The Stills, Europe Nov. 24-Dec. 6, 2008
Day 41/42, to Europe
Today started as most days, well, all days, have started in Montreal. Artjava. Today was pretty cool because we ran into a lot of friends, it was a nice way to head off. Tim, in particular, bid farewell in the form of 4 double macchiatos in less than 20mins. Yes, the man is insane.
After food and coffee, we hopped in the van and went to the rehearsal space to repack the gear for flight, and to try and stuff as much merchandise as possible in to our cases to avoid bringing actual merch boxes with us. It took a little bit of time, maybe 3 hours or so, which is what we sort of expected, and then we headed to the airport.
When we got there, the line was insanely long. So, we played the "we're a band" card. It was pretty obvious with all the roadcases anyways, but it can help sometimes. They took us out of the line and opened up a separate check in counter for us, and even our overages somehow never made it on the bill... huh. Wonder how that happened...?
The flight over was pretty painless. We all had lots of room and no screaming children. That was the first one in a while for me during which I could actually sleep. Love it.
When we got in, I went straight to my regular coffee bar in Heathrow. Hasn't changed a bit. It's a solid Starbucks quality bean. For the UK, that's saying alot. When we got out of the terminal, we were met by our Euro crew member and our sprinter van, which we were all happy to see that it had lots of space and kicked ass. Even had a bunk. Awesome.
We went straight to the hotel, checked in, and then set about the only way we know how to beat jetlag. Stay up all day. We went for a quick lunch in the hood, then hopped a train in to SoHo, shopped a bit, picked up some supplies and just did some general wandering. By the time it was all said and done, we were pushing 6pm. We went back to the hotel to drop some stuff off, and started looking for a restaurant for dinner. We eventually settled on a chinese place that wasn't bad, and that's damn near impossible in the UK.
After a good meal, we set about killing the rest of the night with pints of beer. We found a quiet local pub, had a couple local friends come and hang out with us and got to meet our new touring friend. It ended up being a pretty good day, and we made it all the way through. We were really happy to get to bed tonight.
Day 43, London, UK
I had to get up early today to put money in the meter for the van parking. The hotel claimed to have parking for us, but they were full of it and didn't really care to help us out, so we just parked on the street. I didn't have the right change, so I went walking around to get it, and by the time I got back, about 9:06am (pay parking starts at 9am), I already had a ticket! I was two minutes late, and for that the city of London, borough of Camden, wanted to charge me £80! Forget it! I'm fighting this one. In no time at all, I registered my complaint to fight the ticket, and now I wait...
Today is also the first show. It's at Cargo, supposedly only a few minutes away from us, but that can be an eternity in London traffic. We somehow ended up relatively on time, so it wasn't so bad. It felt a little weird setting up for our own show though, we haven't headlined in over a month. It was a nice change though, to have a bit more control of things. We got a good soundcheck in, made sure everything was good, and sat down for dinner. I was running around with my head cut off though, so I didn't really eat.
I thought hometown shows were bad for guestlists, but London takes it. Doesn't help that we only go over once a year, so it's kind of a big deal. The band was big there a few years ago, and they still have the power. The UK shows are all sold out and everyone wants to get in. Juggled as usual, pulled a couple rabbits out of the hat and somehow made it all work. I think I sat down for about 5 minutes before changeover.
Even that went to hell. Somehow while we were resetting, one of our power converters blew up. This is not good. We have amps and lighting running off the converter and we were scrambling for a minute. Not helping matters is that in London, there's an 11pm curfew for live music clubs, so we can't afford to go on late. Miraculously the club had a spare converter and I had a spare power bar, so we were able to put a good chunk of it back together and the show only started about 10 minutes late. Not the end of the world.
It ended up going really well, the Londoners really like their Stills action. It was a great way to start off our Euro tour and get some good vibes going right from the beginning.
We all had friends there that we wanted to hang with, and we were able to get the bar to leave us alone for a bit in a corner. They didn't care at all about the fact they made loads of cash off us, they just wanted us out and we stretched it as long as we could... There were some people going out to another place after, but I chose to head back to the hotel with my piles of British Pounds. Figured it wasn't best to walk around clubs with a lot of cash. One of them ended up calling me and I just spoke to them all on the phone, so it was kind of cool anyways.
Day 44, Manchester, UK
We headed off around noon to Manchester. We got out of London easily enough, but the traffic was a nightmare. We were late, but so was everyone else for some reason so it didn't really matter. I did have to run to the hotel to get a package though, so that delayed things a little more than I'd have liked. But let's hear it for Sennheiser sending us a power supply for an in-ear unit. They really came through for us on this one.
Because everything was running late, I didn't have time to go for food and just ended up munching on the rider food. The show came up pretty fast and it was another sold out show. It's pretty cool to come across the ocean and have people pack clubs to see you. It was a really good time. The venue tonight, Night and Day, also doubles as a cafe, so they were able to stay open for a while after the show. We hung out there for a while, we met a guy with the new touchscreen Blackberry, which I'm very excited about, and eventually made our way back to the hotel. Parking was a bit of a problem again though... I have a feeling this is going to be the theme of the tour... We did find a gated lot after a while, so it sort of worked out...
Day 45, Glasgow, UK
Up and in to Scotland we go. Glasgow is a beautiful city, but unfortunately by the time we got there it was dark, so we didn't see much. We just went ahead and did the painful downstairs load in to Stereo and made it through the soundcheck relatively painlessly. The club provided dinner for us after and it was actually quite good. Also, the Simple Plan guys are in town tonight and one of them came over to eat with us.
