupation in Holland was a Postman and he only worked 24 hours a week!! The salary he earned there was a equivalent of R10 000!!!! The singer is 35 years old and you can see that these guys love what they do in the music they play...

SURFERS, SHELLS AND BEAUTIFUL BEACHES

Our next show was in JBay!! (July 17th) We left Durban in our rented Condor (which was a mission to hire and to return) at about 9pm from Hillcrest all packed and ready to roll. Funny enough that morning I had to work and I saw Mossfet in their rented Condor heading off to JBay in the Morning-They all waved and laughed knowing that I had to work one more day before the tour. Anyway, we drove through the night and had to listen to tapes as the Condor didn't have a C.D player. Brandon and I bought our old stuff and listened to "The Damned", HDQ, Sepultura, Faith No More, Snapcase (Progression) and Earth Crisis's Gommorrah season ends....of course we had to listen to the radio as well when Clive drove as we learn'ed that he is a big fan of RnB..ha, ha...

We stopped off at P.E at about 12'oclock thursday to meet Victor -Ross's (our bass guitarist) good friend and passionate supporter of CROSSINGPOINT. We had a bit of a skate around the beach there while waiting for him to arrive.

Our show in Jbay was the wierdest gig ever!! Hayley our friend from P.E organized this show for us and we've heard that she is a good organizer through other bands like BGF and Fuzigish so we hoped everything was going to go well. Well, all the sound was organized, the venue was cool and we were stoked! However, we had to work the door and this was a mission. The locals down there weren't too happy paying 15 bucks for a show. They were quite rude to me especially one girl who was all "dolled" up for 54 or something. She just laughed at me when I said there was a cover charge and walked off with her boyfriend to the pub down the road. I guess some of the locals don't see many bands (or that was the impression we got) and normally just drink on weekends and don't expect to pay at their local joint. Besides that, we met some cool people -some Austrailian surfers who seemed to love us and a American who claims to be talent scout. He actually siaid he wants us to do a tour of the west coast! Anyway, we got his number so we'll see about that?

We played with local band 1000 HOURS. These guys were pretty cool for their age. They played a nice mix of emo/indie/new wave rock done quite well. Their bassist was impressive as well as their really young drummer and friendly singer. Look out for them! Crossingpoint played next and we were really nervous. I was that's for sure! Most of the people didn't really pay attention to the first band which was a bummer.. and we were scared people were going to throw their beers at us 'cause we were too heavy. But I thought "No ways man, these are the people we need to reach -lets go out with all guns Blazin". We did, and it was a awesome show. I got so excited I jumped on one of the speakers and stood up on it and WHAM! I hit my head on one of the fans!! it was fine and I don't think anyone noticed. By this time we had dozens of kids going off and our good friend Victor dancing with the locals. Next up was MOSSFET. These guys were well received. The crowd loved them and people were going crazy. There was even some crazy American with a broken arm going banana's somewhere in there!!!

After the show we were relieved to be back at our backpackers home for the evening just down the road. We needed the rest after the long drive and we wanted to get up early for the drive down to Cape Town. The next day we were up at 6am ready to roll -talk about dedication! With groggy eyes and sore throats (the result of Flu and singing) we started the trek to the Mutha City! Man, I love that city! I was so excited to see this place. it just seems to have a whole lot going on down there! The Friday consisted of just driving down there and getting to Matt’s friends house where we would be staying for the Cape Town Leg. We got there at about 6pm and man, chills ran down my spine as I saw all the cool skate spots I could see from the window, the beautiful architecture and the interesting faces that occupied this wonderful town. We got to meet our host Warren who was kind enough to let us stay at his place. What a rad guy, he let us do whatever we wanted and was super cool -and what a cool flat! You could over look the wonder city from his balcony and I could smell the vibrancy of the place from his flat. The evening was chilled. We watched the video on the camcorder that Brandon and Janneke filmed so far of the tour: Clive getting his fine (darn), us walking through Grahamstown, some skate sessions at petrol stops and P.E beachfront. We all went to bed a little later knowing we had to be 100% for the next 2 shows the following day.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

July 19th. The big day!!! This was the final 2 shows of the tour and we were looking forward to these ones with TOYLAND and TONIGHT WE DIE. We were going to play one day gig and one nite gig. We arrived at 11am for sound check and to meet fellow bands. Toyland’s bassist is hilarous! These guys have a wicked sense of humour. The new Mercury is a really jacked up place and the sound is excellent there!

