Philadelphia Fuckrock band Gods and Queens had a serious mishap in Europe. Here’s Guitarist/Vocalist Jamie Getz:
“I’m going to try and make this as short as I can. After all these years of touring in unsafe vans, and doing stupid things, I guess I was over due for this… We had a serious van accident in route from our show in Graz, Austria to Dresden, Germany, somewhere along the highway in the Czech.
I was asleep in the back of the van, so I’m unsure of what exactly happened. All I know is I felt the van skidding out and we started to slide and roll over. Not sure exactly how many times the van flipped but it was more than enough. I started screaming for everyone to tell me they were OK. Gertjan check, Ben check, Sara check, and I didn’t hear Jeff.
Ben pulled me out through the windshield and I took off running, screaming for help with blood pouring down my face. I honestly though Jeff was dead. A car stopped and a slew of women started screaming at me and I was screaming at them. We were in the middle of no where and as I was running two things came to mind, I think Jeff is dead, and I hope I don’t get shot like Artimus Pyle. A woman pulled me into her house and her husband and son ran to the van crash site. I found Gertjan, and he said everyone is OK. The family started talking to me via Google Translation telling me everyone is safe and that an ambulance is on the way.
The ambulance comes takes us to a hospital, we get taken care of…sort of. The police arrive on the scene and inform us that we aren’t leaving until the medical bills are paid in full. The were so kind enough to escort Sara and myself to an ATM machine to pay the entire lump of the bills in full on the spot. Even after we signed some strange papers saying we have 30 day with proof of citizenship, etc. What the fuck ever right? We asked where Gertjan was, and their response was…prison. 300 phone calls and around €3,000 later we are out of the damned Czech and safe in Germany.
Long short, we are all somewhat OK. Jeff broke his collarbone, Ben got his hand jacked up, I am pretty alright, Gertjan is OK, as well as Sara. The van is destroyed. Booking these tours ourself really made me realize that we are 100% on our own. We had no one to call, no one to “rescue” us. I made 3 phone calls and the entire German punk scene came to our rescue. God damn thank you. Our new friends from Dresden Germany came to get us at the drop of a hat, no questions asked. Thank you.
So here it is, we are 3 grown adult males in our 30’s who play in a punk band. We are all stage hands at R5 Productions in Philly. That’s what we do to enable us to be here in Europe doing this. Never in our lives have we needed help like we do now. If you want to help us, please go to http://www.godsandqueens.bandcamp.com and purchase a record for $1.99. If you ever laughed at one of my awful jokes, or spend hours talking with us after a show, and you would like to help, please do. I always though our band would have too much pride to ask for help, but I am pretty sure we all agree that this time we need it. If you would like to help in any form please do jamiegetz(at)gmail.com is the PayPal address if you are inclined to do so. We will also accept first class upgrades on US Air, Delta or Virgin.
Thanks.
Jamie.”
If you know Jamie Getz (and so many of us do) you know that aside from being an incredible musician with a undeniably impressive resume, for longer than a lot of people in “the scene” have been alive he has broken his fucking back to support music and musicians. He is one of the true blue good guys, no matter how many times he calls you a pussy and says he can beat up your band.
This isn’t some nu-Screamo band asking for a handout because the equipment their parents bought them got scuffed- these are people who continue to pay their dues and at the very least you can treat yourself to some of their killer music for a miniscule fee.
Please.