Back down for the show and it seems the Scots like the band as much as the English. There is something kind of cool about playing small, packed clubs and the atmosphere and vibe it creates. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to get back on a bus/truck tour, but these shows have been pretty fun so far. Again with the 11pm curfew, but we didn't fight it tonight. We just went back to the hotel. A little while later, a handful of the SP guys and crew came over and we took over the hotel bar, and then a room. So wild to hang with Montreal guys in Scotland...
Day 46, London, UK
Today is a long one. We have to drive almost the whole length of the UK to get back to London for a late show at Koko's, a killer 5 story club with crazy balconies and an insane PA and lighting rig. It's a show for NME magazine, so it is pretty important, and it's festival-style, so no soundchecks. Just throw the gear on stage and play.
We got in to London early enough to stop at the hotel and check in first, but only stayed for an hour or so before heading to the club. Again with the London guestlists, but this one got a little crazy. The Kings of Leon and their crew are in town rehearsing for their upcoming UK tour and they wanted to come out to the show. They're only the biggest band in the UK right now. It was quite the feat of logistics to sort out security and roping off sections, etc... for them to see the show and not be bothered by anyone. In the end it was pretty painless. Just one of them showed up with his fiancee, their (awesome) tour manager and his personal bodyguard. I don't know many people that have personal bodyguards. It's kind of cool. Anyways, they stuck around for most of the show before they had to go. They had just flown in day of and were pretty beat, but their presence speaks volumes. We're really looking forward to going to Oz with them in March... Always great to see them.
As for the rest of the night, the guys absolutely killed the show, it was awesome. One of their best ever. If only every night was like that... The label and radio guys were there and they were completely blown away and couldn't stop talking about getting us back asap.
We hit the hotel pretty soon after. We have to get up early tomorrow to catch a ferry to the mainland and start the Euro dates. Tomorrow is Utrecht in the Netherlands. I can't wait, I love touring Europe.
Day 47, Utrecht, NL
It was an early one and it hurt a little bit. We drove out to Dover to catch the 1pm ferry. We even got there a little early and managed to have some time for lunch before getting on and earlier ferry than the one we had booked. Total bonus.
The ride over was good, and I was so happy to finally get back to the mainland. I love it there. The people are amazing, the scenery is stunning, the food is spectacular, the wine, the drink, my favourite places on earth are in western Europe. The first gas stop in France was awesome. Gas station snack bars over there are such a different story. Real food. They don't have junk. You can eat perfectly well at gas stations. It just doesn't happen back home.
Anyways, we drove through France, Belgium and most of the Netherlands on our way to Utrecht. We're playing a festival tonight, and it features Montreal bands, oddly enough. Never thought I'd run into some good friends in Utrecht. Great night overall. The one thing about Europe though is that they have sound level limits in all the bars, and the band is a little on the loud side on stage, so it take a little work and creativity on my part to make it work. We had really great gear today though so it ended up being ok by the end of it all.
After the show we went back to the hotel to drop our bags, and then find some van parking. After walking back from finding a parking spot, I went to see a couple of the guys and we were just sitting around for a little while when I decided "screw this, I'm going out". We started a long walk to find a bar to have a drink. We had a place in mind, went the wrong way initially, and we walked in the cold for over an hour. It was amazing though. I've always liked random walks in Europe; there's so much to discover...
Anyways, it was getting a little long, we were getting a little tired. We came across a bar that was still open, and the street numbers weren't really making much sense, so we went in to ask directions. The guy inside didn't speak any English, and when we started speaking French to each other to try and figure out what to do, he answered us! The man spoke French and instantly our search was over, we didn't care to find the other place.
There was just the one guy there, he was the owner, and three of his friends. Before we even had our coats off, he had them bring us glasses of wine, trays of appetizers including Mediterranean olives (he's from Morocco originally) and lamb skewers. And a shisha pipe. Amazing. It was about 3am by this time, and it ended up being the perfect way to spend the rest of the night. His friends didn't speak English or French, so we just had conversations with lots of translation about all kinds of things. It was great and just what we needed. By far the highlight of the tour to date.
Day 48, To Koln, DE
Today is a day off. Awesome. We started with breakfast in Utrecht, and we found a great cafe. It was snowing really lightly today as well, and it was pretty stunning combined with the centuries-old architecture. It was really like stepping back in time about 300 years and completely jaw-dropping. Even those of us who don't really care for such things (I obviously do...) were taken aback. If I were ever stranded in a place like this, I would not complain.
After our fabulous meal, we hit the road to Germany. Once we got in, checked in, parked, etc... I took care of some work and then we went out to explore. Not for too long though... We got in a little late and it was already dark. Most of the exploring will wait til tomorrow.
After all that, I still had a little bit of work to do, and while I was working the guys went out to find a place to spend the night. I was really happy to catch up with them at Päffgen, a 100+ year old bierhaus just blocks from the hotel. I caught up, sat down and ordered a bratwurst, which was awesome and came with a great selection of mustards. Killer meal. And the beer. Damn. They served a local brew in 3 oz glasses, it was really light and went down smooth. They kept our tab by putting a mark on a coaster every time we ordered. It was always a round at a time, and the server would usually have one with us. We got a few free ones in there, and by the time we settled, we paid for 85 beers. Wild! After that, we went around the town a bit checking out some local sites to wind down and eventually made our way back to the hotel. We can sleep in tomorrow as the show is in town, so we didn't feel bad about staying out late. In fact, we needed the break after the first week being so hectic...
