UK Tour 1978
Lustfaust leave Berlin for their fist excursion onto foreign soil. Travelling north over land in the Volkswagen van Kruger had acquired for their German tour, the journey is arduous and a near-fatal experience for Berger as he overdoses on the cheap drugs he has been consuming since the journey’s beginning. It is the first of many near-death experiences that Berger will share with the band.
The band arrives on UK soil on the 16 June and immediately begins looking for places to play. Kruger cobbles together five pub-based gigs, each venue miles from the next, and the band practice hard for their ‘big gig’. At the first of the performances, Kazuki is violently thrashed by a skinhead – an attack that leaves him unable to drum. The following gig sees Berger replace the drummer with a stolen brick-filled cement mixer. The band’s set is pulled after their second song. Each of the gigs ends either in the plug being pulled on the band or a scuffle ensuing between the band and crowd.
Seeking a respite from the harsh reception they receive at their gigs, Lustfaust book into a London rehearsal space and begin work on new songs. Kazuki, unable to drum, introduces a synthesizer, whilst Berger oscillates between machinery, drums, and bass. Kruger records most of the jamming which evolves into several songs on Lustfaust’s as-yet-untitled sixth album.
July 2 1978 – the band play the Rock/Folk Contest at the Round House in North London. On seeing the band listed as ‘soloists’, queries from the band are met with silence from van Baelen. A frustrated Kruger, with his superior English, then asks the other bands due to play who reveal the true nature of the competition. Kruger and van Baelen come to blows but are halted by their call to the stage. The band, furiously intent on sabotaging van Baelen’s moment, play a squalling noise as a backdrop to the Belgian’s soft-rock songs with Kruger often shouting profanities over van Baelen. Finally Van Baelen snaps and attacks Kruger whilst Berger – high on a combination of drugs – inadvertently begins to pneumatically hammer the walls of the building. A fire starts and the band flees an angry mob of promoters, their UK adventure over.