Wiesbaden, Paris, & Ieper

We got more sleep than we had the last few days, which was nice. We still had to leave by around 9am to go to the grocery store and get some breakfast and coffee. After that, we're in the road, and rockin' the beautiful German truck stops. 

It's apparently (according to phone weather apps) pretty cool temperature-wise in Wiesbaden, and it'll be even cooler in Paris, but a little rainy. Only 3 more shows left. Today, tomorrow, and Sunday. 

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The venue was incredibly impressive. The place wasn't the biggest, but there were key points that made it, in my opinion, the best venue we've played all tour. 

The load in was very easy. We parked out the back door and barely had to move things a few feet. Once setup, the sound on stage was really good, and when we were done sound check. I found out we didn't have to move anything. The support was going to just setup in front. I was stoked. I don't have to move my drums and no one else is going to be playing ok them? Best night ever. 

Then, the backstage area. I walk downstairs to find a full kitchen, dining area, fridges stocked with water, sodas, and juice, and then in greeted by Mike in his "office" going over some things. 

They had bread, meat, and cheeses, along with fruit waiting in the kitchen, and  then a little later, there was a rice and curry dinner. I was sad when they said they couldn't find the dish of chicken curry, but the veggie curry was just fine.

The backstage was also fully equipped with a lounge, bedroom (with 3-tiered bunk beds), two bathrooms with showers, and a whole cabinet of towels. 

...and a hair dryer. There was even Nutella in little squeeze packets. 

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The show was fun. The opening band was droning and heavy, the second was a solo electronic act we had played with before on a tour a few years ago. People were excited while we played, which made for a good vibe in the room. The German crowds tend to hide their excitement more than most. They'll stare and watch the show, arms crossed, and with a flat expression, but they'll tell you how much they loved the show afterwards. This crowd was stoked for us, and they showed us. 

Unfortunately there weren't enough people there to do many stage dives, but damnit, they tried, and that's what counts. 

The drive tomorrow isn't too killer to Paris, so we get to sleep till 10am, then we're on our way.

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Cloudy and rainy today, and once outside of Germany, we no longer have to pay for toilets at truck stops, cause that sucks. 

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The venue in Paris is quite possibly the best we've played all tour. Great sound, great crew, great room. The show itself was free, so we expected a bunch of people to show up, but when the doors actually opened, there wasn't even enough wiggle room to get through to the bathroom. 

The show felt great, and is a great closer to the tour. We're all pretty much considering this show the last of tour, since Ieper fest tomorrow will only be a 20-30 minute set, and we're not sure of how the crowd will be, so we go out with a bang, and then have a fun festival show to cap it off. 

Almost home

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So far Ieper fest has just been a mass of confusion and annoyance. It took forever to find someone to even tell us what the deal was for loading, playing, and dressing room stuff. We're given backstage pass laminates, which is the norm, but also given wrist bracelet things, which I hate, but worst is that they don't seem to get you anything special. I can't go to the French fries stand and get some fries, I'm limited only to the food backstage, which is pretty okay (but all vegan), but it's not French fries, or a sandwich. 

We also only get a dressing room that's available only 15 minutes before we play, and 15 minutes after. On top of that, we're playing the smallest stage, under a tent that is basically just a giant sweat box, so...yea. I'll be happy just to play for 20-30 minutes, and then leave. 

We're staying with a friend in Gent, and then we're off to Frankfurt airport, and on our way home. 

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The show turned out to be pretty fun. We completely spazzed out on the last song, and we ended the tour awesomely. 

We left Armine in Belgium for his show with mike Wohlberg, and headed for Germany. Matt finalized all the money for rental stuff in the van. 

We dropped the gear back off at GateToHell and then got dropped off at a hostel in Frankfurt. We said our goodbyes, and now we sleep, and tomorrow, we're homeward bound. 

Essen, Copenhagen, & Berlin.

Breakfast at a kebab shop leaving Dresden. Today is an errand day. The SVT 3 bass amp had been overheating and cutting out, so we took a trip to GateToHell to switch it out. I also found out for the first time that they have fans. So, next euro tour, I'm getting s fan, so none of this BS of finding out the venue is a sweat box with no ventilation, and not a fan in sight. We also made a visit to King's Road, which is the company that presses our merch in Europe. 

We got to the venue, and it was a nice smaller place. The stage was on the left as you entered the building, and the bar was encased in an old car. 

Upstairs was the backstage and where we are sleeping tonight. A lovely lady brought us custom homemade vegan cupcakes. The recipe she now calls 'Rosetta'. 