Day 49, Koln, DE
Today I got up relatively early I guess, just used to rising early these days... I would've like to sleep more, but whatever... I had stuff to do. First up, find a laundromat. I did, they didn't speak English, I don't speak German, but it was actually kind of fun to figure out what was going on. It's been a while since I've hit a language barrier and I had sort of forgotten how to deal with it properly, so it was a good refresher for me. After a little walking, I gave up my search for the day and went back to the hotel to round up a couple guys to go out and explore with me.
The highlight was the Dom, the ancient two-spire cathedral dominating the city. We walked around inside for a while and it's just mindblowing to see these pieces of art and architecture still standing, healthily, after hundreds of years. Outside the cathedral, there was a Christmas market, which is a hugely popular tradition at this time of year. Lots of vendors, everything from jewelry to woodworking items to beer to coffee. We had a really good espresso.
Also, forgot to mention, that we ended up having a great lunch at an Italian cafe. It was kind of a spread with cheeses, olives, meats, vegetables and so incredible. It was recommended by our Euro tour friend who we just happened to run in to while exploring. Great find. We had to cut it short after a while though. We do have a show tonight after all...
So we hop in the van and head to Gebaude 9, which is sadly in an industrial area away from the area we wanted to check out. Ah, whatever, we are here to play shows. We'll deal. The club is a little special though. Sort of an old bunker, concrete-type place. They gave us a great dinner though, that made up for the harsh cement sounding room.
There weren't a whole lot of people tonight. Definitely under 100, and they were hard to read. Really reserved. The show was good though, and we found out afterwards that the Germans thought so too. Though not vocal with their opinion during the show, the merch table told a different story. We had a great merch night, they bought a lot. The next day, all the reviews online were great.
After the show, while we were going back to the hotel, I got a call from a friend of mind from Ottawa who was in town with Kathleen Edwards. Crazy small world. I wanted to take him to the bierhaus we were at last night, but who knew they'd be closed on Monday? We found a place across the street, had a few mini-beers and called it a night.
Oh, and I found a laundromat.
Day 50, Paris
Today I am happy. Not only because we're going to Paris, but because I'm doing my laundry. I'm not happy about the circumstances, but I'm thrilled at the prospect of having clean clothes. I had to get up at 7am to make it happen, but it's so worth it. The hotel breakfast not so much, but I have clean clothes. It was a little funny as the language barrier tried to shut me down through print communication. It was a do-it-yourself place, and all the instructions were in German. I'm not even going to pretend I understand the first thing about it. There were 8 or 9 different wash modes and I didn't have a clue what was going on. I stood in front of the instructions for 20 minutes with my Blackberry doing translations online. I'm sure it looked pretty weird, and no doubt hilarious. I got a kick out of it. It was actually kind of fun finding a way though. No matter what happens, I will get by.
And so, clean clothes on my back, we hopped in the van and made our way to Paris. The GPS was a little sketchy and took us on a detour, but it was kind of cool because we ended up seeing a really cool Belgian village. It was nice. After sorting out the routing, we got back on track and went in. The sad part was that we ended up running late and we weren't going to have much time to hang out. It was pretty disappointing for me because the club, Divan du Monde, is in my favourite neighbourhood in the city.
Anyways, we got in, soundchecked, miraculously had a parking spot on the tiny Parisian streets, and the club got us a great dinnner at a cafe next door. I'm really into the European hospitality. They take us really seriously here and treat us with loads of respect, quite the opposite of a lot of North American venues...
So, we eat, go back to the club and put on a show. Again, few in number, but large in enthusiasm. It was fun. I also really enjoy speaking French with the French. It's a really different language, highly entertaining. I was really hoping to have time to hang out after the show, but it ended up taking us about an hour and a half to find a parking spot, and even then we knew we would get a ticket. It was really frustrating to lose time like that, especially in Paris, and also because three different hotels were telling us about this magical parking lot for oversized vehicles that we never ended up finding...
By the time we got back to the hotel, the evening was shot. A couple guys happened to be sitting in the lobby at the bar, so I sat down with them for a glass of wine and in no time we were joined by a "lively" Brit. It was kind of cool because it turned out that he was a record label exec, so it led to some interesting conversation, I didn't stick around too long though, been burning the candle too much, need some sleep. And, more importantly, I have to get up in the morning, No way I'm coming to Paris and not talking a walk for a couple hours.
Day 51, Gent, BE
Before we left town to go to Gent, I had to check out Paris for a while. I love the city too much to just do an in and out. I do that in places like Regina. This is a different ball game, a city deserving of time and respect. So I got up early to walk around.
Just my luck, it was pouring rain. Rain be damned, I'm going out. First stop was a fresh foods market across the street, I saw chickens butchered in ways I've never seen before. I don't know if I could buy a chicken that still had the feet... That market was sort of the highlight. Walked around a few blocks, down a few alleys, and eventually stopped at a cafe beside the hotel for breakfast. It was brutal. It was a real shame, but I didn't care, I was in Paris.
And, more importantly, going to Gent, another one of my absolute favourite cities. Two in one day. Amazing. We got in with very little time to explore, but I was determined to make that up later.
We went straight to the club when we arrived. Today was another festival type day, all Montreal bands oddly enough, and we had to get our gear in asap to get checked and make way for the others. We were the only band getting a soundcheck today, and we intended to use it. After the check I made sure to tell the guys about how amazing the city is, and I even got them to go out and explore. They came back stunned, minds blown and happy they took the time.
The show was a little on the weird side. The crowd was really quiet and reserved, but apparently that's not a bad thing. Again, they spoke more with their wallets than with their applause. It's really weird to play shows like that with little response, and the best way to deal with it is to go out and experience the city. So we did.
