(written on the plane on May 11)
I'm writing this about 38,000 feet above the Ungava Bay in Canada, a few hours shy of a touchdown in Chicago. We've set up a shop across a full row of the plane, and have been enjoying beers and bloody marys while watching a few movies on our solo screens (Network for me, Dark Knight for Adam and Joe, and Bryan's checking out The Rite). Now, before landing, I'm checking out the 2500+ photos and videos we took during the tour, trying to put together an album to share online this week.
In the meantime, there's a bit to catch up on:
The show in Austria, at a really cool practice space/DIY venue called Proberaum, was a hot-mess and a blast. My lack of sleep the night before + the incredible heat in the space made for a bit of swimmy headedness for me throughout our set, but it was fun nonetheless (and included my only appearance on bass, ever, thanks to Adam's sudden pee break mid set). The other band on the bill, Sommerregen, was awesome, so we made sure to get copies of their cds. We also got to meet up with Meli, tour-manager Felix's girlfriend and our driver on the previous European run. A big thanks to the guys at Proberaum for putting the show on and for feeding us (the tofu steaks were killer).
From there, we drove straight into Vienna to crash at Alex's house for the evening. Despite having to get up for work at 6am the next morning, he was an excellent host. We hunkered down for a few hours of sleep-plus-showers, and crept out the next morning to drive around Vienna a bit (beautiful city).
We didn't have too long to spare, however, as we were due at Club L back in Wurzburg, Germany for the final show of the tour. We pulled up to the venue a couple hours early (shocking, for us) and took the extra time to lay out my (still very damp, odorous laundry) to see if I could air it out a bit pre-flight. We all went about repacking, reconfiguring, van-spelunking-in-hopes-of-coming-across-missing-things while sharing a celebratory bottle of Jameson and some beers from the club.
Speaking of, the club is a small bar with a large patio/outdoor area (complete with an outdoor stage – where we played). Really cool spot, tucked away on a side street. Perfect weather, and a great place for our last show. A BBQ ensued, complete with tofu-based veggie options, and then we got the chance to hang out with some of the other bands. Finally, the show kicked off. By the time we played third, party-mode was in full effect. Set was a blast for us, and Felix downed the Jameson in our honor throughout.
Post-show, we watched the final band, and loaded our gear out as quickly as possible. Our original sleeping place had been switched out in favor of a girl's nearby house who was kind enough to let us use her shower/crash for an hour before we had to get up and get rolling again to the Dusseldorf airport. We had to be there by 10am, and had a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us (at least). There was a bit of relationship-related shenanigans on her end, so a friend of hers took us to her house and set us up. She showed up an hour later as we were all cleaned and crashing. Asleep by 4:15, alarms going off at 5:30. Ouch.
This morning, the hungover crew piled into the van one last time for the trek to Dusseldorf. We said our goodbyes to Felix and Jonas (both of whom we can't thank enough for everything they did for us on this tour), leaving them with a list of to-dos for the day (return the equipment, clean out the van, return the van), and checked in at the Dusseldorf airport. First flight was to Copenhagen, the second straight to Chicago. And that's where we are now…awaiting our second round of snacks on this 8-hour ride.
We're all psyched to be headed home, but really bummed that this trip has come to an end. It was one of the craziest, best and most-fun tours this band has ever done. Europe, we love you. Can't wait to get back out and do it again.
In the meantime, enjoy the impending smattering of new pics on the tumblr…and the Facebook gallery that will be posted by the weekend.
over and out,
ap / TSA