They were freaking delicious. 

We get to sleep tonight only for a couple hours, then we're up at 4am, and on a feet to Copenhagen. 

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Alarms were blaring at 4am this morning. Some shot up and started getting ready immedietly, others simply rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. By the time Persil came in the room, everyone tatted to look busy. 

Once in the van, it was complete silence, and lots of uncomfortable sleeping people. We were headed to the ferry to Denmark, and from there to Copenhagen. 

The ferry was a nice change from sitting falling asleep in the van. Instead, we sat and fell asleep in the lounge rocking with he waves. I didn't get out to take any pictures of the water, because I didn't want to move from the comfy couch in the lounge, so you'll have to use your imagination. 

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The whole day I was just in a daze. Not quite awake, not quite asleep, just...zombefied. 

The venue was in the middle of an old military industrial complex. When the military moved out, the punks moved in, and now have autonomy. They buy and sell weed, but all harder drugs are still illegal. I was also told not to take pictures of the drug selling/buying. 

The venue itself was pretty nice, and we loaded in via a small elevator lifted by a chain. Once the drums were setup, I was stoked at the use of Rode condensers for overheads. 

Once again, though, bummed on having to gear share with the opening bands. I'm not a very selfish or stingy dude, but if you're the local dudes...maybe avoid looking like a doink and bring your own gear. The rack tom head is almost completely beat to s**t from multiple drummers slamming on it every night. I found out our rider even says in large bold lettering, "NO GEAR SHARING", we just have to actually enforce it and say 'no' which I'm gonna try to do for these last 5 shows. 

Only 5 more shows to go. Crazy how time moves in relation to how the good times roll. 

The apartment we stayed at last night I was immedietly excited about. It was a little small, and we all slept in just one room, but our host was there watching family guy, and this is what greeted us when we walked in the door. 

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So today, off early to catch and ferry, then on to Berlin. 

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I ended up being half conscious for the ferry ride today, so I took this beauty. 

Along with a great shot of Eric getting some z's. 

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When we arrived, the venue didn't look like much, and I was semi bummed out. The building was kind of run down and crumbling, and was (like most places on this tour) incredibly hot with little or no ventilation. Luckily, the dudes that worked there were able to find a fan to put on stage next to me, and it saved my life. Air movement is sooooo important, especially when you're performing extremely rigorous physical activity for an hour. They said the fan is normally used to cool the projector that was used in their movie theatre. 

(The big screen out in the courtyard which was their "movie theatre" was pretty cool)

The show itself was a lot of fun. It was nice having a good stage, good sound, and a good crowd after s couple days of just okay shows. 

We're sleeping in a friends apartment, with then absent though, so there's lots of room. Took a shower, and we're ready for bed. We got a breakfast buyout we'll go and use tomorrow on our way to Wiesbaden. 

Dresden

The long haul to Dresden. These are the times on tour you wish you could just skip over. In Europe, however, the drives aren't nearly as bad as in the US. They're more around 6-8 hours, as opposed to some drives that can be around 12+ hours through the Midwest. 

I did get my hot doggy before we left Poland. It's a kielbasa hotdog that they fill with your choice of condiment, and then 'insert' the hotdog into the bread sheath. It's actually quite delicious, and something I've only ever found in Poland. 

We've managed over the past few shows to clear out a lot of merch, so we freed up most of the extra space we were taking up in the back seat. So Joel was able to fall asleep behind Matt's guitar. 

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Another hot one, but at least there was a ventilation pipe over the stage sending some air movement, so not as soaked as Warsaw. The food at the venue was good. It was a choice of vegan pasta with zucchini, or vegan pasta with pesto and vegan meatballs. I went with the Pedro and meatballs. It was quite good, despite having no actual meat in it. 

For a Monday night, the turnout wasn't horrible. The people that were there were pretty stoked to see us though.

We stayed in s hostel-type place. I say hostel 'type' because it seems like it's not an actual hostel, just a place the promoter has to put hands up for the night, though, I may be wrong. Either way, there's wifi, a shower, and some comfy beds. There is s washing machine, and was all excited to do laundry till we realized A) we had no laundry soap, and B) there are no dryers in Europe, and we'd have to have everything air dried by tomorrow morning. 

Off to Essen today. Someone messaged us and said they were a vegan chocolatier and is going to make us a cake and bring it to the show. I'm more excited for cake than the show today, and we don't have to drive for too long, so we can lounge a bit today. 