We got directed to a great little pub that had spectacular beers and the best little snack ever: little pieces of cheese served with stone mustard. It was amazing. I also experienced the Hoegarden Grand Cru, totally different and much better than the regular stuff. We hung out there for quite a while before leaving, and when we left we didn't go home. I convinced a couple of the guys to come out with me while I walked around. They loved it, it was awesome. We found another small little pub in the basement of a centuries-old building with original brick walls and wood rafters. The ambience was incredible. The air filled with smoke I could do without, but I'd deal for a night.
We ended up walking around more after, just having our minds blown one building after another, taking loads of pictures. A couple hours later we headed in for some well-deserved rest.
Day 52, Hamburg, DE
We woke up a little tired from last night and headed back to the venue to pick up our gear. We had been advised that leaving everything inside overnight might be our best bet, and we could leave the van parked there too, so good deal all around. The rest of the day we spent driving to Hamburg.
Once in town, we had no time, so we went to the venue, Molotow. It was a little hard to find, even harder to park at, but it all sorted itself out soon enough... We loaded in quickly, skipped our soundcheck, and sat down to eat the glorious rider food. The main dinner was at a restaurant a couple blocks away, but we just didn't have the time tonight.
The club was a tiny little place, so it was pretty full with the 50 or so people that showed up, and it actually sounded pretty good. Not bad at all. It was also webcast on their MySpace site, and we found out that the label was having a little party watching back home in their office.
Afterwards we loaded out as fast as possible. We still hadn't eaten and we were starving, so we wanted to check in to the hotel and get out for food asap. That sort of went according to plan and a short while later we were sitting down at a higher end Turkish kebab shop. The servings were enormous and I could barely make it through half my meal. It was pretty good though, so totally worth the effort. And now I will sleep.
Day 53, Berlin
Today we just have to get to Berlin. It's as real a day off as we're going to get. It was a little late in the afternoon by the time we got there, so as soon as we dropped our bags, we headed out for food. There were a couple places in mind, but they either weren't open, or we needed reservations. An on-the-spot reservation didn't work out... We eventually settled at a pretty bad Japanese place. Oh well, can't win 'em all... After the meal, we walked back to the hotel to relax for a bit before heading out for the night. On the way, we stopped for espresso at a little French cafe. It was alright... much better than actual French cafes.
The rest of the evening started later on, first at a really cool little joint called 8mm. The thing was that it was too small, so when it started filling up we bailed and went on the hunt for another place. We ended up walking in to CCCP, a Soviet-style place that was awesome. Run by Russians for sure. They had all the good vodkas I remember from my trip there and they also had authentic absinthe, which I had on the bar in front of me in no time at all. It was a really small, authentically decorated place, even filled with authentic smoke from authentic Russians. It was pretty heavy and breathtaking, literally... I've found it really hard to be in smokey places since all the various smoke-bylaws kicked in around the world (which I think is great), but I stuck it out anyways. This place was just too cool. Eventually it started getting crowded as well, and just too full. I'm wondering about capacity laws in Germany right now... There don't seem to be any... We stopped at one more place, which was a really weird dance club where the music was really quiet. Bizarre, but an experience nonetheless. I didn't stick around at that one too long. Went back to the hotel soon after arriving. On the way, I found a place that specialized in dark chocolates from around the world, so I picked up a couple pieces for tomorrow...
Day 54, Berlin
Alas, our final day in Europe. Today started with a search for breakfast, and we found a winner, all-around champion on the first shot. Even the coffee was good. They served us great little pastry, meat and fruit plates and everything was really fresh and insanely delicious. It's on my list of places to go back to.
We still had a little bit of time to kill before going to the club, so a couple guys went to a museum, I went Berlin Wall-ing. There was an area right behind our hotel where the wall used to be, so there were some memorials and landmarks that I went to check out for a little while. It was a little surprising though because the whole area was sort of run down. Not the image of freedom I had in mind...
A little later on we finally went over to the Bang Bang Klub for the last show of the tour. Another smaller place, but once filled with Berliners it was a pretty good time. The promoters were great, fed us well and took care of our every need. The sound system sort of sucked, but the house tech was really nice and ultimately we had a really good time. Somehow the guys actually had friends that live there now and found out about the show, so we ended up having a bit of a hang once it was done. Also adding to the fun was that there was no real load-out tonight. We had all our gear picked up by a shipping company so we could travel home with just our suitcases. I like.
Day 55, Berlin to Montreal
This is it, the last flight. We were at the airport at the painful hour of 6am. Getting everyone up was a little hard, but that was expected. Getting them to return all their keys to the front desk to avoid a €10 charge per key was more challenging, but it got done... Once we got there, it was pretty straightforward, just a fun-filled day of flying. We had a quick stop in Frankfurt and then flew in to Montreal. It was on the longer side coming from Germany, but what can you do. We fly so often to London before going anywhere else, that psychologically any flight across the Atlantic is really only 6hrs. Not true, obviously. 9hrs took some mental prep work, but we did it.
We were settled in Montreal by 3pm local time and the first thing we did was meet at ArtJava, the best cafe in town, for food and coffee. Awesome. Exactly what we needed after a long day of flying.
And that's it for the year. I'll be in Monty for a couple more days to wrap up all the biz stuff, but nothing crazy is happening. Just going to end up taking a train to Ottawa for the holidays. Stay tuned for upcoming tours featuring a cross-Canada January trek and 2 trips to Australia in 6 weeks. It'll be amazing...
