Mark Stewart + Maffia missed the third gig of their small European tour, Friday 13. They got stuck on Brussels Airport, due to an unexpected airport strike. A furious Doug Wimbish was interviewed by Belgian national television.
 
 Because of the delay (that involved 26.000 passengers), the band sadly couldn't play their gig in Guarda, Portugal, Friday night. That pissed Doug off. That, and the fact that there was no accommodation for stranded travellers in Brussels. (Please check the YouTube link below for a video snippet.)

Mark Stewart + Maffia were in Belgium because of their gig in Gent, Thursday night, in a brand new venue called Minus One. It's located in the industrial(!) outskirts of this historic city, near the docks. Minus One is indeed minus one under ground. Apparently it's a brandnew concrete building and Mark Stewart + Maffia were the first ever band to play there.

Skip already warned us before the gig: "The system is very good. It's so loud, even the stage is vibrating." It gave Adrian an opportunity to show his skills and he did so with great pleasure. "It was loud as hell", Doug said afterwards, and he couldn't have said it better.

Sound effects were raining like needles from the concrete walls, echos spinning through the hall, the bass and rhythms testing the structure of the building and the ears of about 200 spectators. Even standing behind Adrian my trousers were flapping from the noise.

Mark started with Liberty City and worked his way through the best of his songs: As the Veneer..., Hypnotised, The Resistance of the Cell, Passivecation Program and a medley of Nine Inch Nails' Star****ers Inc. and the Popgroup's We Are All Prostitutes. They even played three new tracks (one called Baby Bourgeois).

Mark says he has material ready for two new albums and they started on even more new tracks in Switzerland, where the small tour started Wednesday. The problem with releasing an album is that the music industry seems to be in complete chaos. No-one knows what to do as far as distribution is concerned.

The gig in Gent was very well received. Oor, the leading music magazine in The Netherlands, wrote: "This band is so good, it's scary."

http://www.tackhead.com/news/article/232/