11th Oct Sneak-Thief @ Secret Location in Glasgow (Page 2 of 3)

But its definitely not the first time this has happened

but why do it in this official way with work permits etc? its a lot of hassle.. if we play anywhere outside our country and they ask questions (which almost never happens, except funny enough in glasgow and dublin) we always either go and jam in a friends studio (thats why the equipment is with us) or play at a friends birthday party or something like that.. never ever admit you are there to earn some cash, no matter how small it is... problem solved.

you can come in as a tourist, can't you?

ruud - so how the hell do you explain with a straight face to customs that you're flying in at 2pm on saturday and flying out at 8am the next morning?

"oh, i'm bringing all my equipment to jam for a few hours then leaving first thing in the morning" the red flags and alarm bells were a little too much this time.

let's just say that i didn't start out with my big mouth flapping. i've been touring for 10 years so i've got an idea of what to say and what not to say.

hm, so you do the ''leaving at 8 AM'' thing too there, ah? what's up with that airport there, does it close at noon?

i'm not in any way saying you're a clueless newbie.. however, it's entirely possible to do this kind of ''staying for a few hours'' thing.. people came over for the CBS party and left the next day. i have friends in germany who fly to the US for a wedding for one day.. they stayed less than 24 hours. point is, its up to them to prove you're there for something else, and they won't be able to do that.. unless they know our music scene,which is pretty unlikely. if you just come in as a tourist, so what if you have some equipment with you? you can even say you're performing on a showcase or something, or a label invited you, blah blah.. if you have a valid passport, they should have no reason to deny you entrance.

then again, some of those customs people do what thy want anyway..

it was definitely NOT my choice to leave at that time the next day.

the issue is that they insisted on knowing all sorts of things about my "friend", and then phoning him.

after calling the guy, i then got bluffed and was told, "well he's got a different story than you - you're getting paid".

now it seems the onus is on the musician to prove they're NOT getting paid.

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what strange experience, michel. now I know the meaning of the party thread: Secret Location    Hope everything is well. Talk soon.

it's good to read that the experience did not have any other negative implications apart from being imprisoned. i had a similar experience in moscow on my way to central asia..at the end i got inspired to write a new song

it's also an unsolvable problem. on one hand asylum may be a basic human right, on the other hand there are only so many people a society can take up without major problems. only way to solve this is to make the situation in africa better, which isn't going to happen as long as most countries are run by dictators with deep pockets and high spending accounts.. its sad because most of those countries have the natural resources to be quite wealthy..