Today started as most days, well, all days, have started in Montreal. Artjava. Today was pretty cool because we ran into a lot of friends, it was a nice way to head off. Tim, in particular, bid farewell in the form of 4 double macchiatos in less than 20mins. Yes, the man is insane.
After food and coffee, we hopped in the van and went to the rehearsal space to repack the gear for flight, and to try and stuff as much merchandise as possible in to our cases to avoid bringing actual merch boxes with us. It took a little bit of time, maybe 3 hours or so, which is what we sort of expected, and then we headed to the airport.
When we got there, the line was insanely long. So, we played the "we're a band" card. It was pretty obvious with all the roadcases anyways, but it can help sometimes. They took us out of the line and opened up a separate check in counter for us, and even our overages somehow never made it on the bill... huh. Wonder how that happened...?
The flight over was pretty painless. We all had lots of room and no screaming children. That was the first one in a while for me during which I could actually sleep. Love it.
When we got in, I went straight to my regular coffee bar in Heathrow. Hasn't changed a bit. It's a solid Starbucks quality bean. For the UK, that's saying alot. When we got out of the terminal, we were met by our Euro crew member and our sprinter van, which we were all happy to see that it had lots of space and kicked ass. Even had a bunk. Awesome.
We went straight to the hotel, checked in, and then set about the only way we know how to beat jetlag. Stay up all day. We went for a quick lunch in the hood, then hopped a train in to SoHo, shopped a bit, picked up some supplies and just did some general wandering. By the time it was all said and done, we were pushing 6pm. We went back to the hotel to drop some stuff off, and started looking for a restaurant for dinner. We eventually settled on a chinese place that wasn't bad, and that's damn near impossible in the UK.
After a good meal, we set about killing the rest of the night with pints of beer. We found a quiet local pub, had a couple local friends come and hang out with us and got to meet our new touring friend. It ended up being a pretty good day, and we made it all the way through. We were really happy to get to bed tonight.
Day 43, London, UK
I had to get up early today to put money in the meter for the van parking. The hotel claimed to have parking for us, but they were full of it and didn't really care to help us out, so we just parked on the street. I didn't have the right change, so I went walking around to get it, and by the time I got back, about 9:06am (pay parking starts at 9am), I already had a ticket! I was two minutes late, and for that the city of London, borough of Camden, wanted to charge me £80! Forget it! I'm fighting this one. In no time at all, I registered my complaint to fight the ticket, and now I wait...
Today is also the first show. It's at Cargo, supposedly only a few minutes away from us, but that can be an eternity in London traffic. We somehow ended up relatively on time, so it wasn't so bad. It felt a little weird setting up for our own show though, we haven't headlined in over a month. It was a nice change though, to have a bit more control of things. We got a good soundcheck in, made sure everything was good, and sat down for dinner. I was running around with my head cut off though, so I didn't really eat.
I thought hometown shows were bad for guestlists, but London takes it. Doesn't help that we only go over once a year, so it's kind of a big deal. The band was big there a few years ago, and they still have the power. The UK shows are all sold out and everyone wants to get in. Juggled as usual, pulled a couple rabbits out of the hat and somehow made it all work. I think I sat down for about 5 minutes before changeover.
Even that went to hell. Somehow while we were resetting, one of our power converters blew up. This is not good. We have amps and lighting running off the converter and we were scrambling for a minute. Not helping matters is that in London, there's an 11pm curfew for live music clubs, so we can't afford to go on late. Miraculously the club had a spare converter and I had a spare power bar, so we were able to put a good chunk of it back together and the show only started about 10 minutes late. Not the end of the world.
It ended up going really well, the Londoners really like their Stills action. It was a great way to start off our Euro tour and get some good vibes going right from the beginning.
We all had friends there that we wanted to hang with, and we were able to get the bar to leave us alone for a bit in a corner. They didn't care at all about the fact they made loads of cash off us, they just wanted us out and we stretched it as long as we could... There were some people going out to another place after, but I chose to head back to the hotel with my piles of British Pounds. Figured it wasn't best to walk around clubs with a lot of cash. One of them ended up calling me and I just spoke to them all on the phone, so it was kind of cool anyways.
Day 44, Manchester, UK
We headed off around noon to Manchester. We got out of London easily enough, but the traffic was a nightmare. We were late, but so was everyone else for some reason so it didn't really matter. I did have to run to the hotel to get a package though, so that delayed things a little more than I'd have liked. But let's hear it for Sennheiser sending us a power supply for an in-ear unit. They really came through for us on this one.
Because everything was running late, I didn't have time to go for food and just ended up munching on the rider food. The show came up pretty fast and it was another sold out show. It's pretty cool to come across the ocean and have people pack clubs to see you. It was a really good time. The venue tonight, Night and Day, also doubles as a cafe, so they were able to stay open for a while after the show. We hung out there for a while, we met a guy with the new touchscreen Blackberry, which I'm very excited about, and eventually made our way back to the hotel. Parking was a bit of a problem again though... I have a feeling this is going to be the theme of the tour... We did find a gated lot after a while, so it sort of worked out...
Day 45, Glasgow, UK
Up and in to Scotland we go. Glasgow is a beautiful city, but unfortunately by the time we got there it was dark, so we didn't see much. We just went ahead and did the painful downstairs load in to Stereo and made it through the soundcheck relatively painlessly. The club provided dinner for us after and it was actually quite good. Also, the Simple Plan guys are in town tonight and one of them came over to eat with us.
