Arno, le plus beau, has left us, deceased, sailed off into the sunset… Alongside all the rightful media attention for this incredible musician, I will try to add something, as a promoter in his beloved AB and also as the former tour manager of my beloved T.C. Matic. 

door Marc Decock / © Willem Govaerts

Arno, le plus beau, has left us, deceased, sailed off into the sunset… Alongside all the rightful media attention for this incredible musician, I will try to add something, as a promoter in his beloved AB and also as the former tour manager of my beloved T.C. Matic. 

I think I first got the full Arno experience at the Velodroom in Ostend? I can’t be sure, it was so long ago. Tjens Couter, including the also sadly deceased Paul Couter, certainly kindled a flame of enthusiasm in me at Stuk in Leuven, where Arno flounced around on stage in his socks.

Telephones with rotary dials 

Things got even better a few years later when - Oh La La La - TC Matic was launched and we (mainly Eric Meersmans, the current AB Hospitality Manager and myself) were occasionally dragged along as roadies. Following an accident and three months’ recovery, Arno promoted me to tour manager. Merci godverdomme! Perhaps I was the first in this country; I’d like to think so. Exciting times: no computers, no fax, no mobile phones, no satnav, no local tour buses… Lots of telephones with rotary dials, lots of international borders and too many different currencies, plus wretched customs documents like that ATA carnet … Luckily we did have the mail, and copy centres already existed. Shall we call to check that everyone has received everything? 

It was great to be able to put on and thoroughly enjoy around 300 lively concerts on the Scandinavia-Netherlands-Belgium-France route, including the AB which had dressing rooms under the stage then. The group just didn’t manage that last concert in the notorious Christiania area of Copenhagen; we couldn’t even find the venue ‘through all that dope’: the only time we headed home pretty soon after arrival (and received a stern talking-to as a result.)

That rain-soaked German festival was exciting too, when headliner Rod Stewart wanted to switch slots with us. To no avail, and we learned that it’s best to play second to last: first some sun hopefully, then set off the light show, not too cold, the audience are not too drunk yet and you can beat the traffic. 

Jean-Marie has still got my hat

But what could I do for Arno? TC Matic had a ritual just before a concert: a kind of tour manager would appear on stage with a lot of black tape to attach the microphone to the stand. That was a somewhat menacing start, I’d like to think, and that stand would be all over the place during the concert, including forwards towards the audience. 

In the meantime I had to quickly dive back to the side of the stage, look sharp and enjoy the ride. Rudy knocked out the most amazing drums, but could still catch certain pairs of eyes at the same time. Fiery Ferre once played “too quickly” because there was a beautiful woman standing just in front of him. Super Serge always wanted the latest and best keyboards (which means I still have his Korg MS-20 somewhere). Star guitarist Jean-Marie still hasn’t given me back my hat (my “close grandma” Hélène Willaert owned a barber’s which doubled as a hat shop, but let’s not get side-tracked by sentimental recollections). 

In the beautiful Charlatan documentary on Canvas, Arno claimed that the sound of TC Matic could blow your wig off. In the Netherlands I heard someone say ‘you can lean against that’. We worked closely with the Limburg company EML and one day they managed to acquire bass speakers that were also used for disaster movies: what you would call a resounding success. 

But what else could I do for Arno? I could ask a local beauty for her phone number after the show if I noticed she had caught his eye. We’d have to leave on time the next day, preferably together. 

LPs for customs officials

Another anecdote: the Stockholm-Helsinki night ferry with two discos and a lot of people who really only wanted to party on the boat. Enter a bold Belgian band doing some serious rock ‘n rolling. Our bus driver turned up on the dancefloor in a full Tirol costume: an immediate hit with a stunning blonde! We also popped in to visit EMI Finland but they were not exactly overjoyed. We could always get videos from EMI Belgium for a tour (Conan the Barbarian was popular on the tour bus) and a stack of free LPs (Cliff Richard if necessary) to placate customs officials. 

A break! That was enforced by this tour manager in the name of team spirit: no visitors to the dressing room 15 minutes before and after the gig; just the band. Before the absolutely stunning Seaside concert, Arno had decided to keep all of his energy pent up, which meant that the release on stage was even more intense than usual. We once tried to stop Ostend legend Freddy Cousaert. Needless to say, that was not successful.

Larger venues were never really a problem, on the contrary. But getting started on a smaller scale was also fun, especially with the somewhat revolutionary, randy, white lighting of Danny Willems or Marcel Vanthilt, if necessary with barely seven (unbearably hot) spotlights.

Why did we tour Scandinavia in the winter? It saved on heating the house. Why was Arbeid Adelt such a great support act? Two blokes on stage, ‘friends of the house’, also pleasantly pioneering and if necessary, Marcel could still do the lighting after their set! 

Ultimately there was that final tour with Simple Minds, but previously a serious attempt with PiL, that would probably have been more fun.

Next to ABBA in the record shop

What else could we do for Arno? He continued under his own legendary name, which meant he was close to the front of the record bins alongside his favourites, ABBA. Highlights included stunning sold-out concerts in the AB. My personal favourite was being able to help with his more recent Tjens Matic project, combining the best bits of his whole career. Up to that trio of (final) concerts in January 2020 with support from Paul Couter. Both were aware of their conditions then.

Arno was also greatly involved with Kom Op Tegen Kanker, Amnesty International, the politically-charged 0110… Axelle Red or Tom Barman were welcome, though Arno also had fun with Adamo, Rocco Granata… even Eddy Merckx!

More personally, Ha Ha was always my favourite track; I was always honoured if they finished with it.

No, wait: my youngest, Vivian Lili was born on Saturday 2 June 2007. It was originally scheduled for Friday the 1st but the delay allowed both mother and gynaecologist to go to an Arno concert that Friday; at the back of the balcony. That Saturday, when I told Arno, he asked: ‘and did the waters break during the concert?’ No, you womaniser, but good call.

And there’s still a red Berlingo driving around with the original TC Matic sticker on the back! It’s the little details.

Arno in the AB is also, by the way, technical director Marc Vrebos, who once booked TC Matic in Leefdaal, or artistic director Kurt Overbergh who, when young, went to Hof Ter Lo and didn’t immediately recognise Arno: he was watching the support act. Or Bram, ‘the sound guy’ for both AB and Arno… Or or… bye Arno0°, we’re done.

And more tales elsewhere.

There’s also this: AB has its own eternal TC Matic: Team Communications, Marketing & Ticketing! I swear it’s true.

Merci hotverdomme, for those incredible finales!