Warsaw

Woke up multiple times during the night because of how hot it was, but had a good breakfast, and was able to upload the footage from the GoPro of us playing yesterday to YouTube. 

https://youtu.be/BzpxnEWw2Fg

We're now on our way to Warsaw which is about a 7 or 8 hour drive.

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The drive was long and bumpy, for most of it, then we hit brand new highways, and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. It was still crazy hot when we got to the venue. We quickly loaded in and sound checked. While we went to get food, Matt was getting his hair cut. 

We had pierogies for dinner, and as we were finishing, people started to show up and also surround Armine. 

The first band was an electronic band from Russia, and they were pretty stellar. By the time we went on, it was a full on sweat box. After the second song my hands looked like I had been soaking in a bath for 20 minutes. The crowd was stellar despite the ridiculously hot conditions. Stage dives abound, people screaming/singing along.

Whenever we come to Poland, everyone is always so excited and into what we're doing. I love playing here, and always will. Much love to you guys, hopefully we'll be back soon.  

We uploaded this set to YouTube as well. 

https://youtu.be/GSjsB4Vv5eM

Off to Dresden today. 

Cakovec, Vienna, & Brutal Assault Fest

Cakovec (pronounced 'choc-o-vets') is hot as hell. Probably not as humid as Philly  right now, but still pretty awful. My face turns redder with every wipe of my hand or a towel (I'm starting to just blot), but people seem excited about the show. 

Every night I've tried and placed the GoPro camera in a different spot so that after we get home, I'll make some sort of music video or tour video or something. I'll wait till I get home to figure it out. 

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The house we stayed at was crazy huge and nice. There's no air conditioning, but Matt says, "sleeping in warmer temperatures builds your hear tolerance." Even if that's true, I'd rather have an air conditioner or a fan on me at all times. 

Our host proceeded to dazzle us with everything locally grown and harvested. He had cheese, tomatoes, boar meat, pumpkin seed oil, wines, spirits, etc.. He also made us eggs and coffee the next morning for breakfast. 

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I was finally able to change some money at a Slovenian currency exchange. I changed $15.00 to €12,50. I can finally pay for the bathroom in Germany (which is usually around €0,50, and buy my own water and snacks. I also found a new monster energy drink I'd never seen before called "The Doctor"

I didn't get it, because I had not yet changed money. 

On our way to Vienna today. 

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After a short hop through Slovenia, we're into the countryside of Austria. 

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The show was as hot as predicted. I stole a fan from one of the bartenders to put behind the drums with me, but it wasn't very powerful, but it did the job. Afterwards, I talked a bit with Bernhard (of MBNpodcast fame)

We stayed at a hostel, but only for a short while, since we had to be back on the road at 5am to get to Czech for brutal assault fest. Apparently, there is some sort of interview or 'meet-and greet' thing before we play, but I don't know how well that'll go over. Our time slot is at 1pm on the "Jaegermeister" stage, and after we play, we'll probably all want to go to the hotel and just sleep forever. 

A beautiful Austrian morning. 

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Brutal assault fest far exceeded anything we could have imagined in awesomeness. The sheer level of professionalism and organization put into something like this, it's really awesome for a band to show up, and people actually have their s**t together. 

The only weirdness is that they spelled our band name wrong on the backstage passes, but luckily not on the posters or anything else, so it's completely forgiven. 

We did a 'meet-and-greet' before we played, which I initially thought was going to be extremely lame, but turned out to be pretty great to just directly meet fans before we play, shake hands, sign some stuff, and take some pictures. The security for everything was crazy too. People checking passes at every turn, security at the food stations making sure doink publishers weren't allowed in the backstage, and someone watching our personal items in the dressing room while we're away. The greatest part about all the security (which normally would be a huge hassle and headache) was that everyone was super nice, and just there to make sure everything ran as needed, and making sure people just had a good time, while just doing a good job. 

I'm normally super bummed on playing festivals, but mostly cause they're crappily run and disorganized. If I could play festivals just like brutal assault all the time, that would be amazing. 

Secondary to the amazing hospitality, though, is how many people we actually got to play for. 

It was absolutely insane, and such an adrenaline rush. When I can get on stage and actually be nervous about it, that's when it's cool, because I'll have fun at all times while playing a show, but rarely do I ever get nervous. This show had my stomach doing hoola-hoops the whole time. 

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The down side to all this is that I'm extremely tired, hot, and gross. Armine and I skipped out early to go to the hotel to shower and sleep, but, just like the hotel in Sibenik, only the lobby has air conditioning. Super sad face. This time there's no fan too, and to make matters worse, the room internet isn't working, so now I'm sitting in the lobby of the hotel in the air conditioning writing this before I head up to our mildly breezy sweat box to hopefully get some semblance of sleep. 