Back down for the show and it seems the Scots like the band as much as the English. There is something kind of cool about playing small, packed clubs and the atmosphere and vibe it creates. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to get back on a bus/truck tour, but these shows have been pretty fun so far. Again with the 11pm curfew, but we didn't fight it tonight. We just went back to the hotel. A little while later, a handful of the SP guys and crew came over and we took over the hotel bar, and then a room. So wild to hang with Montreal guys in Scotland...
Day 46, London, UK
Today is a long one. We have to drive almost the whole length of the UK to get back to London for a late show at Koko's, a killer 5 story club with crazy balconies and an insane PA and lighting rig. It's a show for NME magazine, so it is pretty important, and it's festival-style, so no soundchecks. Just throw the gear on stage and play.
We got in to London early enough to stop at the hotel and check in first, but only stayed for an hour or so before heading to the club. Again with the London guestlists, but this one got a little crazy. The Kings of Leon and their crew are in town rehearsing for their upcoming UK tour and they wanted to come out to the show. They're only the biggest band in the UK right now. It was quite the feat of logistics to sort out security and roping off sections, etc... for them to see the show and not be bothered by anyone. In the end it was pretty painless. Just one of them showed up with his fiancee, their (awesome) tour manager and his personal bodyguard. I don't know many people that have personal bodyguards. It's kind of cool. Anyways, they stuck around for most of the show before they had to go. They had just flown in day of and were pretty beat, but their presence speaks volumes. We're really looking forward to going to Oz with them in March... Always great to see them.
As for the rest of the night, the guys absolutely killed the show, it was awesome. One of their best ever. If only every night was like that... The label and radio guys were there and they were completely blown away and couldn't stop talking about getting us back asap.
We hit the hotel pretty soon after. We have to get up early tomorrow to catch a ferry to the mainland and start the Euro dates. Tomorrow is Utrecht in the Netherlands. I can't wait, I love touring Europe.
Day 47, Utrecht, NL
It was an early one and it hurt a little bit. We drove out to Dover to catch the 1pm ferry. We even got there a little early and managed to have some time for lunch before getting on and earlier ferry than the one we had booked. Total bonus.
The ride over was good, and I was so happy to finally get back to the mainland. I love it there. The people are amazing, the scenery is stunning, the food is spectacular, the wine, the drink, my favourite places on earth are in western Europe. The first gas stop in France was awesome. Gas station snack bars over there are such a different story. Real food. They don't have junk. You can eat perfectly well at gas stations. It just doesn't happen back home.
Anyways, we drove through France, Belgium and most of the Netherlands on our way to Utrecht. We're playing a festival tonight, and it features Montreal bands, oddly enough. Never thought I'd run into some good friends in Utrecht. Great night overall. The one thing about Europe though is that they have sound level limits in all the bars, and the band is a little on the loud side on stage, so it take a little work and creativity on my part to make it work. We had really great gear today though so it ended up being ok by the end of it all.
After the show we went back to the hotel to drop our bags, and then find some van parking. After walking back from finding a parking spot, I went to see a couple of the guys and we were just sitting around for a little while when I decided "screw this, I'm going out". We started a long walk to find a bar to have a drink. We had a place in mind, went the wrong way initially, and we walked in the cold for over an hour. It was amazing though. I've always liked random walks in Europe; there's so much to discover...
Anyways, it was getting a little long, we were getting a little tired. We came across a bar that was still open, and the street numbers weren't really making much sense, so we went in to ask directions. The guy inside didn't speak any English, and when we started speaking French to each other to try and figure out what to do, he answered us! The man spoke French and instantly our search was over, we didn't care to find the other place.
There was just the one guy there, he was the owner, and three of his friends. Before we even had our coats off, he had them bring us glasses of wine, trays of appetizers including Mediterranean olives (he's from Morocco originally) and lamb skewers. And a shisha pipe. Amazing. It was about 3am by this time, and it ended up being the perfect way to spend the rest of the night. His friends didn't speak English or French, so we just had conversations with lots of translation about all kinds of things. It was great and just what we needed. By far the highlight of the tour to date.
Day 48, To Koln, DE
Today is a day off. Awesome. We started with breakfast in Utrecht, and we found a great cafe. It was snowing really lightly today as well, and it was pretty stunning combined with the centuries-old architecture. It was really like stepping back in time about 300 years and completely jaw-dropping. Even those of us who don't really care for such things (I obviously do...) were taken aback. If I were ever stranded in a place like this, I would not complain.
After our fabulous meal, we hit the road to Germany. Once we got in, checked in, parked, etc... I took care of some work and then we went out to explore. Not for too long though... We got in a little late and it was already dark. Most of the exploring will wait til tomorrow.
After all that, I still had a little bit of work to do, and while I was working the guys went out to find a place to spend the night. I was really happy to catch up with them at Päffgen, a 100+ year old bierhaus just blocks from the hotel. I caught up, sat down and ordered a bratwurst, which was awesome and came with a great selection of mustards. Killer meal. And the beer. Damn. They served a local brew in 3 oz glasses, it was really light and went down smooth. They kept our tab by putting a mark on a coaster every time we ordered. It was always a round at a time, and the server would usually have one with us. We got a few free ones in there, and by the time we settled, we paid for 85 beers. Wild! After that, we went around the town a bit checking out some local sites to wind down and eventually made our way back to the hotel. We can sleep in tomorrow as the show is in town, so we didn't feel bad about staying out late. In fact, we needed the break after the first week being so hectic...
