(written in the van on May 9)
After Arad, we piled in the van for a 12-hour trek across Romania to Bucharest. It was a great opportunity to see the countryside and grow a new strain of van funk that we've been carrying with us for a few days now. We arrived late (in part because Google/locals lied to us and said we should expect an 8 to 10 hour drive, max, and in part because we got lost upon arrival to Bucharest), and the promoter for the evening, Andra, let us know she was displeased. We respected and admired her off-putting display of honesty…and then we made friends, so all's well (hi, Andra).
The show was day two of the ALT.CTRL festival in Bucharest @ Control Club. We played with an Italian dark/dancewave band, Low Fi, and a Bucharest band called the Amsterdams. We took the stage last to a slew of technical difficulties (from bass issues to awkward mic stands to detuning strings) that culminated in a broken bass drum pedal during "Come Swimming." Big thanks to the sound guy/tech crew for helping us get through it all. Despite the issues, the show was a blast, and we hung around for a bit of the afterparty before heading back to the hotel – which was rustic – to catch a few hours of sleep before the long drive to Cluj-Napoca the following day. I took sleeping-in-the-van duty, and managed to crash out around 5:30am local time (and was back up by 9…ugh).
Another long drive later (with a brief stop at Bran Castle in Transylvania – the home of the inspiration for Dracula), we arrived at Booha Bar in Cluj-Napoca, and met Paul, the promoter and organizer of all our shows in Romania. Booha Bar is a tighter space than many of the others we've played, but the room was awesome. Many beers, pizza and new friends later, Low Fi (that same Italian band – two shows in a row) took the stage – this time with a live drummer. Great set. Our turn came with some additional technical issues (a malfunctioning bass rig that held up our start by about 15 minutes), but it didn't seem to sap much energy from the room. Thanks, Cluj. We stuck around for the afterparty again, but rolled out sometime in the wee hours of the morning for a flat that Paul had rented for us (one of the best sleeping arrangements of the tour). Somewhere in there, Adam and I wrestled in a hallway at the club (I'm told I took a fall that elicited a "that's going to hurt tomorrow" from someone there…it didn't) and Adam bed-moshed himself back at the flat into one of the most awkward neck-first floor dives I've ever seen.
We recovered, and left the flat after just 4 hours bound for our final show in Romania (in Timiosara). We rolled in and got some food at a nearby pub (vegan pizza for this guy), before soundcheck at Daos Club. We were all a bit squirrely from the previous two nights, so we lounged backstage before the set. The opening band (which featured the promoter, Alexandru, on guitar/vocals), The Bad Days Will End, played a lengthy set so we didn't go on until well past midnight (and played an abbreviated one). Quieter end to a very successful Romanian run, and we crept back to one of Alexandru's friend's apartment to sleep (thanks a lot to him and to Dede – I hope I spelled that right – for getting us there). I opted into van duty again, but not before totally fucking up and leaving my sleeping bag up in his apartment…and by the time I realized it, I was locked out for the night. I slept rolled up in two jackets and a towel. It was as awesome as it sounds.
Today we woke up early and piled back in the van for the drive to Austria for tonight's show (our second-to-last on the tour). We made it into Hungary with little event (and a new bottle of Jameson from the duty free store that ran us only a handful of Euros), while those of us in the back watched a bunch of episodes from NOFX's "Backstage Passport" (highly recommended).
And now, I'm going to try to catch up on some sleep here in the back of the van…I'll be posting this as soon as I can get back online.