Sibenik, the best day ever.

This post won't have a lot of pictures, because the morning after Uho fest, we went to the beach, and went swimming in the Adriatic, and I left my phone behind in the van. The water was cold and beautiful the beach was a bit course and rocky, but once you're in the water, it just feels amazing. I was able to wash my show clothes as well, which the rest of the dudes were happy about. 

On a little bit of a deeper note, I had a nice reflective moment yesterday while watching Merchandise play. I don't know them personally, but as I watched them play, and interact with each other on stage, it made me think about our goofiness on tour, and our inside jokes, and weird stage faced and mannerisms with each other. It's like a traveling family. However, as I watched them play, I also watched the crowd, and how they interacted with the band. Of course, every show is different, and especially every country/city/town is different, but the one thing that ties most crowds together, unless they include other dudes/ladies in bands, is that they don't understand what it is we go through on a daily basis. 

This one day on the beach puts a lot of things in rather harsh perspective, coupled with our previous show in Sarajevo. We trekked the Bosnian Forrest to play a show for people who only 20 years ago were running for their lives, exiled from their home country, and are treated like royalty. And then, we drive to Sibenik, and we see the ocean, and drive up a castle, and were treated like royalty again, just in a different way. 

My point being, that people will come out to a show, listen, dance, or they'll interact with the band either at the show or online, but they don't really understand this crazy roller coaster that is out loves on tour. Most people at home won't understand the sheer joy of playing an instrument in front of a full crowd of screaming people, and the crazy idea of just chilling and swimming the day after, only to pack yourself back in a van, and drive on for 3 to 6 hours to the next show, which will be a completely different experience. 

I may have started rambling at some point, or lost track of my topic somewhere in the middle, or if you followed along with that, well done. My point, I think, is that no one really understands the ever changing, awe inspiring, ever adolescent experience that is being in a touring band until you go and tour in a band. Yes, it has its downsides. You're often dirty, sweaty, underfed, underpaid, and extremely tired, but, unless you're someone like Beyoncé, Kanye west, or a band like Aerosmith, this is s labor of love, and sounds glamorous, but is in no way that, except for those very few incredibly beautiful days, like this one. 

...also, I think my face got a little sun burnt. 

Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Sibenik

The hospitality in Serbia was off the charts awesome. The food was delicious, and we stayed in this apartment-type hotel. Matt took a shower for the first time this tour last night. There was a washing machine in the bathroom, but no detergent, so Matt washed his clothes in the sink with hand soap. 

We stopped at the venue and loaded out the gear, then had some breakfast and club-mates, mmm.

We're off to Sarajevo today, another place we've never been. 

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We start our day off with leisurely drive through the Serbian countryside...in the wrong direction, for almost an hour. When we finally get to the border crossing into Bosnia. 

On the other side of the border (entering Bosnia), they stop us again and basically just waste our time while they do their jobs poorly. We had a great view while waiting though. 

We then proceeded to get lost in the Bosnian countryside. 

There were thin winding roads, large cliff drop offs, and we barely had a gps. Our regular gps wants receiving a signal, and Eric's phone only had limited service to get directions. Eventually Julia (Mike's co-pilot), at great possible cost to her, turned on her roaming data on to activate her gps and find our way through. 

At one point we even passed a group of gentlemen having a picnic on the side of a dirt road we made a wrong turn on. 

One thing we were not immedietly aware of, and eventually semi-freaked out about later, was that the dirt roads we made wrong turns on could have possibly had left over active land mines. 

After backroad mine filled sand winding country roads, passing sheep, cows, chickens, and all manner of old looking country things, we finally, and quite suddenly, arrive in Sarajevo. We then lose gps signal (though it was spotty the entire time driving through the Bosnian canyons) and have to call the promoter and tell him where we are and ask for directions.

Once we roll up in front of the venue, it looks a bit shabby, and we have to load it a bit of a ways from where we could stop the van, but once we got inside, the place was spectacular looking, and fairly clean too. 

We were running pretty late, so we loaded in as quickly as possible and the show started. There was food backstage similar to the breakfast we had, but just in smaller portions. 

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The hostel we were booked at apparently got overbooked, and our beds were given away. We are now on our way to the promoters house to sleep on his floor.

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We went for breakfast out in town, and got to wander around the city for a bit. It's crazy to believe that when I was 8 years old, most people here were being forced to leave their country, or being bombed, shot, and having grenaded dropped on them, friends, and family. This area of the world we're in has seriously seen some s**t that most probably, and hopefully will never have to endure. 