Day 49, Koln, DE
Today I got up relatively early I guess, just used to rising early these days... I would've like to sleep more, but whatever... I had stuff to do. First up, find a laundromat. I did, they didn't speak English, I don't speak German, but it was actually kind of fun to figure out what was going on. It's been a while since I've hit a language barrier and I had sort of forgotten how to deal with it properly, so it was a good refresher for me. After a little walking, I gave up my search for the day and went back to the hotel to round up a couple guys to go out and explore with me.
The highlight was the Dom, the ancient two-spire cathedral dominating the city. We walked around inside for a while and it's just mindblowing to see these pieces of art and architecture still standing, healthily, after hundreds of years. Outside the cathedral, there was a Christmas market, which is a hugely popular tradition at this time of year. Lots of vendors, everything from jewelry to woodworking items to beer to coffee. We had a really good espresso.
Also, forgot to mention, that we ended up having a great lunch at an Italian cafe. It was kind of a spread with cheeses, olives, meats, vegetables and so incredible. It was recommended by our Euro tour friend who we just happened to run in to while exploring. Great find. We had to cut it short after a while though. We do have a show tonight after all...
So we hop in the van and head to Gebaude 9, which is sadly in an industrial area away from the area we wanted to check out. Ah, whatever, we are here to play shows. We'll deal. The club is a little special though. Sort of an old bunker, concrete-type place. They gave us a great dinner though, that made up for the harsh cement sounding room.
There weren't a whole lot of people tonight. Definitely under 100, and they were hard to read. Really reserved. The show was good though, and we found out afterwards that the Germans thought so too. Though not vocal with their opinion during the show, the merch table told a different story. We had a great merch night, they bought a lot. The next day, all the reviews online were great.
After the show, while we were going back to the hotel, I got a call from a friend of mind from Ottawa who was in town with Kathleen Edwards. Crazy small world. I wanted to take him to the bierhaus we were at last night, but who knew they'd be closed on Monday? We found a place across the street, had a few mini-beers and called it a night.
Oh, and I found a laundromat.
Day 50, Paris
Today I am happy. Not only because we're going to Paris, but because I'm doing my laundry. I'm not happy about the circumstances, but I'm thrilled at the prospect of having clean clothes. I had to get up at 7am to make it happen, but it's so worth it. The hotel breakfast not so much, but I have clean clothes. It was a little funny as the language barrier tried to shut me down through print communication. It was a do-it-yourself place, and all the instructions were in German. I'm not even going to pretend I understand the first thing about it. There were 8 or 9 different wash modes and I didn't have a clue what was going on. I stood in front of the instructions for 20 minutes with my Blackberry doing translations online. I'm sure it looked pretty weird, and no doubt hilarious. I got a kick out of it. It was actually kind of fun finding a way though. No matter what happens, I will get by.
And so, clean clothes on my back, we hopped in the van and made our way to Paris. The GPS was a little sketchy and took us on a detour, but it was kind of cool because we ended up seeing a really cool Belgian village. It was nice. After sorting out the routing, we got back on track and went in. The sad part was that we ended up running late and we weren't going to have much time to hang out. It was pretty disappointing for me because the club, Divan du Monde, is in my favourite neighbourhood in the city.
Anyways, we got in, soundchecked, miraculously had a parking spot on the tiny Parisian streets, and the club got us a great dinnner at a cafe next door. I'm really into the European hospitality. They take us really seriously here and treat us with loads of respect, quite the opposite of a lot of North American venues...
So, we eat, go back to the club and put on a show. Again, few in number, but large in enthusiasm. It was fun. I also really enjoy speaking French with the French. It's a really different language, highly entertaining. I was really hoping to have time to hang out after the show, but it ended up taking us about an hour and a half to find a parking spot, and even then we knew we would get a ticket. It was really frustrating to lose time like that, especially in Paris, and also because three different hotels were telling us about this magical parking lot for oversized vehicles that we never ended up finding...
By the time we got back to the hotel, the evening was shot. A couple guys happened to be sitting in the lobby at the bar, so I sat down with them for a glass of wine and in no time we were joined by a "lively" Brit. It was kind of cool because it turned out that he was a record label exec, so it led to some interesting conversation, I didn't stick around too long though, been burning the candle too much, need some sleep. And, more importantly, I have to get up in the morning, No way I'm coming to Paris and not talking a walk for a couple hours.
Day 51, Gent, BE
Before we left town to go to Gent, I had to check out Paris for a while. I love the city too much to just do an in and out. I do that in places like Regina. This is a different ball game, a city deserving of time and respect. So I got up early to walk around.
Just my luck, it was pouring rain. Rain be damned, I'm going out. First stop was a fresh foods market across the street, I saw chickens butchered in ways I've never seen before. I don't know if I could buy a chicken that still had the feet... That market was sort of the highlight. Walked around a few blocks, down a few alleys, and eventually stopped at a cafe beside the hotel for breakfast. It was brutal. It was a real shame, but I didn't care, I was in Paris.
And, more importantly, going to Gent, another one of my absolute favourite cities. Two in one day. Amazing. We got in with very little time to explore, but I was determined to make that up later.
We went straight to the club when we arrived. Today was another festival type day, all Montreal bands oddly enough, and we had to get our gear in asap to get checked and make way for the others. We were the only band getting a soundcheck today, and we intended to use it. After the check I made sure to tell the guys about how amazing the city is, and I even got them to go out and explore. They came back stunned, minds blown and happy they took the time.
The show was a little on the weird side. The crowd was really quiet and reserved, but apparently that's not a bad thing. Again, they spoke more with their wallets than with their applause. It's really weird to play shows like that with little response, and the best way to deal with it is to go out and experience the city. So we did.
