Europe Tour 2008
posted by
Brooke on Jan 30, 2008
Jan 11 Barcelona, Spain @ Apolo 2
Jan 12 Madrid, Spain @ Nasti Club
Jan 15 Liege, Belgium @ L'Escalier
Jan 16 Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
Jan 17 Berlin, Germany @ Bang Bang Club
Jan 18 Frankfurt, Germany @ Das Bett
Jan 19 Nurnberg, Germany @ MUZ
Jan 20 Mannheim, Germany @ Alte Feuerwache
Jan 21 Prague, Czech Republic @ Klub 007
Jan 22 Zurich, Switzerland @ Ziegel Au Lac
Jan 23 Dudingen, Switzerland @ Bad Bonn
Jan 24 Rorschach, Switzerland @ Mariaberg
Jan 25 Innsbruck, Austria @ Project 23
When we arrived in Barcelona January 10 I was still sick from a flu I had suffered the past few days. We went out for some food and drinks with Luke's friend Carlos. Carlos was a little weirded out that we wanted to eat supper so early, it was only 8:30pm! So the Spanish eat late, that was our first lesson. In fact, it was a bit of an issue even finding a restaurant that was open before 9pm. Isn't that odd? Anyway, we all had a great time but after one drink I could no longer remain conscious so I went back to our hotel to sleep.
The next morning, I felt healed by Barcelona's balmy climate. The sun's rays warmed us as we walked around town in our t-shirts. We saw the Poble Espanol, a pedestrian area where they have recreated the old Spanish village kind of vibe. We touched the Mediterranean Sea. We stared up at Gaudi's Sagrada Familia (look it up if you don't already know it). Then we went back to our hotel to meet our tour companion and merch guy, Martin. The promoter took the four of us for dinner at 9:30 and we arrived at the club for soundcheck around midnight. Forgive the detailed timeline here, but I just found it really striking how late they did everything. The show was awesome. Tons of people showed up to see us, some from as far away as Sweden. (We will make it to Scandinavia soon, we promise.) We practiced our basic, drunken Spanish and went to bed feeling like stars at 5am.
Martin and I got up early to see another of Gaudi's creations, Parc Guell, and were really glad we did. It is spectacular. The four of us had breakfast and said goodbye to our promoter/host and got on the train to Madrid. Madrid's aesthetic motif is compleeeetely different from Barcelona's. Instead of quirky and relaxed, you get glorious and powerful. I guess that is where all the pillaged Aztec gold went. The show in Madrid helped keep us modest. We played to an intimate crowd, especially compared to the night before. It was still a good time, though, the 40-50 people who were there were very enthusiastic and the opening band, Wild Honey, was great.
We had a day off following our Madrid show. That almost never happens on tour and if it does, it is usually in the worst city possible, so we were glad. We went to the Prado art gallery then met up with Wild Honey for tapas. Good times. Do all Spanish people have a hard time with English words ending in "gn"? Because in Barcelona, this record company guy kept saying that he was singing bands or that a band had already singed. And then in Madrid, the Wild Honey people said "foreign" as though it was pronounced "foringe". So we ended up talking a lot about foringe people and foringers. We didn't correct them, does that make us bad people?
We were loving the pace of the tour: lots of time off, no vehicle to worry about and nice climate. Unfortunately, it was not to last. We flew to Germany to pick up our van and gear. The GPS system was in German and got us really lost for a long time. It was dark and cold and there were no tapas to be found, we were a little testy at this point. However, we eventually figured out the GPS navigation, switched it to English and named it Dotty. We are very grateful for Dotty's helpful guidance.
Our show in Belgium was fun. Everything about Belgium is so nice and quaint. They have waffles in vending machines on the street, chocolate ones too! Now that is a fantasy land, that is definitely the country I would have designed as an 8-year old.
On to Germany. In Hamburg we opened for a Danish band called The Figurines. There are really cool Scandinavian-sounding prog-pop stuff. It was a nice show. We walked around Hamburg in the morning and laughed really hard when we saw the "Hamburger Bank". I mean, I know it makes perfect sense: the bank for the people who live in Hamburg, but come, the Hamburger Bank?!? Yes, I would like to make a big withdrawal today. I am feeling very hungry. Could I have that in large veggie burgers, please?
Anyway, we also played with the Figurines the next night in Berlin. We walked around and saw some sites. Our friend Liz met up with us. We went out for drinks after the show and discussed German frankness. In general, Germans seem to feel that it is their duty or right to tell you exactly how they feel about something in a way that Canadians maybe don't. Exhibit A, someone at a show says to Kathryn: "Hello, I must say your singing voice is very nice but your speaking voice is very high and squeaky. Welcome to Germany." Or: "Your set was very good but I did not like the cover song, you do not deserve to play that cover song. Thank you very much." We were trying to figure out if it was a language barrier or a cultural thing. Hard to say, really.
When we arrived in Frankfurt the next day, we went straight to a pub for some apfelwein (apple wine). It was served with mineral water, it's weird, they drink all their booze mixed with water or soda pop (which they call lemonade). Luke asked for the herring and the waitress said, No I think you should have something local to our region... I will get you the potatoes with sauce. That was funny and maybe served to illustrate a point from the night before. The show in Frankfurt was awesome. The small room was crammed with people. We were the only band so we played for an hour and a half or so. We were getting to the point in the tour by then where we know the songs again without thinking and we have settled into a set list that works well. I can't wait to play in Frankfurt again.