Driving through the Bosnian countryside again on our way to Croatia. 

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We got to Croatia, and the drive was absolutely beautiful. 

When we finally arrived in Sibenik, it was a magnificent sight. A seaside town, and the venue is a festival inside of a castle overlooking the town and sea. 

Needless to say, the experience is quite surreal, and supremely impressive. We don't play till midnight, so we're just hanging around sightseeing. We don't have to leave till later on in the day tomorrow, so we might get some swimming in too. 

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On the main stage opening up was a band called 'Merchandise.' Eric said he had played with them before in Florida with City of Ships, and I dig them. 

The band before us on the main stage 'of Montreal' played two encores, cutting into our set by almost a half hour. Despite this, the people were excited and energetic to see us. The power went out once during the set, but they quickly had it up and running in a minute. 

We were asked for an encore, and had one more song we could play, but unfortunately we were out of time. 

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The hotel we're staying at 'Hotel Jadran' is quite impressive, at least on the exterior. It has a marina for a parking lot out front, and a great view of the sea. However, it does not have any air conditioning in the rooms, and no ventilation other than a single oscillating fan. The accommodations are still very sweet, I just would have liked to not start sweating immedietly after stepping out of the shower. 

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Today we're off to Cakovec. 

Budapest & Serbia

Breakfast in Trnava. This picture was taken before the food came out. It was quite a fine feast. 

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We took a break at the Danube, and soaked in the sights. 

Then, on to Budapest. 

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A typical 'there's wifi' situation. 

We had enough time that we were able to actually have a 'practice' and taught Joel and Eric how to play red in tooth and claw. 

By the time we were done dinner, the show was about to start. The first band was a 'Buddhist metal band' with throat singing, prayer beads and all. They were really entrancing and doomy. 

The crowd was crazy and fun, and at one point even picked up Armine and crowd surfed him around the room. We were happy we solidified red in tooth and claw, cause I think if we didn't play an extra song, people would have freaked out. 

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Slept well, good breakfast, off to Serbia, Belgrade today. 

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Prior to the Serbian border, we stopped to use the bathrooms and found a great abandoned car in the parking lot. 

After which, we accidentally went through the wrong like at the Serbian border, got yelled at by an a**hole border guard, who did not actually explain what we did wrong or how to fix it, and then proceeded to u-turn, and then we sat in line in the opposite direction for what felt like forever. 

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When we finally made it through the border check, we were already pretty un-stoked about everything. Matt made an observation that driving through Serbia looks  a lot like driving through Nebraska.

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Arrived UK Belgrade. It's kind of a weird city, at least from the area we went through. The venue, though, is really nice, and has an upstairs 'backstage' area. We're currently waiting for food, and the wifi password.

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We had sandwiches, and then setup and sound checked.

The stage is super small, but we always manage. Apparently we're staying in a pretty nice hotel tonight. 

 

Trnava, Slovakia

Trnava today. On our drive to Trnava, we had a great idea to completely bum out Matt with one picture hilariously describing our experience at Void Fest...and here it is. 

No, we did not come away from Void Fest as pot heads, we just found the weed/stoner metal vibe of the fest awesome and hilarious.

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During the first band, the power blew out twice. Luckily everything was fixed by the time we played. 

Before the show we went to get food at a place called "quesadilla & wok" and it was delicious. 

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We stayed at a pretty stellar hotel not far from the venue, and we're fed a gorgeous breakfast. 

Budapest tomorrow

Void Fest

We took a walk around before leaving Wüerzburg. We stopped at an amazing bridge looking up at a castle, and then wandered a bit more around town. 

After our breakfast and walk, we were on the road to Void Fest. 

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Once at Void fest, we were greeted by bees in beers, and we're immedietly offered weed. We unloaded and parked the van, and then...we went on a hike to the river that, in the moment of doing it, I wish I hadn't. It was all steep hills, and quite a long distances and we got lost twice, but it was beautiful, well worth it, and good excercise after sitting in a van forever. 

We were expecting a little more activity at the lake, but from how treacherous the landscape was going down to it, we figured it was a long shot anyone from the show actually attempted the hike. 

The hike back up was a little more difficult, but still fun. 

I won't be able to post any show footage till we get home, but the show was fun, and loud, and foggy (smoke machine, not just smoking dank nugs). 

It was a full blue moon, and we headed back to the hotel after we played. 

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The place across the street from the hotel had free breakfast, and we dined hard. Off to Trnava, Slovakia.