We got directed to a great little pub that had spectacular beers and the best little snack ever: little pieces of cheese served with stone mustard. It was amazing. I also experienced the Hoegarden Grand Cru, totally different and much better than the regular stuff. We hung out there for quite a while before leaving, and when we left we didn't go home. I convinced a couple of the guys to come out with me while I walked around. They loved it, it was awesome. We found another small little pub in the basement of a centuries-old building with original brick walls and wood rafters. The ambience was incredible. The air filled with smoke I could do without, but I'd deal for a night.
We ended up walking around more after, just having our minds blown one building after another, taking loads of pictures. A couple hours later we headed in for some well-deserved rest.
Day 52, Hamburg, DE
We woke up a little tired from last night and headed back to the venue to pick up our gear. We had been advised that leaving everything inside overnight might be our best bet, and we could leave the van parked there too, so good deal all around. The rest of the day we spent driving to Hamburg.
Once in town, we had no time, so we went to the venue, Molotow. It was a little hard to find, even harder to park at, but it all sorted itself out soon enough... We loaded in quickly, skipped our soundcheck, and sat down to eat the glorious rider food. The main dinner was at a restaurant a couple blocks away, but we just didn't have the time tonight.
The club was a tiny little place, so it was pretty full with the 50 or so people that showed up, and it actually sounded pretty good. Not bad at all. It was also webcast on their MySpace site, and we found out that the label was having a little party watching back home in their office.
Afterwards we loaded out as fast as possible. We still hadn't eaten and we were starving, so we wanted to check in to the hotel and get out for food asap. That sort of went according to plan and a short while later we were sitting down at a higher end Turkish kebab shop. The servings were enormous and I could barely make it through half my meal. It was pretty good though, so totally worth the effort. And now I will sleep.
Day 53, Berlin
Today we just have to get to Berlin. It's as real a day off as we're going to get. It was a little late in the afternoon by the time we got there, so as soon as we dropped our bags, we headed out for food. There were a couple places in mind, but they either weren't open, or we needed reservations. An on-the-spot reservation didn't work out... We eventually settled at a pretty bad Japanese place. Oh well, can't win 'em all... After the meal, we walked back to the hotel to relax for a bit before heading out for the night. On the way, we stopped for espresso at a little French cafe. It was alright... much better than actual French cafes.
The rest of the evening started later on, first at a really cool little joint called 8mm. The thing was that it was too small, so when it started filling up we bailed and went on the hunt for another place. We ended up walking in to CCCP, a Soviet-style place that was awesome. Run by Russians for sure. They had all the good vodkas I remember from my trip there and they also had authentic absinthe, which I had on the bar in front of me in no time at all. It was a really small, authentically decorated place, even filled with authentic smoke from authentic Russians. It was pretty heavy and breathtaking, literally... I've found it really hard to be in smokey places since all the various smoke-bylaws kicked in around the world (which I think is great), but I stuck it out anyways. This place was just too cool. Eventually it started getting crowded as well, and just too full. I'm wondering about capacity laws in Germany right now... There don't seem to be any... We stopped at one more place, which was a really weird dance club where the music was really quiet. Bizarre, but an experience nonetheless. I didn't stick around at that one too long. Went back to the hotel soon after arriving. On the way, I found a place that specialized in dark chocolates from around the world, so I picked up a couple pieces for tomorrow...
Day 54, Berlin
Alas, our final day in Europe. Today started with a search for breakfast, and we found a winner, all-around champion on the first shot. Even the coffee was good. They served us great little pastry, meat and fruit plates and everything was really fresh and insanely delicious. It's on my list of places to go back to.
We still had a little bit of time to kill before going to the club, so a couple guys went to a museum, I went Berlin Wall-ing. There was an area right behind our hotel where the wall used to be, so there were some memorials and landmarks that I went to check out for a little while. It was a little surprising though because the whole area was sort of run down. Not the image of freedom I had in mind...
A little later on we finally went over to the Bang Bang Klub for the last show of the tour. Another smaller place, but once filled with Berliners it was a pretty good time. The promoters were great, fed us well and took care of our every need. The sound system sort of sucked, but the house tech was really nice and ultimately we had a really good time. Somehow the guys actually had friends that live there now and found out about the show, so we ended up having a bit of a hang once it was done. Also adding to the fun was that there was no real load-out tonight. We had all our gear picked up by a shipping company so we could travel home with just our suitcases. I like.
Day 55, Berlin to Montreal
This is it, the last flight. We were at the airport at the painful hour of 6am. Getting everyone up was a little hard, but that was expected. Getting them to return all their keys to the front desk to avoid a €10 charge per key was more challenging, but it got done... Once we got there, it was pretty straightforward, just a fun-filled day of flying. We had a quick stop in Frankfurt and then flew in to Montreal. It was on the longer side coming from Germany, but what can you do. We fly so often to London before going anywhere else, that psychologically any flight across the Atlantic is really only 6hrs. Not true, obviously. 9hrs took some mental prep work, but we did it.
We were settled in Montreal by 3pm local time and the first thing we did was meet at ArtJava, the best cafe in town, for food and coffee. Awesome. Exactly what we needed after a long day of flying.
And that's it for the year. I'll be in Monty for a couple more days to wrap up all the biz stuff, but nothing crazy is happening. Just going to end up taking a train to Ottawa for the holidays. Stay tuned for upcoming tours featuring a cross-Canada January trek and 2 trips to Australia in 6 weeks. It'll be amazing...
posted by t. at 8:47 PM
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