Random Thoughts from The Road

Why is it that American hotel chains are the ones always overcharging us for accommodations? I'm starting to feel a bit abandoned by my peoples.

What is it with girls fainting at rock shows? I'm starting to think we're toxic or something.*

I crave the written word. I have to read on the road. I get far too grouchy if I don't. Something about massaging my brain that way has got to happen for me on a consistent basis, even out here on tour.

I crave the silence. Sound is our job and we crank a ton of it out every single day (both on stage and off...). I love the quiet when I can get my ears on it.

Everest? Shmeverest. Try going low-carb in Europe.

Bremen was the first official sellout of the tour and I'm glad to report it was a great show. Great room. Great crowd. Great performance.

Bremen

Perspectives

Here I come from Lausanne, Switzerland, on the north shore of Lake Geneva. As I reread that sentence, I'm struck by something Tyler asked me while we were setting up the stage in Zurich two nights ago.

How it was in Zurich.

He looked right at me and said, "Did you ever think you'd actually get to travel this much?" (An aside: when the year 2012 concludes, I will have spent more than one-third of it on the road, and about half of that here in Europe. That's a big deal for a travel hound like me.)

I told him what I'll tell you: I always wanted to, always hoped music would be the vehicle that would allow me to do so, but never thought I'd be able to without a major label deal or massive distribution and radio play.

An American Rock Band in Paris

After a dichotomous week of monstrous technical headaches and awesome nights on stage, a day off in one of the most important historical cities in the world was a welcome refresher.

Paris was beseiged yesterday by a cavalcade of wandering American musicians who got their fill of French pastries, gothic cathedrals, and monumental architecture.

Taking in the sights in the City of Lights for the second time this year was a joy for this particular writer; history and religion are sort of my jam, and Paris certainly has copious amounts of both. It was also great to be there with friends who were seeing the heart of the city for the very first time. I know I couldn't stop looking at Notre Dame or the Eiffel Tower the first time I had the opportunity to see them, and it's apparent after yesterday's adventures that I'm not alone in this particular predicament.

Two vans. Two breakdowns.

Wow. Where to even start with this.

After the debacle in Sweden with the burned-out clutch, I might be forgiven for thinking the worst was behind us (at least in terms of vehicular balderdash).

Whoops.

Yesterday's endeavors started out normal enough. We had an entire day-and-a-half devoted to travel for our 14-hour trek from Malmö to Paris. The only aside that needed to be dealt with was a stopover in Hamburg to drop off the two rental vehicles we were tooling around in since the death of Van Number One and to pick up Van Number Two. Easy peezy.

Things began to get a little funky once we arrived in Hamburg. The changeover happened well enough, but in a completely unnecessary & frustrating way involving a Sprinter van, a rental truck, a trailer, and the world's most tightly packed & absurd parking lot.

Uppdelning

"Uppdelning" is the Swedish word Google Translate tells me best fits the English word for "breakdown".

I mentioned in my last post that if the tour can only go up from our first show, we were in a really great place. I should've checked myself.

Last night, after an absolutely killer show here in Göteborg, the drive to our hotel was interrupted when our GPS unit guided us to a narrow, dead-end road, perhaps blocked off in the time since the last update of our nav unit's software (the fact that it was dead-end not revealed to us by street signage). By the time we realized that our route was blocked, we were at least 50 yards down this one-way drive and staring a straight uphill reversal with a van-load of people and a trailer-load of band gear and merchandise right in the face.

Let me reiterate for emphasis: a Sprinter van, reversing uphill, with 8 band members, all of their luggage, and a trailer full of guitars, amps, drums, hardware, and close to 30 boxes of tour merch. And, oh yes, the clutch had already started to give off that familiar burning rubber aroma.

Backstage in Sverige

I'm sitting backstage in Göteborg, Sweden while Eppic performes 'Storm Before the Calm' for what sounds like a very lively Swedish audience, and I thought I might throw a quick update at the blog.

A great shot from our friend Maria.

Last night the tour officially kicked off in Copenhagen, and from the looks of things, this time out is going to be one to remember.

Despite a few of the usual bonehead, first-show jitters, last night made for a pretty incredible debut performance. I can honestly say it was better than just about all of the other first shows I've played in the past, and a few great friends of ours mentioned that it was even better than our performance from 7 months ago. In other words, mission: accomplished.

It has been really fun to see the band re-develop with the addition of Joey on lead guitar and Eppic & Alex G coming along for opening support has been its own kind of special. If the tour can only go up from here then we're already in a really great place.

We got some sightseeing time in and around Copenhagen before we had to report for load-in yesterday, as well. This was great for us because our last time through was sort of an in-and-out affair; we only got to see about one block of the great city. This time, however, we saw a little bit of the great architecture and culture that abounds just about everywhere you set foot over here in Europe, and I'm glad to report it wasn't lost on us.

Can't wait for what's to come. Hopefully this month doesn't fly by too quickly...

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We're here.

Well, we made it. At least this far.

And I must say, the German people have really got this whole airline convenience thing down. 9 hours on a Lufthansa flight? Not bad at all. In fact, it was probably one of the best flying experiences of my entire life.

And so, we're here. After a three-hour layover in Frankfurt, we finally flew into Berlin. We made it to our hotel despite a handful of early tour head-scratchers, and after partaking in the uniquely German culinary stylings of McDonald's, promptly proceeded to pass out.

Day Two? It's off to pick up our rental gear, merchandise, and then on to Copenhagen. These past couple of weeks have gone by so quickly that it still seems weird that tomorrow night is the first performance of the tour. It's time to get my head around it, though. The rock waits for no one.

 

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Gabriel @ Red Rocks

Nothing like celebrating the beginning of your own tour by going to see someone else's.

Especially when that someone else is Peter Gabriel.

Red Rain

Last night, the wife, sister-in-law, and I ventured up to the world's most beautiful live performance venue to catch Peter's Back-to-Front tour. The whole idea was in keeping with the 25th anniversary of the release of the legendary So album. Gabriel reunited the entire lineup that helped him forge the record - Tony Levin on bass, Manu Katche on drums, David Sanctius on keyboards, and David Rhodes on guitar - and played the entire thing down, top to bottom.