On the road to Nurnberg, we stopped in one of a zillion cute old German towns. This particular one was Rothenberg auf der Tauber. Everything was beautiful and well over a million years old. At least compared to Canadian buildings. The meat-eaters ate massive sausages for lunch and Kathryn and I had salads. That night our show was with a local band that advertised themselves as Hungarian, sneaky devils... They were good, upbeat gypsy music. The woman running the club offered to do our laundry for us, which really won us all over. Thank you! We were also very well fed, as with everywhere on the trip. The hospitality for bands in Europe cannot even be compared to the pathetic attempts that pass as hospitality here. Everywhere we went, we were greeted with snacks and drinks. Sound techs were nice, which is rare in N. America. Food was delicious, bountiful and free. Hotels were clean and included breakfasts and the other little things at no charge. It was like we were... valued. Very different from the attitude toward musicians where we are from.
Well, there is that rant! But it had to be said. North America really sucks in some ways.
Next day, next stop in quaint old town. This time, we took our break in Bad Wimpfen. We climbed to the top of the Blauer Tower and were rewarded with a beautiful view that could have been from 500 years ago. I think it is healthy to see all these cute countryside places in between rock clubs every night. In Mannheim, we were double booked with a Big Band and came out on the losing side so we ended up playing in a cafe instead of a proper venue. Everyone was so nice though, and the food was so good, that it didn't faze us. The audience packed themselves into the cafe and we had a great show. In a way, I am surprised how well-received we were. People seem so excited compared to audiences here. Luke and Martin really got into the spirit of things and ended up sleeping on the couch in the venue while Kathryn, Liz and I enjoyed the spacious hotel.
The next morning, Liz steps in Martin's vomit on the way back to the venue to pick the party boys up. Then Martin pukes on Kathryn's bag of clean laundry in the van. Luke and Martin both swear off drinking for a while. Which ends up being about 4 hours. We drive to Prague.
Prague was beautiful. We watched the changing of the guards at some castle or other. It is always some castle or other. We drove around and gawked at the nice old buildings then went to the venue. We were playing at a club on the university campus, which, in contrast to the city of Prague, is the ugliest university campus I have ever seen in my life. Our tour itinerary from the agency listed the opening band as Tower of Dudes and we had spent the last few days jokingly speculating what this band could possibly be like based on their weird name. We assumed first of all that there must be an overwhelming language barrier for them to have chosen that name. And of course some big eastern European moustaches seemed fitting. Actually, I kind of pictured them to be 5 olympic wrestlers in those one-piece wrestling costumes who would twirl their moustaches and adjust their crotches in between songs. We also had a feeling there might be a firehose involved. However, our hunches betrayed us and, small as the world is, they ended up being from Victoria. The show was amazing. Tower of Dudes had hilarious songs like "Dude! Man! I can't wait for junior high school, man!" The audience was wonderful and on their insistence we went way past the club's curfew. Like Czech money, Czech people are colourful and interesting.
We left Prague without our travel companion, Liz. She had the luxury of hanging around the wonderful city for a few more days. The remaining four headed to Switzerland for our show in Zurich. The problem with writing a tour diary about Europe is that the words old, beautiful, grand and the like lose all their meaning. Okay okay, everything is old and beautiful! It may get tiresome in description but somehow it stays impressive when you are actually there. Zurich was... old and beautiful. We played at a restaurant/venue with a view of the lake. It was awesome. We thought at first that people hated us because they were dead silent the whole time, but by the end of our set they were going crazy for an encore. The Swiss reserve cannot be underestimated I guess.
After Zurich was Dudingen, a small town no one has heard of, even in Switzerland. It is tiny. And to be completely accurate, the club was not even in Dudingen. It was in the countryside, in between a few pastures and a lake (it's all about the lakes with them). We strolled, we ate, we played to another reserved Swiss crowd, we drank absinthe and we went back to our hotel. The absinthe we had was not the proper stuff, but was a pretty god approximation. We sure giggled a lot.
The following day we played in Rorschach, Switzerland. The venue was apparently a converted strip club but it looked more like a banquet hall. It was one of the nicer looking venues we have had the pleasure of playing. The crowd here changed our minds a little about the Swiss. They had a great time and so did we.
We headed into Austria for our last show of the tour. The mountains dominate the landscape. On all sides are the majestic snow-capped Alps. Oddly, there was almost no snow anywhere else in Europe. I mean, it is January, you would think you could expect a little snow. That is global warming for you! Innsbruck is a nice enough town. The club was small and dank and the sound system left something to be desired, but the crowd was nice. We drank and chatted and had a great time. We said goodbye to ol' Martin, our tour companion and merch guy, in Innsbruck, where he is staying with his relatives. It was a little sad. You really get used to being around someone when they are on tour with you. You share all kinds of running gags and inside jokes and everything about them becomes soothingly familiar. Martin and I were really good friends 20 years ago and it was fantastic to have the chance to spend the quality time together again. Anyway, off to Munich for a day off then a flight home.
We arrived in Munich in high spirits. The tour went so well! We met up with our nomadic friend Liz again and booked ourselves into a nice hotel. Food and oversized beers were our two orders of business, so we went to an awesome restaurant called Prinz Nishkyn or something like that that I found on happycow.com, then headed to the Hofbrauhaus. The Hofbrauhaus is a very famous beerhall filled mainly with tourists. There are probably 2000 seats and it was jam-packed. You can hear loud Australian accents and various national anthems being sung at the tops of voices. An oompah band in lederhosen and silly hats plays great traditional music. We squeezed in at a table with some Germans and Americans and ordered ourselves each a litre of beer to start. Over the course of the night, it occurred to us that we need to write an album of Canadian drinking songs!
Our sleep that night was too short and the flight was predictably horrible, but then we were home. The end.
posted by
Brooke on Jan 30, 2008