The first band was up at 2pm and when we arrived after getting some lunch in the city. We were a bit disappointed with the turn out. We were expecting a big crowd as the guys from NESHAMAH keep telling us how big the scene is down there. Maybe it was not advertised well enough who knows?
Next up was Tonight we Die. What can I say but AWESOME! This basically is the same line up as Aftertaste minus Chad (their old singer) and hence new singer (forgot name) this = new style which amounts to: 100% passion. Yes, they are moving into a nice music direction instead of a generic hardcore band. They play a mix between at the drive/thursday/aftertaste/within reach type of style. Amazing! Next up was us Crossingpoint. Although a bit bummed with the turnout we were still super amped -expecially playing at such a rad venue with class “A” bands. The show was cool with the small crowd that gathered. I don't know what happened different in this show but near the end of our set I decided to run off the stage onto this small little table thing that protruded off the side of the stage. I remember singing the last line of the first verse of WORDS OF THE UNSPOKEN (a anti sexist song) looking to the crowd and Matt (our photographer who gave me a look on the lines of "dude what are doing over there?") I then proceeded to run back on stage as Brandon did his usual "swingin" guitar thing only this time into my head!!!
I thought nothing of this -we normally bump into each other only this time I couldn't see as blood from my skull was dripping down my face!! We stopped the song and in utter shock we discovered somehow I had cut my head open with Brandon's guitar!! This was not cool and I was bummed that this had happened as we've traveled all this way and we might not be able to play the final gig. I must say the medical attention I got from the Mercury was very impressive and I didn't have time to thank the girl who took such good care of my head. I had to then get taken to a local doctor to get four stitches...not bad. It was a bummer I missed Mossfet's set but Ross said it was pretty cool and the kids seemed to have loved it.

We decided all to go back to Warrens flat so I could chill to see if I could play the evening show. I felt okay and just needed to get some sleep and something to eat.

The Mercury/ 9pm / July 19th. I was feeling 95% and ready to roll and super amped. People were pulling in from all directions and there was a good crowd at the "lounge".
Tonight's gig was the same line-up of bands so I was ready to now dance to Tonight We Die as I was used to their songs. It was good. It is really cool to see so many bands getting so tight AND professional. The evenings show was also well received and very enjoyable.

After the gig we had to say our goodbyes and thank-you's to Mossfet as this was the last time we would see from them. What legend okes. These guys were super cool and if you missed out then you missed out big time...no worries though. It was really cool to see some of the local people again that we had met from the last time round and I would like to give a sincere "thank you" to everyone who helped out with the gigs, advertising and all the people that came to the show..we appreciate it. Oh, and thanks once again to the Mercury staff for looking after my head.

THE LONG TREK HOME

We got back to the flat at about 3 and totally exhuasted but stoked. These passed couple days went so fast and like a blur. I like it!! Live Life to the full!
We were all discussing whether it was worth going to sleep now or just packing up and start driving back home as Clive (our drummer had to be back at work on Monday).
We opted for the sleep but got up and left by 7am. Phew! This was hard, but we knew we had to do it as the drive was a 24 hour one!! As I sit here now at home finishing up this tour diary thing and thinking back to what we have experienced I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. It's been hard work and at time's extremely frustrating and super tiring but it's been worth it. The most important thing is that we hope we have inspired and made people think about some of the subjects we sing about.

A big thank you goes out to everyone one again, whoever was involved -they know who they are, the supporters friends, bands, petrol assistants...etc, etc thank you very much we hope to see you again some time soon!!! Keep well and stand strong. A extra thank you goes out to Brandon for doing so much for the tour and his girlfriend Janneke for documenting our shows on film. Not to forget Matt as well for taking photo's as well and getting us all sick!!!

Wesley van Eeden.

p.s: Expect to see photo's soon from the tour right here..we are just waiting for Matt to send them up from Grahamstown...we'll let you know!!